Bot-S: Inventors

INVENTORS

MEN OF ACHIEVEMENT SERIES

TRAVELLERS AND EXPLORERS. By
General A. W. Greely, U.S.A.

STATESMEN. By Noah Brooks.

MEN OF BUSINESS. By W. O. Stoddard,

INVENTORS. By P. G. Hubert, Jr.

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN.

MEN OF ACHIEVEMENT

INVENTORS

PHILIP G. HUBERT, jR.

3S^

NEW YORK

CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS

1893

^'OCl ^8 1893

^79 ^"ly

TROW DIRECTORY

PRINTING AND BOOKBINDING COMPANY

NEW YORK

PREFACE

This book, dealing with our great inventors,
their origins, hopes, aims, principles, disappoint-
ments, trials, and triumphs, their daily life and
personal character, presents just enough con-
cerning their inventions to make the story
intelligible. The history is often a painful one.
When poor Goodyear, the inventor of vulcan-
ized rubber, was one day asked what he wanted
to make of his boys, he is said to have replied :
" Make them anything but inventors ; mankind
has nothing but cuffs and kicks for those who try
to do it a service."

Meanwhile, the value of the work done by
great inventors is widely acknowledged. In a
remarkable sketch of the history of civilization.
Professor Huxley remarked, in 1887, that the
wonderful increase of industrial production by
the application of machinery, the improvement
of old technical processes and the invention of
new ones, constitutes the most salient feature of
the world's progress during the last fifty years.
If this was true a few years ago, its truth is still
more apparent to-day. It is safe to say that
within fifty years power, light, and heat will cost
half, perhaps one-tenth, of what they do now ; and
this virtually means that in 1943 mankind will be

4 PREFACE

able to buy decent food, shelter, and clothing for
half or one-tenth of the labor now required.
Steam is said to have reduced the working:
hours of man in the civilized world from four-
teen to ten a day. Electricity will mark the
next giant step in advance.

With the many and superb tools now at our
service, of which our fathers knew comparative!}^
nothing — steam, electricity, the telegraph, tele-
phone, phonograph, and the camera — we and our
descendants ought to accomplish even greater
wonders than these. As invention thus rises in
the scale of importance to humanity, the history
of the pioneers and, to the shame of mankind be
it said, the martyrs of the art, becomes of in-
tense interest. In the annals of hero-worship the
inventor of the perfecting press ought to stand
before the great general, and Elias Howe should
rank before Napoleon. Whitney, Howe, Morse,
and Goodyear, to mention but a few of our
Americans, contributed thousands of millions of
dollars to the nation's wealth and received com-
paratively nothing in return. Their history sug-
gests as pertinent the inquiry whether our patent
laws do not need a radical change. The bur-
den and cost of proving that an invention de-
serves no protection ought to fall upon who-
ever infringes a patent granted by the Govern-
ment. At present it is all the other w^ay.

P. G. H., Jr.

New York, September, 1893.

CONTENTS

I. Benjamin Franklin,
11. Robert Fulton,

III. Eli Whitney^ .

IV. Elias Howe,
V. Samuel F. B. Morse,

VI. Charles Goodyear,
VII. John Ericsson,
VIII. Cyrus Hall McCormick,
IX. Thomas A. Edison,
X. Alexander Graham Bell,
XI, American Inventors, Past and Present,

James M. Townsend, E, L. Drake, Alvan Clark,
John Fitch, Oliver Evans, Amos Whittemore, Thomas
Blanchard, Richard M. Hoe, Thomas W. Harvey, C.
L. Sholes, B. B. Hotchkiss, Charles F. Brush, Rudolph
Eickemeyer, George Westinghouse, Jr.

9
45
69

99
III

155
178
207
223
264
270

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

FULL-PAGE

FACrSG

{Fr otitis piece ^ page

Benjamin Fr-A.nklin, .
Departl-re of the Clermont on her First Voyage,
Charles Goodye-\r, .
John Ericsson, .
cvrus h.\ll mccormick, .
Thom,\s a, Edison, .
Edison in his Laboratory,
Professor Bell Sending the Ftrst Telephone Mes
sage from New York to Chicago

155
17S
207
223
247

264

ILLUSTRATIONS IX THE TEXT

The Fr-\nklin Sto\-e.

Fr_jlskxin"s Birthplace. Boston.

Fr,\nklin Entering Phil.adelphia,

The Franklin Pennt,

Franklin's Grave, ....

Robert Fulton, ....

Birthplace of Robert Fulton,

Fulton BLO^^^NG Up a Danish Brig.

John Fitch's Steamboat at Philadelphi.a,

Fulton's First Experiment \^^TH Paddle-wheels

The '-Demologos," or "Fl-lton the First

The Clermont,

Eli Whitney,

Whitney Watching the Cotton-Gin.

The Cotton-Gin

Elias Howe

10
14
17
27

43
46
4S

53
:;6

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 7

PAGE

Birthplace of S. F, B. Morse, Built 1775, . . .111

S. F. B. Morse, 113

Under Side of a Modern Switchboard, showing

2,000 Wires, 121

The First Telegraph Instrument, as Exhibited in

1837 BY Morse, 125

The Modern Morse Telegraph, 127

Morse Making his own Instrument, . . . .129
Train Telegraph — the Message Transmitted by In-
duction FROM THE Moving Train to the Single

Wire, 131

Interior of a Car on the Lehigh Valley Railroad,
showing the Method of Operating the Train

Telegraph, 132

Diagram showing the Method of Telegraphing

FROM A Moving Train by Induction, . . . 134
Morse in his Study, .139

The Siphon Recorder for Receiving Cable Mes-
sages — Office of the Commercial Cable Com-
pany, I Broad Street, New York, .... 146

No. 5 West Twenty-second Street, New York, where

Morse Lived for Many Years and Died, . . 151

Calenders Heated Internally by Steam, for Spread-
ing India Rubber into Sheets or upon Cloth,
called the "Chaffee Machine," .... 164

Charles Goodyear's Exhibition of Hard India-rub-
ber Goods at the Crystal Palace, Sydenham,
England, 169

Council Medal of the Exhibition, 1851, . . . 173

Grande Medaille d'Honneur, Exposition Universelle

de 1855, 176

John Ericsson's Birthplace and Monument, . . 180

The Novelty Locomotive, built by Ericsson to com-
pete with Stephenson's Rocket, 1829, . . . 184

Ericsson on his Arrival in England, aged Twenty-
three, 186

Mrs. John Ericsson, nee Amelia Byam, . . , 187

8 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE

Exterior View of Ericsson's House, No. 36 Beach

Street, New York, 1890, 189

Solar-engine Adapted to the Use of Hot Air, . . 191
Sectional View of Monitor through Turret and

Pilot-house, 198

The Original :\Ionitor, 199

Fac-simile of a Pencil Sketch by Ericsson, giving a

Transverse Section of his Original Monitor

Plan, with a Longitudinal Section drawn over it, 201

Interior of the Destroyer, Looking toward the Bow, 202

Development of the Monitor Idea 204

The Room in which Ericsson Worked for More

than Twenty Years, 206

Farm where Cyrus H. McCormick was Born and Raised, 209
Exterior of the Blacksmith Shop where the First

Reaper was Built, 212

Interior of the Blacksmith Shop where the First

Reaper was Built, 215

The First Reaper, 217

Edison's Paper Carbon Lamp, 224

Edison Listening to his Phonograph, .... 227
From Edison's Newspaper, the " Grand Trunk

Herald," 230

Edison's Tinfoil Phonograph— the First Practical

^Machine, 237

Vote Recorder— Edison's First Patented Invention, 243

Edison's Menlo Park Electric Locomotive (1880), . 250

The Home of Thomas A. Edison, 257

Edison's Laboratory, 258

Library at Edison's Laboratory, 262

Alvan Clark, 276

C. L. Sholes, 286

B. B. Hotchkiss, 288

Charles F. Brush, 290

Rudolph Eickemeyer, 294

George Westinghouse, Jr., 296

INVENTORS

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN.

Benjamin Franklin's activity and resource
in the field of invention really partook of the in-
tellectual breadth of the man of whom Turgot
wrote :

" Eripuit coelo fulmen, sceptrumque tyrannis."

" He snatched the thunderbolt from heaven,
And the sceptre from the hands of tyrants."

And of which bit of verse Franklin once dryly
remarked, that as to the thunder, he left it where
he found it, and that more than a million of his
countrymen co-operated with him in snatching
the sceptre. Those persons who knew Franklin,
the inventor, only as the genius to whom we owe
the lightning-rod, will be amazed at the range of
his activity. For half a century his mind seems
to have been on the alert concerning the why
and wherefore of every phenomenon for which
the explanation was not apparent. Nothing in
nature failed to interest him. Had he lived in
an era of patents he might have rivalled Edison
in the number of his patentable devices, and had

-* ' \

10 INVENTORS

he chosen to make money from such devices, his

gains would certainly have been fabulous. As

a matter of fact, Franklin never applied for a

patent, though frequently

urged to do so, and he made

no money by his inventions.

AOne^pf the mcfet^'pepular of

these, the Franklin stove,

which device, after a half-

The Franklin Stove. CCUtury of dlSUSe, 1 S U O W

again popular, he made a
present to his early friend, Robert Grace, an iron
founder, who made a business of it. The Gov-
ernor of Pennsylvania offered to give Franklin a
monopoly of the sale of these stoves for a num-
ber of years. '^ But I declined it," writes the
inventor, '' from a principle which has ever
weighed with me on such occasions, viz. : That
as we enjoy great advantages from the inven-
tions of others, we should be glad of an oppor-
tunity to serve others by any invention of aurs ;
and this we should do freely and generously.
An ironmonger in London, however, assuming a
good deal of my pamphlet (describing the prin-
ciple and working of the stove), and working it
up into his own, and making some small change
in the machine, which rather hurt its opera-
tion, got a patent for it there, and made, as I
was told, a little fortune by it."

The complete list of inventions, devices, and
improvements of which Franklin was the origi-
nator, or a leading spirit and contributor, is so
long a one that a dozen pages would not suffice

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 11

for it. I give here a brief summar}^ as compiled
by Parton in his excellent '' Life of Franklin."
'' It is incredible," Franklin once wrote, " the
quantity of good that may be done in a country
by a single man who will make a business of it and
not suffer himself to be diverted from that pur-
pose by different avocations, studies, or amuse-
ments." As a commentary upon this sentiment,
here is a catalogue of the achievements of Benja-
min Franklin that may fairly come under the
title of inventions :

He established and inspired the Junto, the
most useful and pleasant American club of which
we have knowledge.

He founded the Philadelphia Library, parent
of a thousand libraries, and which marked the
beginning of an intellectual movement of endless
good to the whole country.

He first turned to great account the engine of
advertising, an indispensable element in modern
business.

He published " Poor Richard," a record of
homely wisdom in such shape that hundreds
of thousands of readers were made better and
stronger by it.

He created the post-office system of America,
and was the first champion of a reformed spelling.

He invented the Franklin stove, which econo-
mized fuel, and suggested valuable improve-
ments in ventilation and the building of chim-
neys.

He robbed thunder of its terrors and lightning
of some of its power to destroy.

12 INVENTORS

He founded the American Philosophical So-
ciety, the first organization in x\merica of the
friends of science.

He suggested the use of mineral manures, in-
troduced the basket willow, promoted the early
culture of silk, and pointed out the advisability
of white clothing in hot weather.

He measured the temperature of the Gulf
Stream, and discovered that northeast storms
may begin in the southwest.

He pointed out the advantage of building
ships in water-tight compartments, taking the
hint from the Chinese, and first urged the use of
oil as a means of quieting dangerous seas.

Besides these great achievements, accom-
plished largely as recreation from his life work
as economist and statesman, Benjamin Franklin
helped the whole race of inventors by a remark
that has been of incalculable value and comfort
to theorists and dreamers the world over. When
someone spoke rather contemptuously in Frank-
lin's presence of Montgoifier's balloon experi-
ments, and asked of what use they were, the
great American replied in words now historic :
'' Of what use is a new-born babe ? "

'' This self-taught American," said Lord Jef-
frey, in the Edinburgh Reviciv oi July, 1806, "is
the most rational, perhaps, of all philosophers.
He never loses sight of common sense in any of
his speculations. No individual, perhaps, ever
possessed a greater understanding, or was so
seldom obstructed in the use of it by indolence,
enthusiasm, or authority. Dr. Franklin received

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 13

no regular education ; and he spent the greater
part of his life in a society where there was no
relish and no encouragement for literature. On
an ordinary mind, these circumstances would
have produced their usual effects, of repressing
all sorts of intellectual ambition or activity, and
perpetuating a generation of incurious mechan-
ics ; but to an understanding like Franklin's, we
cannot help considering them as peculiarly pro-
pitious, and imagine that we can trace back to
them distinctly almost all the peculiarities of his
intellectual character."

The main outlines of Franklin's life and ca-
reer are so familiar to everyone, that I may as
well pass at once to the story of his work as an
inventor. We all know, or ought to know, that
Benjamin, the fifteenth child of Josiah Franklin,
the Boston soap-boiler, was born in that town
on the 17th of January, 1706, and established him-
self as a printer in Philadelphia in 1728. That
he prospered and founded the Gazette a few
years later, and became Postmaster of Phila-
delphia in 1737; that after valuable services to
the Colonies as their agent in England, he
was appointed United States Minister at the
Court of France upon the Declaration of Inde-
pendence ; and that in 1782 he had the supreme
satisfaction of signing at Paris the treaty of
peace with England by which the independence
of the Colonies was assured. That he died full
of honors at Philadelphia in April, 1790, and that
Congress, as a testimony of the gratitude of the
Thirteen States and of their sorrow for his loss,

INVENTORS

appointed a general mourning throughout the
States for a period of two months.

The great invention or discovery which entitles

Benjamin Franklin to
rank at the head of
American inventors was, of course, the identifi-
cation of lightning with electricity, and his sug-
gestion of metallic conductors so arranged as
to render the discharge from the clouds a harm-
less one. In order to appreciate the originality

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 15

and value of this discovery, it is necessary to re-
view briefly what the w^orld knew of the subject
at that day.

For a hundred years before Franklin's time,
electricity had been studied in Europe without
much distinct progress resulting. A thousand
experiments had been performed and described.
Gunpowder had been exploded by the spark
from a lady's finger, and children had been in-
sulated by hanging them from the ceiling by
silk cords. A tolerable machine had been de-
vised for exciting electricity, though most ex-
perimenters still used a glass tube. Several
volumes of electrical observations and experi-
ments had appeared, and yet what had been
done was little more than a repetition on a
larger scale, and with better means, of the orig-
inal experiment of rubbing a piece of amber
on the sleeve of the philosopher's coat. Experi-
menters in 1745 could produce a more powerful
spark and play a greater variety of tricks with
it than Dr. Gilbert, the English experimenter of
1600, but that was about all the advantage they
had over him.

So-called experts had attempted, with more or
less satisfaction to themselves, to answer the
question addressed by the mad Lear to poor
Tom : '' Let me talk with this philosopher.
What is the cause of thunder?" Pliny thought
he had explained it when he called it an
earthquake in the air. Dr. Lister announced
that lightning was caused by the sudden ig-
nition of immense quantities of fine floating

16 INVENTORS

sulphur. Jonathan Edwards, in his diary of
1722, records the popular impression of the
day upon this subject : " Lightning," he says,
"seems to be an almost infinitely fine combus-
tible matter, that floats in the air, that takes
fire by sudden and mighty fermentation, that is
some way promoted by the cool and moisture,
and perhaps attraction of the clouds. By this
sudden agitation, this fine floating matter is
driven forth with a mighty force one way or
other, whichever way it is directed, by the cir-
cumstances and temperature of the circumja-
cent air ; for cold and heat, density and rarity,
moisture and dryness, have almost an infinitely
strong influence upon the fine particles of mat-
ter. This fluid matter thus projected, still fer-
menting to the same degree, divides the air as
it goes, and every moment receives a new im-
pulse by the continued fermentation ; and as its
motion received its direction, at first, from the
different temperature of the air on different
sides, so its direction is changed, according to the
temperature of the air it meets with, which
renders the path of the lightning so crooked."

Even this explanation was a daring bit of spec-
ulation in Jonathan Edwards, for thunder and
lightning were then commonly regarded as the
physical expression of God's wrath against the
insects He had created.

Mr. Peter Collinson, the London agent of the
library that FrankHn had founded in Philadel-
phia in 1732, was accustomed to send over with
the annual parcel of books any work or curious

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN

object that chanced to be in vogue in London at
the time. In 1746 he sent one of the new electri-

ili^^i

Franklin Entering Philadelphia.

cal tubes with a paper of directions for using it.
The tubes then commonly used were two feet
and a half long, and as thick as a man could con-
veniently grasp. They were rubbed with a piece
3

18 INVENTORS

of cloth or buckskin, and held in contact with
the object to be charged. Franklin had already
seen one of these tubes in Boston, and had been
astonished by its properties. No sooner, there-
fore, was it unpacked at the Library, than he re-
peated the experiments he had seen in Boston,
as well as those described by Collinson. The
subject completely fascinated him. He gave
himself up to it. Procuring other tubes, he dis-
tributed them among his friends and set them
all rubbing. '' I never," he writes in 1747, ''was
before engaged in any study that so totally
engrossed my attention and my time as this has
done ; for what with making experiments when
I can be alone, and repeating to my friends and
acquaintances, Avho, from the novelty of the
thing, come continually in crowds to see them, I
have during some months past had little leisure
for anything else."

Franklin claimed no credit for what he
achieved in electricity. During the winter of
1746-7 he and his friends experimented frequent-
ly, and observed electrical attraction and repul-
sion with care. That electricity was not created,
but only collected by friction, was one of their
first conjectures, the correctness of which they
soon demonstrated by a number of experiments.
Before having heard of the Leyden jar coated
with tin-foil, these Philadelphia experimenters
substituted granulated lead for the water em-
ployed by Professor Maschenbroeck. They
fired spirits and lighted candles with the electric
spark. They performed rare tricks with a spider

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 19

made of burnt cork. Philip Syng mounted one
of the tubes upon a crank and employed a cannon-
ball as a prime conductor, thus obtaining the same
result without much tedious rubbing of the tube.

The summer of 1747 was devoted to preparing
the province for defence. But during the fol-
lowing winter the Philadelphians resumed their
experiments. The wondrous Leyden jar was the
object of Franklin's constant observation. His
method of work is well shown in his own ac-
count of an experiment during this winter. The
jar used was Maschenbroeck's original device of
a bottle of water with a wire running through
the cork.

" Purposing," writes Franklin, '' to analyse the
electrified bottle, in order to find wherein its
strength lay, we placed it on glass, and drew out
the cork and wire, which for that purpose had
been loosely put in. Then, taking the bottle in
one hand, and bringing a finger of the other near
its mouth, a strong spark came from the water,
and the shock was as violent as if the wire had
remained in it, which showed that the force did
not lie in the wire. Then, to find if it resided in
the water, being crowded into and condensed in
it, as confined by the glass, which had been our
former opinion, we electrified the bottle again,
and placing it on glass, drew out the wire and
cork as before ; then, taking up the bottle, we
decanted all its water into an empty bottle,
which likewise stood on glass ; and taking up
that other bottle, we expected, if the force re-
sided in the water, to find a shock from it. But

20 IXVEXTOR.S

there was none. We judged then tnat ir must
either be lost in decanting or remain in the first
bottle. The latter we found to be true : for
that bottle on trial gave the shock, though filled
up as it stood with fresh unelectrilied water
from a tea-pot. To find, then, whether glass had
this property merely as glass, or whether the
form contributed anything to it. we took a pane
of sash glass, and laying it on the hand, placed
a plate of lead on its upj>er surface : then elec-
trified that plate, and bringing a finger to it,
there was a spark and shock. We then took
two plates of lead of equal dimensions, but less
than the glass by two inches every wav. and
electrified the glass between them, bv electrifv-
ing the uppermost lead : then separated the
glass from the lead, in doing which, what little
fire miofht be in the lead was taken out. and the
glass being touched in the electrified parts with
a finger, afforded only very small pricking
sparks, but a great number of them might be
taken from different places. Then dexterously
placing it again between the leaden plates, and
completing a circle between the two surfaces, a
violent shock ensued ; which demonstrated the
power to reside in glass as glass, and that the
non-electrics in contact served only, like the ar-
mature of a loadstone, to unite the force of the
several parts, and bring them at once to any point
desired ; it being the propert\- of a non-electric,
that the whole body instantly receives or gives
what electrical fire is given to. or taken from,
anv one of its parts.

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 21

'' Upon this we made what we called an elec-
trical batter}^ consisting of eleven panes of large
sash glass, armed with thin leaden plates, pasted
on each side, placed vertically, and supported at
two inches' distance on silk cords, with thick
hooks of leaden wire, one from each side, stand-
ing upright, distant from each other, and con-
venient communications of wire and chain, from
the giving side of one pane to the receiving side
of the other ; that so the w^iole might be charged
together with the same labor as one single
pane."

In 1748 Franklin, being then forty-two years
old, and in the enjoyment of an ample income
from his business as printer and publisher, sold
out to his foreman, David Hall, and was free
to devote himself wholly to his beloved experi-
ments. He had built himself a home in a retired
spot on the outskirts of Philadelphia, and with
an income which in our days w^ould be equiva-
lent to $15,000 or $20,000 a year, he was consid-
ered a fairly rich man. Having thus settled his
business affairs in a manner which proved that
he knew perfectly well Avhat money was worth,
he took up his electrical studies again and ex-
tended them from the machine to the part
played in nature by electricity. The patience
with which he observed the electrical phenomena
of the heavens, the acuteness displayed by him
in drawing plausible inferences from his obser-
vations, and the rapidity with which he arrived
at all that we now know of thunder and light-
ning, still excite the astonishment of all who

22 INVENTORS

read the narratives he has left us of his proceed-
ings. During the whole winter of 1748-49 and
the summer following, he was feeling his way
to his final conclusions on the subject. Early
in 1749 he drew up a series of fifty-six observa-
tions, entitled '' Observations and Suppositions
towards forming a new Hypothesis for explain-
ing the several Phenomena of Thundergusts."
Nearly all that he afterward demonstrated on
this subject is anticipated in this truly remarka-
ble paper, which was soon followed by the most
famous of all his electrical writings, that en-
titled " Opinions and Conjectures concerning
the Properties and Effects of the Electrical
Matter, and the Means of preserving Buildings,
Ships, etc., from Lightning; arising from Ex-
periments and Observations made at Philadel-
phia, 1749."

Franklin sets forth in this masterly paper the
similarity of electricity and lightning, and the
property of points to draw off electricity. It is
this treatise which contains the two suggestions
that gave to the name of Franklin its first celeb-
rity. Both suggestions are contained in one
brief passage, which follows the description of a
splendid experiment, in which a miniature light-
ning-rod had conducted harmlessly away the
electricity of an artificial thunder-storm.

"■ If these things are so," continues the philoso-
pher, after stating the results of his experiment,
'' may not the knowledge of this power of points
be of use to mankind in preserving houses,
churches, ships, etc., from the stroke of light-

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 23

ning, by directing us to fix on the highest part
of those edifices upright rods of iron, made
sharp as a needle and gilt to prevent rusting, and
from the foot of those rods, a wire down the out-
side of the building into the ground, or down
round one of the shrouds of a ship, and down
her side till it reaches the water? Would not
these pointed rods probably draw the electrical
fire silently out of a cloud before it came nigh
enough to strike, and thereby secure us from
that most sudden and terrible mischief?"

The second of these immortal suggestions was
one that immediately arrested the attention of
European electricians when the paper was pub-
lished. It was in these words :

*' To determine the question, whether the
clouds that contain lightning are electrified or
not, I would propose an experiment to be tried
where it may be done conveniently. On the top
of some high tower or steeple, place a kind of
sentry-box, big enough to contain a man and an
electric stand. From the middle of the stand let
an iron rod rise and pass, bending out of the
door, and then upright twenty or thirty feet,
pointed very sharp at the end. If the electrical
stand be kept clean and dry, a man standing on
it, when such clouds are passing low, might be
electrified and afford sparks, the rod drawing
fire to him from a cloud. If any danger to the
man should be apprehended (though I think
there would be none), let him stand on the floor
of his box, and now and then bring near to the
rod the loop of a wire that has one end fastened

24 lyVEXTOBS

to the leads, he holding it by a wax handle : so
the sparks, if the rod is electrified, will strike
from the rod to the wire and not affect him."

A friend once asked Franklin how he came to
hit upon such an idea. His reply was to quote
an extract from the minutes he kept of the ex-
periments he made. This extract, dated No-
vember 7, 1/49, ^^'^s as follows: ''Electrical fluid
agrees with lightning in these particulars: i.
Giving light. 2. Color of the light. 3. Crooked
direction. 4. Swift motion. 5. Being conducted
by metals. 6. Crack or noise in exploding. 7.
Subsisting in water or ice. 8. Rending bodies
it passes through. 9. Destroying animals. 10.
Melting metals. 11. Firing inflammable sub-
stances. 12. Sulphurous smell. The electric
fluid is attracted by points. We do not know
whether this property is in lightning. But since
they agree in all the particulars wherein we can
already compare them, is it not probable they
agree likewise in this? Let the experiment be
made."

In this discovery, therefore, there was nothing
of chance ; it was a legitimate deduction from
patiently accumulated facts.

It was not until the spring of 1752 that Frank-
lin thought of making his suggested experiment
with a kite. The country around Philadelphia
presents no high hills, and he was not aware till
later that the roof of any dwelling-house would
have answered as well as the peak of Teneriffe.
There were no steeples in Philadelphia at that
dav. The vestrv of Christ Church talked about

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 25

erecting a steeple, but it was not begun until
1753- ^^^ the 15th of June, 1752, Franklin de-
cided to fly that immortal kite. Wishing to
avoid the ridicule of a failure, he took no one
with him except his son, who, by the way, was
not the small boy shown in countless pictures
of the incident, but a stalwart young man of
t\vent3^-t\vo. The kite had been made of a large
silk handkerchief, and fitted out with a piece of
sharpened iron wire. Part of the string was of
hemp, and the part to be held in the hand was of
silk. i\t the end of the hempen string was tied
a key, and in a convenient shed was a Leyden jar
in which to collect some of the electricity from
the clouds. When the first thunder-laden clouds
reached the kite, there were no signs of elec-
tricity from Franklin's key, but just as he had
begun to doubt the success of the experiment,
he saw the fibres of the hempen string begin to
rise. Approaching his hand to the key, he got
an electric spark, and was then able to charge the
Leyden jar and get a stronger shock. Then the
happy philosopher drew in his wet kite and
went home to write his modest account of one of
the most notable experiments made by man.

Franklin's fame as the first to suggest the
identity of lightning and electricity would have
been safe, however, even without the famous
kite-flying achievement. A month before that
June thunderstorm his suggestions had been put
into practice in Europe with complete success.
Mr. Peter Collinson, to whom Franklin ad-
dressed from time to time long letters about his

26 INVENTORS

experiments and conjectures, had caused them
to be read at the meetings of the Royal Society,
of which he (Collinson) was a member. That
learned body, however, did not deem them
worthy of publication among its transactions,
and a letter of Franklin's containing the sub-
stance of his conjectures respecting lightning
was laughed at. The only news that reached
Philadelphia concerning these letters was that
Watson and other English experimenters did not
agree with Franklin. It was only in May, 175 1,
that a pamphlet was finally published in London,
entitled '' New Experiments and Observations in
Electricity, made at Philadelphia, in America."
A copy having been presented to the Ro3^al So-
ciety, Watson was requested to make an abstract
of its contents, which he did, giving generous
praise to the author.

Before the year came to a close Franklin was
famous. There was something in the drawing
down, for mere experiment, of the dread electric-
ity of heaven that appealed not less powerfully
to the imagination of the ignorant than to the
understanding of the learned. And the marvel
was the greater that the bold idea should have
come from so remote a place as Philadelphia.
By a unanimous vote the Royal Society elected
Franklin a member, and the next year bestowed
upon him the Copley medal. Yale College and
then Harvard bestowed upon him the honorary
degree of Master of Arts.

As might have been expected, there was no
lack of opposition to the new doctrine of light-

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN

ning-rods. Every new movement of radical char-
acter is denounced more or less fiercely. The last
years of Newton's life were perplexed by the
charge that his theory of gravitation tended to
'' materialize " religion. Insuring houses against
fire was opposed as an interference with the pre-
rogatives of deity. The establishment of the
Ro3'al Society was opposed upon the ground
that the study of natural philosophy, grounded,
as it was, upon experimental evidence, tended to

The Franklin Penny.

weaken the force of evidence not so founded ;
and this objection was deemed of sufficient
weight to call for serious answer. Franklin's
daring proposal to neutralize the '' artillery of
heaven," of course could not escape, and the im-
piety of lightning-rods was widely discussed,
often with acrimony. Mr. Kinnersley, one of
Franklin's friends, who lectured for several years
upon electricity, when advertising the outline ot
his subject always announced his intention to
show that the erection of lightning-rods was
'' not chargeable with presumption nor incon-
sistent with any of the principles either of nat-

28 INVENTORS

ural or revealed religion." Ouincy relates in
his " History of Harvard College," that in
November, 1755, a shock of earthquake having
been felt in New England, a Boston clergy-
man preached a sermon on the subject, in
which he contended that the lightning-rods, by
accumulating the electricity in the earth, had
caused the earthquake. Professor Winthrop,
of Harvard, thought it worth while to defend
Franklin. '' In 1770," Mr. Quincy adds, '' another
Boston clergyman opposed the use of the rods
on the ground that, as the lightning was one of
the means of punishing the sins of mankind, and
of warning them from the commission of sin, it
was impious to prevent its full execution." And
to this attack also Professor Winthrop replied.
Apparently Franklin himself thought it wise to
conciliate the opposition of some so-called relig-
ious people of the day, for an account of the
lightning-rod which appears in Poor Richard's
Almanac for 1753, written probably by Franklin,
begins as follows : " It has pleased God in his
Goodness to Mankind, at length to discover to
them the Means of securing their Habitations
and other Buildings from Mischief by Thunder
and Lightning."

Franklin bore his honors with the most re-
markable modesty. It was in June that he flew
his first kite, but not until October that he sent
to Mr. CoUinson an account of the experiment,
and even then he described the manner of making
and flying the kite and omitted all reference to
his own success with it. The identity of lightning

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 29

with electricity having been established by M.
Dalibard, he deemed it unnecessary to forward
the account of an experiment which, however
brilliant, he thought superfluous. Accordingly,
we have no narrative by Franklin of the flying
of the kite. We owe our knowledge of what
occurred on that memorable afternoon to per-
sons who heard Franklin tell the story. Frank-
lin prefaces his description of his kite with these
words : " As frequent mention is made in public
papers from Europe of the success of the Phila-
delphia experiment for drawing the electric fire
from clouds by means of pointed rods of iron
erected on high buildings, it may be agreeable
to the curious to be informed that the same
experiment has succeeded in Philadelphia,
though made in a different and more easy man-
ner, which is as follows." And then we have
the description of the kite, the letter ending
without reference to what he himself had done
with it.

Yet he was far from hiding the pleasure his
fame brought him. ''The Tatler,'' he wrote, in
i753j to a friend, "tells us of a girl who was ob-
served to grow suddenly proud, and none could
guess the reason, till it came to be known that
she had got on a pair of new silk garters. Lest
you should be puzzled to guess the cause, Avhen
you observe anything of the kind in me, I think 1
will not hide my new garters under my petti-
coats, but take the freedom to show them to you
in a paragraph of our friend Collinson's last
letter, viz. — But I ought to mortify, and not in-

30 INVENTORS

dulge, this vanity ; I will not transcribe the para-
graph — yet I cannot forbear." Then he quotes
the paragraph, which mentions the honors done
him by the King of France and the Royal Society.

For twenty years Franklin continued to work at
electricity, devoting most of his leisure to his be-
loved study. The great practical value of the
lightning-rod, at one time in the early part of this
century somewhat exaggerated, as a perfect pro-
tection against harm by lightning, just as electric-
ity was at one time heralded as a panacea for all
bodily ailments, has of late years been questioned,
but the consensus of scientific opinion still attrib-
utes much merit to the device, and the extent of
Franklin's services to science in the matter can-
not be called into doubt. Others have claimed
his discoveries. The Abbe Nolet, of France, has
been credited as being the first to note the simi-
larity between electricity and lightning ; and M.
Romas, of Nerac, France, is said to have used a
kite with a copper wire wound around the
string, to attract electricity from clouds, some
time before Franklin made his experiment. But
posterity has ignored these claimants, and Frank-
lin had the happiness of escaping bitter conten-
tions with rivals. In fact, there could hardly
have been a quarrel with a man who claimed
nothing, who mentioned with honor everybody's
achievements but his own, and who recorded
his most brilliant observations in the plural, as
though he were but one of a band of investigat-
ing Philadelphians.

Passing now to Franklin's connection with the

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 31

use of oil to still dangerous waves, I had occa-
sion recently to note that Lieutenant W. H.
Beehler, of the United States Navy, in writing
upon the matter, quotes Franklin's explanation
of why oil works so beneficently as the accepted
theory. Franklin was greatly interested, when
at sea, in studying the matter. Any phenome-
non that puzzled him was lit subject for investi-
gation. Let us see how he went about the in-
quiry. ''In 1757," he wrote, '' being at sea in a
fleet of ninety-six sail bound against Louisburg,
I observed the wakes of two of the ships to be
remarkably smooth, while all the others were
ruffled by the wind which blew fresh. Being
puzzled with the differing appearance, I at last
pointed it out to our captain and asked him the
meaning of it. ' The cooks,' says he, ' have, 1
suppose, been just emptying their greasy water
through the scuppers, which has greased the
sides of those ships a little ;' and this answer he
gave me with an air of some little contempt, as
to a person ignorant of what everybody else
knew. In my own mind I at first slighted his
solution, though I was not able to think of an-
other ; but recollecting what I had formerly
read in Pliny, I resolved to make some experi-
ment of the effect of oil on water, when I should
have opportunity. Afterwards, being again
at sea in 1762, I first observed the wonderful
quietness of oil on agitated water, in the swing-
ing glass lamp I made to hang up in the cabin,
as described in my printed papers. This I was
continually looking at and considering, as an ap-

32 INVENTORS

pearance to me inexplicable. An old sea cap-
tain, then a passenger with me, thought little of
it, supposing it an effect of the same kind with
that of oil put on water to smooth it, which he,
said was a practice of the Bermudians when they
would strike fish, which they could not see if
the surface of the water was ruffled by the wind.
The same gentleman told me he had heard it
was a practice with the fishermen of Lisbon,
when about to return into the river (if they saw
before them too great a surf upon the bar, which
they apprehended might fill their boats in pass-
ing) to empty a bottle or two of oil into the sea,
which would suppress the breakers, and allow
them to pass safely. A confirmation of this I
have not since had an opportunity of obtaining ;
but discoursing of it with another person, who
had often been in the Mediterranean, I was in-
formed that the divers there, who, when under
water in their business, need light, which the
curling of the surface interrupts by the refrac-
tions of so many little waves, let a small quantity
of oil now and then out of their mouths, which
rising to the surface smooths it, and permits the
light to come down to them. All these infor-
mations I at times resolved in my mind, and
wondered to find no mention of them in our
books of experimental philosophy.

" At length being at Clapham where there is,
on the common, a large pond, which I observed
one day to be very rough with the wind, I
fetched out a cruet of oil and dropped a little of
it on the water. I saw it spread itself with sur-

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 33

prising swiftness upon the surface ; but the effect
of smoothing the waves was not produced ; for
I had applied it first on the leeward side of the
pond, where the waves were largest, and the
wind drove my oil back upon the shore. I then
went to the windward side, where they began
to form ; and there the oil, though not more
than a teaspoonful, produced an instant calm
over a space several yards square, which spread
amazingly, and extended itself gradually, till it
reached the lee side, making all that quarter of
the pond, perhaps half an acre, as smooth as a
looking glass.

" A gentleman from Rhode Island told me it
had been remarked that the harbor of Newport
was ever smooth while any whaling vessels were
in it ; which probably arose from hence, that
the blubber, which they sometimes bring loose
in the hold, or the leakage of their barrels,
might afford some oil to mix with that water,
which, from time to time, they pump out to keep
their vessel free, and that some oil might spread
over the surface of the water in' the harbor and
prevent the forming of any waves."

Thus Franklin collected his facts, taking them
far and near, and from anybody and everybody.
By dint of observation and reflection he finally
solved the problem, arriving at the conclusion
that '' the wind blowing over water thus covered
with a film of oil, cannot easily catch upon it, so
as to raise the first wrinkles, but slides over it,
and leaves it smooth as it finds it."

Another remarkable instance of Franklin's pas-
3

34 lyTEXTORS

sion for investisration is afforded in the followins^
interestins: letter to Sir John Prinsfle : •" When
we Avere travelling together in Holland, vou re-
marked that the canal boat in one of the stao^es
went slower than usual, and inquired of the boat-
man what might be the reason ; who answered
that it had been a dry season, and the water in
the canal was low. On beinor asked if it was so
low that the boat touched the muddy bottom,
he said no, not so low as that, but so low as to
make it harder for the horse to draw the boat.
We neither of us at first could conceive that, if
there was water enousfh for the boat to swim
clear of the bottom, its being deeper would make
any difference. But as the man affirmed it seri-
ously as a thinor ^yell known among them, and
as the punctuality required in their stages was
likelv to make such difference, if any there were,
more readilv observed bv them than bv other
watermen who did not pass so regularly and con-
stantly backwards and forwards in the same
track, I began to apprehend there might be
something in it, and attempted to account for it
from this consideration, that the boat in proceed-
ing along the canal must, in every boat's length
of her course, move out of her way a body of
water equal in bulk to the room her bottom took
up in the water : that the water so moved must
pass on each side of her, and under her bottom, to
get behind her ; that if the passage under her
bottom was straitened by the shallows, more of
the water must pass by her sides, and with a
swifter motion, which would retard her, as mov-

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 35

iiig the contrary way ; or that, the water becom-
ing lower behind the boat than before, she was
pressed back by the weight of its difference in
hight, and her motion retarded by having that
weight constantly to overcome. But, as it is of-
ten lost time to attempt accounting for uncertain
facts, I determined to make an experiment of
this, when I should have convenient time and
opportunity.

'^ After our return to EnHand, as often as I
happened to be on the Thames, I enquired of our
watermen whether they were sensible of an}^
difference in rowing over shallow or deep water.
I found them all agreeing in the fact that there
was a very great difference, but they differed
widely in expressing the quantity of the differ-
ence ; some supposing it was equal to a mile in
six, others to a mile in three. As I did not rec-
ollect to have met with any mention of this
matter in our philosophical books, and conceiv-
ing that, if the difference should be really great,
it might be an object of consideration in the
many projects now on foot for digging new
navigable canals in this island, I lately put my
design of making the experiment in execution,
in the following manner.

'' I provided a trough of planed boards fourteen
feet long, six inches wide, and six inches deep in
the clear, filled w^ith water within half an inch of
the edge, to represent a canal. I had a loose
board of nearly the same length and breadth,
that being put into the water, might be sunk to
any depth, and fixed by little wedges where I

36 INVENTORS

would choose to have it stay, in order to make
different depths of water, leaving- the surface at
the same hight with regard to the sides of the
trough. 1 had a little boat in form of a lighter
or boat of burden, six inches long, two inches
and a quarter wide, and one inch and a quarter
deep. When swimming it drew one inch of
water. To give motion to the boat, I fixed one
end of a long silk thread to its bow, just even
with the water's edge, the other end passed over
a well-made brass pulley, of about an inch in
diameter, turning freely upon a small axis ; and
a shilling was the weight. Then placing the
boat at one end of the trough, the weight would
draw it through the water to the other. Not
having a watch that shows seconds, in order to
measure the time taken up by the boat in passing
from end to end of the trough, I counted as fast
as I could count to ten repeatedly, keeping an
account of the number of tens on my fingers.
And, as much as possible to correct any little in-
equalities in my counting, I repeated the experi-
ment a number of times at each depth of water,
that I might take the medium."

The experiment proved the truth of the
boatmen's assertions. Franklin found that five
horses would be required to draw a boat in a
canal affording little more than enough water to
float it, which four horses could draw in a canal
of the proper depth.

