THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 PRESENTED BY 
 
 PROF. CHARLES A. KOFOID AND 
 MRS. PRUDENCE W. KOFOID 
 
PROF. S. F. B. MORSE. 
 
Containing a detailed account of 
 the discovery and practical application 
 of certain ancient and modern inven- 
 tions, together with the uses of Art 
 in Literature, the Church and the 
 Stage. 
 
 RIUMPHS 
 
 EN1US 
 
 BY 
 
 W. SANFORD RAMEY 
 
 ILLUSTRATED 
 
 A. R. KELLER Co. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA 
 
 1893 
 
COPYRIGHTED, 1893 
 A. E RAMEY 
 
( II 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 HE title of this book but vaguely denotes its true char- 
 acter. Instruction as to the finely subtle significance 
 
 1 of certain passages, which, but for such explanation, 
 might seem to have no particular meaning at all, is, 
 of course, the apparent purpose of the " few words by way 
 of introduction." 
 
 Special regard to the " living interest " is a particular feature 
 of the contents. Many of the incidents relative to the sub- 
 ject in this volume have been taken by the author verbally 
 from those closely identified with such interests, and the 
 author, during the time of collecting material for the work, 
 has visited almost every city of prominence in the United 
 States. Biographies or historical reminiscences, aside from 
 statistical value, possess but little interest when culled either 
 from the pages of the encyclopaedia or books of historical 
 libraries. 
 
 This volume is not intended as a book of reference, al- 
 though dates for events are not lacking. The work is rather 
 a novelty in the way of abridgment and conciseness, uniting 
 in an unbroken story the historical, biographical, and statisti- 
 cal elements of each topic in the book. The author has 
 especially avoided treading in well-worn paths, and has hewn 
 through the forest of literature a new road that is at least in- 
 teresting from its novel direction, if for no other reason. 
 
 ix 
 
X PREFACE. 
 
 Much of the color and flavor of that great mind-fruit, the 
 book, depends upon the atmosphere in which the ideas have 
 ripened, the soil whence the sweet or sour juices have been 
 drawn. 
 
 Many literary productions which we prize among the 
 brightest of our national glories have grown out of human 
 lives, rooted sometimes in sorrow, sometimes in joy. The 
 indelible hues upon the pages which the author writes 
 show the shifting of scenery amid which the inventor, the 
 artist, the merchant, the mechanic, or the professional man 
 plays out his fleeting existence in triumph or defeat. 
 
 It may be said that there are three stages of general 
 opinions regarding the development and realization of a new 
 and novel idea. 
 
 1 . The skeptic will say that it is impossible. 
 
 2. He will say that it is not practical, therefore not valua- 
 ble. 
 
 3. That it has long been known, and only needed applica- 
 tion of certain principles which many might have accom- 
 plished by giving the matter close attention. 
 
 It is that consistency of physical and mental actions united 
 at all times to battle against failure in its various guises 
 which chronicles in this volume not the defeats, but the 
 Triumphs of Genius. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA, May 29th, 1893. 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 THE JETTIES, n 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 THE RAILWAY ENGINE, 26 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 THE MORSE TELEGRAPH, 44 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 THE BELL TELEPHONE, 63 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 THE CHURCH, . 82 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE STAGE, 83 
 
 v 
 
VI TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 PACK 
 
 NEWSPAPER, ........................ 101 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 Music A COMPARISON WITH PECULIARITIES, .......... 117 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 POETRY, ......................... I3 o 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 SUSPENSION BRIDGE ............ I 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 BESSEMER STEEL, 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 PAINTING BENJ. WEST, ............ ...... 179 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 THE ELECTRIC LIGHT, . , 200 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 AERIAL NAVIGATION, 
 
 204 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS vii 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 FIRE ARMS, ,,,215 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 BANKS AND EXCHANGES, 228 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 MECHANICISM IN ART. 
 
 240 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 BICYCLES AND CYCLING, 250 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 ALUMINUM, 260 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 EVOLUTION OF THE CABLE CAR, 270 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 THE PHONOGRAPH, 2 g 2 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 LIGHTING BY GAS, 293 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 SUBTERRANEAN EXPLORATIONS, ......... ....... 34 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 MINING GOLD AND SILVER, ................. 3 20 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 STEAMBOATS, ........................ 34 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 PHOTOGRAPHY, ....... ................ 353 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 SEWING-MACHINES, ................. 3 68 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 PRECIOUS STONES, ..................... 3 Sl 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 TUNNELS, 
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 LIGHT, ........... .......... -434 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 PROF. S. F. B. MORSE. 
 
 CAPT. JOHN B. EADS. 
 
 GEORGE STEPHENSON. 
 
 FIRST RAILWAY CARRIAGE. 
 
 ENGINE No. i. 
 
 THE ROCKET. 
 
 MOSQUE OF ST. SOPHIA. 
 
 MORMON TEMPLE, SALT LAKE CITY. 
 
 A MODERN CHURCH. 
 
 INTERIOR MOSQUE OF ST. SOPHIA. 
 
 THE AUDITORIUM, CHICAGO, ILL. 
 
 THE TRIUMPH OF PRINTING INGENUITY. 
 
 SUSPENSION BRIDGE, CINCINNATI, OHIO. 
 
 BENJAMIN WEST. 
 
 DEATH OF WOLFE. From the painting by Benj. West. 
 
 THOMAS A. EDISON. 
 
 A CONTEST. 
 
 CRYSTAL PALACE, LONDON. 
 
 ix 
 
CAI'T. JOHN ];. I. ADS. 
 
THE EADS JETTIES. 
 
 1 FHEN Destiny foreordains a man to some great work 
 \Al she realizes that "efficiency depends upon concen- 
 |(y tration," and precluding the possibilities of his cul^- 
 tivating all the faculties of his mind, centres his' 
 energies upon the one faculty necessary to the fulfillment of 
 his predestined achievements. She jealously guards him* 
 from the broadening curriculum of the schools and confines, 
 him with the iron manacles of poverty in a narrow channel^ 
 forcing his mind to draw its succulence from its own original^ 
 conceptions. She locks him up within himself, and makes-- 
 poverty the door-keeper, and this stern guardian soon teaches 
 him the futility of repinings, and sets him groping about in- 
 die recesses of his own mind to find the key to unlock his- 
 prison-house. 
 
 Eads was no exception to this rule. Born in the village of 
 Laurenceburg, Ind., May 23d, 1820, he had scarcely mastered* 
 the rudiments of an education when Destiny, recognizing the* 
 necessity of withdrawing him from the expanding influence of 
 schools, swept his father's fortune from his hands, and,, 
 following him with determined steps, burnt the steamer oru 
 which he and his family had embarked to seek fairer fortunes 
 in a distant West. Stranded in St. Louis at the age of 
 thirteen, the young James found urgent necessity to assist irs 
 
12 THE EADS JETTIES. 
 
 providing sustenance for himself and parents. With that 
 energy and decision which peculiarly distinguished him in 
 after years, he seized the first thing that presented itself, and 
 began peddling apples in a city afterward only too proud to 
 do him homage and claim him as her citizen. Shortly after- 
 ward he succeeded in obtaining employment in a mercantile 
 house ; and Mr. Barrett Williams, the senior partner of the 
 firm, discovering the taste of young Eads for mechanics, gave 
 him free access to his library. Seizing with avidity this 
 -opportunity of studying the great principles of mechanics and 
 civil engineering, Mr. Eads acquired during the several years 
 of his employment by Mr. Williams a more thorough knowl- 
 edge of these subjects than the average student brings with 
 liim from academic halls. Abandoning the counter, his mind 
 imbued more with laws and principles of civil engineering 
 than with price currents, Mr. Eads accepted a position as 
 clerk on a Mississippi steamer, serving in this capacity two 
 years. It was while he was thus borne to and fro on its 
 restless current that he studied the vagaries and profound 
 mysteries of the giant stream over whose broad bosom he 
 was destined to fling a highway for the nations, and whose 
 entrance to the sea he was to curb and trace with the unerr- 
 ing hand of genius. 
 
 In 1842, he formed a co-partnership with Case & Nelson, 
 boat-builders, for the purpose of recovering steamboats and 
 cargoes wrecked in the river. Mr. Eads had personal 
 .supervision of this branch of the business ; and though the 
 machinery and appliances were of the most primitive charac- 
 ter and wholly inadequate to the work, he, by unprecedented 
 -.fertility of resource and unflagging energy, was so successful 
 vthat in a few years the wrecking operations of the firm ex- 
 
THE EADS JETTIES. 13 
 
 tended the whole length of the Mississippi, and their prop- 
 erty grew in ten years from little more than a nominal value 
 to be worth nearly a half million. 
 
 In 1857, Mr. Eads, being in delicate health, retired from 
 business, and as he then thought, to undisturbed and placid 
 seclusion. This proved, however, to be but a temporary 
 resting on his oars to gather strength for those brilliant feats 
 in engineering that make him one of the greatest of Ameri- 
 can citizens. When the ominous and sullen roar of the civil 
 war first broke the peaceful serenity of the Republic, Mr., 
 Eads was called to Washington, and on August 7th, i86i r 
 signed a contract by which he agreed to build seven gun- 
 boats in sixty-five days, though the wood of which they were 
 to be constructed was yet standing in the forests, and the 
 rollers were not yet fashioned for shaping their iron armor. 
 Sternly self-reliant, Mr. Eads drew his assurance of success 
 from an inner source, an assurance that became an em- 
 bodied reality within the prescribed sixty-five days. On the 
 1 2th of October, the gun-boat " De Kalb " was launched from 
 the Carondelet wharf, in St. Louis, the other six following in 
 quick succession. The splendor of this achievement was 
 only the initiative to the glory won by the iron fleet con- 
 structed by Eads. By its aid was accomplished the brilliant 
 capture of Forts Henry and Donelson, and the ever-memor- 
 able midnight passage of Island No. 10, which compelled the 
 surrender of that redoubtable stronghold. 
 
 As a recognition of his abilities, the Missouri State 
 University conferred on Mr. Eads the degree of LL. D. 
 He was twice elected President of the St. Louis Academy of 
 Sciences, and made other positions of honor and trust were 
 tendered him. 
 
a 4 THE EADS JETTIES. 
 
 As late as 1873 the Mississippi interposed its sullen waters 
 between St. Louis and its principal railroad lines. Trains 
 lhat came to discharge their wealth into the bosom of St. 
 lLouis were forced to rein in their iron steeds a mile away at the 
 Iciss of dark and treacherous waters, and by tedious transfer 
 send forward their freight to its destination. Now the trains 
 come swinging into the city eighty feet above the turbid 
 stream on a track supported by a magnificent bridge, whose 
 gigantic footsteps were planted on solid rock, a hundred 
 feet below the water level, and whose graceful arches 
 were spun from bank to pier and pier to bank by the energy 
 ^and genius of James B. Eads. It is a monument of his 
 -determined purpose and engineering skill, and is a graceful 
 ^exposition of new theories tested upon a scale of the 
 greatest magnificence. 
 
 The conflict between two rival bridge companies being 
 settled by their consolidation, Mr. Eads was made Engineer- 
 In-Chief, and in August, 1867, he awarded the contract for 
 masonry to James Andrews, of Allegheny, Pa. By the spring 
 of 1868 all the details and drawings had been carefully 
 compared and improved, and the whole structure was com- 
 plete in the mind of the great engineer. The piers were to 
 be carried through the sand and sediment of the river bed and 
 rest on solid subterranean rock. Coffer dams were built, 
 and caissons of iron prepared, on the roof of which the 
 granite foundations of the pier were laid. As the caisson 
 gradually sunk by the superincumbent weight, its course was 
 .-shielded from deflection by steering ropes, while fresh masony 
 was built above the level of the water. By a system of air 
 locks workmen were letdown under the water, and when the 
 caisson with its superimposed pier reached the river bottom 
 
THE EADS JETTIES. 15 
 
 the sand intervening between it and bed-rock was removed 
 by force pumps ingeniously contrived by Captain Eads. The 
 foundation of the east pier found its rocky resting place 
 at a depth of one hundred and ten feet below the water level. 
 
 The two abutments and two piers were completed in 1872, 
 and the contract for the superstructure, the plan of which was 
 as bold and more original than the foundations, was awarded 
 to the Keystone Bridge Company, of Pittsburgh, and that for 
 approaches to the Baltimore Bridge Company. There are 
 three magnificent arches, the terminal ones each with a span of 
 five hundred and the central one of five hundred and twenty 
 feet. Each arch has four ribs composed of two parallel systems 
 of steel tubes twelve feet long and eighteen inches in external 
 diameter, the whole held together by two enveloping half- 
 cylinders coupled with steel pins. The tracery of this net- 
 work of tubes is delicate and beautiful as a work of art, and 
 yet so strong as to support a railway track, along which fifty 
 trains daily come and go. In conjunction with the bridge is a 
 tunnel burrowing under the heart of the city, into which the 
 trains disappear after crossing the bridge, making their exit at 
 the other end in Union Depot. The entire length of the bridge 
 is two thousand two hundred and twenty-five feet, and the total 
 cost of its construction ten millions of dollars. Throughout 
 the seven years of its construction Captain Eads was Chief 
 Engineer and principal stockholder, and he is responsible for 
 every novelty in design and execution, and every detail bears 
 the stamp of his genius. On the 4th of July, 1874, the great 
 bridge was formally opened to the public by an imposing 
 celebration, in which Captain Eacls was the hero of the 
 hour. 
 
 There had long been a recognized necessity for deepening 
 
1 6 THE EADS JETTIES. 
 
 the channel at the mouth of the Mississippi. The great 
 river, after being for fifteen hundred leagues the busy inter- 
 changer of commercial interests, drops into lazy old age as it 
 nears the hour of its final extinction in the sea. Full of dash 
 and spring in its early life in the far-off North, a Southern 
 languor here pervades the sluggish stream. Diffusing its 
 waters into three wide fans, it idly slips into the sea, and, as 
 though determined that the industries of man should not 
 crowd upon these last few indolent hours of its life, it placed 
 a huge immovable bar where its sweet waters first mingle 
 with the salt. One hundred years and more, men had been 
 trying to make a channel for their vessels by scratching and 
 scraping at this bar, but, with reckless indifference to their 
 interests, the old river kept sifting his sands back into the 
 furrows made by scraper and harrow. It needed some 
 diviner prophet with diviner methods to instil into the slug- 
 gish stream some of the elixir of its youth and by some 
 subtle means induce it again to take up its burdens. Eads 
 responded to the call made by a hampered commerce and the 
 crippled interests of the two great cities of St. Louis and 
 New Orleans, and proposed by a novel method to compel 
 the river itself to wash out a channel for the ingress and 
 egress of the largest vessels. He laid his proposition before 
 Congress February, 1874, the citizens of New Orleans filing 
 a bill at the same time to open the river mouth by the St. 
 Philip Canal. Captain Eads found a furious storm of oppo- 
 sition awaiting him among the United States Engineers, and 
 sectional strife between New Orleans and St. Louis. The 
 press of New Orleans accused Captain Eads with being in 
 collusion with the great railway lines. By defeating the St. 
 Philip Canal Bill he would continue the blockade at the mouth 
 
THE EADS JETTIES. I/ 
 
 of the river, he would further his own interests, which were 
 centered in the great railway bridge at St. Louis, then ap- 
 proaching completion. 
 
 Though Captain Eads gave a most detailed and lucid ex- 
 planation of the groundwork of his belief in the jetty sys- 
 tem, the Jetty Bill received but eighty-nine votes in the 
 House, while the Canal Bill received one hundred and eigh- 
 teen. The Canal Bill was hurried into the Senate, but this 
 body decided that a committee of seven engineers be ap- 
 pointed to investigate the comparative merits of a canal and 
 the jetty system for opening the river mouth. This commit- 
 tee visited Europe, and in January, 1875, presented their re- 
 port to Congress, in which they recommended the jetties, as 
 the result of their investigations at the mouth of the Missis- 
 sippi and the various river-mouths in Europe. Captain 
 Eads had also been in Europe examining the principal jetties 
 and consulting- the engineers who constructed them, and im- 
 
 o o 
 
 mediately filed a new bill to make a channel thirty feet deep 
 at the mouth of Southwest Pass, for eight million dollars. 
 The bill passed both houses, but was amended so as to apply 
 to South Pass, instead of Southwest Pass, in spite of all 
 the arguments Captain Eads could use. With sublime mag- 
 nanimity, the Senate informed Captain Eads if he would pro- 
 duce the same width and depth in the small Pass he had pro- 
 posed to obtain in a Pass four times as large, and build the 
 works for five million two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, 
 which was ninety-two thousand one hundred and ten dollars 
 less than was estimated by its own Commission, would be 
 required, and guarantee its maintenance for twenty years for 
 thirty thousand dollars less annually than the Commission's 
 estimate for that item the improvement would be confided to 
 2 
 
1 8 THE EADS JETTIES. 
 
 him. Moreover, the first payment of five hundred thousand 
 dollars was not to be made till a depth of twenty feet and a 
 width of two hundred feet was gained. 
 
 Captain Eads was tendered a complimentary banquet in 
 St. Louis, in honor of his success in securing the passage of 
 his bill, at which were present distinguished and representa- 
 tive men from all parts of the Mississippi valley. In reply 
 to a toast, Mr. Eads spoke in eloquent and enthusiastic terms 
 of the proposed jetties. " If the profession of an engineer 
 were not based upon exact science," he concluded, " I might 
 tremble for the result, in view of the immensity of the inter- 
 ests dependent on my success. But every atom that moves 
 onward in the river is controlled by laws as fixed and certain 
 as those which direct the majestic march of the heavenly 
 spheres. I therefore undertake the work with a faith based 
 upon the ever constant ordinances of God Himself; and so 
 certain as He will spare my life and faculties, I will give to 
 the Mississippi River, through His grace, and by the applica- 
 tion of His laws, a deep, open, safe, and permanent outlet to 
 the sea." 
 
 Captain Eads, accompanied by Mr. James Andrews, 
 arrived at South Pass, May, 1875. He was presented with a 
 complete map of the Pass, and on this chart he drew the 
 lines of the proposed jetties. Mr. Andrews was given the 
 contract to construct the works, his success in the St. Louis 
 bridge and tunnel inspiring Captain Eads with all confi- 
 dence in his ability. A large force of men were located 
 along the low, marshy banks, and the unbroken silence of 
 centuries was now startled by the noises of the axe and anvil, 
 pile-driving and steam whistling. 
 
 The jetties are simply artificial banks constructed on 
 
THE EADS JETTIES. 1 9 
 
 the bed of the river, and the water thus held in a narrow 
 channel, gathers a new impetus, and was-hes out by its 
 newly acquired force a deep and lasting channel. 
 
 Work was begun on the jetties June i7th, 1875, by driving 
 piles. To these mattresses made of willows and sunk by 
 stone were made securely fast. By an improved method, 
 invented by Captain Eads and Mr. Andrews, a mattress one 
 hundred feet long, thirty-five feet wide, and two feet thick 
 could be made and launched in two hours, the old way requir- 
 ing two days. 
 
 The works were approved by the Advisory Board of En- 
 gineers which met in New York September 2d and at Port 
 Eads November i8th, 1875. At the end of the first year the 
 jetties were simply walls of uncompressed willows, but im- 
 portant results had been effected. The channel had deepened 
 rapidly from eight to sixteen feet across the bar. Friends 
 and representatives of the press in St. Louis chartered the 
 "Grand Republic " and made an excursion to the jetties, reach- 
 ing Port Eads April 26th, 1876. While the resident engineer 
 was preparing to welcome the magnificent steamer a govern- 
 ment boat belonging to the department of Major Howell, 
 United States Engineer, suddenly came in sight. , Major 
 Howell's assistant boarded the " Grand Republic " and made 
 the apparently official and reliable statement that Captain 
 Eads' alleged sixteen feet of channel depth did not exist ; 
 that a shoal was moving out diagonally in front of the jetties, 
 and that the bar was moving seaward. Great distrust was 
 produced in the minds of many on the " Republic/' and this 
 distrust spread rapidly as an infection among the friends and 
 stockholders of the enterprise so that it was said stock was 
 offered at half its face value. To restore confidence in him- 
 
20 THE EADS JETTIES. 
 
 self and the jetties and stop the panic, if such existed in the 
 money market, Captain Eads immediately wrote to Superin- 
 tendent Patterson, of Coast Survey, requesting that Assistant 
 Marindin, then at the jetties, be ordered to sound the channel, 
 but this was denied on the ground that the duty belonged to 
 General Comstock. Captain Brown, Assistant to General 
 Comstock, made a survey of the jetties, but refused Mr. Eads 
 the result, as he must first make his report to General Com- 
 stock. Captain Eads then telegraphed Secretary of War to 
 instruct General Comstock to give him desired information, 
 but no reply coming to the message, General Comstock left 
 the jetties, declining to give the soundings till he had reported 
 to General Humphreys, Chief Engineer U. S. A. Realizing 
 the imperious necessity of having official certification of his 
 own report and confutation of Major Howell's, Captain Eads 
 telegraphed Superintendent of Coast Survey requesting that 
 Marindin be permitted to give result of his soundings, but he 
 was again baffled. He then requested Secretary of War to 
 obtain from Superintendent of Coast Survey a comparative 
 chart of soundings made May, 1875, before the construction 
 of jetties, and May, 1876. The Superintendent of Coast 
 Survey denied the right of Secretary of War to ask for the 
 chart. Captain Eads then appealed to Secretary of Treasury 
 to instruct Superintendent of Coast Survey to furnish the chart. 
 This was refused on the ground that provision was made in 
 the Jetty Act that all information should be furnished by War 
 Department. Captain Eads finally appealed to House of 
 Representatives, and through this body, after three months 
 of harrowing delay, received the official confirmation of his 
 statements and the complete refutation of Major Howell's. 
 The refutation had come in a different way long before this, 
 
THE EADS JETTIES. 21 
 
 however. On May I2th Captain Gayer had carried his iron 
 steamship, " Hudson," drawing fourteen feet six inches, 
 through the jetties when the tide was six inches down, still 
 falling, and creating a strong seaward current. " Head her 
 for the jetties !" was what he said when the pilot had reported 
 condition of tide, and on she came like a thing of life, till, 
 trembling with her triumph, she cast her anchor in deep water 
 at Port Eads. Captain Gayer materially assisted the enter- 
 prise in one of its darkest hours. However, official jealousy 
 and antagonism in withholding such important reports from 
 Captain Eads cost him one hundred and eighty thousand 
 dollars, the price of a dyke three thousand two hundred and 
 fifty feet long which he had just completed and which he was 
 now compelled to abandon. East Dyke will forever remain 
 as a monument of official jealousy and antagonism. 
 
 October 5th, 1876, a careful survey of the channel showed 
 a depth of twenty and a width of two hundred feet, and Mr. 
 Eads was clearly entitled to his first payment, but official and 
 legal wrangling deferred it till December 27th. This sum 
 was immediately consumed in paying off indebtedness and 
 meeting obligations. The spring and summer of 1877 found 
 Captain Eads laboring under severe financial embarrassment. 
 In August the pay-rolls were two months overdue and expen- 
 sive work at head of Passes imperative. No more money 
 from the government could be expected till the depth of 
 twenty-two feet was gained. Messrs. Eads and Andrews had 
 both gone North to raise money, but not meeting with success 
 Captain Eads telegraphed Resident Engineer Corthell : " Dis- 
 charge all the force unless they are willing to work for certifi- 
 cates payable on receipt of twenty-two feet payment." The 
 situation was briefly explained to the men, and only two out 
 
22 THE EADS JETTIES. 
 
 of the seventy-six abandoned the work. In January, 1878,. 
 Captain Eads received second payment of five hundred 
 thousand dollars. Certain modifications were then made in 
 the conditions imposed by the Jetty Act, and the finances of 
 the work were placed on a sound basis for construction, when 
 the sudden appearance of yellow fever suspended operations. 
 The scourge invaded Port Eads, disbanded the working force, 
 sent some to die in other places, and some it laid in lonely 
 graves in sight of their almost completed work. 
 
 The jetties were finished July, 1879, Captain Eads having 
 succeeded in obtaining the depth and width in the smaller 
 Pass that he had proposed to create in one four times as 
 large. The benefits that have accrued to the agricultural 
 and commercial interests of the great valley, of which this is 
 the outlet, may be inferred from a letter by General Bussey, 
 President Chamber of Commerce, New Orleans : " Since 
 completion of the jetties, there have been no complaints of 
 detention at the bar. Vessels of the largest class, heavily 
 loaded, pass through the jetties. The exports and imports 
 have largely increased, and the high rates for freight have 
 been lowered to a reasonable figure. We may safely esti- 
 mate that the sum saved to producers in the Mississippi 
 Valley will amount to five millions of dollars annually." 
 
 To the honor of Captain Eads, be it said that in no in- 
 stance in the world has such a vast volume of water been 
 placed under such absolute and permanent control through 
 methods so economic and simple as those adopted at the 
 head of the Passes of the Mississippi River. To Eads must 
 forever belong the glory of having first unlocked the portals 
 of the richest valley in the world, and thrown wide the gates 
 for the commerce of the nations. 
 
THE EADS JETTIES. 23 
 
 Immediately after the publication of the proceedings of 
 the Inter-oceanic Canal Congress, held at Paris under the 
 auspices of Count De Lesseps, in i879,Captain Eads published 
 a letter in the New York Tribune, containing a project for a 
 ship railway across the Isthmus of Tehauntepec, Mexico, as 
 a substitute for the sea-level canal proposed by that conven- 
 tion. He argued that the railway could be built in one quar- 
 ter the time, and one quarter the cost of the canal ; could 
 transport ships at greater rapidity, with absolute safety, and 
 the expense of maintaining and operating it would be less 
 than that of the canal. Mr. Eads urged the matter so 
 strenuously afterward, and his engineering skill being vindi- 
 cated by such monumental achievements as the St. Louis 
 bridge and the jetties, that he secured the most liberal con- 
 cessions from the Mexican government, He then submitted 
 the matter to the Congress of the United States in 1882. 
 Though his bill was favorably reported to the Senate by the 
 Committee on Commerce, this body failed to act on it. The 
 bill did not request money to construct the railway, but sim- 
 ply desired that the government should guarantee the pay- 
 ment for a period of fifteen years of dividends at six per 
 cent, per annum upon the value of fifty millions of dollars 
 of the capital stock of the Company. Mr. Eads withdrew his 
 proposition from the further consideration of Congress. 
 Limited by the concessions of Mexico to invoking the aid of 
 only one foreign power, if the United States chose to refuse 
 to be that one power, blindly against her own interest, no 
 one should gainsay her that privilege. Work was begun at 
 the Isthmus May ist, 1883, and was to be completed within 
 ten years. Captain Eads visited Europe during 1883, m tne 
 interest of his project. A recent article in the New York 
 
24 THE EADS JETTIES. 
 
 Sun states that " the new models of the carnage and pon- 
 toons of the Eads Ship Railway have started for London. 
 Nearly all the capital for the enterprise is being subscribed 
 in that city. Chief Engineer Corthell says one hundred men 
 are at work, and that the first half mile of track has been 
 completed. This, with the river course, which admits three 
 of the largest ships abreast, completes twenty-five and a-half 
 miles of the Tehauntepec route. The new pontoon system 
 of raising vessels from the water upon the railway carriage 
 is to be substituted for the hydraulic system first contem- 
 plated. It was conceived by London engineers and adopted 
 by Eads, and will raise a ship out of water and upon the car- 
 riage in twenty minutes." 
 
 The ship-railway, when completed, will shorten the route 
 between two great commercial centres eight thousand two 
 hundred and fifty miles in distance, and ninety days in time, 
 and its value, its supreme necessity, will be apparent to every 
 scientific and thinking mind, while its effect on commerce is 
 almost beyond computation. 
 
 Captain Eads was formally invited to improve the harbor 
 at Galveston, and secured the passage of a bill authorizing 
 him to deepen the channel at that port. Though inimical 
 engineers may not be wanting here to declare Captain Eads 
 project incapable of performance, a backward glance at the 
 Eads jetties, with their navigable depth of thirty-three feet 
 where eight feet formerly existed, would seem to indicate 
 that he was sufiicienty indorsed. 
 
 A man who can crowd into a lifetime three stupendous 
 achievements, any one of which would have made his name 
 imperishable, is not to be judged by ordinary standards. 
 Indefatigable and self-reliant, he was as staunch in his under- 
 
THE EADS JETTIES. 25 
 
 takings as the granite piers of his own bridge, and as true to 
 his purpose as the steel arches that clasp them. 
 
 In private life, Mr. Eads was kind and genial, easy of ap- 
 proach, and the dispenser of a bounteous hospitality. He 
 was twice married, his first wife surviving their union only 
 seven years. His second wife resides in St. Louis, and 
 gracefully reflects the honors that so successfully crowned 
 the last years of her husband's most useful life. 
 
THE RAILWAY ENGINE. 
 
 I O the unthinking man, a railway trip in this, the last 
 decade of the nineteenth century, is a thing of little 
 1 moment. Two parallel rails is, to him, the symbol of 
 rapid and easy transit, and his sole anxiety is expended 
 on the price of the railway ticket and the safe bestowal of 
 himself in the carriage before the departure of the train. 
 To the thinking man, this rapid and easy gliding through 
 unknown and unnoted miles; this drawing by an unseen 
 power through hours of darkness and of light; this compel- 
 ling by immutable laws the unseen power to expend its 
 strength and energy in the transportation from one point to 
 another of any conceivable burden, becomes a miracle of in- 
 ventive genius. Every revolving wheel and nut and screw, 
 every rail with its fastenings, every valve and cylinder and 
 piston is to him a point where ingenuity has centered and 
 invention struggled. The journey he accomplishes in one 
 hour, without exertion or fatigue, exacted from his forefathers 
 a hundred years ago a day of wearisome and tedious traveL 
 This triumph of mind over matter was achieved for him be- 
 fore he was born, not by a single stroke of omnipotent genius,, 
 but by steady and long-enduring anxiety and toil. From 
 the work he turns to the worker ; from the splendor of the 
 achievement to the obscurity of the collier, whose persever- 
 26 
 

 GEO. STEPHENSON. 
 
