VM 
 
George Davidson 
 1R2.S-1911 
 

* 4 
 
 

it 
 
 A TALE. 
 
 He whistled as he went, for want of thought." DSYBEN. 
 

 
"So long as a man rides his hobby-horse peaceably and quietly along the king's 
 highway, and neither compels you nor me to get up behind him, pray, sir, what 
 have either you or I to do with it?" TRISTAM SHANDY, chap. vii. 
 
 " But what shall we do, when he not only forces us to get up behind hina, but 
 makes us pay for the ride?" CITIZEN'S CURRENT INQUIRY. 
 
 
Hatching the Egg. 
 
 I. 
 
 IT was a lovely summer morning, in the old days of peace. A cloud- 
 less blue sky bent over the glittering metropolis a bright sun flooded 
 its busy streets with splendor and a gentle wind made music in the 
 trees that grace its parks and causeways. The haunts, alike of labor 
 and of pleasure, were already thronged. Up and down Broadway and 
 the Avenues, surged the customary tide of human beings. Horse-cars 
 rumbled and jingled along their various tracks, and stages, carriages, 
 
8 
 
 carts, and drays added volume and variety to the din of city life. All 
 was light activity animation. 
 
 Especially in the City Hall Park ! 
 
 There were no soldiers then in that verdurous region; nor barracks, 
 nor recruiting tents, nor hospitals, nor artillery, nor vestiges of the 
 " circumstance of glorious war." But the peaceful grass grew there 
 untrampled, and birds flitted from tree to tree; and the fountain, 
 which Mr. N. P. Willis has commemorated in song, played away in 
 the cool and sparkling fashion peculiar to fountains; and the baked 
 Jersey mud statue of General Washington erected by a considerate 
 posterity for the accommodation of the sculptor gazed placidly at 
 the City Hall, or seemed to smile upon the comfortable enterprise of 
 those youthful Bohemians who thrive by polishing the boots of re- 
 spectability. A scene of pastoral innocence and beauty! 
 
 Amidst that scene, and near the base of that imposing monument, 
 there stood, on the lovely morning previously referred to, a man. He 
 was wrapped in profound thought and in seedy garments. His face 
 was pale, and wore the expression of intellect tempered by timidity. 
 His black clothes, though they had been carefully brushed, presented 
 that glazed appearance which, except, perhaps, in the case of satinet, 
 is the unmistakable evidence of age. His hat was greasy his boots 
 were soiled with dust. In his right hand he grasped a heavy walking 
 stick : in his left, a huge roll of white paper. And so he stood now 
 glancing at the City Hall clock, now at the stately edifice, towards 
 the south-east, whence issue, daily and weekly, so many organs of 
 public opinion, in the shape of newspapers. 
 
 He had waited there already during nearly two hours a spectacle 
 of superfluous patience, exciting the suspicion of neighboring police 
 officers, and stirring up the ire of contiguous apple-women. For he 
 seemed to have no legitimate calling, and he certainly bought no 
 apples. Nor did he incline the ear of attention to the tattered youths 
 who repeatedly said to him, " blag yer boots." The seedy man was 
 plainly pre-occupied, and intent on serious things. 
 
 At length, as the bell tolled the hour of ten, the stranger emerged 
 from his reverie, walked rapidly from the Washington statue, and 
 disappeared within the principal edifice of Printing House Square. 
 Let us follow his footsteps. 
 
 We shall find him in a spacious and handsome office, adorned with 
 a large library, and with pictures, chiefly of a marine character. A 
 close examination of the library would disclose many books of a scien- 
 tific kind, such as "Mariotte's Law" and "Isherwood's Engineering 
 Precedents;" and mingled with these, divers volumes of poetry and 
 
Belles Lettres, showing that their owner, however devoted to science, is 
 yet addicted to occasional indulgence in "Shakspeare and the musical 
 glasses." The other appointments of this room are correspondingly 
 sumptuous. The carpet is rich and soft the furniture is carved and 
 valuable. In the centre of the apartment stands a handsome writing- 
 table, littered with papers and drawings. Near this, in a comfortable 
 arm chair, sits a man of singular appearance, and, as the reader will pre- 
 sently perceive, of still more singular talents. He is the hero of this tale. 
 
 The Hero of Dash-pots and the seedy Inventor. 
 
 To him has entered the seedy stranger. . . . They talk. 
 
 " I am an inventor, sir, a poor man; but I have a fortune in these 
 plans. You are rich you are influential. I have come to ask your 
 nid in presenting my invention to the notice of the United States Navy 
 Department." 
 
 " What is your name, sir? and what is the nature of your inven- 
 tion '/" 
 
 B 
 
i 10 
 
 " My name, sir, is^~- . My invention is a steam cut-off for ap- 
 plication to marine engines." 
 
 " Sir," said the great man, "you have come to .the right shop. My 
 foot is on my native heath, and my name is D^*^ -n." 
 
 The seedy inventor bowed, and deposited his roll of paper upon the 
 table. LscAu+^r*- 
 
 "Sit, my friend," said the magnanimous D n. "I will cast 
 
 *y eye over your drawings. The subject of economizing steam and 
 coal has long been familiar to my thoughts. I am a devout student of 
 Watt, and I know all about water. Mariotte is my vade mecum, and I 
 abhor the very name of Isherwood. (A.) Likewise, I am a reader of 
 the Hebrew melodies of the gifted Lord Byron. I will read them to 
 you, if you like; but not immediately. Amuse yourself for a few mo- 
 ments, while I glance at these papers." 
 
 The inventor again bowed, sat down, and picking up a pamphlet, 
 devoted his mind to the "Tenth Annual Report of the Board of Water 
 Commissioners to the Common Council of the City of Detroit." (B.) 
 
 Let us not dwell upon what he found therein; at least not yet. Suf- 
 fice it to say, that he had not long to read nor long to wait for the 
 reply of his heroic companion. 
 
 "I will take this invention, sir, under my patronage and supervision. 
 It is not exhaustive, but it is a step in advance. So far as it goes, 
 it harmonizes with my own views. But I warn you beforehand, that 
 mighty obstacles must be overcome ere it can be made a practical 
 success. Be re-assured, however ! Those obstacles are not invulner- 
 able. It was, as remarked by the erudite Game Chicken, " within the 
 resources of science to double up Mr. Dombey :" it is equally within 
 the resources of science to double up Isherwood. (C.) That fellow is 
 very destructive on coals, and it is high time that something were 
 done about it. I behold in this cut-off the immediate means of doing 
 something. I will let loose upon the Navy Department the entire 
 strength of my inspiration the whole vast power of Mariotte's Law 
 and of Lord Byron's melodies. Nay, sir, I will even press Shakspeare 
 into this service. So shall the cut-off carry the day. Trust yours 
 truly for that. But, in the meanwhile, we must agree, sir, upon terms 
 upon terms, sir, and conditions. A cut-off is, as it were, a machine; 
 but, as noticed 'by the subtle Mr. Hazlitt, a man of genius is not. 
 Modesty forbids me to employ more definite language. I see in your 
 intelligent countenance that you perceive the application of this 
 remark. I shall stipulate, sir, for an interest in this invention an 
 interest of liberal scope and of large possible value. Upon that wall, 
 before you, hangs a map of the United States of America, a great and 
 
11 
 
 glorious Eepublic, my friend, founded at an early period by the Father 
 of his Country, and popularly known as an asylum for the oppressed 
 of all nations. Those States, sir, are numerous and wealthy. These 
 upon the northern Atlantic sea-board are peculiarly so. I stipulate 
 for the exclusive right of applying this invention in those States. I 
 appropriate to mj'self New England, New York, Pennsylvania, the 
 Middle States, and those that extend westward along the lakes. The 
 remainder I leave to you. Accept these terms, and I lift you at once 
 from the slough of obscurity to the heights of fame. Keject them, and 
 I leave you to chance. 
 