No circumstance, remarks Mr. Parton, was
too trifling to engage him upon a series of exper-
iments. At dinner, one day, a bottle of Madeira

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 37

was opened which had been bottled in Virginia
many months before. Into the first glass poured
from it fell three drowned flies. '' Having heard
it remarked that drowned flies were capable of
being revived by the rays of the sun, I proposed
making the experiment upon these ; they were
therefore exposed to the sun upon a sieve which
had been employed to strain them out of the
wine. In less than three hours two of them be-
gan by degrees to recover life. They com-
menced by some convulsive motions of the
thighs, and at length they raised themselves
upon their legs, wiped their eyes Avith their fore-
feet, beat and brushed their wings with their
hind feet, and soon after began to fly, finding
themselves in Old England without knowing
how they came thither. The third continued
lifeless till sunset, when, losing all hopes of him,
he was thrown away." And upon this he re-
marks : '' I wish it were possible, from this in-
stance, to invent a method of enbalming drowned
persons in such a manner that they may be re-
called to life at any period, however distant ; for
having a very ardent desire to see and observe
the state of America a hundred years hence, I
should prefer to any ordinary death being im-
mersed in a cask of Madeira wine, with a few
friends, till that time, to be then recalled to life
by the solar warmth of my dear country."

Among the studies in natural philosophy of
which but little is known to the general pub-
lic may be mentioned Franklin's experiments
with heat at a time when a thermometer was a

38 INVENTORS

scientific curiosity. The manner in which he
proved that black cloth was not so good a cov-
ering for the body in hot Aveather as white,
shows the simplicity of his methods and his
faculty for making small means subserve great
ends : '' I took a number of little square pieces
of broadcloth from a tailor's pattern-card, of
various colors. There were black, deep blue,
lighter blue, green, purple, red, yellow, white,
and other colors or shades of colors. I laid
them all out upon the snow in a bright sunshiny
morning. In a few hours the black, being
warmed most by the sun, was so low as to be be-
low the stroke of the sun's rays ; the dark blue
almost as low, the lighter blue not quite so much
as the dark, the other colors less as they were
lighter, and the quite white remained on the
surface of the snow, not having entered it at all.
What signifies philosophy that does not apply to
some use ? May we not learn from hence that
black clothes are not so fit to wear in a hot,
sunny climate or season as white ones?" That
all summer hats, particularly for soldiers, should
be white, and that garden walls intended for
fruit should be black, were suggestions put forth
as a result of this experiment.

Dr. Small assigns to Franklin the credit of
having discovered that repeated respiration im-
parts to air a poisonous quality similar to that
which extinguishes candles and destroys life
in mines and wells. " The doctor," he records,
" breathed gently through a tube into a deep
glass mug, so as to impregnate all the air in

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 39

the mug with this quality. He then put a
lighted bougie (candle) into the mug, and upon
touching the air therein the flame was in-
stantly extinguished ; by frequently repeat-
ing this operation, the bougie gradually pre-
served its light longer in the mug, so as in a
short time to retain it to the bottom of it, the
air having totally lost the bad quality it had
contracted from the breath blown into it." Upon
being consulted with regard to the better ventil-
ation of the House of Commons, he advised that
openings should be made near the ceiling, com-
municating with flues running parallel with the
chimneys and close enough to them to be kept
warm by their heat. These flues, he recom-
mended, should begin in the cellar, where the
air was cool, and the flues being warmed by the
hot air of the chimneys, would cause an up-
ward current of air strong enough to expel the
vitiated air in the upper part of the house.
Franklin's letters at this time are full of the
importance of ventilation. Unquestionably, he
was among the first who called attention to
the folly of excluding fresh air from hospitals
and sick-rooms, particularly those of fever pa-
tients. As Mr. Parton expresses it, he cleared
the pure air of heaven from calumnious imputa-
tion and threw open the windows of mankind.

Some inventions of Franklin's have not met
with the approval of posterity. For instance, he
seems to have had no more success with a re-
formed spelling of his own devising than laborers
in the same field who came after him. He used

4:0 IXVEXTOBS

to say that they alone spelt well who spelt ill,
since the so-called bad speller used the letters
according to their real value. The illiterate
g"irl who wrote of her do was more correct, he
thous^ht, than the vounor lady who would blush
to omit a superfluous vowel. What was the use
of the final letter in muff, and whv take the
trouble to Write to/^^/i when fn/ would do as
well ? Had he lived to see Dr. Webster's
Dictionarv. the lexicographer would have found
in him an ardent champion. His reformed al-
phabet and spelling is an interesting curiositv,
but hardly more. Some letters of our alpha-
bet he omitted, onlv to add new ones. He also
changed their order, making o the first letter and
;;/ the last. In this connection it mav be well to
say that Franklin was perhaps the first and fore-
most American champion of the movement.
now so powerful, looking to the displacement of
Latin and Greek as the foundations of education.
At the very close of his life, in 1789, he issued
his famous protest against the stud}' of dead lan-
guages. He is reported to have said one even-
incr, when talkino^ about this matter: "When
the custom of wearing broad cuffs with buttons
first began, there was a reason for it ; the cuffs
might be brought down over the hands and thus
guard them from wet and cold. But gloves came
into use. and the broad cuffs were unnecessar}' ;
yet the custom was still retained. So likewise
with cocked hats. The wide brim, when let
down, afforded a protection from the rain and
the sun. Umbrellas were introduced, vet fash-

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 41

ion prevailed to keep cocked hats in vogue,
although they were rather cumbersome than
useful. Thus with the Latin language. When
nearly all the books of Europe Avere -written
in that language, the study of it was essential in
every system of education ; but it is now scarcely
needed, except as an accomplishment, since it
has everywhere given place, as a vehicle of
thought and knowledge, to some one of the
modern tongues."

With all his love of the practical, Franklin was
not deficient in a rather delicate wit. I have al-
ready had occasion to quote at the beginning of
this paper his disclaimer of the honors conferred
upon him by Turgot's famous Latin line. In-
stances of this dry humor may be found all
through Sparks's exhaustive biography. I re-
member one in particular. The merchants of
Philadelphia, being at one time desirous to es-
tablish an assembly for dancing, they drew up
some rules, among which was one " that no me-
chanic or mechanic's wife or daughter should be
admitted on any terms." This rule being sub-
mitted to Franklin, he remarked that "it excluded
God Almighty, for he was the greatest mechanic
in the universe."

Benjamin Franklin's services to the cause of
invention by no means ended with his own in-
ventions. One of his greatest services was the
part he took in the foundation of the American
Philosophical Society, whose object was to bring
into correspondence with a central association
in Philadelphia all scientists, philosophers, and

42 lyvEyrons

inventors on this continent and in Europe.
Franklin's share in the foundation of this soci-
ety, which has proved of such vast use. seems
to have been largelv overlooked bv his biogra-
phers. Mr. Parton, having mentioned that Frank-
lin founded the society in accordance with his
proposal of 1743. adds : ** The society was formed
and continued in existence for some vears.
Nevertheless, its success was neither great nor
permanent, for at that day the circle of men ca-
pable of taking much interest in science was too
limited for the proper support of such an organi-
zation." The recent historian of the societv.
Dr. Robert M. Patterson, agrees, however, with
Sparks in tracing the origin of the Philosophi-
cal Society, which grew into prominence about
1767, back to Franklin's proposal of 1743. After
describing the Junto, or Leather Apron Societv.
formed among Franklin's acquaintance, a sort of
debating club of eleven young men. Sparks savs :
•• Fortv vears after its establishment it became
the basis of the American Philosophical Societv,
of which Franklin was the first president, and
the published transactions of which have con-
tributed to the advancement of science and the
diffusion of valuable knowledge in the United
States." In his first proposal Franklin gave a
list of the subjects that were to engage the at-
tention of these New World philosophers. It in-
cluded investiscations in botanv : in medicine : in
mineralosfv and minins^: in chemistrv : in me-
chanics : in arts, trades, and manufactures : in
geographv and topographv : in agriculture : and.

BENJAMIX FRANKLIN

lest something should have been forgotten, he
adds that the association should " give its atten-
tion to all philosophical experiments that let
light into the nature of things, tend to increase
the power of man over matter and multiply the

i^;^

t^^

r---

-I

\ 3

Franklin's Grave

conveniences or pleasures of life." The duties
of the secretary of the society were laid down
and were arduous, including much foreign corre-
spondence, in addition to the correcting, abstract-
ing, and methodizing of such papers as required
it. This office Franklin took upon himself.

While he lived the proceedings of the society
scarcely ever failed of a useful end. Unlike so

44 INVENTORS

many original and inventive geniuses, his emi-
nent common sense was as marked as his origi-
nality. In the language of his most recent bi-
ographer, John Bach McMaster, " whatever
he has said on domestic economy or thrift is
sound and striking. No other writer has left so
many just and original observations on success
in life. No other writer has pointed out so
clearly the way to obtain the greatest amount of
comfort out of life. What Solomon did for the
spiritual man, that did Franklin for the earthly
man. The book of Proverbs is a collection of
receipts for laying up treasure in heaven. ' Poor
Richard ' is a collection of receipts for laying up
treasure on earth."

II.

ROBERT FULTON.

Robert Fulton, the inventor of the steam-
boat, or at least the first man to apply the power
of the steam-engine to the propulsion of boats in a
practical and effective manner, was born in Little
Britain, Lancaster County, Pa., 1765, of respect-
able but poor parents. His father was a native of
Kilkenny, Ireland, and his mother came of a fairly
well-to-do Irish family, settled in Pennsylvania.
He was the third of five children. As a child he
received the rudiments of a common education.
His vocation showed itself in his earliest years.
All his hours of recreation were passed in shops
and in drawing. At the time he was seventeen
he had become so much of an artist as to make
money by portrait and landscape painting in
Philadelphia, where he remained until he was
twenty-one. After this he went to Washington
County and there purchased a little farm on
which he settled liis mother, his father having
died when he was three years old. He returned
to Philadelphia, but on his way visited the Warm
Springs of Pennsylvania, where he met with
some gentlemen who were so much pleased with
his painting that they advised him to go to Eng-
land, where they told him he would meet with

¥\

Robert FuHon.

ROBERT FULTON 47

West who had then attained great celebrity.
Fulton took this advice, and his reception by
West, always kindly toward Americans, was
such as he had been led to expect. The dis-
tinguished painter was so well pleased with him
that he took him into his house, where he con-
tinued to live for several years. For some time
Fulton made painting his chief employment,
spending two years in Devonshire, near Exeter,
where he made many influential acquaintances,
among others the Duke of Bridgewater, famous
for his canals, and Lord Stanhope, a nobleman
noted for his love of science and his attachment
to the mechanic arts. With Lord Stanhope, Ful-
ton held a correspondence for a long time upon
subjects in which they were interested.

In 1793, Fulton was engaged in a project to
improve inland navigation. Even at that early
day it appeared that he had conceived the idea
of propelling vessels by steam, and he speaks in
his letters of its practicability. In 1794 he ob-
tained from the British Government a patent for
improvements in canal locks, and his pursuits at
this time appear to have been in this direction.
In his preface to a description of his Nautilus, or
'' plunging " boat, a species of submarine boat,
he says that he had resided eighteen months in
Birmingham where he acquired much of his
knowledge of mechanics. In later years, when
in Paris, Fulton sent a large collection of his
manuscripts to this country. Unfortunately, the
vessel in which they were sent was Avrecked,
and, while the case was recovered, only a few

rsr

fraginents of the manuscripts could be usetL It
is owing^ to this misfortune that we have so few
records of Fulton's work at this time.

We know, howerer, tliat in 1794 he submitted
to the British Society for the Promotion of Arts
and Commerce an improTement of his invention
for sawing^ marble, for which he received the

thanks of the society and an honorary medaL
He invented also, it is thought, about this time, a
machine for spiiming flax and another for mak-
ing ropes, for both of which he obtained patents
from the British Govenmient. A mechanical
contrivance for scooping- out earth to form chan-
nels for canals or aqueducts, which is said to have

* Tids nhistmion and d>e fonr
of Fnllon,'* wprodaced hf
urn's Sons.

aie feom Ejkisi's " life
of the pdbG^beis, GL P. Bat-

ROBERT FULTON 49

been much used in England, was also his inven-
tion. The subject of canals appears to have
chiefly engaged his attention during these years
of the end of the century. He called himself a
civil engineer, and under this title published his
work on canals, and, in 1795, many essays on the
same subject in one of the London journals. He
recommended small canals and boats of little
burden in a treatise on " Improvement of Canal
Navigation," and inclined planes instead of locks,
as a means of transporting canal boats from one
level to another. His plans were strongly rec-
ommended by the British Board of Agricult-
ure. Throughout his course as civil engineer
his talent for drawing was of great advantage to
him, and the plates annexed to his works are ad-
mirable examples of such work. He seems to
have neglected his painting till a short time be-
fore his death, when he took up the brush again
to paint some portraits of his family. During
his residence in England he sent copies of his
works to distinguished men in this country,
setting forth the advantages to be derived from
communication by canals.

Having obtained a patent for mill improve-
ments from the British Government, he went to
France with the intention of introducing his in-
vention there ; but, not meeting with much en-
couragement, he devoted his time to other
matters. Political economy had also some at-
traction for him, and he wrote a book to show
that internal improvements would have a good
effect on the happiness of a nation. He not only
4

50 I^'VEyTons

wished to see a free and speedy communication
between the different parts of a large country,
but universal free trade between all countries.
He thought that it would take ages to establish
the freedom of the seas by the common consent
of nations, and believed in destroying ships of
war, so as to put it out of the power of anv na-
tion to control ocean trade. In 1797 he became
acquainted with Joel Barlow, the Avell-known
American, then residins: in Paris, in whose family
he lived for seven years, during which time he
learned French and somethins^ of German, and
studied mathematics and chemistrv. In the same
3-ear he made an experiment with Mr. Barlow on
the Seine with a machine he had constructed to
give packages of gunpowder a progressive mo-
tion under water and then to explode at a given
point. These experiments appear to have been
the first in the line of his submarine boats, and
are unquestionably the germ of all subsequent
inventions in the direction of torpedo warfare.

Want of money to carry out his designs in-
duced him to apply to the French Directory,
who at first gave him reason to expect their aid.
but hnallv rejected his plan. Fulton, however.
was not to be discouraged, but went on Avith his
inventions, and havinsr made a handsome model
of his machine for destroying ships, a commis-
sion was appointed to examine his plans, but
they also rejected them. He offered his idea to
the British Government, still again without suc-
cess, although a committee was appointed to ex-
amine his models. The French Government

ROBERT FULTON 61

being changed, and Bonaparte having come to
the head of it, Fulton presented an address to
him. A commission was appointed, and some as-
sistance given which enabled him to put some of
his plans into practice. In the spring of 1801
he went to Brest to make experiments with the
plunging boat that he had constructed in the win-
ter. This, as he says, had many imperfections,
to be expected in a first machine, and had been
injured by rust, as parts which should have been
of copper or brass were made of iron.

Notwithstanding these disadvantages, he en-
gaged in a course of experiments which required
no less courage than perseverance. From a re-
port of his proceedings to the committee ap-
pointed by the French Government we learn that
in July, 1 801, he embarked with three compan-
ions on board of this boat, in the harbor of
Brest, and descended to the depth of twenty-five
feet, remaining below the surface an hour, in
utter darkness, as the candles were found to con-
sume too mvich of the vital air. He placed two
men at the engine, which was intended to give
her motion, and one at the helm, while he, with
a barometer before him, kept her balanced be-
tween the upper and lower waters. He could
turn her round while under the water, and found
that in seven minutes he had gone about a third
of a mile. During that summer Fulton de-
scended under water with a store of air com-
pressed into a copper globe, whereby he was
enabled to remain under water four hours and
twenty minutes. The success of these experi-

52 ixvEyTOBS

ments determined him to try the effect of his
invention on the EngHsh war-ships, then daily
near the harbor of Brest — France and Eno:land
being then at war. He made his own bombs.
For experimental purposes a small vessel was
anchored in the harbor, and with a bomb con-
taining about twenty pounds of powder, he ap-
proached within about two hundred yards,
struck the vessel, and blew her into atoms. A
column of water and fragments were sent nearly
one hundred feet into the air. This experiment
was made in the presence of the prefect of the
department and a multitude of spectators. Dur-
ing the summer of 1801 Fulton tried to use his
bombs acrainst some of the Ens^lish vessels, but
was not successful in getting within range. The
French Government refused to give him further
encouragement.

The Enoflish had some information concernins^
the attempts that their enemies were making,
and the anxietv expressed induced the British
Minister to communicate with Fulton and try to
secure to England his services. In this he was
successful, and Fulton went to London, where he
arrived in 1804, and met Pitt and Lord Melville.
When Mr. Pitt first saw a drawing of a torpedo
with a sketch of the mode of applying it, and
understood what would be the effect of the ex-
plosion, he said that if it were introduced into
practice it could not fail to annihilate all navies.

But from the subsequent conduct of the Brit-
ish ministry it is supposed that they never really
intended to give Fulton a fair opportunitv to try

ROBERT FULTON

the effect of his submarine engines. Their ob-
ject may have been to prevent these devices
getting into the hands of an enemy. Several
experiments were made, and some of them were
failures, but on October 15, 1805, he blew up a
strong -built Danish brig of two hundred tons
burden, which had been provided for the experi-
ment and which was anchored near the residence

**''»^^ "'^.'

Fulton Blowing Up a Danish Brig,

of Pitt. The torpedo used on this occasion con-
tained one hundred and seventy pounds of pow-
der. In fifteen minutes from the time of starting
the machinery the explosion took place. It lifted
the brig almost entire and broke her completely
in two ; in one minute nothing was to be seen of
her but floating fragments. Notwithstanding
the complete success of this experiment, the
British ministry seems to have had nothing to do
with Fulton. The inventor was rather discour-

54 lyvEyroBS

SLged at this lack oi appreciation and, after some
further experiments, he sailed for New York in
December, 1806.

In this country Fulton devoted himself at once
to his projects of submarine warfare and steam
navigation. So far from being discouraged bv
his failure to impress Europe with the impor-
tance of his torpedoes, his confidence was un-
shaken, because he saw that his failures were to
be attributed to trivial errors that could easily
be corrected. He induced our Government to
give him the means of making further experi-
ments, and inx-ited the magistracy of New York
and a number of citizens to Governor's Island
where were the torpedoes and the machinery
with which his experiments were to be made.
In July, 1807, he blew up, in the harbor of New
York, a large brig prepared for that purpose.
He also devised at this time a number of station-
ary torpedoes, really casks of powder, with trig-
srers that misrht be causrht bv the keel of anv
passing vessel. In !March, 1810, $5,000 were
granted by Congress for further experiments
in submarine explosions. The sloop of war,
Argus, was prepared for defence against the
torpedoes after Fulton had explained his mode
of attack. This defence was so complete that
Fulton found it impracticable to do anything
with his torpedoes. Some experiments were
made, however, with a gun-harpoon and cable
cutter, and after several attempts a fourteen-inch
cable was cut off several feet below the surface
of the water.

ROBERT FULTOJS' 55

Fulton was, during all these experiments,
much pressed for money, and apparently was
making no headway toward the use of his sub-
marine engines in a profitable way. It was in de-
spair of getting our Government to make an in-
vestment in this direction that he finally turned
to the problem of navigation by steam. He
had the valuable co-operation in his new work
of Chancellor Livingston, of New Jersey, who,
while devoting much of his own time and means
to the advancement of science, was fond of fos-
tering the discoveries of others. He had very
clear conceptions of what would be the great
advantages of steamboats on the navigable rivers
of the United States. He had already, when in
Paris, applied himself at great expense to con-
structing vessels and machinery for that kind of
navigation. As early as 1798 he believed that
he had accomplished his object, and represent^
ed to the Legislature of New York that he was
possessed of a mode of applying the steam-en-
gine to a boat on new and advantageous prin-
ciples ; but that he was deterred from carr3ang
it into effect by the uncertainty of expensive ex-
periments, unless he could be assured of an ex-
clusive advantage should it be successful. The
Legislature in March, 1798, passed an act vesting
him with the exclusive right and privilege of
navigating all kinds of boats Avhich might be
propelled by the force of fire or steam on all
the waters within the territory of New York for
the term of twenty 3^ears, upon condition that he
should within a twelve-month build such a boat,

Ob • IXVEXTOBS

whose progress should not be less than four
miles an hour.

Livingston, as soon as the act had passed, built
a boat of about thirty tons burden, to be pro-

John Fitch's Steamboat at Philadelpnia.

pelled by steam. Soon after he entered into a
contract with Fulton, by which it was agreed
that a patent should be taken out in the United
States in Fulton's name. Thus began the prep-
arations for the first practical steamboat. All
the experiments were paid for by Chancellor Liv-
ingston, but the work was Fulton's. In 1802, in
Paris, he began a course of calculations upon the
resistance of water, upon the most advantageous
form of the body to be moved, and upon the
different means of propelling vessels Avhich had
been previously attempted. After a variety of
calculations he rejected the proposed plan of

ROBERT FULTON

using paddles or oars, such as those already
used by Fitch ; likewise that of ducks' feet,
which open as they are pushed out and shut as
they are drawn in ; also that of forcing water
out of the stern of the vessel. He retained two
methods as worthy of experiment, namely, end-
less chains with paddle-boards upon them, and
the paddle-wheel. The latter was found to be
the most promising, and was finally adopted
after a number of trials with models on a little
river which runs through the village of Plom-
bieres, to which he had retired in the spring of
1802, to pursue his experiments without inter-
ruption.

It was now determined to build an experimen-

Fulton's First Experiment with Paddle-wheels.

tal boat, which was completed in the spring of
1803 ; but when Fulton was on the point of mak-
ing an experiment with her, an accident hap-
pened to the boat, the woodwork not having

58 ixrExroBS

been framed strongly enough to bear the weight
of the machinery and the agitation of the river.
The accident did the machinery very little in-
jury : but they were obliged to build the boat al-
most entirely anew. She was completed in July :
her lenofth was sixtv-six feet and she was eisfht
feet wide. Early in August, Fulton addressed a
letter to the French National Institute, inviting
the members to witness a trial of his boat, which
was made before the members, and in the pres-
ence of a great multitude of Parisians. The
experiment was entirely satisfactory to Fulton,
though the boat did not move altogether with
as much speed as he expected. But he imputed
her moving so slowly to the extremely defective
machinery, and to imperfections which were to
be expected in the first experiment with so com-
plicated a machine : the defects were such as
might be easily remedied.

Such entire confidence did he acquire from
this experiment that immediately afterward
he Avrote to Messrs. Boulton & Watt, of Bir-
mingham, England, ordering certain parts of a
steam-engine to be made for him, and sent to
America. He did not disclose to them for
what purpose the engine was intended, but his
directions were such as would produce the
parts of an engine that might be put together
within a compass suited for a boat. Mr. Liv-
ingston had written to his friends in this coun-
try, and through their assistance an act was
passed by the Legislature of the State of New
York, on April 5, 1803, by which the rights

ROBERT FULTON 59

and exclusive privileges of navigating all the
waters of that State, by vessels propelled by
fire or steam, granted to Livingston by the Act
of 1798, as already mentioned, were extended to
Livingston and Fulton, for the term of twenty
years from the date of the new act. By this
law the time of producing proof of the prac-
ticability of propelling by steam a boat of
twenty tons capacity, at the rate of four miles
an hour, with and against the ordinary current
of the Hudson, was extended two years, and
by a subsequent law, the time was extended to
1807.

Very soon after Fulton's arrival in New York
he began building his first American boat.
While she was constructing, he found that her
cost would greatly exceed his calculations. He
endeavored to lessen the pressure on his own
finances by offering one-third of the rights for a
proportionate contribution to the expense. It
was generally known that he made this offer,
but no one was then willing to afford aid to his
enterprise.

In the spring of 1807, Fulton's first American
boat was launched from the shipyard of Charles
Brown, on the East River. The engine from
England was put on board, and in August she
was completed, and was moved by her ma-
chinery from her birthplace to the Jersey shore.
Livingston and Fulton had invited many of
their friends to witness the first trial, among
them Dr. Mitchell and Dr. M'Neven, to whom
we are indebted for some account of what

60 lyvByroBS

passed on this occasion. Nothing could exceed
the surprise and admiration of all who wit-
nessed the experiment. The minds of the most
incredulous were changed in a few minutes.
Before the boat had gone a quarter of a mile,
the greatest unbeliever must have been con-
verted. The man who, while he looked on the
expensive machine, thanked his stars that he
had more wisdom than to waste his monev on
such idle schemes, changed his mind as the boat
moved from the wharf and gained speed, and
his complacent expression gradually stiffened
into one of wonder.

This boat, Avhich was called the Clermont,
soon after made a trip to Albany. Fulton gives
the following account of this voyage in a letter
to his friend, Mr. Barlow :

•' Mv steamboat voyage to Albany and back,
has turned out rather more favorable than I had
calculated. The distance from New York to
Albany is one hundred and fifty miles ; I ran
it up in thirty-two hours, and down in thirty.
I had a light breeze against me the whole way,
both going and coming, and the voyage has been
performed wholly by the power of the steam-
engine. I overtook many sloops and schooners
beating to windward, and parted with them as if
thevhad been at anchor. The power of propel-
ling boats bv steam is now fully proved. The
morning I left New York there were not, perhaps,
thirtv persons in the citv who believed that the
boat would even move one mile an hour, or be of
the least utility ; and while we were putting off

ROBERT FULTON 61

from the wharf, which was crowded with specta-
tors, I heard a number of sarcastic remarks.
This is the way in which ignorant men compli-
ment what they call philosophers and projectors.
Having employed much time, money, and zeal, in
accomplishing this work, it gives me, as it will
you, great pleasure to see it fully answer my ex-
pectations. It will give a cheap and quick con-
veyance to the merchandise on the Mississippi,
Missouri, and other great rivers, which are now
laying open their treasures to the enterprise
of our countrymen ; and although the prospect
of personal emolument has been some induce-
ment to me, yet I feel infinitely more pleasure in
reflecting on the immense advantage that my
country will derive from the invention."

Soon after this successful voyage, the Hudson
boat was advertised and established as a regular
passage-boat between New York and Albany.
She, however, in the course of the season, met
with several accidents, from the hostility of
those engaged in the ordinary navigation of the
river, and from defects in her machinery, the
greatest of which was having her water-wheel
shafts of cast-iron, which was insufficient to sus-
tain the great power applied to them. The
wheels also were hung without any support for
the outward end of the shaft, which is now
supplied by what are called the wheel-guards.

At the session of 1808 a law was passed to
prolong the time of the exclusive right to thirty
years ; it also declared combinations to destroy
the boat, or wilful attempts to injure her, public

62 INVENTORS

offences, punishable by fine and imprisonment.
Notwithstanding her misfortunes, the boat con-
tinued to run as a packet, always loaded with
passengers, for the remainder of the summer.
In the course of the ensuing winter she was
enlarged, and in the spring of 1808 she again
began running as a packet-boat, and continued it
through the season. Several other boats were
soon built for the Hudson River, and also for
steamboat companies formed in different parts
of the United States. On February 11, 1809, Ful-
ton took out a patent for his inventions in navi-
gation by steam, and on February 9, 181 1, he ob-
tained a second patent for some improvements in
his boats and machinery.

About the year 181 2 two steam ferry-boats
were built under the direction of Fulton for
crossing the Hudson River, and one of the same
description for the East River. These boats
were what are called twin-boats, each of them
being two complete hulls united by a deck or
bridge. They were sharp at both ends, and
moved equally well with either end foremost, so
that they crossed and recrossed without losing
any time by turning about. He contrived, with
great ingenuity, floating docks for the reception
of these boats, and a means by which they were
brought to them without a shock. These boats,
were the first of a fleet which has since carried
hundreds of millions of passengers to and from
New York.

From the time the first boat was put in motion
till the death of Fulton, the art of navigating by

ROBERT FULTON 63

steam advanced rapidly to that perfection of
which he believed it capable; the boats per-
formed each successive trip with increased
speed, and every year improvements were made.
The last boat built by Fulton was invariably the
best, the most convenient, and the swiftest.

At the beginning of 1814 a number of the citi-
zens of New York, alarmed at the exposed situa-
tion of their harbor, had assembled with a view
to consider whether some measures might not be
taken to aid the Government in its protection.
This assembly had some knowledge of Fulton's
plans for submarine attack, and knew that he
contemplated other means of defence. It de-
puted a number of gentlemen to act for it, and
these were called the Coast and Harbor Com-
mittee. Fulton exhibited to this committee the
model and plans for a vessel of war, to be pro-
pelled by steam, capable of carrying a strong
battery, with furnaces for red-hot shot, and
which, he represented, would move at the rate
of four miles an hour. The confidence of the
committee in this design was confirmed by the
opinions of many of our most distinguished
naval commanders, which he had obtained in
writing, and exhibited to the committee. They
pointed out many advantages which a steam
vessel of war would possess over those with sails
only.

The National Legislature passed a law in
March, 18 14, authorizing the President of the
United States to cause to be built, equipped, and
employed one or more floating batteries for the

64 INVENTORS

defence of the waters of the United States. A
sub-committee of five gentlemen was appointed
to superintend the building of the proposed
vessel, and Fulton, whose spirit animated the
whole enterprise, was appointed the engineer.
In June, 1814, the keel of this novel and mighty
engine was laid, and in October she was launched
from the New York yard of Adam and Noah
Brown. The scene exhibited on this occasion
was magnificent. It happened on one of our
bright autumnal days. Multitudes of spectators
crowded the surrounding shores. The river and
bay were filled with vessels of war, dressed in
all their colors in compliment to the occasion.
By ]May, 181 5, her engine was put on board, and
she was so far completed as to afford an oppor-
tunity of trying her machinery. On the 4th of
July, in the same year, the steam-frigate made
a passage to the ocean and back, a distance of
fifty-three miles, in eight hours and twenty
minutes, by the mere force of steam. In Sep-
tember she made another passage to the sea,
and having at this time the weight of her whole
armament on board, she went at the rate of five
and a half miles an hour, upon an average,
with and against the tide. The superintending
committee gave in their report a full description
of the Fulton the First, the honored name this
vessel bore.

The last work in which the active and in-
genious mind of Fulton was engaged was a proj-
ect for the modification of his submarine boat.
He presented a model of this vessel to the Gov-

ROBERT FULTON

ernment, by which it was approved ; and under
Federal authority he began building- one; but
before the hull was entirely finished his country

^^g>(§) . ]} ,...,Jli

The " Demoiogos," or "Fulton the First."
The first steam vessel-of-war in the world.

had to lament his death, and the mechanics he
employed were incapable of proceeding without
him.

During the whole time that Fulton had thus
been devoting his talents to the service of his
5

66 INVENTORS

country, he had been harassed by lawsuits and
controversies with those who were violating his
patent rights, or intruding upon his exclusive
grants. The State of New Jersey had passed a
law which operated against Fulton, without be-
ing of much advantage to those interested in its
passage, inasmuch as the laws of New York pre-
vented any but Fulton's boats to approach the
city of New York. Its only operation was to stop
a boat owned in New York, which had been for
several years running to New Brunswick, under
a license from Messrs. Livingston and Fulton.
A bold attempt was therefore made to induce
the Legislature of the State of New York to re-
peal the laws which they had passed for the pro-
tection of their exclusive grant to Livingston
and Fulton. The committee reported that such
repeal might be passed consistently with good
faith, honor, and justice! This report being
made to the House, it was prevailed upon to be
less precipitate than the committee had been. It
gave time, which the committee would not do,
for Fulton to be sent for from New York. The
Assembly and Senate in joint session examined
witnesses, and heard him and the petitioner by
counsel. The result Avas that the Legislature
refused to repeal the prior law, or to pass any
act on the subject. The Legislature of the State
of New Jersey also repealed their law, which
left Fulton in the full enjoyment of his rights.
This enjoyment was of very short duration; for
on returning from Trenton, after this last trial,
he was exposed on the Hudson, which was very

nOBEBT FULTON 67

full of ice, for several hours. He had not a con-
stitution to encounter such exposure, and upon
his return found himself much indisposed. He
had at that time great anxiety about the steam-
frigate, and, after confining himself to the house
for a few days, went to give his superintendence
to the workmen employed about her. Forget-
ting his ill-health in the interest he took in what
was doing on the frigate, he remained too long
exposed on a bad day to the weather. He soon
felt the effects of this imprudence. His indis-
position returned upon him Avith such violence
as to confine him to his bed. His illness in-
creased, and on February 24, 181 5, it ended his
life.

It was not known that Fulton's illness was
dangerous till a very short time before his death.
Means were immediately taken to testify, pub-
licly, the universal regret at his loss, and respect
for his memory. The corporation of the city of
New York, the different literary institutions and
other societies, assembled and passed resolutions
expressing their estimation of his worth, and re-
gret at his loss. They also resolved to attend
his funeral, and that the members should wear
badges of mourning for a certain time. As soon
as the Legislature, which was then in session at
Albany, heard of the death of Fulton, they ex-
pressed their participation in the general senti-
ment by resolving that the members of both
Houses should wear mourning for some weeks.

In 1806 Fulton married Harriet Livingston, a
daughter of Walter Livingston, a relative of his

INVESTORS

associate, Chancellor Livingston. He left four
children ; one son, Robert Barlow Fulton, and
three daughters. Fulton was in person consid-
erably above -medium height ; his face showed
great intelligence. Natural refinement and long
intercourse with the most polished society of
Europe and America had given him grace and
elegance of manner.

The Clermont.

III.

ELI WHITNEY.

In 1784 an American vessel arrived at Liver-
pool having on board, as part of her cargo, eight
bags of cotton, which were seized by the Custom-
House under the conviction that they could not
be the growth of America. The whole amount
of cotton arriving at Liverpool from America
during the two following years was less than
one hundred and twenty bags. When Eli Whit-
ney, the inventor of the cotton-gin, applied for
his first patent in 1793, the total export of cotton
from the United States was less than ten thou-
sand bales. Fifty years later, the growth of this
industry, owing almost wholly to Whitney's
gin, had increased to millions of bales, and by
i860, the export amounted to four million bales.

According to the estimate of Judge Johnson,
given in the most famous decision affecting the
cotton-gin, the debts of the South were paid off
by its aid, its capital was increased, and its lands
trebled in value. This famous device, the gift
of a young Northerner to the South, was re-
warded by thirty years of ingratitude, relieved
only by a few gleams of sunshine in the way of
justice, serving to make the injustice all the
more conspicuous. Whitney added hundreds
of millions to the wealth of the United States.

Eli Whitney.

ELI WHITNEY 71

His personal reward was countless lawsuits and
endless vexation of body and spirit. No more
conspicuous example can be cited of steady pa-
tience and sweet-tempered perseverance.

Eli. Whitney was born in Westborough, Wor-
cester County, Mass., December 8, 1765. His
parents belonged to that respectable class of so-
ciety who, by honest farming and kindred indus-
tries, managed to provide well for the rising
family — the class from whom have arisen most of
those who in New England have attained to emi-
nence and usefulness. The indications of his
mechanical genius were noted at an early age.
Of his passion for mechanics, his sister gives
the following account :

" Our father had a workshop and sometimes
made wheels of different kinds, and chairs. He
had a variety of tools and a lathe for turning
chair-posts. This gave my brother an oppor-
tunity of learning the use of tools when very
young. He lost no time, but as soon as he could
handle tools he was always making something
in the shop, and seemed to prefer that to work
on the farm. After the death of our mother,
when our father had been absent from home two
or three days, on his return he inquired of the
housekeeper what the boys had been doing. She
told him what the elders had done. ' But what
has Eli been doing ? ' said he. She replied he
has been making a fiddle. ' Ah ! ' added he, de-
spondently, ' I fear Eli will have to take his por-
tion in fiddles.' "

72 INVEXTORS

He was at this time about twelve years old.
The sister adds that his fiddle was finished
throughout like a common violin and made
pretty good music. It was examined by many
persons, and all pronounced it to be a model
piece of work for such a boy. From this time
he was always employed to repair violins, and
did many nice jobs that were executed to the
entire satisfaction and even to the astonishment
of his customers. His father's watch being the
greatest piece of mechanism that had yet pre-
sented itself to his observation, he was extremely
desirous of examining its interior construction,
but was not permitted to do so. One Sunday
morning, observing that his father was going to
church and would leave at home the wonderful
little machine, he feigned illness as an apology for
not going. As soon as the family were out of
sight, he flew to the room where the watch hung
and took it down. He was so delighted with its
motion that he took it to pieces before he thought
of the consequences of his rash deed ; for his
father was a stern parent, and punishment would
have been the reward of his idle curiosity, had the
mischief been detected. He, however, put the
works so neatly together that his father never
discovered his audacity until he himself told him
many years afterward.

When Eli was thirteen years old his father
married a second time. His stepmother, among
her articles of furniture, had a handsome set of
table-knives that she valued very highly.

One day Eli said : '' I could make as good ones

ELI WHITNEY 73

if I had tools, and I could make the tools if I
had common tools to begin with ; " his mother
laughed at him. But it so happened soon after-
ward that one of the knives was broken, and he
made one exactly like it in every respect, except
the stamp of the blade. When he was fifteen or
sixteen years of age, he suggested to his father
an enterprise which clearly showed his capacity
for important work. The time being the Revo-
lutionary War, nails were in great demand and at
high prices. They were made chiefly by hand.
Whitney proposed to his father to get him a few
tools and allow him to set up the manufacture
of nails. His father consented, and the work
was begun. By extraordinary diligence he
found time to make tools for his own use and to
put in knife-blades, repair farm machinery, and
perform other little jobs beyond the skill of the
country workman. At this occupation the en-
terprising boy worked alone with great success
and with large profit to his father for two win-
ters, going on with the ordinary work of the
farm during the summer. He devised a plan for
enlarging the business, and managed to obtain
help from a fellow-laborer whom he picked up
when on a short journey of forty miles, in the
course of which he tells us that he called at every
workshop on the Avay and gleaned all the infor-
mation as to tools and methods that he could.

At the close of the war the business of making
nails was no longer profitable ; but the fashion
prevailing among the ladies of fastening on their
bonnets with long pins having appeared, he con-

74 lyvEyroBS

trived to make these pins with such skill that he
nearly monopolized the business, though he de-
voted to it only such leisure as he could redeem
from the occupations of the farm. He also made
excellent walking-canes. At the age of nineteen
Whitney conceived the idea of getting a liberal
education ; and partly by the results of his me-
chanical industries, and partly by teaching the
village school, he was enabled so far to surmount
the difficulties in his way as to prepare himself
for the Freshman Class in Yale College, which he
entered in 1789. At college his mechanical pro-
pensity frequently showed itself. He success-
fully undertook, on one occasion, the repairing
of some of the philosophical apparatus. Soon
after taking his degree, in the autumn of 1792,
he eno:ao:ed with a Georma famiiv as private
teacher, and through his engagement he made
the acquaintance of a certain General Greene, of
Savannah, who took a deep interest in him, and
with whom he began the study of law. While
livinsr with the Greenes he noticed an embroid-
erv- frame used by Mrs. Greene, and about
which she complained, observing that it tore the
delicate threads of her work. Young Whitney,
ea^er to oblisre his hostess, went to work and
speedilv produced a frame on an entirely new
plan. The famiiv were much delighted with it,
and considered it a wonderful piece of inge-
nuity.

Not long afterward the Greenes were visited
by a party of gentlemen, chiefly officers who had
served under the general in the Revolutionary

ELI WIIITKEY

War. The conversation turned on the state of
agriculture. It was remarked that unfortunately
there was no means of cleaning the staple of
the green cotton-seed, which might otherwise be
profitably raised on land unsuitable for rice. But
until someone devised a machine which would
clean the cotton, it was vain to think of raising

Whitney Watching the Cotton-Gin.

it for market. Separating one pound of the
clean staple from the seed was a day's work for
a Avoman. The time usually devoted to the pick-
ing of cotton was the evening, after the labor of
the field was over. Then the slaves — men, wom-
en, and children — were collected in circles, with
one in the middle whose duty it was to rouse
the dosing and quicken the indolent. While
the company were engaged in this conversation,
Mrs. Greene said : '' Gentlemen, apply to my

76 INVENTORS

young friend here, ]Mr. Whitney ; he can make
anything." And she showed them the frame and
several other articles he had made. He mod-
estly disclaimed all pretensions to mechanical
genius, and replied that he had never seen cot-
ton-seed.