THE RAILWAY ENGINE. 27 
 
 ance and patience made him the achiever. Nor could he 
 contemplate a nobler character. As the first man who ever 
 successfully constructed a locomotive engine and by his un- 
 tiring and unyielding spirit forced its introduction and 
 employment, we give to George Stephenson the homage due 
 a benefactor. In the little colliery village of Wylam-on-the- 
 Tyne, England, he was born June gth, 1781. His father r 
 Robert Stephenson, was fireman of the engine at the Wylam 
 mine, and young George's earliest recollections were of the 
 beat and play of this machine. Being, like his fellow-colliers,, 
 very poor, Robert Stephenson was unable to send any of his 
 six children to school ; but each contributed, when scarcely 
 past the helplessness of childhood, to the general support. 
 Sturdy and industrious, George's childhood passed in the per- 
 formance of duties common to other colliery lads, till at the 
 age of fifteen he was appointed fireman, and at seventeen 
 engine-man at Water-rood pit, his father taking the inferior 
 position of fireman to the same engine. 
 
 George now set to work to gain a thorough mastery over 
 the machine intrusted to his care. It was his duty, if his 
 engine became clogged or refused to work in any way, to call 
 in the aid of the chief engineer. But so assiduously did he 
 study his engine and pry into her secrets, he could soon 
 determine the causes of her obstinacy, and these being re- 
 moved, himself persuade her to renew her work. This 
 puffing, noisy, busy engine became his pet. He laid his 
 hand upon her throbbing pulse and felt the beatings of her 
 mighty heart. He loosed the hinges of her gigantic limbs 
 that he might find the secret of their strength ; and, having 
 found it, pieced her up again, caressed her into forgiveness 
 of his pranks, and petted her into renewed activity. 
 
28 THE RAILWAY ENGINE. 
 
 In hours of leisure he made clay models of engines he had 
 seen or heard described. The wonderful engines of Boulton 
 and Watt had excited his curiosity to the highest degree, and 
 he was anxious to have accurate " information as to their 
 construction, action, and uses." He was told he would find 
 such information in books ; but alas ! books were to him a 
 sealed fountain. He could not read, even the letters being 
 to him a series of hieroglyphics as meaningless as an Egyp- 
 tian legend. For the first time the necessity of possessing 
 some degree of education struck him with full force. The 
 wisdom of ages had been deposited in books as coal in the 
 bowels of the earth, and the art of reading was one of the 
 picks with which he would be able to dig out the wisdom of 
 others and make it his own. 
 
 To learn to read then was his instant resolve. He was 
 eighteen, a man in size and strength and capacity for work, 
 yet was not ashamed to become as a little child, acknowl- 
 edge his ignorance, and begin at the alphabet. His wages 
 were small, but he paid three pence a week to a poor teacher, 
 Robin Cowers, of Walbottle, for the privilege of attending 
 his night-school three evenings a week. After his twelve 
 hours' hard labor at his engine he walked over to Walbottle 
 and took lessons in reading and writing. So surely will the 
 hungry mind push aside all obstacles to obtain its natural 
 and necessary food. Public schools and compulsory educa- 
 tion may be necessary to cram the many with unappreciated 
 smatterings, but where there is a great and absorbing thirst 
 it is in itself an unerring guide to some wayside fountain 
 where one may drink to repletion. Though his teacher was 
 but little more competent than himself, the strong will of 
 George and his untiring industry soon enabled him read, and 
 
THE RAILWAY ENGINE. 29 
 
 in writing he advanced far enough to ascribe with pride his 
 own name when he was nineteen .years old. In the winter 
 of 1 799 he attended the night-school of Andrew Robertson, 
 in the village of Newburn. He was induced to make this 
 change partly on account of the proximity of the school to 
 Jolly's Close, but more particularly because Robertson, hav- 
 ing the reputation of being a good arithmetician, could give 
 him instruction in this department of knowledge. His tuition 
 fee was advanced to four pence a week for three evenings' 
 instruction. He began battling with figures. In his spare 
 moments during the day he sat down by his engine fire, not 
 to rest, but to take his slate and solve the problems set for 
 him the preceding night by the master. No shirking laggard 
 was he, glad to evade or escape a difficult task. If anything 
 prevented his attendance at the school, he sent his slate by a 
 co-laborer and fellow-student to be filled with a new set of 
 problems that he might not lose one single day in advancing 
 himself in this intricate science. What an example of untir- 
 ing industry and patience and unyielding purpose is this ! If 
 George Stephenson had never done anything else but leave 
 to posterity this record of his student-life, this alone would 
 have been worth -to the world more than the records of 
 thousands of men whose shoe-latchets he would not have 
 been considered worthy to unloose. 
 
 But his pursuit of knowledge did not lessen his interest in 
 his daily labor. Braking was the next step above engineer- 
 ing, and of this he determined to acquire a practical knowl- 
 edge. In the intervals he could spare from his labors as 
 engine-man, William Coe, his friend and fellow-workman, 
 allowed him to take his place as brakeman, giving him the 
 necessary instructions. He quickly acquired the art, and 
 
30 THE RAILWAY ENGINE. 
 
 when he went to Black Collerton in 1801, though only twenty 
 years of age, he was appointed to the responsible office of 
 brakeman to the Dolly Pit, and earned from fifteen to twenty 
 shillings per week. Not satisfied with this remuneration, 
 however, he added to it by mending, and afterward making, 
 shoes during the evening hours. He levied a tax upon every 
 moment of time, braking his engine, working the examples 
 set for him on his slate, practicing writing in his copy-book, 
 or making and mending shoes. 
 
 Naturally ambitious, industrious, and energetic, a new im- 
 petus had been given to these traits by an outside influence 
 that came to bear upon his life. In the farmer's house in 
 which he lodged was a young and handsome girl, whose per- 
 sonal charms were enhanced by the graces of her mind and 
 heart, and it was not long before her charming modesty, her 
 constant and unobtrusive kindliness, and above all, her strong 
 and practical good sense, began to cast a potent spell over 
 this young Hercules. Unaccustomed to sue, perhaps his 
 wooing was something rough and homely, but it was manly 
 and to the point, and secured from his charmer the promise 
 which he sought. It only remained for him to secure a mod- 
 est competency for their livelihood for the- betrothal to con- 
 summate in marriage. 
 
 When twenty-one, Stephenson received an offer to take 
 charge of an engine on Willington Ballast Hill, with in- 
 increased wages. By thrift, industry, and economy, he had 
 managed to lay by a sum sufficient to take a small cottage at 
 Willington Quay, so he determined to accept the offer, and 
 at the same time to take with him to the new scene of his 
 labors his sweetheart, Fanny, to be the constant light of his 
 heart and home. They were married in Newburn Church, 
 
THE RAILWAY ENGINE. 3! 
 
 November 28th, 1802, and George carried his young bride 
 down to Jolly's Close, where " Old Bob " and his wife, Mabel, 
 still lived. After this, they started for their bridal home at 
 Willington Quay, distant fifteen miles, on horseback, the 
 groom in the saddle, and his young wife on a pillion behind 
 him, her arms encircling him for support. 
 
 Steadily working at his engine all day, George now began 
 to look beyond its mechanical parts, and try to solve the laws 
 that compelled its working. During the winter evenings, he 
 was engaged in studying mechanical laws, or in modeling ex- 
 perimental machines. He was caught by the mirage of Per- 
 petual Motion, and though after patient toiling, he discovered 
 its fallacy, his powers of acuteness and invention were 
 whetted by the exercise. 
 
 On October i6th, 1803, was born George's only child, 
 Robert, and this little problematic bundle of humanity became 
 a new source of speculation and inquiry. 
 
 In 1804, Stephenson became engine-man at the Killing- 
 worth mine. It was near the close of the year when they 
 moved to their new home, but for one of them it was but a 
 temporary abiding-place. His wife sickened and died, leav- 
 ing to him an embodied memory of herself in little Robert. 
 
 While this deep wound was still bleeding, he received an 
 invitation to go to Scotland, to superintend one of the Boul- 
 ton and Watt engines in some spinning works near Mont- 
 rose, an offer which he immediately accepted. His duties he 
 thoroughly understood, and he was well paid, but at the end 
 of the year he returned to England, only to find new sources 
 of anxiety. In an accident, his father had suffered the loss 
 of his eyesight, and it required half the twenty-eight pounds 
 George had saved to cancel the debts of the family. 
 
32 THE RAILWAY ENGINE. 
 
 Other troubles harassed him. Napoleon was shaking the 
 world with his tread. England was calling for recruits. 
 Scarcity of work and lowness of wages had engendered bit- 
 ter discontent, which had already produced riotous upheavals 
 at Manchester, Newcastle, and elsewhere. The working 
 people were being pressed for the navy, or drawn for the 
 militia, and among this latter class was George Stephenson. 
 With the responsibility of the support of his parents and the 
 care of his motherless boy resting upon him, he determined 
 to hire a substitute. The remainder of his hardly-won earn- 
 ings, with six pounds of borrowed money, procured the sub- 
 stitute, but left him penniless and disheartened. His sister 
 and her husband emigrating to America about this time, he 
 all but resolved to go with them, but was deterred by lack 
 of funds. 
 
 As he was too poor to get away from England, the next 
 best thing was to go immediately to work, at the best wages 
 he could secure. He, with two other brakemen, took a 
 small contract for braking the engine at West Moor Pit. 
 The average earnings of each amounted to eighteen or twenty 
 shillings per week, and Stephenson soon set his ingenious 
 mind to work to make the contract pay better. By an entire 
 rearrangement of the gearing and shifting of the pulleys, he 
 lessened the friction, so that the ropes lasted longer, and the 
 men were enabled to work more continuously and profitably. 
 
 In 1810, a Sweaton engine was fixed at the High Pit, to 
 pump the water out of the mine ; but being defective, she 
 worked fruitlessly for twelve months. One Saturday after- 
 noon, after a thorough inspection, Stephenson concluded he 
 could remedy her defects ; and being invited to try by Mr. 
 Dodds, the head-viewer, ingeniously altered the machinery, 
 
THE RAILWAY ENGINE. 33 
 
 and in three clays the mine was clear of water. In recogni- 
 tion of his ingenuity, Stephenson received ten pounds, and 
 was appointed engine-man at the High Pit. 
 
 In 1812, Mr. Dodds showed his appreciation of Stephen- 
 son by recommending to the company that he be appointed 
 enginewright of the colliery; and they, having heard of 
 Stephenson's skill and marked intelligence, put the position 
 into his hands with a salary of one hundred pounds a year. 
 
 Rising rapidly as he was in the grade of labor, he never 
 for an instant relaxed his energies in the pursuit of knowl- 
 edge. Snatching a leisure moment from his engine, with 
 pencil and slate, or chalk and a wagon-side, he kept chasing 
 the secrets of mathematics. Feeling deeply the want of 
 early school-training during his own childhood, he determined 
 that his son should not suffer a like deprivation, though it 
 might require strictest economy and constant self-sacrifice on 
 his part to procure the money for his tuition. So he made 
 and mended shoes, cleaned clocks and watches, cut out the 
 pitmen's clothes, and this in the evening hours when his hard 
 day's toil was done. 
 
 In 1815, his son Robert, having attained to the required 
 age, was sent to Newcastle to school, riding back and forth 
 morning and evening. In the evenings the son taught the 
 father what he had learned during the day. Sometimes he 
 brought home a book from the library, when father and son 
 were to be seen poring over its pages together. 
 
 His inventive faculties began now to exhibit their activity 
 in different ways. He constructed an alarm to the clock of 
 the watchman that the pitmen might be called with unerring 
 regularity, made the babies' cradles self-rocking by attaching 
 them to the smoke-jacks, and fished at night with a lamp that 
 3 
 
34 THE RAILWAY ENGINE. 
 
 burned under water. He procured a Ferguson's Astronomy? 
 made the necessary calculations as to latitude, and made a 
 sun-dial. He constructed a self-acting incline so that the full 
 wagons descending drew the empty ones up the slope. He 
 made improvements in the engines above the ground, and 
 descending into the mines by using the surplus strength of 
 one engine, he reduced the number of horses from one hun- 
 dred to fifteen. 
 
 The coals of the .Killingworth mine, to be shipped, had to> 
 be dragged by horses three miles to the Tyne. George 
 Stephenson had set himself to solve the problem of more 
 economical portage, both as regarded time and money. 
 Blenkinsop and Blackett had both tried the haulage of 
 coals with locomotive engines of their own construction and 
 
 o 
 
 had both failed. Stephenson thought he saw the causes of 
 their failure, and planned an engine which he wished to try. 
 He brought the subject before the lessees of the mine in 
 
 1813, and Lord Ravensworth, one of the partners, advanced 
 the money for the construction of the locomotive. It was 
 built in the workshops at the West Moor, with rude and 
 clumsy tools, and by ruder and clumsier men. After ten 
 months' hard labor and anxiety, it was completed, christened 
 "Blutcher," and placed upon the Killingworth road, July 25th, 
 
 1814. On an ascending gradient of one in four hundred and 
 fifty the engine succeded in drawing five loaded carriages of 
 thirty tons weight at four miles an hour. Not satisfied with 
 his success, Stephenson set himself diligently to improve on 
 " Blutcher/' and accordingly in 1815 was granted a patent for 
 another and far more economical engine, one in which steam- 
 blast was for the first time applied. 
 
 Stephenson's mind, however, was not wholly occupied with 
 
THE RAILWAY ENGINE. 35 
 
 locomotives. Wherever he saw the necessity for an invention 
 his mind at once seized with avidity that point and never left it. 
 One day in 1814 a workman rushed into his cottage with the 
 startling intelligence that the deepest main of the colliery was 
 on fire from an explosion of fire-damp. Pushing his way 
 through terror-stricken groups of women and children, he 
 ordered the enginemen to lower him at once into the mine. 
 He was soon in the midst of the pitmen, huddled together at 
 the bottom, panic-stricken at this sudden apparition of a fright- 
 ful death. 
 
 "Are there six men among you who have the courage to 
 follow me. If so come, and we will put the fire out." Smitten 
 into sudden silence by a voice so full of moral and manly 
 courage, six followed where Stephenson led into this " mouth 
 of hell," and following his example, fell quickly to work and 
 stopped with stone and mortar the mouth of the burning 
 shaft. " Can nothing be done to prevent such awful occur- 
 rences ?" asked Kit Heppel . " I think something can be 
 done," was the quiet reply of Stephenson, this master-thinker, 
 who was already searching about in the darks and depths for 
 that something to do. " The price of coal mining is pitmen's 
 lives " was the axiom with which he began the problem, and 
 in the autumn of 1815, though his whole soul seemed ab- 
 sorbed in the improvement and successful employment of the 
 locomotive, he had evolved the solution out of his own mind. 
 Late on the evening of October 2ist, he received from the 
 Messrs. Hogg, tinmen, a safety-lamp made according to his 
 instructions, and immediately proceeded to test it in the most 
 dangerous part of the mine. Owing to unavoidable delay, it 
 was near midnight when Stephenson, accompanied by his two 
 friends, Moodie and Wood, descended into the mine with the 
 
36 THE RAILWAY ENGINE. 
 
 lighted lamp. To make this an effectual and perfect test of 
 his lamp, Stephenson erected a sort of chamber by walling in 
 that part of the gallery into which the gas was escaping, so 
 that the air would be most foul for the purpose of experiment. 
 After an hour's waiting Moodie, who had the greatest experi- 
 ence in fire-damp, was sent into the chamber, and returning, 
 declared that if a lighted candle were now introduced into 
 this poisoned hole an explosion would be inevitable. The 
 two others tried to dissuade Stephenson from risking his life 
 by entering the gaseous chamber with his lighted lamp. 
 They retired to a place of safety, and Stephenson, alone at 
 this midnight hour, walked calmly into the dismal and reeking 
 cavern, holding in his firm right hand his untried lamp, which, 
 if unsuccessful, must prove to him the inevitable messenger 
 of death. The flame brightened, then flickered, then went 
 out, leaving Stephenson to grope his way in darkness back 
 to his anxious friends, triumphant in his victory over the fiend 
 of the mines. This was the first practical safety-lamp ever 
 invented, and was tested in the mines October 2ist, 1815. 
 A second and improved one was tested by Stephenson on 
 November 4th, and it was not till November Qth of the same 
 year that the safety-lamp of Sir Humphrey Davey was ex- 
 hibited to the public, and by the 3Oth of November Stephen- 
 son had constructed his third safety-lamp. Each, working 
 independently and in ignorance of the other, had arrived at 
 the same issue. Sir Humphrey had worked downward from 
 a scientific stand-point to the poor miner in the death-dealing 
 mine. Stephenson, himself inhaling the poisonous gases in 
 the dim-lighted caverns, had worked upward from the broad 
 level of humanity to this sublime height of life-saving 
 thought. Sir Humphrey was presented with two thousand 
 
THE RAILWAY ENGINE. 37 
 
 pounds. Stephenson, from his friends, one thousand, and 
 from the poor colliers a plain silver watch, which to the day 
 of his death, he declared was the most highly prized gift of 
 his life. 
 
 Meanwhile his locomotive engine was daily performing its 
 work on the Killingworth road, though Stephenson regarded 
 it as far from perfect, and was daily studying its improvement. 
 He and Mr. Lost, the iron-founder, secured a patent for an 
 improved manner of laying the cast-iron rails, and he changed 
 the wheels of his locomotive from cast to malleable iron, 
 making them more durable and safe. These identical 
 engines constructed by Stephenson in 1818 were still in use 
 on the road in 1865. But Killingworth Colliery lay far from 
 London, the centre of scientific life, and Stephenson, while 
 the fires of originality burned hotly within him, could not 
 give vent to his thoughts or describe his inventions in treatises 
 and pamphlets, since in his early life he had not had time to 
 acquire any mastery over written language. So much was 
 he in despair of being able to bring his locomotive before 
 the public that the old idea of emigrating to America began 
 to haunt him. Fortunately, however, about this time the 
 owners of the Hatton Colliery determined to alter their 
 wagon-way to a locomotive railroad, and invited Stephenson 
 to act as engineer of the line. This was in 1819, and on the 
 1 8th of November, 1822, five of the Stephenson locomotives 
 were at work upon this railway, each capable of drawing 
 seventeen wagons weighing sixty-four tons at the rate of 
 four miles an hour. 
 
 While this work was being carried on by Stephenson, the 
 question of a railway between Stockton and Darlington was 
 fiercely agitated. Edward Pease had put his strong shoulder 
 
38 THE RAILWAY ENGINE. 
 
 under the scheme, and was pushing it forward against bitter 
 opposition. Toward the close of 1821 Nicholas Wood and 
 George Stephenson called on Mr. Pease, Stephenson intro- 
 ducing himself, in his strong Northumbrian dialect, "as only 
 the enginewright at Killingworth." The object of this visit 
 -on the part of Stephenson was to make application for the 
 position of engineer on the contemplated Stockton & Dar- 
 lington railroad. The honesty and intelligence of the engine- 
 wright so impressed Mr. Pease that he immediately instituted 
 inquiries about Stephenson, and these were so satisfactory 
 J:hat the appointment was forthwith given to him. 
 
 Mr. Pease, however, was in favor of stationary engines as 
 the tractive power, till, being invited by Stephenson to take a 
 ride on one of his Killingworth engines, he was so impressed 
 with the powers and capabilities of the locomotive that he 
 became at once its declared supporter. 
 
 September 27th, 1825, the road was formally opened, hav- 
 ing been in course of construction for three years ; the " Ex- 
 periment," the first passenger coach ever built, and devised 
 by Stephenson, forming part of the procession. The loco- 
 motive engine was driven by Stephenson himself, and drew 
 after it at a continuous speed of four miles an hour twenty- 
 two wagons, containing passengers, directors, and proprietors, 
 and twelve wagons loaded with coal and flour. 
 
 In 1821, the merchants of Liverpool and Manchester be- 
 gan to consider the expediency of bringing these two cen- 
 tres of commerce and manufacture into more direct commu- 
 nication. A tram-road was first contemplated, but Mr. 
 James, the surveyor of the line, having seen the Stephenson 
 .locomotive in operation, advocated a railroad instead. As 
 .the survey of the line proceeded, Mr. James, becoming em- 
 
THE RAILWAY ENGINE. 39 
 
 barrassed with private debts, of which he was unable to free 
 himself, the railway committee found themselves obliged to 
 secure another engineer. The energy and practical ability 
 Stephenson had displayed from the initiation of the Stockton- 
 Darlington scheme up to the moment when this scheme 
 was approaching its completion, pointed to him as the fittest 
 man for the undertaking. Stephenson effected the survey 
 under an accumulation of opposition from land-owners and 
 peasantry. Sometimes by strategy he outwitted them, some- 
 times by night he stole along past his sleeping enemies. 
 
 The bill entered the House of Commons March 2ist, 
 1825. Before its reading, when Stephenson stated to Wm. 
 Brougham, one of the retainers to defend the bill against 
 known opposition, that he confidently expected to run his 
 locomotive at the rate of twenty miles an hour, this gentle- 
 man told him if he did not moderate his views and bring his 
 engine within a reasonable rate of speed, "he would inevita- 
 bly damn the whole thing, and himself be regarded as a 
 maniac fit only for Bedlam." 
 
 On March 25th, Stephenson was called into the witness- 
 box to demonstrate that which men of sense and science 
 everywhere declared to be impossible. In the midst of sneers, 
 interruptions, and ridicule and whispered doubts as to his 
 sanity, Stephenson stood by his locomotive with a firmness 
 that amounted to heroism. But this " unlettered, inarticulate 
 genius" had no power to force his reasoning in upon the 
 thick heads of these lawyers, who did not know one part of 
 an engine from another. The contest lasted over two 
 months, but the bill was finally defeated. This was the 
 severest trial that had ever befallen Stephenson. He had 
 fought for the bill almost single-handed, had been stigma- 
 
4O THE RAILWAY ENGINE. 
 
 tized as a fool, an ignoramus, and a maniac, had seen his 
 friends look doubtfully upon him and his locomotive, and now 
 the railway committee informed him they thought it best to 
 release him, and employ scientific engineers for a second sur- 
 vey. 
 
 The bill again went into Parliament March, 1826, and was 
 carried, and Stephenson was appointed chief enigineer, at a 
 salary of one thousand pounds per annum. The line was 
 completed and formally opened to the public September I5th, 
 1830. In these four years, the busiest of his busy life, 
 Stephenson had finished this gigantic undertaking ; had per- 
 sonally superintended the construction of the entire thirty 
 miles ; had planned and built sixty-three bridges, including 
 the famous Sankey viaduct, which consists of nine arches, 
 each of fifty feet span ; had cut through the solid rock of 
 Olive Mount a narrow track two miles long, and in some 
 places one hunclred feet deep ; had tunneled his way for a 
 mile and a half under Liverpool ; and had successfully laid 
 his iron rails across Chat Moss, an impenetrable bog, twelve 
 square miles in extent, a feat which the lawyers in Parliament 
 had unanimously declared impossible. 
 
 During the ceremonies of the opening day, an unfortunate 
 accident occurred, in which Mr. Huskisson fell under the 
 train and was badly crushed. George Stephenson conveyed 
 the wounded man on his train to Eccles, a distance of fifteen 
 miles, in twenty-five minutes, or at the rate of thirty-six miles 
 an hour. This was the fool, the ignoramus, the maniac, as- 
 serting his right to the title ! 
 
 Fifty years afterward, on September 7th, 1881, another 
 wounded man, the stricken chief of a nation, was conveyed 
 by railway at a velocity at times almost doubling that made 
 
THE RAILWAY ENGINE. 41 
 
 by Stephenson. This road was a branch of the Pennsyl- 
 vania system, which uniformly makes between Philadelphia 
 and Pittsburgh over forty miles, and between Philadel- 
 phia and New York forty-nine and a half miles per hour. 
 The New York Central, another great net-work of rail- 
 ways that has spread rapidly since Stephenson first ac- 
 complished their introduction, has, between Buffalo and 
 Albany, a running speed of sixty miles an hour. In Stephen- 
 son's own country, the Great Northern Railway has a 
 uniform velocity of forty-seven, and this is frequently in- 
 creased to sixty-two miles an hour; while short runs from 
 London are daily made at an average velocity of seventy- 
 three to seventy-eight miles an hour. If, as Emerson says, 
 " Every ship that comes to America gets its chart from 
 Columbus," then every locomotive that shrieks and pants its 
 busy way from place to place " borrows the genius " of 
 Stephenson. 
 
 Such speed as Stephenson had attained in his fifteen-mile 
 run to Eccles became everywhere the subject of excited 
 speculation. Those who had sneered at the locomotive ac- 
 quiring the speed of a mail coach, now went to the other ex- 
 treme and declared that the rapidity with which it could be 
 driven might be extended to fifty, sixty, or a hundred miles 
 an hour. But Stephenson had grappled with the locomotive 
 too long to be led captive by a vision of unnecessary veloci- 
 ties. While practically there might be no limit to the rapidity 
 which might be conveyed to the wheels by the motive power, 
 such rapidity must always be governed and limited by the 
 strength of materials. A locomotive and road-bed that could 
 safely stand a speed of twenty miles an hour, would, if the 
 speed were increased to forty or fifty miles, be inevitably 
 
42 THE RAILWAY ENGINE. 
 
 torn to pieces. As a high rate of speed engendered danger 
 and was practically unnecessary, he thought railroad pro- 
 jectors ought to keep themselves within the limits of safe 
 locomotion. 
 
 While these discussions as to speed were rife, wild specu- 
 lations as to the remuneration to be gained from railroads 
 seized the country. New railway schemes opened up every 
 day, many of which were shameful frauds. Gambling in rail- 
 road stocks became a mania, and the more prudent ones that 
 refused to enter the vortex were said to be shamefully neg- 
 lectful of the interests of their families. Shares were bought 
 and sold as the railway beam rose or fell, and many were the 
 victims to the sharpers that controlled the market. From all 
 this Stephenson held aloof. He refused to indorse any of 
 these schemes, and constantly warned others away from 
 them. If thoroughly convinced of the solidity of a railroad 
 project, he sometimes bought shares, but held them, however 
 much the market fluctuated, being restrained by principle 
 from this species of gambling. 
 
 Not only in England, but in foreign countries, wherever a 
 railroad was contemplated, Stephenson was besieged for his 
 advice. In Belgium he was honored by a magnificent ban- 
 quet, and King Leopold invited him to a private interview to 
 get his opinion in regard to railways, and the development of 
 the coal fields of his kingdom. His correspondence with 
 railway projectors and inventors was so great he employed a 
 private secretary, to whom, in one day, he dictated thirty- 
 seven letters. 
 
 In 1820, Stephenson had remarried a lady of most estima- 
 ble character, and to whom his son was devotedly attached. 
 He had settled at Alton, but afterward removed to Tapton, 
 
THE RAILWAY ENGINE. 43 
 
 where the closing years of his life were spent in the bosom 
 of his family in the quiet enjoyment of his dogs and rabbits, 
 his birds and fruits and flowers. 
 
 Sir Robert Peel was a warm friend and admirer of Steph- 
 enson, and invited him to his house at Drayton, where the 
 vigor of his thought and the originality and shrewdness of 
 his observations charmed all who came within his circle. 
 
 In the spring of 1848, Stephenson was invited to Whitting- 
 ton House to meet the distinguished American, Emerson. In 
 speaking of this visit, Emerson afterward said, " It was worth 
 crossing the Atlantic were it only to see Stephenson he had 
 such force of character and vigor of intellect." 
 
 In August, 1848, he was seized with intermittent fever, and 
 after an illness of ten days, while all thought him recovering, 
 suddenly died from an effusion of blood from the lungs. He 
 reposes at Trinity Church, Chesterfield, where a simple 
 tablet marks his resting place. 
 
 A statue of Stephenson, ordered by the Liverpool & 
 Manchester and Grand Junction Companies, stands in St. 
 George's Hall, Liverpool. Another, erected by the Society 
 of Mechanical Engineers, stands in the vestibule of the sta- 
 tion in Euston Square, London. But the finest statue of him 
 is to be seen at Newcastle in a very thoroughfare of work- 
 ingmen, close to the smoke of the great locomotive foundry 
 established by himself, and under the shadow of the High 
 Level Bridge, erected by the genius of his son. 
 
THE MORSE TELEGRAPH. 
 
 \ fHILE we listen with wonder to the demands of elec- 
 \ A / tricity for new avenues in which to exhibit her 
 Jl |^ strength and utility, we turn with greater pleasure 
 to the story of no man than to his whose genius first 
 caught the " winged fire " and bade it bear his thoughts in its 
 swift flight to some distant point. To Samuel Morse, the 
 profound scholar, the indefatigable worker, and triumphant 
 inventor, we accord this honor. He it was who first demon- 
 strated a practical method for the transmission of messages 
 through the agency of electricity, a force hitherto familiarly 
 known only as a divine smile playing about the face of some 
 angry storm-cloud. Others had been tampering with this 
 spirit-fire as it came and went in its noiseless way like a 
 ghost, manifesting its presence by a shock that thrilled every 
 fibre of their beings, or else startling them by a spark that 
 instantly vanished. But Morse breathed his thoughts into its 
 current, and bade it deliver them to whomsoever he willed. 
 This most distinguished scion of a distinguished family, 
 Samuel Finley Breese Morse, was born April 27th, 1/91, in 
 Charlestown, Mass. His father, Jedediah Morse, himself a 
 sturdy and practical thinker, compiled and published the first 
 geography ever printed on this continent. With a vigor and 
 energy that were but strengthened by difficulties, he labored 
 44 
 
THE MORSE TELEGRAPH. 45 
 
 on his work of gaining correct statistics and surveys during 
 the week, and on Sunday, in the pulpit, he devoted the day 
 of rest to the religious instruction of the people. Well for us 
 he bequeathed to his eldest son his powers of concentrated 
 thought and the ability to reduce to practical ends the vague 
 dreams of the philosopher. 
 