 * There is a tide in the affairs of men, 
 "Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune.' 
 
 a* 
 
 That tide, sir, is now at the flood with you. Will you take it or no ? 
 I pause for a reply." 
 
 The seedy inventor, overwhelmed by this eloquence, could only bow 
 and point to his plans. 
 
 " I accept the terms, sir," he said, at length, " and leave my fate in 
 your hands." 
 
 " In my hands," responded the heroic D n, "your fate is glory. 
 
 You have heard, no doubt, of the star of purest ray serene. I am that 
 star. Henceforth it will be my vocation to shine upon you. Be happy 
 in that reflection ! And now, sir, before we part, permit me to read 
 a paraphrase of one of those Byronic melodies to which I have made 
 allusion. Its application will, I think, be sufficiently evident. Here 
 it is : (D.) 
 
 I walk in lonely beauty bright ! 
 
 The breath of steam around me flies ; 
 And, radiant in metallic light, 
 
 I see the brazen dash-pots rise 
 A vision, glorious to my sight 
 As purple peaks of Paradise ! 
 
 One pot the more, one pot the less, 
 
 Would make no difference in the view ; 
 For all that 's best of loveliness, 
 
 And all that 's best of science too, 
 Are garnered up, mankind to bless, 
 
 In dash-pots of the brazen hue. 
 
 The happy thought around me coils, 
 
 And cheers me on at every turn ; 
 While engine-drivers pour their oils, 
 
 And stokers make their coals to burn ; 
 That I appropriate the spoils 
 
 Within my dash-pot's portly urn ! 
 
12 
 
 " There, my friend," added this bard of science and of dash-pots, 
 " that will suffice. You are now acquainted with me, and with my 
 sentiments. Haec olim meminisse juvabit. Leave me your address. I 
 shall write to you from Washington City from the capital whither 
 my steps now tend. Consider the cut-off a fixed fact. I will not say 
 that I shall not improve upon your design. Non tetigit, non ornavit. 
 But its success is all the more certain. Give me your hand, sir. Good 
 morning!" 
 
 The dilapidated inventor withdrew, and the hero was left alone. A 
 moment he seemed transfixed as by a mighty thought; then his tall 
 form relaxed, and he sank back into the arm chair and closed his eyes. 
 The recent effort of eloquence had overpowered him. The great man 
 slept slept and dreamed. 
 
 And this was his vision. 
 
 -n's Dream of Triumph. 
 
13 
 
 A golden cloud seemed floating in mid-air, upborne at its four cor- 
 ners by Watt and Mariotte, Brunei and Samuel Smiles. Upon that 
 cloud rested an enormous throne, made of variously colored and 
 strongly welded dash-pots. Upon that throne, in royal state, sat the 
 august D n. At his feet, and serving for a footstool, appeared 
 the scientific writings of the hated Isherwood. In his hands was up- 
 reared a gigantic brazen dash-pot, whereinto fell a continual shower 
 of golden eagles, poured from above by Clio, the muse of history, a 
 figure, however, closely resembling that of Secretary <ttflM.t*y Around 
 him, in every direction, floated the shapes of war-vessels, provided 
 with the St* ^s cut-off. Beneath the cloud, on which rested this 
 imposing monarchy, appeared the wretched Isherwood and the Water 
 Commissioners of Detroit, pendant, heads downward, and grasping 
 frantically at nothing. A gentle breeze, as of windy and ever-blowing 
 Fame, impelled this pageant through the heavens. And thus the 
 sleeper beheld, prefigured in light and shadow, his own immortality. 
 
II. 
 
 Washington, D. (7., , 18 . 
 
 MY BEAR S s : 
 
 Veni! vidi! vici! So said the great Boman, after victory. So says 
 the engineer of the period, under simitar circumstances. 
 
 It was, nevertheless, an achievement of magnitude and of difficulty. 
 Prejudice, of deep root and of long continuance, opposed me at the 
 outset. Conventionality, embodied in the form of a naval official, 
 frowned darkly upon the champion of progress, your humble friend. 
 Old ideas of economy the crude notions of our antiquated forefathers 
 arose before me, like battle lines in Parisian streets, before the foot- 
 steps of Eevolution. But, like Eevolution, I nevertheless swept on- 
 ward, bearing down prejudice, conventionality, and old ideas. Ac- 
 cordingly, these latter are dust, and I am jubilant. 
 
 Never shall I forget that memorable morning, when, with miniature 
 dash-pot in one hand, and gilt-edged copy of" Mariotte's Law" in the 
 other, I made my final effectual appeal to the Secretary of the Navy. 
 Like an oracle I stood before him ; and it is no exaggeration to say 
 that I forced conviction upon his mind, with an energy and a righteous 
 violence that literally withered him in his official arm chair. At first, 
 I dwelt upon the simple principle of the cut-off. Then, incidentally, I 
 gave him a detailed account of the life and services of James Waft. 
 From this theme, by an easy and natural transition, I advanced to 
 speak of myself ; and, as is not usual with mankind, I made the most 
 of the subject. I described, with scientific prolixity and minuteness, 
 my own novel machinery, my improvements upon the clever, though 
 crude, idea of your active, ambitious and promising mindj and into 
 this description I introduced, with much effect, my celebrated para- 
 phrase of a Hebrew melody, celebrating the dash-pot. Lastly, in a 
 peroration, worthy, though I say it, of the Ciceronian age, I called upon 
 him to submit to the eternal laws of the Universe, as illustrated in my 
 authentic teachings. " Respect the divine law," I exclaimed, "of 
 which I am but the humble representative ! You may think to escape 
 its power for a time, but you must surely submit to it at last. Yield, 
 
16 
 
 therefore, without fruitless resistance. Do what you will, you cannot 
 get far ahead of the old man up above. Even Isherwood, with all his 
 gold lace and all his money, can avail you nothing. The laws of ex- 
 pansion operate without regard to Isherwood. I. have placed his book 
 on a cylinder-head of one of my engines, and it never made the least 
 difference in the operation of the piston. Will you, then, be stayed 
 on the noble road of progress by the voice of a quack and a beast, a 
 knave and a wretch 
 
 A villain, 
 
 A cut-purse of the empire and the rule, 
 "Who from the shelf the precious diadem stole, 
 And put it in his pocket ? 
 
 Will you butt your head against a stone wall, because, like the man 
 in the novel, you find it "so very satisfying"? No, you will not! 
 Or, if a stone wall is to be butted, you will rather choose that it be the 
 penetrable stone wall of man's ignorance, than the indomitable barrier 
 of eternal law. You will be mindful of the sage fortitude of the pious 
 American citizen of African descent, who said that when de Lord told 
 him to butt a hole through a stone wall, it was his business to butt, 
 and de Lord's business to carry him through. You will think of this, 
 I say; and if Isherwood be powerful, you will be consoled by the re- 
 flection that all human power is weak against the power of Nature. 
 And so, side by side with me, you will keep on butting." 
 