Nevertheless, he immediately began upon the
task of inventing and constructing the machine
on which his fame depends. A Mr. Phineas
Miller, a neighbor, to whom he communicated
his design, warmly encouraged him, and gave
him a room in his house wherein to carry on his
operations. Here he began work with the dis-
advantage of being obliged to manufacture his
own tools and draw his own wire — an article not
to be found in Savannah. Mr. Miller and Mrs.
Greene were the only persons wdio knew any-
thing of his occupation. Near the close of the
winter, 1793, the machine was so far completed
as to leave no doubt of its success. The person
who contributed most to the success of the un-
dertaking, after the inventor, was his friend.
Miller, a native of Connecticut and a graduate of
Yale. Like Whitney, he had come to Georgia
as a private teacher, and after the death of Gen-
eral Greene he married the widow. He was a
lawyer by profession, with a turn for mechanics.
He had some money and proposed to Whitney
to become his partner, he to be at the whole
expense of manufacturing the invention until
it should be patented. If the machine should
succeed, they agreed that the profits and ad-
vantages should be divided between them. A

ELI WHITNEY 77

legal paper covering this agreement and estab-
lishing the firm of i^liller & Whitney, bears the
date of May 27, 1793.

An invention so important to the agricultural
interests of the country could not long remain a
secret. The knowledge of it swept through the
State, and so great was the excitement on the
subject that crowds of persons came from all
parts to see the machine ; it was not deemed safe
to gratify curiosity until the patent-right should
be secured. But so determined were som.e of
these people that neither law nor justice could
restrain them ; they broke into the building by
night and carried off the machine. In this way
the public became possessed of the invention,
and before Whitney could complete his model
and secure his patent, a number of machines,
patterned after his, were in successful operation.

The principle of the Whitney cotton-gin and
all other gins following its features is so well
known as to make it scarcely worth w^hile to de-
scribe it here. The different parts are two cylin-
ders of different diameters, mounted in a strong
wooden frame, one cylinder bearing a number
of circular saws fitted into grooves cut into the
cylinder. The other hollow cylinder is mounted
with brushes, the tips of whose bristles touch
the saw-teeth. The cotton is put into a hopper,
Avhere it is met by the sharp teeth of the saws,
torn from the seed, and carried t.o a point where
the brushes sweep it off into a convenient recep-
tacle. The seeds are too large to pass between
the bars through which the saws protrude. Tliis

INVENTORS

is the principle of the first machine, but many
improvements have been made since Whitney's
day. Nevertheless, by means of the cotton-gin,
even in its earliest shape, one man, with the aid
of two-horse power, could clean five thousand
pounds of cotton in a day.

The Cotton-Gin.
(From the original model.)

As soon as the partnership of Miller & Whit-
ney was formed, the latter went to Connecticut
to perfect the machine, obtain the patent, and
manufacture for Georgia as many machines as
he thought would supply the demand. At once
there began between Whitney in Connecticut
and Miller in Georgia a correspondence relative

ELI WHITNEY 70

to the cotlon-gin, which gives a complete history
of the extraordinary efforts made by the two
partners and the disappointments that fell to
their lot. The very first letter, written three
days after Whitney left, announces that en-
croachments upon their rights had already be-
gun. '' It will be necessary," says Miller, " to
have a considerable number of gins in readiness
to send out as soon as the patent is obtained in
order to satisfy the absolute demands and make
people's heads easy on the subject ; for I am in-
formed of two other claimants for the honor of
the invention of the cotton-gin in addition to
those we knew before." At the close of the year
1793 Whitney was to return to Georgia with
his gins, where his partner had made arrange-
ments for beginning business. The importunity
of Miller's letters, written during this period,
urging him to come on, show how eager the
Georgia planters were to enter the new field of
enterprise that the genius of Whitney had
opened to them. Nor did they at first contem-
plate stealing the invention. But the minds of
even the more honorable among the planters
were afterward deluded by various artifices set
on foot by designing rivals of Whitney with a
view to robbing him of his rights. One of the
greatest difficulties experienced by the partners
was the extreme scarcity of money, which em-
barrassed them so much as to make it impos-
sible to construct machines fast enough.

In April Whitney returned to Georgia.
Large crops of cotton had been planted, the

80 INVENTORS

profits ol which were to depend ahiiost wholly
on the snccess of the gin. A formidable com-
petitor, the roller-gin, had also appeared, which
destroyed the seed by means of rollers, crushing
them between revolving C3dinders instead of dis-
engaging them by means of teeth. The frag-
ments of seeds which remained in the cotton
made it much inferior to Whitney's gin, and it
was slower in operation. A still more danger-
ous rival appeared in 1795, under the name of
the saw-gin. It was really Whitney's invention,
except that the teeth were cut in circular rings
of iron instead of being made of wire, as in the
earlier forms of the Whitney gin. The use of
such teeth had occurred to Whitney, as he es-
tablished by legal proof. They would have been
of no use except in connection with other parts
of his machine, and it was a palpable attempt to
invade his patent right. It was chiefly in refer-
ence to this device that the- endless lawsuits that
w^ore the life out of the partners were afterward
held.

In March, 1795, after two years of struggle,
during which no progress seems to have been
made, although the value of the gin was proved,
Whitney went to New York, where he was de-
tained three weeks by fever. Upon reaching
New Haven he discovered that his shop, with
all his machines and papers, had been consumed
by fire. Thus he was suddenl}^ reduced to bank-
ruptcy and w^asin debt $4,000 without any means
of payment. He was not, however, one to sink
under such trials. Miller showed the same buoy-

?:LI WHITXEY 81

ant spirit, and the lollowing extract of a letter of
his to Whitney may be a useful lesson to young
men in trouble :

*' I think we ought to meet such events with
equanimity. We have been pursuing a valuable
object by honorable means, and I trust that all
our measures have been such as reason and virt-
ue must justify. It has pleased Providence to
postpone the attainment of this object. In the
midst of the reflections which your story has sug-
gested, and with feelings keenly awake to the
heavy, the extensive injury we have sustained, I
feel a secret joy and satisfaction that you pos-
sess a mind in this respect similar to my ow^n —
that you are not disheartened, that you do not
relinquish the pursuit, and that you will perse-
vere, and endeavor, at all events, to attain the
main object. This is exactly consonant to my
own determinations. I will devote all my time,
all my thoughts, all my exertions, and all the
money I can earn or borrow to encompass and
complete the business we have undertaken ; and if
fortune should, by any future disaster, deny us the
boon we ask, we will at least deserve it. It shall
never be said that we have lost an object which
a little perseverance could have attained. I think,
indeed, it will be very extraordinar}^ if two young
men in the prime of life, with some share of inge-
nuity, and with a little knowledge of the world, a
great deal of industry, and a considerable com-
mand of property, should not be able to sustain
such a stroke of misfortune as this, heavy as it is."
6

82 INVENTORS

Miller winds up b}' suggesting to Whitney
that perhaps he can get help in New Haven by
offering twelve per cent, a year for money with
which to build a new shop, and the inventor
seems to have had some success in reorganizing
his affairs, even under such desperate conditions.
Word came at the same time from England that
manufacturers had condemned the cotton cleaned
by their machines on the ground that the staple
was greatly injured. This threatened a death-
blow to their hopes. At the time, 1796, they al-
ready had thirty gins at different places in
Georgia, some worked by horses and oxen and
some by water. Some of these were still stand-
ing a few years ago. The following extract of
a letter by Whitney will show the state of his
mind and affairs :

" The extreme embarrassments which have
been for a long time accumulating upon me are
now become so great that it will be impossible
for me to struggle against them many days
longer. It has required ni}- utmost exertions
to exist without making the least progress in
our business. I have labored hard against the
strong current of disappointment which has been
threatening to carry us down the cataract, but I
have labored with a shattered oar and struggled
in vain, unless some speedy relief is obtained.
Life is but short at best, and- six or
seven years out of the midst of it is to him who
makes it an immense sacrifice. My most unre-
mitted attention has been devoted to our busi-

ELI WJIITNEY 83

ness. 1 ha\'c sacrificed to it other objects from
which, l^elore this time, 1 might certainly have
gained §20,000 or $30,000. My whole prospects
have been embarked in it, with the expectation
that I should before this time have realized some-
thing from it."

The cotton of Whitne3''s gin was, however,
sought by merchants in preference to other
kinds, and respectable manufacturers testified in
his favor. Had it not been for the extensive and
shameful violations of their patent -right, the
partners might yet have succeeded ; but these
encroachments had become so extensive as al-
most to destroy its value. The issue of the first
important trial that they were able to obtain on
the merits of the gin is announced in the follow-
ing letter from Miller to Whitney, dated May
II, 1797:

*' The event of the first patent suit, after all
our exertions made in such a variety of ways,
has gone against us. The preposterous custom
of trying civil causes of this intricacy and mag-
nitude by a common jur}^ together with the im-
perfection of the patent law, frustrated all our
views, and disappointed expectations which had
become very sanguine. The tide of popular
opinion was running in our favor, the judge was
well disposed toward us, and many decided
friends were with us, who adhered firmly to our
cause and interests. The judge gave a charge
to the jury pointedly in our favor; after which
the defendant himself told an acquaintance of

84 lyVKNTORS

his that he would ij^ivc two thousand dollars
to be free from the verdict, and yet the jury
gave it against us, after a consultation of about
an hour. And having made the verdict general,
no appeal would lie.

'' On Monday morning, when the verdict was
rendered, we applied for a new trial, but the
judge refused it to us on the ground that the jury
might have made up their opinion on the defect
of the law, which makes an aggression consist of
making, devising, and using or selling ; whereas
we could only charge the defendant with using.

'' Thus, after four years of assiduous labor,
fatigue, and difficulty, are we again set afloat by
a new and most unexpected obstacle. Our hopes
of success are now removed to a period still
more distant than before, while our expenses are
realized beyond all controversy."

Great efforts were made to obtain trial in a
second suit in Savannah the following May, and
a number of witnesses were collected from vari-
ous parts of the country, all to no purpose, for
the judge failed to appear, and in the meantime,
owing to the failure of the first suit, encroach-
ments on the patent -right had multiplied pro-
digiously.

In April, 1799, nearly a year later, and two
years after their first legal rebuff, Miller writes
as follows :

'' The prospect of making anything by gin-
ning in this State is at an end. Surreptitious gins
are erected in every part of the country, and the

ELI WniTNEV .S5

jurymen at Augusta have come to an under-
standing among themselves that they will never
give a cause in our favor, let the merits of the
case be as they ma3^"

The company would now have gladly relin-
quished the plan of making their own machines,
and confined their operations to the sale of patent-
rights ; but few would buy the right to a machine
which could be used with impunity without pur-
chase, and those few usually gave notes instead
of cash, which they afterward, to a great extent,
avoided paying, either by obtaining a verdict
from the juries declaring them void, or by con-
triving to postpone the collection till they were
barred by the Statute of Limitations, a period of
only four years. The agent of Miller & Whit-
ney, who was despatched on a collecting tour
through the State of Georgia, informed his em-
ployers that such obstacles were thrown in his
way by one or the other of these causes that he
was unable to collect money enough to pay his
expenses. It was suggested that an application
to the Legislature of South Carolina to purchase
the patent-right for that State would be success-
ful. Whitney accordingly repaired to Colum-
bia, and the business was brought before the
Legislature in December, 1801. An extract from
a letter by Whitney at this time shows the nat-
ure of the contract thus made :

" I have been at this place a little more than
two weeks attending the Legislature. A few
hours previous to their adjournment the}- voted

S6 inventors;

to purchase for the vStatc of Scnilh Carolina my
patent-right to the machine for cleaning cotton
at $50,000, of which sum $20,000 is to be paid
in hand, and the remainder in three annual pay-
ments of $10,000 each." He adds: " We get
but a song for it in comparison with the worth
of the thing, but it is securing something. It
will enable Miller & Whitney to pay their debts
and divide something between them."

In December, 1802, Whitney negotiated the
sale of his patent-right with the State of North
Carolina. The Legislature laid a tax of 2s. 6d.
upon every saw (some of the gins had forty saws)
employed in ginning cotton, to be continued for
five years ; and after deducting the expenses
of collection the returns were faithfully passed
over to the patentee. This compensation was
regarded by Whitney as more liberal than that
received from any other saurce. About the
same time Mr. Goodrich, the agent of the com-
pany, entered into a similar negotiation with
Tennessee, which State had by this time be-
gun to realize the importance of the invention.
The Legislature passed a law laying a tax of 37-J
cents per annum on every saw used, for the
period of four years. Thus far the prospects
were growing favorable to the patentees, when
the Legislature of South Carolina unexpectedly
annulled the contract which they had made, sus-
pended further payment of the balance, and sued
for the refunding of what had been already
paid. When Whitney first heard of the trans-

ELI WHITNEY 87

actions of the South Carolina Legislature, he
was at Raleigh, where he had just completed
a negotiation with the Legislature of North
Carolina. In a letter written to Miller at this
time, he remarks :

*' I am, for my own part, more vexed than
alarmed by their extraordinary proceedings. I
think it behooves us to be very cautious and
very circumspect in our measures, and even in
our remarks with regard to it. Be cautious what
you say or publish till we meet our enemies in
a court of justice, where, if they have any sen-
sibility left, we will make them very much
ashamed of their childish conduct."

But that Whitney felt keenly the severities
afterward practised against him is evident from
the tenor of the remonstrance which he pre-
sented to the Legislature :

'' The subscriber avers that he has manifested
no other than a disposition to fulfil all the stipu-
lations entered into with the State of South
Carolina with punctuality and good faith ; and
he begs leave to observe further, that to have in-
dustriously, laboriously, and exclusively devoted
many years of the prime of his life to the inven-
tion and the improvement of a machine from
which the citizens of South Carolina have already
realized immense profits, which is worth to them
millions, and from which their prosperity must
continue to derive the most important profits, and
in return to be treated as a felon, a swindler, and

88 INVENTORS

a villain, has stung him to the very soul. And
when he considers that this cruel persecution is
inflicted by the very persons who are enjoying
these great benefits, and expressly for the pur-
pose of preventing his ever deriving the least
advantage from his own labors, the acuteness of
his feelings is altogether inexpressible."

Doubts, it seems, had arisen in the public mind
as to the validity of the patent. Great exer-
tions had been made in -Georgia, where, it will
be remembered, hostilities were first declared
against him, to show that his title to the inven-
tion was unsound, and that '' somebody " in
Switzerland had conceived it before him ; and
that the improved form of the machine with
saws, instead of wire teeth, did not come within
the patent, having been introduced by one
Hodgin Holmes. The popular voice, stimulated
by the most sordid methods, was now raised
against Whitney throughout all the cotton States.
Tennessee followed the example of South Caro-
lina, annulling the contract made with him. And
the attempt was made in North Carolina. But a
committee of the Legislature, to whom it was re-
ferred, reported in Whitney's favor, declaring
''that the contract ought to be fulfilled with
punctuality and good faith," which resolution
was adopted by both Houses. There were also
high-minded men in South Carolina who were
indignant at the dishonorable measures adopted
by their Legislature of 1803; their sentiments
impressed the community so la\'orably with re-

ELI WHITNEY 89

gard to Whitney that, at the session of 1804, the
Legislature not only rescinded what the previ-
ous one had done, but signified their respect for
Whitney by marked commendations.

Miller died on December 7, 1803. In the
earlier stages of the enterprise he had indulged
high hopes of a great fortune ; perpetual disap-
pointments appear to have attended him through
life. Whitney was no\v left alone to contend
single-handed against the difficulties which had,
for a series of years, almost broken down the
spirits of the partners. The light, moreover,
which seemed to be breaking, proved but the
twilight of prosperity. The favorable issue of
Whitney's affairs in South Carolina, and the gen-
erous receipts he obtained from his contract
with North Carolina, relieved him, however,
from the embarrassments under which he had
so long groaned, and made him, in some degree,
independent. Still, no small portion of the funds
thus collected in North and South Carolina was
expended in carrying on trials and endless law-
suits in Georgia.

Finally, in the United States Court, held in
Georgia, December, 1807, Whitney's patent ob-
tained a most important decision in its favor
against a trespasser named Fort. It was on this
trial that Judge Johnson gave a most celebrated
decision in the following words :

*' To support the originality of the invention,
the complainants have produced a variety of
depositions of witnesses, examined under com-

90 INVENTORS

mission, whose examinations expressly prove the
origin, progress, and completion of the machine
of Whitney, one of the copartners. Persons who
were made privy to his iirst discovery testify to
the several experiments which he made in their
presence before he ventured to expose his in-
vention to the scrutin}^ of the public eye. But it
is not necessary to resort to such testimony to
maintain this point. The jealousy of the artist
to maintain that reputation which his ingenuity
has justly acquired, has urged him to unneces-
sary pains on this subject. There are circum-
stances in the knowledge of all mankind which
prove the originality of this invention more satis-
factorily to the mind than the direct testimony
of a host of witnesses. The cotton-plant fur-
nished clothing to mankind before the age of
Herodotus. The green seed is a species much
more productive than the black, and by nature
adapted to a much greater variety of climate,
but by reason of the strong adherence of the
fibre to the seed, without the aid of some more
powerful machine for separating it than any for-
merly known among us, the cultivation of it
would never have been made an object. The
machine of which Mr. Whitney claims the inven-
tion so facilitates the preparation of this species
for use that the cultivation of it has suddenly
become an object of infinitely greater national
importance than that of the other species ever
can be. Is it, then, to be imagined that if this
machine had been before discovered, the use of
it would ever have been lost, or could have been

ELI WHITNEY 91

confined to an}- tract or country left unexplored
by commercial enterprise ? But it is unnecessary
to remark further upon this subject. A number
of years have elapsed since ^Nlr. Whitney took
out his patent, and no one has produced or pre-
tended to prove the existence of a machine of
similar construction or use.

" With regard to the utility of this discovery
the court would deem it a waste of time to dwell
long upon this topic. Is there a man who hears
us who has not experienced its utility ? The
whole interior of the Southern States was lan-
guishing and its inhabitants emigrating for want
of some object to engage their attention and em-
ploy their industr3\ when the invention of this ma-
chine at once opened views to them which set the
whole country in active motion. From child-
hood to age it has presented to us a lucrative
employment. Our debts have been paid off, our
capitals have increased, and our lands trebled
themselves in value. We cannot express the
weight of the obligation which the country owes
to this invention. The extent of it cannot now
be seen. Some faint presentiment may be
formed from the reflection that cotton is rapid-
ly supplanting wool, flax, silk, and even furs in
manufactures, and may one day profitably sup-
ply the use of specie in our East India trade.
Our sister States also participate in the benefits
of this invention, for besides affording the raw
material for their manufacturers, the bulkiness
and quantity of the article affords a valuable
em})loyment ior their shipping."

92 INVENTORS

The influence of this decision, however, availed
Whitney very little, for the term of his patent
had nearly expired. During Miller's life more
than sixty suits had been instituted in Georgia,
and but a single decision on the merits of the
claim was obtained. In prosecution of his
troublesome business, Whitney had made six
different journeys to Georgia, several of which
were accomplished by land at a time when the
difficulties of such journeys Avere exceedingly
great. A gentleman who w^as well acquainted
with Whitney's affairs in the South, and some-
times acted as his legal adviser, says that in all
his experience in the thorny profession of the
law he never saw a case of such perseverance
under prosecution. He adds : " Nor do I be-
lieve that I ever knew any other man who would
have met them with equal coolness and firmness,
or who would finally have obtained even the
partial success which he did. He always called
on me in New York on his way South when go-
ing to attend his endless trials and to meet the
mischievous contrivances of men who seemed
inexhaustible in their resources of evil. Even
now, after thirty 3'ears, my head aches to rec-
ollect his narratives of new trials, fresh dis-
appointments, and accumulated wrongs."

In 1798 Whitney had become deeply impressed
with the uncertainty of all his hopes founded
upon the cotton-gin, and began to think seriously
of devoting himself to some business in which
his superi(^r ingeniiitv, seconded by uncom-
mon industrw would conduct liim b)' a slow but

ELI WHITNEY 93

sure road to a competent fortune. It may be
considered indicative of solid judgment and a
well-balanced mind that he did not, as is so fre-
quently the case with men of inventive genius,
become so poisoned with the hopes of vast
wealth as to be disqualified for making a reason-
able provision for life by the sober earnings
of private industry. The enterprise which he
selected in accordance with these views was
the manufacture of arms for the United States.
Through Oliver Wolcott, then Secretary of the
Treasury, he obtained a contract for the manu-
facture of 10,000 stand of arms, 4,000 of which
were to be delivered before the last of Septem-
ber of the ensuing year, 1799. Whitney pur-
chased for his works a site called East Rock,
near New Haven, now known as Whitneyville,
and justly admired for the romantic beauty of
its scenerv. A water-fall offered the necessary
power for the machinery.

Here he began operations with great zeal. His
machinery was yet to be built, his material col-
lected, and even his workmen to be taught, and
that in a business with which he was imperfectly
acquainted.

A severe winter retarded his operations and
rendered him incompetent to fulfil the contract.
Only 500 instead of 4,000 stands were delivered
the first year, and eight years instead of two
were found necessary for completing the whole.
During the eight years Whitney was occupied
in performing this work, he applied himself to
business with the most exemplary diligence, ris-

94 INVENTORS

ing every morning as soon as it was day, and at
night setting ev^erything in order in all parts of
the establishment. His genius impressed itself
on every part of the factory, extending even
to the most common tools, most of which re-
ceived some peculiar modification which im-
proved them in accuracy or ef^ciency. His ma-
chines for making the several parts of the musket
were made to operate with the greatest possible
degree of uniformity and precision. The object
at which he aimed, and which he fully accom-
plished, was to make the same parts of different
guns, as the locks, for instance, as much like each
other as the successive impressions of a copper-
plate engraving, and it has generally been con-
sidered that Whitney greatly improved the way
of manufacturing arms and laid his country
under permanent obligations by augmenting
our facilities for national defence. In 1812 he
made a contract to manufacture for the United
States 15,000 stand of arms, and in the mean-
time a similar contract with the State of New
York. Several other persons made contracts
with the Government at about the same time and
attempted the manufacture of muskets. The
result of their efforts was a complete failure,
and in some instances they expended a consider-
able fortune in addition to the amount received
for their work. In 1822 Calhoun, then Secretary
of War, admitted in a conversation with Whit-
ney that the Government was saving $25,000
a year at the public armories alone- by his im-
provements, and it should be remembered that

ELI WlIirNEY 95

the utility of Whitney's labors during this part of
his life was not limited to this particular business.
In 1812 Whitney made application to Congress
for the renewal of his patent for the cotton-gin.
In his memorial he presented the history of the
struggles he had been forced to make in defence
of his rights, observing that he had been unable
to obtain any decision on the merits of his claim
until thirteen years of his patent had expired.
He states also that his invention had been a
source of opulence to thousands of the citizens
of the United States ; that as a labor-saving
machine it would enable one man to perform the
work of a thousand men, and that it furnished to
the whole family of mankind, at a very cheap
rate, the most essential material for their cloth-
ing. Although so great advantages had already
been experienced, and the prospect of future
benefits was so promising, still, many of those
whose interest had been most promoted and the
value of whose property had been most enhanced
by this invention, had obstinately persisted in
refusing to make any compensation to the in-
ventor. From the State in which he had first
made, and where he had first introduced his
machine, and which had derived the most signal
benefits — Georgia — he had received nothing ;
and from no State had he received the amount
of half a cent per pound on the cotton cleaned
with his machines in one year. Estimating the
value of the labor of one man at twenty cents a
day, the whole amount which had been received
bv him for his invention was not equal to the value

96 JXvtjyTOHS

of the labor saved in one hour by his machines
then in use in the United States. He continues:

" It is objected that if the patentee succeeds in
procuring the renewal of his patent he will be
too rich. There is no probability that the pat-
entee, if the term of his patent were extended
for twenty years, would ever obtain for his in-
vention one-half as much as many an individual
will gain by the use of it. Up to the present
time the whole amount of what he had acquired
from this source, after deducting his expenses,
does not exceed one-half the sum which a single
individual has gained by the use of the machine
in one year. It is true that considerable sums
have been obtained from some of the States
where the machine is used, but no small portion
of these sums has been expended in prosecuting
his claim in a State where nothing has been ob-
tained, and where his machine has been used to
the greatest advantage."

Notwithstanding these cogent arguments, the
application was rejected by the courts. Some
liberal-minded and enlightened men from the
cotton districts favored the petition, but a major-
ity of the members from that part of the Union
were warmly opposed to granting it. In a let-
ter to Robert Fulton, Whitney says :

" The difihculties with which I have to contend
have originated, principally, in the want of a dis-
position in mankind to do justice. My invention
was new and distinct from every other ; it stood
alone. It was not interwoven with anything

ELI Wliri'XEY 97

before known ; and il cdii seldom happen thai, an
invention or ini})ro\enient is so strongly marked
and can be so clearly and specifically identified ;
and I have always believed that I should have
no difficulty in causing ni}' right to be respected,
if it had been less valuable, and been used only
by a small portion of the community. But the
use of this machine being immensely profitable
to almost every planter in the cotton districts,
all \vere interested in trespassing upon the patent-
right, and each kept the other in countenance.
Demagogues made themselves popular by mis-
representations and unfounded clamors, both
against the right and against the law made for
its protection. Hence there arose associations
and combinations to oppose both. At one time,
but fe\v men in Georgia dared to come into court
and testify to the most simple facts within their
knowledge, relative to the use of the machine. In
one instance I had great difficulty in proving that
the machine had been used in Georgia, although
at the same moment there were three separate
sets of this machinery in motion within fifty yards
of the building in which the court sat, and all so
near that the rattling of the wheels was distinct-
ly heard on the steps of the court-house."

Such perseverance, patience, and uncommon
skill were not, however, to go wholly unre-
warded. Whitney's factory of arms in New
Haven made money for him, and the Southern
States were not all guilty of ingratitude. More-
over, in his private life he was extremely fortu-

98 INVENTORS

natc. In January, 1817, he married Henrietta
Edwards, the youngest daughter of Judge Pier-
pont Edwards, of Connecticut. A son and three
daughters contributed to the sunshine of the
close of a somewhat stormy and eventful life.
His last years were his happiest. He found
prosperity and honor in New Haven, where he
died on January 8, 1825, after a tedious illness.

In person Whitney was of more than usual
height, with much dignity of manner and an
open, pleasant face. Among his particular
friends no man was more esteemed. Some of
the earliest of his intimate associates were among
the latest. His sense of honor was high, and his
feeling of resentment and indignation under in-
justice correspondingly strong. He could, how-
ever, be cool when his opponents were hot, and
his strong sense of the injuries he had suffered
did not impair the natural serenity of his temper.
The value of his famous invention has so steadily
grown that its money importance to this country
can scarcely be estimated in figuixs. His tomb
in New Haven is after a model of that of Scipio,
at Rome, and bears the following inscription :

ELI WHITNEY,
The Inventor of the Cotton-Gin.

OF USEFUL SCIENCE AND ARTS, THE EFFICIENT PATRON

AND IMPROVER.
IN THE SOCIAL RELATIONS OF LIFE, A MODEL OF EXCEL-
LENCE.

while private affection weeps at his tomb, his

country honors his memory.

Born Dec 8, 1765. Died Jan. 8, 1825.

IV.

ELIAS HOWE.

In looking- over the history of great inventions
it is remarkable how uniformly those discoveries
that helped mankind most have been derided,
abused, and opposed by the very classes which
in the end they were destined to bless. Nearly
every great invention has had literally to be
forced into popular acceptance. The bowmen
of the Middle Ages resisted the introduction of
the musket ; the sedan-chair carriers would not
allow hackney carriages to be used ; the stage-
coach lines attempted by all possible devices to
block the advance of the railway. When, in
1707, Dr. Papin showed his first rude conception
of a steamboat, it was seized by the boatmen, who
feared that it would deprive them of a living.
Kay was mobbed in Lancashire when he tried to
introduce his fly-shuttle ; Hargreaves had his
spinning-frame destroyed b}^ a Blackburn mob ;
Crampton had to hide his spinning-mule in a
lumber-room for fear of a similar fate ; Arkwright,
the inventor of the spinning -frame, was de-
nounced as the enem}^ of the working- classes
and his mill destroyed ; Jacquard narrowly es-
caped being thrown into the river Rhone by a
crowd of furious weavers when his new loom

Elias Howe

ELIA^ HOWE 101

was first put into operation ; Cartwright had to
abandon his power-loom for years because of
the bitter animosity of the weavers toward it.
Riots were organized in Nottingham against
the use of the stocking-loom.

It is not therefore surprising that the greatest
labor-saving machine of domestic life, the sew-
ing-machine, should have been received with any-
thing but thanks. Howe was abused, ridiculed,
and denounced as the enemy of man, and espe-
cially of poor sewing-women, the very class whose
toil he has done so much to lighten. Curses in-
stead of blessings were showered upon him dur-
ing the first years that followed the successful
working of his wonderful machine. Fortunately
for the inventor, the age of persecution had al-
most passed, and Howe lived to receive the re-
wards he so fully deserved.

Elias Howe, Jr., was born in Spencer, Mass., in
1819, His father was a farmer and miller, and
the eight children of the family,* as was common
with all poor people of the time, were early
taught to do light work of one kind or another.
When Elias was six years old he was set with his
brothers and sisters at sticking wire teeth through
the leather straps used for cotton-cards. When
older he helped his father in the mill, and in sum-
mer picked up a little book knowledge at the dis-
trict school. As a boy he was frail in constitu-
tion, and he was slightly lame. When eleven
years old he attempted farm labor for a neigh-
bor, but was not strong enough for it and re-
turned to his father's mill, where he remained

102 INVENTORS

until he was sixteen. It was here that he hrst
began t(j like machinery. A friend who had
visited Lowell gave him such an account of that
bustling city and its big mills that 3^oung Howe,
becoming dissatisfied, obtained his father's con-
sent to leave, and found emplovment in one of
the Lowell cotton-mills. The financial crash of
1837 stopped the looms, and Howe obtained a
place in a Cambridge machine-shop in which his
cousin, Nathaniel P. Banks, afterward Governor
of Massachusetts, also worked. Howe's first job
happened to be upon a new hemp-carding ma-
chine of Treadwell.

At the age of twenty-one Howe married and
moved to Boston, finding employment in the ma-
chine-shop of Ari Davis. He is described as be-
ing a capital workman, more full of resources
than of plodding industry, however, and rather
apt to spend more time in suggesting a better
way of doing a job than in following instructions.
With such a disposition, and inasmuch as his sug-
gestions were not considered of value, he had
rather a hard time of it. Three children were
born to the young couple. As Howe's earnings
were slight and his health none of the best, his
wife tried to add to the family income, and at
evening, w^hen Howe lay exhausted upon the bed
after his day's work, the young mother patiently
sewed. Her toil was to some purpose. With
his natural bent for mechanics, Howe could not
be a silent witness of this incessant and poorly
paid labor without becoming interested in afford-
ing aid. Moreover, he was constantly employed

EJJAS JIOWK 103

upon new spinning and weaving machines for do-
ing work that for thousands of years had been
done painfully and slowly by hand. The possi-
bility of sewing by machinery had often been
spoken of before that day, but the problem
seeme;d to present insuperable difficulties.

Elias Howe had, as we know, peculiar fitness for
such work. He had seen much of inventors and
inventions, and knew something of the dangers
and disappointments in store for him. In the in-
tervals between important jobs at the shop he
nursed the idea of a sewing-machine, keeping
his own counsel. In his first rude attempt it ap-
peared to him that machine-sewing could only
be accomplished with very coarse thread or
string ; fine thread would not stand the strain.
For his first machine he made a needle pointed
at both ends, with an eye in the middle ; it was
arranged to work up and down, carrying the
thread through at each thrust. It was only
after more than a year's work upon this device
that he decided it would not do. This first
attempt was a sort of imitation of sewing by
hand, the machine following more or less the
movements of the hand. Finally, after repeated
failures, it became plain to him that something
radically different was needed, and that there
must be another stitch, and perhaps another
needle or half a dozen needles, in such a machine.
He then conceived the idea of using two threads,
and making the stitch by means of a shuttle and
a curved needle with the eye near the point.
This was the real solution of the problem. In

October, 1844, he made a rough model of his
first sewing-machine, all of wood and wire, and
found that it would actually sew.

In one of the earliest accounts of the inven-
tion it is thus described : '* He used a needle
and a shuttle of novel construction, and com-
bined them with holding surfaces, feed mechan-
ism, and other devices as thev had never before
been brought together in one machine. . . .
One of the principal features of Mr. Howe's in-
vention is the combination of a grooved needle
having an eve near its point, and vibrating in the
direction of its length, with a side-pointed shuttle
for effecting a locked stitch, and forming with
the threads, one on each side of the cloth, a firm
and lasting seam not easily ripped."

Meanwhile Howe had given up work as a
machinist and had moved to his father's house
in Cambridge, where the elder Howe had a
shop for the cutting of palm-leaf used in the
manufacture of hats. Here Elias and his little
familv lived, and in the garret the inventor put
up a lathe upon which he made the parts of his
sewing-machine. To provide for his family he
did such odd jobs as he could find : but it was
hard work to get bread, to say nothing of butter,
and to make matters worse his father lost his shop
by fire. Elias knew that his sewing-machine
would work, but he had no money wherewith to
buy the materials for a machine of steel and iron,
and without such a machine he could not hope to
' interest capital in it. He needed at least S500 with
which to prove the value of his great invention.

hJLlAlS HOWE 105

Fortune threw in his way a coal and wood
dealer of Cambridge, named Fisher, who had
some money. Fisher liked the invention and
agreed to board Howe and his family, to give
Howe a workshop in his house, and to advance
the $500 necessary for the construction of a first
machine. In return he was to become a half
owner in the patent should Howe succeed in ob-
taining one. In December, 1844, Howe accord-
ingly moved into Fisher's house, and here the
new marvel was brought into the world. All
that winter Howe worked over his device in
Fisher's garret, making many changes as unfore-
seen difficulties arose. He worked all day, and
sometimes nearly all night, succeeding by April,
1845, i^^ sewing a seam four yards long with his
machine. By the middle of May the machine
was completed, and in July Howe sewed with it
the seams of two woollen suits, one for himself
and the other for Fisher ; the sewing was so well
done that it promised to outlast the cloth. For
many years this machine was exhibited in a shop
in New York. It showed how completely, at
really the first attempt, Howe had mastered the
enormous difficulties in his way.' Its chief feat-
ures are those upon which were founded all the
sewing-machines that followed.

Late in 1845 Howe obtained his first patent
and began to take means to introduce his sew-
ing-machine to the public. He first offered it to
the tailors of Boston, who admitted its useful-
ness, but assured him that it would never be
adopted, as it would ruin tlicir trade. Other

1<'6 ixrEMoRS

efforts were equally unsuccessful : the more per-
fectly the machine did its work, the more obsti-
nate and determined seemed to be the resistance
to it. Everyone admitted and praised the inge-
nuity of the invention, but no one would invest a
dollar in it. Fisher became disheartened and
withdrew from the partnership, and Howe and
his familv moved back into his father's house.

For a time the poor inventor abandoned his
machine and obtained a place as engineer on a
railway, driving a locomotive, until his health
entirelv broke down. Forced to turn ao:ain to
his beloved sewins^-machine for want of anvthinor
better to do, Howe decided to send his brother
Amasa to Enorland with a machine. Amasa
reached London in October, 1846, and met a cer-
tain William Thomas, to whom he explained the
invention. Thomas was much impressed with
its possibilities and offered $1,250 for the ma-
chine and also to engage Elias Howe at §15 a
week if he would enter his business of umbrella
and corset maker. This was at least a livelihood
to the latter, and he sailed for England, Avhere
for the next eisfht months he worked for Thomas,
whom he found an uncommonly hard master.
He was indeed so harshly treated that, although
his wife and three children had arrived in Lon-
don, he threw up his situation. For a time his
condition was a piteous one. He was in a strange
countrv. without friends or money. For days at
a time the little familv were without more than
crusts to live upon.

BelieviniT that he could strucrorle alonor better

ELI AS HOWE 107

alone, Howe sent his family home with the first
few dollars that he could obtain from the other
side and remained in London. There were cer-
tain things which caused him to hope for better
times ahead. But such hopes were delusive, it
seems, and after some months of hardship he
followed his family to this country, paAvning his
model and his patent papers in order to obtain
the necessary money for the passage. As he
landed in New York with less than a dollar in his
pocket, he received news that his wife was dy-
ing of consumption in Cambridge. He had no
money for travelling by rail, and he was too
feeble to attempt the journey on foot. It took
him some days to obtain the money for his fare
to Boston, but he arrived in time to be present
at the death-bed of his wife. Before he could
recover from this blow he had news that the
ship by which he had sent home the few house-
hold goods still remaining to him had gone to
the bottom.

This was poor Howe's darkest hour. Others
had seen the value of the sewing-machine, and
during his absence in England several imitations
of it had been made and sold to great advantage
by unscrupulous mechanics, who had paid no at-
tention to the rights of the inventor. Such ma-
chines were already spoken of as wonders by
the newspapers, and were beginning to be used
in several industries. Howe's patent was so
strong that it was not difficult to find money to
defend it, once the practical value of the inven-
tion had been well established, and in August,

108 IXVEXTORS

1850, he began several suits to make his rights
clear. At the same time he moved to New-
York, where he began in a small wav to man-
ufacture machines in partnership with a busi-
ness man named Bliss, who undertook to sell
them.

It was not until Howe's rights to the invention
had been fully established, which was done by
the decision of Judge Sprague, in 1854, that the
real value of the sewing-machine as a money-
making venture began to be apparent ; and even
then its great importance was so little realized,
even by Bliss, who was in the business and died
in 1855, that Howe was enabled to buy the inter-
est of his heirs for a small sum. It was during
these efforts to introduce the sewing-machine
that occurred what were known as the sewing-
machine riots — disturbances of no special im-
portance, however — fomented by labor leaders
in the New^ York shops in which cheap clothing
was manufactured. Howe's sewing-machine
was denounced as a menace to the thousands of
men and women who worked in these shops, and
in several establishments the first Howe machines
introduced were so injured by mischievous per-
sons as to retard the success of the experiment
for nearly a year. Failing to stop their intro-
duction by such means a public demonstration
against them was organized and for a time
threatened such serious trouble that some of the
large shops gave up the use of the machine ; but
in small establishments employing but a few
workmen thev continued to be used and were

ELIAS HOWE 109

soon found to be so indispensable that all opposi-
tion faded away.

The patent suits forced upon Howe by a num-
ber of infringers were costly drains upon the in-
ventor, but in the end all other manufacturers
were compelled to pay tribute to him, and in six
years his royalties grew from $300 to more than
$200,000 a year. In 1863 his royalties were esti-
mated at $4,000 a day. i\t the Paris Exposition
of 1867 he was awarded a gold medal and the
ribbon of the Legion of Honor.

Howe's health, never strong, was so thoroughly
broken by the years of struggle and hardship he
met with while trying to introduce his machine
that he never completely recovered. If honors
and money were any comfort to him, his last
years must have been happy ones, for his inven-
tion made him famous, and he had been enough
of a workingman to recognize the blessing he
had conferred upon millions of women released
from the slavery of the needle ; he had answered
Hood's " Song of the Shirt." He died on Oc-
tober 3, 1867, at his home in Brooklyn, N. Y.

Those who knew Howe personally speak of
him as rather a handsome man, with a head
somewhat like Franklin's and a reserved, quiet
manner. His bitter struggle against poverty
and disease left its impress upon him even to the
last. One trait frequently mentioned was his
readiness to find good points in the thousand and
one variations and sometimes improvements
upon his invention. During the years i'858-67,
when he died, there were recorded nearlv three

110 INVENTORS

hundred patents affecting the sewing-machine,
taken out by other inventors. Howe was always
ready to help along such improvements by ad-
vice and often by money. He fought sturdily
for his rights, but once those conceded he was a
generous rival.

SAMUEL F. B. MORSE.

SaiMUEL Finley Breese Morse was the eldest
son of the Rev. Jedediah Morse, an eminent
New England divine. The Rev. Samuel Finley,
D.D., second president of the College of New

Birthplace of S. F. B. Morse, Built 1775.

Jersey, Princeton, was his maternal great-grand-
father, after whom he was named. Breese was
the maiden name of his mother. The famous in-
ventor of the telegraph was born at the foot of
Breed's Hill, Charlestown, Mass., April 27, 1791.