 His brother, Sidney, three years his junior, was a brilliant, 
 precocious lad, who, while other boys were playing with their 
 marbles and tops, was publishing political pamphlets showing 
 the danger accruing to the new Republic from the multiplica- 
 tion of States. Afterward a learned and logical divine, 
 perhaps he is best known to the world as the founder of the 
 New York Observer, a religious paper that has enjoyed the 
 widest circulation of any paper of like character published in 
 America. 
 
 Samuel was rugged and healthful, fond of boyhood's sports 
 and staunch as the hills he climbed. Saved from a hand-to- 
 hand fight with poverty by the money his father had realized 
 from the publication of his geography, he was enabled to 
 prosecute his studies uninterruptedly at the district school. 
 This he did so successfully under his father's guidance that, 
 at the age of fifteen he was enabled to enter Yale College. 
 Here, unlike so many youths who become distinguished men, 
 he did not trust to the flashes of his genius to light him over 
 the obscure and difficult road through which knowledge leads 
 her votaries, but by intense and methodical study made him- 
 self master of each day's allotted work. Here we catch a 
 glimpse of that intellect which was being nurtured and trained 
 for that work that was destined to be its ultimatum. Thor- 
 oughly analytical and penetrating, we find him one day 
 triumphantly unravelling some mathematical intricacy, and 
 
 
 
46 THE MORSE TELEGRAPH. 
 
 declaring himself ready to adopt civil engineering as his life- 
 work. The next, fascinated by the wonder-working laboratory, 
 this young enthusiast barely escaped blowing himself and his 
 comrades into atoms by the rash combination of antagonistic 
 elements. Again, fascinated by some paintings that come 
 under his notice, he falls in love with Art, and declares hence- 
 forth she alone shall be his mistress. Meanwhile, having 
 graduated with some distinction, after three years of college 
 life, he is urged by his practical father to turn his whole atten- 
 tion to civil engineering as being an honorable and most 
 lucrative calling. But his new love was too strong and ab- 
 sorbing. He had stood before the canvases of Allston and 
 West and longed only for a palette and brush. He quietly 
 held his own against not only the wishes but the ridicule 
 of his father, and in the year following his graduation, as 
 the protege of Allston, he embarked for London to make 
 formal entrance into the world of art. The sturdy good 
 sense of the father supplied him with money to begin his 
 career, but it is not to be doubted that he did so on the 
 principle that if he had rope enough he would hang himself; 
 and flattered himself that New England hills would soon 
 welcome back the ambitious and impecunious prodigal, who 
 would gladly enough turn to some more practical and money- 
 making occupation. 
 
 Allston presented him to Benjamin West, who was charmed 
 with the young and enthusiastic student, and it was under 
 the guidance of these two celebrated painters Morse began 
 his art studies. His warmth of heart and fine social qualities 
 soon won him such friends among eminent artists as Fuseli, 
 Northcote, Turner, Sir Thomas Lawrence, Flaxman, and 
 others, while his quick intelligence and healthy tone of mind 
 
THE MORSE TELEGRAPH. 47 
 
 attracted to him such congenial spirits in the literary world 
 as Coleridge, Wordsworth, Rogers, Crabbe. Those same 
 habits of method and industry that had characterized the 
 Yale student, also distinguished him as an embryro artist, 
 and in one year from the time he went to London, we find 
 him at work upon so pretentious a subject as the " Dying 
 Hercules." Having first made a clay model of his hero, 
 he placed it on exhibition, and had the honor of re- 
 ceiving the prize offered by the Adelphia Society of Arts, 
 though there were thirteen other competitors. This 
 was a triumph, indeed, and inspired him to compete for 
 the prize of the Royal Academy in historical painting, 
 though the subject was so severe a one as " The 
 Judgment of Jupiter." Benjamin West, President of 
 the Royal Academy, pronounced the highest eulogies 
 upon the finished picture, and expressed the opinion that it 
 would have drawn the prize had it not suddenly been with- 
 drawn from the contest a few months before the time of de- 
 cision. But poverty, that grim and relentless arbiter of our 
 fates, rudely awoke the young artist from his ambitious 
 dreams, showed him his pockets as empty of coin as his 
 larder was empty of bread, and drove him unmercifully from 
 the scene of his expected triumph. He returned to America 
 and set up his studio in Boston, and adorned it with many 
 beautiful works of art, both original compositions and copies 
 of the work of others. But, while many admired, none gave 
 him an order for a picture, and his finances soon became so 
 low that he was compelled to leave Boston. He went to 
 Concord, abandoned historical painting, and advertised to 
 paint portraits at ten dollars apiece. But few people cared 
 to see themselves on canvas, and he did not receive orders 
 
48 THE MORSE TELEGRAPH. 
 
 enough to make a fair living. Long ago Allston had filled 
 his mind with glowing pictures of the South, and of Charlesr 
 ton, his home, as being the centre of refinement and aesthetic 
 taste, and thither he determined to go in search of better 
 fortunes. He bore with him the inspiration of a warm 
 attachment that had sprung up between him and a young 
 lady in Concord, and the hope of a marriage with her stimu- 
 lated him to wonderful industry in his new field. All that 
 succeeding winter and spring we hear of him painting four 
 portraits a week, for which he was paid in this wealthy city 
 of Charleston sixty dollars apiece. In one year he returned 
 to New England with three thousand dollars, and on the 6th 
 of October, 1818, was married to Miss Lucretia Walker, his 
 gentle and faithful sweetheart. Four successive winters he 
 painted portraits in Charleston, and then settled in New 
 Haven and once more returned to historical works. His 
 first study was the " Interior of the House of Representa- 
 tives," introducing in miniature the faces of the most distin- 
 guished Congressmen ; but as he had to pay one hundred 
 and ten dollars for the privilege of placing his picture on ex- 
 hibition in New York, it was with no small degree of chagrin 
 and disgust that he rolled up out of sight a work that had 
 cost him nearly two years of severe labor. He now removed 
 to New York induced greatly to make this change by the 
 fact that his brother, Sidney, had already founded the New 
 York Observer, and was its successful editor. Here he 
 painted when he could find a subject willing to be painted ; 
 delivered lectures on art and taught a class of four young 
 men, to obtain money sufficient to support himself and family, 
 for he had now three young children. That he did paint 
 well is attested by the fact that he was commissioned by an 
 
THE MORSE TELEGRAPH. 49 
 
 assembly of New Yorkers to paint the portrait of Lafayette r 
 just arrived in this country. So great an honor rarely befell 
 him, and he brought to his task not only a genuine love of 
 his art, but an enthusiastic admiration of his subject. While 
 engaged on this delightful work he was suddenly called to 
 the bedside of his young wife, and ere his return he had 
 borne both her and his father to their eternal resting-places. 
 He was almost heart-broken at his bereavement, and the 
 eulogy upon the stone that marks the grave of his wife we 
 may well believe to be a genuine expression of the deep 
 and lasting love he bore her. With a heavy heart he com- 
 pleted the task so sadly interrupted. Lafayette was delighted! 
 with both picture and painter, and William Cullen Bryant 
 formed an attachment for the young artist which lasted 
 through life. 
 
 Meanwhile the signs were growing ominous that the birth 
 of some great invention in the electrical world was about to> 
 startle the universe. When Morse laid aside his palette, it 
 was to seek recreation in experimenting in chemistry and irt 
 discussing with Dana, his life-long friend, the wonderful 
 phenomena of electricity and electro-magnetism. His keen* 
 interest on this subject was remarkable. 
 
 It was during this period that Morse was reduced to great 
 poverty. One day he acknowledged to one of his pupils- 
 that he had not tasted bread in twenty-four hours. But: 
 having sworn allegiance to Art, he would not abate his wor- 
 ship, though he had been obliged to confess she had become 
 indifferent to his wants and sufferingf. Centering the secret 
 
 o o 
 
 of his failures in himself, and excusing the coyness of his 
 chosen mistress, he determined if possible to go abroad 
 again, and by hard study acquire such a mastery over his 
 4 
 
50 THE MORSE TELEGRAPH. 
 
 art as would enable him to gain not only a livelihood, but 
 affluence and renown. 
 
 In 1829, he carried his wishes into effect, and for the sec- 
 ond time trod European soil. He visited the principal art 
 galleries of Europe, and with that love of analysis so emi- 
 nently his characteristic, he tried to wrest from the celebrated 
 paintings the secret of their fascination. Why such group- 
 ings of proportions, and such blendings of color should pro- 
 duce certain effects he labored to ascertain, that he might 
 reduce to a system of laws the art of painting, and so be able 
 to reproduce at will such exhibitions of beauty and grandeur as, 
 now seemed beyond his reach. Alas ! Beauty is a law unto it- 
 self and in whatever form appearing is its own best apology for 
 existence. He made many warm friends during this tour, nota- 
 bly among these being Arago, the astronomer, and Humboldt. 
 
 In October, 1832, Morse turned his face homeward, with his 
 brain crowded with impressions, and ready to give to the 
 world on canvas the result of his three years' hard study. 
 What that result might have been we can only conjecture. 
 He had sailed on the packet ship " Sully," little dreaming 
 that this was to be the birthplace of an idea from his own 
 brain which should afterward practically annihilate time and 
 distance. The world was ripe for the invention. Savants in 
 widely different sections had been experimenting in electro- 
 magnetism, CErsted, of Copenhagen, had established the 
 correlation of electricity and magetism. Conversation every- 
 where turned upon this subject and the wonders yet to be. 
 On board the " Sully " a gentleman was describing how he 
 Jiad recently seen sparks drawn from a magnet. 
 
 " How long does it take the fluid to pass through one hun- 
 dred feet of wire ?" asked a passenger. 
 
THE MORSE TELEGRAPH. 51 
 
 " It passes instantaneously," immediately answered Morse ; 
 " and if that is so," he continued slowly, his mind turning in 
 upon itself, " and electricity could be made to manifest itself 
 at any part of the circuit, I see no reason why messages could 
 not be transmitted instantaneously by electricity." 
 
 This remark was greeted by a smile of incredulity, but 
 while the others remained to jest, Morse, with pencil and 
 paper, shut himself up to deep and exhaustive thought. 
 What an agony of mental labor the little state-room must 
 have witnessed before this child of his brain could assume 
 practical and definite shape ! And yet, before the " Sully " had 
 dropped her anchor in New York harbor, the artist hand had 
 sketched not a fanciful creation, but the outlines of an ap- 
 paratus which, by a shock, was to bring the civilized world 
 into instantaneous communion. But Morse was not destined 
 to step from the deck of the " Sully " at once into glory and 
 wealth. Science is no rewarder of light toil, but exacts from 
 her devotees Herculean labor and a God-like patience. Three 
 years passed, years to Morse of indefatigable labor, of ex- 
 haustive experiment, of infinite patience, and unquenchable 
 zeal. At the end of that time Morse had constructed a rude 
 instrument, with a half-mile of wire strung around his own 
 room, and this transmitted only in one direction. Two years 
 later he had improved upon this, and could both receive and 
 transmit messages by the use of two instruments, one at 
 either end of the wire. This he exhibited to his friends in 
 his room at the University, who received it enthusiastically. 
 Alfred Vail, both pupil and friend, became fascinated with the 
 enterprise. The " Morse " machine was specially imperfect 
 in its capacity for registering a message. "A pendulum mo- 
 tion compelled the register to make only one kind of marks, 
 
52 THE MORSE TELEGRAPH. 
 
 -a succession of v's, which could be varied only by increasing 
 the interval between them or by inverting them." Alfred 
 Vail at once set about devising an improvement on this 
 method, and it was to his ingenuity that Morse \\as indebted 
 for the invention of the " horizontal lever motion to actuate a 
 pen," and also, as a natural sequence, the telegraphic alpha- 
 bet. Vail also devoted his personal services and skill to the 
 entire mechanical reconstruction of the Morse machine, and 
 induced his father and brother to advance to Morse substan- 
 tial means to enable him to demonstrate the adaptation of 
 his invention to practical and useful ends. Morse had long 
 since ceased to paint, and was now entirely dependent on the 
 generosity of friends to finish the glorious enterprise which 
 had absorbed him. 
 
 In 1837, ne took his invention to Washington, filed a 
 caveat for a patent and petitioned Congress for an appropria- 
 tion of thirty thousand dollars to build an experimental line 
 from Washington to Baltimore. The reading of his bill was 
 listened to with grave earnestness, but the session closed 
 without its being acted on. This was a bitter disappoint- 
 ment to Morse. Six long years had passed since he had 
 struggled in the cabin of the " Sully " to place his original 
 thought into drawings and words ; six years of unremitting 
 labor, of baffled hopes, of bitterest trial and disappintment ; 
 and now, since he had failed in securing an appropriation, 
 the hour when he would be able to present his ideal instru- 
 ment to the world seemed withdrawn to an interminable dis- 
 tance. People everywhere believed the telegraph to be but 
 the fantasy of an idle dreamer; and Morse, thoroughly 
 abandoning every other pursuit, fought with all the energy of 
 his nature by pen and speech to maintain the utility of his 
 
THE MORSE TELEGRAPH. 53 
 
 invention. A weaker man would have succumbed to the 
 difficulties that thickened about him. Just at this time, too, 
 as though Fate had reserved its heaviest blow for the last, it 
 was announced that Steinheil, in Bavaria, and Wheatstone, in 
 England, had separately laid claim to the invention of the 
 telegraph. Denied at home the means to perfect an instru- 
 ment, which should bring to his country not only renown, but 
 also revolutionize her industrial and commercial pursuits, he 
 was forced to witness two foreign claimants, aided by their 
 more generous governments, seizing the prize for which he 
 had so long struggled. Conscious of his own integrity in 
 laying claim to the invention, he determined to go to Europe 
 and fight Wheatstone on his own ground. 
 
 He had no trouble in proving the priority of his invention 
 by four years, and its superiority for all practical purposes. 
 Steinheil, with the noble generosity of true genius, at once 
 declared the superiority of Morse's machine, and later on, 
 when it became necessary to adopt some uniform system of 
 telegraphy in Germany, he advised the adoption of Morse's 
 invention. Morse then applied for a patent in England, but 
 was denied this because some description of his invention had 
 been published in a London magazine. He went to France, 
 secured a patent, and she, with munificent generosity, bestowed 
 on him her brevet d* invention, and this to a man whose 
 present and overwhelming need was money to push forward 
 to its completion the grandest triumph of the nineteenth 
 century. He returned to England, and might have secured 
 a patent by special act had he waited, but there was pressing 
 need that he should be at home to again seek an appropria- 
 tion from Congress. Hope trailed her wings in the dust, but 
 his dauntless spirit was as fiercely determined as ever to con- 
 
54 THE MORSE TELEGRAPH. 
 
 tinue the struggle to the death. Once more his command- 
 ing figure was to be seen in the halls of Congress, the face 
 somewhat worn and weary-looking from the fierce alterna- 
 tions of hope and despair, but the dark eyes as gloriously 
 bright as of yore. 
 
 Congressmen exercised their wits at his expense and 
 amended his bill by making it include a line to the moon, and 
 pay for experiments in witchcraft, Millerism, and mesmerism. 
 The reading of his bill was but the signal for a running fire 
 of quips and jokes, the dullest member in the House feeling 
 himself called upon to contribute his small share of ridicule 
 under such provocation ! 'And this, be it said to the ever- 
 lasting shame of those who are supposed to represent the 
 intelligence of the American people, was the recognition they 
 gave to a man who had already demonstrated to the satisfac- 
 tion of scientists the practicability of his invention ! Had not 
 his refined and sensitive spirit been upheld by a faith as sub- 
 lime as it was unshaken, this continued defeat and heartless 
 persecution must have proved a death-wound. Four long 
 years passed thus, till at last the spring of 1843 dawned upon 
 the earth. 
 
 The profound stillness of mid-winter was being stirred by 
 wild March winds. The Congressional session must close 
 on the 3d inst. Morse was there in his old place, his iron 
 soul nerved to hear the fate of his bill. He had firmly re- 
 solved that should he fail in securing an appropriation he 
 would turn to other channels to seek the money he so much 
 needed. To Morse, seated in the gallery, the long hours of 
 the afternoon session were slow torture. Bills were read, 
 discussed, passed or defeated. Morse sat alone, the agony 
 of suspense giving an added brightness to the dark eyes 
 
THE MORSE TELEGRAPH. 55 
 
 gleaming in the pale face. None knew the intensity with 
 which he listened to the reading of his own bill with its absurd 
 amendment of a line to the moon. It was hoping against 
 hope that it could have any other fate than that which had 
 awaited its reading in past years. The same old round of 
 ridicule, the same old jokes repeated with greater vehemence 
 greeted its presentation. Trembling with emotion, Morse 
 arose and left the House. Having retired to his hotel he sat 
 down and gazed sadly out upon the March landscape, now 
 darkened with the shadows of evening. Well might he have 
 said with his admired and beloved Coleridge : 
 
 " Winter slumbering in the open air 
 
 Wears on his smiling face a dream of Spring, 
 And I, the while, the sole unbusy thing, 
 Nor honey make, nor pair, nor build, nor sing. 
 ********# 
 Bloom O ye amaranths, bloom for whom ye may, 
 For me ye bloom not ! Glide, rich streams, away ! 
 With lips unbrightened, wreathless brow I stroll ! 
 And would you learn the spells that drowse my soul ? 
 Work without hope draws nectar in a sieve 
 And Hope without an object cannot live!" 
 
 But the brave Morse did not permit the dark pinions of 
 despair to close aroud him ; he sat down to think ! Money 
 he must have. How to get it, that was the question. If ever a 
 time came in his life when he might have looked back and 
 regretted that he had not made civil engineering his profes- 
 sion, that time must have been now ; for if less congenial to 
 his tastes that at least was the most lucrative. But it was 
 not like him to look backward, but forward. What could he 
 do in the immediate future that would pay? He was done 
 with asking assistance at the hands of his unwilling country- 
 men. Thirty thousand dollars ! It was a big sum and seemed 
 
56 THE MORSE TELEGRAPH. 
 
 now to swell to impossible proportions. He looked at his 
 right hand. It had been long since it had held a brush. 
 Could it t relearn that facile touch and mystic grace of the 
 painter's art ? He had sat so long at the feet of Science, 
 would it be possible for him to win favors from his old sweet- 
 heart ? She had been at best but an indifferent mistress ; 
 could he hope, being so long forsaken, she would not turn 
 away altogether from his earnest pleading ? He was not 
 long in making his resolve. The money must be made by 
 his own industry, and his industry would be best exerted in 
 portrait-painting. Portrait-painting with its uncertain and 
 wavering remuneration would take years to climb to the 
 height of thirty thousand dollars. But with an iron will that 
 knew " no variableness nor shadow of turning," he could 
 transcend the almost impossible. The resolve once taken, a 
 feeling of relief was instantly visible in the face of Morse, re- 
 placing the haggard look it had so long worn, and with a 
 patient smile, pathetic in its absolute relinquishment of all 
 past hopes, he set about packing his valise, preparatory 
 to his return to New York in the morning. This done his 
 weary head sought its long-needed repose. " Tired eyelids " 
 soon sunk upon " tired eyes." "Sweet sleep," for many 
 nights a stranger to his pillow, came " down from the bliss- 
 ful skies.". 
 
 March 4th, 1843, dawned brilliantly upon Washington 
 City, but nature, ever careful of her children, still kept Morse 
 in the healthful embrace of sleep. When at last he awak- 
 ened, it was to learn that a lady desired to see him. De- 
 scending to the parlor, Miss Ellsworth, the daughter of the 
 Commissioner of Patents, came forward to greet him, an 
 exuberant gladness in gesture and voice. Placing both her 
 
THE MORSE TELEGRAPH. 57 
 
 hands in his, her bright face glowing with expectancy, "I have 
 come to congratulate you, Professor Morse," she said. 
 
 " Congratulate me, my child !" he answered, sadly, for of all 
 persons, he was the least to be congratulated, he thought. 
 " And for what?" 
 
 " Upon the passage of your bill !" 
 
 "Are you dreaming?" he asked, excitedly, the swift color 
 tinging his cheeks. " I stayed till it was read, and it seemed 
 capable only of defeat." 
 
 "But I am not dreaming. The session did not close till 
 midnight, and your bill was the last acted on, and it was 
 passed. I begged father to let me bring you the news." 
 
 Professor Morse grasped his young friend warmly by the 
 hand, and as well as joyful and conflicting emotions would 
 permit him, thanked the bearer of the glad tidings. 
 
 The passage of his bill meant money. Money meant the 
 construction of a telegraph line, and the construction of a 
 telegraph line meant the realization of the one fond dream 
 that had so long possessed him. No lover, who, with trem- 
 bling ecstasy, receives his first kiss, was ever so thrilled with 
 delight. No mother, who, in silence and awe, gazes for the 
 first time on the face of her first-born, was ever so solemnly 
 glad. In the rapid flight of his imagination, he saw the line 
 constructed and the messages flashing back and forth, the 
 stupendous triumph of the century. 
 
 4i You shall be the first to send a message over my line," 
 he said, graciously and gratefully tendering to the girl at his 
 side this distinguished honor. 
 
 With faith in her gifted friend, " I will hold you to that 
 promise," she answered. " Remember !" 
 
 "Remember," replied Mr. Morse, genially, and they 
 
58 THE MORSE TELEGRAPH. 
 
 parted. Morse immediately repaired to Baltimore and began 
 the construction of the line. His first idea was to sink the 
 wires connecting Baltimore with Washington in underground 
 leaden pipes. After repeated failures, he found he had sunk 
 thirteen thousand dollars in a fruitless endeavor to lay the 
 wires, so the plan was abandoned, and he placed them on 
 poles. It is a significant fact that this plan of burying the 
 wires is at the present hour again being agitated. 
 
 In the beautiful month of May, 1844, Morse stood by his 
 instrument waiting to fulfill his promise to Miss Ellsworth. 
 One magnet and recording instrument lay in silent readiness 
 in the Supreme Court chamber in the Capitol at Washing- 
 ton. A single wire threaded its way through the city, crept 
 on through marsh and solitude, a weird, unnatural thing, 
 found its way at length to Baltimore, and in the Mount 
 Clare Depot touched the recording instrument and sister 
 magnet. The supreme moment in the life of Morse had now 
 come. Miss Ellsworth with childlike faith had answered his 
 call, and now stood before the instrument, Morse by her side. 
 
 " What hath God wrought !" the machine responded to 
 the touch, and the words were penciled forty miles away ! In 
 the archives of the Historical Society at Hartford, Conn., is 
 to be seen the original of this message so grand in its sim- 
 plicity, and to which Morse referred at the unveiling of his 
 statue in Central Park, New York, twenty-seven years after- 
 ward. He said in referring this invention back to the Su- 
 preme Author and Inventor, Miss Ellsworth had given him a 
 refuge where he might withdraw when the waves of adulation 
 and honor swept dangerously high. 
 
 May 27th, 1844, the news was flashed into Washington 
 over this same wire that James K. Polk had been nominated 
 
THE MORSE TELEGRAPH. 59 
 
 for the Presidency by the Baltimore Democratic Convention. 
 An evening paper had the temerity to publish this dispatch, 
 the first printed message, and it was everywhere received 
 with incredulity. When the morning train from Baltimore 
 brought the confirmation of the telegram, she put the final 
 seal on the triumph and fortune of Morse. Poverty, so long 
 his grim companion, deserted him, and in her stead he found 
 wealth smiling at his side, Fame, who generally places her 
 laurels only upon the brows of the dead, for once relaxed 
 her iron rules and gave him her greenest wreaths. 
 
 Everywhere the telegraph began to send out her miles of 
 wires. No longer weird and uncanny, a group of wires soon 
 came to be recognized as the signal of an advanced civiliza- 
 tion. Europe stretched forth her willing hands to take the 
 Morse instrument into her domains, and ten of her govern- 
 ments, at the instigation of Napoleon, held a convention in 
 Paris and tendered to Morse the sum of four hundred thou- 
 sand francs. What years of anxiety and toil he might have 
 been spared had half that sum been presented with his brevet 
 d invention. The Sultan of Turkey presented him with a 
 decoration set in diamonds. 
 
 In the full meridian of life, crowned with wealth and honor, 
 his ambitious dreams happily fulfilled, Morse could now 
 calmly enjoy that rest which is so sweet after toil. He was 
 remarried in 1848, and his home in New York he began to 
 adorn with all the beauties that a refined and aesthetic taste 
 could suggest. Here the genial society of his wife and the 
 mad romps of his interesting family of children gave a new 
 impetus to those fountains of affection in his heart which had 
 been well-nigh absorbed by the intense strain of thought of 
 former years. The wealthiest and most cultivated were glad 
 
6O THE MORSE TELEGRAPH. 
 
 to be welcomed at his fireside, where his refined and dignified 
 bearing, his inexhaustible fund of information, and his genial 
 hospitality placed them in an atmosphere of exquisite enjoy- 
 ment. 
 
 In the summer he retired with his family from the heat of 
 the metropolis to his country home on the Hudson, a few 
 miles south of Poughkeepsie, one of those wildly romantic 
 spots where his artist's eye could revel in the contemplation 
 of those wonderful and sublime pictures with which Nature 
 has here adorned her canvas. This had been the only unful- 
 filled ambition of his life, the ambition of being an artist. We 
 can imagine him standing some summer morning in this vine- 
 wreathed Italian villa where the roses clambered and the 
 honeysuckle hung its golden bells, with head uncovered in 
 wrapt contemplation of the sunlight touching into gold the 
 languid river at his feet, falling in broken shafts down some 
 rocky chasm, or glinting against the huge trees about him. 
 At such a moment he must be excused if for a brief instant 
 he is compelled to cast a backward, passionate glance, " wild 
 with all regret," to what he might have done or been in art 
 had he not sacrificed beauty on the altars of science. 
 
 Morse had a commanding appearance that immediately 
 attracted attention. His face bore the unmistakable stamp 
 of genius, of patience, self-discipline, capacity for endurance, 
 indomitable will, and a certain mysterious indication of re- 
 served power. 
 
 In Central Park stands a colossal statue of Morse done in 
 bronze, the work of B. M. Pickett. It was unveiled June 
 loth, 1871, in the midst of an assembly of telegraphers that 
 had come from every part of the United States to do homage 
 to the great inventor. At the reception given at the Academy 
 
THE MORSE TELEGRAPH. 6 1 
 
 of Music in the evening enthusiasm reached its height. All 
 the wires in America were connected with the telegraphic in- 
 strument on the stage. Amid intense silence Miss Caldwell 
 sent this message to every telegraph station on the continent, 
 " Greeting and thanks to the telegraph fraternity throughout 
 the world. ' Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace, 
 good-will to men.' ' Professor Morse, now over eighty years 
 of age, his long and flowing hair and beard of snowy white- 
 ness giving a look of statuesque repose and grandeur to his 
 face, now placed his hands upon the keys and appended his 
 signature, " S. F. B. Morse." Enthusiastic applause shook 
 the house. Responsive greetings came crowding in from all 
 parts of the world, from Canada and Cuba, from England 
 and Japan. In a few impressive remarks Morse closed the 
 evening. 
 
 When spring again came round and shy, capricious April 
 was playing her wild pranks, Professor Morse " turned away 
 and sought his chamber to lie down and die." Unlike most 
 men to whose genius the world is glad to pay its homage, the 
 foul exhalations of infidelity had never poisoned his mind. 
 The faith bequeathed him by his Puritan forefathers and in- 
 stilled by a mother's fond prayers, had like a guiding star 
 followed him through youth and old age, sustained and ad- 
 monished him through poverty and wealth, had thrown its 
 silvery radiance upon the poor painter and struggling inven- 
 tor, and now shone with increased splendor upon the illustri- 
 ous and dying hero. Death came to him, not like a pale 
 spectre of the night beckoning him away, but like a gentle 
 mother that leads her tired child to rest. 
 
 " So melts a summer cloud away, 
 So dies a wave along the shore." 
 
62 THE MORSE TELEGRAPH. 
 
 On the 2d of April, 1872, his immortal spirit took its ever- 
 lasting flight to that realm where the electric current of 
 happiness forever plays, its nether pole centering in the 
 Eternal Magnet, God Himself. 
 
THE BELL TELEPHONE. 
 
 Ot LEXANDER GRAHAM BELL, the inventor of the 
 \\) speaking telephone and phonophone, was born 
 f\ March 3d, 1847, ' m tne city of Edinburgh, Scotland, 
 ^ \ and received a liberal education, completing the 
 course of instruction in the high school, and after- 
 ward in the university of his native city. Of his early life 
 we know nothing beyond the fact that he belonged to a 
 family already distinguished in the fields of science and litera- 
 ture, his father, Alexander Melville Bell, and his grand- 
 father, Alexander Bell, having been distinguished for their 
 researches and experiments in acoustic science. After com- 
 pleting his collegiate education in his native city he went to 
 Wurzburg, Germany, receiving from the University there the 
 degree of Ph. D. 
 