 "D n," said the Secretary, when I thus concluded my harangue, 
 
 "you are a great man. Take a chair, and let 's liquor. I shall be- 
 lieve in dash pots as long as I live; and you shall build us a new war 
 ship." 
 
 " But Isherwood is my foe." 
 
 " Isherwood be ." 
 
 
 
 We drank some straw-colored liquor, with our mouths, after that, 
 and so our interview terminated. 
 
 And now the PENSACOLA is in progress of construction. The egg 
 upon which long ago we commenced to brood, will soon break, and 
 enable us to count our chickens chickens of iron they will be to 
 others, my friend Mother Gary's chickens but to us, chickens of 
 gold! 
 
 " Swift fly the years, and rise th' expected morn I" 
 
 We began our work on this ship in 1858. It is now 1863. She will 
 soon be finished, with the cut-oif, and the novel machinery all com- 
 plete, and I shall expect her to make such time as never was made 
 
17 
 
 before, by any craft of equal size and pretension. To-day, by way of 
 verifying Mariotte's Law, I have applied the cut-off principle -to her 
 stern, and have had the stern cut-off. The effect was rending, and I 
 witnessed it with emotions of awe. To-morrow we shall put the stern 
 on again. Having satisfied the Law, we must now disappoint and ef- 
 fectually dispose of the prophets these latter, collected here in great 
 numbers by the malignant Isherwood, having stated that our ship will 
 
 be good for nothing without a stern. As if the erudite D n didn't 
 
 recognise stern necessity. 
 
 The Department recognises it, at any rate for I have sent in my 
 bill. All the clerks have been, for several weeks, busy in investigating 
 the accounts : and poor creatures ! they are quite at their wits' ends. 
 It is a comfort to think that they did'njb have far to go. As a final re- 
 sort, they have procured a calculating machine. But calculating ma- 
 chines are vain as against dash-pots. The ship will cost $800,000 at 
 the very least, and the Department will have to pay it. 
 
 Isherwood, I hear, suggests that such a ship ought not to cost more 
 than $120,000, or, at furthest, more than $140,000. Strange that peo- 
 ple will so cling to the delusions of the past. Because old-fashioned 
 ships and engines have been built for little or nothing, is it imagined 
 that the scientific marvels of the future are to be got without money and 
 without price? Perish the mercenary idea ignoble prejudice of most 
 ignoble minds ! 
 
 Indignation devours me quite. 
 
 I can no more, 
 
 D- N. 
 
 P.S. 
 
 Several Days Later. The great work is finished. The Ship has been 
 tried, and a competent committee reports to the Navy Department 
 that she is considered safe to run down the Potomac with the tide. Go 
 Triumphe ! D. 
 
18 
 
 III. 
 
 Eumor ac spemf route serenat had often borne to my ears the mu- 
 sical name of I) n, the engineer. His engines, with the cele- 
 brated cut-off, had been described to me by a pious clerk in 
 
 the Navy Department as "Chief among ten thousand, and altogether 
 lovely." As a natural consequence, I had longed to behold a specimen 
 of the great man's art. And now the golden opportunity had come, I 
 was at Washington. So was the Pensacola, on board which an old friend 
 of mine held the office of Chief Engineer. She was furnished with a 
 
 D n engine. She would sail at nightfall. I did not hesitate. As 
 
 the sun descended into the west, I descended into the grimy but gold- 
 laced presence of my friend the Engineer. 
 
 First glimpse of the Engine-room. 
 
19 
 
 On'entering the engine-room, I was filled with amazement, not 
 wholly unmingled with consternation. On every side, as far as the eye 
 
 could reach, I beheld metallic evidences of the ingenuity of D ^n. 
 
 With a slight effort of fancy, I might have believed myself in a museum 
 of mechanical curiosities. The cloud of witnesses, spoken of in Holy 
 Writ, would be as mere vapor to the dense cloud of wheels which I then 
 beheld. In fact, the very air was black with cogs. 
 
 Cogs to the right of me, 
 Cogs to the left of me, 
 Handles and monkey-tails, 
 Bristled and bothered. 
 
 One wheel, in particular, presently fixed my attention. "That," said 
 my companion, " is the reversing wheel. It adjusts the link, for going 
 ahead, stopping, or backing. Those only can work it, however, who 
 understand how to manipulate the cut-off implements. ' You will see 
 presently. It isn't every body that's up to science, in these days." 
 
 At this moment the Captain's bell signalled to start the engine. 
 Simultaneously twelve men joined us on the platform. The area of 
 this latter being about two square yards, we were conscious of being 
 crowded. 
 
 " These hands will help us," said the Engineer. 
 
 " It appears," said I, " that science still has a few representatives 
 extant." 
 
 " A select few," he answered ; " they have received instructions from 
 D n himself. Now, boys, start her." 
 
 The boys distributed themselves among the cogs, and resolutely 
 commenced operations. I silently admired their resolution. 
 
 " Take it easy, boys," said a Lieutenant, looking in at this juncture. 
 
 "The Captain's gone ashore, to buy a photograph of D n; he'll 
 
 be on board again in half-an-hour. If you begin now, you'll get started 
 by the time he gets back." 
 
 They began. 
 
 Two men stationed themselves at the water-valves; two went to 
 the injection-valves; six assumed charge of the link; one fixed his 
 eyes on the thermometer; one, in a corner, drank something out of a 
 black bottle. The Engineer himself wound up the clock. I helped him. 
 Six more men then came in, variously armed with handspikes, beetles, 
 hydraulic jacks, oil cans, and wrenches. A number of small boys, all 
 in uniform, also made their appearance, bearing buckets of water, more 
 oil cans, and several crow-bars. They stationed themselves at the dash- 
 pots. 
 
20 
 
 " I tbmk she will start," said I to the Engineer. " Probably/' said 
 the Engineer to me. 
 
 Starting the Engine and the Engineers. 
 
 So saying, he pushed with tremendous strength upon a monkey-tail. 
 This latter, I noticed, was connected by rods and bell-crank levers with 
 
21 
 
 the valve spindle. Being pushed, it had, in course of time, the effect of 
 opening a passover-valve an auxiliary arrangement for working the 
 engine by hand. 
 
 ant. 
 
 Tripping-Valves. 
 "The thermometer marks 153 in the shade," said a vigilant assist- 
 
22 
 
 "All right," said the Engineer. "Lend me that black bottle," he 
 added, addressing the man in the corner. Keceiving the bottle, he 
 drank from it for five minutes. 
 
 By this time the small boys had poured several gallons of oil into the 
 dash-pots, and had gone out for more. The men with bars and beetles 
 had also made a vigorous attack on the valves. Several wheels were ob- 
 served to be in motion. So was the man in the corner. He reeled from 
 side to side, as if with excessive delight at the busy scene before him. 
 Then he suddenly fell backwards down a neighboring hatch-way. 
 
 " He has forgotten his bottle," said the Engineer. 
 
 A terrific crash was now heard. The link was down the water 
 valves were in operation the engine had started. 
 