112 INYENTOnS

Dr. Belknap, of Boston, writing- to Postmaster-
General Hazard, New York, sa3's :

"Congratulate the Monmouth judge (Mr.
Breese, the grandfather) on the birth of a grand-
son. Next Sunday he is to be loaded with
names, not quite so many as the Spanish am-
bassador who signed the treaty of peace of 1783,
but only four. As to the child, I saw him asleep,
so can say nothing of his eye, or his genius peep-
ing through it. He may have the sagacity of a
Jewish rabbi, or the profundity of a Calvin,, or
the sublimity of a Homer for aught I know, but
time will bring forth all things."

Jedediah Morse studied theology under the
Rev. Dr. Jonathan Edwards. Before he began
preaching, and while teaching school in New
Haven, he began his "American Geography,"
which was afterward indentified with his name.
He began his ministry at Norwich, whence he
was called back to be tutor- in Yale. His health
was inadequate to the work and he went to
Georgia, returning to Charlestown, Mass., as
pastor of the First Congregational Church, on
the day that Washington was inaugurated as
President in New York, April 30, 1789. Di".
Eliot, speaking of Jedediah Morse, said : " \Vhat
an astonishing impetus that man has ! " Pres-
ident Dwiofht said: "He is as full of resources
as an Qgg is of meat." Daniel Webster spoke of
him as " always thinking, always writing, always
talking, always acting."

Morse's mother, Elizabeth Anne Breese, came
of good Scotch-Irish stock. She was married to

SAMUEL F. B. MORSE

113

Jedediah Morse in i7cS9,and was noted as a calm,
judicions, and thinking woman, with a will of her
own. When the child, Samuel F. B. Morse, was
four years old he was sent to school to an old
lady within a few hundred yards of the parsonage.
She was an invalid, unable to leave her chair, and

S. F. B. Morse.

governed her unruly flock with a long rattan
which reached across the small room in which it
was gathered. One of her punishments was pin-
ning the culprit to her own dress, and Morse re-
marks that his first attempts at drawing were dis-
couraged in this fashion. Perhaps the fact that
he selected the old lady's face as a model had
something to do with it. At the age of seven he
" 8

114 IXVEXTORS

was sent to school at Aiidover, where he was fit-
ted for entering Phillips Academy, and prepared
here for Yale, joining the class of 1807. ^Vhen
he was thirteen 3'ears old, at Andover, he wrote
a sketch of Demosthenes and sent it to his father,
bv whom it was preserved as a mark of the
learning and taste of the child. Dr. Timothy
D wight was then president of Yale and a warm
friend of the elder Morse. Finley Morse, as he
was then known, received therefore the deep per-
sonal interest of Dr. Dwight. Jeremiah Day was
professor of natural philosophy in Yale College,
and under his instruction Morse began the study
of electricity, receiving perhaps those impres-
sions that were destined to produce so great an
influence upon him and, through him, upon this
centurv. Professor Day was then young and
ardent in the pursuit of science, kindling readily
the enthusiasm of his students. He afterward be-
came president of the college. There was at the
same time in the faculty Benjamin Silliman, who
was professor of chemistry, and near whom Morse
resided for several years. Years afterward the
testimony of Professors Day and Silliman was
given in court, when it was important, in the
defence of his claim to priority in the invention of
the telegraph. Through them Morse was able to
show that he was early interested in the study of
chemistry and electricity. During this litigation
Morse did not know that there were scores of
letters, written by him as a young student to his
father, among the papers of Dr Jedediah Morse,
that would have shown conclusively his interest

SAMUEL F. B. MORSE 115

and aptitude iu these studies. The papers were
brought to light when the life of Morse by
Prime came to be written.

The first part of Morse's life was devoted to
art. At a very early age he showed his taste in
this direction, and at the age of fifteen painted a
fairly good picture in water colors of a room in
his father's house, with his parents, himself, and
two brothers around a table. This picture used
to hang in his home in New York by the side of
his last painting. From that time his desire to be-
come an artist haunted him through his collegiate
life. In February, i8i i, he painted a picture, now
in the office of the mayor of Charlestown, Mass.,
depicting the landing of the Pilgrims at Ply-
mouth, which, with a landscape painted at about
the same time, decided his father, by the advice of
Stuart, to permit him to visit Europe with Wash-
ington Allston. He bore letters to West and to
Copley, from both of whom he received the
kindest attention and encouragement.

As a test for his fitness for a place as student
in the Royal Academy, Morse made a drawing
from a small cast of the Farnese Hercules. He
took this to West, who examined the drawing
carefully and handed it back, saying : '' Very
well, sir, very well ; go on and finish it." *' It
is finished," said the expectant student. " Oh,
no," said the president. " Look here, and here,
and here," pointing out many unfinished places
which had escaped the eye of the young artist.
Morse quickly observed the defects, spent a week
in further perfecting his drawing, and then took

116 IXTEXTORS

it to West, confident that it was above criticism.
The venerable president of the Academv be-
stowed more praise than before and. with a pleas-
ant smile, handed it back to Morse, savins::
" Very well, indeed, sir. Go on and finish it." " Is
it not finished ? " inquired the almost discouraged
student. " See." said West, " you have not
marked that muscle, nor the articulation of the
finger-joints." Three da\-s more were spent
upon the drawing, when it was taken back to the
implacable critic. ** Very clever, indeed." said
West ; " very clever. Xow go on and finish it."
'* I cannot finish it," Morse replied, when the old
man, patting him on the shoulder, said : '* Well.
I have tried 30U long enough. Xow. sir, vou
have learned more bv this drawinsr than vou
would have accomplished in double the time bv
a dozen half-finished beginnings. It is not manv
drawinsrs, but the character of one which makes
a thorough draughtsman. Finish one picture,
sir. and you are a painter."

Morse heeded this advice. He went to work
with AUston, and encouraged by the veteran.
Copley, he began upon a large picture for exhi-
bition in the Royal Academy, choosing as his
subject '^ The Dving Hercides." He modelled
his figure in clay, as the best of the old painters
did. It was his first attempt in the sculptor's art.
The cast was made in plaster and taken to Wesr.
who was delighted with it. This model con-
tended for the prize of a gold medal offered by
:he SiXriety of Arts for the best original cast of
a single figure, and won it. In the large room of

SAMUEL F. n. MOUSE 117

the London Adelpbi, in the presence of the
British nobility, foreii^n ambassadors, and distin-
guished strangers, the Duke of Norfolk publicly
presented the medal to Morse on May 13, 181 3.
At the same time the painting from this model,
then on exhibition at the Royal Academy, re-
ceived great praise from the critics, who placed
'^ The Dying Hercules " among the first twelve
pictures in a collection of almost two thousand.

This was an extraordinary success for so young
a man, and Morse determined to try for the high-
est prize offered by the Royal Academy for the
best historical composition, the decision to be
made in 181 5. For that purpose he produced
his '' Judgment of Jupiter " in July of that year.
West assured him that it would take the prize,
but Morse was unable to comply with the rules
of the Academy, which required the victor to
receive the medal in person. His father had
summoned him home. West urged the Acad-
emy to make an exception in his case, but it
could not be done, and the young painter had to
be contented with his assurances that he would
certainly have won the prize (a gold medal and
$250) had he remained.

West was always kind to Americans, and
Morse was a favorite with him. One day, when
the venerable painter was at work upon his great
picture, " Christ Rejected," after carefully ex-
amining Morse's hands and noting their beauty,
he said : " Let me tie you with this cord and
take that place while I paint in the hands of the
Saviour." This was done, and when he released

118 INVENTORS

the young artist, he said to him : " You may now
say, if you please, that you had a hand in this pict-
ure." A number of noted English artists — Tur-
ner, Northcote, Sir James Lawrence, Flaxman —
and literary men — Coleridge, Wordsworth, Rog-
ers, and Crabbe among them — were attracted
by young Morse's proficiency and pleasant man-
ners, and when in August, 1815, he packed his
picture, " The Judgment of Jupiter," and sailed
for home, he bore with him the good wishes of
some of England's most distinguished men.

When Morse reached Boston, although but
twenty-four years old, he found that fame had
preceded him. His prestige was such that he
set up his easel with high hopes and fair pros-
pects for the future, both destined soon to be
dispelled. The taste of America had not risen
to the appreciation of historical pictures. His
original compositions and his excellent copies of
the masterpieces of the Old World excited the
admiration of cultured people, but no orders
were given for them. He left Boston almost
penniless after having waited for months for pat-
ronage, and determined to try to earn his bread
by painting the portraits of people in the rural
districts of New England, where his father's
name was a household word. During the autumn
of 1 8 16 and the winter of 1816-1817 he visited
several towns in New Hampshire and Vermont,
painting portraits in Walpole, Hanover, Wind-
sor, Portsmouth, and Concord. He received the
modest sum of $15 for each portrait. From
Concord, N. H., he writes to his parents : " 1 am

SAMUEL F. B. MORSE 119

still here (August i6th) and am passing my time
very agreeably. I have painted live portraits at
$15 each, and have two more engaged and many
talked of. I think I shall get along well. I be-
lieve I could make an independent fortune in a
few years if I devoted myself exclusively to por-
traits, so great is the desire for good portraits in
the different country towns." He doubtless was
candid when he wrote that he was " passing his
time in Concord very agreeably," for it was here
that he met Lucretia P. Walker, who was ac-
counted the most beautiful and accomplished
young lady of the town, whom Morse subse-
quently married. She was a young woman of
great personal loveliness and rare good sense.
The young artist was attracted by her beauty,
her sweetness of temper, and high intellectual
qualities. All the letters that she wrote to him
before and after their marriage he carefully pre-
served, and these are witnesses to her intelli-
gence, education, tenderness of feeling, and ad-
mirable fitness to be the wife of such a man.
Gradually Morse's portraits became so much in
demand that he was enabled to increase his price
to $60, and as he painted four a week upon the
average, and received a good deal of money dur-
ing a tour in the South, he was enabled to return
to New England in 1818 with $3,000, and to
marry Miss Walker on October 6th of that year.
The first years of Morse' s married life were
passed in Charleston, S. C, after which he re-
turned to New England, and having laid b}-
some little capital, he took up again what he

120 rXVEXTOR.^

deemed to be his real vocation — the painting of
great historical pictures. His first venture in
this direction was an exhibition picture of the
House of Representatives at Washington. As a
business venture it was disastrous, and resulted
in the loss of eighteen months of precious time.
It was finally sold to an Englishman. Then be-
gan Morse's life in New York. Through the in-
fluence of Isaac Lawrence he obtained a commis-
sion from the citv authorities of New York to
paint a full-length portrait of Lafayette, who was
then in this country. He had just completed
his study from life in Washington in February,
1825, when he received the news of the death of
his wife. A little more than a year afterward
both his father and mother died. Thencefor-
ward his children and art absorbed his affections.
He was an artist, heart and soul, and his
professional brethren soon had good reason to
be grateful to him. The American Academy of
Fine Arts, then under the presidencv of Colonel
John Trumbull, was in a languishing state and of
little use to artists. The most advanced of its
members felt the need of relief, and a few of
them met at Morse's rooms to discuss their
troubles. At that meeting Morse proposed the
formation of a new societv of artists, and at a
meeting held at the New York Historical Socie-
tv's rooms the " New York Drawing Association "
was organized, with Morse as its president.
Trumbull endeavored to compel the new society
to profess allegiance to the academy, but Morse
protested, and thanks to his advice, on January

SAMUEL F. B. MOUSE

121

t8, 1826, a new art association was organized
under tlie name of the " National Academy of
Design." Morse was its lirst president, and for
sixteen years he was annually elected to that
office. The friends of the old academy were
wrathful and assailed the new association. A
war of words, in which iNIorse acted as the cham-

Under Side of a Modern Switchboard, showing 2,000 Wires.

pion of the new society, was waged until victory
was conceded to the reformers. Thus Morse
inaugurated a new era in the history of the fine
arts in this country. He wrote, talked, lectured
incessantly for the advancement of art and the
Academy of Design.

In 1829 Morse made a second visit to Europe,
where he was warmly welcomed and honored by

122 INVENTORS

the Royal Academy. During three years or
more he lived in continental cities, studying the
Louvre in Paris and making of the famous gal-
lery an exhibition picture which contained about
fifty miniatures of the works in that collection.
In November, 1832, he was back again in New
York, with high hopes as to his future. AUston,
w^riting to Dunlap in 1834, said: "I rejoice to
hear your report of Morse's advance in his art.
I know what is in him perhaps better than any-
one else. If he will only bring out all that is
there he will show parts that many now do not
dream of."

For several years the thoughts of the artist
Morse had been busy with a matter AvhoUy out-
side of his chosen domain. Some lectures on
electro-magnetism by his intimate friend. Judge
Freeman Dana, given at the Athenaeum while
Morse was also lecturing there on the fine arts,
had greatly interested him in the subject, and he
learned much in conversation with Dana. While
on his second visit to Europe Morse made him-
self acquainted with the labors of scientific men
in their endeavors to communicate intelligence
between far-distant places by means of electro-
magnetism, and he sav/ an electro-magnet signal-
ling instrument in operation. He knew that so
early as 1649 a Jesuit priest had prophesied an
electric telegraph, and that for half a century or
more students had partially succeeded in at-
tempts of this kind. But no practical telegraph
had yet been invented. In 1774 Le Sage made
an electro-signalling instrument with twent3^-four

SAMUEL F. B. MOUSE 123

wires, one for each letter of the alphabet. In
1825 Sturgeon invented an electro-magnet. In
1830 Professor Henry increased the magnetic
force that Morse afterward used.

On board the ship Sully, in which Morse
sailed from Havre to New York, in the autumn
of 1832, the recent discovery in France of the
means of obtaining an electric spark from a mag-
net was a favorite topic of conversation among
the passengers, and it was during the voyage
that Morse conceived the idea of an electro-mag-
netic and chemical recording telegraph. Before
he reached New York he had made drawings
and specifications of his conception, which he ex-
hibited to his fellow passengers. Few great in-
ventions that have made their authors immortal
were so completely grasped at inception as this.
Morse was accustomed to keep small note-books
in which to make records of his work, and scores
of these books are still in existence. As he
sat upon the deck of the Sully, one night
after dinner, he drew from his pocket one of
these books and began to make marks to repre-
sent letters and figures to be produced by elec-
tricity at a distance. The mechanism by which
the results were to be reached was wrought out
by slow and laborious thought, but the vision as
a whole was clear. The current of electricity
passed instantaneously to any distance along a
wire, but the current being interrupted, a spark
appeared. This spark represented one sign ; its
absence another ; the time of its absence still
another. Here are three si^iis to be combined

124 lyvEyrons

into the representation of figures or letters.
They can be made to form an alphabet. Words
may thus be indicated. A telegraph, an instru-
ment to record at a distance, will result. Conti-
ents shall be crossed. This great and wide sea
shall be no barrier. "If it will go ten miles
without stopping," he said, " I can make it go
around the globe."

He worked incessantly all that next day and
could not sleep at night in his berth. In a few
days he submitted some rough drafts of his
invention to William C. Rives, of Virginia, who
was returning from Paris, where he had been
minister of the United States. Mr. Rives sug-
gested various difficulties, over which Morse
spent several sleepless nights, announcing in the
morning at breakfast-table the new devices bv
which he proposed to accomplish the task before
him. He exhibited a drawing of the instrument
which he said would do the work, and so com-
pletelv had he mastered all the details that five
years afterward, when a model of this instru-
ment was constructed, it was instantlv recognized
as the one he had devised and drawn in his
sketch-book and exhibited to his fellow passen-
gers on the ship. In view of subsequent claims
made bv a fellow passenger to the honor of hav-
ing suggested the telegraph, these details are in-
teresting and important.

Circumstances delaved the construction of a
recording telegraph bv Morse, but the subject
slumbered in his mind. During his absence
abroad he had been elected professor of the

SAMUEL F. B. MOUSE

125

literature of the arts of desiofii, in the Univer-
sity of the City of New York, and this work oc-
cupied his attention for some time. Three years
afterward, in November, 1835, he completed
a rude telegraph instrument — the first recording

The First Telegraphic Instrument, as Exhibited in i837 by Morse.

apparatus ; but it embodied the mechanical prin-
ciple now in use the world over. His whole
plan was not completed until July, 1837, when by
means of two instruments he was able to com-
municate from as well as to a distant point. In
September hundreds of people saw the new
instrument in operation at the university, most
of whom looked upon it as a scientific toy con-

126 TXrEXTOES

structed by an unfortunate dreamer. The fol-
lowing year the invention was sufficiently per-
fected to enable Morse to direct the attention of
Congress to it and ask its aid in the construction
of an experimental line between Washington and
Baltimore.

Late in the long session of 1838 he appeared
before that body with his instrument. Before
leaving New York with it he had invited a few
friends to see it work. Xow began in the life of
Morse a period of 3-ears during which his whole
time was devoted to convincing the world, first.
that his electric telegraph would really commu-
nicate messages, and, secondh', that if it worked
at all. it was of great practical value. Strange
to sav that this required an}- argument at all.
But that in those days it did may be inferred
from the fact that Morse could then find no help
far or near. His invention was regarded as inter-
esting, but of no importance either scientifically
or commercially. In Washington, where he first
went, he found so little encouragement that he
Avent to Europe with the hope of drawing the
attention of foreign governments to the advan-
tages, and of securing patents for the invention ;
he had filed a caveat at the Patent Office in this
country. His mission was a failure. England
refused him a patent, and France gave him only
a useless paper which assured for him no special
pri\-ileges. He returned home disappointed but
not discouraged, and waited four vears longer
before he again attempted to interest Congress
in his invention.

fiAMUHL F. n. MOUSE

127

This cxtraordiiiai"}' stiui^glc lasted twelve
years, during" which, with his mind absorbed in
one idea and }'et almost wholly dependent for
bread upon his profession as an artist, it was im-

fjia i

The Modern Morse Telegraph.

possible to pursue art with the enthusiasm and
industry essential to success. His situation was
forlorn in the extreme. The father of three little
children, now motherless, his pecuniary means
exhausted by his residence in Europe, and un-
able to pursue art without sacrificing- his inven-
tion, he was at his wits' ends. He had visions
of usefulness by the invention of a telegraph that
should bring the continents of the earth into
intercourse. He was poor and knew that wealth
as well as fame was within his reach. He had
long received assistance from his father and
brothers when his profession did not supply the
needed means of support for himself and family ;
but it seemed like robbery to take the money of
others for experiments, the success of which he
could not expect them to believe in until he
could give practical evidence that the instrument
would do the work proposed. It was the old
story of genius contending with poverty. His
brothers comforted, encouraged, and cheered

12S INVENTORS

him. In tlic house of his brother Ivicliard he
found a home and the tender care that he re-
quired. Sidney, the other brother, also helped
him. On the corner of Nassau and Beekman
Streets, now the site of the handsome Morse
Building, his brothers erected a building where
were the offices of the newspaper of which they
were the editors and proprietors. In the fifth
story of this buildinof- a room was assi^fned to
him which was for several years his studio,
bedroom, parlor, kitchen, and workshop. On
one side of the room stood a little cot on which
he slept in the brief hours which he allowed
himself for repose. On the other side stood his
lathe with which the inventor turned the brass
apparatus necessaiy in the construction of his
instruments. He had, with his own hands, first
whittled the model ; then he made the moulds for
the castings. Here Avere brought to him, day
by day, crackers and the simplest food, by which,
with tea prepared by himself, he sustained life
while he toiled incessantly to give being to the
idea that possessed him.

Before leaving for Europe he had suffered a
great disappointment as an artist. The govern-
ment had offered to American artists, to be se-
lected by a committee of Congress, commissions
to paint pictures for the panels in the rotunda of
the Capitol. Morse was anxious to be employed
upon one or more of them. He was the presi-
dent of the National Academy of Design, and
there was an eminent fitness in calling him to
this national work. Allston urged the appoint-

Morse Making his own Instrunnent.
(From Prime's Life of Morse.)

13<» IN VE^^ TORS

menl of Morse. John Ouinc}' .Vchims, then a
member ot ihe llonse antl on the committee to
whom this subject was ret erred, submitted a
resolution in the House that foreign artists be
allowed to compete lor these commissions, and
in support alleged that there were no American
artists competent to execute the paintings. This
gave great and just offence to the artists and the
public. A severe reply to Adams appeared in
the New York Evening Post. It was written bv
James Fenimore Cooper, but it was attributed
to Morse, whose pen w^as well known to be skil-
ful, and in consequence his name was rejected
by the committee. He never recovered fully
from the effects of that blow. Forty years after-
ward he could not speak of it without emotion.
He had consecrated years of his life to the
preparation for just such work.

It was well for him and for his country and
the Avorld that the artist in Morse was disap-
pointed. From painter he became inventor, and
from that time until the world acknowledged
the greatness and importance of his invention
he turned not back. His appointment as pro-
fessor in the City University entitled him to cer-
tain rooms in the University Building looking
out upon Washington Square, and here the first
working models of the telegraph were brought
into existence.

'' There," he says, " I immediately com-
menced, with very limited means, to experiment
upon m}^ invention. My first instrument was
made up of an old picture or canvas frame fas-

SAMUEL F. D. MORSE

131

tencd to a tabic; the wheels of an old wooden
clock, moved by a weight to carry the paper
forward ; three wooden drums, iii)on cjne of
which the paper was wound and passed over
the other two ; a wooden pendulum suspended
to the top piece of the picture or stretching
frame and vibrating across the paper as it
passes over the centre wooden drum ; a pencil

Train Telegraph — the message transmitted by induction from the moving train to
the single wire.

at the lower end of the pendulum, in contact
with the paper ; an electro-magnet fastened to a
shelf across the picture or stretching frame, op-
posite to an armature made fast to the pendu-
lum ; a type rule and type for breaking the
circuit, resting on an endless band, composed of
carpet-binding, which passed over two wooden
rollers moved by a wooden crank.

"Up to the autumn of 1837 my telegraphic
apparatus existed in so rude a form that I felt a

132

Txrj'jyToRs

reluctance lu lia\c it seen. M\ means were \cry
limited — so limited as to preclude the possibility
ot constructino- an aj)paratus of such mechanical

Interior of a Car on tne Lehigh Valley Railroad, snowing the Method of Operating
the Train Telegraph.

tinish as to warrant mv success in venturing
upon its public exhibition. I had no wish to ex-
pose to ridicule the representative of so many
hours of laborious thousfht. Prior to the sum-
mer of 1837, ^^ which time Mr. Alfred Vail's at-

SAML'EL F. B. MORSE 133

tention became atlraclecl to my telegTa[)h, I
depended upon my })encil for subsistence. In-
deed, so straitened were my circumstances that,
in order to save time to carr}^ out my invention
and to economize my scanty means, I had for
many months lodged and eaten in my studio,
procuring my food in small quantities from some
grocery and preparing it myself. To conceal
from my friends the stinted manner in which I
lived, I was in the habit of bringing my food to
my room in the evenings, and this was my mode
of life for many years."

Before the telegraph was actually tried and
practised the cumbersome piano-key board de-
vised by Morse in his first experiments was done
away with and the simple device of a single key,
with which Ave are all familiar, was adopted.
Meantime Morse was practically abandoning art.
His friends among the profession had subscribed
$3,000 in order to enable him to paint the picture
he had in mind when he applied for the govern-
ment work at Washington, '' The Signing of the
First Compact on Board the Mayflower," and he
undertook the commission in 1838, only to give
it up in 1 841 and to return to the subscribers the
amount paid with interest.

While Morse had been in Paris, in 1839, ^^ had
heard of Daguerre, who had discovered the
method of fixing the image of the camera, which
feat was then creating a great sensation among
scientific men. Professor Morse was anxious to
see the results of this discovery before leaving
Paris, and the American consul, Robert Walsh,

1S4 urvEyTOR^s

aiTaiig:ed an interview between the two inven-
tors Daguerre promised to send to Moise a
copv of the descriptive puUication which he in-
tended to make so soon asa pensicm he expected
from the FrencA Government for the disclosoie
rf his discovery dio - . i ; r s t zirt i. '~z .lept his

-J ^ -
^ 11—^

-TTe Wi^rri:

pnMnise.and Moise v.:ii ^_ ^^^^^j. ..ic .^i: recipi-
ent rf the pamphl^ in this country- From the
drawings it ctmtained he constmcted the first
photogra^^c apparatus made in the United
States, and from a ba<:k window in the Univer-
atv Building he obtained a good representation
of the tower of the Church of the Messiah on
Broadway- This possesses an historical interest

SAMUEL F. B. MOUSE 135

as being the first photograph in America. It was
on a plate the size of a playing-card. With Pro-
fessor J. W. Draper, in a studio built on the roof
of the University, he succeeded in taking like-
nesses of the living human face. His subjects
were compelled to sit fifteen minutes in the
bright sunlight, with their eyes closed, of
course. Professor Draper shortened the process
and Avas the first to take portraits with the eyes
open.

At the session of Congress of 1 842-1 843 Morse
again appeared with his telegraph, and on Feb-
ruary 21, 1843, John P. Kennedy, of Maryland,
moved that a bill appropriating $30,000, to be ex-
pended, under the direction of the Secretary of
the Treasury, in a series of experiments for test-
ing the merits of the telegraph, should be consid-
ered. The proposal met with ridicule. John-
son, of Tennessee, moved, as an amendment, that
one-half should be given to a lecturer on mes-
merism, then in Washington, to try mesmeric ex-
periments under the direction of the Secretary
of the Treasur}' ; and Mr. Houston said that
Millerism ought to be included in the benefits of
the appropriation. After the indulgence of
much cheap wit, Mr. Mason, of Ohio, protested
against such frivolity as injurious to the charac-
ter of the House and asked the chair to rule the
amendments out of order. The chair (John
White, of Kentucky) ruled the amendments in
order because " it would require a scientific
analysis to determine how far the magnetism of
the mesmerism was analogous to tliat to be em-

130 lyvEyTuLis

ploved in telegraphy." This wit was applauded
by peals of laughter, but the amendment was
voted down and the bill passed the House on
February 23d by the close vote of 89 to 83. In
the Senate the bill met with neither sneers nor
opposition, but its progress was discouraginglv
slow. At twilight on the last evening of the
session iMarch 3, 18421 there were one hundred
and nineteen bills before it. It seemed impossi-
ble for it to be reached in regular course before
the hour of adjournment should arrive, and
Morse, who had anxiouslv watched the drearv
course of business all dav from the gallerv of the
Senate chamber, went with a sad heart to his
hotel and prepared to leave for New York at an
early hour the next morning. His cup of disap-
pointment seemed to be about full. With the
exception of Alfred Vail, a voung student in the
University. throuo:h whose influence some monev
had been subscribed in return for a one-fourth
interest in the invention, and of Professor L. D.
Gale, who had shown much interest in the work
and was also a partner in the enterprise, Morse
knew of no one who seemed to believe enough
in him and his telegraph to advance another
dollar.

As he came down to breakfast the next morn-
ine a vouns: ladv entered and came forward
with a smile, exclaiming, " I have come to con-
gratulate you."' "Upon what?" inquired the
professor. " Upon the passage of your bill,"
she replied. '" Impossible I Its fate was sealed
last cvcninij. You must be mistaken." " Xot

SAMUEL F. B. MORSE 137

at all," answered the young- lady, the daughter
of Morse's friend, the Commissioner of Patents,
H. L. Ellsworth ; " father sent me to tell }' ou that
your bill was passed. He remained until the
session closed, and yours was the last bill but
one acted upon, and it was passed just five
minutes before the adjournment. And I am so
glad to be able to be the first one to tell you.
Mother says you must come home with me to
breakfast."

Morse, overcome by the intelligence, promised
that his young friend, the bearer of these good
tidings, should send the first message over the
first line of telegraph that was opened.

He writes to Alfred Vail that day : '' The
amount of business before the Senate rendered
it more and more doubtful, as the session drew
to a close, whether the House bill on the tele-
graph would be reached, and on the last day,
March 3, 1843, I ^^^^^^ advised by one of my
Senatorial friends to make up my mind for fail-
ure, as he deemed it next to impossible that it
could be reached before the adjournment. The
bill, however, Avas reached a few minutes before
midnight and passed. This was the turning
point in the history of the telegraph. My per-
sonal funds were reduced, to the fraction of a
dollar, and, had the passage of the bill failed
from any cause, there would have been little
prospect of aiibt'her attempt on my part to intro-
duce to the world my new invention."

The appropriation by Congress having been
made, Morse went to work with energy and

188 INVENTORS

delight to construct the first line of his electric
telegraph. It was important that it should be
laid where it would attract the attention of the
government, and this consideration decided the
question in favor of a line between Washington
and Baltimore. He had as assistants Professor
Gale and Professor J. C. Fisher. Mr. Vail was
to devote his attention to making the instru-
ments and the purchase of materials. Morse
himself was general superintendent under the
appointment of the government and gave atten-
tion to the minutest details. All disbursements
passed through his hands. In point of accuracy,
the preservation of vouchers, and presentation of
accounts, General Washington himself was not
more precise, lucid, and correct. Ezra Cornell,
afterward one of the most successful constructors
of telegraph lines, was employed to take charge
of the work under Morse. Much time and
expense were lost in consequence of following a
plan for laying the wires in a leaden tube, and it
was only when it was decided to string them on
posts that work began to proceed rapidly.

In expectation of the meeting of the Nation-
al Whig Convention, May i, 1844, to nominate
candidates for President and Vice-President,
energy was redoubled, and by that time the
wires were in working order twenty-two miles
from Washington toward Baltimore. The day
before the convention met. Professor Morse
wrote to Vail that certain signals should mean
the nomination of a particular candidate. The
experiment was ap})r()aching its crisis. The con-

SAMUEL F. B. MORSE

139

vention assembled and Henry Clay was nom-
inated by acclamation to the Presidency. The
news was conveyed on the railroad to the
point reached by the telegraph and thence in-
stantly transmitted over the wires to Washing-
ton. An hour afterward passengers arriving
at the capital, and supposing that they had
brought the first intelligence, were surprised to

Morse in his Study.
(From an old print.)

find that the announcement had been made al-
ready and that they were the bearers of old
news. The convention shortly afterward nom-
inated Frelinghuysen as Vice-President, and
the intelligence was sent to Washington in the
same manner. Public astonishment was great
and many persons doubted that the feat could
have been performed. Before May had elapsed
the line reached Baltimore.

On the 24th of May, 1844, Morse was prepared

1¥> IXrEXTOB.^

to put to tinal test the great experiment on which
his mind had been laboring- for twelve anxious
years. Vail, his assistant, was at the Baltimore
terminus. Morse had invited his friends to as-
semble in the chamber of the United States
Supreme Court, where he had his instrument,
from which the wires extended to Baltimore.
He had promised his young friend, Miss Ells-
worth, that she should send the first messasfe
over the wires. Her mother suggested the
familiar words of scripture (Numbers, xxiii. 23),
'' What hath God wrought ! " The words were
chosen without consultation with the inventor,
but were singularly the expression of his own
sentiment and his own experience in bringing his
w^ork to successful accomplishment. Perfectlv
religious in his convictions, and trained from
earliest childhood to believe in the special super-
intendence of Providence in the minutest affairs
of man, he had acted throughout the whole of
his struggles under the firm persuasion that God
was working in him to do His own pleasure in
this thing.

The first public messages sent were a notice to
Silas Wright in Washington of his nomination
to the office of Vice-President of the United
States by the Democratic convention, then in
session (May, 1844) in Baltimore, and his re-
sponse declining it. Hendrick B. Wright, in a
letter written to Mr. B. J. Lossing, says: "As
the presiding officer of the body I read the de-
spatch, but so incredulous were the members as
to the authoritv of the evidence before them

SAMUEL F. B. MORSE 141

that the convention adjourned over to the fol-
lowing day to await the report of the committee
sent over to Washington to get reliable informa-
tion on the subject." JNlr. Vail kept a diary in
those early days of the telegraph, full of inter-
esting reminiscences. It was often necessary, in
order to convince incredulous visitors to the
office that the questions and replies sent over
the wire were not manufactured or agreed upon
beforehand, to allow them to send their own re-
marks. When the committee just mentioned by
Mr. Wriofht returned from Baltimore and con-
firmed the correctness of the report given by
telegraph, the new invention received a splendid
advertisement. The convention having reassem-
bled in the morning, and the refusal of Wright
to accept the nomination having been communi-
cated, a conference was held between him and
his friends through the medium of Morse's wires.
In Washington Mr. Wright and Mr. Morse were
closeted with the instrument ; at Baltimore the
committee of conference surrounded Vail with
his instrument. Spectators and auditors were
excluded. The committee communicated to Mr.
Wright their reasons for urging his acceptance.
In a moment he received their communication
in writing and as quickly returned his answer.
Again and again these confidential messages
passed, and the result was finally announced to
the convention that Mr. Wright was inflexible.
Mr. Dallas then received the nomination and ac-
cepted it. The ticket thus nominated was suc-
cessful at the election of that year. The original

Ii2 lyVEXTORS

slips of paper on which some of the earh' mes-
sages were written are still preserv^ed, among
others this request: "As a rumor is prevalent
here this morning that Mr. Eugene Bo>'le was
shot at Baltimore last evening. Professor Morse
will confer a great favor upon the family by
making inquiry by means of his electro-magnetic
telegraph if such is the fact."

The telegraph was shown at tirst without
charge. During the session of 18-14-1845 Con-
gress made an appropriation of $8,000 to keep it
in operation during the year, placing it under
the supervision of the Postmaster-General, who,
at the close of the session, ordered a tariff of
charsres of one cent for everv four characters
made through the telegraph. Mr. Vail was ap-
pointed operator for the Washington station and
Mr. H. J. Rosfers for Baltimore. This new order
of things began April i, 18-1.5, the object being
to test the profitableness of the enterprise. The
first dav's income was one cent : on the fifth
day twelve and a half cents were received ; on
the seventh the receipts ran up to sixty cents :
on the eighth to one dollar and thirty -two
cents ; on the ninth to one dollar and four
cents. It is worthy of remark, as Mr. Vail
notes, that the business done after the tariff
was fixed was greater than when the service
was orratuitous.

The telegraph was now a reality. Its com-
pletion was hailed with enthusiasm, and the
newspapers lauded the inventor to the skies.
Resolutions of thanks and applause were adopted

SAMUEL F. B. MORSE 143

by popular assemblies. It was a favorite idea
with Professor Morse, from the inception of his
enterprise, that the telegraph should belong to
the government, and he sent a communication
to Congress making a formal offer. The overture
was not accepted, but the extension of the line
from Baltimore to Philadelphia and then to New
York was only a work of time. The aid of Con-
gress was sought in vain. The appropriation of
$8,000 was made, but further than that the gov-
ernment declined to go. The sum named as the
price at which the Morse Company would sell
the telegraph to the government was $100,000.
The subject was discussed in the report of Cave
Johnson, Postmaster -General under President
Polk. He was a member of Congress when the
bill came up before the House appropriating
$30,000 for the experimental line, and was one of
those who ridiculed the whole subject as unwor-
thy of the notice of sensible men. As Postmas-
ter-General he said in his report, after the ex-
periment had succeeded to the satisfaction of
mankind, that " the operation of a telegraph be-
tween Washington and Baltimore had not satis-
fied him that under any rate of postage that could
be adopted its revenues could be made equal to
its expenditures." Such an opinion, with the ev-
idence then in the possession of the department,
appears to be curious official blindness. But it
was fortunate for the inventor that the telegraph
was left to the private enterprise. Twenty-five
years after the government had declined to take
the telegraph at the price of $100,000, a project

144 INVENTORS

was started to establish lines of telegraph to be
used by the government as part of the mail postal
system. And in 1873 the Postmaster-General,
Mr. Cresswell, said in his report that the entire
first cost of all the lines in the country, including
patents, was less than $10,000,000; but the prop-
erty of the existing telegraph company was al-
ready well worth $50,000,000.

Morse's position was far easier than it had
been for many years. His old friends, the artists
of New York, rallied in force and laid before
Congress a petition that the professor be em-
ployed to execute the painting to fill the panel
at the Capitol assigned to Inman, who had been
removed by death. But it came to nothing.
Morse was never again to take the brush in hand.
The first money that he received from his inven-
tion was the sum of $47, being his share of the
amount paid for the right to use his patent on a
short line from the Washington Post-office to
the National Observatory. The use he made of
the money w^as characteristic of the man. He
sent it to the Rev. Dr. Sprole, then a pastor in
Washington, requesting him to apply it for the
benefit of his church.

Early in June, 1846, the line from Baltimore
to Philadelphia was in operation, and that from
Philadelphia to New York. Abroad the system
was working its way steadil}^ into favor. In
France an appropriation of nearly half a million
francs was made to introduce the Morse system.
But meantime violations of Morse's rights were
beginning to crop up on every side, both at home

SAMUEL F. B. MORSE 145

and abroad. In a letter to Daniel Lord, his law-
yer, Morse says :

*' The plot thickens all around me ; 1 think a
denouement not far off. I remember your con-
soling me under these attacks with bidding- me
think that I had invented something worth con-
tending for. Alas ! my dear sir, what encour-
agement is there to an inventor if, after years of
toil and anxiety, he has only purchased for him-
self the pleasure of being a target for every vile
fellow to shoot at, and in proportion as his inven-
tion is of public utility, so much the greater
effort is to be made to defame that the robbery
may excite the less sympathy ? I know, how-
ever, that beyond all this there is a clear sky ;
but the clouds may not break away till I am no
longer personally interested, whether it be foul
or fair. I wish not to complain, but I have feel-
ings, and cannot play the Stoic if I would."

Perhaps the most painful chapter of Morse's
life is the history of the lawsuits in which he
was involved in defence of his rights. His rep-
utation as well as his property were assailed.
Exceedingly sensitive to these attacks, the suits
that followed the success of the telegraph cost
him inexpressible distress. It is some satisfac-
tion to be able to record that after years of bit-
ter controversy the final decision was favorable
to the inventor. Honors began to pour in upon
him from even the uttermost parts of the earth.
The Sultan of Turkey was the first monarch to
acknowledge Morse as a public benefactor. This
was in 1848. The kings of Prussia and Wurtem-
10

146

INVENTORS

burg and the Emperor of Austria each gave him
a gold medal, that of the first named being set in
a massive gold snuff-box. In 1856 the Emperor
of the French made him a chevalier of the Le-
gion of Honor. Orders from Denmark, Spain,
Ital}^, Portugal soon followed. In 1858 a special

The Siphon Recorder for Receiving Cable Messages — Office of the Commercial
Cable Company, i Broad Street, New York.

congress was called by the Emperor of the
French to devise a suitable testimonial of the
nation to Professor Morse. Representatives
from ten sovereignties convened at Paris and by
a unanimous vote gave, in the aggregate, $80,000
as an honorary gratuity to Professor Morse.
The states participating in this testimonial were
France, Austria, Russia, Belgium, Holland, Swe-

SAMUEL F, B. MORSE 147

den, Piedmont, the Holy See, Tuscany, and Tur-
key.

Professor Morse was one of the first to sug-
gest and the first to carry out the use of a ma-
rine cable. During the summer of 1842 he had
been making elaborate preparations for an ex-
periment destined to give wonderful develop-
ment to his invention. This was no less than
a submarine wire, to demonstrate the fact that
the current of electricity could be conducted
as well under water as through the air. Of
this he had entertained no doubt. " If I can
make it work ten miles, I can make it go around
the globe," was a favorite expression of his in the
infancy of his enterprise. But he wished to prove
it. He insulated his wire as well as he could
with hempen strands well covered with pitch,
tar, and india-rubber. In the course of the
autumn he was prepared to put the question
to the test of actual experiment. The wire was
only the twelfth of an inch in diameter. About
two miles of this, wound on a reel, was placed in
a small row-boat, and with one man at the oars
and Professor Morse at the stern, the work of
paying out the cable was begun. It was a beau-
tiful moonlight night, and those who had pro-
longed their evening rambles on the Battery must
have wondered, as they watched the proceedings
in the boat, what kind of fishing the two men
could be engaged in that required so long a line.
In somewhat less than two hours, on that eventful
evening of October 18, 1842, the first cable was
laid. Professor Morse returned to his lodgings

148 IXVEXTORS

and waited with some anxiety the time when he
should be able to test the experiment fully and
fairlv. The next morninsf the New York Hir-
a/(/ contained the following editorial announce-
.ment :

*• Morse's Electro-Magxetic Telegraph.