 In 1872 the family moved to Canada, where his father, 
 Mr. Alexander Melville Bell, became an instructor of deaf 
 mutes and a professor in Queen's College, Kingston. Mr. 
 Graham Bell came to Boston and introduced his father's 
 system of instructing deaf mutes and also became Professor 
 of Vocal Philosophy in the Boston University, still continuing 
 his experiments in acoustic science, which experiments led 
 eventually to his wonderful invention of the telephone. 
 
 Mr. Bell was the first to invent a method of, and apparatus 
 for, transmitting speech telegraphically by causing electrical 
 
 63 
 
64 THE BELL TELEPHONE. 
 
 undulations similar in form to the vibrations of the air ac- 
 companying speech, and all so-called telephones which pre- 
 ceded Bell's worked by interruptions of the electrical current, 
 and not only were not intended to transmit speech tele- 
 graphically, but could not possibly transmit, for the very good 
 reason that interrupted or discontinuous electrical currents 
 cannot copy the forms of the vibrations of the air accompany- 
 ing speech, because such vibrations are continuous. All 
 telephones previous to Bell's were intended for signaling by 
 the Morse system, and operated by causing a receiving 
 instrument to give out a musical tone of definite pitch ; a 
 long tone, or a long interval between two tones, and a short 
 tone or a short interval between two tones, correspond- 
 ing relatively to the dash and dot of the Morse alphabet, 
 in Mr. Bell's invention the sound which is made or uttered 
 at the transmitting station being faithfully reproduced by the 
 receiving instrument. Up to the time of Mr. Bell's invention 
 the transmission of speech could only take place by means 
 of acoustic tubes or of the string-telephones. Bell's tele- 
 phone reproduced articulate words. (The Edison telephone 
 is based upon the action of undulatory currents.) 
 
 Mr. Bell's researches in electric telephoning began with 
 the artificial production of musical sounds, suggested by the 
 work in which he was engaged in Boston, viz., teaching the 
 deaf and dumb to speak. Deaf mutes are dumb merely be- 
 cause they are deaf, as Mr. Bell has demonstrated by two 
 thousand of his own pupils, that, when the deaf and dumb 
 know how to control the action of the vocal organs they can 
 articulate with comparative facility. 
 
 "My attention," says Mr. Bell, "was directed to the 
 mechanism of speech by my father, Alexander Melville Bell. 
 
THE BELL TELEPHONE. 65 
 
 Together we carried on a number of experiments, seeking to- 
 discover the correct mechanism of English and foreign ele- 
 ments of speech, and I remember especially an investigation/ 
 in which we were engaged concerning the musical relation 
 of vowel sounds. When vowel sounds are whispered each 
 vowel seems to possess a particular pitch of its own, and by 
 whispering certain vowels in succession, a musical scale can 
 be distinctly perceived. Our aim was to determine the musi- 
 cal pitch of each vowel, but unexpected difficulties made their 
 appearance, for many of the vowels seem to possess a double 
 pitch, one due probably to the resonance of the air in the* 
 mouth, and the other to the resonance of the air contained! 
 in the cavity behind the tongue, comprehending the pharynx: 
 and larynx. After many experiments I thought I had hit 
 upon an expedient for determining the pitch, but mature con- 
 sideration revealed the fact that this deficiency lay in the 
 nature of the electrical current employed and was finally 
 obviated by the invention of the undulatory current. 
 
 " I had been invited by the Boston Board of Education to 
 conduct a series of experiments with the system in the Bos- 
 ton School for Deaf and Dumb. One of the telephones was 
 placed in my lecture-room in the Boston University, and 
 the other in the basement of an adjoining building. One 
 of my students repaired to the distant telephone to observe 
 the effect of articulate speech, while I uttered the sentence,, 
 ' Do you understand what I say ?' into the telephone placed! 
 in the lecture-room. To my delight the answer was returned! 
 through the instrument, its articulate sounds proceeded from* 
 the steel spring attached to the machine, and I heard the 
 sentence, 'Yes, I understand you perfectly.' It is a mistake 
 to suppose that the articulation was by any means perfect,* 
 5 
 
<56 THE BELL TELEPHONE. 
 
 and expectancy, no doubt, had a great deal to do with my 
 recognition of the sentence, still the articulation was there, 
 and I recognized the fact that the indistinctness was en- 
 tirely due to the imperfection of the instrument." 
 
 Mr. Bell patented the telephone May 8th, 1876, and in its 
 present form, June 25th, 1876. It was exhibited at the Cen- 
 tennial, in Philadelphia, whence the story of this wonderful 
 invention spread throughout the world. 
 
 That Mr. Bell has had his seasons of doubts and discour- 
 agements, we have no doubt ; that he has also had his times 
 -of persecution, the history of the famous telephone lawsuits 
 testify ; that he has emerged victorious with wealth, fame, and 
 honor to keep his place among the world's great inventors 
 cannot be denied. 
 
 It is a strange fact that important discoveries are often 
 made almost simultaneously by different persons in different 
 parts of the world; and the idea of multiple telegraphy seems 
 to have occurred independently to no less than four different 
 persons in America and Europe. Even to the details of the 
 arrangements upon circuit : by Mr. Cromwell Varley, of Lon- 
 don ; Mr. Elisha Gray, of Chicago ; Mr. Paul La Cour, of 
 Copenhagen, and Mr. Thomas Edison, of Newark, N. J. 
 Mr. Elisha Gray, of Chicago, deposited his specifications and 
 --drawings for a speaking telephone in the U. S. Patent Office 
 in the form of a caveat on the I4th of February, 1876, a few 
 ihours later than Mr. Bell's application for a patent. 
 
 The first successful experiment over a telephone wire was 
 between Boston and Cambridge, on November loth, 1876. 
 .Before April, 1877, a line was built from Boston to Somer- 
 \ville, forty-four miles, and is described in the Boston Adver- 
 tiser of April 5th, 1877 : "The first telephone line ever es- 
 
THE BELL TELEPHONE. 6/ 
 
 tablished has just been constructed between the office of Mr, 
 Charles Williams, electrician, of this city, and his home in 
 Somerville." 
 
 America not only preceded Europe in the establishment 
 of the telephone exchange, but in the application of new 
 contrivances, many of which have been adopted by the tele- 
 phone exchanges of Europe. 
 
 James Watt said : " That the maker of a great invention 
 must pass through three stages in the estimation of the great 
 mass of the public : first, it would be said * it was impossible ;' 
 next, it would be said that * he had not done it ;' finally, it 
 would be said that, * it had long been known.' ' It may be 
 added that when an inventor has reached this last stage of 
 attack he may be certain that both the reality and the value 
 of his work have been assured. 
 
 When it was announced that the electrical transmission 
 and reproduction of articulate speech had been accomplished, 
 the novelty and utility of the invention elicited the wonder 
 and admiration of the world. It first engaged the attention 
 of the scientists, by whom it was unqualifiedly accepted as a 
 novelty and a wonder. It was accepted at the outset as the 
 unrivalled discovery of a new art. Having passed the cru- 
 cial test of a scientific investigation, it rapidly acquired a 
 commercial standing by reason of its great utility. It did 
 not supplant other devices of a similar character, but took 
 possession of a field theretofore unoccupied. It is an his- 
 torical fact that the introduction of valuable and important 
 inventions is productive of a host of rival claimants ; and so 
 the steady growth and assured success of the articulating 
 telephone as a commercial venture had the usual effect of 
 developing, reviving, and resurrecting all manner of inven- 
 
,68 THE BELL TELEPHONE. 
 
 lions and contrivances, both near and remote, upon which the 
 shadow of a claim to priority could possibly be based. 
 Stimulated by visions of glory arid profit, all manner of in- 
 complete, dormant, unsuccessful, and abandoned instruments 
 and devices have been brought to light, polished, and made 
 to resemble as much as possible the real article, in order that 
 their projectors might obtain the profits. 
 
 It is a curious fact that no rival claims of priority to the 
 invention of the electric-speaking telephone were made in 
 any quarter until more than a year after the description of 
 the experiments of Mr. Bell had been published by the jour- 
 nals of the entire world. The claims were first put forth in 
 the interest of the Western Union and Gold Stock Telegraph 
 Companies. 
 
 In the summer of 1875 Mr. Bell asked permission of the 
 Western Union Telegraph Company to conduct experiments 
 in the office of their electrician in New York. This was 
 granted, but shortly after Mr. Bell began his experiments 
 Mr. Orton, President of the Company, learned that a gentle- 
 man, who was personally obnoxious to him, was pecuniarily 
 interested in Mr. Bell's inventions, and immediately directed 
 that the permission to conduct his experiments should be 
 withdrawn. After Mr. Bell had brought his invention before 
 the public, and was endeavoring to perfect it by experiment- 
 ing over actual telegraph wires, orders were given to exclude 
 him from the Western Union wires. In spite of those orders 
 experiments were conducted over them, but for a long time 
 the results were looked upon as possessing little practical 
 value. In 1877 the progress of Mr. Bell's inventions was 
 deemed to have arrived at such a state of efficiency as to 
 .threaten to be a serious competitor to the telegraph. The 
 
THE BELL TELEPHONE. 69 
 
 President of the Western Union Telegraph Company said to 
 the electric expert of the Company, " I have been looking into 
 the matter of the telephone somewhat, and regard it as a 
 matter likely to be of considerable future importance. If this 
 proves to be the case we should have the right to use it ; 
 therefore I wish you to make a thorough investigation of the 
 whole subject and ascertain what are the fundmental princi- 
 ples of the invention and what inventions and patents it will 
 be necessary for us to acquire the control of in order to be 
 able to use the invention in connection with our business." 
 
 Afterward Mr. Prescott, one of the Vice-Presidents of the 
 Company, visited Professor Dolbeare to ascertain the char- 
 acter and extent of his claims to priority of invention. This 
 visit was made in August, 1877, an< ^ resulted in an agree- 
 ment between the Gold & Stock Company and Professor 
 Dolbeare, by which the Company acquired the ownership of 
 and agreed to exploit his telephonic inventions. About the 
 ist of December, 1877, the Gold & Stock Company made 
 an arrangement with the Harmonic Telegraph Company by 
 which Mr. Gray's inventions in harmonic telegraphy were 
 also acquired and united with those of the Gold & Stock 
 Company, forming the basis of a new organization called the 
 American Speaking Telephone Company. This company 
 was to own all the patents and profits of the business, but 
 the management was to remain with the Gold & Stock 
 Company. 
 
 In the meantime suits were brought under Mr. Bell's 
 patents against those who used the telephone in this com- 
 pany, and one of them, in the United States Circuit Court, at 
 Boston, was vigorously pushed for trial. That suit was de- 
 fended by the Gold & Stock Telegraph Company. The 
 
7<D THE BELL TELEPHONE. 
 
 answer set up a great variety of defenses, among others the 
 European publications relating to Reis's invention, and it 
 was alleged that Bell's telephone as described in his patent 
 of March /th, 1876, was not capable of talking. The Bell 
 Telephone Company caused to be constructed twelve pairs 
 of telephones, all of which did talk with practical success, 
 and all of which -exactly conformed to the description in the 
 patent. They were constructed by different persons in 
 different shops, and were tried by many different persons. 
 
 In his charge to the jury in this suit the judge said : " There 
 is considerable evidence that Bell's experiments were not 
 entirely satisfactory, but this is now immaterial, for it is 
 proved that the instrument will do the work whether the 
 inventor knew it or not, and in the mode pointed out in the 
 specification." 
 
 Regarding the novelty of Mr. Bell's invention, the Bell 
 Company brought out many acknowledgments by experts 
 that they had never heard articulate speech transmitted over 
 a telegraph wire by means of electricity except through BelPs 
 invention. After a very vigorous defense had been made by 
 the Gold & Stock Company, and testimony at great length 
 and expense had been taken, Mr. Gifford, one of the counsel for 
 the Gold & Stock Company, became convinced that Mr. Bell 
 was the first inventor of the telephone and that his patent 
 had been infringed, and advised the Company to that effect, 
 and suggested that the best policy for them was to make 
 some settlement with the Bell Company. After many nego- 
 tiations between the interested parties, the Gold & Stock 
 Company transferred to the Bell Company their exchanges 
 for costs, and thus ended the first attack on Mr. Bell's inven- 
 tion of the electrical speaking telephone. 
 
THE BELL TELEPHONE. 7 1 
 
 In July, 1876, Mr. Edison learned of Bell's Centennial ex- 
 hibition of the articulating telephone, and in the same month 
 the first evidence is disclosed of a distinct effort on his part 
 to construct an instrument designed for the transmission of 
 articulate speech. 
 
 Professor Dolbeare began his experiments in August, 
 1876. 
 
 In 1861, and subsequently, Philip Reis, in Germany, made 
 an electrical instrument to be operated by the voice. It was 
 known as an instrument which could transmit sound, but not 
 speech. 
 
 In 1869 Dr. Van der Weyde described an apparatus in- 
 vented by himself which could transmit pitch and rhythm, 
 consequently, melody, and nothing more. 
 
 Mr. McDonagh, of Chicago, invented a machine that could 
 transmit musical sounds, and through which tunes could be 
 distinguished, but not words. 
 
 Of the various claimants to the invention of the telephone, 
 none has presented a more remarkable history than Mr. 
 Daniel Drawbaugh, of Eberly's Mills, Pa. Mr. Drawbaugh 
 is one of the universal geniuses capable of turning his hand 
 to any mechanical work and doing it well ; as an electrician he 
 is self-taught. Between the years 1867 and 1876 he claims 
 to have invented and actually used every form of telephone 
 now known. He began with a transmitter made of a jelly- 
 tumbler in which he used powered carbon to vary the resist- 
 ance correspondingly to the motion of a diaphragm vibrated 
 by the voice and a receiver constructed from a mustard-can, 
 but in every other respect nearly identical with the first tele- 
 phone made by Professor Bell. If Mr. Drawbaugh's claims 
 are sustained there can be no question that his position as an 
 
72 THE BELL TELEPHONE. 
 
 electrical discoverer will be wholly unrivalled. Within the 
 last four years he* has invented over thirty new telephones. 
 At this date, over a thousand patents in the United States 
 alone have been granted for various forms of telephones 
 and devices "thereunto appertaining." 
 
 In 1819 Sir Charles Wheatstone invented a magic lyre, and 
 in 1831 exhibited it at the Polytechnic Institute in London. 
 He called it the " telephone," thus inventing the name. This 
 was for the transmission of musical sounds only. It is related 
 that shortly after Sir Charles had invented this device he in- 
 vited a distinguished foreign musician, a noted performer on 
 the violoncello, to dine with him. In order to surprise his guest 
 he suspended a violoncello in his entrance hall, arranging in 
 contact with it a concealed rod which communicated with a 
 like instrument in another room. On the arrival of the vis- 
 itor he was left alone in the hall, and naturally his attention 
 was at once attracted by the strains of music apparently 
 coming from no visible source, yet clearly being produced in 
 the same apartment. Finally he traced them to the instru- 
 ment on the wall, examined it critically, could find no reason 
 for them, and then, as if struck with sudden terror, with a 
 cry of dismay, the affrighted musician rushed out of the 
 house. Nothing could convince him that the instrument was 
 not bewitched, nor induce him to trust himself again to its 
 proximity. 
 
 The idea of transmitting sounds by the voice through solid 
 conductors is known to date back to 1667. At that date Dr. 
 Robert Hook wrote : " It is not impossible to hear a whisper 
 at a furlong's distance, it having already been done, and per- 
 haps the nature of the thing need not make it more impos- 
 sible, though that furlong should be ten times multiplied, and 
 
THE BELL TELEPHONE. 73 
 
 though some authors have affirmed it impossible to hear 
 through the thinnest plate of Muscovy glass ; yet I know a 
 way by which it is easy enough to hear one speak through a 
 wall a yard thick. It has not yet been thoroughly examined 
 what other ways there may be of quickening our hearing or 
 of conveying sounds through other bodies than the air for 
 that is not the only medium that I have, by the help of a dis- 
 tended wire, propagated the sound to very considerable dis- 
 tance in an instant, with as seemingly quick a motion as that 
 of light, at least incomparably quicker than the air, and this 
 not only in a straight line, but in one bended at many angles." 
 In 1880 there were three telephone exchanges in New 
 York city the Bell Telephone Company, the Law Telephone 
 Company, the Gold & Stock Telegraph and Telephone Com- 
 pany. The two former use the Blake transmitter and the 
 Bell receiver, the latter the Edison transmitter and the Phelps 
 receiver. During the summer of 1880 the exchanges of the 
 Gold & Stock Telegraph Company and the Bell Telephone 
 Company were purchased by the Metropolitan Telegraph 
 and Telephone Company, and incorporated under the one 
 system and management, those of the Bell Company being 
 adopted. The Metropolitan Telegraph and Telephone Com- 
 pany divided the city into eight districts, and in each estab- 
 lished a central exchange. These central offices are located 
 as follows: New, Murray, Spring, Pearl, Nassau, Walker, 
 Twenty-first, and Twenty-second Streets. These exchanges 
 are connected with each other by trunk lines and also with 
 exchanges in Harlem, Brooklyn, Yonkers, Jersey City and 
 other neighboring towns. There are in New Street central 
 office ten young women at two operating tables, seven at the 
 annunciator cases, and one boy to pass the slips. 
 
74 THE BELL TELEPHONE. 
 
 The New York central office has thousands of subscribers 
 and hundreds of lines running to different points, and aver- 
 ages twenty thousand connections each day, each connection 
 being made upon both trunk and local lines on an average in 
 thirty seconds. 
 
 The Metropolitan Telegraph and Telephone Company, the 
 New York and Law Telephone Company, and other smaller 
 telephone corporations are mostly submerged into the Bell 
 Telephone Company. 
 
 Number of telephones existing in the United States, March 1st, 1880, 138 
 " " " 1884, 890 
 
 Total increase for the four years, 752 or 544 per cent. 
 
 Earnings for rentals of telephones for the year ending February 28th, iSSi, $535,754 8r 
 " " " " 1884, 1,695,678 58 
 
 Total increase for the four years, $1,159,923.77. 
 
 From 1884 to 1893 tne increase in the number of telephones 
 was so great that only a vague conception of the enormous 
 rentals may be approximated. 
 
 At Newport Torpedo Station conversation was carried on 
 over five miles of submerged cable and an equal length 
 of land wire. 
 
 Experiments were made between Dover and Calais over a 
 cable line twenty-one and three-quarter miles long. Several 
 ladies and gentlemen were present and conversed with second 
 parties in France for two hours. The cable was a four 
 wire cable, and the conversation was carried on over one 
 wire, while the other three were working direct with Lon- 
 don, Paris, Calais, and Lille ; and the signals made by the 
 three wires could be distinctly heard through the telephone, 
 and, at times, when but one of the wires was working the 
 Morse signals could be deciphered, and a message that was 
 going through from Glasgow to Paris read. 
 
THE BELL TELEPHONE. 75 
 
 Whenever a telephone line approximates a telegraph 
 line the Morse signals can be plainly heard in the tele- 
 phone receiver, and where a Wheatstone, automatic instru- 
 ment is at work, or, as in the case of electric-lighting 
 wires, where a dynamo is supplying the current, the roars 
 and whirrs heard in the telephone completely obliterate all 
 other sounds. 
 
 Telephoning over sub-marine cables is impracticable for 
 long distances owing to the effects of induction and retarda- 
 tion. 
 
 Tests on artificial lines, representing the Atlantic Ocean, 
 show that probably the maximum distance over which speech 
 can be distinguished does not exceed one hundred and fifty 
 miles. Conversation has, however, been successfully main- 
 tained between Brussels, Belgium, and Dover, England, 
 through sixty miles of cable and two hundred miles of air 
 line. 
 
 In experimenting with sub-marine cable before a signal can 
 be made the whole cable must be charged with electricity, 
 and if there is not sufficient electricity sent in for this pur- 
 pose no signal appears at the distant end. 
 
 It is difficult to assign any distance over which speech may 
 not be telephonically transmitted. So long as the effects of 
 induction and leakage cannot be neutralized, the possible 
 distance of telephoning must depend on accidental condi- 
 tions. Sometimes it is impossible to get speech over a line 
 a few miles in length. 
 
 Cases have been found where a line, first passing over 
 water and then over earth, or extending over rock and then 
 ground, would refuse to transmit until taken down and carried 
 around the shore of the water-course or away from the vary- 
 
76 THE BELL TELEPHONE. 
 
 ing soil. Speech has been transmitted between Chicago 
 and New York and New York and Philadelphia over the 
 regular telegraph wires. Telephoning without wires is a 
 possibility, and promises extraordinary results. 
 
 When an electric light system uses the earth it is stoppage 
 to all telephonic communication in the neighborhood. The 
 whole telephonic communication of Manchester, England, 
 was one day broken down from this cause, and in London 
 the effect was at one time so strong as not only to destroy 
 telephonic communication, but to ring the bells. 
 
 Shortly after the telephone came into use Mr. Smith con- 
 nected a piece of silenium with the instrument and heard a 
 ray of light fall upon the bar. 
 
 Professor Bell, in conjunction with Mr. Sumner Tainter, 
 was the first to perfect an instrument to transmit speech by 
 a ray of light, and to realize what Mr. Bell called the extra- 
 ordinary sensation of hearing a ray of sunlight laugh, cough, 
 sing, and talk with articulate sounds. This apparatus is 
 called the Phonophone. 
 
 What improvements the future will bring to the speaking 
 telephone can hardly be conjectured. In the way of loud 
 talking much has already been accomplished of which the 
 public knows nothing. Ordinary receiving telephones can be 
 made to talk loud enough to easily be heard throughout a 
 good sized room at a distance of thirty or forty feet from the 
 instrument. A good instrument should easily transmit speech 
 uttered twenty feet away from it. The ordinary commercial 
 telephones do not do this, because they are very indifferent 
 types. The great need is a way of neutralizing the effects 
 of induction, leakage, and retardation, and with accidental 
 conditions incident to all lines. When that is accomplished 
 
THE BELL TELEPHONE. 77 
 
 there should be no more difficulty in talking between New 
 York and San Francisco than from one room to another in 
 the same building. 
 
 THE TELEPHONE ABROAD. 
 
 The Westminster Review says : " Of all novel inventions 
 connected with transmitting electric telegraph symbols, the 
 telephone devised by Mr. Alexander Graham Bell, of Boston, 
 has excited the most wide-spread interest and wonder. 
 Wherever Mr. Bell has appeared before an audience to give 
 an account of his invention crowds have assembled to hear 
 him. Nor is this astonishing, for the telephone professes, 
 not only to convey intelligible sounds, but to transmit in fac 
 simile the tone of the human voice so that a voice shall as 
 certainly be recognized when heard at a distance of a few 
 hundreds of miles as if its owner were speaking in a room 
 at our side. 
 
 " Scientific men have had their curiosity and wonder excited 
 even more than the unscientific public since a scientific man 
 appreciates the enormous difficulties to be overcome before 
 such an invention can be realized. The effects are so mar- 
 velous, the existing, so inadequate to produce them ; for a 
 telephone message must differ as widely from an ordinary 
 telegraph message as a highly finished oil painting differs 
 from a page of print. In the one we have only white and 
 black, black symbols on a white ground, the symbols being 
 limited in number and recurring again and again with no more 
 difference of order. The painting, on the other hand, dis- 
 closes every variety of order and arrangement, no sharp 
 lines of discontinuity offend the eye, on the contrary, the 
 tints shade off gradually and softly into each other, present- 
 
78 THE BELL TELEPHONE. 
 
 ing tone and depth in endless variety. The page of print is 
 unintelligible without the aid of a key ; the painting tells its 
 story to any one who has eyes to see." 
 
 In 1880 there were two telephone companies in Paris, 
 one using the Gower telephone and the other the Edison ; 
 a third company introduced the Blake transmitter, but was 
 soon consolidated with the Gower Company, who were the 
 first to introduce the telephone annunciator in that city. 
 
 The Central Telephone Office in Paris is one of the most 
 complete, and practically perfect telephone exchanges in the 
 world. The central office is situated in the very heart of the 
 capital. The subscribers are connected with the office in the 
 basement. The wires which arrive at the central office are 
 inclosed in cables ; these telephone cables are placed in the 
 city sewers under the technical service of the administration 
 of the state telegraphs. These cables are suspended by 
 hooks fastened into the stones of the sewer vaults. Each 
 of the wires contained in the cable is formed of a copper 
 conductor, consisting of three strands covered with a layer 
 of gutta-percha, and afterward by an envelope of colored 
 cotton. Each cable contains fourteen conductors thus com- 
 posed. They are formed into a rope, covered first by a 
 strong linen tape and then by a sheath of lead. The wires 
 are of various colors to the number of seven, each pair 
 of wires of the same color serving for a single subscriber. 
 These colors are white, blue, yellow, maroon, black, red, and 
 green. Each cable is numbered throughout, and it is thus 
 easy to find the wire when it is necessary as well as to change 
 connection. 
 
 The telephone company generally lay a main cable only 
 after grouping seven subscribers in the same neighbor- 
 
THE BELL TELEPHONE. 79 
 
 hood, in the meantime subscribers are served by temporary 
 cables of two conductors. 
 
 The branches to houses are made by means of small spe- 
 cial cables of two wires bound to the principal cables by 
 means of a ligature upon a lead conductor. Every house in 
 Paris has what is known as its particular sewer this is simply 
 an archway made under the sidewalk, and commences at the 
 side of the house itself, and stops at the main sewer. All 
 sewers, except the main collectors, are under the sidewalk, 
 near the curb. The collectors are under the roadway, but 
 they are, in fact, small rivers into which the main sewers 
 empty. To set the little cable for the particular sewer to the 
 outside they simply make a hole close to the side of the par- 
 ticular sewer through the sidewalk and into this sewer, in the 
 hole they insert a perpendicular gas-pipe, which projects six 
 or seven feet out of the hole, and through this gas-pipe they 
 rtm the Hide cable. 
 
 Besides the central office, subscribers are provided with 
 offices which are connected directly together by means of 
 auxiliary cables. 
 
 The Ader telephone is most employed, but the subscriber 
 can choose his apparatus from any of the following : Ader, 
 Gower, Blake, and Edison. 
 
 The double wire system is used exclusively. 
 
 The organization of the telephone service in the provinces 
 is far from being as perfect as in Paris, nevertheless, they 
 work regularly in all the large cities of France. 
 
 One of the most popular attractions at the Paris Electrical 
 Exhibition, of 1881, was the demonstration of -the marvel- 
 ous powers of the Bell telephone, by its transmission of the 
 singing on the stage and the music in the orchestra of the 
 
8o THE BELL TELEPHONE. 
 
 Grand Opera to a suite of four rooms reserved for the 
 purpose in one of the galleries of the Palais de'Industrie. 
 This demonstration was given usually between eight and 
 eleven o'clock, and an enormous number of people crowded 
 the entrance to the building before the doors were open to 
 the evening visitors. As soon as they could gain access to 
 the galleries adjoining the telephone rooms they patiently 
 awaited their turn for admission and the privilege of listen- 
 ing for a short time to whatever might be going on at the 
 opera solo, chorus, instrumental music, or, possibly all three, 
 until the allotted time had expired and they had to give 
 way to others. In this way eighty telephones were con- 
 stantly at work at the same time, the communication was 
 shifted at short intervals to another set of eighty instru- 
 ments in two other rooms. 
 
 The transmitters were microphones of the Ader system, 
 placed in front of the opera stage close to the footlights and 
 behind them. Special arrangements were made to enable the 
 one circuit from the transmitters, placed at the opera, to 
 the receivers, placed at the concert-room to do the work 
 properly. 
 
 A new acoustic effect was discovered by Mr. Ader, and 
 applied for the first time in telephonic transmission at the 
 electrical exhibition. 
 
 Every one who was fortunate enough to hear the tele- 
 phones at the Palais de'Industrie has remarked that in listen- 
 ing with both ears at the two telephones the sound took 
 a special character of relief and localization which a single 
 receiver could not produce. 
 
 Another interesting experiment was performed recently 
 between the Hippodrome and the office in the International 
 
THE BELL TELEPHONE. 8 1 
 
 Telephone Company. The orchestra of the Hippodrome, 
 which plays during the day and evening, was heard distinctly 
 by invited guests assembled at the Place Vendome. There 
 were ninety-six telephone receivers, and each auditor hav- 
 ing two of them, forty-eight persons were enabled to hear 
 at the same time. The clearness with which the music 
 was heard was perfect, and all of the auditors were perfectly 
 satisfied with the results. 
 
 The Swiss telephone methods are patterned largely after 
 American methods. The wires are run overhead and are run 
 from the tops of .the buildings, the central offices having 
 wire cupolas upon the tops of the buildings, the telephone 
 wires used are of galvanized steel, and are never stretched 
 beyond a strain of one hundred and twenty-five pounds, the 
 sag being purposely made so great on account of the severe 
 climate of this Alpine country. The telephone transmitters 
 adopted by the Swiss are of various types, each having, they 
 say, its merits and demerits. 
 
THE CHURCH. 
 