 "I think they'll cast off the lines in ten minutes," remarked a small 
 boy near me, at the same time oversetting a bucket of water. " We 
 shant move much at first/' he added. "'Taint science to move." 
 
 I now understood the crash. The piston-rod of one cylinder had 
 reached its dead centre, making an awful noise. The men at the 
 water-valves redoubled their exertions. The piston-rod of the other 
 cylinder met its centre with a yet louder bang. Boys returned, with 
 oil for the dash pots. The Engineer tugged at his monkey-tail. The 
 injection-valves were knocked open with handspikes. The Lieutenant 
 re-appeared, and announced the return of the Captain. 
 
 " He's got a capital picture of D n/' said this officer. " It's 
 
 along with a sketch of the wings of Icarus." 
 
 " I'll go and see it," remarked the Engineer. " VTe shall have to 
 wait some time, for a vacuum. Boys, put lots of oil in those dash- 
 pots." 
 
 He went away, leaving the black bottle. I took charge of it. Also 
 I wound up the clock, which, by this time, had run down. The man 
 with the thermometer announced that instrument as marking 154. 
 
 " It's warm/' he said. 
 
 In ten minutes the Engineer came back. There was, as he had pre- 
 dicted, a vacuum, and we were in motion. The men seemed weary, 
 but they were certainly determined. I encouraged them, by circulat- 
 ing the black bottle. 
 
 Thus we started, and thus we were propelled. During the entire 
 watch, the workers in the engine-room never nagged. Eegularly, as 
 did the angels upon Jacob's ladder, the boys, with their oil cans, as- 
 cended and descended. Eegularly the link-men tugged at their wheel. 
 Eegularly the hammers rose and fell. Never were heroic exertions 
 attended with more amazing results. On every side cogs grated and 
 monkey-tail frisked in air. Crash ! went the engine : bang ! bang ! zip ! 
 
23 
 
 zip! crash! bang! bang! zip! zip ! And faintly through the din, I heard 
 the voices of dash-pot men, crying for monkey-wrenches. 
 
 "Hurrah !" roared a small boy, from a neighboring dash-pot : "it's 
 as good as fire-works on the Fourth of July aint it, Mister?" 
 
 I did not hesitate to endorse the opinion of the small boy. 
 
 At this moment, the Captain rang "two bells." There was an im- 
 mediate sensation in the engine-room. 
 
 "Cut off steam to the ninety-nine hundredth part of the stroke," 
 roared the Engineer. " Stand by there, with sledge-hammers over the 
 dash-pots ! Put steam on the reversing-cylinder !" 
 
 But the link would not budge; and, in spite of closed throttle, the 
 mill went tearing on. It is not easy to stay the march of science ! 
 
 " Heave away on that wheel !" cried the Engineer. " Send all the 
 firemen here, and call the other divisions I Heave with those crow- 
 bars, and trip the valves !" 
 
 This time success. The link arose, with unearthly shrieks and 
 groans; and the engine was stopped, as if never to move again. 
 
 Going on Watch 
 
24 
 
 The black bottle being empty, we all drew a long breath and wished 
 it were full. 
 
 "Come away," said the Engineer. "Jenkins will start her; I'm 
 tired." 
 
 The bell rang as we left the engine-room. The terrible noise re- 
 commenced, and science, under the guidance of Jenkins, once more 
 impelled us forward at a conservative rate. 
 
 " O that D n were here to see !" I exclaimed, taking the En- 
 gineer's arm. 
 
 " O that he were here to feel !" was his rejoinder, the thermometer 
 being at 154. 
 
 I looked steadfastly upon my companion. He did not appear to 
 advantage. It would not be too much to say that science had used 
 him up. Moreover, he was manifestly disgusted with circumstances. 
 
 "D n is a great man," he said. "Wait till I fill this bottle, 
 
 and we'll talk it over." 
 
 A Little Oil Necessary. 
 
25 
 
 I waited. We nourished ourselves. Then we sat down on a gun- 
 carriage : and this is what the Engineer said : 
 
 " D n is a great man. I've read his Washington speech, all 
 
 about the Navy, and I know by that his mighty intellect. He's ac- 
 quainted with Lord Byron's verses, and with Pope and Shakspeare; 
 and he knows all about Mariotte's Law. This is one of his engines 
 
 with the cut-off. It makes 35 revolutions a minute, and it 
 
 also makes a splendid noise. These are the least of its merits. It is 
 
 an admirable consumer of oil. I suppose D n learned the value 
 
 of lubrication when he was a lawyer and used to oil the bench. The 
 usual allowance to this engine is five gallons an hour which is'nt 
 enough, and so the boys smuggle it on, at the rate of about a hundred 
 and twenty-five gallons a-day. All the journals require it constantly 
 (no pun intended). And then the firemen ! It keeps them as busy as 
 bees, because, you know, if the cut-off should become deranged as I 
 do sometimes, for instance and steam should be used at full stroke 
 on the engines, then the expansion application, through good fires, 
 would rest entirely upon them. That 
 is clear, is'nt it? When the engine is 
 used at full stroke, and there are fif- 
 teen pounds of steam in the boilers, 
 five revolutions will reduce the pres- 
 sure to nine pounds. This again shows 
 the wonderful utility of the cut-off, 
 which saves the expense of large boil- 
 ers for marine engines. D n, as 
 
 1 said before, is a great man a gigan- 
 tic and tremendous man. I have read 
 his tribute to Watt (E), and Watt, if 
 he wots any thing about it, ought to 
 be very grateful for such a first-class 
 notice; and I have read also his re- 
 marks on expansion. And, trusting in D- 
 
 He Smuggled the Oil. 
 
 n, I don't see why a 
 donkey-boiler would'nt do for this ship, just as well as the two big 
 ones that we carry now. But that's a point for science to determine, 
 after we've got rid of the superfluous coal." 
 
 At this point the Engineer's remarks were interrupted by a sudden 
 commotion in the engine-room, wherefrom, presently, several men 
 emerged, bearing the insensible body of an oiler who had just fainted 
 among the dash-pots. They (Carried him away. 
 
 " It occurs frequently," resumed my companion. " Even D- n 
 
 himself became a victim once in Jerome's yacht, I think. Science 
 D 
 
26 
 
 must have its martyrs, you know. I Ve lost several fingers myself, 
 tripping valves; and I know three engineers who, while on duty, have 
 dropped insensible at their posts. You will notice that our stokers 
 are very like skeletons. Thin men stand the heat better than fat ones ; 
 and the thermometer in our engine-room rarely marks less than 140. 
 This is another of the beauties of the cut-off it paves the way to pro- 
 motion in the service, by cutting off so many human obstacles." 
 
 The Oiler comes on "Watch. 
 
 He Watches. 
 