" This important invention is to be exhibited in
operation at Castle Garden between the hours of
twelve and one o'clock to-day. One telegraph
will be erected on Governor's Island and one at
the Castle, and messasres will be interchanored
and orders transmitted during the day. Many
have been incredulous as to the powers of this
wonderful triumph of science and art. All such
may now have an opportunity of fairly testing it.
It is destined to Avork a complete revolution
in the mode of transmitting intelligence through-
out the civilized world."

At daybreak the professor was on the Battery,
and had just demonstrated his success by the
transmission of three or four characters between
the termini of the line, when the communication
was suddenh' interrupted, and it was found im-
possible to send any messages through the con-
ductor. The cause of this was evident when he
observed no less than seven vessels lying along
the line of the submerged cable, one of which, in
getting under way, had raised it on her anchor.
The sailors, unable to divine its meaning, hauled
in about two hundred feet of it on deck, and find-
ing no end, cut off that portion and carried it

SAMUEL F. B. MORSE 149

away with them. Thus ended the first attempt
at submarine telegraphing. The crowd that had
assembled on the Battery dispersed with jeers,
most of them believing they had been made the
victims of a hoax.

In a letter to John C. Spencer, then Secretary
of the Treasury, in August, 1843, concerning elec-
tro-magnetism and its powers, he w^rote :

" The practical inference from this law is that
a telegraphic communication on the electro-mag-
netic plan may with certainty be established
across the Atlantic Ocean. Startling as this
may now seem, I am confident the time will
come when this project will be realized."

In 1 87 1 a statue of Professor Morse was erected
in Central Park, New York, at the expense of the
telegraph operators of the country. It was un-
veiled on June loth with imposing ceremonies.
There were delegates from every State in the
Union, and from the British provinces. In the
evening a public reception was given to the ven-
erable inventor at the Academy of Music, at
which William Orton, president of the Western
Union Telegraph Company, presided, assisted
by scores of the leading public men of the coun-
try as vice-presidents. The last scene was an im-
pressive one. It was announced that the tele-
graphic instrument before the audience was then
in connection Avith every other one of the ten
thousand instruments in America. Then Miss
Cornell, a young telegraphic operator, sent this
message from the key : " Greeting and thanks to
the telegraph fraternity throughout the world.

150 lyvEyioRs

Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace,
good-will to men." The venerable inventor, the
personification of simplicity, dignitv, and kindli-
ness, was then conducted to the instrument, and
touching the key, sent out : '* S. F. B. Morse."
A storm of enthusiasm swept through the house
as the audience rose, the ladies waving their
handkerchiefs and the men cheerins:.

Professor Morse last appeared in public on
February 22, 1872, when he unveiled the statue
of Franklin, erected in Printing-house Square in
New York. He died, after a short illness, on
April 2, 1872, and was buried in Greenwood
Cemetery. On the day of the funeral, April 5th,
every telegraph office in the country was draped
in mourning.

Professor Morse was twice married. His first
wife died in 1825. In 1848 he married Sarah
Elizabeth Griswold, of Poughkeepsie, who still
lives. By the first marriage there were three
children, one of whom, a son, survives. By the
second marriage there were four children, three
of whom are alive — a daughter and two sons.
Miss Leila Morse, the dausfhter, was married in
1885 to Herr Franz Rummel, the eminent pianist.
The last years of his life were eminently peaceful
and happy. In the summer he lived at a place
called Locust Grove, on the banks of the Hudson,
near Poughkeepsie, and in the Avinter in a house
at No. 5 West Twenty-second Street, a few doors
west of Fifth Avenue. In recent years a marble
tablet has been afiixed to the front of the house,
suitablv inscribed.

No. 5 West Twenty-second Street, New York, where Morse Lived for Many Years
and Died.

152 INVENTORS

Morse's life in the country was very simple and
quiet. His hour of rising was half-past six
o'clock in the morning, and he was in his library
alone until breakfast, at eight. He loved to hear
the birds in their native songs, and he could dis-
tinguish the notes of each species, and would
speak of the qualit}^ of their respective music.
He spent most of the day in reading and writ-
ing, rarely taking exercise, except walking in
his garden to visit his graperies, in which he
took special pride, or to the stable to see if his
horses were well cared for. He did not ride out
regularly with his family, preferring the repose
of his own grounds and the labors of his studv.
But when he walked or rode in the country, he
was constantly disposed to speak of the beauty
and glory around him, as revealing to his mind
the beneficence, wisdom, and power of the infinite
Creator, who had made all these things for the
use and enjoyment of men.

One of his daughters writes of him in these
simple and tender words : '' He loved flowers.
He would take one in his hand and talk for hours
about its beauty, its wonderful construction, and
the wisdom and love of God in making so many
varied forms of life and color to please our eyes.
In his later years he became deeply interested in
the microscope and purchased one of great ex-
cellence and power. For whole hours, all the
afternoon or evening, he would sit over it, exam-
ining flowers or the animalculas in different fluids.
Then he would gather his children about him and

SAMUEL F. B. MORSE 153

give lis a sort of extempore lecture on the won-
ders of creation invisible to the naked eye, but
so clearly brought to view by the magnif3ang
power of the microscope. He was very fond of
animals, cats, and birds in particular. He tamed
a little flying-squirrel, and it became so fond of
him that it would sit on his shoulder while he
was at his studies and w^ould eat out of his hand
and sleep in his pocket. To this little animal he
became so much attached that we took it with
us to Europe, where it came to an untimely end,
in Paris, by running into an open hre."
His biographer. Prime, says of him :
" In person Professor Morse was tall, slender,
graceful, and attractive. Six feet in stature, he
stood erect and firm, even in old age. His blue
eyes were expressive of genius and affection.
His nature was a rare combination of solid intel-
lect and delicate sensibility. Thoughtful, sober,
and quiet, he readily entered into the enjoyments
of domestic and social life, indulging in sallies of
humor, and readily appreciating and greatly en-
joying the wit of others. Dignified in his inter-
course with men, courteous and affable with the
gentler sex, he was a good husband, a judicious
father, a generous and faithful friend. He had
the misfortune to incur the hostility of men who
would deprive him of the merit and the reward
of his labors. But his was the common fate of
great inventors. He lived until his rights were
vindicated by every tribunal to which they could
be referred, and acknowledged by all civilized

154 INVENTORS

nations. And he died leaving to his children a
spotless and illustrious name, and to his country
the honor of having given birth to the only
electro-magnetic recording telegraph whose line
has gone out through all the earth and its words
to the end of the world."

Charles Goodyear.

VI.

CHARLES GOODYEAR.

India-rubber had been known for more than
a hundred years when Charles Goodyear under-
took to make of it thousands of articles useful in
common life. So long ago as 1735 a party of
French astronomers discovered in Peru a curi-
ous tree that yielded the natives a peculiar gum
or sap which they collected in clay vessels.
This sap became hard when exposed to the sun,
and was used by the natives, who made different
articles of every-day use from it by dipping a
clay mould again and again into the liquid.
When the article was completed the clay mould
was broken to pieces and shaken out. In this
manner they made a kind of rough shoe and an
equally rough bottle. In some parts of South
America the natives presented their guests with
these bottles, which served as syringes for
squirting water. Articles thus made were liable
to become stiff and unmanageable in cold weather
and soft and sticky in warm. Upon getting back
to France the travellers directed the attention
of scientists to this remarkable gum, which was
afterward found in various parts of South Amer-
ica, and the chief supplies of which still come
from Brazil. About the beginning of the pres-

156 INVENTORS

ent century this substance, known variously as
cachuchu, caoutchouc, gum-elastic, and india-
rubber, was first commercially introduced into
Europe. It was regarded merely as a curiosity,
chiefly useful for erasing pencil-marks. Ships
from South America took it over as ballast.
About the 3^ear 1820 it began to be used in
France in the manufacture of suspenders and
garters, india-rubber threads being mixed with
the material used in weaving those articles.
Some years later Mackintosh, an English manu-
facturer, used it in his famous water-proof coats,
which were made by spreading a layer of the
gum between two pieces of cloth.

About the same time a pair of india-rubber
shoes were exhibited in Boston, where they were
regarded as a curiosity ; they were covered with
gilt-foil to hide their natural ugliness. In 1823 a
Boston merchant, engaged in the South American
trade, imported five hundred pairs of these shoes,
made by the natives of Para, and found no dif-
ficulty in selling them. In fact, this became a
large business, although these shoes were terri-
bly rough and clumsy and were not to be de-
pended upon; in cold weather they became so
hard that they could be used only after being
thawed by the fire, and in summer they could
be preserved only by keeping them on ice. If
during the thawing process they were placed
too near the fire, they would melt into a shape-
less mass ; and yet they cost from three to five
dollars a pair.

In 1830 E. M. Chaffee, of Boston, the foreman

CHARLES GOODYEAR 157

of a patent leather factory in that city, attempt-
ed to replace patent leather by a compound of
india-rubber. He dissolved a pound of the gum
in spirits of turpentine, added to the mixture
enough lamp-black to produce a bright black
color, and invented a machine for spreading this
compound over cloth. When dried in the sun
it produced a hard, smooth surface, flexible
enough to be twisted into any shape without
cracking. With the aid of a few capitalists,
Chaffee organized, in 1833, a company called the
Roxbury India-rubber Company, and manufact-
ured an india-rubber cloth from which wagon-
covers, piano-covers, caps, coats, shoes, and other
articles were made. The product of the factory
sold well, and the success of the Roxbury Com-
pany led to the establishment of a number of sim-
ilar factories elsewhere. Apparently all who
were engaged in the production of rubber goods
were on the highway to wealth.

A day of disaster, however, came. Most of
the goods produced in the* winter of 1 833-1 834
became worthless during the following summer.
The shoes melted to a soft mass and the caps,
wagon-covers, and coats became sticky and use-
less. To make matters worse they emitted an
odor so offensive that it was necessary to bury
them in the ground. Twenty thousand dollars'
worth of these goods were thrown back on the
hands of the Roxbury Company alone, and the
directors were appalled by the ruin that threat-
ened them. It was useless to go on manufactur-
ing goods that might prove worthless at any

158 INVENTORS

moment. India-rubber stock fell rapidly, and by
the end of 1836 there was not a solvent rubber
company in the Union, the stockholders losing-
about $2,000,000. People came to detest the very
name of india-rubber.

One day, in 1834, a Philadelphia hardware
merchant, named Charles Goodyear, was led by
curiosity to buy a rubber life-preserver. And
thus began for this unfortunate genius nearly
twenty-five years of struggle, misery, and dis-
appointment. Charles Goodyear was born in
New Haven, Conn., December 29, 1800. When
a boy his father moved to Philadelphia, where
he engaged in the hardware business, and
upon becoming of age, Charles Goodyear joined
him as a partner. In the panic of 1 836-1 837 the
house went down. Goodyear's attention had
been attracted for several vears by the wonder-
ful success of the india-rubber companies. Upon
examining his life-preserver he discovered a de-
fect in the inflating valve and made an improved
one. Going to New York with this device, he
called on the agent of the Roxbury Company
and, explaining it to him, offered to sell it to
the company. The agent was impressed Avith
the improvement, but instead of buying it, told
the inventor the real state of the india-rubber
business of the country, then on the verge of a
collapse. He urged Goodyear to exert his in-
ventive skill in discovering some means of im-
parting durability to india-rubber goods, and
assured him that if he could find a process to
effect that end, he could sell it at his own price.

CHARLES GOODYEAR 159

He explained the processes then in use and their
imperfections.

Goodyear forgot all about his disappointment
in failing to sell his valve, and went home intent
upon experiments to make gum-elastic durable.
From that time until the close of his life he de-
voted himself solely to this work. He was thir-
ty-five years old, feeble in health, a bankrupt
in business, and had a young family depending
upon him. The industry in which he now en-
gaged was one in which thousands of persons
had found ruin. The firm of which he had been
a member owed $30,000, and upon his return to
Philadelphia he was arrested for debt and com-
pelled to live within prison limits. He began his
experiments at once. The price of the gum had
fallen to five cents per pound, so that he had no
difficulty in getting sufficient of it to begin work.
By melting and working it thoroughly and roll-
ing it out upon a stone table, he succeeded in pro-
ducing sheets of india-rubber that seemed to him
to possess new properties. A friend loaned him
enough money to manufacture a number of shoes
which at first seemed to be all that could be
desired. Fearful, however, of coming trouble,
Goodyear put his shoes away until the following
summer, when the warm weather reduced them
to a mass of so offensive an odor that he was
glad to throw them away. His friend was so
thoroughly disheartened by this failure as to
refuse to have anything more to do with
Goodyear's scheme. The inventor, nevertheless,
kept on.

160 INVENTORS

It occurred to him that there must be some
•substance which, mixed with the gum, would ren-
der it durable, and he began to experiment with
almost every substance that he could lay his
hands on. All proved total failures with the
exception of magnesia. By mixing half a pound
of magnesia with a pound of the gum he pro-
duced a substance whiter than the pure gum,
which was at first as firm and flexible as leather,
and out of which he made beautiful book-covers
and piano-covers. It looked as if he had solved
the problem ; but in a month his pretty product
was ruined. Heat caused it to soften ; fermen-
tation then set in, and finally it became as hard
and brittle as thin glass. His stock of money
was now exhausted. He was forced to pawn all
his own valuables and even the trinkets of his
wife. But he felt sure that he was on the road
to success and would eventually win both fame
and fortune. He removed his family to the coun-
try, and set out for New York, where he hoped
to find someone willing to aid him in carrying
his experiments further. Here he met two
acquaintances, one of whom offered him the use
of a room in Gold Street as a workshop, and the
other, a druggist, agreed to let him have on
credit such chemicals as he needed. He now
boiled the gum, mixed with magnesia, in quick-
lime and water, and as a result obtained firm,
smooth sheets that won him a medal at the fair
of the American Institute in 1835. He seemed
on the point of success, and easily sold all the
sheets he could manufacture, when, to his dismaj^

CHARLES GOODYEAR 161

he discovered that a drop of the weakest acid,
such as the juice of an apple or diluted vinegar,
would reduce his new compound to the old
sticky substance that had baffled him so often.

His first important discovery on the road to
real success was tiie result of accident. He
liked pretty things, and it was a constant effort
with him to make his productions as attractive
to the eye as possible. Upon one occasion, while
bronzing a piece of rubber cloth, he applied
aqua fortis to it for the purpose of removing part
of the bronze. It took away the bronze, but it
also destroyed the cloth to such a degree that he
supposed it ruined and threw it away. A day or
two later, happening to pick it up, he was aston-
ished to find that the rubber had undergone a re-
markable change, and that the effect of the acid
had been to harden it to such an extent that it
would now stand a degree of heat which would
have melted it before. Aqua fortis contained
sulphuric acid. Goodyear was thus on the
threshold of his great discovery of vulcanizing
rubber. He called his new process the " curing "
of india-rubber.

The '* cured " india-rubber was subjected to
many tests and passed through them successfully,
thus demonstrating its adaptability to many im-
portant uses. Goodyear readily obtained a pat-
ent for his process, and a partner with a large
capital was found ready to aid him. He hired
the old india-rubber works on Staten Island and
opened a salesroom in Broadway. He was
thrown back for six weeks at this important

162 IXVEyTOHS

time by an accident wliich happened to him
while experimenting with his fabrics and which
came near causins: his death. Just as he was re-
covering and preparing to begin the manufacture
of his goods on a large scale the terrible com-
mercial crisis of 1837 swept over the countrv.
and by destroying his partner's fortune at one
blow, reduced Goodyear to absolute beggar}-.
His family had joined him in Xew York, and he
was entirely without the means of supporting
them. As the only resource at hand he decided
to pawn an article of value — one of the few
which he possessed — in order to raise money to
procure one day's supply of provisions. At the
very door of the pawnbroker's shop he met one
of his creditors, who kindly asked if he could
be of anv further assistance to him. Weak
with hunger and overcome by the generosity
of his friend the poor man burst into tears and
replied that, as his family was on the point of
starvation, a loan of Si 5 would greatly oblige
him. The money was given him on the spot and
the necessity for visiting the pawnbroker averted
for several days longer. Still he was a Irequent
visitor to that person during the year, and one
by one the relics of his better days disappeared.
Another friend loaned him Si 00, which enabled
him to remove his familv to Staten Island, in the
neighborhood of the abandoned rubber works,
which the owners gave him permission to use
so far as he could. He contrived in this way to
manufacture enough of his " cured " cloth, which
sold readily, to enable him to keep his family

CHAHLES GOOD YEAR 163

from starvation. He made repeated efforts to
induce capitalists to come to the factory and see
his samples and the process by which they were
made, but no one would venture near him.
There had been money enough lost in such ex-
periments, these acquaintances said, and they
were determined to risk no more.

Indeed, in all the broad land there was but one
man who had the slightest hope of accomplish-
ing anything with india-rubber, and that one
was Charles Goodyear. His friends regarded
him as a monomaniac. He not only manufactured
his cloth, but even dressed in clothes made of it,
wearing it for the purpose of testing its dura-
bility, as well as of advertising it. He was cer-
tainly an odd figure, and in his appearance justi-
fied the remark of one of his friends, who, upon
being asked how Mr. Goodyear could be recog-
nized, replied : '' If you see a man with an india-
rubber coat on, india-rubber shoes, and india-
rubber cap, and in his pocket an india-rubber
purse with not a cent in it, that is Goodyear."

In September, 1837, a new gleam of hope lit
up his pathway. A friend having loaned him a
small sum of money he went to Roxbury, taking
with him some of his best specimens. Although
the Roxbury Company had gone down with a
fearful crash, Mr. Chaffee, the inventor of the
first process of making rubber goods in this
country, was still firm in his faith that india-rub-
ber Avould at some future time justify the ex-
pectations of its earliest friends. He welcomed
Goodyear cordially and allowed him to use the

urvMjrroRs

abandoned woarks ol tie cijcnpany for Ms experi-
ments. The lesult: was tEiat GtjodTear sEHxeeded
in malciii^ ^boes aond dodis di ioiiia^iiiigier ei a

c|aalEtT so- !iiTic?i b«r^^- -~-'^ "'-■_- ^hat had jet
been seez :r_ A:._t. - r ypes €l the

frioi : ■ : 7 : 7 - t r . -rd to a iiigfi

tmms - "/-: : __^:/'- :__^:t -the

..ii»Taers r+esEcr ntErrrail/ ciy Sxesarn. tit 5nreaainff naia nuaner rna Sreets ar
-UHiTT CottT. aaalecfc ttre ' Orafeet WacnirT& '

sale erf them Goid\rear realized between foor
and&re^ H

liiii]^ Mi
fortmie Sc

His sc: : 7 ; : .1 ; wever. Hr

obtained t - ~7~~~""":

for one 1l r,

whicji he T -

^laped^ ci-

CHARLES GOODYEAR 165

was delighted and summoned his friends to in-
spect and admire them. All who saw them pro-
nounced them a perfect success, but alas! in a
single month they began to soften and ferment,
and finally became useless. Poor Goodyear's
hopes were dashed to the ground. It was found
that the aqua fortis merely ''cured" the surface
of the material, and that only very thin cloth
made in this way was durable. His other goods
began to prove worthless and his promising
business came to a sudden and disastrous end.
All his possessions were seized and sold for debt,
and once more he was reduced to poverty. His
position was even worse than before, for his
family had increased in size and his aged father
also had become dependent upon him for sup-
port.

Friends, relatives, and even his wife, all de-
manded that he should abandon his empty
dreams and turn his attention to something that
would yield a support to his family. Four years
of constant failure, added to the unfortunate ex-
perience of those who had preceded him, ought
to convince him, they said, that he was hoping
against hope. Hitherto his conduct, entirely
had been absurd, though they admitted that he
was to some extent excused for it by his partial
success ; but to persist in it would be criminal.
The inventor was driven to despair, and being a
man of tender feelings and ardently devoted to
his family, might have yielded to them had he
not felt that he was nearer than ever to the dis-
covery of the secret that had eluded him so long.

166 IXVEyTORS

Just before the failure of his mail-bags had
brought ruin upon him, he had taken into his
employ a man named Nathaniel Havward, who
had been the foreman of the old Roxbury works,
and who was still in charge of them when Good-
year came to Roxbury, and was making a few
rubber articles on his own account. He hard-
ened his compound by mixing a little powdered
sulphur with the gum. or by sprinkling sulphur
over the rubber cloth and drying it in the sun.
He declared that the process had been revealed
to him in a dream, but could give no further ac-
count of it. Goodyear was astonished to find
that the sulphur cured the india-rubber as thor-
oughly as the aqua fortis, the principal objection
being that the sulphurous odor of the goods was
frightful in hot weather. Hayward's process
was really the same as that employed by Good-
year, the "curing" of the india-rubber being
due in each case to the agency of the sulphur,
the principal difference between them being that
Havward's sroods were dried by the sun and
Goodyears with nitric acid. Havward set so
small a value upon his discovery that he readilv
sold it to his new employer.

Goodvear felt that he had now all but con-
quered his difficulties. It was plain that sulphur
was the great controller of india-rubber, for he
had proved that when applied to thin cloth it
would render it available for most purposes. The
problem that now remained was how to mix sul-
phur and the gum in a mass, so that every part
of the rubber should be subjected to the agency

(:ny\ li. L f':< a o o h v ka u. \ ^; 7

of the sulf)hiir. He cxpcrirncntcfi for weeks anrl
months with the most intense eagerness, but the
mystery completely baffled him. His friends
urged him to go to work to do something for
his family, but he could not turn back. The
goal was almost in sight, and he felt that he
would be false to his mission were he to abandon
his labors now. To the world he seemed a crack-
brained dreamer, and some there were who, see-
ing the distress of his family, did not hesitate to
apply still harsher names to him. Had it been
merely wealth that he was working for, doubt-
less he would have turned back and sought some
other means of obtaining it; but he sought more.
He felt that he had a mission to fulfil, and that
no one else could perform it.

Tie was right. A still greater success was
about to crown his labors, but in a manner far
different from his expectations. His experiments
had developed nothing ; chance was to make the
revelation. It was in the spring of 1839, ^"<^ ^"
the following manner: Standing before a stove
in a store at Woburn, Mass., he was explaining
to some acquaintances the properties of a piece
of sulphur-cured india-rubber which he held in
his hand. They listened to him good-naturedly,
but with evident incredulity, when suddenly he
dropped the rubber on the stove, which was red
hot. His old clothes would have melted instantly
from contact with such heat; but, to his surprise,
this piece underwent no such change. In amaze-
ment he examined it, and found that while it had
charred or shrivelled like leather, it had not soft-

168 IXVEXTORS

ened at all. The bystanders attached no impor-
tance to this phenomenon, but to him it was a

revelation. He renewed his experiments with
enthusiasm, and in a little while established the
facts that india-rubber, when mixed with sulphur
and exposed to a certain degree of heat for a
specified time, would not melt or soften at any
degree of heat ; that it would only char at two
hundred and eis^htv desrrees, and that it would
not stiffen from exposure to any extent of cold.
The difficulty now consisted in findinor out the
exact degree of heat necessary for the perfecting
of the rubber and the exact length of time re-
quired for the heating.

He made this discovery in his darkest davs,
when, in fact, he was in constant danger of arrest
for debt, having already been a frequent inmate
of the debtors' prison. He was in the depths of
bitter poverty and in such feeble health that he
was constantlv haunted bv the fear of dvinsf be-
fore he had perfected his disco ver}- — before he
had fulfilled his mission. He needed an appara-
tus for producing a high and uniform heat for his
exr'eriments,and he was unable to obtain it. He
used to bake his compound in his wife's bread-
oven and steam it over the spout of her tea-
kettle, and to press the kitchen fire into his ser-
vice so far as it would go. When this failed, he
would go down to the shops in the vicinity- of
Wobum and beg to be allowed to use the ovens
and boilers after working hours were over. The
workmen resrarded him as a lunatic, but were too
good-natured to deny him the request. Finaliv

^ 6

O t3
XI XI

3 a

17<:> IX VEX TOES

he induced a bricklayer to make him an oven,
and paid him in masons' aprons of india-rubber.
The oven was a failure. Sometimes it would
turn out pieces of perfectly vulcanized cloth,
and again the goods would be charred and
ruined. Goodvear was in despair.

All this time he lived on the charitv of his
friends. His neighbors pretended to lend him
money, but in reality gave him the means of
keeping his familv from starvation. He has de-
clared that all the while he felt sure he would,
before long, be able to pay them back, but thev
have declared with equal emphasis that, at that
time, they never expected to witness his success.
He was yellow and shrivelled in face, with a
o^aunt, lean fiorure, and his habit of wearins: an
india-rubber coat, Avhich was charred and black-
ened from his frequent experiments with it. gave
him a wild and singular appearance. People
shook their heads solemnly when thev saw him,
and said that the mad-house was the proper place
for him.

The winter of 1S39-40 was long and severe.
At the opening of the season Goodyear received
a letter from a house in Paris, making him a hand-
some o3er for the use of his process of curing
india - rubber with aqua fortis. Here was a
chance for him to rise out of his miserv. A
year before he would have closed with the offer,
but since then he had discovered the effects of
sulphur and heat on his compound, and had
passed far bevond the aqua-fortis stage. Disap-
pointment and want had not warped his con-

CHARLES GOODYEAR 171

science, and ho at once declined to enter into any
arrangements with the French house, informing
them that although the process they desired to
purchase was a valuable one, it was about to be
entirely replaced by another which he was then
on the point of perfecting, and which he would
gladly sell them as soon as he had completed it.
His friends declared that he was mad to refuse
such an offer ; but he replied that nothing would
induce him to sell a process which he knew was
about to be rendered worthless by still greater
discoveries.

A few weeks later a terrible snow-storm passed
over the land, one of the worst that New Eng-
land had ever known, and in the midst of it
Goodyear made the appalling discovery that he
had not a particle of fuel or a mouthful of food
in the house. He was ill enough to be in bed
himself, and his purse was entirely empty. It
was a terrible position, made worse, too, by the
fact that his friends who had formerl}^ aided him
had turned from him, vexed with his pertinacity,
and abandoned him to his fate. In his despair
he. bethought him of a mere acquaintance named
Coleridge, who lived several miles from his cot-
tage, and who but a few days before had spoken to
him with more of kindness than he had received of
late. This gentleman, he thought, would aid him
in his distress, if he could but reach his house, but
in such a snow the journey seemed hopeless to a
man in his feeble health. Still the effort must be
made. Nerved by despair, he set out and pushed
his way resolutely through the heavy drifts.

172 IJSVENTORS

The way was long, and it seemed to him that
he would never accomplish it. Often he fell
prostrate on the snow, almost fainting with fa-
tigue and hunger, and again he would sit down
wearily in the road, feeling that he would gladly
die if his discovery were but completed. At
length, however, he reached the end of his jour-
ney, and fortunately found his acquaintance at
home. To this gentleman he told the story
of his discovery, his hopes, his struggles, and
his present sufferings, and implored him to help
him. Mr. Coleridge listened to him kindly, and
after expressing the warmest sympathy for him,
loaned him money enough to support his family
during the severe weather and to enable him to
continue his experiments.

Seeing no prospect of success in Massachu-
setts, he now resolved to make a desperate effort
to get to New York, feeling confident that the
specimens he could take with him would con-
vince someone of the superiority of his new
method. He was beginning to understand the
cause of his many failures, but he saw clearly
that his compound could not be worked with
certainty without expensive apparatus. It was
a very delicate operation, requiring exactness
and promptitude. The conditions upon which
success depended were many, and the failure of
one spoiled all. It cost him thousands of fail-
ures to learn that a little acid in his sulphur
caused the blistering ; that his compound must
be heated almost immediately after being mixed
or it would never vulcanize ; that a portion of

en A n L ES G 01) YEA II

173

white lead in the compound greatly facilitated
the operation and improved the result ; and when
he had learned these facts, it still required costly
and laborious experiments to devise the best
methods of compounding his ingredients in the
best proportions, the best mode of heating, the
proper duration of the heating, and the various
useful effects that could be produced by varying

COUNCIL MEDAL OF THE EXHIBITION.

C. GOODVEAH. CLASS XXViri.

1851„

the proportions and the degree of heat. He
tells us that many times when, by exhausting
every resource, he had prepared a quantity of
his compound for heating, it was spoiled because
he could not, with his inadequate apparatus,
apply the heat soon enough.

To New York, then, he directed his thoughts.
Merely to get there cost him a severer and a
longer effort than men in general are capable of
makino-. First he walked to Boston, ten miles

171 IjYVEjYTORS

distant, where he hoped to borrow from an old
acquaintance $50, with which to provide for
his family and pay his fare to New York. He
not only failed in this, but he was arrested for
debt and thrown into prison. Even in prison,
while his old father was negotiating to procure
his release, he labored to interest men of capital
in his discovery, and made proposals for found-
ing a factory in Boston. Having obtained his
liberty, he went to a hotel and spent a week in
vain efforts to effect a small loan. Saturdav
night came, and with it his hotel bill, Avhich he
had no means of discharging. In an agony of
shame and anxiety, he went to a friend and en-
treated the sum of $5 to enable him to return
home. He was met with a point-blank refusal.
In the deepest dejection, he walked the streets
till late in the night, and strayed at length,
almost beside himself, to Cambridge, where he
ventured to call upon a friend and ask shelter
for the night. He was hospitably entertained,
and the next morning walked wearily home,
penniless and despairing. At the door of his
house a member of his family met him with the
news that his youngest child, two years old,
whom he had left in perfect health, Avas dying.
In a few hours he had in his house a dead
child, but not the means of burying it, and five
living dependents without a morsel of food to
give them. A storekeeper near by had prom-
ised to supply the family, but, discouraged by
the unforeseen length of the father's absence, he
had that day refused to trust them further. In

CHARLES GOODYEAR 175

these terrible circumstances he applied to a
friend, upon whose generosity he knew he could
rely, one who never failed him. He received in
reply a letter of severe and cutting reproach,
enclosing $7, which his friend explained was
given only out of pity for his innocent and suf-
ering family. A stranger who chanced to be
present when this letter arrived sent them a bar-
rel of flour, a timely and blessed relief. The
next day the family followed on foot the remains
of the little child to the grave.

This was about the darkest hour of poor Good-
year's life, but it was before the dawn. He man-
aged to obtain $50, with which he went to
New York, and succeeded in interesting two
brothers, William and Emory Rider, in his dis-
coveries. They agreed to advance to him a
certain sum to complete his experiments. By
means of this aid he was enabled to keep his
family from want, and his experiments were pur-
sued with greater ease and certainty. His
brother-in-law, William De Forrest, a rich wool
manufacturer, also came to his aid, now that
success seemed in view. Nevertheless, the ex-
periments of that and the following year cost
nearly $50,000. Thanks to this timely aid, he
was able in 1844, ten years after beginning his
work, to produce perfect vulcanized india-rub-
ber with economy and certainty. To the end of
his life he was at work, however, endeavoring
to improve the material and apply it to new uses.
He took out more than sixty patents cover-
ing different processes of making rubber goods.

176

INVESTORS

If Goodyear had been a man of business in-
stincts and habits, the years following the comple-
tion of his great work might have brought him
an immense fortune ; but everywhere he seems
to have been unfortunate in protecting his rights.
In France and England he lost his patent rights
by technical defects. In the latter country an-
other man, who had received a copy of the

GRANDE MEDAILLE D'HONNEUR.

EXPOSITION UNIVERSELLE OE 1853.

Oonne pout la Dccouverle de la Vulciini'satltn et Ourcissemeit du CaoutcSouc
lAC-SIMILE GOLD.

American patent, actually applied and obtained
the English rights in his own name. Goodvear,
however, obtained the great council medal at
the London Exhibition of 185 1, a grand medal at
Paris, in 1855, and later the ribbon of the Legion
of Honor. In this country he was scarcely less
unfortunate. His patents were infringed right
and left, he Avas cheated by business associates
and plundered of the profits of his invention.
The United States Commissioner of Patents, in
1358, thus spoke of his losses:

CHARLES GOODYEAR 177

" No inventor, probabl}', has ever been so
harassed, so trampled upon, so plundered by
that sordid and licentious class of infringers
known in the parlance of the world as ' pirates.'
The spoliation of their incessant guerilla war-
fare upon his defenceless rights has unquestion-
ably amounted to millions."

Goodyear died in New York in July, i860,
worn out with work and disappointment. Nei-
ther Europe nor America seemed disposed to
accord him any reward or credit for having
made one of the greatest discoveries of the time.
Notwithstanding his invention, which has made
millions for those engaged in w^orking it, he died
insolvent, and left his family heavily in debt. A
few years after his death an effort was made to
procure from Congress an extension of his pat-
ent for the benefit of his family and creditors.
The opposition of the men who had grown rich
and powerful by successfully infringing his
rights prevented that august body from doing
justice in the matter and the effort came to
nothing.

VII.
JOHN ERICSSON.

Captain John Ericsson, although not by
birth an American, rendered such signal services
to this country and lived here for so many years
that we may fairly consider him in the light of
an American inventor. The inventions to which
he devoted the best years of his life were made
in this country. He loved America, he died
here, and though his ashes have been sent back
to Sweden, the world of Europe, in common
with ourselves, probably thinks of Ericsson as
an American.

By the roadside near a mountain hamlet of
Central Sweden stands a pyramid of iron cast
from ore dug from the adjacent mines and set
upon a base of granite quarried from the hills
which overlook the valley. This monument bears
the information that two brothers, Nils Erics-
son and John Ericsson, were born in a miner's
hut at that place, respectively, January 31, 1802,
and July 31, 1803. Nils Ericsson was a man of
unusual distinction, who held high position in
Sweden as engineer of the canals and railroads
of the kingdom. The name of his brother is
known the world over. These two notable
Swedes were sons of Olof Ericsson, a Swedish

Jonn Eiicsboi

JOHX ERICSSON 179

miner. Poverty was one of the bits of good
fortune that fell to the lot of the two boys, and
among- John's earliest recollections is that of the
seizure of their household effects by the sheriff.
The mother was a woman of intelligence and
somewhat acquainted with the literature of her
time. In boyhood John Ericsson worked in the
iron mines of Central Sweden. Machinery was
his first love and his last. Before he was eleven
3'ears old, during the winter of 1 813, he had pro-
duced a miniature saw-mill of ingenious con-
struction, and had planned a pum ping-engine
designed to keep the mines free from water.
The frame of the saw^-mill was of wood; the
saw-blade was made from a watch-spring and
was moved by a crank made from a broken tin
spoon. A file, borrowed from a neighboring
blacksmith, a gimlet, and a jack-knife were the
only tools used in this work. His pumping-en-
gine was a more ambitious affair, to be operated
by a wind-mill.

The family then lived in the wilderness, sur-
rounded by a pine forest, where Ericsson's father
was engaged in selecting timber for the lock-
gates of a canal. A quill and a pencil were the
boy's tools in the way of drawing materials. He
made compasses of birch wood. A pair of steel
tweezers were converted into a drawing-pen.
Ericsson had never seen a wind-mill, but follow-
ing as well as he could the description of those
who had, he succeeded in constructing on paper
the mechanism connecting the crank of a wind-
mill with the pump-lever. The plan, conceived

rti ^

JOHN ERICSSON ISl

and executed under such circumstances by a
mere boy, attracted the attention of Count
Platen, president of the Gotha Ship Canal, on
which Ericsson's father was employed, and when
Ericsson was twelve years old he was made
a member of the surveying party carrying out
the canal work and put in charge of a section.
Six hundred of the royal troops looked for direc-
tions in their daily work to this boy, one of his
attendants being a man who followed him with
a stool, upon which he stood to use the survey-
ing instruments. The amusements of this boy
engineer, even at the age of fifteen, are indicated
by a portfolio of drawings made in his leisure
moments, giving maps of the most important
parts of the canal, three hundred miles in length,
and showing all the machinery used in its con-
struction. His precocity was, however, the nor-
mal and healthy development of a mind as fond
of mechanical principles as Raphael was of color.
It was in 1811 that Ericsson made his first
scale drawing of the famous Sunderland Iron
Bridge, and from that time on his career in
Sweden was a brilliant one. After serving as an
engineer upon the Gotha Canal he became an
officer in the Swedish army, from which circum-
stance he got his title of captain. Most govern-
ment work was then done by army officers, espe-
cially in field surveying. The appointments of
government surveyors being offered soon after-
ward to competitive examination among the offi-
cers of the army, Ericsson went to Stockholm
and entered the lists. Detailed maps of fifty

1S2 IXVEXTORS

square miles of Swedish territory, still upon file at
Stockholm, show his skill. Though his work as
a surveyor exceeded' that of any of his compan-
ions, he was not satisfied. He sought an outlet
for his superfluous activity in preparing the draw-
ings and engraving sixty-four large plates for a
work illustrating the Gotha Canal. His faculty
for invention was shown here bv the construc-
tion of a machine-eno^raver, with which eis^hteen
copper-plates were completed by his own hand
within a year.

From engraving young Ericsson turned his
attention to experiments with flame as a means
of producing mechanical power, and it is inter-
esting to note that forty years afterward a large
part of his income in this country was derived
from his gas- or flame-engine, thousands of Avhich
are now in use in New York Citv alone for
pumping water up to the tops of the houses.
His early flame-engine, as it was called, turned
out so well that after building one of ten horse-
power, he obtained leave of absence to go to
England to introduce the invention. He never
returned to Sweden for any length of time,
although he remained a Swede at heart, and
many Swedish orders and decorations have been
conferred upon him. In addition to the monu-
ment near Ericsson's birthplace, already men-'
tioned, the government has erected a granite
shaft, eighteen feet high, in front of the cot-
tage in which he was born. This shaft, bearing
the inscription, " John Ericsson was born here
in 1803," was dedicated on September 3, 1867,

JOHN ERICSSON 183

when work was suspended in the neighboring
mines and iron furnaces, and a holiday was held
in honor of Sweden's famous son. Poems were
read, the chief engineer of the mining district
delivered an oration, and Dr. Pallin, a savant
from Philipstad, reminded his hearers that seven
cities in Greece contended for the honor of be-
ing Homer's birthplace. '' Certificates of bap-
tism did not then exist," said Dr. Pallin, '' and
there is no doubt with us as to Ericsson's birth-
place ; yet to guard against all accidents we
have here placed a record of baptism weigh-
ing eighty thousand pounds." The monument
stands on an isthmus between two lakes sur-
rounded by green hills.

Ericsson's life in England began in 1826. For-
tune did not smile upon his efforts to introduce
his flame - engine, for the coal lire which had
to be used in England was too severe for the
working parts of the apparatus. But Ericsson
possessed a capacity for hard Avork that recog-
nized no obstacles. He undertook a new series
of experiments which resulted finally in the com-
pletion of an engine which was patented and
sold to John Braithwaite. Young Ericsson's ca-
pacity for work and for keeping half a dozen ex-
periments in view at the same time seems to have
been as remarkable in those early days as when
he became famous. Records of the London
Patent Ofihce credit him with invention after
invention. Among these were a pumping-engine
on a new principle ; engines with surface con-
densers and no smoke-stack, as applied to the

JOHN I£ RIGS SON 1S5

Steamship Victory in 1828; an apparatus for
making salt from brine ; for propelling boats
on canals ; a hydrostatic weighing machine, to
which the Society of Arts awarded a prize ; an
instrument to be used in taking deep-sea sound-
ings ; a file-cutting machine. The list covers
some fourteen patented inventions and forty ma-
chines.

Perhaps his most important work at this pe-
riod was a device for creating artificial draught
in locomotives, to which aid the development of
our railroad owes much. In 1829 the Liverpool
& Manchester Railroad offered a prize of $2,500
for the best locomotive capable of doing cer-
tain work. The prize was taken by Stephenson
with his famous Rocket ; but his sharpest com-
petitor in this contest was John Ericsson. Four
locomotives entered the contest. The London
Times of October 8, 1829, speaks highl}^ of the
Novelty, the locomotive entered by Messrs.
Braithwaite & Ericsson, saying : '' It was the
lightest and most elegant carriage on the road
yesterday, and the velocity with which it moved
surprised and amazed every beholder. It shot
along the line at the amazing rate of thirty miles
an hour. It seemed indeed to fly, presenting
one of the most sublime spectacles of human
ingenuity and human daring the world ever
beheld."