 HE vast agglomeration of thought, energy, organiza- 
 tion, and spiritual power known to us, broadly, as the 
 " Church Universal," and holding within its sphere 
 of influence men of every conceivable shade of relig- 
 ious opinion, affecting the body politic of all Christian 
 nations, and exerting no mean power in our own common- 
 wealth sprang from a lowly origin. The first Christian 
 Church was formed by a secession from a Jewish syna- 
 gogue. Afterward some synagogues were transformed into 
 churches or congregations the ruling power being vested 
 in Presbyters, who ultimately added to their office that of 
 teacher, although they by no means held a monopoly of in- 
 struction, messengers from other churches, or specially gifted 
 brethren, being welcomed as teachers by the congregation 
 they visited. In these primitive days church edifices were 
 unknown. Persecuted and despised, the followers of the 
 new faith were driven to meet in obscure places, in the 
 poorest streets of a city, in the woods, or, as in Rome, in the 
 Catacombs. It was not till the third century that Alexander 
 Severus gave a piece of ground to the Christian community 
 to build their first church in Rome. As the number of con- 
 verts and congregations increased, the simplicity of these 
 early organizations gave place to more systematic govern- 
 82 
 
THE CHURCH. 83 
 
 ment and more elaborate ritual of worship, and hence the 
 priestly caste was developed from the primitive Apostolic 
 ministry. The congregations fell into four divisions, and were 
 seated in the churches in accordance. At the entrance of 
 the building, between the porch and the interior, was an open 
 space containing a pool of water often a fountain in which 
 the worshipers laved face and hands before entering, as a 
 symbol of the purity indispensable in approaching the Divine 
 Presence. In this space, which formed a cloister or colonnade, 
 the uninitiated or inquirers were permitted only to stand and 
 look on. Within the church itself the outermost seats were 
 allotted to the catechumens those under instruction in the 
 faith the next were occupied by penitents believers, but 
 not yet in full communion while nearest the altar, and the 
 speaker of the day, sat those who had passed all these stages 
 and become communicants. It was the invariable practice for 
 the women to sit together on the right side of the building. 
 As the congregations and buildings became larger the incon- 
 venience of the orator standing as had been usual in a door- 
 way or on the low steps near the altar, and so being ineffectu- 
 ally heard, led to the introduction of pulpits. With the growth 
 of the priestly idea of the ministry a change in the manner 
 of preaching gradually took place, till in the Middle Ages 
 purely spiritual instruction was to a great extent superseded 
 by teaching, having sole reference to the rites and ordinances 
 of the church. The three orders of the ministry, bishops, priests, 
 and deacons, remained unbroken, their work respectively 
 being to govern, teach, and dispense charity ; the latter duty 
 being extensively shared as the centuries passed by numer- 
 ous fraternities and sisterhoods. 
 
 During the incursion of the barbarians into Europe in the 
 
84 THE CHURCH. 
 
 fourth century the majority of the basilicas and smaller 
 churches were ruthlessly destroyed, and from the sixth to the 
 eighth century comparatively few were restored. Of those 
 that were rebuilt, the grandest was that of S. Sophia, re- 
 stored by Constantine ; that even to the present day furnishes 
 the finest ideal plans to the builders of churches. Foremost 
 among monarchs of the earlier period who gave practical 
 encouragement to church building was the Emperor Charle- 
 magne. During the tenth century a prophecy that the end of 
 the world was imminent gained such firm hold on the popular 
 mind that an entire cessation of activity in this regard was 
 the result, but the world continued to exist ; the neglected 
 work was resumed in the following century, and in that period 
 the number and magnificence of the churches erected was 
 extraordinary. 
 
 The favorite site for a church was on a hill, a predilection to 
 be accounted for, probably not only by the universal tendency 
 of mankind to worship in whatever way on the highest spot 
 within reach, but also by the frequent necessity in those stormy 
 Middle Ages of turning the church into a fortress. 
 
 The period of multiplication of great religious edifices, and 
 of enormous expenditure on their construction, was marked 
 by many abuses. To secure means for this lavish display, 
 and the support of the augmented staff of the clergy, the 
 people were heavily burdened, and methods of extortion de- 
 vised that were very far from being in accordance with the 
 code of morals enjoined on the primitive Church by its great 
 Head. Greed, injustice, and corruption ran riot till, about 
 the end of the fifteenth century, an under-current of opinion 
 began to make its way among thoughtful men that the time 
 was coming for reform. An opinion at first kept much out 
 
:^^ ^. .,... U,^ * 
 
THE CHURCH. 85 
 
 of sight, but as general as in our day and country is the de- 
 sire for tariff reform. 
 
 This sentiment grew steadily till, at the beginning of the 
 sixteenth century, before the birth of Luther, it had perme- 
 ated every grade of society, and the need of essential reform 
 was fully recognized. 
 
 The scandalous lives of ecclesiastics, the arbitrary proceed- 
 ings of successive popes, and the abuse of ecclesiastical power 
 aroused intense antagonism, and not only among the laity, for 
 many of the higher-minded clergy appeared as doctrinal 
 reformers, and seeing that there was little prospect of the 
 pope inaugurating a better state of things, commenced to 
 take action independently by earnestly propagating their own 
 ideas. 
 
 That these early reformers were not actuated by exclu- 
 sive religious feeling is tolerably certain. In the sphere of 
 political action the influence of the popes was comparatively 
 insignificant, and national reform (as Luther himself said in 
 1520) being needed as much as that of the Church, political 
 and religious thought became intermixed in the minds of 
 most men of that day. 
 
 In the upheaval of the old institutions that culminated in 
 the establishment of the principles of the Reformation, Ger- 
 many led the way, followed by England ; united Christen- 
 dom resolved itself into a group of national and local 
 churches, with the result of large improvement in the social, 
 moral, and religious state of the people. 
 
 While agreed on most general principles, the various sec- 
 tions of the Reformers clashed considerably in opinion ; the 
 churches exhibited a litigant spirit, and divided into numer- 
 ous sections, these disagreeing continually : a section bene- 
 
86 THE CHURCH. 
 
 fited by some particular reform being unable to see that it 
 would not be desirable for another section, who were not in 
 need of it ; consequently, the two sections clashed just as in 
 our day the tariff reformer of the South disagrees with the 
 tariff reformer of the North, whose productions, manufac- 
 tures, and wants are of a totally different character. 
 
 Eventually, the people of Christendom divided into two 
 classes, which may be described as negative and affirmative. 
 The negative, or Protestant party, rejecting tradition as un- 
 trustworthy, and insisting on Biblical teaching only, and the 
 right of private judgment on matters of doctrine. The 
 affirmative, or Roman Catholic party, adhering to the tradi- 
 tions of the Church, and absolutely denying the right of 
 private judgment in interpretation of Scripture. 
 
 From the period of the Reformation onward the builders 
 of churches in England and America have given less atten- 
 tion to the architectural aspect of their work and more to the 
 needs of modern congregations. The seating capacity has 
 been a primary object, and the interior comfort and acoustic 
 properties have been more carefully studied. There is no 
 reason to believe that any unnecessary care for economy has 
 prompted the modern style of church edifices, inasmuch as 
 in most of our great cities very costly sacred buildings are 
 to be found, but it would seem probable that wealth is more 
 freely bestowed on these structures because they are built by 
 the people for the people, and are not paid for by the 
 State. 
 
 One of the most perfectly modelled church-buildings in 
 this country in point of acoustic properties is the Mormon 
 Temple in Salt Lake City. Its peculiarity consists in the 
 floor ascending and the roof descending from the altar to 
 
THE CHURCH. 87 
 
 the far end of the auditorium, so that the voice of a speaker 
 being thrown forward between converging planes is carried 
 perfectly to the most distant point of the building. 
 
 The one division desired to retain all the observances of 
 the established ritual, the forms and methods of Church gov- 
 ernment, sanctioned by Rome ; the other, or Protestant party, 
 rejecting all of these which were unsupported by Scripture 
 or the practice of the primitive Church. 
 
THE STAGE. 
 
 ^^^^^ 
 
 HE universal taste for the drama in its multiplied forms, 
 whether tragedy, comedy, melodrama, burlesque, or 
 the varieties of opera, is beyond dispute, and the 
 raison d'etre is not far to seek. The absorbing interest 
 of a serious play, the gayety of comedy, or the hilarity of 
 comic opera and burlesque are strong counter-irritants to 
 the dullness and depressing influences of our prosaic every- 
 day life. That the majority of any civilized nation should 
 enjoy theatrical entertainments is no wonder. But the motive 
 which prompts men to engage in a profession which is at 
 once arduous, precarious as a source of income, and in which 
 the highest honors are attainable only by a very limited 
 minority, is less easily discovered. 
 
 It appears tolerably certain that a comparatively small 
 number either of men or women select the profession (or 
 have it selected for them), with the same definite purpose or 
 contemplate adopting at as early an age as they usually de- 
 termine on becoming clergymen, lawyers, doctors, artists, or 
 going into trade. With the exception of a few theatrical 
 families, whose children are attracted by the parents' success- 
 ful career, and are frequently trained to the stage as a matter 
 of convenience almost from babyhood, the large majority of 
 actors and actresses seem to drift into dramatic life almost 
 aimlesslyand under the pressure of extraneous circumstances, 
 88 
 
THE STAGE. 89 
 
 The life is too exacting, the prospect of accumulation of 
 wealth too slight to induce persons of a practical turn of 
 mind to consider acting a sure road to money-making, and 
 it is the unpractical mind of youth therefore that most often 
 selects the stage as its sphere. The few who become actors 
 later in life are almost invariably amateurs who have tasted 
 the sweets of applause in their own circle and in whom the 
 appetite for display grows till only the plaudits of the public 
 can satisfy it. 
 
 Whether even public approbation is an entirely satisfying 
 mental diet is open to question, for it has often to be taker* 
 with the bitter herbs of envy, jealousy, and hard work. Irr 
 great part the hopes and imagination of aspirants to dramatic 
 fame are quickly disappointed, insomuch that having been 
 "behind the scenes" has become a synonym for having dis- 
 covered a deception. In a very short time the neophyte be- 
 comes accustomed to the tinsel and false show, disenchant- 
 ment follows, and the theatre is no longer an Elysium but a 
 place of business where every one has to work as hard as- 
 any other mortal in the world outside. 
 
 While there may be many secondary motives at work in a* 
 young mind to bias it in the determination to act in public 
 a romantic tendency that frets against the commonplace of 
 daily life, love of excitement, restlessness of temperament 
 the general consensus of opinion among men of long ex- 
 perience in the management of theatres and the training of 
 stage pupils declares personal vanity to be the primary and 
 overruling motive, whether the would-be actor be cognizant 
 
 o o 
 
 of it or no. With the finer order of minds, true love of their 
 art, as seen in its best development, springs up and confirms 
 them in their affection for stage life. Others, when the 
 
gO THE STAGE. 
 
 novelty has worn off, are content to look on their profession 
 chiefly as a means of bread-winning, and to these it is rarely 
 a life of entire satisfaction. 
 
 The most painstaking research has failed in discovering 
 any data whereby the exact time of the birth of the drama 
 may be fixed, but its life doubtless owes its origin to the uni- 
 versal tendency of human thought and feeling to represent 
 in actual perceptible form its ideas concerning either invisible 
 Deity or the moral and emotional aspects of human life. 
 Dramatic art, in the earliest ages wherein we know it to have 
 existed, was invariably founded on the rites and ceremonies 
 of some religious cult. Having once been introduced, the 
 dramatic element in the religion of Greece steadily increased, 
 and from the first was intimately connected with the State 
 worship of Bacchus, or Dionysus (the new name adopted by 
 the Greeks for Helios, the sun god, the idea of the bright 
 cheerful Bacchus being associated with Helios, the dispenser 
 of light and joy, naturally merging into the worship of both 
 as one divinity). 
 
 In the worship of Dionysus, at Eleusis and Delphi, the 
 deity was personated by a handsome youth in a theatrical 
 .performance representing his betrothal to the daughter of 
 the King Archon. 
 
 The earliest form in which the drama developed itself was 
 
 .tragedy, in which the serious choral poetry of Dorian worship 
 
 -was amalgamated with the mimetic dances and the songs of 
 
 the worship of Bacchus. About the thirty-eighth Olympiad, 
 
 Arion, the Methymnaean, is supposed to have introduced the 
 
 innovation of a standing chorus and single characters speak- 
 
 ang in verse. In the sixth century B. C., Thespis, an actor, 
 
 \whose native town was especially given to the Dionysian 
 
THE STAGE. 9! 
 
 worship, invented the art of " making up " the face with 
 colors, and also a linen mask for the convenience of an actor 
 playing two parts in one play. 
 
 The exact birthplace of Greek comedy is unknown, but 
 this style of acting drama most probably arose in the country 
 and was connected with the village harvest-festivals, the name 
 springing from Kw^dm, song of Comos or revels. Comedy 
 soon rose from mere mimetic show to true drama, attaining 
 in time to songs, trained chorus, and systematic dances. The 
 bulk of the audience having in this early period no knowl- 
 edge of written plays, the subject of a dramatic representa- 
 tion was usually drawn either from a well-known public event 
 or some court trial of interest, so that the spectators could 
 readily comprehend the drift of the satire in which the early 
 plays abounded, and appreciate the pantomimic display. The 
 chorus also aided in keeping the motive of action clearly be- 
 fore them. 
 
 The first known Grecian theatre was a wooden structure, 
 but this being destroyed by an accident, a great stone theatre 
 (the Lenseon, or inclosure of Bacchus) was erected in its 
 place, the construction occupying one hundred and twenty- 
 nine years. It was built, as were those that succeeded it, on 
 the slope of a hill, and consisted of a semicircle of steps 
 hewn in the rock. Others, on soft ground, were formed of 
 rows of stone steps built in rising tiers. The great theatre 
 of Bacchus at Athens had a seating capacity of thirty thou- 
 sand ; all theatres built at that time were large enough to 
 contain the entire population. Surrounding the seats there 
 was a sheltered piazza, with balustrades and a fine portico, 
 into which the audience could retire in case of a sudden 
 storm, returning to the auditorium when it was over. For 
 
92 THE STAGE. 
 
 protection from the sun, a huge awning of palm-leaf matting 
 or sail-cloth, shaped somewhat like a parasol, was raised 
 over the inclosure. The arrangement of this contrivance be- 
 ing difficult and dangerous, sailors were usually employed in 
 its management. Besides giving shelter, this awning in- 
 creased the facility of hearing the speakers, and its value in 
 this regard has been exemplified in modern times by the use 
 of one (copied from that of the theatre at Pompeii) at the 
 Albert Hall, South Kensington, where it has proved success- 
 ful in correcting the acoustic deficiencies of the building. 
 The Albert Hall holds an audience of twenty-two thousand, 
 and the softest sounds of speech or music are distinctly audi- 
 ble in every part. 
 
 The attendance of a whole city on an ancient dramatic per- 
 formance may be accounted for partly by its religious char- 
 acter, partly because a play was seldom repeated, never more 
 than once in a year. Plays were usually performed at the 
 four Bacchic feasts in the sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth 
 months of the year, and occupied from ten hours to a day or 
 two. Accessories to the better production of both tragedy 
 and comedy came into use at the theatre in Athens ; thunder 
 and lightning were produced by the beating of copper 
 sheets and the flashing of cleverly-arranged mirrors, and 
 machinery was employed in bringing on the clouds from 
 which the deities held conversations with the mortals on 
 the stage. 
 
 From this period the drama steadily developed in various 
 directions, but always, evolved as it was from pagan rites, in 
 accordance with the religious bent of the public mind in the 
 different countries of Europe, until the advent of Christianit) r , 
 which slowly but surely undermined the power of the ancient 
 
THE STAGE. 93 
 
 superstitions, and, turning heathen Saturnalia into a holy 
 festival, heathen choruses to the hymns of a pure faith, grad- 
 ually lifted the old imbruted world from the pit of corruption 
 into which it had stumbled, and in purifying its civil and re- 
 ligious life, purified also its amusements. 
 
 Still, the drama in the early Christian centuries retained its 
 religious motive, the manner of performance undergoing 
 considerable modifications. The mediaeval mysteries and 
 miracle plays had for their motive Scriptural histories or 
 passages from the lives of the saints, and were performed 
 under the direction of the clergy. At first these plays were 
 given in the churches, so that the stage accessories of the 
 later Greek drama were necessarily dispensed with. The 
 performers all appeared at once, each standing apart to speak 
 his lines, except the devils, who usually were numerous and con- 
 spicuous, and for whom a space was kept clear from the spec- 
 tators on the floor in front of the rude stage or platform, and 
 from which they sprang up among the performers to tempt, 
 maltreat, and otherwise worry the saint who was the hero of 
 the piece. It is probable that this arrangement gave its name 
 to the "pit" of the English theatre. 
 
 Stage illusions were unknown at this period, and the 
 11 unities " were not much considered by the ecclesiastics 
 who were the authors of miracle plays and mysteries. They 
 saw no incongruity in the appearance of the dramatis persona 
 in a body ; whereas now each actor who leaves the stage re- 
 turns apparently from the place where he is supposed to have 
 been in the interval. 
 
 The use of the churches for plays was in time found ob- 
 jectionable, and performances were next given on a scaffold 
 built against the church wall or in a field near by; later still, 
 
94 THE STAGE. 
 
 about the beginning of the seventeenth century, in movable 
 theatres taken from place to place. 
 
 The chief interest of all these dramas was tragic, and they 
 are said to have been first acted in English about three centu- 
 ries before the birth of Chaucer. 
 
 With the advance of education among the laity, and the 
 consequent growth of purer sentiment, the grotesque and 
 rude character of the miracle plays became distasteful to the 
 more cultivated people of England, and as the poetic taste 
 of the Elizabethan age developed secular plays became 
 popular, and mysteries and their fellow-performances gradu- 
 ally died out. During the period when Shakespeare's plays 
 were making their first impression, the playwrights discovered 
 the value of scenery in aiding dramatic effect, and the desir- 
 ability of excluding the audience from a knowledge of what 
 was transpiring behind the curtain. 
 
 The first secular theatrical entertainments were given by 
 strolling players, often in the open air, a wagon or rough 
 scaffold forming the stage, and sometimes under shelter in a 
 barn. Even after playhouses were built in the towns the 
 strolling companies still lived, and were welcomed in rural 
 places and at country fairs. 
 
 By the middle of the seventeenth century the secular 
 drama, having made good its claim on the public approval, 
 regular theatres were opened (presumably for the benefit of 
 the upper ten of that day), to which admission could only be 
 gained by invitation, which invitations, however, were not 
 free, the fee exacted being equal or more to the prices at the 
 public houses of entertainment. None of these theatres 
 were by any means perfect in construction, although it 
 betokened great advance on the Shakspearian era that they 
 
THE STAGE. 95 
 
 were roofed, provided with comfortable benches, and 
 possessed scenery. All were under the censorship of the 
 Lord Chamberlain. The scenery was rough and imperfect, 
 often dilapidated, and quite as often entirely unsuited either 
 to the play or the house in which it was performed. But 
 methods continually improved. For special representations 
 new scenery was painted, the actors usually sharing the ex- 
 pense with the management (which was often vested as much 
 in the company as in the ostensible manager). 
 
 In course of time the provincial towns became imbued 
 with greater appreciation of the drama, and theatres were 
 built in them, occupied at intervals by stock companies, 
 which, if not quite up to the standard required by metropoli- 
 tan audiences, were at least of immeasurably higher artistic 
 calibre than the poor strollers whom they supplanted. From 
 these stock companies to the traveling companies of the 
 present day, who after a brilliant success in the great cities 
 take the " successful " play "on the road," the transition was 
 easy and made on an upward grade. The plays presented 
 now having an infinitely greater range of subjects, are pre- 
 sented more attractively than was possible with our ancestors' 
 lack of means to produce fine stage effects, and are acted by 
 performers of higher mental cultivation. 
 
 The first theatre in America was built at Williamsburgh, 
 Va., in 1752, and claims precedence as to the structure only, 
 the first dramatic performances having been given in New 
 York, in 1750, in an ordinary house fitted up for the purpose. 
 After New York and Virginia had led the way, Annapolis 
 and Boston followed, the first theatre in Boston being opened 
 in 1792. As the population increased, and the wealth and 
 higher intellectual culture of the nation grew even more 
 
96 THE STAGE. 
 
 rapidly, the need of mental recreation was proportionally 
 felt, and all cities having a population large enough to sup- 
 port one became each possessed of a theatre of its own. 
 
 These individual buildings, though rude in structure com- 
 pared to those of our day, were remarkable for the originality 
 of their arrangement and construction, in no case being 
 modelled after the theatres of Europe, an idea which has 
 been preserved and more amply developed in modern Ame- 
 rican theatres. Neither in the last or the present century do 
 the exterior or interior features of play-houses present many 
 points of identity with the structures of ancient times. 
 
 Of American theatres now existent the largest and most 
 elegant are to be found in New York, Chicago, Denver, 
 Boston, and Kansas City. The Warder Opera House in 
 Kansas City is a very large building, and was opened with 
 somewhat peculiar circumstances, under which the audience 
 showed as much spirit of enterprise and enthusiasm as the 
 
 management. 
 
 The first performance, given by Messrs. Booth and Barrett, 
 took place while the edifice was still unfinished. For the 
 first five nights the lowest priced seats cost two dollars and 
 fifty cents. The interior scaffolding had not been removed, 
 the roof had not been set on, and the audience were fain to 
 muffle themselves in wraps and overcoats ! Nevertheless the 
 inauguration of Kansas City Opera House was a pronounced 
 success. 
 
 Chicago, Cincinnati, Baltimore, Washington, St. Louis, 
 Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Minneapolis all have thea- 
 tres of superior structure and equipment, unsurpassed by 
 any on the European continent. 
 
 The Tabor Opera House at Denver has some striking 
 
THE STAGE. 97 
 
 characteristics beyond its size and beauty. Notwithstanding 
 its ample seating capacity the means of egress are such 
 as to secure safety, let the exit of the great audience be ever 
 so hasty, and every detail of arrangement and fittings in- 
 sures the maximum of comfort. 
 
 The first theatre in New York was established in 1750. 
 In February of that year an editorial note in the New York 
 Gazette, revived in the Weekly Post-boy, stated that a party 
 of comedians had taken a room in one of the buildings, 
 owned by the Hon. Rip Van Dam, Esq., deceased, on Nassau 
 Street, and purposed to remain throughout the season, pro- 
 viding that the public gave them due encouragement. This 
 building was on the east side of Nassau Street, between John 
 Street and Maiden Lane, and its site is now occupied by 
 stores and offices of comparatively old date. It was after- 
 ward used as a place of worship, and the congregation occu- 
 pying it eventually pulled it down and built a church on the 
 same site, which stood till 1810. 
 
 Contrary to European custom, the prices of admission 
 made the pit (now termed the orchestra) the most expensive 
 part of the house, the admission to it being one dollar and a 
 quarter, and to the gallery, seventy-five cents. In 1751 
 boxes were added, the price being one dollar and a quarter, 
 while the gallery remained at seventy-five cents, and the pit 
 was lowered to twenty-five cents. 
 
 The population of the city was then small, and the majority 
 were apparently not enthusiastic on the subject of dramatic 
 art ; for this, their only theatre, was closed in 1752, and not 
 re-opened for a year. A Virginian company then came to 
 New York and played a six months' season. A new theatre 
 was built for them, said to have been larger, more commodi- 
 7 
 
98 THE STAGE. 
 
 ous, and more elegantly fitted up than any in the country, 
 but neither printed description nor drawings of it have been 
 preserved. Shortly after this time an English manager came 
 over and and built a theatre near what is now known as 
 Coenties Slip, but it was only a temporary structure, and an- 
 other was eventually built on the southwest corner of Beek- 
 man Street at a cost of one thousand six hundred and 
 twenty-five dollars. 
 
 The population had now increased, but appreciation of 
 the drama did not keep pace with its growth. The new 
 theatre had from the outset to contend against much opposi- 
 tion, and in the stormy times of 1764 the building was 
 attacked and almost totally destroyed by the mob. Theatri- 
 cal enterprise was checked for awhile, but rallied again in 
 1767, when a theatre was built in John Street, which existed 
 for thirty years, and a few years latter another was built in 
 Greenwich Street. The drama had now established itself as 
 an abiding inhabitant of the city, and from that time forward 
 the growth of the theatrical element has moved on a parallel 
 line with that of the wealth and aesthetic taste of the people. 
 
 The smaller towns in New York State are better provided 
 with theatres than towns of the same size in any other part 
 of America. 
 
 In the Southern States the architectural style of the thea- 
 tres is more of the European character, and the interior 
 arrangements based on the same plan. In New Orleans the 
 orchestra (or pit) is the lowest priced part of the house, ex- 
 cept, of course, the gallery. Baldwin's Theatre, San Fran- 
 cisco, is also quite European in appearance, having tiers of 
 boxes all round the auditorium, but in this instance the price 
 for the pit is higher. 
 
THE STAGE. 99 
 
 Among the interesting theatres of the cities in the Pacific 
 States, none is more so than the old California, now one of 
 the finest in the United States, with every equipment for suc- 
 cessful production of the elaborate modern drama, and en- 
 joying the prestige of being the scene of the early triumphs 
 of Edwin Booth and John McCullogh. 
 
 Of all modern theatres, the largest and most perfectly 
 appointed, is the Auditorium in Chicago. The dimensions of 
 its stage are one hundred and ten by seventy feet, with a 
 height up to the bridge of ninety feet, and is, therefore, 
 wider, but not quite so deep as that of the Metropolitan 
 Opera House in New York. There is room upon it for an 
 ensemble of over six hundred performers. The space in 
 front of the footlights will afford room for an orchestra of 
 ninety pieces, and there are three galleries. Five thousand 
 opera chairs will accommodate the ordinary audience, but on 
 special occasions the stage and foyer can be utilized for three 
 thousand more, giving a total seating capacity of eight thou- 
 sand. Twelve thousand, however, can be assembled within 
 hearing of speakers on any great occasion, and a public 
 orator, after making two speeches in the vast building at the 
 great convention of 1888, pronounced its acoustic properties 
 absolutely perfect. The Auditorium is consequently most 
 perfectly adapted for musical purposes. 
 
 The stage, scenery, and curtain are of iron, and an organ 
 built in is the finest in the world. The Chicago Conservatory 
 of Music will appropriately make its home within the walls. 
 The rehearsal room, which will be available for amateur per- 
 formances and musical organizations, will seat from six to 
 eight hundred people. 
 
 Not the least wonderful feature of this marvelous theatre 
 
IOO THE STAGE. 
 
 is the fact that it only forms part of a building, which for 
 immensity and general beauty, is unrivalled by any other,, 
 either in the old or new world that is intended for the use of 
 the people. 
 
 The Auditorium building covers nearly two acres of 
 ground, fronting the lake, with frontage also on Wabash 
 Avenue and Congress Street, the total being seven hundred 
 and ten feet. Thirty-seven hundred tons of iron-work have 
 been required for the work, the substructure is of dark 
 granite, the pillars of polished granite, and the superstruc- 
 ture of lighter stone. There are ten stones, with a square 
 tower forty by seventy-one feet, rising one hundred feet above 
 the roof, and having seventeen stories. The platform of the 
 tower will accommodate several hundred persons, and is 
 reached by a special elevator. This forms a fine observa- 
 tory, and the United States Signal Service have given notice 
 of their desire for quarters on the top floor. 
 
 The Michigan Avenue front is a hotel, with foyers on the 
 ground floor, about four hundred rooms almost all having 
 southern or eastern exposure, and a magnificent dining-room 
 on the tenth floor. 
 
 The building is absolutely fire-proof, seven hundred thou- 
 sand dollars having been expended on fire-proof material 
 alone. The Auditorium is supplied with three thousand 
 Edison incandescent electric lights. 
 
 Apart from the hotel and auditorium, about one-third of 
 the building will be devoted to art and education. 
 
THE NEWSPAPER. 
 
 ' HE average reader, as he takes up his daily journal, 
 almost as a matter of habit, rarely pauses to con- 
 1 sider frequently does not even know the enormous 
 amount of mental, mechanical, and manual work, and 
 the infinite ramifications of systematized labor that combine 
 and have their final culmination in the sheet of printed matter 
 that he so carelessly handles. In England the newspaper 
 has been called the fourth estate of the realm ; in America it 
 is the second power in the State, the people themselves alone 
 being above it. There are in the United States in this year, 
 1888, fourteen thousand two hundred newspapers ; and the 
 period of this extraordinary growth from the time when there 
 was but one covers about one hundred years, its higher and 
 more rapid development having taken place within about 
 thirty years. Since its solid establishment in our country, 
 the newspaper has not only grown with the people, but has 
 been a prominent factor in their growth, following closely be- 
 hind the pioneers as the population has spread westward ; 
 and doing so literally during the building of the Pacific rail- 
 road, when the Frontier Index had a peripatetic office which 
 kept just ahead of the rails and locomotives. 
 
 In its earliest days the newspaper, strange to say, con- 
 tained everything but news. The " powers that were " 
 
 101 
 
IO2 THE NEWSPAPER. 
 
 strongly objected to the enlightenment of the people as to 
 their doings, so that discussions on any subject except 
 domestic policy filled its pages, and the little news inserted 
 was chiefly foreign. It was not until the middle of the 
 eighteenth century, when the breath of revolution was stirring 
 the air, that the newspaper began to exert any power, and 
 the cities that possessed a newspaper became centres of in- 
 fluence and political agitation, while journalists began their 
 earliest attempts to mold public opinion. Soon the need 
 was felt of better and more newspapers, and with this need 
 came the demand for more adequate machinery of produc- 
 tion. Inventions continually sprang into life, each succeeding 
 printing-press became more complex, more rapid, and during 
 the last decade the inventions in this line have been increas- 
 ingly marvelous. 
 