 Here my companion (or was I deceived in the dim moonlight?) de- 
 liberately winked upon me with one eye. Then, seizing the black 
 bottle, he drank, with his mouth, for some time. Finally he resumed 
 his remarks : 
 
 D n is a modest man, too. All great genius exhibits that 
 
 characteristic. He never blows his own horn. He said once, that he 
 ' was profoundly ignorant of a steam-engine, and supposed a cylinder- 
 head to be a full moon/ That was modesty ! No one, who has ever 
 heard our cylinders work, would credit it of him. They suggest any 
 thing but moons. Meteors, accompanied by thunder, would much 
 better typify them. But whatever may be the great man's notion as 
 to cylinder-heads, he has certainly got very clear ideas on the subject 
 of DASH-POTS. Look at that engine, for instance ! It's all over dash- 
 pots. They gleam like the brass kettle of by-gone days, in which 
 my venerated and now defunct grandmother used to boil cabbage. 
 Hence the tender associations with which they are fraught. I look 
 upon them, day and night, with never-tiring admiration (F). The 
 rings of Saturn and the splendors of Mars are really as nothing to 
 these irridescent vehicles of science. I . have, indeed, commenced a 
 poem about them in humble imitation of the great engineer's favorite 
 bard. It will be comprised in four hundred cantos, commencing thus: 
 
27 
 
 The D n dash-pots are gleaming like gold, 
 
 And are brimming with oil as full as they '11 hold ; 
 Neither odor nor sheen more delightful could be 
 They are pungent to smell and refulgent to see. 
 
 Diddle dol de ! diddle dol de ! 
 O the D n dash-pot's the dash-pot for me. 
 
 " There is, however, another feature in this engine, which illustrates 
 
 to still greater advantage the grandeur of D n's inventive genius. 
 
 That is, the LINK-MOTION. The lustre of this device outshines even 
 
 The Grand Liuk-Motion. 
 
 the lustre of the dash-pots. You have just seen something of its achieve- 
 ments in starting this ship. It is not, like the common and vulgar 
 link-motion in general use, an instantaneously adjustible apparatus, 
 easily worked by one man. On the contrary, it requires only about 
 fifteen men to work it, and it keeps them occupied from ten to twenty 
 minutes in adjusting the various cogs, and cranks, and levers, in con- 
 junction with the cut-off machinery, for going ahead or backing. 
 Plainly enough, science marks this link-motion for its own. Only a 
 man who, like D n, had read 'Bichard the Third/ and ' drank of 
 the pure fountain at its source/ could have devised it. So ponderous 
 is the mass of metal employed, that it" necessitates a huge weight, act- 
 ing on a principle of sweet simplicity over a pulley, and attached 
 to the upper part of the arcs of both engines, thereby to lessen what 
 otherwise would be a terrible strain on the ship. I am sure you will 
 
28 
 
 sympathize with my admiration for this triumph of skill. There is a 
 great gain, too, in noise by this means noise so salutary in its im- 
 pression on the common mind. A free space is made for these weights 
 to run up and down inside the coal bunkers; and so, at the slightest 
 motion of the ship, they create a most exhilarating clatter, harmoniz- 
 ing with the"delicious din of the entire engine. 
 
 "These little touches evince the philosopher. Common minds would 
 have been content with celerity, safety, and economy, without refer- 
 ence to the ornamental intricacies of science. 'Noi, so the expansive 
 
 D n. His progress in the realms of thought bears no distant 
 
 analogy to the wise man's progress in the realms of experience. Youth 
 imagines that the world was made for man. Maturity discovers that 
 man was made for the world. So in mechanism. To the budding and 
 
 innocent D n of long ago, it seemed, no doubt, that dash-pots 
 
 were made for engines. To the full-blown D n of to-day, it is 
 
 manifestly clear that engines were made for dash-pots. Hence the 
 noble'machinery, with its patent cut-off and astonishing link-motion, 
 that we have here the privilege to observe. It has been constructed 
 under the white light of science, and without the slightest regard 
 to expense. Its dash-pots gleam, in the yellow radiance of polished 
 brass, and its monkey-tails are marshalled like the Assyrian cohorts 
 of the pious Byron. Great facilities are afforded for the soothing in- 
 fluence of oil, and for the consequent liberal dissemination of postal 
 currency and green-backed notes. The whistle is a dear one; but 
 Uncle Samuel (like the old trump that he has always been) pays for it 
 
 without a murmur, and wins the unqualified approbation of D n. 
 
 Could more be wished ? I leave it to your judgment as a citizen. 
 
 Oil is active. 
 
 "You have observed doubtless with profound amazement the 
 striking ceremonies with which it is necessary to approach this engine, 
 
29 
 
 on the respective subjects of starting and stopping. This, in itself, is 
 evidence of almost human strength of character. In all experience it 
 has been found that large bodies move slowly an ancient adage, beau- 
 tifully illustrated in the case of the Clara Clarita. (G.) 
 
 Persuading the Link to run up. 
 
 " It was D n who selected the boiler and adapted the machin- 
 ery of that * thing of beauty/ at a cost, to the gifted Jerome, of over 
 Twenty-One Thousand Dollars. And she sailed precisely one mile and 
 a quarter in two hours and a half, being ultimately thwarted by a stub- 
 born and unaccommodating tide, at Corlear's Hook. Equally valid is 
 
 the venerable, adage as applied to all D- 
 
 -n engines, with their in- 
 
 Si I J\ i 
 
 cvitable *^ /fe ^c\it-off. They start slowly; they run with dignity; they 
 stop with due deliberation. In watching this one, I am often reminded 
 of an old gentleman, whose girls I used to flirt with, when I was a boy. 
 A solid old gentleman he was with the gout, and a purple nose, and 
 staunch conservative views ; and he sat by night in his drawing-room, 
 in a marvellous arm-chair ; his noble form arrayed in indescribable com- 
 
30 
 
 plications of raiment. ' Good evening, sir/ I used to say to him, on en- 
 tering the room : ' it's a very cold evening/ And then I turned my at- 
 tention to the girls. But the old gentleman's brain was an active one; 
 and, after precisely fifteen minutes of preparation, his voice, emerging 
 from many bandages, would be heard to answer, l Yes, you're right 
 the evening is very cold.' There was a solidity about that old gentle- 
 man, very impressive to me in those days; and there is a similar and 
 
 equally impressive solidity about this D n engine. If it has a fault; 
 
 that fault consists in its insufficient illustration of its erudite author's 
 idea upon the subject of bricks. With that idea he electrified a Wash- 
 ington Jury, in the Mattingly Case, and that idea once fully realized 
 in practice, would electrify the entire mechanical world. Imagine a 
 platform supporting a ton of bricks (H), placed upon the end of a one- 
 inch piston ! Transport that image to yonder engine-room, and mark 
 the consequence. 
 
 * How reason reels ! 
 O what a miracle to man is man,' 
 
 especially when he happens to be such a man as 
 
 Rock- Shaft- Rocking in the Bilge-water. 
 
31 
 
 Here conticuere omnes, and the black bottle was circulated. But my 
 eloquent friend, absorbed in the grand theme, soon continued his eulo- 
 gium. 
 