The railroad directors, at whose invitation this
test was made, had asked for ten miles an hour ;
Ericsson gave them thirty. The excitement of
the witnesses found vent in loud cheers. Within

186

ly VEX TORS

an hour the shares of the railroad company rose
ten per cent., and the young engineer might well
have considered his fortune made. But althouofh

^^^

Ericsson on his Arrival in England, aged twenty-three.

he had beaten his rival ten miles an hour, the
judges determined to make traction power,
rather than speed, the critical test, and the prize
was awarded to Stephenson's Rocket, which

JOHN EUIC8S0N

187

drew seventeen tons for seventy miles at the rate
of thirteen miles an hour. Stephenson's engine
weighed twice as much as Ericsson's. Neverthe-

Mrs. John Eiicsson, n4e Amelia Byam.
(From an early daguerreotype.)

less Ericsson's success with the Novelty was
such as to keep him busy in this particular field.
He followed it up with a steam fire-engine that
astonished London at tlie burning of the Argyle

1S8 ly VEX TOSS

Rooms, in 1829, when for the first time, as one
of the local papers remarked, " fire was ex-
tinguished b\- the mechanical power of fire."
Another engine, of larger power, built for the
King of Prussia, soon after rendered excellent
service in Berlin, and a third was built for Liv-
erpool in 1830. Ten years afterward the Me-
chanics' Institute of New York awarded a gold
medal to Ericsson as a prize for the best plan of
a steam-engine.

Disappointed in his ill success with inven-
tions pertaining to locomotives, Ericsson now
turned his attention to his earlv flame-engine,
and the working model of a caloric engine of
five-horse power soon attracted the attention of
London. At first there seemed to be a great
future for engines upon this principle, but after
many 3'ears of experiments, at great expense,
Ericsson found that the principle was useful onl>^
for purposes requiring small power. In 1851 he
built a heat-engine for the ship Ericsson, a vessel
two hundred and sixty feet in length, and tells
the result as follows : '* The ship after comple-
tion made a successful trip from New York to
Washington and back during the winter season ;
but the average speed at sea proving insuflficient
for commercial purposes, the owners, with re-
gret, acceded to mv proposition to remove the
costlv machinerv, although it had proved perfect
as a mechanical combination. The resources of
modem engineering having been exhausted in
producing the motors of the caloric ship, the im-
portant question. Can heated air, as a mechan-

r VSjy WW"^ '^^^^ '^ ■'■ -l^F^

p^miSLI

190 ly VEX TOES

ical motor, compete on a large scale with steam ?
has forever been set at rest. The commercial
world is indebted to Am.erican enterprise for
having settled a question of such vital impor-
tance. The marine engineer has thus been en-
couraged to renew his efforts to perfect the
steam-engine without fear of rivalry from a mo-
tor depending on the dilation of atmospheric air
by heat."

Before leaving this question of heat-engines
and passing to the more important inventions by
which Ericsson Vvill be remembered, it may be
as Vv'ell to sav a few words concerning the solar-
engines to which he devoted many years' time,
and one of which I saw in operation in the back
yard of the pleasant old house in Beach Street,
opposite the freight depot of the Hudson River
Railroad. This house, bv the way, Avhich Erics-
son occupied for nearlv forty years, faced on St.
John's Park, the pleasant square which was after-
ward filled up by the railroad companv. Tow-
ard the last years of Ericsson's life the neigh-
borhood became anything but a pleasant one to
live in : it was dirty and noisy. Nevertheless
Ericsson refused to move. Perhaps the unpleas-
antness of the surroundings made him the recluse
he was. It is not surprising that he should have
been attracted by the possibility of obtaining
power from the heat of the sun. In an early
pamphlet on the subject he says : '' There is a
rainless resfion extendinof from the northwestern
coast of Africa to Mongolia, nine thousand miles
in length and nearlv one thousand miles wide.

JOHN EllICSSON

191

111 the Western Hemisphere, Lower California,
the table-lands of Guatemala, and the west coast
of South America, for a distance of more than two
thousand miles, suffer from a continuous radiant

Solar-engine Adapted to the Use of Hot Air.
(Patented as a pumping-engiiie, 1&80.)

heat." Ericsson estimated that the mechanical
power that would result from utilizing- the solar
heat on a strip of land a single mile wide and
eight thousand miles long would suffice to keep
twenty-two million solar-en^-ines, of one hundred

103 IXYEXTORS

horse-power each, going nine hours a da v. He
believed that with the exhaustion of European
coal-fields the da3- for the solar-engine would
come, and that those countries which jxjssessed
unfailing sunshine, such as Egypt, would displace
England, France, and Germany as the manufact-
uring powers of the world, for the European
would have to move his machinery to the bor-
ders of the Nile. By concentrating the rays of
the sun upon a small copper boiler filled with
air Ericsson was enabled to work a little motor,
and for some years he also attempted to produce
steam by means of heat from the sun. He was
not successful, however, in making anything of
commercial value in this direction, and so far as
I have been able to learn none of the tropical
countries invited by him to take up the problem
for its own benefit responded to the invitation.

Ericsson's studies and improvements of the
screw as a means of propelling boats began in
England. A model boat, two feet long, fitted
up with two screws, was launched in a London
bath-house, and, supplied by steam from a boiler
placed at the side of the tank, was sent around
at a speed estimated at six miles an hour. Erics-
son was so delighted with it that he built a boat
eight feet by forty, armed with two propellers,
in the hope that the British Admiralty might
adopt the invention. This boat went through
the water at the rate of ten miles an hour, or
seven miles an hour towing a schooner of one
hundred and forty tons burden. He invited the
Admiraltv to see the work of his screw. Steam-

JOHN ERICSSON 193

ing up to Somerset House with his little ves-
sel, Ericsson took the Admiralt}' barge in tow, to
the wonder of the watermen, who could make
nothing of the novel craft with no apparent
means of propulsion. The British Admiralty,
however, was not easily convinced. These wise-
acres said nothing, but Ericsson professed to
have heard that their verdict Avas against him
because one of the authorities of the board de-
cided that '' even if the propeller had the power
of propelling a vessel it w^ould be found alto-
gether useless in practice, because the power,
being applied to the stern, it would be abso-
lutely impossible to make the vessel steer."

This official blindness cost England the ser-
vices of the inventor. . The United States hap-
pened to have as consul in Liverpool at that day
(1837) Mr. Francis B. Ogden, a pioneer in steam
navigation on the Ohio River. Ogden saw
Ericsson's invention and introduced him to Cap-
tain Robert F. Stockton, of the United States
Navy. With Stockton, seeing was believing, and
when he returned from a trip on Ericsson's boat,
he exclaimed : " I do not want the opinion of
your scientific men. What I have seen to-day
satisfies me." Before the vessel had completed
her trip, Ericsson received from Stockton an
order for two boats. Upon Stockton's assur-
ance that the United States would try his pro-
peller upon a large scale, Ericsson closed up his
affairs in England and embarked for the United
States. Through the good offices of Stockton,
but after considerable delay, a vessel called the
13

194 INVENTORS

Princeton was ordered and completed. She
carried a number of radical improvements des-
tined to make a revolution in naval warfare.
The boilers and engines Avere below the water-
line, out of the Avay of shot and shell. The
smoke-stack was a telescopic affair, replacing
the tall pipe that formed so conspicuous a target
upon the old boats. Centrifugal blowers in the
hold, worked by separate engines, secured in-
creased draught for the furnaces. The Prince-
ton was a wonder, and everyone was ready to
praise the inventive genius of Ericsson and the
daring of Captain Stockton in adopting so many
radical novelties. An entry in the diary of John
Quincy Adams, dated February 28, 1844, tells
the sad story of the public exhibition of the
Princeton at Washington :

" I w^ent into the chamber of the Committee of
Manufactures and wrote there till six. Dined
with Mr. Grinnell and Mr. Winthrop. While
we were at dinner John Barney burst into the
chamber, rushed up to General Scott and told
him, with groans, that the President wished to
see him ; that the great gun on board the Prince-
ton had burst and killed the Secretary of State,
Upshur ; the Secretary of the Navy, T. W. Gil-
mer ; Captain Beverly Kennon, Virgil Maxey, a
Colonel Gardiner, of New York, a colored ser-
vant of the President, and desperately wounded
several of the crew."

So tragic an introduction was not needed to
direct public attention to the Princeton. Erics-
son had placed the United States at the head of

JOHN ERICSSON 195

naval powers in the application of steam-power
to warfare. He had made the experiment of the
Princeton at a great cost to himself, and two
years of concentrated effort had been devoted
to the service of the Government. For his
time, labor, and necessary expenditures he ren-
dered a bill of $15,000, leaving the question of
what, if anything, should be charged for his
patent rights entirely to the discretion and gen-
erosity of the Government. The bill was refused
payment by the Navy Department because of
its limited discretion." Ericsson went to Con-
gress with it, but a dozen years passed without
the slightest progress toward a settlement. A
court of claims rendered a unanimous decree in
his favor, but Congress, to which the bill was
again sent, failed to make an appropriation, and
there the matter has remained, notwithstanding
the brilliant services since rendered to this coun-
try by the inventor.

Various nations claim the invention of the
screw as appHed to boats. At Triest and at
Vienna stand statues erected to Joseph Ressel,
for Avhom the Austrians lay claim. Commodore
Stevens, of New Jersey, is also said by Professor
Thurston to have built and worked a screw-pro-
peller on the Hudson in 1812. Whatever may
be the final decision as to Ericsson's claim in
this matter, there can be no doubt as to the
value of the services he rendered in building the
Monitor. The suggestion of the Monitor was
first made in a communication from Ericsson to
Napoleon III., dated New York, September,

196 ixvEyroRS

1854- This paper contained a description of an
iron-clad vessel surmounted by a cupola substan-
tially as in the Monitor as finally built. The
emperor, through General Favre, acknowledged
the communication. Favre wrote: ''The em-
peror has himself examined with the greatest
care the new system of nayal attack which you
have communicated to him. His Majesty charges
me with the honor of informing you that he has
found your ideas very ingenious and worthy of
the celebrated name of their author." For eight
years Ericsson continued working upon his idea
of a revolving cupola or turret upon an iron-clad
raft, but found no opportunity to test the practi-
cal value of the device. His time finally came
when, in 1861, the Navy Department appointed
a board to examine plans for iron-clads. The
board consisted of Commodores Joseph Smith,
Hiram Pauldinsr. and Charles H. Davis. Erics-
son. having learned to distrust his own powers
as a business agent, engaged the assistance of C.
S. Bushnell. a Connecticut man of some wealth,
who went to Washington and presented the de-
signs of the Monitor to the board.

Colonel W. C. Church, Ericsson's biographer,
who has just been honored by Sweden for his
publications upon- the life of the inventor, tells
an interesting story of the negotiations concern-
ing the vessel which was to render such signal
services to the country. Bushnell could make
no headway with the board and decided that
Ericsson's presence in Washington was necessary.
But the inventor was then, as durincr his whole

JOHN ERICSSON 197

life, averse to any self-advertisement, and })re-
f erred his workshop to any place on earth. But
as he possessed a sort of rude eloquence due to
enthusiasm, Bushnell got him to Washington by
subterfuge. He was told that the board ap-
proved his plans for an iron-clad and that it
would be necessary for him to go to the capital
and complete the contract. Presenting himself
before the board, what was his astonishment to
find that he was not only an unexpected but ap-
parently an unwelcome visitor. He was not
long in doubt as to the meaning of this recep-
tion. To his indignation and astonishment he
was informed that the plan of a vessel submitted
by him had already been rejected. His first im-
pulse was to withdraw at once. Mastering his
anger, however, he inquired the reason for this
decision. Commodore Smith explained that the
vessel had not sufficient stability ; in other words,
it would be liable to upset. Captain Ericsson
was too experienced a naval designer to have
overlooked this point, and in a lucid explanation
put his views before the board, winding up with
the declaration : " Gentlemen, after what I have
said, I consider it to be your duty to the country
to give me an order to build the vessel before I
leave this room."

Withdrawing to a corner the board held a con-
sultation and invited the inventor to call again
at one o'clock. When Ericsson returned he
brought with him a diagram illustrating more
fully his reasons for considering his proposed
vessel to be perfectly stable. Commodore, after-

19S

INVENTORS

ward Admiral, Paulding was convinced, and ad-
mitted that Ericsson had taught him much about
the stability of vessels. Secretary Welles was
informed that the board reported favorably upon
Ericsson's plan, and told the inventor that he
might return to New York and begin work, as
the contract would follow him. When the con-

Sectional View of Monitor through Turret and Pilot-house.

tract came it was found to be a singularly one-
sided affair. If the Monitor proved vulnerable
— in other words, if it was not a success — the
money paid for it by the Navy Department was
to be refunded.

It took one hundred days to build the Monitor.
During those three months Ericsson scarcelv
slept, and even in his dreams he went over the
details of the new-fangled war-engine he was

JOHN ERICSSON

199

building. He named her Monitor because, lie
said, she would warn the
nations of the world that
a new era in naval warfare
had begun. The story of
his untiring activity has
been told almost as often
as that of the battle be-
tween the Monitor and
the Merrimac. He was at
the ship-yard before any
of the workmen, and was
the last to leave. In the
construction of so novel a
craft difficulties of a puz- .

zling nature came up every

day. If Ericsson could not
solve them on the spot, he
studied the matter in the
quiet of the night, and was
ready with his drawings
in the morning. The re-
sult of the naval battle in
Hampton Roads, on the
9th of March, 1862, be-
tween the little Monitor
and the big M e r r i m a c
made Ericsson the hero of
the hour. Had no David
appeared to stop the rav-
ages of the Confederate
Goliath, it is hard to say what might not have
been the injury inflicted upon the cause of the

200 INVENTORS

Union by the terrible Merrimac. The United
States Navy was virtually panic-stricken when
the Monitor, this '' Yankee cheese - box on a
plank," as the Southerners called her, came to
the rescue.

Notwithstanding the tremendous service ren-
dered the country, Ericsson declined to receive
more compensation for the Monitor than his con-
tract called for. In reply to a resolution of the
New York Chamber of Commerce calling for
'' a suitable return for his services as will evince
the gratitude of the nation," Ericsson said : " All
the remuneration I desire for the Monitor I
get out of the construction of it. It is all-suf-
ficient." Our grateful nation took him at his
word. But honors of another and less costly
kind were showered upon him. Chief Engineer
Stimers, who was on the Monitor during her
battle with the Merrimac, wrote to Ericsson :
'' I congratulate you on your great success.
Thousands have this day blessed you. I have
heard whole crews cheer you. Every man feels
that you have saved this place to the nation by
furnishing us with the means to whip an iron-
clad frigate that was, until our arrival, having
it all her own way with our most powerful
vessels."

War vessels upon the plan of the Monitor
speedily appeared among the navies of several
nations. England refused at first to admit the
value of the invention and was not converted un-
til the double-turreted Miantonomoh visited her
waters in 1866, when one of the London papers

o >

000

lyvEyroR.'^

described her appearance among the British fleet
as that of a wolf among- a flock of sheep. The
dav of the bisr wooden war-vessels was over. It
was. nevertheless, an Eno-lishman and a naval of-

ficer. Captain Cowper Coles, who sought to de-
prive Ericsson of the honor of his invention.
Coles declared that he had devised a shi[) during
the Crimean war, in which a turret or cupola
was to protect the guns. Ericsson's letter to

JOHN ERICSSON 203

Napoleon III., written in 1854, is sufficient answer
to this, besides which Ericsson's scheme includes
more than a stationary shield for the guns, which
is all that Coles claimed. Coles succeeded, how-
ever, in inducing the British Admiralty to build
a vessel according to his plans. This ill-fated
craft upset off Cape Finisterre on the night of
September 6, 1870, and went to the bottom with
Coles and a crew of nearly five hundred men.

Having devised an apparatus that made
wooden war-vessels useless, Ericsson turned his
attention to the destruction of iron-clads, and de-
voted ten 3-ears of his life to the construction of
his famous torpedo-boat, the Destroyer, upon
which he spent about all the money he amassed
by other work. According to his belief, no ves-
sel afloat could escape annihilation in a battle
with his Destroyer. This vessel is designed to
run at sufficient speed to overtake any of the
iron-clads. It offers small surface to the shot of
an enemy, and besides being heavily armored, it
can be partly submerged beneath the waves.
When within fighting distance it fires under
water, by compressed air, a projectile containing
dynamite sufficient to raise a big war-ship out of
the water. The explosion takes place when the
projectile meets with resistance, such as the sides
of a ship. To Ericsson's great disappointment,
the United States Government persistently re-
fused to purchase the Destroyer or to commis-
sion Ericsson to build more vessels of her type.

Of Ericsson's home life there is not much to
be told. He was utterly wrapped up in his work.

204

INVENTORS

With his devoted secretary, jNlr. Arthur Taylor,
his days knew scarcely any variation. Of social
recreation he had none. In conversation he was

ERlCSSOHSdesijmnB*,

Ihj-UONITOa"

JNFmiBU

SCALflf££T

Development of the Monitor Idea.

abrupt and somewhat peculiar, apparently re-
garding all other talk than that relating to me-
chanics and germane subjects as a waste of
words. His shrewd face, with its blue eyes and

JOHN ERICSSON 205

fringe of white hair, was not an unkindly one,
however, and the few workmen he employed in
the Beach Street house were devoted to him.
No great man was ever more intensely averse to
personal notoriety. Although often advised to
make his Destroyer better known by means of
newspaper articles, he persistently refused to see
newspaper men ; and the professional interviewer
and lion-hunter were his pet aversions. It was
perhaps to avoid them that he left his house only
after nightfall, and then but for a walk in the
neighborhood.

His time was divided according to rule. For
thirty years he was called by his servant at seven
o'clock in the morning, and took a bath of very
cold water, ice being added to it in summer.
After some gymnastic exercises came breakfast
at nine o'clock, always of eggs, tea, and brown
bread. His second and last meal of the day,
dinner, never varied from chops or steak, some
vegetables, and tea and brown bread again. Ice-
water was the only luxury that he indulged in.
He used tobacco in no form. During the day-
time he was accustomed to work at his desk or
drawing-table for about ten hours. After dinner
he resumed work until ten, when he started out
for the stroll of an hour or more, which always
ended his day. The last desk work accomplished
every day was to make a record in his diary, al-
ways exactly one page long. This diary is in
Swedish and comprises more than fourteen thou-
sand pages, thus covering a period of forty years,
during which he omitted but twenty days, in 1856,

206

IXVEXTORS

when he had a hngcr crushed by machinery. He
scarcely knew what sickness was, and just be-
fore his death said that he had not missed a meal
for fifteen years. He was a widower and left no
children. He died in the Beach Street house,
after a short illness, on March 8, 1889, ^^^^^ ^^is
remains were transferred to Sweden with nayal
honors.

The Room in which Ericsson Worked for More than Twenty Years.

.,2^

--^

Cyrus Hall McCnrmick.

VIII.

CYRUS HALL McCORMICK.

In the course of an argument before the Com-
missioner of Patents, in 1859, the late Reverdy
Johnson declared that the McCormick reaper
was worth $55,000,000 a year to this country,
an estimate that was not disputed. At about
the same time the late William H. Seward
said that " owing to Mr. McCormick's invention
the line of civilization moves westward thirty
miles each year." Already the London Times,
after ridiculing the McCormick reaper exhibited
at the London World's Fair of 1851, as "a cross
between an Astley (circus) chariot, a wheel-
barrow, and a flying-machine," confessed, when
the reaper had been tested in the fields, that it
was " worth to the farmers of England the whole
cost of this exhibition." Writing of this glorious
success, Mr. Seward said : " So the reaper of
1 83 1, as improved in 1845, achieved for its in-
ventor a triumph which all then felt and ac-
knowledged was not more a personal one than
it was a national one. It was justly so regarded.
No general or consul, drawn in a chariot through
the streets of Rome by order of the Senate, ever
conferred upon mankind benefits so great as he
who thus vindicated the genius of our country

208 IXVEXTOnS

at the World's Exhibition of Art in the metrop-
olis of the British empire in 185 1." In 1861,
though declining to extend the patent for the
reaper, the Commissioner of Patents, D. P. Hol-
loway, paid the inventor this remarkable tribute :
" Cyrus H. McCormick is an inventor whose
fame, while he is yet living, has spread through
the world. His genius has done honor to his
own country, and has been the admiration of
foreign nations, and he will live in the grateful
recollection of mankind as long as the reaping-
machine is employed in gathering the harvest."
Nevertheless the extension of the patent of 1 834,
which act of justice would have given the invent-
or an opportunity to obtain an adequate reward
for his work, was refused upon the extraordinary
ground that "the reaper was of too great value
to the public to be controlled by any individual."
In other words, the benefit conferred by McCor-
mick upon the country was too great to be paid
for ; therefore no effort should be made to pay
for it. Finally, the French Academy of Sciences,
when McCormick was elected to the Institute
of France — an honor paid but to few Americans
— mentioned the election as due to " his having
done more for the cause of agriculture than any
other living man."

It is thus evident that the tremendous service
done to the civilized world by the invention of the
McCormick reaper was appreciated years ago.
Yet it is improbable that the whole value of the
invention was fully realized. To-day the Mc-
Cormick works at Chicago turn out yearly, and

arm's hall mccormick

209

have turned out for several years, more than one
hundred thousand reapers and mowers. At a
moderate estimate every McCormick reaper, and
every reaper founded upon it and containing
its essential features, saves the labor of six men
during the ten harvest days of the year. The

^1^ *^is*"'*^

Farm where Cyrus H. McCormick was Born and Raised.

present number of reapers in operation to-day,
all of them based upon the McCormick pat-
ents, is estimated at about two million, so that,
counting a man's labor at $i a da3% here is a
yearl}^ saving of more than $100,000,000. The
reaper thus stands beside the steam-engine and
the sewing-machine as one of the most impor-
tant labor-saving inventions of our time, relieving
14

210 i^TEyroRS

millions of men from the most arduous drudg-
ery and increasing the world's wealth by hun-
dreds of millions of dollars every year. It is
some satisfaction to know that the inventor of
the reaper lived to enjoy the fruits of his work.
A remarkable man in every respect, his in-
genuity, perseverance, courage under injustice,
and generosity finally won him not only the
material rewards that were his by right, but the
esteem and honor of the civilized world.

Like Fulton and Morse, Cyrus Hall McCor-
mick came of Scotch-Irish blood, a race marked
by fixed purpose, untiring industry in carrying
out that purpose, a strong sense of moral obliga-
tion, and an unswerving determination to do
right by the light of conscience though the heav-
ens fall. He was born on the 15 th of February,
1809, at Walnut Grove, in Rockbridge County,
Va., and was the eldest of eight children, six of
whom lived to grow up. His father, Robert
iSIcCormick, in addition to farming, had work-
shops of considerable importance on his farm,
as Avell as a saw-mill and grist-mill and smelting
furnaces. In these workshops young Cyrus
McCormick probably got his first love for me-
chanical devices. Robert McCormick was an
inventor of no mean attainment. He devised
and built a thresher, a hemp-breaker, some mill
improvements, and in 18 16 he made and tried
a mechanical reaper. In those days so much of
the farmer's hard labor was expended in swing-
ing the scythe that it seems strange Ave have
no record of more attempts to make a machine

CYRUS HALL JfcCORMLCK 211

do the work. A schoolmaster named Ogle is
said to have built a reaper in 1822, but, accord-
ing to his own admission, it would not work.
Bell, a Scotch minister, also contrived a reaping-
machine that was tried in 1828. In the course
of the subsequent patent litigation over the
reaper the claims of these early inventors were
made the most of by McCormick's opponents,
but the courts of last resort invariably settled
the question in McCormick's favor.

As a farmer boy, young Cyrus McCormick
began his day's work in the fields at five o'clock.
In winter he went to the Old Field School.
During his boyhood he would watch his fa-
ther's experiments and disappointments. His
first attempt in the same direction was the con-
struction, at the age of fifteen, of a harvesting-
cradle by which he was enabled to keep up with
an able-bodied workman. His first patented in-
vention (183 1) was a plough which threw alternate
furrows on either side, being thus either a right-
hand or left-hand plough. This was superseded
in 1833 by an improved plough, also by McCor-
mick, called the self-sharpening plough, which
did excellent work. His father having worked
long and unsuccessfully at a mechanical reaper,
it was natural that young McCormick's mind
should turn over the same problem from time to
time, and his father's failures did not deter him,
although Robert McCormick had suffered so
much in mind and pocket through the impractica-
bility of his reaper that he Avarned his son against
wasting more time and money upon the dream.

212

INVEyTORS

One martyr to mechanical progress was enough
for the McCormick family. But the possibility
of making a machine do the hard, hot \york of
the haryest-field had a fascination for the young
man, and the more he studied the discarded
reaping-machine made by his father in 1816, the
more firmly he became conyinced that \yhile the

Exterior of the Blacksmith Shop where the First Reaper was Built.

principle of that deyice was wrong, the work
could be done. In those days the deyelopment
of the country really depended upon some bet-
ter, cheaper way of haryesting. The land was
fertile, and there was practically no end of it.
But labor was scarce.

Cyrus ^NlcCormick's plough was a success that
encourao:ed him to take hold of the more diffi-
cult problem of the reaper. He found tliat some

GYRUS HALL McCORMLCK: 213

device, such as his father's, would cut grain after
a fashion, provided it was in perfect condition
and stood up straight ; the moment it became
matted and tangled and beaten down by wind
and rain the machine was useless. Other de-
vices had been arranged whereby a fly-wheel
armed with sickles slashed off the heads of the
wheat, leaving the stalks ; but here again such a
machine would work only when the field was in
prime condition. He determined that no device
was of an}^ value which would not cut grain as
it might happen to stand, stalk and all. After
months of labor in his father's shop, making
every part of the machine himself, in both wood
and iron, as he said, he turned out, in 1831, the
first reaper that really cut an average field of
wheat satisfactorily. Its three great essential
features were those of the reaper of to-day — a
vibrating cutting-blade, a reel to bring the grain
within reach of the blade, a platform to receive
the falling grain, and a divider to separate the
grain to be cut from that to be left standing.
This machine, drawn by horses, was tested in a
field of six acres of oats, belonging to John Steele,
within a mile of Walnut Grove. Its work aston-
ished the neighboring farmers who gathered to
witness the test. The problem of cutting stand-
ing grain by machinery had been solved.

There were, however, certain defects in the
reaper which caused Cyrus McCormick not to
put the machine on the market. All the cog-
wheels were of wood. There was no place upon
it for either the driver or the raker. The for-

214 ly VEX TORS

mer rode on the near horse and the latter fol-
lowed on foot, raking the grain from it as best
he could. But it cut grain fast, and both father
and son were so impressed by its possibilities as
foreshadowed in even this crude affair, that for
the next few years they devoted their time,
money, and thoughts to it. Robert McCormick
was as enthusiastic as his son, and he is riorhtlv
entitled to a share of the honor, for his invention
of 1816 turned the attention of his son to the
problem and pointed out the radical errors to be
avoided. A year after its first trial, with certain
improvements, the reaper cut fifty acres of wheat
in so perfect and rapid a manner as to insure its
practical value beyond all doubt. The self-re-
straint shown bv McCormick in refusino^ to sell
machines until he was satisfied with them shows
the man. The patent was granted in 1834. but
for six years he kept at work experimenting,
changing, improving, during the short periods
of each harvest. In a letter to the Commis-
sioner of Patents, on file in the Patent Office,
Mr. McCormick said : '' From the experiment of
1 83 1 until the harvest of 1840 I did not sell a
reaper, although during that time I had many
exhibitions of it, for experience proved to me
that it was best for the public as well as for my-
self that no sales were made, as defects presented
themselves that would render the reaper unprof-
itable in other hands. Many improvements were
found necessary, requiring a great deal of thought
and study. I was sometimes flattered, at other
times discouraged, and at all times deemed it best

CYRUS HALL McGOBMIGK

215

not to attempt the sale of machines until satisfied
that the reaper would succeed."

About 1835 the McCormicks engaged in a part-
nership for the smelting of iron ore. The reaper,
as a business pursuit, was yet in the distance, and
the new iron industry offered large profits. The
panic of 1837 swept away these hopes. Cyrus

Interior of the Blacksmith Shop where the First Reaper was Built.

sacrificed all he had, even the farm given him by
his father, to settle his debts, and his scrupulous
integrity in this matter turned disaster into bless-
ing, for it compelled him to take up the reaper with
renewed energy. With the aid of his father and
of his brothers, William and Leander, he began
the manufacture of the machine in the primitive
workshop at Walnut Grove, turning out less than
fifty machines a year, all of them made under

216 lyvEyroBS

great disadvantages. The sickles were made
forty miles away, and as there were no railroads
in those days, the blades, six feet long, had to be
carried on horseback. Neither was it easv, when
once the machines were made, to get them to
market. The tirst consignment sent to the West-
em prairies, in 1844, was taken in wagons from
Walnut Grove to Scottsville, then down the
canal to Richmond, Va. : thence bv water to
New Orleans, and then up the Mississippi and
Ohio Rivers to Cincinnati.

The great West, with its vast prairies, was the
natural market for the reaper. Upon the small
farms of the East hand labor might still suffice
for the harvest : in the West, where the farms
were enormous and labor scarce, it was out of
the question. Realizing that while his reaper
was a luxurv in Virginia, it was a necessitv in
Ohio and Illinois. Cvrus McCormick went to
Cincinnati in the autumn of 1844 and began
manufacturing. At the same time he made
some valuable improvements and obtained a
second patent. The reaper had become known
and the inventor rode on horseback through
Illinois and Wisconsin, obtaining farmers' orders
for reapers. Avhich he offered to A. C. Brown,
of Cincinnati, as securitv for pavment, if he
would use his workshops for manufacturing
them. McCormick was enabled also to arrange
with a hrm in Brockport. X. Y.. to make his
reapers on a rovaltv. and this business pro-
vided the great wheat district of Central Xew
York with machines. In 1847 ^^^ i^4^ he ob-

CVnrS HALL JIcCORMICIv

217

tained still other patents for new features of the
reaper.

In 1846 he had already fixed upon Chicago as
the best centre of operations for the reaper busi-
ness, and at the close of the year he moved there.
The next year the sale of the reapers rose to
seven hundred, and more than doubled in 1849.

The First Reaper.

Having associated his two brothers, William S.
and Leander J., Avith him, Cyrus McCormick
found time to devote himself to introducing the
reaper in the Old World. The American exhibit
at the London World's Fair of 1851 was rather a
small one, redeemed largely by the McCormick
reaper, which the London Times, as I have already
said, praised as worth to the farmers of Great
Britain more than the whole cost of the exhibi-

21 S lyvEXTons

tion. To it was awarded the grand prize, known
as the council medal.

The reaper's advance in public favor was as
stead}- on the other side of the water as here, and
medals and honors were awarded McCormick at
many important exhibitions. During the Paris
Exposition of 1S67 McCormick superintended
the work of his reapers at a field trial held by the
exposition authorities, and so conclusivelv de-
feated all competitors that Xapoleon IIL, who
walked after the reapers, expressed his deter-
mination to confer upon the inventor, then and
there, the Cross of the Les^ion of Honor. At
the French Exposition of 1878 the McCormick
wire-binder won the grand prize. From 1850
the success of the reaper was assured. Mr. Mc-
Cormick might have rested content with what
had been achieved, but it was not his nature.
He not onlv continued to bear upon his shoul-
ders the larger share of responsibility of the rap-
idlv growing business, but he labored persistent-
Iv to add to the effectiveness of his invention.

The great lire that swept Chicago in 1871 left
nothing of the already important works estab-
lished bv Mr. McCormick. But. as might be
expected from such a man, he was a tower of
strength to the citv in her time of distress, and
one of those to rallv first from the blow and to
inspire hope. Within a year, assisted by his
brother Leander, he had raised from the ashes an
immense establishment, which with the growth
of the last few years now covers forty acres of
ground. More than 2.000 men are here em-

CYRUS HALL McCORMIGK 219

ployed. The statistics for last )'ear show that
more than 20,000 tons of special bar-iron and steel,
2,800 tons of sheet steel, and 26,000 tons of cast-
ings were used in making the 142,000 machines
sold. Ten million feet of lumber were used,
chiefly in boxing and crating, as very little wood
is now used in the reaper.

This is a marvellous development from the
little Virginia shop of 1840, with its output of
one machine a week, and the growth means far
more for the country at large than might be
inferred from these figures ; the farmers of the
world owe more to the McCormick reaper than
they can repay. The whir of the American
reaper is heard around the world. In Egypt,
Russia, India, Australia the machine is help-
ing man with more than a giant's strength. Re-
cent American travellers through Persia have
described the singular effect produced upon
them by seeing the McCormick reaper doing
its steady work in the fields over which Ha-
roun Al Raschid may have roamed. And this
wonderful machine is followed with awe by the
more ignorant of the natives, who look upon its
achievements as little short of magical. They
are not far wrong, however, for it is more amaz-
ing than any wonder described in their "Arabian
Nights."

The last years of Cyrus H. McCormick's life
were such as have fallen to few of the world's
benefactors, for as a rule the pioneer who shows
the road has a hard time of it, even unto the
end. Mr. McCormick had the satisfaction of

220 IX VEX TORS

knowing not only that by his invention he had
conferred a blessing upon the workmen of the
world, but that the world had acknowleds^ed the
debt. Material prosperity, however, was not
considered any reason for luxurious idleness.
To the close of his life Mr. McCormick con-
tinued to supervise the business of his firm and
to make the reaper more perfect. No great ex-
hibition abroad or in this countrv passed without
some of its honors falling to the share of the
McCormick reaper.

The private life of Cyrus H. McCormick was
a happy one. and to this may be attributed no
small share of the elasticity and courage that
recognized no defeat as fixual. Congress failed
to do him justice ; his business was attacked by
hordes of rivals : it was interrupted by the fire of
1 87 1 and afterward threatened by labor strikes
incited by self-seeking demagogues. Hard work
was the rule of his life and not the exception.
But that his nature remained sweet and just is
shown bv his untiring work upon behalf of oth-
ers. His home life, as I have just remarked,
was unusuallv blessed. In 1858 he married Miss
Nettie Fowler, a daughter of Melzar Fowler, of
Jefferson County, New York. Of the seven chil-
dren born of this marriage, five lived to grow up,
his son, Cyrus H. McCormick. now occupying
his father's place at the head of the great works
in Chicago. One of the daughters, Anita, is the
widoAv of Emmons Blaine. The inventor of the
reaping-machine died on the 13th of May. 1884.
Robert H. Parkinson, of Cincinnati, speaks as

CYRUS HALL McCORMLCK 221

follows of one of the last interviews he had with
Mr. McCormick : "Though struggling with the
infirmities of age, he took on a kind of majesty
which belongs alone to that combination of great
mental and moral strength, and he surprised me
by the power with which he grappled the matters
under discussion, and the strong personality be-
fore which obstacles went down as swiftly and in-
evitably as grain before the knife of his machine.
I think mvself fortunate in having had this
glimpse of him and in being able to remember
with so much personal association a life so com-
plete in its achievements, so far-reaching in its
impress, alike upon the material, moral, and re-
ligious progress of the country, and so thor-
oughly successful and beneficial in ever}- depart-
ment of activity and influence which it entered."
One of his friends, speaking of Mr. ^NlcCormick.
said : " That which gave intensity to his purpose,
strength to his will, and nerved him with perse-
verance that never failed was his supreme regard
for justice, his worshipful reverence for the true
and right. The thoroughness of his conviction
that justice must be done, that right must be
maintained, made him insensible to reproach
and impatient of delay. I do not wonder that
his character was strong, nor that his purpose
was invincible, nor that his plans were crowned
with an ultimate and signal success, for where
conviction of right is the motive-power and the
attainment of justice the end in view, with faith
in God there is no such word as fail."

Cyrus H. McCormick was not only the in-

222 INVENTORS

ventor of a great labor-saving device, but he
helped his fellow-man in other ways. Philan-
thropy, religion, education, journalism, and poli-
tics received a share of his attention. More
than thirty years ago he was already an active
power for good in the councils of his church. In
1859 he proposed to the General Assembly of
the Presbyterian Church to endow with $100,000
the professorships of a theological seminary, to
be established in Chicago. This was done, and
during his lifetime he gave about half a mill-
ion dollars to this institution — the Theological
Seminary of the Northwest. The McCormick
professorship of natural philosophy in the
Washington and Lee University of Virginia, and
gifts to the Union Theological Seminary at
Hampden-Sidney, and to the college at Has-
tings, Neb., also attest his solicitude for the
church in which he had been reared and of
which he had been a member since 1834. In
1872 he came to the aid of the struggling organ
of the Presbyterian Church in the Northwest, the
Interior, and used it to foster union between the
Old and the New Schools in the church, to aid
in harmonizing the Presbyterian Church in the
North and South, to advance the interests of the
Theological Seminary, and to promote the wel-
fare of the Presbyterian Church in the North-
west. Under his care and advice the htterior
grew to be a mighty voice, expressing the con-
victions, the aspirations, and hopes of a great
church.

Thomas A. Edison.

IX.

THOMAS A. EDISON.

Thomas A. Edison is sometimes spoken of
rather as a master mechanic than as a master in-
ventor or discoverer, and with regard to some of
his work — I might even say most of it — this
characterization holds true. Edison's fame is
chiefly associated in the popular mind with the
electric light. Yet it is perfectly well known to
every student of the matter, that in all that he
has done toward making the electric light a use-
ful e very-day — or perhaps I should say e very-
night — affair, he has simply made practicable
what other men had invented or discovered be-
fore him. The fundamental discovery upon
which the incandescent electric lamp is founded
— that a wire of metal or other substance if
heated to incandescence in a glass bulb from
which the air has been exhausted will give light
for a longer or shorter time, according to the
character of the apparatus and the degree to
which a perfect vacuum has been effected in
the bulb — this dates from the first half of the
century. As early as 1849 Despretz, the French
scientist, described a series of experiments with
sticks of carbon sealed in a glass globe from
which air had been exhausted. When a power-

224

IXVEyTOES

Ed'scr's Paper Carbon
Lamp.

fill current was passed through the carbon
filament it became luminous and remained so for
a short time. This was, perhaps, the first of a
long line of similar experiments
in which a number of American
physicists — Farmer, Draper,
Henry, Morse, and Maxim
among them — took part. But
notwithstandins: the labors of a
score of experts in Europe and
this country, the incandescent
electric light — the wire in a glass
bulb exhausted of its air — re-
mained a laboratory curiosity
up to the time, fifteen vears ago,
when Edison took hold of it. It
o^ave lisrht onlv for a short time
and was too expensive a toy for practical use.
The carbon burned out or disintegrated, and
the lamp failed. Edison took hold of the mechan-
ical difficulties of the problem. With a patience,
an ingenuity, a fertility of device in which he
stands alone, he got to the bottom of each radical
defect and remedied it. The lamp would not
burn long because the platinum wire used gave
out, partly because platinum was not fitted for the
work, fusing at too low a temperature. Edison
substituted carbonized strips of paper. These
in turn failed, and he found a species of bamboo
that answered. The lamp would not burn be-
cause air still remained in the little bulbs not-
withstanding the most careful manipulation with
Sprengel pumps to exhaust the air. Edison in-

THOMAS A. EDISON 225

vented new pumps and devices by which the
air, down to one millionth part, was excluded.
The lamp cost too much to operate, because large
copper wires were needed to carry the current,
and the generators used up steam power too
fast. Edison devised new forms of conductors
and generators. All such work called more for
mechanical ingenuity than for actual invention.
No new principles were involved — merely the
better adaptation of known methods. Given a
perfect carbon, a globe perfectly free from air,
cheap electric current, and cheap means of carry-
ing it from the generating machine to the lamps,
and the problem was solved.

Edison, as a master mechanic, furnished all
this, or at least so nearly solved the problem as
to entitle him to claim credit for having given
the electric light to the world — a better illumi-
nant than gas in every way, and destined some
day to be infinitely cheaper.

With regard to Edison's work upon the tele-
graph, telephone, electric railway, dynamo, the
ore-extracting machines, the electric pen, and a
score of other inventions which have made him
the most profitable customer of the United States
Patent Office in this or any other generation, the
labor of this remarkable genius has also been
largely that of one who made practical and use-
ful the dreams of others. And I am by no
means sure that the man who does this is not en-
titled to more credit than he who simply suggests
that such and such a wonder might be accom-
plished and stops there. It is certain that before
15

226 IXVEXTOI^S

Edison we had no electric lights ; now we have
them in every important building in the country,
and ere long shall have them everywhere.