 American journalism is now in its hundred and thirty- 
 second year, the oldest living newspaper in the United 
 States, the New Hampshire Gazette, having been issued in 
 1756. -But the very first newspaper in the country was 
 Publick Occurrences, issued in Boston, September 25th, 1690,, 
 by Richard Pearce for Richard Harris. The life of the infant 
 journal was extremely brief. The good citizens of Boston 
 took umbrage at the dangerous innovation of letting light in 
 upon domestic and civic life, and pronounced such literature 
 improper and pernicious to young minds, while the govern- 
 ment took exception to having its proceedings discussed by 
 outsiders, and summarily suppressed the enterprise before 
 the second edition could be brought out. For a while news 
 could only be circulated by means of letters, pamphlets, or 
 circulars ; but the spirit of journalism, once it became instinct 
 with life, might be scotched but not killed; and in 1696 Ben- 
 
THE NEWSPAPER. IOJ: 
 
 jamin Fletcher, Lieutenant-Governor of New York, induced 1 
 William Bradford, a printer of Philadelphia, to set up in New 
 York and reprint the London Gazette, which gave an account 
 of an eno-a^ement with the French a little while before the 
 
 o o 
 
 peace of Ryswick. This was the first victory of the free 
 press of America over government. 
 
 The Boston Newsletter (which is commonly spoken of as 
 the first American newspaper) was issued in 1704. The 
 editor was Postmaster John Campbell ; but succeeding 
 editors usually followed some other calling, the majority; 
 keeping the taverns which represented the modern res- 
 taurant, probably selecting that trade as the likeliest to afford 1 
 the daily bread that they saw no hope of getting out of jour- 
 nalism. Strangers in Boston inquiring for the newspaper 
 were directed to the tavern, and for some now undiscoverable 
 reason were, on asking for a copy, required to give refer- 
 ences. The tavern was probably also regarded as a desirable 
 location for the editor's office from its being a centre of 
 gossip and newsgathering. In 1719, William Prooker, who 
 superseded Campbell as Postmaster, started a paper of his 
 own, the Boston Gazette, the second in the country, where- 
 upon Campbell waxed indignant, and the first newspaper 
 quarrel was put on record. It was exceedingly fierce and ; 
 bitter, after the fashion set by the London newspapers nearly 
 a century earlier. The day after the Gazette appeared, 
 Postmaster Andrew Bradford issued the American Weekly 
 Mercury, and two years after, in 1721, James and Benjamin 
 Franklin sent out the first number of the New England 
 Courant. Journalistic warfare now increased, but at length 
 the Franklins were too strong for their adversaries, and 
 Campbell sold his Newsletter to Bartholomew Green. Mean- 
 
IO4 THE NEWSPAPER. 
 
 while popular culture had increased, and a higher order of 
 newspapers was demanded ; editors recognized the need of 
 cultivating the peculiar talent required in newspaper writing, 
 and journalism became a profession. 
 
 In 1727, Boston had four thriving papers, and Maryland 
 one, the Maryland Gazette. In 1733, the New York Weekly 
 Journal was established by John Peter Zengen, who was im- 
 prisoned for libel on the Government, and whose trial, and 
 .acquittal through the efforts of Andrew Hamilton, then leader 
 of the Pennsylvania Bar, was the first great triumph of free- 
 dom of speech and of the American Press. About this time, 
 .South Carolina and Virginia each started a paper; both, 
 however, were temporarily unsuccessful, but were eventually 
 revived. In 1742, William Bradford, grandson of the printer, 
 started the Pennsylvania Journal, which vigorously supported 
 Colonial freedom. In 1775, Kentucky and Ohio each set up 
 a newspaper in their respective capitals, which, after chang- 
 ing from name to name and hand to hand, still exist, and 
 have a good circulation. During the revolutionary period 
 several religious papers came out, but were soon dropped 
 again. In 1 748, only six greater cities supported newspapers, 
 viz. : Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Annapolis, Williams- 
 burg, and Charleston, S. C. In the same year Samuel 
 Adams created the Independent Advertiser, in Boston, and 
 .ardently supported the revolutionary party. The sentiment 
 of freedom was rapidly growing, and the Boston Gazette 
 became the organ of the leaders who demanded Colonial 
 freedom. It was not the ideal newspaper of to-day ; con- 
 sisting only of two pages, printed on a half-sheet of crown 
 \paper. Some seventeen or eighteen newspaper publica- 
 tions appeared now at various times, the Virginia Gazette, 
 
THE NEWSPAPER. 1 05 
 
 in 1766, being the first to publish the Declaration of Inde- 
 pendence. 
 
 In opposition to these revolutionary papers, the British had 
 their own, the principal being Rivingtoris Gazette, N. Y. r 
 which had its office frequently mobbed by patriots, and the 
 Chronicle in Boston, which shared the same polite attentions 
 from the people. Major Andre was one of the chief contrib- 
 utors to Rivingtoris. From 1748 to 1783 forty-nine news- 
 papers, weekly and semi-weekly, were set up, but of all 
 started between 1690 and 1783, only forty-three were extant 
 at the time of the peace. 
 
 The first daily, The American Daily Advertiser (now the 
 North American] came into existence in Philadelphia in 1 784,. 
 and was followed in New York by the New York Daily Ad- 
 vertiser. In 1786 the Pittsburgh (Pa.) Gazette was founded, 
 and still lives. A large number of unsuccessful papers now 
 sprang up in succession, but few succeeded, nine being 
 swallowed up by the Philadelphia North American between 
 1771 and 1848. Of many hundreds set up in New York 
 alone, from 1725 to 1827, only two now exist, the Commercial 
 Advertiser and Evening Post. The very names of defunct 
 newspapers since 1 690 would nearly fill the entire pages of 
 one of our present dailies. 
 
 Prior to 1820, the editions of all papers were small and 
 their production a work of difficulty. The publishers had to 
 contend against bad and expensive paper, battered type, oily 
 ink, uneven impression, and a host of minor vexations ; the 
 methods of printing were cumbrous and slow, news was not 
 easily procured, and the absence of facilities for distribution 
 (none being sold on the streets), combined with the other diffi- 
 culties to keep editions small and prices high. Up to 1830 
 
IO6 THE NEWSPAPER. 
 
 the regular price was twenty-four, sometimes twenty-eight 
 cents. Another drawback to extensive printing was the fact 
 that up to this time there were but two type foundries in the 
 country, the first being that of Binney & Ronaldson in Phila- 
 delphia. 
 
 About 1835 Mr. (now the Hon. Byron) Weston instructed 
 the wood-pulp inventors how to turn out their first sheets of 
 writing paper, a most valuable improvement. The endless 
 web of paper had been invented in 1804, but printing on it 
 was not thought of till many years later. The old cumbrous 
 wooden presses had been found quite inadequate about that 
 time, and in 1807 the first iron press was set up by George 
 Clymer, of Philadelphia. The Washington, Adams, and 
 Hoe hand presses followed, and in 1821 the first power press 
 was produced by Daniel Treadwell, of Boston, and was later 
 used by the American Bible Society in New York. 
 
 After a year or two more than twenty power presses were 
 in operation, and the first used for newspapers was employed 
 in printing the Boston Daily Advertiser, and soon after was 
 adopted in New York. One invention must always be suc- 
 ceeded by supplementary inventions to insure success, and 
 the power presses led to the employment of composition 
 rollers in 1814 ; prior to which time ink had been applied on 
 leather balls held in each hand and rolled against each other 
 over the type. The greater facilities for printing demanded 
 a larger supply of type, and type foundries came one after 
 another into existence. With the increased ease of produc- 
 tion there came naturally a decrease in price, and in 1830 a 
 paper appeared in New York with the innovation of local 
 added to general news, and at the amazing price of one cent. 
 This was the New York Sun, and in 1835 tne New York 
 
THE NEWSPAPER. 1 07 
 
 Herald appeared at the same price ; the growth and pros- 
 perity of both having continued to the present day. In 1841 
 Horace Greeley and H. D. Sheppard followed suit with the 
 New York Tribune at the same price ; commencing their 
 career on a borrowed capital of one thousand dollars, and with 
 a subscription list of five hundred. This venture failed, not 
 from any lack of editorial ability, but from financial difficulty. 
 The Tribune, however, revived, and has been among the 
 foremost of the great dailies in accepting improved methods. 
 The original Tribune contained no more matter than to-day's 
 Tribune holds on a single leaf, and a flat press turning out 
 one thousand five hundred papers an hour was amply suffi- 
 cient for the demand. Two or three men, working from mid- 
 night to six A. M., could get out as large an edition as was 
 wanted. The stereotype was as yet unknown, therefore, the 
 scope of the journal was very limited ; there was no late 
 news, no early sales, and no out-of-town circulation. 
 
 In this same year (1835), The Baltimore Sun and Philadel- 
 phia Ledger were established. 
 
 The conjoined influence of home news and low prices com- 
 pletely revolutionized journalism. A large number of news- 
 papers gave more space to news and less to discussion, and 
 all lowered their prices. 
 
 It was foreseen about this time that no single press would 
 shortly be able to print the number of editions growing in 
 demand, and it was found necessary to devise means of 
 applying the papier-mache stereotyping process to newspaper 
 work. The problem was difficult ; for the utmost time a 
 daily paper could allow for the entire operation of taking the 
 matrix, drying, making a cast, cooling, trimming, and finishing, 
 was half an hour. At last, after some years, Mr. Charles 
 
IO8 THE NEWSPAPER. 
 
 Craske, of New York, arrived at a solution of the difficulty in 
 1861, and his plan was adopted first by the Tribune, just in 
 time to enable it to meet the demand for increased editions 
 consequent on the intense interest aroused in the public 
 mind by the war. Other journals quickly took up the new 
 process, and some editions at this period rose to the unpre- 
 cedented number of an average of one hundred and sixty 
 thousand copies per week. 
 
 The first web perfecting press capable of producing a large 
 morning newspaper was built in 1861, by William Bullock, 
 of Pittsburgh, for the Cincinnati Times, but it was several 
 years before he produced the improved press capable of 
 turning out ten thousand perfect papers an hour. The limit 
 of number was found in the impossibility of delivering beyond 
 a certain rate from the fly. In 1877, Richard M. Hoe and 
 Stephen D. Tucker obviated that difficulty by the introduc- 
 tion of an accumulating cylinder, which increased the produc- 
 tion to eighteen thousand per hour. Colonel Hoe's next im- 
 provement was the double cylinder, giving off two thousand 
 per hour. This was followed by the lightning rotary press, 
 with four to ten revolving cylinders, giving from four to ten 
 thousand impressions per hour. Up to now, in all machines 
 the separate sheets were fed by hand and delivered flat. The 
 many-cylinder press was gradually abandoned as the perfect- 
 ing press came into use. 
 
 The lightning rotary was soon followed by the Hoe self- 
 feeding perfecting press, delivering flat sheets printed on 
 both sides at the rate of twelve thousand papers per hour, 
 while yet another improvement gave a machine that printed, 
 cut, pasted, and folded at the rate of fifteen thousand per 
 hour. The double perfecting press next made its appear- 
 
THE NEWSPAPER. 1 09 
 
 ance, and was a great advance on all others, increasing the 
 productive power to thirty thousand per hour, cut, pasted, 
 and folded to one-eighth page. 
 
 The inventive genius of the principals in the Hoe estab- 
 lishment discovered even greater possibilities of achievement, 
 however, and a double stereotype insetting press was the next 
 step of these successive grand evolutions ; delivering papers, 
 folded half-page size, with the supplements, if desired, pasted in, 
 running at a speed of twenty-four thousand eighteen, or twelve 
 pages per hour. This idea of making a newspaper any of 
 these sizes at will, the pages all made fast to each other, was 
 found exceedingly useful, and was followed by marvelous 
 results. A double stereotype insetting supplement press was 
 made, turning out eight-page papers at forty-eight thousand 
 per hour ; also twenty-four thousand ten or twelve-page 
 papers. The precision and accuracy of these machines is 
 wonderful. Night after night, day after day, year in and year 
 out, they run without wear or breaking, unceasingly produc- 
 ing the same exact results. The paper for Hoe's perfecting 
 press is made in continuous rolls, of the width desired for any 
 particular newspaper press, averaging about four miles in 
 length. The paper having been dampened by an ingenious 
 contrivance by which a spray as fine as mist is thrown on it, 
 it is lifted from the wetting frame by a movable hoisting 
 apparatus suspended over the centre of the machine so that 
 its free end drops into the place that receives it. In the great 
 quadruple press of the New York World, however, the huge 
 roll of paper is placed near the floor, giving greater steadi- 
 ness to the machine and more facility in handling. 
 
 The quadruple press just mentioned stands at present at 
 the head of all printing machines in productive power; but 
 
110 THE NEWSPAPER. 
 
 where the development of the newspaper printing press will 
 end, no man may venture to predict. Mr. Carpenter, of the 
 Hoe Company, being lately asked that question only replied 
 that whatever the future might bring forth, it could have no 
 surprises for him. The World has the equivalent in this quad- 
 ruple press of twenty single perfecting machines having a pro- 
 ductive power of two hundred thousand eight-page papers an 
 hour. Seventy-one men and boys now do all the work re- 
 quired in the press-room. To turn out the same amount of 
 printed matter in the same time would require eight thousand 
 screw presses producing twenty-five papers an hour, with a 
 man and boy to each ; eight thousand men and eight thou- 
 sand boys ; one hundred and eighty-five boys more would 
 be needed to cut, paste, and fold. Other men and boys would 
 be required for the various work of the press-room, so that no 
 less than sixteen thousand five hundred men and boys would 
 be needed to get out an edition of two hundred thousand 
 eight-page papers in an hour. In such a case it is needless 
 to add the work would not be attempted. No newspaper 
 could afford rent for a press-room large enough to contain 
 eight thousand presses and sixteen thousand five hundred 
 workmen, not to speak of the item of wages : neither would 
 any mill be required, as at present, to turn out forty tons of 
 4i news'' paper in a day. 
 
 To the uninitiated, the quadruple press appears complicated 
 and bewildering in appearance and action ; but the makers, 
 who ought to know best, declare it to be "essentially simple." 
 From the moment the paper enters on its swift journey to 
 that when it is delivered a complete newspaper by the folder, 
 its course is direct and continuous, unassisted by a single 
 human hand. A year was required for the building of this 
 
THE NEWSPAPER. I I I 
 
 machine, which is composed of six thousand five hundred 
 parts, and weighs about one hundred and six thousand pounds, 
 or fifty-three tons. The great roll of paper for the main 
 press is about six feet wide, weighs one thousand seven hun- 
 dred pounds, and requires two men with block and tackle to 
 handle. The width of the margin of the printed page is 
 regulated by a screw controlled by a hand at the head of the 
 paper-roll spindle. A set of leather belts carry the papers 
 out of the folding machine and automatically count them in 
 piles of fifty as they move out of the machine. 
 
 This great press only requires three men and two boys to 
 attend to it, but the noise it makes is terrific, rendering con- 
 versation utterly impossible. The invention of the triple and 
 quadruple does not make the smaller perfecting presses any 
 the less desirable, as these are in use all over the country in 
 the smaller offices, and for daily papers of small circulation. 
 About six or seven firms are engaged in their manufacture. 
 
 The very latest development of speed has been attained 
 by a press now in course of construction by the Hoe Com- 
 pany for one of many enterprising daily publications, which 
 prints, folds, pastes, and counts at the rate of ninety-six 
 thousand four-page papers an hour, forty-eight thousand six 
 or eight-page, and twenty-four thousand ten to sixteen-page 
 papers. 
 
 The problem of having type set by machinery has for 
 many years been present in the minds of printers, but al- 
 though machines have been invented from time to time since 
 the first one was patented in England by William Church, in 
 1812, few have gained any established success. Among the 
 first used in America were those purchased by the founder 
 of the Chicago Times, Mr. Wilbur F. Storey, who in conse- 
 
112 THE NEWSPAPER. 
 
 quence of a contest with union printers resolved to dispense 
 with the services of printers altogether if possible, but the 
 machines did not prove a success. Early in the year 1888, a 
 Louisville journal had trouble with their compositors, and 
 adopted type-setting machines, which have succeeded, and 
 that journal in a recent editorial says, " These type-setting 
 machines are here to stay, and the sooner the typographic 
 fraternity adapts itself to the revolution they are making in 
 typographic art the better for itself and everybody else." 
 
 Several type-setting machines are in use among the news- 
 paper offices of New York, and doubtless in those of other 
 cities also. The latest invention is an electrical type-setting 
 machine, by A. S. Capehart, of the Minneapolis Tribune, 
 manufactured by the Minneapolis Electro-Matrix Company. 
 One man in operating this machine can supplant at least five 
 men setting type. 
 
 About the year 1830, the acquisition and dissemination of 
 news having now become the chief aim of the newspaper 
 publishers, the necessity presented itself of devising more 
 effective means of procuring it. Expresses were established 
 on railroads and steamers, and in remote places the " pony 
 express" was called into requisition. Carrier pigeons were 
 also used, but not found satisfactory. Boats were sent out 
 to intercept incoming ships, and on one occasion a fast pilot 
 boat was sent across the Atlantic, and special correspondents 
 were sent to points of interest. The expense of all this pro- 
 vision for newsgathering was so enormous and competition 
 became so eager that several journals combined in sharing 
 expenses and benefits. An association, known as the " Har- 
 bor News Association," for special news and chiefly confined 
 to shipping, was formed. This happened before the electric 
 
THE NEWSPAPER. 113 
 
 telegraph was an established success, but with the higher de- 
 velopment of the telegraph the association expanded till in 
 1862 it was reorganized in its present form, or nearly so, 
 and is now known as " The Associated Press." The Asso- 
 ciation is composed of the several papers, not of individuals 
 owning or controlling them, and the proprietorship or policy 
 of a paper may change without affecting its relations with the 
 Association. It collects news, taking for the use of all its 
 own members a common dispatch, reducing the cost to each 
 by dividing expenses of reporting and telegraphing, and sells 
 news at fixed rates to hundreds of other papers all over the 
 continent. It has agents all over the world. Its London 
 office is never closed, and news is cabled thence to New York 
 as fast as it is received. It receives Reuter's collections of 
 news from Europe, Asia, Africa, and South America, and has 
 its own agents in North and Central America. In well- 
 populated regions of the United States sub-associations are 
 formed, which give the local papers fuller details of local 
 affairs than are required by distant journals. The Pacific 
 States, far removed from the activity of the Middle and 
 Eastern States, and including a widely extensive country not 
 densely populated, and whose interests are for the most part 
 purely local, have an association of their own, supported by 
 their own papers, which is quite successful. Notwithstanding 
 this fact, the chief journals of California are liberal patrons also 
 of the Associated Press of the United States. This partly 
 accounts for the high price of newspapers in the Pacific States. 
 The influence of the aggregation of intellect and invention 
 that in the concrete is generalized as journalism is unbounded. 
 Fact, opinion, and comment, disseminated by means of me- 
 chanical inventions that so late as a century ago never en- 
 8 
 
114 THE NEWSPAPER. 
 
 tered into our ancestors' wildest dreams, combine in the con- 
 tinuous education of the people long after school and college 
 have done their work, and the reflex influence of the reading 
 public on the men who daily supply them with information 
 on every conceivable subject of human interest has aided in 
 raising the profession of a journalist to a position of political 
 and social power and dignity that would assuredly astonish 
 the shade of Postmaster Campbell, of Boston, were he per- 
 mitted to revisit the earth. One journalist has been Vice- 
 President of the United States, several have been ministers 
 to foreign powers, numbers are senators and members of the 
 House of Representatives, and one has been a cabinet 
 minister. In the Forty-first Congress there were eight 
 editors in the Senate, and twenty-six in the House, the 
 Speaker himself being one of them. 
 
 One striking feature of modern newspapers is the fullness 
 of their reports of current events. The fullest newspaper 
 report of the battle of Waterloo occupied only half a column 
 of the London Times. In our day it would have spread to 
 twenty or thirty columns. And to supplement written re- 
 porting, the newspaper of to-day adopts the practice of 
 interviewing, whereby the minutest item of information is 
 extracted by skillful questions from every one supposed to 
 know anything about the subject to be reported, not always 
 to the satisfaction of the person interviewed, perhaps, for 
 when a practiced interviewer reads his " assignment " of work 
 and sees the entry opposite his own name, " Interview Super- 
 intendent , (must)'' the " must " means that the superin- 
 tendent, whoever he may be, is to be interviewed and every 
 scrap of information dragged out of him whether he likes it 
 or not. 
 
THE NEWSPAPER. 115 
 
 The growth of journalism as a profession has created a 
 body of men of whom as a whole the country has reason to 
 be proud. The half-illiterate, often intrusive and vulgar re- 
 porter of half a century ago has disappeared to make room 
 for the intelligent, observant, and courteous gentleman who 
 provides our daily feast of news in the most interesting and 
 graphic form. He has been aptly called " the Froissart of 
 his day." And not only are the reporters worthy of esteem 
 for their literary work. The exigencies of their employment 
 lead them into scenes of rural and city life where they are 
 exposed to disease and danger which they meet fearlessly in 
 the cause of duty ; while in time of war, as well in other coun- 
 tries as in our own, the newspaper correspondents have shown 
 a bravery of which military heroes might well be proud. 
 
 In the newspaper offices of the great dailies the exactness 
 and precision required from the staff, and the perfect disci- 
 pline maintained demands an amount of industry, self-denial, 
 and strict attention to duty to which only a man of sterling 
 character can respond. There is room for plenty of quiet 
 heroism in a journalist's life, even though he may never be- 
 come a war correspondent. 
 
 The editorial matter of the daily papers is chiefly political ; 
 but there are about five or six hundred newspapers (fifty 
 in New York alone) that are devoted to the interests of 
 religion, treating general news only when some topic of 
 social or political interest impinges on their special field. 
 Each is issued in the interest of its own particular denomina- 
 tion, and many of them are of considerable importance and 
 extensive influence. The first successful religious newspaper 
 was started in Boston by Sydney Morse, and named the 
 Boston Recorder. 
 
I I 6 THE NEWSPAPER. 
 
 There is a fair proportion of illustrated newspapers, some 
 showing editorial ability and artistic workmanship. Hun- 
 dreds of comic journals have existed for a brief space, but 
 very few have thoroughly succeeded. Those that have done 
 so, however, are fairly holding their ground. Every trade 
 and profession has its special organs with innumerable satel- 
 lites ; and in every department of the vast whole one of the 
 most striking and influential features of newspaper work is 
 the keen, intelligent criticism that is so valuable in directing 
 the judgment and forming the opinions of millions of busy 
 readers who have neither time nor inclination to examine for 
 themselves the underlying strata of thought, fact, or state- 
 craft that is brought to light by the patient and manifold 
 labors of American journalism. 
 
MUSIC. 
 
 IN an age when among all civilized nations music asserts 
 its claims on public attention more persistently than at 
 any period of the world's history, thoughtful minds who 
 from temperament or circumstance are outside the pale 
 of the musical world are apt to inquire on what basis 
 these claims are founded ; what is the rational significance of 
 music ? 
 
 Such a mind, unbiased by the prevailing sentiment, un- 
 hesitatingly asserts that music has no distinct moral force ; 
 that the possession of musical gifts or knowledge confers no 
 superior mental standing or moral tone on the musician ; 
 otherwise musicians, whether their gift be creative or ex- 
 ponent, would be persons of exceptional moral purity and 
 refinement. 
 
 It is incontestable that music, of whatever order, appeals 
 chiefly to the emotional nature ; it is simply the emotional 
 quality of sound ; the study of sound being one of the most 
 abstruse and intricate branches of modern science. 
 
 Music is not of human invention, but simply a human dis- 
 covery ; it is a part of the whole Kosmos, and musical sounds 
 existed in the natural world ages before man discovered that 
 he could attune his voice to melody. 
 
 The earliest cultivation of music is claimed for the Egyp- 
 tians, Phoenicians, and Assyrians, the Hebrews no doubt gain- 
 
 117 
 
iiS 
 
 MUSIC. 
 
 HANDEL. 
 
 ing their first musical culture from the Egyptians. The 
 ancient Chinese regarded music as an important science, 
 claiming for it, as did all the nations of antiquity, a divine 
 origin. Their musical scale of five notes symbolizing the 
 five elements, earth, air, fire, metal, and water was sup- 
 posed to have been 
 revealed to Ling 
 Lung, a great musi- 
 cian, by a celestial 
 vision. Kung, the 
 grandest tone, was 
 the sound produced 
 by the rushing wa- 
 ters of the Hoang- 
 Ho, and corre- 
 sponded to our 
 modern " middle 
 F," which physic- 
 ists tell us is the 
 sound produced by 
 the wind rushing 
 through the forests. 
 It is pathetic as well 
 as grand, and is the 
 prevailing tone of 
 all natural sounds. 
 
 It is scarcely too fanciful to suppose that the gentle 
 melancholy produced in many minds by music is due 
 to the preponderance of this majestic tone. " I am never 
 merry when I hear sweet music," as uttered by Jessica, 
 contains much food for reflection, and without a doubt in 
 
MUSIC. 
 
 119 
 
 my mind definitely expresses a true interpretation of the- 
 impression. 
 
 Grandeur and sweetness are the characteristics of the musicr 
 of nature; it has been left for the coarseness of human inven- 
 tion to degrade sweet sounds in the service of frivolity. 
 
 Later in Chinese 
 history, music held 
 so important a place 
 that Confucius said 
 " Desire ye to know 
 if a land is well-o-ov- 
 
 o 
 
 erned and its people 
 moral, listen to its 
 music." 
 
 Egyptians, Assyr- 
 ians, Hebrews, Chi- 
 nese, and Hindoos, 
 all believing in its 
 divine origin, it fol- 
 lowed that in an- 
 cient days the prac- 
 tice of music, like 
 that of its sister-art, 
 the Drama, was en- 
 tirely confined to 
 the priesthood of 
 
 all religions; and the earliest schools were those of tlie? 
 temples, where all instruments were kept, as sacred things. 
 In the account of King David's school of vocal and instru- 
 mental music, and his elaborate provision for the musical 
 part of Jewish worship, the harps, trumpets, etc., are spoken* 
 of as "musical instruments of God." 
 
 GLUCK. 
 
I2O MUSIC. 
 
 INTRODUCTION OF VOCAL MUSIC TO ISIS. 
 
 The ancient Egyptians taught that music was a symbol of 
 the whole Kosmos, harmony being the ruling principle of 
 Nature, and attributed the introduction of vocal music to Isis, 
 the invention of the flute to Osiris. Egyptian flutes of very 
 early date have been found in tombs, having seven notes, and 
 there is no doubt that the Egyptian temple hymns must have 
 been the models for those of the Hebrews, and also for those 
 of the early Greek worship. 
 
 Early in her history, the emotional side of the national life 
 of Greece was greatly influenced by the music learned from 
 the Egyptians, which was rapidly assimilated by the quick 
 Greek intellect, and elaborated far beyond the standard of its 
 first teachers. Pythagoras especially enjoined the practice of 
 music as a " means of purifying and elevating the soul." This 
 early cultivation covered the mythic period up to about 1000 
 B. C. ; the next stage, or classic period, from 1000 to 400 
 B. C. ; and thenceforward there was a decadence of music 
 until the supremacy of the Roman Empire. The Romans 
 gave no attention whatever to music, except in its lowest 
 form, as an adjunct to popular entertainments ; and it was in 
 danger of becoming a lost art, when the early Christians 
 began to sing the hymns, partly founded on old Jewish melo- 
 dies, partly on Greek chants, that laid the foundation of 
 .modern musical science. 
 
 As the primitive Christian worship developed into more 
 ^elaborate ritual and aesthetic principles gained power, the 
 people were gradually excluded from participation in the 
 music of the Church, and in 330 A. D. Pope Sylvester estab- 
 lished a school of vocal music in Rome. The study advanced 
 hut slowly, till Gregory entered on his great work of revising 
 
MUSIC. 
 
 121 
 
 the liturgy of the Roman Church, and developed the method 
 of chanting known by his name. The two modes then in 
 use the Ionian, or C major, and Eolian, or A minor became 
 the principal modes of modern musical development. 
 
 A number of compositions were written at this period by 
 priests and monks, 
 but up till the twelfth 
 century none of any 
 real value were pro- 
 duced. 
 
 Two extraordi- 
 narily antagonistic 
 accounts of the 
 Emperor Charle- 
 magne's interest in 
 music are given. 
 The one states that 
 he had a positive 
 personal objection 
 to instrumental 
 music in any shape 
 whatever,and wished 
 to lower it from a 
 state of decadence 
 to absolute obscur- 
 ity ; and that from 
 
 his fierce opposition arose a determination to revive it among 
 the musicians of the day, which, though unenthusiastic at first, 
 gainedground till music became a matter of national importance. 
 
 The opposite statement avers that Charlemagne ( was 
 deeply interested in the true Gregorian Liturgy and its 
 
 BACH. 
 
122 MUSIC. 
 
 introduction in the Church ; and that he ordered a collection 
 to be made of all the popular secular music of the time (768 
 to 814). He possessed an organ which Constantine had sent 
 from Byzantium to his father Pepsin ; and received a still finer 
 one from the Caliph Haroun Alraschid. 
 
 It is further said that Charlemagne on an Easter visit to 
 Rome took his court singers with him, when they disputed 
 fiercely with the Italians as to their respective rendering of 
 the Liturgical music, the Italians declaring theirs to be the 
 one true method. Charlemagne gave his judgment against 
 his own singers, and employd Italian masters to restore the 
 purity of style which he charged them with having corrupted. 
 
 The organ now played a great part in the development of 
 music. Invented by Ctesibus, the Egyptian, between 284 
 and 246 B. C., it was at first played by hydraulic action. The 
 inventor of bellows is unknown ; but organs of this improved 
 type were much used in Greece and Rome, and were made 
 at an early period in England. St. Aldhelm, in the seventh 
 century, speaks of one having the innovation of ornamental 
 pipes. 
 
 The organs of our day, many of which have thousands of 
 pipes, exhibit the largest amount of acoustic and mechanical 
 power combined to be found in any machine of human in- 
 vention. 
 