 " The genius of D n has been otherwise made manifest in four 
 enormous rock-shafts, garnished with numerous parabolic cams, and de- 
 signed for working the steam-exhaust and cut-off valves. It appears, 
 too, in the valves themselves, upon which all manner of intricate instru- 
 ments have been ingeniously brought to bear, in order to prevent any 
 abrupt and decisive action that should by chance resemble that of vulgar 
 machinery. I think it was the sublime purpose of D n, in refer- 
 ence to this engine, that it should display ' neither variableness nor the 
 shadow of turning/ His liberal ingenuity has combined the heavy me- 
 tals as never heavy metals were combine^ before. Not only has he con- 
 trived a dash-pot, to prevent the slamming of the cut-off valve; but he 
 has devised a lip to cushion on the steam as it is jammed against the 
 valve-seat. I dwell upon these details with a fascinated interest. This 
 valve is plug-shaped. On its outside rim is a ring of metal laid upon the 
 seat, and designed to give lead to this plug-arrangement, by expanding 
 or contracting its circle. You can have no conception of the felicity with 
 which it works, unless you have both seen and heard it. The principle is 
 that of the organ-pedal, while the music but what words can do jus- 
 tice to the incessant click, click-up, sh, clickety -click, click-up, so clear, so 
 distinctly intoned, so soothing to the nervous system ! "What says the 
 poet Milton ? 
 
 1 Can any mortal mixture of earth's sound, 
 Breathe such divine, enchanting ravishment!' 
 
 " I think not. 
 
 "You will marvel, perhaps, that such surpassing excellence of me- 
 chanism is not more widely appreciated in this scientific generation. 
 I must remind you of Galileo 
 who was incarcerated for his 
 intelligence ; and of the Scottish 
 inventor of umbrellas, who was 
 pelted in the streets for bearing 
 up one of his own anti-pluvial 
 protectors. It was not easy for 
 
 even the mighty D n to 
 
 persuade Uncle Samuel to buy 
 the whistle. The very machin- 
 ery itself coy and modest un- Cut off Valve, 
 der the eye of distrustful obser- 
 vation declined at first to operate. I recall the trial day of the Pensa- 
 
32 
 
 cola. The great engineer himself was on board, to superintend the en- 
 gine. All was excitement. Promptly, at the word of command, the 
 
 Perfectly clear Indicator and Diagram. A triumph of genius. 
 
 dash-pot phalanx seized their implements, and rushed into action. 
 Gallant charge ! I beheld it from my station at the valves, and thought 
 that I had never seen a more extraordinary proceeding towards an en- 
 gine. We made, I think, some ninety odd trials before the link would 
 
 Gallant charge of the Dash-pot Light Guard. 
 
 rise, and the desired, and I may say, indispensable vacuum, consent to 
 form. Coyness, as I have said, is the vice of this wonderful engine; 
 
33 
 
 Working "Water- valves A recreation in hot -weather. 
 
 but, to cull once more from those sweet pastures of song in which its 
 inventor loves to ramble, 
 
 ' E'en its vices lean to virtue's side.' 
 
 I have since noticed other manifestations of that coyness. For exam- 
 ple, this ship has excellent lines for sailing. With a ten-knot breeze, 
 she can out-sail her modest engines entirely. They are sensitive and 
 sluggish under ordinary treatment. We have sometimes made nine 
 knots an hour, with the vessel under sail, and the engines doing their 
 utmost. That was brilliant ! But coyness would seem to settle upon 
 those cogs, and paralyze those dash-pots ; and then we have discon- 
 nected the propeller, and so made eleven-and-a-half or twelve knots 
 under the same amount of sail. At such times, the engine may have 
 attained from forty to forty-four revolutions, cutting off, as indicated 
 by the cut-off dial, at three and one-tenth of the stroke. Steam, as you 
 know, soon works off; but by using the best of coal, and keeping the 
 firemen in a state of incessant and wholesome activity, we have man- 
 aged to keep up fourteen pounds ; which implies that, under certain 
 circumstances, a great number of revolutions may be attained by drag- 
 ging the propeller through the water as you bowl merrily along. 
 E 
 
34 
 
 T. M n (loq.) She wont work, sir. Can't get her to go over 30, 
 
 no how. 
 
 D n. Well er give her oil, and shut off three more furnaces, 
 
 and a oil the wiper and slack off a blade of the propeller, and 
 scour those dash-pots and shut the throttle and yes, set the clock 
 back. 
 
35 
 
 Engineers ordered to report for duty on board the Pensacola. 
 
 Cruise finished They return home. 
 
36 
 
 "And now," said my friend, as we rose from the gun-carriage, " I 
 
 think your curiosity is sufficiently gratified in reference to the D n 
 
 engine with the cut-off. You have seen that it is a tremendous 
 
 and unparalleled affair, and you cannot doubt that its inventor is a 
 tremendous and unparalleled man. How, then, can you censure me 
 for my devotion to science ? In such a cause, who would not gladly 
 peril life and limb? I have lost three fingers, as you see, and one eye; 
 and Jenkins has lost an arm. Nor have our compatriots in the great 
 work escaped similar honors of martyrdom. Thus the cause of dash- 
 pots is prospered; and thus, at a continued and most noble sacrifice of 
 oil, time, and human life, Uncle Samuel enjoys and pays for the deli- 
 cious D n Whistle. And now, as remarked by Hamlet, when 
 
 about to assault his respectable uncle, ' Let us go in together !' " 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 (A.) ^ 
 
 ISHERWOOD DEFINED. Ignorance and corruption Nonsense Snug, the Joiner 
 Audacity and impudence False and not ignorant Entirely ignorant Utterly 
 worthless ignoramus The bull who took a fancy to stop a locomotive Intriguer 
 Juggler Fool Swindler Penny-a-liner Bare-faced fraud Monumental brass 
 Villain Source of utter demoralization lago and Uriah Heep Kascality 
 
 The son of a poor widow. Speech of D n in the Mattingly Case, pp. 
 
 3, 5, 12, 25, 30, 31, 32, 34, 43, 49, 60, 70, 73, 77, 79. 
 
 (B.) 
 
 " The contract was awarded to Messrs. D n and By 
 
 the terms of the contract the engine was to be fully completed by the 1st day of 
 July, 1857, but the time was subsequently extended until July 1st, 1858, and 
 again until March 1st, 1859, in both cases by and with the consent of the sureties. 
 
 " In his report of January 1st, 1858, the engineer of the Board reported, c that a 
 considerable portion of the parts of the new engine have been received, and the 
 contractors expect soon to commence the erection of the engine. The new engine 
 house is enclosed, and every thing is prepared for the erection of the engine, and 
 that he saw no reason to doubt that every thing on the part of the contractors 
 would be fully carried out during the life of the contract/ But, on the 1st of 
 January, 1859, we had to report to you that the engine had not been completed, 
 and the engineer reported to us that the work on the new engine was not as far 
 advanced as it was anticipated it would be. The cylinders had been set. No 
 further portions of the work had been received during the season, but a large 
 amount of work in New York was out and nearly ready for shipment. The con- 
 tractors had notified him that they had made arrangements to send the work for- 
 ward by rail at once. Still, the 1st of January, 1860, came, and we were again 
 compelled to report to you the engine uncompleted ; but our engineer reported to 
 us that the erection of the engine was nearly completed, and the boilers were 
 placed and ready for the setting. 
 
 " During all this protracted and vexatious delay in getting this engine into ser- 
 
40 
 
 vice, which was deemed essential to the safety of the city, and to ensure an unin- 
 terrupted supply of water, the confidence of the engineer remained unshaken in 
 its success, and until last summer the Board had repeated assurances from the 
 contractors and their agent, that it would be completed and brought into use in a 
 very short time. 
 