Edison dislikes intensely the term discoverer
as applied to himself. " Discovery is not inven-
tion," he once remarked in the course of an in-
teresting talk with Mr. George Parsons Lathrop,
printed in Harper s Magazine. '^ A discoverv is
more or less in the nature of an accident. A man
walks along the road intending to catch the
train. On the way his foot kicks against some-
thing, and looking down to see what he has hit,
he sees a gold bracelet embedded in the dust.
He has discovered that, certainly not invented
it. He did not set out to hnd a bracelet, yet the
value of it is just as great to him at the moment
as if, after Ions: vears of studv, he had invented
a machine for making a gold bracelet out of
common road metal. Goodyear discovered the
way to make hard rubber. He was at work ex-
perimenting Avith india-rubber, and quite by
chance he hit upon a process which hardened it
— the last result in the world that he wished or
expected to attain. In a discovery there must
be an element of the accidental, and an impor-
tant one, too ; while an invention is purely de-
ductive. In mv own case but few, and those the
least important, of my inventions owed anything
to accident. Most of them have been hammered
out after long and patient labor, and are the re-
sult of countless experiments all directed toward
attaining some well-defined object. All mechan-
ical improvements may safely be said to be in-

THOMAS A. EDISON

227

ventions and not discoveries. The sewing-ma-
chine was an invention. So were the steam-
engine and the typewriter. Speaking of this
latter, did I ever tell you that I made the first
twelve typewriters at my old factory in Railroad
Avenue, Newark ? This was in 1869 or 1870, and
I myself had worked at a machine of similar

Edison Listening to his Phonograph.

character, but never found time to develop it
fully."

There is one great invention, however, for
w^hich Edison deserves credit, both as discoverer
and practical inventor — the phonograph. Here
was a genuine discovery. The phonograph
knows no other parent than Edison, and he has
brought it to its present condition by devotion
and tireless skill. I have always believed in the
phonograph as an instrument destined to play

228 IXVENTORS

some day an important part among the blessings
that ingenuitv has given to man. There are still
obstacles in the way of its practical success, but
that the missing screw or spring — perhaps no
more than that — will be found in the near future,
is not doubted by any competent observer.

Thomas Alva Edison was born February ii,
1847, ^t Milan, Erie County, O., an obscure canal
village. When a small boy, his family, a most
humble one (his father being a village jack-of-
all-trades, living upon odd jobs done for neigh-
boring farmers), moved to Port Huron, Mich.,
where Edison's boyhood was passed. There his
lather was in turn tailor, well-digger, nurserv-
man, dealer in grain, lumber, and farm lands.
His parents were of Dutch-Scotch descent and
gave him the iron constitution that enables him
to-day, at the age of forty-seven, to tire out the
most robust of his assistants. One of his ances-
tors lived to the age of one hundred and two,
and another to the age of one hundred and three,
so that we may reasonably expect the famous in-
ventor to open the door for us to still other won-
ders of which we do not yet even dream. His
mother, born in Massachusetts, had a good edu-
cation and at one time taught school in Canada.
Of regular schooling, young Edison had but two
months in his life. Whatever else he knew as
a bov he learned from his mother. There are
no records showing extraordinary promise on
his part. He Avas an omniverous reader, having
an intense curiosity about the world and its
great men. At ten years of age he was reading

THOMAS A. EDISON 229

Hume's " England," Gibbon's " Rome," the Pen-
ny Encyclopaedia, and some books on chemistry.

At the age of twelve he entered upon his life
work as newsboy on the Grand Trunk Railroad
of Canada and the Michigan Central, selling pa-
pers, books, candies, etc., to the passengers.

'' Were you one of the train-boys," he was once
asked, " Avho sold figs in boxes with bottoms half
an inch thick?"

" If I recollect aright," he replied, with a merry
twinkle, " the bottoms of my boxes were a good
inch."

Perhaps the twelve-year-old boy learned some-
thing from the books and papers he sold. At
all events he says that the love of chemistry,
even at that age, led him to make the corner of
the baggage-car where he stored his wares a
small laboratory, fitted up with such retorts and
bottles as he could pick up in the railroad work-
shops. He had a copy of Fresenius's " Qualita-
tive Analysis," into which he plunged with the
ardor a small boy usually shows for nothing liter-
ary unless it has a yellow cover decorated with
an Indian's head. He seems also to have had a
habit of '' hanging around " all interesting places,
from a machine-shop to a printing-office, keep-
ing his eyes very wide open. In one such expe-
dition he received as a gift from W. F. Storey,
of the Detroit Free Press, three hundred pounds
of old type thrown out as useless. With an old
hand-press he began printing a paper of his own,
the Grand Trunk Herald, of which he sold sever-
al hundred copies a week, the employees of the

230

lyVEXTOBS

road being his best customers. " My news," he
says, talking of this time, " was purely local. But
I was proud of my newspaper and looked upon

Port Huron F Kuary 3rd 15^2,

GBAKD TRUNkT RAILROAD \

CHANGE OFJTIME

Going v^'.t.

Express, lea. ves PorsjHuron.7.05 Pfl

Nixed^foUX-troit, leaves ?tKuron atj^ A^H

-!^ ,77 . , COliVG riAST."" -r

'Express leivei'Detroit, Fo iToronto, at 6 15 A,M

Mixed, For Pt Huron i^cvei aU 4.00 P.M

Tvo»FrdgMTrain-Ac'.x way.

Christie, Supt

STAGFS.

NEW BALTIMor E STATION-^

^ > ovejjBTTiecl^tal-
[ore AlootWLC »w>n

A_tri-Wfehlyi(age le^v.
:on eveiy Hay for Sew Ba'
CreeR. and Ifev,-port.

MAIL E*
Duly Expi-e€S leaves
every morning on arrival
roit. For Baltimore. Alg

Graves propietor

KSS.

Baltimore Ststi'on
the Train from Det-
c Swan Creek, aid

Jt'ewport. ^

.\ Pt, HURON S^

O^c 4 Bennett, m^.

An Omnibtisjeaves the

on the arrival of all IVaJ

Fai

aUoQ for Pt,Hdi' '

MARKETS

N'ew Bsllimor^
Butter .'t 10 to V2(.'.$ per lb
Egi;-s .-vt r: cts, per doi. Si

Lafd at 7 lo »fen1S per \:-> p

Dres-sed Hoe?, at 3.00 (o 3 '.'5 per iCn CXS.
FlcdTr-il 45T) to 475 per bbl.
Buck».hcM at 1.50 -per 10<^ 'bs "^
Moll..in-ar 4"lo 5 CIS per lb.
3€»ns-at 1.00 to i.2'3 ptr bus.h t« h
Potatoes =.1 60 l5iJ35 ;• v;:.r itich /l ^^.

Corn at 30 10 35 rts per bush. '• "^ ^

T'lrkeys. rt 50 lo e5.<-ls escK. 1 J ,

ChicVnS M 10 to IZctsrVlV,.

Geese at 25 to 35 c.eni' e«t>»
Ducks' »l 30 ce«t«. p«r p.-^r.

~i^

iJST!5Mrf

^J^ILnOAD EXCHANGE.. ;

» '■ At Bfflumore Sts-lion '

'iTh^hoV!. ,v".n-.Kl HoIfI Is now rpfn frr {lie re-

i ith ^4a hcsVSTXij^uors and evei-v egft ticn Wi.4

b€ inaiK lo.jhccp.nfort of the Gar^VX M

S. DjviS Prop»^or»|

c . \ /

SPLENDID PORTABLE COPYING |

PRSSSKS for3a:.e at s]

Kt. CLSME.VS OHDKSS TAKEN,

BY THE NEWS AGENT ON THE MIXED;

Ridgevray Refreshmcnl Kooms-.! wndja, !i)«orni
my ffiend* th«t 1 have op^-nMl a rebeshment
room for t>ie acS3inad*Uon of the traveling py bijc
R, Allen. p/opKlor. Tf

ce.-^'j.

LOST LOSMLOST,

A snJ*ll parcel of C Wvl!. ^.:. lost on the C

TO THE KAILROAD ME.V ,
Railroad Mei\ jcnd i ■ yourorders for BullBr,
E^'ys, LslI<1 Cheef* Turkeys. Chicitcn;, and
Gtcac \v', C. Hulets^ .Vew Baltimore Station^

From Edison's Newspaper, the " Grand Trunk Herald."

mvself as a full-fledged newspaper man. My
items used to run about like this : ' John Rob-
inson, baggage-master at James's Creek Station,
fell off the platform yesterday and hurt his leg.

THOMAS A. EDISON 231

The boys are sorry for John.' Or, ' No. 3 Bur-
lington engine has gone into the shed for re-
pairs.' "

This was Edison's only dip into a literary occu-
pation. He has no predilection in that way. He
realizes the value of newspapers and books, but
chiefly as tools, and his splendid library at the
Orange laboratory, kept with scrupulous system,
is filled with scientific books and periodicals
only. Telegraphy was to be the field in which
he was to win his first laurels. Some years ago
he told the story as follows :

" At the beginning of the civil war I was slav-
ing late and early at selling papers ; but, to tell
the truth, I was not making a fortune. I worked
on so small a margin that I had to be mighty
careful not to overload myself with papers that
I could not sell. On the other hand, I could not
afford to carry so few that I should find myself
sold out long before the end of the trip. To en-
able myself to hit the happy mean, I formed a
plan which turned out admirably. I made a
friend of one of the compositors of the Free
Press office, and persuaded him to show me every
day a ' galley-proof ' of the most important news
article. From a study of its head-lines I soon
learned to gauge the value of the day's news and
its selling capacity, so that I could form a toler-
ably correct estimate of the number of papers I
should need. As a rule I could dispose of about
two hundred ; but if there was any special news
from the seat of war, the sale ran up to three
hundred or over. Well, one day my compositor

232 IXVENT0B8

brought me a proof-slip of which nearly the
whole was taken up with a gigantic display head.
It was the first report of the battle of Pittsburgh
Landing — afterward called Shiloh, you know —
and it gave the number of killed and wounded
as sixty thousand men.

• I grasped the situation at once. Here was a
chance for enormous sales, if only the people
along the line could know what had happened I
If only they could see the proof-slip I was then
readino: ! Suddenly an idea occurred to me. I
rushed off to the telegraph-operator and gravely
made a proposition to him which he received just
as gravely. He on his part was to wire to each
of the principal stations on our route, asking the
station-master to chalk up on the bulletin-board —
used for announcing the time of arrival and de-
parture of trains — ^the news of the great battle,
with its accompanying slaughter. This he was
to do at once, while I, in return, agreed to suj)-
ply him with current literature ' free, gratis, for
nothing ' during the next six months from that
date.

*' This bargain struck. I began to bethink me
how I was to get enough papers to make the
grand coup I intended. I had very little cash
and. I feared, still less credit. I went to the su-
perintendent of the delivery department, and
preferred a modest request for one thousand
copies of the Free Prrss on trust. I was not
much surprised when my request was curtly and
ST-uffly refused. In those davs, thousfh, I was a
pretty cheeky boy and I felt desperate, for I saw

THOMAS A. EDISON 233

a small fortune in prospect if my telegraph oper-
ator had kept his word — a point on which I was
still a trifle doubtful. Nerving myself for a great
stroke, I marched upstairs into the office of Wil-
bur F. Storey himself and asked to see him. A
few minutes later I was shown in to him. I told
who I was, and that I wanted fifteen hundred
copies of the paper on credit. The tall, thin,
dark-eyed, ascetic-looking man stared at me for
a moment and then scratched a few words on a
slip of paper. ' Take that downstairs,' said he,
* and you will get what you want.' And so I
did. Then I felt happier than I have ever felt
since.

" I took my fifteen hundred papers, got three
boys to help me fold them, and mounted the
train all agog to find out whether the telegraph
operator had kept his word. At the town where
our first stop was made I usually sold two pa-
pers. As the train swung into that station I
looked ahead and thought there must be a riot
going on. A big crowd filled the platform and
as the train drew up I began to realize that they
wanted my papers. Before we left I had sold a
hundred or two at five cents apiece. At the
next station the place was fairly black with
people. I raised the ' ante ' and sold three hun-
dred papers at ten cents each. So it went on
until Port Huron was reached. Then I trans-
ferred my remaining stock to the wagon which
always waited for me there, hired a small boy to
sit on the pile of papers in the back, so as to dis-
count any pilfering, and sold out every paper I

23-1 INVENTORS

had at a quarter of a dollar or more per copy.
I remember I passed a church full of worship-
pers, and stopped to yell out my news. In ten
seconds there was not a soul left in meeting.
All of them, including the parson, were clus-
tered around me, bidding against each other for
copies of the precious paper.

'' You can understand why it struck me then
that the telegraph must be about the best thing
going, for it was the telegraphic notices on the
bulletin-boards that had done the trick. I deter-
mined at once to become a telegraph-operator.
But if it hadn't been for Wilbur F. Storey I
should never have fully appreciated the wonders
of electrical science."

Telegraphy became a hobby with the boy.
From every operator along the road he picked
up something. He strung the basement of his
father's house at Port Huron with wires, and
constructed a short line, using for the batteries
stove-pipe wire, old bottles, nails, and zinc which
urchins of the neighborhood were induced to
cut out from under the stoves of their unsuspect-
ing mothers and bring to young Edison at three
cents a pound. In order to save time for his
experiments, he had the habit of leaping from a
train while it was going at the rate of twenty-
five miles an hour, landing upon a pile of sand
arranged by him for that purpose. An act of
personal courage — the saving of the station-
master's child at Port Clements from an advanc-
ing train — was a turning-point in his career, for
the grateful father taught him telegraphing in

THOMAS A. EDItiOK 235

the regular way. Telegraphy was then in its in-
fancy, comparatively speaking ; operators were
few, and good wages could be earned by means
of much less proficiency than is now required.
Still, Edison had so little leisure at his disposal
for learning the new trade, that it took him sev-
eral years to become an expert operator. Most
of his studies were carried on in the corner of
the baggage-car that served him as printing-
office, laboratory, and business headquarters.
With so many irons in the fire, mishaps w^ere
sure to occur. Once he received a drubbing on
account of an article reflecting unpleasantly
upon some employee of the road. One day
during his absence a bottle of phosphorus upset
and set the old .railroad caboose on fire, where-
upon the conductor threw out all the painfully
acquired apparatus and thrashed its owner.

Edison's first regular employment as telegraph-
operator was at Indianapolis when he was
eighteen years old. He received a small salary
for day-work in the railroad office there, and
at night he used to receive newspaper reports
for practice. The regular operator was a man
given to copious libations, who was glad enough
to sleep off their effects while Edison and a young
friend of his named Parmley did his work. '' I
would sit down," says Edison, ''for ten minutes,
and 'take' as much as I could from the instru-
ment, carrying the rest in my head. Then while
I wrote out, Parmley would serve his turn at
' taking,' and so on. This worked well until they
put a new man on at the Cincinnati end. He

236 INVENTORS

was one of the quickest despatchers in the busi-
ness, and we soon found it was hopeless for us to
try to keep up with him. Then it was that I
worked out my first invention, and necessity was
certainly the mother of it.

" I got two old Morse registers and arranged
them in such a way that by running a strip of
paper through them the dots and dashes were
recorded on it by the first instrument as fast as
they were delivered from the Cincinnati end,
and were transmitted to us through the other in-
strument at any desired rate of speed. They
would come in on one instrument at the rate of
forty words a minute, and would be ground out
of our instrument at the rate of twenty-five.
Then weren't we proud ! Our copy used to be
so clean and beautiful that we hung it up on ex-
hibition; and our manager used to come and
gaze at it silently with a puzzled expression.
He could not understand it, neither could any of
the other operators ; for we used to hide my im-
promptu automatic recorder when our toil was
over. But the crash came when there was a big
night's work — a Presidential vote, I think it was
— -and copy kept pouring in at the top rate of
speed until we fell an hour and a half or two
hours behind. The newspapers sent in frantic
complaints, an investigation was made, and our
little scheme was discovered. We couldn't use
it any more.

" It was that same rude automatic recorder that
indirectly led me long afterward to invent the
phonograph. TU tell you how this came about.

THOMAS A. EDISON 237

After thinking over the matter a great deal, I
came to the point where, in 1877, I had worked
out satisfactorily an instrument that would not
only record telegrams by indenting a strip of
paper with dots and dashes of the Morse code,
but would also repeat a message any number of
times at any rate of speed required. I was then
experimenting with the telephone also, and my
mind was filled with theories of sound vibra-

Ed'son's Tinfoil Phonograph — the First Practical Machine.

tions and their transmission by diaphragms.
Naturally enough, the idea occurred to me : if
the indentations on paper could be made to
give forth again the click of the instrument, why
could not the vibrations of a diaphragm be
recorded and similarly reproduced ? I rigged
up an instrument hastily and pulled a strip of
paper through it, at the same time shouting,
'Hallo'! Then the paper was pulled through
again, my friend Batchelor and I listening breath-
lessly. We heard a distinct sound, which a
strong imagination might have translated into

238 INVENTORS

the original ' Hallo.' That was enough to lead
me to a further experiment. But Batchelor was
sceptical, and bet me a barrel of apples that I
couldn't make the thing go. I made a drawing
of a model and took it to Mr. Kruesi, at that
time engaged on piece-work for me, but now as-
sistant general manager of our machine-shop at
Schenectady. I told him it was a talking-ma-
chine. He grinned, thinking it a joke ; but he
set to work and soon had the model ready. I
arranged some tinfoil on it, and spoke into the
machine. Kruesi looked on, still grinning. But
when I arranged the machine for transmission
and we both heard a distinct sound from it, he
nearly fell down in his fright. I was a little
scared myself, I must admit. I won that barrel
of apples from Batchelor, though, and was
mighty glad to get it."

To go back to earlier days, the story of Edi-
son's first years as a full-fledged operator shows
that from the beginning he was more of an in-
ventor than an operator. He was full of ideas,
some of which were gratefully received. One
day an ice-jam broke the cable between Port
Huron, in Michigan, and Sarnia, on the Canada
side, and stopped communication. The river is
a mile and a half wide and was impassable.
Young Edison jumped upon a locomotive and
seized the valve controlling the whistle. He had
the idea that the scream of the whistle might be
broken into long and short notes, corresponding
to the dots and dashes of the telegraphic code.

THOMAS A. EDISON 239

" Hallo there, Sarnia ! Do you get me ? Do
you hear what I say?" tooted the locomotive.

No answer.

" Do you hear what I say, Sarnia? "

A third, fourth, and fifth time the message
went across without response, but finally the
idea was caught on the other side ; answering
toots came cheerfully back and the connection
was recovered.

Anything connected Avith the difficulties of
telegraphy had a fascination for him. He lost
many a place because of unpardonable blunders
due to his passion for improvement. At Strat-
ford, Canada, being required to report the word
" Six " every half hour to the manager to show
that he was awake and on duty, he rigged up a
wheel to do it for him. At Indianapolis he kept
press reports waiting while he experimented with
new devices for receiving them. At Louisville,
in procuring some sulphuric acid at night for his
experiments, he tipped over a carboy of it, ruining
the handsome outfit of a banking establishment be-
low. i\t Cincinnati he abandoned the office on
every pretext to hasten to the Mechanics' Libra-
ry to pass his day in reading.

An indication of his thirst for knowledge, and
of a 7iah'c ignoring of enormous difficulties, is
found in a project formed by him at this time to
read through the whole public library. There
was no one to tell him that a summary of human
knowledge may be found in a moderate number
of volumes, nor to point out to him what they
are. Each book was to him a part of the great

240 ' INVENTORS

domain of knowledge, none of which he meant
to lose. He began with the solid treatises of a
dusty lower shelf and actually read, in the ac-
complishment of his heroic purpose, fifteen feet
along that shelf. He omitted no book and noth-
ing in the book. The list contained Newton's
" Principia," Ure's Scientific Dictionary, and
Burton's "Anatomy of Melancholy."

At that time a message sent from New Orleans
to New York had to be taken at Memphis, re-
telegraphed to Louisville, taken down again by
the operator there, and telegraphed to another
centre, and so on till it reached New York.
Time was lost and the chance of error was in-
creased. Edison was the first to connect New
Orleans and New York directly. It was just
after the war. He perfected an automatic re-
peater which was put on at Memphis and did
its work perfectly. The manager of the office
there, one Johnson, had a relative who Avas also
busy on the same problem, but Edison solved it
ahead of him and received complimentary no-
tices from the local papers. He was discharged
without cause. He got a pass as far as Decatur
on his way home, but had to walk from there to
Nashville, a hundred and fifty miles. From
there he got a pass to Louisville, where he ar-
rived during a sharp snow-storm, clad in a linen
duster.

It was soon after this that Edison, already
a swift and competent operator when he de-
voted himself to practical work, received prom-
ise of employment in the Boston office. The

THOMAS A. EDISON 241

weather was quite cold and his peculiar dress,
topped with a slouchy broad-brimmed hat, made
something of a sensation. But Edison then cared
as little for dress as he does to-day. So one raw
wet day a tall man with a limp, wet duster cling-
ing to his legs, stalked into the superintendent's
room, and said :

" Here I am."

The superintendent eyed him from head to
foot, and said :

" Who are you ? "

" Tom Edison."

'' And who on earth might Tom Edison be?"

The young man explained that he had been
ordered to report for duty at the Boston office,
and was finally told to sit down in the operating-
room, where his advent created much merriment.
The operators guyed him loudly enough for him
to hear. He didn't care. A few moments later
a New York sender noted for his swiftness called
up the Boston office. There was no one at lib-
erty.

'' Well," said the office chief, '' let that new fel-
low try him." Edison sat down, and for four
hours and a half wrote out messages in his pecul-
iarly clear round hand, stuck a date and number
on them and threw them on the floor for the
office boy to pick up. The time he took in
numbering and dating the sheets were the only
seconds he was not writing out transmitted
words. Faster and faster ticked the instrument,
and faster and faster Avent Edison's fingers, until
the rapidity with which the messages came tum-
16

24:2 lyvExroBS

bling on the floor attracted the attention of the
other operators, who. when their work was done,
gathered around to witness the spectacle. At
the close of the four and a half hours' work
there flashed from New York the salutation :

••Hello:-

•• Hello Yourself." ticked back Edison.

*• Who the de\'il are you ? " rattled into the
Boston office.

*• Tom Edison."

*• You are the first man in the country, " ticked
the instrument, " that could ever take me at
my fastest, and the only one who could ever
sit at the other end of my wire for more than
two hours and a half. I'm proud to know
you."

Edison was once asked with what invention he
really began his career as an inventor.

" Well," said he, in reply, "my first appearance
at the Patent Office was in 1868, when I was
twenty-one, with an ingenious contrivance which
I called the electrical vote recorder. I had been
impressed with the enormous waste of time in
Congress and in the State Legislatures by the
taking of votes on any motion. More than half
an hour was sometimes required to count the
* Aves ' and ' Xoes.' So I devised a machine
somewhat on the plan of the hotel annunciator
that was invented long afterward, only mine
was a great deal more complex. In front of
each member's desk were to have been two but-
tons, one for ' Aye,' the other for ' Xo.' and by
the side of the Speaker s desk a frame viith two

TH03IAS A. EDISON

243

dials, one showing the total of ' Ayes ' and the
other the total of ' Noes.' When the vote was
called for, each member could press the button
he wished and the re-
sult would appear auto-
matically before the
Speaker, who could
glance at the dials and
announce the result.
This contrivance would
save several hours of
public time every day
in the session, and I
thought my fortune
was made. I interested
a moneyed man in the
thing and we went to-
gether to Washington,
where we soon found
the right man to get
the machine adopted.

I set forth its merits. Imagine my feelings
when, in a horrified tone, he exclaimed :

'''Young man, that won't do at all. That is
just what we do not want. Your invention
would destroy the only hope the minority have
of influencing legislation. It would deliver
them over, bound hand and foot, to the majority.
The present system gives them time, a w^eapon
which is invaluable, and as the ruling majority
always knows that they may some day become a
minorit}^, they Avill be as much averse to any
change as their opponents.' I saw the force of

Vote Recorder — Edison's First Patented
Invention.

244 INVENTORS

these remarks, and the vote recorder got no
further than the Patent Office."

But he began to believe in himself. His next
work was upon the applications of the vibratory
principle in telegraphing, upon which so many of
his subsequent inventions were founded. His
first ambitious attempt was in the direction of a
multiplex system for sending several messages
over one wire at the same time. It was not
much of a success, however, and Edison drifted
to New York, where, after a vain attempt to in-
terest the telegraph companies in his inventions,
he established himself as an electrical expert
ready for odd jobs and making a specialty of
telegraphy. One day the Western Union Com-
pany had trouble with its Albany wire. The wire
wasn't broken, but wouldn't work, and several
days of experimenting on the part of the com-
pany's electricians only served to puzzle them
the more. As a forlorn hope they sent for
young Edison.

'' How long will you give me ? " he asked.
" Six hours? "

The manager laughed and told him he would
need longer than that.

Edison sat down at the instrument, established
communication with Albany by way of Pitts-
burgh, told the Albany office to put their best
man at the instrument, and began a rapid -series
of tests Avith currents of all intensities. He
directed the tests from both ends, and after two
hours and a half told the company's officers that
the trouble existed at a certain point he named

THOMAS A. EDISON 245

on the line, and he told them what it was. They
telegraphed the office nearest this point the
necessary directions, and an hour later the wire
was working- properly. This incident first es-
tablished his value in New York as an expert,
and the business became profitable. Moreover,
it led the different telegraph companies to give
respectful attention to what he had to offer in
the way of patented devices.

Edison's mechanical skill soon became so noted
that he was made superintendent of the repair
shop of one of the smaller telegraph companies
then in existence, all of which were using what
was known as the Page sounder, a device for
signalling, the sole right to which was claimed
by the Western Union Company. Owing to the
latter company's success in a patent suit over
this sounder, there came a time when an injunc-
tion w^as obtained, silencing all sounders of that
type, and practically putting a serious obstacle in
the way of rapid work. Edison was called into
the president's office and the situation explained.
For a long time, according to one who was pres-
ent, he stood chewing vigorously upon a mouth-
ful of tobacco, looking first at the sounder in his
hand, and then falling into a brown study. At
length he picked up a sheet of tin used as a
*' back" for manifolding on thin sheets of paper,
and began to twist and cut it into queer shapes ;
a group of persons gathered around and watched.
Not a word was spoken. Finally Edison tore off
the Page sounder on the instrument before him,
and substituting his bit of tin, began working.

2J:6 IXYENTORS

It was not so good as the patented arrangement
discarded, but it worked. In four hours a hun-
dred such devices were in use over the Hue, and
what would have been a ruinous interruption to
business was avoided.

Edison's first large sums of money came from
the sale of an improvement in the instruments
used to record stock quotations in brokers' of-
fices, commonly known as '' tickers." His suc-
cess in this direction led him to take a contract
to manufacture some hundreds of '' tickers," and
his only venture in this direction was carried out
with considerable success at a shop he rented in
Newark about 1875. But as he told me a few
years later, in talking about this incident in his
career, manufacturing was not in his line. Like
Thoreau, who having succeeded in making a
perfect lead -pencil, declared he should never
make another, he hates routine. " I was a poor
manufacturer," said he, " because I could not let
well enough alone. My first impulse upon tak-
ing any apparatus into my hand, from an egg-
beater to an electric-motor, is to seek a wa}- of
improving it. Therefore, as soon as I have fin-
ished a machine I am anxious to take it apart
again in order to make an experiment. That is
a costly mania for a manufacturer."

It was his success with a device for printing
stock quotations upon paper tape that finally in-
duced several New York capitalists to accept
Edison's offer to experiment with the incandes-
cent electric light, they to pay the expense of the
experiments and share in the inventions if any

T?i

'^'-^

"ll:; :Ma2

THOMAS A. EBISON 247

were made. For the sake of quiet Edison moved
out to Menlo Park, a little station on the Penn-
sylvania road about twenty-five miles beyond
Newark, and built a shop twenty-eight feet wide,
one hundred feet long-, and two stories high. It
was here that I first made his acquaintance, in
January, 1879, soon after the newspapers had
announced that he had solved the problem
of the electric light. It may be remembered
that gas stock tumbled in price at that time, and
there was a rush to sell before the new light
should displace gas altogether. One cold day I
climbed the hill from the station, and once past
the reception-room, in which every new-comer
was carefully scrutinized, for inventors are apt to
have odds and ends lying about that they do not
want seen by everyone, I found myself in a long
big work-shop. To anyone accustomed to the
orderly appearance of the ideal machine-shop,
it presented a curious appearance, for evidently
half the machines in it — forges, lathes, furnaces,
retorts, etc. — were dismantled for the moment
and useless. Half a dozen workmen were busy
in an apparently aimless manner.

Upstairs, in a room devoted to chemical ex-
periments, I found Edison himself. He is to-day
just what he was then. Prosperity has not
changed him in the least, except perhaps in one
particular. In those days of struggle the inven-
tor was far less affable with visitors than he is to-
day. One felt instinctively that he was a man
struggling to accomplish some serious task to
which he was devoting every waking thought

248 INVENTORS

and probably dreaming about it at night. As I
strode across the laboratory in the direction in-
dicated by one of the workmen present, a com-
pactly built but not tall man, with rather a boy-
ish, clean - shaven face, prematurely old, was
holding a vial of some liquid up to the light.
He had on a blouse such as chemists wear, but
it was hardly necessary, as his clothes were well
stained with acids ; his hands were covered with
some oil with which his hair was liberally streaked,
as he had a habit of wiping his fingers upon his
head. '' Good clothes are wasted upon me," he
once explained to me. '' I feel it is wrong to
wear any, and I never put on a new suit when
I can help it." Edison has been slightly deaf
for a number of years, and like all persons of de-
fective hearing, closely watches anyone with
whom he talks. His patience with visitors is
proverbial, and provided any intelligence is
shown, he will plunge into long explanations.
As he goes on from point to point, warming up
to his subject, he is sometimes quite oblivious to
the fact that it is all lost upon his visitor until
brought back by some question or comment
which shows that he might as well talk Sanscrit.
Then he laughs and goes back to simpler mat-
ters.

I watched him for a few moments before pre-
senting myself. After a long look at his bottle,
held up against the light, he put it down again
on the table before him, and resting his head be-
tween his hands, both elbows on the table, he
peered down at the bottle as if he expected it to

THOMAS A. EDISON 249

say something-. Then, after a moment's brown
study, he would seize it again, give it a shake, as
if to shake its secret out, and hold it up to the
light. As pantomime nothing could have been
more expressive. That liquid contained a secret
it would not give up, but if it could be made to
give it up, Edison was the man to do it, as a ter-
rier might worry the life out of a rat.

The secret of his success might well be " Per-
sistency, more persistency, still more persist-
ency." One of his foremen relates that once in
Newark when his printing telegraph suddenly
refused to work, he locked himself into his labor-
atory, declaring that he would not come out till
the trouble was found. It took him sixty hours,
during which time his only food consisted of
crackers and cheese eaten at the bench ; then he
went to bed and slept twenty hours at a stretch.
At another time, during the height of the first
electric-light excitement, all the lamps he had
burning in Menlo Park, about eighty in all, sud-
denly went out, one after another, without appar-
ent cause. Everything had gone well for nearly
a month and the great success of the experiment
had been published to the world. If the lamps,
with their carbon filaments of charred paper
would burn for a month there seemed to be no
reason why they should not burn for a year, and
Edison was stunned by the catastrophe. The
trouble was evidently in the lamps themselves,
for new lamps burned well. Then began the
most exciting and most exhaustive series of ex-
periments ever undertaken by an American phys-

250

INVENTORS

icist. For five days Edison remained day and
night at the laboratory, sleeping only when his
assistants took his place at whatever was going
on. The difficulties in the way of experimenting
with the incandescent lamp are enormous because
the light only burns when in a vacuum. The
instant the glass is broken, out it goes. Edison's

Edison's Menlo Park Electric Locomotive ( i

eyes grew weak studying the brilliant glow of
the carbon filament. At the end of the five days
he took to his bed, worn out with excitement and
sick with disappointment. During the last two
days and nights he ate nothing. He could not
sleep, for the moment he left the laboratory and
closed his eyes some new test suggested itself.
Neither was there much sleep for his faithful

THOMAS A. EDISON 251

force. Ordinarily one of the most considerate
of men, he seemed quite surprised when rest and
refreshments were sometimes suggested as in
order after fifteen hours' incessant work. The
trouble was finally discovered to be one that time
alone could have proved. The air was not suf-
ficiently exhausted from the lamps. To add to
the discomfiture of the inventor, a professor of
physics in one of the well-known colleges de-
clared in a newspaper article widely circulated
that the Edison lamp would never last long
enough to pay for itself.

'' I'll make a statue of that man," said Edison
to me one day when he was still groping in the
dark for the secret of his temporary defeat, '' and
I'll illuminate it brilliantly with Edison lamps
and inscribe it : ' This is the man who said the
Edison lamp would not burn.' "

To go back to Edison, shaking his bottle in
the sunlight, his brown study gave way to a
pleasant smile of welcome when I had made my
business known. " Take a look at these filings,"
he said, making room for me at the bench. '' See
how curiously they settle when I shake the bottle
up. In alcohol they behave one way, but in oil
in this way. Isn't that the most curious thing
you ever saw — better than a play at one of your
city theatres, eh?" and he chuckled to himself
as he shook them up again.

" What I want to know," he went on, more to
himself than to me, '' is what they mean by it,
and I'm going to find out." To me the interest-
ing spectacle was Edison tossing up his bottle

252 INVENTORS

and watching the filings settle, and not the curi-
ous behavior of the filings.

When he put the bottle by, with a deep sigh,
he took me over the whole place, pointing out
with particular pride the apparatus for making
the paper carbons for the lamps, and the new
forms of Sprengel mercury pumps that did bet-
ter work in extracting air from the lamps than
an}' yet devised.

Looking back to that first visit to Edison, the
first of perhaps a score that I have had occasion
to make him in the last fifteen years, what im-
pressed me most Avas the immensity of the field
in which he takes an interest. Ask Edison what
he thinks will be the next step in the develop-
ment of the sewing-machine, or the telescope, the
microscope, the steam-engine, the electric-motor,
the reaping-machine, or any device by which
man accomplishes much work in little time, and
invariably it will be found that he has some novel
ideas upon the subject, perhaps fanciful in the
extreme, but practical enough to show that he
has pondered the matter. He shares the opinion
of the gentleman who insists that whatever is is
wrong, but onh' to this extent : that whatever is
might be better. Authority means nothing to
him ; he must test for himself. For instance, it
is well known that he rejects the Newtonian
theory in part and holds that motion is an inher-
ent property of matter ; that it pushes, finding
its way in the direction of least resistance, and is
not pulled or attracted. '' It seems to me," he
said once, " that every atom is possessed by a

THOMAS A. EDISON 253

certain amount of primitive intelligence. Look
at the thousand ways in which atoms of hydro-
gen combine with those of other elements, form-
ing the most diverse substances. Do you mean
to say that they do this without intelligence ?
Atoms in harmonious and useful relation assume
beautiful or interesting shapes and colors, or
give forth a pleasant perfume, as if expressing
their satisfaction. In sickness, death, decompo-
sition, or filth the disagreement of the compo-
nent atoms immediately makes itself felt by bad
odors." It is partly due to this belief in the sen-
sibility of atoms that Edison attributes his faith
in an intelligent Creator.

It is hard to say into what field of inquiry Edi-
son has not dipped. He told me once that when-
ever he travelled he carried a note-book with
him, in which he jotted down suggestions for
experiments to be made. Railway journeys, at a
time when Edison Avas a constant traveller, were
productive of much material of this kind, for the
inventor never sleeps when travelling, and his
brain works, going over, even in a doze, the thou-
sand and one aspects of his Avork, and evolving
theories to be dismissed almost as soon as
evolved. His mind, when at rest, reviews his
day's work almost automatically, just as a chess-
player's brain will, after an exciting game, go
over every situation in a half dream-like condi-
tion and evolve new solutions. He has great
respect for even what appear to be the most in-
consequential observations, provided they are
made by a competent person, and a large force

25^ IXVEyTOHS

in his splendid laboratory at Orange is alwavs
employed in studies that appear to the outsider

IXjcuL tot- 2,T u/A^k^ ~iUe^ LAJi-ftL

(lAv^^ f-tfteigvi pci-pe>vi_ ^tV^ai ^^v-*^ d

cut

TIO his

to be aimless : for instance, the action of chemi-
cals upon various substances or upon each other.
Strips of ivorv in a certain oil become trans-
parent in six weeks. A globule of mercury in

THOMAS A. EDISON 255

water takes various shapes for the opposite poles
of the electric-battery upon the addition of a lit-
tle potassium. There is no present use for the
knowledge of such facts, but it is recorded in
voluminous note-books, and some day the con-
necting-link in the chain of an invaluable discov-
ery may here be found.

My next visit to Menlo Park was a few months
later, when I found Edison in bed sick with dis-
appointment. The lamps had again taken to an-
tics for which no remedy or explanation could
be discovered. There was an air of desolation
over the place. The laboratory was cold and
comfortless. Upon every side were signs of
strict economy. Most of the assistants were
young men glad to work for little or nothing.
For the last month Edison had been working in
the direction of a general improvement of all
parts of the lamp instead of devoting himself to
one feature. Expert glass-blowers were brought
to Menlo Park, the air-pumps were made more
perfect, new substances were tried for carbons.
All this had taken time, during which outsiders
freely predicted failure. The stock in the enter-
prise fell to such a price that it was hard to raise
money for the maintenance of the laboratory. It
was argued, and with some truth, as I have had
occasion to remark, that Edison had really dis-
covered nothing new ; he had attempted to do
what a dozen famous men had tried before him
and he had failed. The quotations of New York
gas stocks rose again.

The next time I visited the laboratory, a few

256 INVENTORS

days later, Edison was up again and talking
cheerfully. But he had grown five years older
in five months. '' I shall succeed," he said to me,
'' but it may take me longer than I at first sup-
posed. Everything is so new that each step is
in the dark ; I have to make the dynamos, the
lamps, the conductors, and attend to a thousand
details that the world never hears of. At the
same time I have to think about the expense of
my work. That galls me. My one ambition is
to be able to work without regard to the ex-
pense. What I mean is, that if I want to give up
a Avhole month of my time and that of my whole
establishment to finding out why one form of a
carbon filament is slightly better than another, I
can do it without having to think of the cost.
My greatest luxury would be a laboratory more
perfect than any we have in this country. I
want a splendid collection of material — every
chemical, every metal, every substance in fact
that may be of use to me, and I hardly know
what may not be of use. I want all this right at
hand, within a few feet of my own house. Give
me these advantages and I shall gladly devote
fifteen hours a day to solid work. I want none
of the rich man's usual toys, no matter how rich
I may become. I Avant no horses or yachts —
have no time for them. I want a perfect Avork-
shop."

In the last twelve years Edison has seen his
dream fulfilled. His electric light has not dis-
placed gas, by any means, but it has been the
foundation of a business large enough to make

THOMAS A. EDISON

257

the inventor sufficiently rich to build the finest
laboratory in the world, in the most curious
room of which are to be found the three hun-
dred models of machinery and apparatus of vari-
ous kinds devised by Edison in the last twenty
vears and made b}^ himself or under his eye. He
is still a gaunt fellow, with a slight stoop, a clean-
shaven face, and a low voice. His hands are still

The Home of Thomas A. Edison.

soiled with acids, his clothes are shabby, and
there is always a cigar in his mouth.

The Edison laboratory deserves a chapter by
itself. In 1886 Edison bought a fine villa in Llew-
ellyn Park at a cost of $150,000. He took the
house as it stood, with all its luxurious fittings,
rather to please his wile than himself; a corner
of the laboratory would suit him quite as well.
Right outside the gates of the park and within
17

25S

IXVEXTOJRS

view of the house, he bought ten acres of land
and began his laboratory. Two handsome struct-
ures of brick, each 60 feet wide, 100 feet long,
and four stories high, accommodate the machine-
shop, library, lecture-room, experimental work-
shops, assistants' rooms and store-rooms. The
boiler-house and d^^namo-rooms are outside the
main buildings. Also, in a separate room, the
floor of which consists of immense blocks of
stone, are the delicate instruments of precision

ms5

r *

^R!