 Late in the tenth century, Guido, of Arezzo, added two 
 lines to the staff then in use, and named the notes afresh 
 from the first syllable of each line of a popular hymn to S. 
 John, the Baptist. This innovation, dispensing with the com- 
 plicated names of the old Greek notation, simplified the 
 -study of music, and crave wider range for the expression of 
 Jarger and more varied idm-. 
 
MUSIC. 
 
 123 
 
 About this period, the time-table, invented by French church- 
 men, was introduced, giving an increased impetus to the study of 
 music among all civilized nations. The principle of polyphonic 
 harmony becamebetter understood, and musical science steadily 
 advanced till in the early part of the fifteenth century notation 
 was fixed. The first 
 compositions of any 
 real value were 
 written by a Belgian 
 singer in the Sistine 
 Chapel at Rome. 
 
 Music now began 
 to create interest 
 outside the Church. 
 The Troubadours 
 or Minnesingers, 
 who wandered about 
 singing secular mu- 
 sic with accompani- 
 ments of the man- 
 doline or guitar, 
 formed themselves 
 into guilds, and in 
 1207 ne ld a con- 
 test at Wartburg, 
 in Saxony. 
 
 Italian musicians, of the secular school, now attempted to 
 revive the lyrico-dramatic art of the Greeks ; and the earliest 
 production, in crude form, of what is now called opera, was 
 at the marriage festivities of Marie de Medici and Henry IV. 
 About the same time the first Oratorio " L'anima e corpo" 
 was performed in a church in Rome 
 
 HAYDN. 
 
124 MUSIC. 
 
 The invention and development of opera created a new 
 musical era, Italy taking foremost rank, and her eminent 
 mastery elevating their calling to the dignity of a profession. 
 
 The growth of national schools of composition was the 
 inevitable outcome of the now universal spread of musical 
 science. During the sixteenth century, Palestrina gave to 
 the world those marvelous compositions that are still models 
 of classical Church music. The Germans evolved their grand 
 chorales from the older hymns, while the English developed 
 the Anthem from the same source, and composed psalm-tunes 
 that no later school has equaled. 
 
 At the beginning of the seventeenth century the popular 
 taste for musical drama was increased by the organization of 
 traveling companies, who so fascinated the public that it was 
 not uncommon for part of an audience, perhaps some fifty to 
 a hundred people, to follow a company to their next stopping- 
 place in order to hear again the performance to which they 
 had previously listened from four p. M. till midnight in their 
 own town. 
 
 To the later seventeenth and eighteenth centuries belongs 
 the honor of being the birth-time of the six great masters 
 who with Palestrina (of the sixteenth) form the group of 
 composers whose work will live so long as music exists on 
 earth. 
 
 First in point of time was Handel, born at Halle, in 1685. 
 At ten years old the professor who instructed him in music 
 declared he could teach him nothing more. 
 
 It may be observed here, in parenthesis, that although each 
 of " the great seven " developed unusual power at a very 
 early age, their best work was done after middle age. Han- 
 del was fifty-six when he wrote the Messiah, and sixty-one 
 
MUSIC. 125 
 
 when he composed Judas Maccabeus ; Gliick produced 
 Iphigenia at sixty-five, and Haydn the Creation at sixty- 
 nine. What the divine Mozart might have achieved had he 
 reached middle life it is impossible to imagine. 
 
 From the period of his first public triumph as a composer 
 at fifteen, Handel's personal life was a stormy one. He 
 was pursued byjealousy and intrigue in his native land, and 
 while attaining much honor in England, the country of his 
 adoption, was yet incessantly troubled by the cabals of ene- 
 mies. But through all vicissitudes he kept his mind fixed on 
 his great work, and produced in rapid succession forty-three 
 Italian operas, ten German operas, a quantity of miscella- 
 neous vocal and instrumental music, and twenty English 
 oratorios. 
 
 It is related of him that while composing the " Messiah," 
 he said that he never ventured to commence writing a single 
 number without preparatory devotion, so impressed was he 
 with the sacred magnitude of his theme. 
 
 About the year 1700, Italian opera gained a steady hold 
 on popular favor, and henceforward we find the great mas- 
 ters giving their attention to works of that school. The 
 noblest musical dramas ever written which have served (and 
 continue to serve) as models for all others, were those of 
 Gliick, who wrote eight Italian and thirteen French operas. 
 
 Bach, the third of the great masters, is less known by 
 gigantic work in oratorio and opera, but in instrumentation 
 is almost without a rival, and, with Handel, evolved his 
 majestic style from the examples given by their predecessor 
 Palestrina. Haydn, the fifth star in the constellation, was 
 the creator of the model of chamber music. Master of 
 many styles, as witnessed by his fourteen Italian and ten Ger- 
 
126 
 
 MUSIC. 
 
 man operas, his nineteen masses, and numerous songs, he is 
 yet most emphatically known as the exponent of the aesthetic 
 importance of the sonata, which he evolved from the old 
 dance-tune. His music is of a strongly imitative character, 
 and the innocent gayety of his lighter movements was prob- 
 ably the reflection of 
 his blameless life. 
 He had great influ- 
 ence over his youth- 
 ful contemporary 
 Mozart, whose work ? 
 however, was in no- 
 wise imitative. 
 
 Mozart was born 
 in Salzburg in 1756, 
 and at five years old 
 appeared in public 
 as a pianist, and in 
 a year after began 
 composing. At ten 
 years old he had ad- 
 vanced sufficiently 
 to pay no heed to 
 any criticism but 
 that of the greatest 
 
 % masters of the 
 
 time, and his versatile powers developed rapidly. A 
 violin having been presented to him, in Vienna, as a 
 tribute to his wonderful powers, he taught himself to 
 play it on the homeward journey from Vienna to Salz- 
 burg, and on his arrival astonished his father and sister 
 
 MOZART. 
 
MUSIC. 127 
 
 by executing with perfect precision the second part in a 
 trio. 
 
 To Mozart may be applied, more than to any one of " the 
 seven," the epithet, " many-sided." In his influence on the 
 emotional side of human nature he has no peer. That he 
 excels in the expression of romantic sentiment is no wonder, 
 for his short, sad life, with intermediate spasms of gayety, 
 was itself a romance. He wrote from the heart, and there- 
 fore touches the heart. But his music has a more earnest 
 side than the romantic ; beside his brilliant operatic work 
 stands his invention of the orchestral fuooie (an intellectual 
 
 o \ 
 
 labor of no mean kind), and the weird grandeur of his re- 
 ligious works. The modern world knows Mozart chiefly as 
 the composer of "II Don Giovanni," king of operas, and the 
 imperishable "Requiem;" but a lifetime might be spent in 
 study of his less known works, replete ao they are with cap- 
 tivating melody, exquisite harmony, and unapproachable 
 purity of feeling. Of his fourteen Italian operas, " Don 
 Giovanni " will be immortal for its marvelous combination 
 of grace, gayety, and dignity and symmetrical structure, while 
 ^Belmont" and " Der Zauberflote " are models of modern 
 German opera. 
 
 Beethoven, whose life extended into the present century 
 (he died at Bonn, 1827), entered upon the time that saw the 
 separation of the German and Italian schools of music, but 
 in his own compositions intensified both schools. He, with 
 Clementi, the founder of piano-forte playing as a distinct 
 branch of music, promoted greatly the perfecting of that in- 
 strument. He wrote but one opera, one oratorio, and two 
 masses, but the list of his piano-forte works, sixteen with 
 orchestral accompaniments, is almost endless. For grandeur 
 
1 28 MUSIC. 
 
 and strength, Beethoven's works are unequaled. They also 
 have the remarkable property of admitting diverse interpre- 
 tations, all equally sublime, and thus will appeal to the heart 
 of the world in all ages. 
 
 The earliest mention of the piano-forte, evolved by gradual 
 stages from the poor little dulcimer, is in 1598. Its mechan- 
 ism was continually improved by English makers, and its 
 adoption helped to popularize secular music. Clementi and 
 Haydn did much to insure the popularity of the instrument, 
 but it was left to Beethoven to compose the ideal music for 
 it, music which as yet is but imperfectly understood. 
 
 The history of music in America is necessarily brief. From 
 1 620 to 1771 there was scarcely anything in the shape of music 
 existing. Puritanic hatred of the fine arts confined vocal music 
 to the execution of psalm-tunes, and instruments of all kinds 
 were looked on with disfavor. The first American composer 
 was William Billings, of Boston, whose talent was devoted to 
 producing psalm-tunes, and who first introduced " viols " 
 into the Church. He had many followers, men who com- 
 posed "tunes" to any extent, in any style that occurred to 
 them, with a calm defiance of all rules of the art. The clergy 
 opposed the new style of " fuguing tunes," but they were 
 popular and were the staple element of music, at least in 
 rural districts, for many years. 
 
 The first impulse in the direction of musical culture was 
 given by the formation of the Handel and Haydn Society, of 
 Boston, who gave oratorios even before 1800. New York 
 established a musical society about the middle of the last 
 century. In 1750 the first opera was performed in New 
 York, and in 1791 French opera was introduced at New 
 Orleans. With the progress of musical culture in America 
 
MUSIC. 1 29 
 
 many now world-famous names are associated. Theodore 
 Thomas, who came to this country at ten years of age, 
 established his great orchestra in New York, in 1861, and 
 traveling to Cincinnati in 1869, was very successful, and was 
 head of the Musical College for many years. In 1880 he 
 returned to New York to conduct the National Opera. 
 
 In 1825 an attempt was made to establish Italian opera in 
 New York, with limited success. Subsequently Manuel 
 Garcia, with a brilliant troupe, endeavored to achieve popu- 
 larity, but without permanent results. As yet, Italian opera 
 has found no abiding home in America. 
 
 The most popular opera singer of native birth was Ann 
 Louise Carey, introduced by Mapleson. The most costly 
 opera was produced by Strakosch, the cast made up of 
 foreign stars. The best operatic company now existing is 
 the Boston Ideals. 
 
 The first American prima-donna who has achieved a high 
 popularity in Europe is Clara Louise Kellogg. 
 
 Although orchestral music has a high place in the affection 
 of the musical world, piano-forte playing is the favorite 
 musical diversion of the people. Its adaptability to the or- 
 dinary tastes of the majority and the essentially domestic 
 enjoyment it provides, account easily for the fact that in the 
 United States there are more pianos and pianists in propor- 
 tion to the population than in any country on earth. 
 
POETRY. 
 
 Of MONG the arts, Poetry stands in the forefront, as 
 
 I Jr being in all its developments the complete and per- 
 
 f\ feet medium of conveying thought from mind to 
 
 A \ mind. That this truth has been recognized in 
 
 ^"^ all ages by civilized man is evident from the fact 
 
 that every nation in turn has conferred on its greatest poet 
 
 the epithet " divine." 
 
 The subjects, style, and aim of poetry both in ancient and 
 modern days have varied with time, circumstance, and the 
 movement of national thought and life ; but its pre-eminence 
 among the dominant forces of mental life, as the exponent 
 of the highest ideas conceivable by the human intellect, 
 remains unchanged. 
 
 Modern poetry differs from that of the ancient world 
 mainly in the definiteness of its aim, this definiteness having 
 been engendered in course of time by the growth of critical 
 inquiry incident to the higher culture of the day. Ancient 
 poetry was by no means devoid of aim ; but the writers of 
 the older time, less influenced by strict canons of poetic law, 
 with a narrower range of world vision, and less expectation 
 of searching criticism, exhibited less harmony and cohesion 
 of poetic structure, while necessarily employing the peculiar 
 130 
 
POETRY. I 3 I 
 
 combinations of action, rhythm, and rhyme indispensable to 
 the production of a poem. 
 
 Notwithstanding the lofty standing of Poetry as an art, 
 perfect intellectual appreciation of a poem is not a necessary 
 factor in its influence on the mind. It is quite possible 
 that a reader may not thoroughly enter into the full depth of 
 meaning or mentally grasp the complex composition and 
 artistic quality of a great poem, and yet be profoundly influ- 
 enced by the general sentiment pervading it. 
 
 Is the intention of Poetry, as generally understood, to 
 instruct, amuse, or has it a still higher object ? 
 
 Aristotle was the first to write philosophically on the art, 
 and he considered its culture the chief means of elevating 
 thought, viewing it as an energy and recognizing its value in 
 relation to other expressions of spiritual force. 
 
 Poetry demands the highest place in art because it is less 
 vague than music, more fitted to interpret the ideal than 
 painting, more enduring than sculpture. It does not depend 
 for existence on mechanical power as do these others. The 
 sculptor is helpless to evolve his thoughts from the marble 
 without his chisel ; the painter can reproduce no vision on 
 canvas without his brush and colors ; the musician can express 
 no harmony without the aid of instruments ; but were every im- 
 plement of writing and accessory of the stage swept out of 
 existence, the poet could speak, and his utterances live from 
 age to age in the hearts of the people ; for the emotion pro- 
 duced by words is held by the memory more persistently 
 than that produced by sound. As one of the primal human 
 forces Poetry has had as much effect in determining the 
 destiny of man as science. Emotional in its nature, it is con- 
 crete in form, expressing the effort of the mind in rhythm. 
 
132 POETRY. 
 
 In all nations Poetry invariably precedes prose in their 
 literature ; the imagination of a nation, as of a child, being 
 earlier in development than reason. 
 
 The earliest Poetry of which we have authentic record is 
 that of the Hebrews, the first poem handed down being the 
 Song of Triumph written by Moses after the passage of the 
 Red Sea, and taking rank as poetry rather from the rhythmic 
 movement of ideas than their expression in syllabic measure. 
 This majestic movement of rhythm without rhyme is also 
 found in the Psalms, the finest known collection of lyric 
 poetry, exhibiting by turns vivid descriptive force, heroic sen- 
 timent, delicate imagery, and intense pathos. Passages of 
 grand vehemence and passion occur in the poems scattered 
 through the book of Jeremiah, written at the same period. 
 The power of the ancient Hebrew poetry, and its influence 
 over men for three thousand years springs from its own in- 
 ternal force and its intense sympathy with the actual 
 condition of the human race in all ages. 
 
 The earliest epic and dramatic poem in the world is the 
 Book of Job. 
 
 Next in age to the Hebrew stand the wonderful poems of 
 the Hindu people. Their Vedas, dating about 1500 B. C, 
 consist of hymns, prayers, rules for religious rites, and moral 
 teachings, all written in song form. The Vedas are varied in 
 style and matter ; are epigrammatic, didactic, epic, descriptive 
 and dramatic, but are wanting in the grace of the Hebrew 
 lyric. 
 
 With the k development of the Sanskrit language, Hindu 
 poetry became rhythmical and metrical, following the eight- 
 syllable method which is the source of all metre. Of this 
 class of poetry is the Ramayana by Valmiki (period unde- 
 
POETRY. 133 
 
 termined), in seven cantas, containing twenty-five thousand 
 verses. Exceeding fine lyrics are found in the Mahabharata, 
 the product of a period, consisting of two hundred thousand 
 verses. The didactic poetry of the Hindus covered a wide 
 range of subjects, and dealt with every phase of human exist- 
 ence, including such writings as law-books, school-books, 
 deeds, dictionaries, and inscriptions. Their dramatic poetry 
 first flourished about 300 to 400 B. C., and was of a 
 moral and religious character. Serious and comic pan- 
 tomime and music were employed in its representation, 
 and all performances concluded with prayer. 
 
 The ancient Persians, in keeping with their warlike charac- 
 ter, only boasted one great poet, Ferdusi, who wrote a grand 
 epic about 1000 B. C. 
 
 The ancient Chinese idea of poetry was the production of 
 short moral sentences in consecutive' order, as seen in 
 the writings of Confucius and his predecessors. They had 
 neither epics nor pastorals, and rhyme and quantity were 
 given simply by tone. 
 
 With the growth of Greece and Rome as intellectual cen- 
 tres there sprang up new forms of thought, finding ex- 
 pression among the Greeks in exquisite lyric forms, while 
 Rome rejoiced in her three great tragic poets, and many who 
 wrote in lighter strains. 
 
 With the decline of these magnificent civilizations there 
 was a long eclipse of true poetry, until its spirit emerged 
 slowly into the light of the thirteenth century. The fusion 
 of nations during the Dark Ages contributed to the creation 
 of a new school by the Italians. Poetry became the fashion 
 at the courts of Frederick II and Charles of Anjou, the lat- 
 ter monarch and his sons distinguishing themselves as writers 
 
134 POETRY. 
 
 of verse ; and Italy held first place as the home of the poetic 
 muse until the end of the fifteenth century. 
 
 Meanwhile, the French had cultivated lyric poetry, made 
 popular by their troubadours, and always of the highly roman- 
 tic school ; and England had produced the greatest of her 
 mediaeval poets, Chaucer. Germany had few poets at this 
 period, and their writings were rhymeless, but alliterative in 
 form. The Scandinavians clung to their ancient poetic 
 hymns in praise of the gods and the splendid epics known 
 as the Sagas, 
 
 The earliest instance of rhyme in Oriental poetry is found 
 in a pastorial poem by Lebid, written before the time of 
 Mahomet, with whom Arabian history begins, in 622 A. D. 
 For ninety years the Arabs had no poetry except that found 
 in the Koran, in which morality, theology, jurisprudence, and 
 domestic life are all treated of in poetic strain. The tendency 
 of the Mohammedan faith to isolate its believers, in thought, 
 from the rest of the world, prevented their becoming 
 acquainted with the Greek drama ; and their poetry never 
 rose above the level of commonplace ; the large number of 
 words with similar terminations in the Arabic language con- 
 tributed also to this low average of composition, rendering it 
 easy to hide feebleness of thought under the melodious jingle 
 of easy rhymes. Consequently, the Arabian poets never pro- 
 duced an epic, a comedy, or a tragedy. Their poetry was all 
 lyrical, and outside the Koran, was chiefly the language of the 
 passions. 
 
 Though the darkness of the Middle Ages had been 
 illumined by Chaucer, Dante, Petrarch, Ariosto, Tasso, and a 
 few lesser stars, the stormy moral atmosphere of Europe was 
 unfavorable to the development of poetic sentiment among 
 
POETRY. 135 
 
 the masses of the people until in the sixteenth century Ger- 
 many aroused herself to study the ancient classics, and a 
 lyrical school arose who provided the awakened Church with 
 hymns and chorales. 
 
 In England, about the same period, poetic feeling began 
 slowly to permeate the intellectual life of the nation ; a 
 higher and more truly poetic sentiment was exhibited by the 
 dramatists, reaching its culminating point in the works of 
 Shakespeare, the widespread influence of whose writings is 
 a proof that perfect intellectual appreciation of poetry is not 
 essential for the proper enjoyment thereof. 
 
 In his most popular plays as "Othello," "Hamlet," or "The 
 Merchant of Venice," we are influenced by the presentment 
 of the mental characteristics of their heroes, and their moral 
 action in varied and crucial circumstances ; this influence 
 always tending toward good, the moral teaching being of the 
 highest character. 
 
 o 
 
 For instance, in "Othello" we see a noble warrior, dethroned 
 from the high pedestal on which his achievements had placed 
 him, by the maliciousness of jealousy. His dethronement is 
 complete, and while admitting it to be warranted, we feel a 
 pang of regret for his misfortunes and a deep scorn for the 
 traitor who caused them ; sentiments that exert an influence 
 for good, no matter whether we have or have not followed 
 and fathomed the intellectual intricacies of the play as a work 
 of art. 
 
 An opposite influence is exercised by the representation of 
 a bad character. We neither pity nor feel regret for him 
 when he meets his final deserts, and are correspondingly 
 roused to a sense of injustice when villainy prospers, the 
 honest mind revolting against that which seems unfair. It is 
 
136 POETRY. 
 
 therefore obvious that the heart which creates such impulses, 
 whether it seeks to reach us through the simple channel of 
 reading or the attractive environments of the stage, must 
 wield a tremendous influence for good ; and not on the cul- 
 tured element in a nation only. 
 
 A striking instance of the deep influence of the higher 
 poetry of the drama on persons of low intellectual attainment 
 was seen in the success of Mr. Phelps in raising the moral 
 tone of a section of the population of London by the presen- 
 tation of the higher drama. 
 
 Impressed with keen regret by observing the immense 
 audiences that thronged the Sadlers' Wells Theatre (in a dis- 
 trict inhabited exclusively by an uncultivated vulgar class of 
 people) to enjoy coarse and commonplace plays, he resolved 
 to educate them. He took the theatre himself, and produced 
 the finest plays of Shakespeare and the later dramatists ; he 
 soon drew larger crowds than ever of the very same class of 
 the community, established order and good manners, and in 
 a very short time Sadlers' Wells became as noted for the 
 quiet, critical enjoyment of its audiences as it had once been for 
 their boisterous vulgarity. Yet it cannot be questioned that 
 not a tithe of these people could have had thorough intellec- 
 tual appreciation of the poetic dramas they learned to enjoy. 
 
 Since Shakespeare's day the influence of modern poetry 
 has steadily advanced in Europe, and illustrious names on the 
 roll of poetic fame are neither few nor far to seek. Force 
 and enthusiasm in Germany, vivacity and delicate shading of 
 sentiment in France, and sensibility and pure thought in 
 England have all had their exponents. It remains yet to be 
 seen what will be the informing and indwelling spirit of 
 ithe poetry of America. 
 
POETRY. 137 
 
 The youngest of western nations, her national school is 
 still in process of creation ; but in her poetic efforts she has 
 evidently taken heed to the Apostolic injunction, " Let no man 
 despise thy youth/' for her leading poets have already 
 attained- world-wide fame. 
 
 In our poetic literature the. Northeastern States have 
 taken the lead from the very earliest settlement of the 
 Colonies. From the commencement of their history, the stu- 
 dents of Cambridge, Mass., cultivated poetic taste, and were 
 the first to earn for their State the title of " the home of 
 American Poets." 
 
 Virginia, " the mother of Presidents," might have been 
 " the mother of poets " also, but for her adherence to the 
 feudal policy of dispersion, which placed a ban on learning 
 within her borders. 
 
 The reverse policy being pursued in Massachusetts, the 
 reverse influence of course was felt ; the pre-eminence of 
 Boston (which eventually became the State capital) in the de- 
 velopment of culture and poetic thought whereby she has 
 gained the sobriquet of " Hub of the Universe " being un- 
 doubtedly due to the influence of the men of pre-national 
 times. 
 
 The very idea of the South is of itself suggestive of 
 poetry, but the Southern States have not as yet established a 
 claim to be the birthplace of poets, very few having made 
 any great mark except Edgar A. Poe, to whom literature is 
 indebted for fully one-third of the poems written by 
 Southerners. 
 
 It is difficult to judge of the actual potency of the influence 
 of contemporaneous poetry from the fact that fashion exerts 
 a baneful influence on all arts in every age. While the ear is 
 
138 POETRY. 
 
 receiving impressions from the combined sounds of a great 
 orchestra, it is scarcely possible to decide on one particular 
 instrument whose tones will linger longest in the memory ; 
 and so it devolves on the next age to pronounce on the 
 enduring qualities of the poet's work. The number of 
 American poets is small, probably because ours is a specially 
 critical age, and critical periods are in the main uncreative. 
 
 The stirring time of the Revolution brought forth a ballad 
 literature that was as voluminous as it was patriotic, and some 
 of the songs were of great merit, becoming as well-known in 
 England as in their native land. When quiet settled down on 
 the newly-created Republic, men had more leisure for 
 the higher literature, and thenceforward poetic culture has 
 rapidly advanced. 
 
 Among the first to inaugurate a Home school of poetry in 
 this country were Washington Irving, Mrs. Sedgwick, and 
 Longfellow. Horace Greeley said that Whittier was the 
 first genuinely American poet, and it must be admitted that 
 he was pre-eminently the poet of his own historic genera- 
 tion. He gave expression to the dominant ideas of New 
 England life, and was the poet of a section whose movements 
 ultimately became the governing impulse of the nation. He 
 has in especial the typical American gift of wide sympathy and 
 fluency of speech. 
 
 The period of the Civil War, with its fierce moral and 
 emotional conflicts, stirred the patriotism of poets on each 
 side, and the series of war-ballads that became popular show 
 an immense advance on those of the Revolution, both 
 in patriotic sentiment and true lyrical poetry, and some 
 of them show a dramatic force which is utterly wanting in 
 their proto-types. 
 
POETRY. 1 39 
 
 The poetry of a nation must needs rise with the rising tide 
 of its power, its influence, its intelligence and refinement ; and 
 signs are not wanting that devotion to foreign or sectional 
 types is waning ; that fresh poetic energy, beauty, and crea- 
 tive force is growing with the nation's growth, and that there 
 is a distinct movement toward a school of poetry in America 
 that will not only be national, but worthy of its birthplace. 
 
 The representative poets of the nineteenth century in 
 America are Bryant, Longfellow, Poe, Whittier, Lowell, and 
 Whitman; while of minor lyrical writers there are quite 
 a number who are exerting an appreciable influence on the 
 literature of the day. 
 
 William Cullen Bryant was born at Cummington, Mass., 
 in 1 794 ; and his early years were spent among favor- 
 able surroundings for the development of the poetic gift 
 which distinguished him while yet a child. The scenery 
 around his home was of exquisite and diversified beauty, and 
 he had the advantage of home-training, calculated to draw 
 out what was in him of pure and elevated sentiment. His 
 father was a surgeon of studious habits, who himself ex- 
 celled in writing humorous and satirical verses, and was a 
 severe and faithful critic of his son's work. 
 
 At ten years old, Cullen (as he was called in the family) 
 wrote an address for a school examination, in heroic verse, 
 which was afterward published in the New Hampshire 
 Gazette, and became a stock recitation piece in New England 
 schools. In his twelfth year he wrote a poem on the eclipse 
 of the sun, wonderful for a child-poet ; but his father, with his 
 usual kindly severity, told him he would " be ashamed of it 
 some day." The boy wondered why, and set himself to find 
 out. Trained in the rigid faith of Calvinism, Cullen believed 
 
I4O POETRY. 
 
 firmly in the efficacy of prayer, and records in his fragment 
 of autobiography that at this time he was accustomed to pray 
 " earnestly for the gift of verse." 
 
 His literary path even then was not over smooth, for his 
 grandfather, of whom he stood in great awe, was accustomed, 
 whenever he noticed the delicate lad resting occasionally as 
 he worked, on the farm, to taunt him with the inquiry : 
 " Stopping to make verses, Cullen ?" 
 
 In 1809, he began studying Greek and soon exhibited pas- 
 sionate love for it, learning so fast that the next year he en- 
 tered Williams College as a Sophomore. 
 
 Seven months after, he left college and commenced study- 
 ing law, and the poetic fire slumbered awhile. Licensed to 
 practice in 1815, he returned to Cummington, and spent much 
 time in communing with nature, the fire being thus fanned 
 again into flame. 
 
 After a few years he abandoned the law, and settled 
 steadily into literary life ; his poem " Thanatopsis " having 
 been published in the North American Review, and attracted 
 much attention. 
 
 From 1823 to 1825 he wrote the " Thirty Poems," which 
 brought him still more fame, and a year or two after went to 
 New York to engage in newspaper work. 
 
 It is interesting to note that about this time Bryant wrote 
 a favorable criticism on three poems of Longfellow (which 
 appeared under the new poet's initials only, in the U. S. 
 Literary Gazette], not knowing the author. 
 
 His editorial work created a poetic blank, which existed till 
 in 1831 he published a volume of all his poems written 
 within ten years. These were received with great favor in 
 England as well as America. 
 
POETRY. 141 
 
 In 1842, he published fresh poems, and undertook fresh 
 editorial work. Mr. Bryant had a passion for traveling, and 
 in this year made an extended tour in Europe, followed by 
 others of wider range in other years. He highly appreciated 
 the poetry of Longfellow, and was on terms of friendly cor- 
 respondence with him throughout his life. 
 
 Though taking an active part in political life, thoroughly 
 enjoying home life on his farm in Long Island, and frequently 
 making long journeys, the poetic element was never kept in 
 abeyance in his active mind. Indeed, politics and poetry 
 seem to have had alternate place, or kept side by side. In 
 1864 another volume of "Thirty Poems" appeared, contain- 
 ing some of the longest he had ever written, and was well re- 
 ceived ; and following on this poetic work came his greatest 
 political speech, delivered in April, 1865, at the Union League 
 Club, on the announcement of peace. 
 
 In July, 1865, Mr. Bryant experienced a terrible grief in 
 the loss of his wife, but his sorrow had no power to crush his 
 indomitable spirit of activity. He made another long journey 
 to Europe soon after, and on his return began a translation 
 of Homer, and wrote several fine hymns. His translation of 
 the " Iliad " met with great success and he then set to work 
 on the "Odyssey," completing it in 1871. 
 
 The chief event of his serene old age was a public recep- 
 tion tendered him by both Houses of the Legislature at Al- 
 bany. It was noticeable that as he advanced in years what- 
 ever irritability or asperity had been noticed in him dropped 
 away, and his character in his later days was marked by 
 gentleness and unselfishness. 
 
 In 1878, in consequence of a fall, the active, useful life of 
 the first of America's true poets ended ; and the country 
 
142 POETRY. 
 
 mourned the loss, not of one of her favorite poets only, but 
 of a patriot of lofty aims, a noble and faithful citizen. 
 
 Edgar Allan Poe claims distinction emphatically as the poet 
 of wild imagination and original conceptions. He himself 
 exalted imagination as the chief qualification needed by a 
 poet, and contended that beauty was the sole object of 
 verse. 
 
 The wild, irregular music of his poems has a strong, orig- 
 inal charm, the harmony of idea and expression being com- 
 plete even in the strangest metrical forms. Much of this 
 peculiarity of style maybe accounted for by the circumstances 
 of his romantic life. 
 