 " On the 1st of January, 1861, we were compelled to report to you that the 
 engine had not yet been offered us for acceptance, although the engineer in charge 
 of setting it up represented it as nearly completed, and that he was then at the 
 East, with the avowed purpose of consulting his employers, the contractors, in 
 regard to getting it into operation. On his return, in the month of February, he 
 resumed work on it, and, after making some changes in parts of it, steam was got 
 up, and the engine made short runs occasionally until the 14th of May. When 
 it became necessary to throw engine No. 2 out of use, for the purpose of making 
 important improvements on it, the engineer consented to keep up a supply of 
 water with the new engine during the time our engine was being prepared. En- 
 gine No. 2 was out of use a longer time than it was expected it would be, and 
 was not again brought into service until the 1st day of June last. 
 
 " Subsequently the new engine was thoroughly overhauled, rollers were removed, 
 and slides substituted, and, after making several short runs, the engineer in charge 
 closed the house, and left for the city of New York, taking with him the keys of 
 the engine house, to report to his employers. Shortly after this, in the month of 
 August last, the keys of the house were returned to the Secretary of the Board, 
 by express, and the President of the Board received a communication from Mr. 
 D n, one of the contractors, apprizing him that the keys had been re- 
 turned as above, and with an intimation that the contractors would probably 
 abandon their intention of making any further efforts to complete the engine." 
 
 The above elegant extract was what the seedy inventor read from the "Tenth 
 Annual Report of the Board of Water Commissioners to the Common Council of the 
 City of Detroit." 
 
 (C.) 
 
 It will be observed that here, as in several other instances, D n's rage 
 
 (heroic and noble passion !) against Isherwood breaks out blindly, and causes him 
 
 to confuse history. It was not until the D n egg was very nearly hatched, 
 
 that the offending Isherwood became Chief Engineer. D n's first conquest 
 
 that of Mr. Secretary Toucey was made with comparative ease. His martyrdom, 
 so touchingly depicted by himself, did not really commence until after the advent 
 of the new order of things, under Mr. Welles. 
 

 41 
 
 (D.) 
 
 The poem which the great engineer has thus artfully paraphrased is the follow- 
 ing peculiarly melodious and fanciful description which commences Lord Byron's 
 " Hebrew Melodies." 
 
 She walks inheauty, like the night, 
 
 Of cloudless climes and starry skies ; 
 And all that's best of dark and bright 
 
 Meet in her aspect and her eyes, 
 Thus mellowed to that tender light, 
 
 Which heaven to gaudy day denies. 
 
 One shade the more, one ray the less, 
 
 Had half impaired the nameless grace 
 "Which waves in every raven tress, 
 
 Or softly lightens o'er her face ; 
 "Where thoughts serenely sweet express, 
 
 How pure, how dear their dwelling place. 
 
 And on that cheek and o'er that brow, 
 
 So soft, so calm, yet eloquent, 
 The smiles that win, the tints that glow, 
 
 But tell of days in goodness spent ; 
 A mind at peace with all below, 
 
 A heart whose love is innocent. 
 
 (E.) 
 
 " At this point James Watt, the Shakspeare of mechanics, appeared a man 
 whose equal as an engineer has not stood on this earth since, nor do I see any 
 prospect that another will come a man on whose intellect the Almighty had im- 
 pressed that intuitive knowledge of his great physical truths, as he had impressed 
 upon the intellect of Shakspeare an intuitive knowledge of his great moral truths. 
 He was an humble man in station, but illumined by the light of genius he rose 
 
 into grandeur which will never fade It was James Watt 
 
 who fought the battles of civil liberty in the earlier part of this century. It was 
 James Watt not Lord Wellington who conquered Napoleon. He it was who, 
 by creating that physical power, enabled England to produce out of its internal re- 
 sources those means by which she sustained herself against the gigantic strength 
 of the great Emperor, and carried on a war that resulted in his overthrow. Had 
 James Watt never lived, the French Emperor would have wiped out from its place 
 in the history of the world, and out of the catalogue of nations, that power and 
 people who now domineer over land and sea. James Watt was the great pillar 
 on. which they stood, and he it was who fought the great battles that maintained 
 
 them in their present position." Speech of D n in the MaUinyly Case, 
 
 pp. 13, 14, 
 
 F 
 
42 
 
 (F.) 
 
 " I had read the testimony of Isherwood, and appreciated its effect; and when 
 I entered this room, there stood upon that stand one of the cubs of this lion an 
 engine driver from the Navy Yard sent here to devour whatever fragments had 
 been left from the destructive meal of the day before. He was a gorgeous creature 
 as he stood before me ; resplendent with gold lace, his delicate white hands un- 
 sullied by vile grease, and unhardened by vulgar toil ; his magnificent apparel 
 shedding an effulgeance of glory around him, in which the rings of Saturn encir- 
 cling his arms vied with the splendors of Mars all over his body for supremacy. 
 There he stood 
 
 The Assyrian came down like the wolf on the fold, 
 And his cohorts were gleaming in purple and gold ; 
 And the sheen of their spears was like stars on the sea, 
 "When the blue wave rolls nightly on deep Galilee.' 
 
 " I never behold one of these magnificent visions without thinking how striking 
 is the resemblance between an engine driver of the United States Navy of this day 
 and the lilies of the valley. Not, perhaps, from any peculiar modesty which they 
 have in common, but because like them ' they toil not, neither do they spin ; but 
 I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these/ " 
 Speech of D n in the Mattingly Case, p. 11. 
 
 MR. D N AND THE STEAM YACHT CLARA CLARITA. 
 
 To the Editor of the 
 
 Mr. D n publishes in the Times of Tuesday last, a statement signed by Mr. 
 
 Rowland, concerning the responsibility for the machinery of my steam yacht, the 
 Clara Clarita, which is so erroneous and unjust that I am compelled to ask you to 
 publish the facts of the case, so far as I know them. 
 
 That some one has very grossly blundered in the construction of that machinery, 
 is a fact very well known. In the ship-yards along the East River it is pretty well 
 understood who the blundering party is, but the public are not quite so well ad- 
 
 Tised. Mr. D n, by the statement alluded to, attempts to fasten the blame 
 
 upon " a gentleman " whom he does not name, but whom he leaves every one read- 
 ing the article to infer, to be me. Why, after all the trouble and expense he has 
 put me to, he should add this extra charge, I do not know, unless it be that I am 
 done with him, and Mr. Forbes (whom he must mean, if he means any body,) is 
 
 not. Mr. D n knows perfectly well that I never had any thing whatever to 
 
 do with the construction of that machinery. I never gave an order or made a soli- 
 tary suggestion respecting it. I have simply paid for the work done under his 
 directions. Knowing nothing whatever about steam myself, I entrusted that de- 
 
43 
 
 partment of my vessel entirely to the friendly supervision of Mr. Forbes. I did it 
 
 chiefly to avail myself of the wonderful skill of Mr. Forbes' engineer, Mr. D n, . 
 
 of whose capabilities in the way of steam I had heard glowing accounts partly 
 from himself and partly from other people. 
 
 Mr. Forbes knew all about my purpose of building a steam yacht from the very 
 beginning, and took a warm and friendly interest in its construction. He knew 
 that I wished it to be reasonably fast, and to be ready for use as soon as possible. 
 He informed me one day that he had found an engine and boiler which might pos- 
 sibly answer our purpose, and that he " would have D n examine it." A few 
 
 days after this he informed me that D n had examined it, and said it was just 
 
 what he wanted; that he could adapt it to my yacht, giving her all the power she required. 
 