5 iL

'i^.;-

Edison's Laboratory.

used in testing electric currents. The instru-
ments in this one room, twenty feet square, cost
SiS,ooo to make and to import from Europe.
Upon first entering the main building, the visi-
tor finds Avhat is apparently a busy factory of
some sort, with long rows of machinery, from
steam-hammers to diamond-lathes. Everywhere
workmen are busy at their tasks, and Edison has
good reason to be proud of his laboratory force,
for it consists of the picked workmen of the
countrv. Whenever he finds in one of the Edison

THOMAS A. EDISON 259

factories in Newark, New York, Schenectady, or
elsewhere a particularly expert and intelligent
man, he has him transferred to the Orange labor-
atory, where, at increased pay for shorter hours,
the man not only finds life pleasanter, but has
a chance of learning and becoming somebody.
The whole place hums with the rattle of ma-
chinery and glows with electric light. There
are eighty assistants, who have charge of the va-
rious departments. The most expert iron-work-
ers, glass-blowers, wood-turners, metal-spinners,
screw-makers, chemists, and machinists in the
country are to be found here. A rough drawing
of the most complicated model is all they re-
quire to work from.

The store-rooms contain all the material
needed. Four store-keepers are employed to
keep the supplies, valued at $100,000, in order
and ready for use at a moment's notice. Each
article is put down in a catalogue which shows
the shelf or bottle where it may be found. Every
known metal, every chemical known to science,
every kind of glass, stone, earth, wood, fibre,
paper, skin, cloth, is to be found there. In mak-
ing up the chemical collection an assistant was
kept at work for weeks going through the three
most exhaustive works on chemistry in English,
French, and German, making a note of every
substance mentioned, and this list constituted
the order for chemicals, an order, by the way,
which it required seven months to fill. In the
glass department, for instance, there is every
known kind of glass, from plates two inches

260 nrVETTOBS

ibdA to the finest film, and if anjthing^ else in

the way of ^lass is needed^ the glass-workers

are there to make it. This stopoidous coilec-

tioa of material^ filling one floor^ is intended to

guard against annoying delays diat might occur

at critical times f€»r want of some rare materiaL

In iSSs^ when wcnking upcm an ^paratus for

getting a current erf efectricfty directly firoro heat

— the thermo-electric gene : :: - — Z : s z's work

was brought to a standi

pounds of nic^d^ an articlr

in any cfuantity in tins countrr. T r :

was organized to avert sue . It. r 7

is the CHily part rf the ma: _ j:^ ^

any attempt at decxHation. It is

60 feet by 40^ widi a height rf 25, icei. Lr«kU

leries run around the second st-rv Ar iine

end is a monumental firefdace^ an

fd the hall a fine group erf pafans ci 7

room is fini^bed in oiled hard wc ^7

by electricity. Fine rugs <:over t 7

shelves cxmtain nothing but sden :r

the files of the fcwrty-ax soentifi:

Ei^lish^ French^ and German to 7

subscribes^ They are indexed by a

soon as receiTed^ so that Edison :

glance what they contain ccMicerr _

fidds in which he is interested.

Nothing in this big establisiunent. c^en eu^
ploying more than cue hundred persons, is made
iar sale. It is wholly devoted to experimental
work and testSw Its expensesy said to be more
than Sf ^cr.ooo a vear, are paid by the commer-

THOMAS A. EDISON 261

cial companies in which Edison is interested, lie,
on his part, giving- them the benefit ol any im-
provements made. Thus in one room hundreds
of incandescent electric lamps burn night and
day the year through. Each lamp is specially
marked and when it burns out more quickly than
the average, or lasts longer, a special study is
made as to the contributing causes. It may
seem impossible that the suggestions of one man
can keep busy a big workshop upon experiments
the year round, but Edison says that the tempta-
tion is always to increase the force. When it is
remembered that the list of Edison's patents
reaches to seven hundred and forty, and that on
the electric light alone he has worked out sev-
eral hundred theories, the w^onder ceases. Ten
minutes' work with a pencil may sketch an ap-
paratus that a dozen men cannot finish inside of
a fortnight.

When the new Orange laborator}' was finished
and Edison found himselt with time and means
at his disposal, his first thought was to take up his
phonograph. The historv of the great hopes
built upon the phonograph and the bitter dis-
appointment that followed is too familiar to need
repetition here. As may be imagined, Edison
is most keenly bent upon tightening the loose
screw that has prevented it from doing all that
its friends predicted for it. He still works at
other problems, but chiefly as relaxation. He
rests from inventing one thing by inventing
something else.

One day recently, when I found him less con-

THO.VAS A. EDISON 263

fident than usual as to the triumph of the phono-
graph in the near future, he said: "There are
some difficulties about the problem that seem
insurmountable. I go on smoothly until at. a
certain point I run my head against a stone
wall ; I cannot get under, over, or around it.
After butting my head against that wall until it
aches, I go back to the beginning again. It is
absurd to say that because I can see no possible
solution, of the problem to-day, that I may not
see one to-morrow. The very fact that this cen-
tury has accomplished so much in the way of
invention, makes it more than probable that the
next century will do far greater things. We
ought to be ashamed of ourselves if we are con-
tent to fold our hands and say that the tele-
graph, telephone, steam-engine, dynamo, and
camera having been invented, the field has been
exhausted. These inventions are so many won-
derful tools with which we ought to accomplish
far greater wonders. Unless the coming gener-
ations are particularly lazy, the world ought to
possess in 1993 a dozen marvels of the usefulness
of the steam-engine and dynamo. The next step
in advance will perhaps be the discovery of a
method for transforming heat directly into elec-
tricit}^ That will revolutionize modern life by
making heat, power, and light almost as cheap
as air. Inventors are already feeling their way
toward this wonder. I have sfone far enousfh on
that road to know that there are several stone
walls ahead. But the problem is one of the most
fascinating in view."

ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL.

Sir Charles Wheatstoxe, the eminent Eng-
lish electrician, v : r t: ^.ig^ed in perfecting^
his system of telegr^p. y discovered that \fires
charged with electricity- often carried noises in
a curious manner. He made and exhibited at
the Royal Society, in 1840, a clock in which the
tick of another clock miles away was conveyed
through a wire. This experiment appears to
have been one of the germs of the telephone. In
1844 Captain John Taylor, also an Englishman,
invented an instrument to which he gave the
name of the telephone, but it had nothing elec-
trical about it. It was an apparatus for con-
veying sounds at sea by means of compressed
air forced through trumpets. He could make
his telephone heard six miles away. The first
real suggestion of the telephone as we know it
comes from Reis, the German professor of phys-
ics at Friedrichsdorf, who in i86o constructed
with a coil of wire, a knitting-needle, the skin of
a German sausage, the bung of a beer-barrel, and
a strip of platinum an instrument which repro-
duced the sound of the voice by the vibration of
the membrane and sent a series of clicks along
an electric wire to an electro-maenetic receiver

i'.4^^^

Ig"^^"

|MV^Mr

,lfc. ■"•'i

P!%^K

UH||^^H^> ^ 1 ^^^B^tBB^^w^^m

^^^m il

'fl

^^^r 1 ~ --^^^fl^H

^^^J/^" -

• "'. ./ - . ]

Professor Bell Sending the First Message, by Long-distance Telephone, fronn New York to Chicago.

ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL 265

at the Other end of the wire. The same idea
was taken up in this country by EHsha Gray,
Edison, and by Alexander Graham Bell, who
first exhibited at the Centennial Exhibition an
apparatus that transmitted speech by electricity
in a fairly satisfactory manner. The American
claimants to the honor of having invented the
telephone include Daniel Drawbaugh, a back-
woods genius of Pennsylvania, who claims to
have made and used a practical telephone in
1867-68. A large fortune has been spent in
fighting Drawbaugh's claims against the Bell
monopoly, but the courts have finally decided in
favor of the latter. It should be recorded as a
matter of justice to Mr. Gray, that he appears to
have solved the problem of conveying speech by
electricity at about the same time as Bell. Both
these inventors filed their caveats upon the tele-
phone upon the same day — February 14, 1876.
It was Bell's good fortune to be the first to make
his device practically effective.

Alexander Graham Bell is not an American
by birth. He was born in Edinburgh, Scotland,
on the ist of March, 1847. ^^is father, Alexan-
der Melville Bell, was the inventor of the sys-
tem by which deaf people are enabled to read
speech more or less correctly by observing
the motion of the lips. His mother was the
daughter of Samuel Symonds, a surgeon in the
British navy.

In 1872 the Bells moved to Canada, and young
Alexander Bell became widely known in Boston
as an authority in the teaching of the deaf and

266 IXVEXTOR^^

dumb. He tirst carried to great perfection in
this country the art of enabling the deaf and
dumb to enunciate intelligible words and sounds
that they themselves have never heard. Most
of his art he acquired from his father, one of the
most expert of teachers in this field. The elder
Bell is still active in his work, constantly de-
vising new methods and experiments. He lives
in Washington with his son and is frequently
heard in lectures in New York and Boston.

In 1873 Alexander Bell began to study the
transmission of musical tones by telegraph. It
was in the line of his work with deaf and dumb
people to make sound vibrations visible to the
eye. With the phonautograph he could obtain
tracings of such vibrations upon blackened pa-
per by means of a pencil or stylus attached to
a vibrating cord or membrane. He also suc-
ceeded in obtaining tracings upon smoked glass
of the vibrations of the air produced by vowel
sounds. He began experimenting with an ap-
paratus resembling the human ear, and upon the
suggestion of Dr. Clarence J. Blake, the Boston
aurist, he tried his work upon a prepared speci-
men of the ear itself. Observation upon the
vibrations of the various bones within the ear
led him to conceive the idea of vibrating a piece
of iron in front of an electro-masfnet.

Mr. Bell was at this time an instructor in
phonetics, or the art of visible speech, in Mon-
roe's School of Oratory in Boston. One of his
old pupils describes him then as a swarthy,
foreign - looking personage, more Italian than

ALEXANDER G RAH AM BELL 267

English in appearance, with jet-black hair and
dark skin. His manner was earnest and full of
conviction. He was an enthusiast in his work,
and only emerged from his habitual diffidence
when called upon to talk upon his studies and
views. He was miserably poor and almost with-
out friends. When he was attacked with muscu-
lar rheumatism, in 1873, his hospital expenses
were paid by his employer, and his only visitors
were some of the pupils at the school.

Until the close of 1874, Bell's experiments
seemed to promise nothing of practical value.
But in 1875 he began to transmit vibrations be-
tween two armatures, one at each end of a wire.
He w^as much interested at the time in multiple
telegraphy and fancied that something might
come of some such arrangement of many mag-
netic armatures responding to the vibrations set
up in one.

In November, 1875, he discovered that the
vibrations created in a reed by the voice could
be transmitted so as to reproduce words and
sounds. One day in January, 1876, he called a
dozen of the pupils at Monroe's school into his
room and exhibited an apparatus b}' which
singing was more or less satisfactorily transmit-
ted by wire from the cellar of the building to a
room on the fourth floor. The exhibition creat-
ed a sensation among the pupils, but, although
no attempts were made by Bell to conceal what
he was doing, or how he did it, the noise of his
disco\^ery does not seem to have reached the
outside world. With an old cigar-box, two

268 INVEXTORS

hundred feet of wire, two magnets from a toy
lish-pond, the first Bell telephone was brought
into existence. The apparatus was, however,
not 3'et the practical telephone as we know it,
but it was sufficient of a curiosity to warrant
its exhibition in an improved form at the Cen-
tennial Exhibition, when Sir William Thomson
spoke of it as " perhaps the greatest marvel
hitherto achieved by the electric telegraph."

The next year Bell succeeded in bringing the
telephone to the condition in which it became
of immediate practical value. Strange to say,
the public was at first slow to appreciate the
great importance of the invention, and when
Bell took it to England, in 1877, he could find
no purchaser for half the European rights at
$10,000. In this country, thanks to the business
energy of Professor Gardiner Hubbard, of Har-
vard, Bell's father-in-law, the telephone was soon
made commercially valuable, and there are now
said to be nearly six hundred thousand telephones
in use in the United States alone.

Professor Bell, as ma}' be imagined, is not idle.
His vast fortune has enabled him to continue
costly experiments in aiding deaf and dumb
people, and it will probably be in this field that
his next achievement will be made. Personally,
he is a reserved and thoughtful man, wholly
given up to his scientific work. His wife, whom
he married in 1876, was one of his deaf and dumb
pupils. It is often said that it was largely due
to his intense desire to soften her misfortune
that his experiments were so exhaustive and

ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL 269

finally became so productive in another direction.
His home life in Washington, where he bought,
in 1885, the superb house on Scott Circle known
as " Broadhead's Folly," after the man who built
it and ruined himself in so doing, is said to be
an ideally peaceful and happy one, given up to
study and efforts to alleviate the troubles of the
deaf and dumb.

As in the case of most inventions of such im-
mense value as the telephone, a fortune has had
to be spent in order to protect the patent rights ;
but in Bell's case the inventor's money reward
has been ample and is now said to amount to more
than $1,000,000 a year. Just at present Mr. Bell
is engaged upon a modification of the phono-
graph, which may enable persons not wholly
deaf to hear a phonographic reproduction of the
human voice, even if they cannot hear the voice
itself. Honors have poured in upon him within
the last fifteen years. In 1880 the French Gov-
ernment awarded him the Volta prize of $10,000,
which Mr. Bell devoted to founding the Volta
Laboratory in Washington, an institution for the
use of students. In 1882 he also received from
France the ribbon of the Legion of Honor.

AMERICAN INVENT(3RS, PAST AND
PRESENT.

There are now in force in this country nearly
three hundred thousand patents for inventions
and devices of more or less importance and aid
to everyone. To how great a degree the world
is indebted to the inventor, very few of us real-
ize. The more we think of the matter, however,
the more are we likely to believe that the in-
ventor is mankind's great benefactor. Watt
should stand before Napoleon in the hero-
worship of the age, and the man who perfected
the friction-match before the author of an epic.
Some day this redistribution of the world's
honors will surely take place, and it should be a
satisfaction to us Americans that our country
stands so high in the ranks of inventive genius.
Within the last half centurv Americans have
contributed, to mention onlv great achievements,
the telegraph, the telephone, the electric light,
the sewing-machine, the reaper, and vulcanized
rubber, to the world's wealth — a far larger con-
tribution than that of anv other nation. What
mav not the next generation pi-oduce? Some
people seem to believe that so much has already
been invented as to have exhausted the field. In

PAST AND PRESENT 271

this connection I have quoted in another place
some remarks Mr. Edison once made to me as
to what the next fifty years might bring forth.
Still more astonishing than our past fecundity
in invention would be future barrenness. This
century has done its work and produced its
marvels with comparatively blunt tools, or no
tools at all. The next century will be able to
work with superb instruments of which our
grandfathers knew nothing. The school-boy to-
day knows more of the forces of nature and their
useful application than the magician of fifty years
ago. It has been said that the fifteen blocks in
the "Gem" puzzle can be arranged in more than
a million different ways. The material in the
game at which man dail}^ plays is so infinitely
more complex that the number of combi-
nations cannot be written out in figures. The
role played by invention in modern life is
infinitely greater than during preceding ages.
One invention, by affording a new tool, makes
others possible. The steam-engine made pos-
sible the dynamo, the dynamo made possible the
electric light. In its turn the electric light may
lead to wonders still more extraordinary.

The degree to which invention has contributed
to civilization is far from suspected b}' the care-
less observer. Almost everything we have or
use is the fruit of invention. Man might be de-
fined as the animal that invents. The air we
breathe and the water we drink are provided by
Nature, but we drink water from a vessel of
some kind, an invention of man. Even if we

272 lyvEyroBS

drink from a shell or a gourd, we shape it to
serve a new purpose. If we want our air hot-
ter or colder, we resort to invention, and a vast
amount of ingenuity has been expended upon put-
ting air in motion by means of fans, blowers,
ventilators, etc. We take but a small part of our
food as animals do — in the natural state. The
savage who first crushed some kernels of wheat
betAveen two stones invented flour, and we are
yet hard at it inventing improvements upon his
process. The earliest inventions probably had
reference to the procuring and preparing of
food, and the ingenuity of man is still exercised
upon these problems more eagerly than ever be-
fore. During the last fifty years the power of
man to produce food has increased more than
during the preceding fifteen centuries. Sixty
years ago a large part of the wheat and other
grain raised in the world was cut, a handful at a
time, with a scythe, and a man could not reap
much more than a quarter of an acre a day.
With a McCormick reaper a man and two horses
will cut from fifteen to twenty acres of grain a
day. In the threshing of grain, invention has
achieved almost as much. A man with a ma-
chine will thresh ten times as much as he for-
merly could with a flail.

It is less than sixty years since matches have
come into common use. Many old men remem-
ber the time in this country Avhen a fire could be
kindled only with the embers from another fire,
as there were no such things as matches. Most
of us who have reached the age of forty remem-

PAST AND PRESENT 273

ber the abominable, clumsy sulphur-matches of
i860, as bulky as they were unpleasant. And yet
the first sulphur-matches, made about 1830, cost
ten cents a hundred. To-day the safety match,
certain and odorless, is sold at one-tenth of this
price. The introduction of kerosene was one
of the blessings of modern life. It added sev-
eral hours a day to the useful, intelligent life
of man, and who can estimate the influence of
these evening hours upon the advance of civiliza-
tion ? The evening, after the day's work is done,
has been the only hour when the workingman
could read. Before cheap and good lights were
given him, reading was out of the question. Gas
marked a step in advance, but only for large
towns, and now electricity bids fair soon to dis-
place gas ; and we hear vague suggestions of a
luminous ether that will flood houses with a soft
glow like that of sunlight.

TOWNSEND AND DRAKE — ThE INTRODUCTION

OF Oil.

In 1850 sperm oil, then commonly used in
lamps, had become high-priced, owing to the
failure of the New Bedford whalers, and cost
$2.25 a gallon. Oil obtained by the distillation
of coal was tried, but was also too costly —
not less than $1 a gallon. It burned well,
but its odor was frightful. The problem of a
cheap and pleasant light was solved by James M.
Townsend and E. L. Drake, both of New Haven.
18

274 lyvEyroRS

In 1S54 a man brought to Professor Silliman. of
Yale, some oil from Oil Creek. Pa., to be tested.
His report was so favorable that a cpmpany
was formed, which leased all the land along Oil
Creek upon which were traces of the new rock
oil. The hard times of 1837 came before anv
headway had been made, and the company tried
to find some way of ridding itself of the lease.
At this time Townsend. who knew something:
about the property, undertook to get possession.
Boarding in the same house in New Haven was
E. L. Drake, once a conductor on the New York
«!s: New Haven Railroad, who had been obliged
to give up work on account of ill-health. Town-
send proposed that as Drake could get railroad
passes as an ex-employee, he should go to Penn-
sylvania and look into the property. He did so,
and reported that a fortune might be made by
gathering the oil and bottling it for medicinal
purposes. Drake and Townsend organized the
Seneca Oil Company. The oil was gathered
by digging trenches, and was sold at $1 a
gallon. Drake suggested that it might be well
to bore for oil. A man familiar with salt-well
boring was brought from Syracuse, and in 1S59
the first well was begun at Titusville under the
supervision of Drake. He was commonly con-
sidered by the neighbors to be insane. The
work was costly and slow. When many months
and about §30.000 had been spent, the stockhold-
ers in the company refused to go any further —
all except Townsend. who sent his last $500 to
Drake, with instructions to use it in paving

P.1>S'7' AKD PHESENT 275

debts and his expenses in reaching home. On
the day before the receipt of this money —
August 29, 1859 — the auger, which was down
sixty-eight feet, struck a cavity, and up came a
flow of oil that filled the well to within five feet
of the surface. Pumping began at the rate of
five hundred gallons a da}^ and a more power-
ful pump doubled this flow. As this oil was
worth a dollar a gallon, fortune was within sight.
But the ver}^ quantity of the oil proved to be the
company's ruin. Their works were destroyed
by fire in the winter of 1859-60, and before they
could be rebuilt, scores of other wells, some of
them requiring no pumping apparatus, had been
sunk in the neighborhood. The supply was soon
far in excess of the demand, which was limited
by the small number of refineries, the want of
good lamps in which to burn the oil, and the at-
tacks by manufacturers of other oils. Such was
the effect of these causes that the new oil fell to
a dollar a barrel, a price so low that it did not
pay for the handling. The Seneca Oil Company
was so much discouraged that they sold out
their leases and disbanded. Both Townsend and
Drake would have died richer men had they
never heard of the Pennsylvania rock oil.

The Clarks and the Telescope.

The fame of American telescopes is due to the
work and inventions of the Clark family of Cam-
bridgeport, Mass., the descendants of Thomas

276 I^'^EyTOBS

Clark, the naate of the Majfir—f- ~ t
der of the great — in a scientific — —
Alvan Oaik & Scms, telescope-maker?
mailable man. Until after h: -
devoted himself to poitiait-j^ r

his attention was accidentall j turned i
telesoope-makingu One day the dinner-b£ii

AWan Cia-*;

Phillips Academy, Andoirer^ Mass^, happoied to
bieak. The pieces were gathered np b j one of
Oark^s bojs, Geoige, w^ho proceeded to melt
them in a cmciUe otct the Mtchen hie, declar-
ing that he was going to make a telescope. His
motter l-aTi^e*!, bat his father was deeply in-
Ttrr: i helped the boy make a fireinch

: - T ^ 7 7 cope which ^owed the satellites
: r 7 us was the beginning <^ telescope-

PAST AND PRESENT 277

making in the Clark family, an industry which
has given to the scientific world its most remark-
able lenses. Alvan Clark dropped his paint-
brushes, never to take them up again until at the
age of eighty-three he made an excellent portrait
of his little grandson. To Alvan G. Clark, the
present head of the house, are chiefly due the
scores of devices by which American ingenuity
has surpassed the slower European methods.
The delicacy required in the manipulation and
grinding of the immense lenses made by the
Clarks is almost incredible. The latest triumph
of the firm — a fort3Mnch lens for the Spence
Observatory at Los Angeles, Cal. — required two
years of grinding and polishing after a piece of
glass perfect enough had been obtained. So
delicately finished is it that half a dozen sharp
rubs with the soft part of a man's thumb would
be sufficient to ruin it. Alvan G. Clark is now a
man sixty-one years old. He has lived all his
life at the home in Cambridgeport. His great-
est sorrow is that there is no son of his to carry
on the work after his death. His only son died
a few years ago, just as he was beginning to show
wonderful aptitude in the art which has made
the family famous in all the great observatories
of the world.

27S iXVEXTORS

JoHX Fitch axd Oliver Evans — Steam
Traxsportatiox.

In looking over the work done bv American
inventors, the great names are those to be found
at the heads of the preceding chapters. But
the list is bv no means exhausted. Amongr the
early men of achievement in the field of inven-
tion I have had to omit at least a dozen whose
work deserves more than a paragraph. The
history of the steamboat is not complete with-
out reference to John Fitch.

Fulton was fortunate in making the first really
successful attempt at propelling boats bv steam,
but Fitch came very near reaping the honors
for this invention. The account of Fitch's life
and experiments, written bv himself and now in
the possession of the Franklin Library of Phil-
adelphia, clearly shows that this unhappy genius
reallv deserves to share in Fulton's glory. Fitch
was born in Connecticut, in January. 1743. more
than twentv years before Fulton. He was a
farmer's bov and picked up knowledge as best
he could. Before he was twenty he had learned
clock-making and then button-making. It was
in 1788 that he obtained his first patent for a
steamboat- His experimental boat was an ex-
traordinarv affair, fullv described in the Co/um-
^V?// » Philadelphia » Miigasiine for December, 1786.
Its motive power consisted of a clumsy engine
that moved horizontal bars, upon which were

PAST AND PRESENT 279

fastened a number of oars or paddles. So far as
possible the machine imitated the movements of
a man rowing. This boat made eight miles an
hour in calm water. Finding nothing but ridi-
cule for his project here, as his steamboat cost
too much money to run as a commercial under-
taking, Fitch went to Europe, and was equally
unsuccessful there. There is still in existence
a letter from him in which he predicts that
steam would some day carry vessels across
the Atlantic. He died in 1796, without hav-
ing contributed more than a curiosity to the
art of steam navigation.

Another early inventor was Oliver Evans, who
has been called the Watt of America. In 1804
Evans offered to build for the Lancaster Turn-
pike Company a steam-carriage to can*}' one
hundred barrels of flour fifty miles in twenty-
four hours. The offer was derided. Here is one
of Evans's predictions written at about this time :
" The time will come when people will travel in
stages, moved by steam-engines, from one city
to another, almost as fast as birds fly, fifteen or
twenty miles an hour. Passing through the air
with such velocity, changing the scene with
such rapid succession, will be the most rapid,
exhilarating exercise. A carriage (steam) will
set out from Washington in the morning,
the passengers will breakfast at Baltimore, dine
at Philadelphia, and sup in New York the same
da}'. To accomplish this, two sets of railways
will be laid so nearly level as not in any way to
deviate more than two degrees from a horizon-

2S0 nrvEjfTORS

tal line, made of wood, or iron, or smooth paths
of broken stone or gravel, with a rail to gnide the
carriages so that thej maj pass each other in
different directions and travel bv night as well
as bv day. Engines will drive boats ten or
twelve miles per hour, and there will be manv
hur. f re ! s ^ z its running on the Mississippi'

Iei iMf n r uilt a steam-carriage propelled
by a sort of paddle-wheel at the stem, the pad-
dles touching the ground. This apparatus he
named the "* Oructor Amphibolis," and it is be-
lieved to have been the first application of steam
in America to the propelling of land carriages.
He died in 1819 without having seen his steam-
carrii^r : rjie to anything practicable. He
mi f :--/: r : wever, from some patents upon
floi.:-i-i:.- : .: : : vements.

Amos Whitti:: 7z a:~ T:-: mas Bl^^js chard.

In the domain of textile fabrics Am»js Whitte-
more, the Massachusetts inventor of the card-
machine, which did away with the old-fashioned
method of making cards for cotton and woollen
factories, must be mentioned. Before Whitte-
more's machine came into use, about 18 12, such
cards were niiirby hand, the laborer sticking
one by ot t : eets of leather the wire staples,

which Of r- :: rrive work to thousands of
families in Nr Z ^land early in the century.
Whittemr : e r " :ie bv his invention, and

devoted tr.r .:.-: rJis ; iiis Ufe to astronomv.

PAST A^^D PRESENT 281

Another Massachusetts boy, Thomas Blanch-
ard, invented the lathe for turning irregular
objects, and well deserves mention. Born in
1788, he was noted as a boy for his efficiencv in
the New England accomplishment of whittling,
making wonderful windmills and water-wheels
with his knife. When thirteen years old he made
an apple-paring machine, with which at the " par-
ing bees " held in the neighborhood he could
accomplish more than a dozen girls. Soon after
this achievement he began helping his brother in
the manufacture of tacks. The operation con-
sisted in stamping them out from a thin plate of
iron, after which they were taken up, one at a
time, with the thumb and finger and caught in
a tool worked by the foot, while a blow given
simultaneously with a hammer held in the right
hand made a flat head of the large end of the
tack projecting above the face of the vise. This
was the only method then known, and it was so
slow and irksome that young Blanchard often
grew disgusted. As a daily task he was given a
certain quantity of tacks to make, which number
was ascertained by counting. Finding this much
trouble, he constructed a counting-machine, con-
sisting of a ratchet-wheel which moved one tooth
every time the jaws of the heading tool or
vise moved in the process of making a tack.
From this achievement he passed to a tack ma-
chine, and after six years of hard work turned
out an apparatus that made five hundred tacks
a minute. He sold his patent for the trifle of
$5,000.

'2S'2 iyvEyTOB>:

With part of this moncv he began his experi-
ments in turning musket-barrels, an operation
that was simple enough except at the breech,
where the flat and oval sides had to be ground
down or chipped. Blanchard made a lathe that
turned the whole barrel satisfactorily. While
exhibiting his new lathe at the United States
Armory at Springtield, occurred the incident
that led to Blanchard's great device for turning
irregular forms. One of the men employed in
cutting musket-stocks remarked that Blanchard
could never spoil his job, for he could not turn a
gun-stock. The remark struck Blanchard, who
replied, '* I am not so sure of that, but will think
of it a while." The result of six months' study
was the lathe with which such articles as gun-
stocks, shoe-lasts, hat-blocks, tackle-blocks, axe-
handles, wig-blocks, and a thousand other objects
of irregular shape mav now be turned. While
at Washington getting his patent, Blanchard
exhibited his machine at the War Office, where
manv heads of departments had assembled.
Among the rest was a navv commissioner, who,
after listening to Blanchard, remarked to the in-
ventor : '• Can you turn a seventy-four ? "

" Yes," was the replv, " if you will furnish the
block." Blanchard afterward made many inter-
esting experiments in steam-carriages, but his
chief claim to fame rests upon his lathe.

PA^T AND Pit E SENT 2S3

Richard M. Hoe and the Web-Press.

From the end of the first half of this century
date movements of extraordinary importance in
the world of American invention. The locomo-
tive, the steam-engine and steam-boat, the tele-
graph, reaping-machine, the printing-press, all
seemed to reach an era of wide usefulness at
about the same time. It was in 1814 that Walters
first printed the London Times by steam, the
sullen pressmen standing around waiting for a
pretext to destroy the machinery, and only pre-
vented by strategy from doing so. About thirty
years afterward Richard M. Hoe first turned
his attention to the improvement of printing-
presses. The founder of the famous house of
printing-press makers, Robert Hoe, was born in
England. His son, Richard March Hoe, was
born in New York on the 12th of September,
181 2. He made his first press in 1840, when he
turned out the machine known as *' Hoe's Double-
cylinder," which was capable of making about six
thousand impressions an hour, and was the ad-
miration of all the printers in the city. So long
as the newspaper circulation knew no great in-
crease this wonderful press was all-sufiicient ; but
the greater the supply the greater grew the
demand, and a printing-press capable of striking
off papers with greater rapidity was felt to be
an imperative need. It was often necessar)' to
hold the forms back until nearlv davliirht for

284 ij^-vEyroBS

the purpose of getting tte latest aews, and the
work of printEng the paper had to be dooe in a
very few homSw In 1842 Hoe began to experi-
ment for the purpose of getting greater speed.
There irere many difficulties in the way^ how-
eTer^ and at the end of four years of experiment-
ing he was about ready to confess that the ob-
stacles were insurmountable. One night in 1846,
while still in this mood^ he resumed his experi-
ments ; the more he reviewed the problem, the
more difficult it seemed. In despair he was about
to gire it up for the night, when there flashed
across his brain a plan for securing the type on
the surface of a cylinder. This was the solution
ci the problem^ and within a year our leading
newsps^rs had their ^Lightning'' presses, in
which from four to ten cylinders were used to
feed ^eets of paper against the surface of the
type as it flew around. So recently as 1870 the
ten-cylinder Hoe pressy printing twenty - five
thousand ^eets an hour, was considered a mar-
veL

Then came the perfecting pressy a far sma^^er
mar -hifie , but capable of five times as much work,
thanks to the substitution of rolls of paper for
separate sheets fed in cwae by one. The device
by whidi the web of paper after being printed
on cme ^de is turned over and printed on the
other ade in the same macrliine was another
trium^ of American ingenuity. Stereotypiog
made it posable to print &om a dozoi presses
at the same time without the trouble rf setting
up new type, and inventions for pasting, folding.

PAST AND PRESENT 2S5

and counting the papers still further increased
the speed at which papers may be issued, while
at the same time decreasing the number of men
employed as pressmen. In 1865 it required the
services of twenty-six men and boys to print
and fold twenty-five thousand copies of an eight-
page paper in an hour. To-day a perfecting
press, with the aid of four men, does four times
as much work. It has been recently estimated
that to print, paste, and fold the Sunday edition
of one of the great newspapers with the ma-
chinery of 1865 would require the services of
five hundred persons.

Thomas W. Harvey and Screw-making.

The gimlet-pointed screw patented in 1838 by
Thomas W. Harvey, of Providence, R. I., is a
marked instance of an improvement so useful that
we can scarcely realize that less than fifty years
ago such screws were unknown to the carpenter,
for it was not until 1846 that Harvey succeeded
in getting people to abandon the old blunt-ended
screw that we now occasionally find in build-
ings put up before 1850. Harvey was a Vermont
boy, born in 1795. His faculty for the invention
of machinery for screw-making and other pur-
poses gave him and his associates and successors
— Angell, Sloan, and Whipple — great fortunes
according to the estimate of that day. He died
in 1856.

2S6

lyVEJfTORS

C. L. Sh'jles axd the Typewriter.

A orreat many men contributed to make the
typewriter what it is to-day — as much of an im-

provement upon the pen as the sewing-machine
is upon the needle. So long- ago as 1843 some
patents were taken out for divers forms of writ-
ing-machines, ail more or !ess impracticable. It
was not until C. L. Sholes, then of Wisconsin,

PAST AND PRESENT 287

took up the problem, in 1866, that the present
form of a number of type-bars, arranged so that
their ends strike upon a common centre, was de-
vised. Sholes died in 1891, having also helped
by many minor devices the increase in the use of
writing-machines. From 1865 to 1873 he made
thirty different working models of writing-ma-
chines, devoting himself to the task almost day
and night for eight years.

B. B. HOTCHKISS .AND HIS GUNS.

American inventors have had, as a rule, but
small success in making Europe see the value of
their inventions before this country has proved
it. Morse could get neither England nor France
to take an interest in his telegraph schemes, and,
at a later day, Bell's telephone was received
in England as a curious device, but not worth
investing money in. An exception to this rule
may be found, however, in the case of B. B.
Hotchkiss, a Connecticut inventor, who during
the civil war conceived the idea of a breech-
loading cannon. In 1869 Hotchkiss mounted
one of his small guns in the Brooklyn Navy-
yard, but found no encouragement to experi-
ment further. The Franco-German war found
him in Europe with a breech-loading gun that
would throw shells. His success was such that
there is not a civilized country where Flotchkiss
guns, throwing light shells with a rapidity not
dreamed of years ago, are not now in use. The

2S8

ly VEX TOES

inventor has made a large fortune and has had
the pleasure of sending to this country a number
of guns for our cruisers, the Atlanta, the Boston,

the Chicago, and the Dolphin. So great is the
rapidity, accuracy, and power of these Hotch-
kiss rapid-fire guns that some experts expect to
see two-thirds of an action fought with these or
similar pieces, which thev think will silence and
put out of action all the heavy guns in a few
minutes after the enemies come within fifteen
hundred yards of each other. For instance, the
latest piece is a six-poimder, which, with smoke-
less powder, has a range of five thousand yards
and an effective fiofhtinsr rangfe of one thousand
vards, within which distance a target the size of
a six-inch £:un can be hit nearlv everv time and

PAST AND niESENT 289

five inches of wrought iron perforated. A speed
in firing of twenty-five shots a minute has been
attained.

Charles F. Brush and the Dynamo.

A trifling incident revealed to an Italian sa-
vant the fact that when two metals and the
leg of a frog came into contact the muscles
of the leg contracted. The galvanic battery
resulted. Years later another observer discov-
ered that if a wire carrying a current of electric-
ity was wound around a piece of soft iron the
latter became a magnet. Out of these simple
discoveries have arisen the telegraph, the tele-
phone, and a host of inventions depending upon
electricity. And to-day, with all the wonders
accomplished in this field, we are yet upon the
threshold of the enchanted palace that electricity
is about to open to us. Through its aid we shall
one day enjoy light, heat, and power almost as
freely as we now enjoy air. The crops will be
planted, watered, cultivated, gathered, and trans-
ported to the uttermost ends of the earth by
electricity. The steam-engine is said to do the
work of two hundred million men, and to have
been the chief agent in reducing the average
working hours of men in the civilized world in
this century from fourteen hours a day to ten.
But electricit}^, according to even conservative
judges, will accomplish infinitely more. It will
make possible the harnessing of vast forces of
19

!290

lyvEyToB.'

nature, such as the falls of Niagara, because the
electric current can be transported from place to
place at small cost and it is easily transformed
into light or power or heat. Within a few
months we shall see the first results of the srreat
work at Niagara. Before many years the power
of the tides is certain to be used along the sea-

Crames F. Brush.

board for producing electricity. Here is a force
equal to that of a million Niagaras going to
waste.

The late Clerk Maxwell, when asked bv a dis-
tinguished scientist what was the greatest scien-
tific discovery of the last half-centurv. replied :
" That the Gramme machine is reversible." In
other Avords. that power will not onlv produce
electricity, but that electricit}- will produce

P.l.s'7' AM) PRESENT 201

power. By turning- a big- wheel at Niagara we
can produce an electric current that will turn
another wheel for us fifty, or perhaps five
hundred miles away. The dynamo is one of the
great achievements of the day, to which Charles
F. Brush, of Cleveland, O., has devoted him-
self with much signal success. Brush was born
in March, 1849, i'^ Euclid Township near Cleve-
land, and his early years were spent on his
father's farm. When fourteen years old he went
to the public school at Collamer, and later to the
Cleveland High-school, and as early as 1862 dis-
tinguished himself by making magnetic machines
and batteries for the high-school. During his
senior 3^ear in the high-school, the chemical and
physical apparatus of the laboratory of the school
was placed under his charge. In this year he
constructed an electric motor having its field
magnets as well as its armature excited by the
electric current. He also constructed a micro-
scope and a telescope, making all the parts him-
self, down to the grinding of the lenses. He de-
vised an apparatus for turning on the gas in the
street-lamps of Cleveland, lighting it and turning
it off again. When he was eighteen years of age
he entered Michigan University at Ann Arbor,
and, following his particular bent, was graduated
as a mining engineer in 1869, one year ahead
of his class. Returning to Cleveland he began
work as an analytical chemist and soon became
interested in the iron business. In 1875 Brush's
attention was first called to electricity by George
W. Stockly, who suggested that there was an im-

292 I^^VEyTORS

mense field ready for a cheaper and more easily
managed dynamo than the Gramme or Siemens,
the best types then known. Stockly, who was in-
terested in the Telegraph Supply Company, of
Cleveland, agreed to undertake the manufacture
of such a machine if one was devised. In two
months Brush made a dynamo so perfect in every
way that it \yas running until it was taken to the
World's Fair in 1893. Having made a good dy-
namo, the next step was a better lamp than those
in use. Six months of experimenting resulted in
the Brush arc light. Stockly w^as so well satisfied
Avith the commercial value of these inventions
that the Telegraph Supply Company, a small
concern then employing about twenty-five men,
.was reorganized in 1879, ^s the Brush Electric
Company. In 1880 the Brush Company put its
first lights into New York City, and it has since
extended the system until there is scarcely a
town in the country where the light may not be
found. Besides dynamos and lamps, the im-
mense establishment at Cleveland employs its
twelve hundred men in making carbons, storage-
batteries, and electro-plating apparatus. Mr.
Brush is a self-taught mechanic, able to do any
work of his shops in a manner equal to that of
an expert. He is intensely practical, never over-
sanguine, and an excellent business man. If a
delicate piece of work is to be done for the first
time, he will probably do it with his own hands.
He is not fond of experiment for the experi-
ment's sake ; he wants to see the practical utility
of the aim in view before devoting time to its at-

PAST AND PRESENT 293

tainment. Of the scores of patents he has taken
out, two-thirds are said to pay him a revenue.
In 1 88 1, at the Paris Electrical Exposition, Brush
received the ribbon of the Legion of Honor.
In personal appearance there is nothing of the
round-shouldered, impecunious, studious inven-
tor about him. He is six feet or more in height,
and so fine a specimen of manhood that 'Gam-
betta, the French statesman, once remarked that
the man impressed him quite as much as the
inventor.

ElCKEMEYER AND HiS MOTOR.

In the same field of electricity, as applied to
e very-day life, a Bavarian by birth, but an Amer-
ican by adoption, Rudolf Eickemeyer, of Yon-
kers, has done some valuable work in devising
a useful form of dynamo. His machines are
now used almost exclusively for elevators and
hoisting apparatus, one large firm of elevator
builders having put in no less than six hundred
Eickemeyer motors within the last four j^ears.
As electricity becomes more and more useful
for small powers, such as lathes, pumps, and ele-
vators, an effective and simple motor becomes
of the utmost importance. Rudolf Eickemeyer
was born in October, 1831, at Kaiserslautern,
Bav^aria, where his father was employed as a
forester. He was educated at the Darmstadt
Polytechnic Institute and at once showed a pre-
dilection for scientific work. When still a boy

294

TNVENTORS

he joined the Revohitionists under Siegel, and
after the upheaval of i^^

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