 The engine was thereupon purchased for the sum of $5000, and Mr. D n 
 
 proceeded to "adapt" it. The cost of this adaptation, as may be seen by the vouch- 
 ers from the Continental Iron "Works, now in my possession, every dollar of which 
 was expended under the direction of Mr. D - n, is $16,178*03. It can hardly 
 be supposed by any man of sense, that either Mr. Forbes or myself would have 
 purchased this engine had it not been represented as available. Nor could Mr. 
 
 D n, as an engineer, have taken in hand the job of adapting it, involving 
 
 such an enormous cost, unless he had thought so likewise. 
 
 At last a trial trip was had. I was on board. Mr. D n worked the engine 
 
 himself, assisted by Mr. Rowland and Mr. Rowland's fireman. We started from 
 the Continental Works down the river. The day was fine, everything was in or- 
 der, the model of the boat was pronounced perfection, and we started off with fly- 
 ing colors. 
 
 Her machinery alone remained to be tried. To the best of my recollection we 
 made one mile and a quarter in just two hours andahalf. It was (in point of space) 
 a brief if not a pleasant trip to all on board including myself especially con- 
 sidering that I had waited eight months for the adaptation of this machinery. I 
 could have had fifty engines built during this time notwithstanding the "government 
 pressure." We should have proceeded further down the river, but at Corlear's 
 Hook we were driven back by the tide. F**- *** 
 
 For several weeks subsequent to that day the vessel was held subject to Mr. 
 
 D n's orders for the purpose of making a further trial, and he was repeatedly 
 
 invited to do so, but would not. He having abandoned her, I called in the aid 
 
 of two of the best engineers in New York, (next best of course to Mr. D n,) 
 
 and a second trial was had, with no better results. The entire machinery of Mr. 
 D n was condemned as utterly worthless, and is now being sold for old iron. 
 
 Some further apology for this note if further apology is needed may be found 
 
 in the statement made by Mr. D n yesterday in the presence of a number of 
 
 gentlemen, that/ie was not on board when the trial trip was made; that " it was 
 made by a chap by the name of Vanderbilt, who was a fool." This " chap, Vander- 
 bilt," is the superintending engineer of the Pacific Mail Steamship Company. 
 
 Yours, &c., 
 
 LEONARD W. JEROME. 
 
44 
 
 To the Editor of the Times.- 
 
 As Mr. D n has seen fit, in your paper of this date, to refer to a conver- 
 sation had with me at the Union Club, on the subject of the machinery of Mr. 
 Jerome's yacht, the Clara Clarita, and as his reference to only a portion of the 
 conversation must have arisen from a supposition that the remainder was imma- 
 terial to the question, I deem it but proper, both in justice to truth as well as to 
 Mr. D n's reputation as an engineer, to recapitulate the entire conversation. 
 
 Mr. D n, after stating that the machinery was not such as was calculated 
 
 to develop satisfactorily the fine qualities of the yacht but that he was blameless 
 for it, further than regarded its adaptation answered my inquiry as to what speed 
 could be got out of the vessel with her "adapted machinery' 7 by the reply that she 
 would make 11 to 12 knots an hour, (a statement, by-the-by, which, when I made 
 it to Mr. Jerome, so surprised him as to occasion the exclamation, that "if she 
 
 could not go faster than that, he would scuttle her.) But, continued Mr. D n, 
 
 with such machinery as could be put in the boat, giving me the entire control of 
 its construction, I will guarantee a speed of 16 to 17 knots ; and fur.ther, the new 
 machinery will require but twenty feet of the length of the vessel, in lieu of the 
 two-thirds of her capacity occupied by the present " adaptation." Now, leaving 
 
 aside the fact of Mr. D n's denial that he was present at the trial trip, and 
 
 that the engine was worked by him, and therefore that its capacities were never 
 fairly tested the value of which denial may be ascertained by reference to the 
 subjoined correspondence it appears to me but fair to calculate, that as Mr. Je- 
 rome's yacht, with an estimated speed of twelve knots, went at the extraordinary 
 rate of about half a knot, until she met the tide, when she went backward, it ap- 
 pears, I say, but fair to calculate that with Mr. D n's improved machinery, 
 
 she would not have gone much faster than Mr. B n's minimum of steam suc- 
 cess, a government vessel. In conclusion, I fear that when Mr. D n admit- 
 ted, for the purpose of his discussion with the Navy Department, that he was 
 "profoundly ignorant of a steam engine, and supposed a cylinder-head to be a full 
 moon," he made an admission of which it will be extremely difficult to disabuse 
 the public, if his future engineering efforts continue to be crowned with the bril- 
 liant success of his " adaptation " of the machinery of the Clara Clarita. 
 
 Yours, very truly, 
 
 E. KIGGS. 
 
 MR. RIGGS TO CAPTAIN SMITH. 
 
 NEW YORK, Feb. 8, 1864. 
 Captain Alex. Smith: 
 
 DEAR SIR : Will you please to state who were on board at the trial trip of the 
 Clara Clarita, who worked the engine, who assisted, and about how long you 
 were out? 
 
 Yours, &c., 
 
 E. RIGGS. 
 
45 
 
 CAPTAIN SMITH'S KEPLY. 
 
 Feb. 8, 1864. 
 E. Riggs, Esq : 
 
 DEAR SIR : In reply to your favor of this date, I would state that there was on 
 
 board the Clara Clarita on her trial trip, Mr. D n, Mr. T. F. Rowland, and 
 
 Warren E. Hill, of the Continental Works; Mr.Foulkes, the builder of the yacht; 
 Mr. Jerome, the owner; Mr. Wm. Rowland, the joiner; some of the mechanics of 
 the Continental Works, and the ship's company for the day. 
 
 We were underway two hours and a half, the engine being run by Mr. D n, 
 
 assisted by Messrs. Hill and Rowland. 
 
 This, I believe, answers all your questions, yet I beg to add, that which seemed 
 to me important, viz : that five weeks previously, I was instructed to get up steam, 
 which I did, and Mr. D n worked the engine at the dock several hours. 
 
 I also desire to inform you that on Saturday last, in a conversation with Mr. T. F. 
 Rowland, of the Continental Works, he informed me that what Mr. Jerome had 
 written (referring to his communication in the Times of Saturday last) was all true. 
 I have been in command of the Clara Clarita since the 18th day of August last, and 
 I have never known any thing to have been done appertaining to her machinery, 
 except under the direction of Mr. D n. For so small a matter as a bilge- 
 pump, which I required, Mr. Rowland informed me that he would be obliged to 
 
 consult Mr. D n. 
 
 Yours, &c., 
 
 ALEX. M. SMITH, 
 Commanding Yacht Clara Clarita,. 
 
 (H.) 
 
 * ( I will suppose a little cylinder, ono inch in diameter, and of indefinite length, 
 and a piston fitting in it, steam-tight, but without friction ; and I will further sup- 
 pose a cubic inch of water to be passed into the bottom of that cylinder, and the 
 piston to be then let down on the water ; and I will suppose that on the top of that 
 piston there is a platform carrying a ton weight of bricks. " D~ 
 in the Mattingly Case, p. 16. 
 

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