 Both his parents died when he was a little child, and he 
 was adopted by a wealthy merchant of Richmond, Va., who 
 gave him his own name of Allan. When he was about six 
 years old, Mr. Allan placed him at school in England, where 
 he remained five years, and then accompanied his patron's 
 family back to America. He is described at this time as a 
 clever boy, of reserved and capricious temperament, and 
 fond of athletic sports. When about fourteen, he formed a 
 deep attachment for the mother of one of his school-fellows, 
 who exercised great influence over the motherless lad, and 
 from the poignant grief he experienced at her death he him- 
 self dated the birth of his first poetic impulses. 
 
 Three years later, he entered the University of Virginia, 
 and might have taken highest honors had not his excessive 
 love of sport and cards interfered with study. On leaving 
 college, Mr. Allan placed him in his own office, but his natural 
 restlessness and idealistic temper made the life distasteful, 
 and he went off to Boston to take life in his own hand. 
 
 There he published a volume of poems, in 1827, that had 
 
POETRY. 1 43 
 
 no success, and, finding literature unprofitable, enlisted in the 
 army. After awhile, he made known his position to Mr. 
 Allan, and was honorably discharged. In 1830 Mr. Allan 
 sent him to West Point, but he disliked the routine work, and 
 purposely neglected his duties in order to get himself cash- 
 iered. He has been spoken of by his comrades as kindly, 
 but excessively shy and reserved, and making no friends. 
 
 Just before leaving West Point he managed, by subscrip- 
 tion among the cadets, to publish another volume of poems ; 
 but it was received only with ridicule. 
 
 He resolved to go to the South, and in Baltimore lived a 
 hard, struggling life, only cheered by the society of his aunt, 
 Mrs. Clemm, whose beautiful daughter he married while she 
 was still a child of fourteen, and to whom he was devoted till 
 her death. Removing to Richmond, he there became editor 
 of the Southern Literary Messenger for a short time, and 
 subsequently engaged in editorial work in Philadelphia. 
 There, as elsewhere, his peculiarities and his sharp and biting 
 criticisms, with his inveterate habit of setting himself up as 
 censor of better-known men, prevented his gaining friends 
 among literary people, and he ultimately went to New York, 
 apparently with no more definite object than that of making 
 a fresh start in a new place. 
 
 For ten years, in adverse circumstances, but with indomit- 
 able spirit, he wrote industriously, but with no adequate finan- 
 cial success. His genius was fully acknowledged, but his 
 unhappy faculty for making enemies by bitter attacks on the 
 editors and poets who were his contemporaries was a barrier 
 to attaining any social position. His wife's health began to 
 fail, and his own gave way at length under the perpetual strain 
 to which nerves and brain were subjected ; one of the most 
 
1 44 POETRY. 
 
 piteous facts known of him being that he suffered the more 
 from denying himself absolute necessities for the sake of the 
 dying girl. 
 
 Another poet has said : 
 
 " Most piteous among all pitiful things 
 Is the end of a thwarted life," 
 
 and the words might have been written concerning Poe. 
 
 Though he began work again soon after his wife's death in 
 1847, hi s fitfulness and uncertainty still hindered success ; 
 and after many vicissitudes, having formed a marriage 
 engagement, he started for the South to be married in July,. 
 1850. He reached no farther than Baltimore, however; 
 having been taken ill on the train. He appears to have wan- 
 dered around in Baltimore for a few days, and it is believed 
 that he was drugged by politicians who made him vote 
 at several places ; for he was found unconscious near a 
 polling place, and being removed to the Washington 
 Hospital died shortly after his admission. 
 
 His prose tales, powerful and weird, often mystical, secured 
 for him a wide and lasting popularity in France. In England 
 and America his widest popularity was attained by the well- 
 known " Raven," which is unique, like the "Ancient 
 Mariner" of Coleridge. Among his less popular poems 
 there runs a vein of melancholy, a deep, almost passionate 
 self-consciousness, and glimpses at times of a higher faith 
 than is suggested by what is known of his life, although the 
 best of them show little sympathy with ordinary humanity, 
 and small regard for the vital interests of life. 
 
 Nevertheless, his wonderful facility of expression, visions 
 of beauty, and above all unrivaled originality secure him his 
 
POETRY. 145 
 
 high place among our representative poets. A memorial to 
 him has been erected by the school teachers of Baltimore, 
 and another by the actors of New York, in the Metropolitan 
 Museum. 
 
 No two lives, no two literary celebrities, could afford 
 stronger contrasts than do those of Edgar A. Poe and John 
 Greenleaf Whittier. 
 
 Born at Haverhill, Mass., in quiet times (December, 1807), 
 his parents being Friends, Whittier spent a serene childhood 
 and led a quiet home-life on his father's farm until his 
 twentieth year, when he went for two years to the Haverhill 
 Academy. As a child he gave no sign of precocity, though 
 extremely intelligent. In 1829 he became editor of the 
 American Manufacturer in Boston, and the next year went 
 to Hartford, to edit the Northeastern Weekly Review. Re- 
 turning in a year or two to Haverhill, he was a member 
 of the Massachusetts Legislature during 1835-6, and became 
 Secretary of the Anti-Slavery Society. In 1838-9 he edited 
 the Pennsylvanian Freeman, in which capacity his high ideas 
 of patriotism and advocacy of humane principles earned him 
 much opposition, which culminated in the burning and 
 destruction of his office by the mob. 
 
 Whittier had now begun to write a great deal, both in 
 prose and poetry, chiefly in support of his anti-slavery views. 
 In 1847, while still writing much poetry, he edited the National 
 Era. At this period a large number of his poems, inspired 
 by current events, assumed a distinctively national tone ; but 
 in the greater part of his productions the charm lies in their 
 exquisite poetic sentiment. In these his intense love of 
 nature is conspicuous but his nature is American all 
 through. He sings of that whereof he knows. His flowers 
 10 
 
1 46 POETRY. 
 
 and birds and streams are those of his own land, and we 
 feel that the lessons they teach are lessons he himself has 
 learned. 
 
 In the late autumn of his long and useful life, Whittier 
 still wrote, preserving the beauteous spring-tide in perennial 
 freshness. 
 
 Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was born in Portland, 
 Maine, in 1802 ; a birthplace peculiarly fitted to exert a benefi- 
 cent influence on the mind of a thoughtful child, to whom 
 the lively stirring events of every day in a sea-port town are 
 of unfailing interest. The picturesque beauty of the town, 
 and the charm of the society existing there in the opening 
 years of this century were doubtless large factors in the de- 
 velopment of Longfellow's poetic instinct. 
 
 His boyhood was very happy, and he was remarkable for 
 quiet intelligence and the sweetness of his disposition. His 
 first poetic efforts were made when he was about thirteen. In 
 1822 he entered Bowdoin College, and while there his liter- 
 ary tastes developed more strongly, and his faculty for 
 thoroughness became marked. 
 
 In one of his letters at this time occurs the characteristic 
 sentence, " Whatever study I am engaged in I must devote 
 my whole soul to it. I will be eminent in something." 
 
 In 1824, when the question of his adopting a profession 
 was mooted, he wished to devote himself to literature, but his 
 father demurred on the ground that it did not offer sufficient 
 promise of support ; however, he compromised by allowing 
 his son one year at Cambridge for literary studies. 
 
 Just at that time the trustees of the college established 
 professorship of modern languages, and offered the position 
 to the young Longfellow, who was already distinguished as a 
 
POETRY. 147 
 
 student and writer. This led to his visiting France, Spain, 
 and Germany for special study, and on his return he took up 
 his residence at Brunswick, and commenced his work at 
 Bowdoin. He was then, though but twenty-two years of 
 age, considered the most accomplished student of modern 
 languages in America, except W. George Ticknor, of 
 Harvard. 
 
 Thoroughly devoted to teaching, Prof. Longfellow exer- 
 cised great influence over his students. He published some 
 articles in the North American Review about this time, 
 but had for some time relegated poetry to the background. 
 In 1834, however, he removed to a wider sphere. He was 
 appointed to succeed George Ticknor at Harvard ; and spent 
 a preliminary year in Germany, Denmark, Sweden, and Hol- 
 land, mastering the language of each country in that time, with 
 Finnish. 
 
 During this journey Mrs. Longfellow died, at Rotterdam, 
 and from the period of depression which followed his loss, he 
 was aroused by the cheerful presence of William Cullen 
 Bryant, whom he then met ; and he was encouraged to take 
 up his studies again. 
 
 The touch of sorrow aroused once more the divine gift of 
 poesy, and having returned to America and made Cambridge 
 his home, he published Hyperion, followed soon by Voices of 
 the Night, of which Hawthorne said : " Nothing equal has as 
 yet been written in our Western world." 
 
 Longfellow still continued teaching, but gave much time to 
 poetry, and rapidly became the best known and most widely 
 read of living poets. 
 
 In 1842 he sent forth his Poems on Slavery in a thin 
 volume that was heartily approved and as heartily con- 
 
1 48 POETRY. 
 
 demned, its object being more the expression of moral senti- 
 ment than the expression of poetic feeling. 
 
 In 1843 Mr- Longfellow married again ; his union with the 
 daughter of Mr. Nathan Appleton of Boston being an excep- 
 tionally happy one, and his life becoming one of unbroken 
 peace for many years. 
 
 After eighteen years' work, he resigned his professorship 
 at Harvard, and gave himself entirely to writing. 
 
 The first fruits of his leisure was the marvelous Hiawatha, 
 that added fresh laurels to his fame. 
 
 In 1861 his literary work was laid aside in consequence of 
 the shock attendant on the sad death of his wife by fire. 
 After awhile, he took up the task of translating the Divina 
 Commedia as a distraction from sad thought, which after four 
 years' work was published, and immediately pronounced the 
 finest translation of Dante in the English language. From 
 1867 onward to 1880, he published new poems, all instinct 
 with the fire and vigor, grace and melody of earlier days ; 
 and wrote his last lines only a few days before his death, in 
 March, 1882. 
 
 In England his death was mourned as a calamity ; and in 
 1884 a bust of him was placed in the poets' corner in West- 
 minster Abbey ; the first time such honor had been paid to 
 an American poet. 
 
 In both England and America, the purity of the life that 
 expressed itself in such pure, sweet utterance was felt 
 and honored, and to the majority of English people, Longfel- 
 low will long remain their ideal of an American poet. 
 
SUSPENSION BRIDGE. 
 
 \ FE have stumbled upon a pathway a pathway lifted 
 I A / from the dead-level of commonplace existence byr 
 J[|l bold spurs and peaks of thought and achievement, 
 beginning- in the dim distance with the inevitable- 
 cradle rocked by the hand of love, climbing precipitately as- 
 it grows in the perspective from the sunny meadow lands of/ 
 pastoral existence into a region of perpetual struggle up op- 
 posing heights, till, at the very inception of a bolder ascent 
 up a highest height, it ends, falling abruptly out of sight into>- 
 the dark valley of the shadow of death. Who traced this- 
 pathway, at whose finis stands in monumental grandeur one 
 of the most brilliant achievements in enodneerinor skill? Who 
 
 o o 
 
 is this who has dared to think and clothe his thought in forms- 
 whose utility and whose magnificence make equal demands 
 upon our gratitude and admiration ? Search must be made 
 for him among the annals of the dead, and whatever laurels 
 there may be for him must be laid upon the unfeeling stone 
 that covers him, and that bears cut into its marble heart the 
 name of John A. Roebling. This is the end a grave a 
 grave cherished in the bosom of his adopted land, America, 
 while Miilhausen, in Thiiringia, Prussia, with just pride 
 claims him as her native son. There was he born, June 
 1 2th, 1806 ; there was he trained in the schools, during early 
 
 149 
 
j^ o SUSPENSION BRIDGE. 
 
 boyhood, to habits of industry, and, later, by contact with a 
 thoughtful people, to thorough self-conquest and masterful 
 .self-reliance. 
 
 Going from Miilhausen to Berlin, he there attended the 
 'Royal Polytechnic School, and, on the completion of his 
 studies, received the degree of civil engineer. Required to 
 devote three years to the service of the State, he sought and 
 found employment in the public works at Westphalia. On 
 the completion of his three years' term of service, Mr. 
 Roebling, now twenty-five, began to look about for some 
 permanent position congenial to his habits of thought and 
 -worthy the outlay of strength he felt to be his. His native 
 land offering nothing immediately convincing to his judg- 
 ment, and the new America appealing strongly to him with 
 her wide and untried fields of labor, he yielded, and took the 
 final step that transferred him from the Old World to the 
 New. 
 
 He settled near Pittsburgh, and notwithstanding his tastes 
 and education pointed to other employment, he returned, 
 forced, perhaps, by immediate necessities, to primitive 
 ;methods of gaining a livelihood, and for several years 
 wrested from the soil his needful sustenance. This could 
 never have been congenial employment, and, abandoning it, 
 he obtained the position of assistant engineer in slackwater 
 navigation on the Beaver River, in Ohio, afterward becom- 
 ing engineer on Sandy and Beaver Canal. 
 
 Railways momentarily growing in favor, Mr. Roebling 
 : seized on the popular prejudice, and began surveying lines 
 . of railway across the Allegheny Mountains. In three years 
 the surveyed as many lines, connecting Harrisburg with Pitts- 
 burgh. 
 
SUSPENSION BRIDGE. ^j 
 
 In the interval following these labors, he began the manu- 
 facture of wire rope, introducing into America a new me- 
 chanical agent of vastly superior strength and durability. 
 He first used it on the portage railway on which canal boats 
 were carried across the Allegheny Mountains. 
 
 His first idea of suspension bridges was developed at 
 Pittsburgh in 1844. The wooden aqueduct of Pennsylvania 
 Canal becoming unsafe, the erection of a new one became 
 imperative. The contract was let to Mr. Roebling, and 
 specified that the work should be completed in nine months, 
 including the winter season of 1844-45. The river current 
 was dangerously rapid, the machinery novel to the workmen, 
 and the winter proved to be a rigorous one. Added to these 
 physical difficulties was the more subtle and intangible one 
 of hostility among neighboring engineers. But " a strenu- 
 ous soul hates cheap successes," and Mr. Roebling's ener- 
 gies were braced instead of undermined by these obstacles. 
 With energy, patience, and a divine faith in himself, he com- 
 menced the work. Within the specified time he had built 
 the aqueduct, comprising seven spans of one hundred and 
 sixty-two feet each, consisting of a wooden trunk to hold 
 water, and supported by a continuous wire cable on each 
 side seven inches in diameter. It was opened to commerce 
 May, 1845, scoring a brilliant victory for Mr. Roebling, being 
 the material proof of his triumph over hostile conditions, and 
 the strict accordance of his ideas with the great laws of civil 
 engineering. 
 
 One such triumph secured him opportunity for further 
 development of his ideas. The old bridge at Pittsburgh 
 being destroyed by fire, he constructed the Monongahela 
 suspension bridge on piers of the old one. It consisted of 
 
SUSPENSION BRIDGE. 
 
 eight spans one hundred and eighty feet each, supported by 
 two four-and-a-half inch cables. 
 
 In the interim, between 1848 and 1850, he removed to 
 Trenton, New Jersey, and constructed four suspension aque- 
 ducts on the line of the Delaware and Hudson Canal. 
 
 In 1851 Mr. Roebling's attention was called to a proposed 
 railway suspension bridge across the Niagara River. Ste- 
 iphenson did not believe the suspension principle could be 
 made practical for railway traffic, and in accordance with this 
 Idea, constructed a tubular bridge over Menai Straits, though 
 he had to deal with spans not greater than four hundred and 
 seventy feet. Mr. Roebling, with a clearer conception of the 
 possibilities of the suspended span, adopted it and gave us 
 our first railway suspension bridge with a clear span of eight 
 hundred and twenty-five feet, supported by four wire cables 
 ten inches in diameter. The bridge was finished in four 
 years and opened to the public in 1855, its successful comple- 
 tion establishing Mr. Roebling, not only as a wise delineator 
 of indisputable principles, but also as a true interpreter of 
 the prophetic spirit of human progress. 
 
 In 1856 this indomitable worker commenced a suspension 
 bridge over the Kentucky River and had completed the 
 towers when a financial collapse put an end to the enterprise. 
 From 1858 to 1860 he was engaged in erecting another sus- 
 pension bridge at Pittsburgh. The Civil War interposing, 
 the structure remained incomplete till 1867, when the work 
 was resumed and carried to a successful issue. 
 
 In 1865 Mr. William C. Kingsley, giving expression to a 
 fast-growing sentiment in the minds of the people, employed 
 an eminent engineer to make estimates and draw plans of a 
 bridge across East River, connecting the luxurious and pala- 
 
SUSPENSION BRIDGE. 
 
 153 
 
 tial Brooklyn with the busy marts of New York. The 
 necessity of Mr. Kingsley's movement received emphatic 
 recognition during the severe winter of 1866-67, when East 
 River was gorged with ice and the snorting and toiling ferry- 
 boats were hours making the dangerous passage between the 
 two cities. The demands for a bridge grew vehement, and 
 the popular excitement gave new impetus to a charter placed 
 by leading citizens of Brooklyn before the Legislature then 
 in session at Albany. This charter originally fixed the capital 
 stock at five millions, with power to increase, and gave the 
 cities of Brooklyn and New York authority to subscribe 
 amounts to be determined by their respective Common 
 Councils. This charter was amended so that the bridge 
 became public property, sixty-six and two-thirds per cent, to 
 be paid for and owned by the city of Brooklyn, and- the rest 
 by the city of New York, the actual payments by the private 
 stockholders to be reimbursed and their title extinguished. 
 
 o 
 
 A month after the passage of the bill, May 23d, 1867, Mr. 
 Roebling was appointed Chief Engineer, and he made his 
 report of surveys and estimates September ist of the same 
 year. These plans were fully indorsed by a board of con- 
 sulting engineers convened at the request of Mr. Roebling, 
 and also by a commission of United States engineers ap- 
 pointed by War Department, the latter, however, recommend- 
 ing an increase of five feet in the height of the bridge. 
 
 All of Mr. Roebling's previous labors had been but step- 
 ping-stones to this gigantic engineering feat with its bold 
 and unprecedented leap of nearly two thousand feet from 
 city to city. With what personal pride he entered upon this 
 the crowning triumph of his illustrious career, it needs no 
 deep insight into human nature to conjecture. New York, 
 
I CA SUSPENSION BRIDGE. 
 
 the chief city of a young but mighty Republic, had called upon 
 him to erect for her a highway of unparalleled grandeur 
 across an arm of the sea, dividing its great heart in twain. 
 This honor, too, was but a just recognition of his genius 
 since he had no claim of birthright to predispose American 
 favor in his behalf. 
 
 If, as one of the greatest of modern philosophers con- 
 tends, the work is an exposition of the workman, how solid 
 and impregnable, how grand, how stable must have been the 
 character of him who planned the Brooklyn bridge ? Those 
 massive towers, second in grandeur only to the ancient 
 Egyptian pyramids ; that mighty arch hanging between them 
 holding in its strong clutch a roadway for the annual passage 
 of forty millions of people. Out of elements that thrilled, 
 trembled, and expanded at the kiss of the sun, sensitively 
 acknowledged the influence of far-away heavenly bodies, and 
 recorded every gradation of temperature, he produced sta- 
 bility, not by the annihilation of motion, but by humoring the 
 moods of materials, so that their variations playing into pre- 
 arranged expansion chambers are insensible in the bridge 
 itself. This stately structure, the pride of America and the 
 admiration of the world, is but the thought of Roebling 
 vested with its natural grandeur. But only in imagination was 
 his heart thrilled and gladdened by this triumph of his 
 genius. Let us hope that the unclothed thought was enough 
 for him since implacable death forever closed his eyes to the 
 completed vision. In the summer of 1869, while locating the 
 position of one of his towers, a ferry-boat entered the slip 
 and thrust together the timbers that formed his standing- 
 place, catching his foot and relentlessly crushing it. The pain- 
 ful injury resulted in lockjaw, of which he died in sixteen days. 
 
SUSPENSION BRIDGE. 
 
 155 
 
 The inspirer was dead, but before a wondering and sympa- 
 thetic public had time to discuss the fate of his enterprise, 
 his son, Washington, his admirer and co-worker, came for- 
 ward to prove incontestably that the mantle of the father's 
 genius had fallen upon his illustrious son. Stepping into the 
 exact spot where the fatal shaft had struck his father, he car- 
 ried forward the great engineering battle against restless and 
 resisting currents of wind and water till serried ranks of 
 wires and solid phalanxes of stone were marshalled in 
 victorious splendor upon the field. 
 
 Unacquainted with his methods, we might well wonder 
 what unnatural race of men towed these massive towers into 
 place and grafted them upon their rocky bed fathoms below, 
 the river level. Who built the towers themselves, or climbed 
 their precipitous sides to a height of two hundred and 
 seventy-six feet and with Herculean strength lifted upon 
 their everlasting shoulders four gigantic cables like the four 
 great strings of some mighty ^Eolian harp ? Who spun the 
 cables themselves, or who, tiring of their incessant diapason, 
 pulled down the aerial chords and weighted them with a mas- 
 sive roadway obedient to the use of man ? 
 
 Subjecting his methods to strict analysis, we are struck 
 with their simplicity and economy. In a work requiring the 
 same precision and exactness as an abstract mathematical 
 problem, he has employed only direct and simple methods of 
 producing required results. But his directness and simplicity 
 are the directness and simplicity of genius. 
 
 The exact location of the towers being decided upon, the 
 water-lot was marked off by a landward row of piles one 
 hundred and seventy-two feet in length, and at each end of 
 this row and at right angles to it, a row extending one 
 
'56 
 
 SUSPENSION BRIDGE. 
 
 hundred and two feet into the river, making three sides of 
 an oblong inclosure. Into this was towed a huge wooden 
 box or caisson of like dimensions and with a roof twenty- 
 two feet thick. Upon this roof, above the water, was laid the 
 masonry forming the base of the tower. As the caisson 
 sunk, fresh masonry was added, and excavations were made 
 below the river bed till March nth, 1871, at a depth of forty- 
 five feet below the water level the caisson under the 
 Brooklyn tower was filled with concrete and left in its final 
 resting-place. During December, 1870, an unfortunate fire 
 occurred in this caisson in which Mr. Roebling himself was 
 seriously and permanently injured. Though a strange fatality 
 seemed to pursue the head of the enterprise, Mr. Roebling 
 would not succumb to his sufferings, but from a couch over- 
 looking the scene of labor he continued to direct the con- 
 struction of every detail. 
 
 Seven months after the completion of the foundation of 
 the Brooklyn tower, the one on the New York side was fitted 
 to its rocky resting-place, seventy-eight feet below high- 
 water mark. 
 
 The towers, awful in their impenetrable massiveness, rise 
 to the height of two hundred and seventy-six feet, tapering 
 from a water-line circumference of three hundred and ninety- 
 eight feet to a roof circumference of three hundred and 
 seventy-eight feet. The second one reached completion 
 July, 1876, and the two stood ready to bear up the great 
 suspension cables. These cables are fifteen and three- 
 quarter inches in diameter and contain five thousand two 
 hundred and eighty-two parallel wires tightly clamped to- 
 gether and bound with a spiral coil of wire rope. The five 
 thousand wires were first spun into strands of two hundred 
 
SUSPENSION BRIDGE. 
 
 I 57 
 
 and seventy-eight wires each, nineteen strands composing a 
 cable, the odd strand for the centre, and the other eighteen 
 forming two circles about it. The spinning of the strands 
 was accomplished by means of a sheave traveling along an 
 endless belt which revolved by steam-power throughout the 
 distance from tower to tower and back over their tops to the 
 anchorages nine hundred and thirty feet distant on either side. 
 The wire was passed about the sheave, the belt set in motion, 
 and the two spans or complete circuit of wire arriving at 
 the anchorage was placed about the great iron horseshoe 
 fixed to receive it. The sheave was then returned empty to 
 receive a new circuit of wire and make a new journey. The 
 spinning of the cables was begun June nth, 1877, and the 
 four were completed October I5th, 1878. They swoop down- 
 ward in parallel and majestic curves, meeting at their central 
 point the upward curve of the roadway, and after climbing 
 over the tops of the towers sweep downward again to their 
 anchorages of stone one hundred and nineteen by one hun- 
 dred and thirty-two feet at their base, rising ninety feet above 
 high-water mark, and weighing sixty thousand tons. 
 
 The cables do not rest with a vertical pressure immediately 
 on the tops of the towers but are placed on a " cradle/' a 
 cast-iron plate in the shape of a segment of a circle, the 
 curved side indented to admit the cable and the straight side 
 resting on rollers that move easily with the lengthening or 
 shortening of the cable. 
 
 The ends of the roadway pierce the towers at a height of 
 one hundred and eighteen feet above the water level, the 
 land spans being nine hundred and thirty feet, and the grand 
 central span, gently swelling like the crest of a huge billow 
 to a central height of one hundred and thirty-five feet above 
 
158 SUSPENSION BRIDGE. 
 
 mean high-water mark, being one thousand five hundred and 
 ninety-five feet in length. The framework consists essentially 
 of two systems of girders at right angles to each other, braced 
 vertically, horizontally, and diagonally, so that " no conceiv- 
 able cause can ever disturb its rigid fixity of position and 
 form." Steel suspenders droop from the cables and into 
 these are thrust the steel beams of the roadway. The bridge 
 is divided into five parallel avenues by the six vertical lines 
 of trussing which project upward like steel fences. The 
 outside avenues, nearly nineteen feet wide, are devoted to 
 vehicles, the adjacent ones to cars moved by cables connect- 
 ing with a stationary engine, while the central one, fifteen 
 and a half feet wide and elevated twelve feet above the others, 
 is reserved for pedestrians, securing to them a vantage 
 ground, whence with unobstructed vision they may behold an 
 unequaled panorama of beauty and variety. Beneath 'is the 
 busy river, on either side the busier cities, two mighty batte- 
 ries surcharged with life, of which the bridge is the connect- 
 ing wire; beyond, "villa-dotted Staten Island," New Jersey, 
 the Palisades, Long Island, the Narrows, the bay, and last 
 the illimitable ocean veiling its horizon in the sky. 
 
 May 24th, 1883, the bridge was formally opened to the 
 public, having been thirteen years in construction and having 
 cost, exclusive of land damages and incidental outlays, nine 
 millions of dollars. With pomp and ceremony it passed 
 from the hands of the workmen and was dedicated to its 
 eternal labors. Consecrated by the death of the elder and 
 the hopeless invalidity of the younger Roebling to the slow 
 expiation of these deeds, it bears its burdens in silent and 
 sombre patience, and will bear them till the pitying " cen- 
 turies shall have rusted its filaments into nothingness." 
 
BESSEMER STEEL. 
 
 | | ENRY BESSEMER, youngest son of Anthony Bes- 
 Vl semer, was born in 1813, at Charlton, Hertfordshire, 
 
 / England. His boyhood was spent in his native 
 ^ A village and the neighboring town of Hitchin, where 
 ^* he received the rudiments of an ordinary educa- 
 tion. Notwithstanding his imperfect mechanical appliances, 
 his early years were devoted to the cultivation of his in- 
 ventive faculties. His parents encouraged him in his youth- 
 ful efforts. 
 
 Like many other modern inventors, he seems to have in- 
 herited the genius of the father. 
 
 Anthony Bessemer was a member of the French Academy 
 of Sciences at the age of twenty-five. At the time of the 
 great Revolution of 1792 he was employed in the French 
 Mint. During these troublesome times he was arrested and 
 held as a political prisoner for a short time, but succeeded in 
 escaping, at the risk of his life, and fled to England. Here 
 his talents proved a passport to success, and he was ap- 
 pointed to a situation in the English Mint. 
 
 By the exercise of his ingenuity and inventive faculties he 
 acquired in his employment sufficient means to purchase a 
 small estate in Hertfordshire, where he afterward resided. 
 
 After settling in England, he began making improvements 
 
 159 
 
j5o BESSEMER STEEL. 
 
 in microscopes and in type-founding. He engraved an en- 
 tire series of type from pica to diamond. The success of 
 these type led to the establishment of the firm of Bessemer 
 & Catherwood. 
 
 The great improvement which Anthony Bessemer intro- 
 duced into the art of type-making was not so much in the 
 engraving as in the composition of the metal. He discovered 
 that an alloy of copper, tin, and bismuth was the most de- 
 sirable metal for type, and the working of this discovery was 
 very successful in his hands. He kept this secret for some 
 years, diverting attention from the real cause of success the 
 composition of the metal by inviting comparison between the 
 shape of the type which he made and those of other manu- 
 facturers. His secret, however, was finally discovered and 
 the process patented. 
 
 One of his discoveries was a source of considerable profit 
 to him. It is generally known that when gold articles are 
 made by the jewelers there are various discolorations left on 
 their surface by the process of manufacture, and in order to 
 clean the, surface they are put into a solution of alum, salt, 
 and saltpetre, which dissolves a large quantity of the copper 
 that is used as an alloy. Anthony Bessemer discovered that 
 this powerful acid not only dissolved the copper, but also dis- 
 solved a quantity of the gold. He accordingly began to buy 
 up this liquor, and, as he was the only one who possessed a 
 knowledge of its real value, he had no difficulty in purchasing 
 all that he desired. From the liquor thus obtained he suc- 
 ceeded in extracting gold in considerable quantities, which 
 was a source of support for many years. 
 
 By some means which he kept secret (and the secret died 
 with him) he deposited the particles of gold on the shavings 
 
BESSEMER STEEL. l6l 
 
 of another metal, which, being afterward melted, left the pure 
 gold in small quantity. Thirty years afterward the electro- 
 type process was invented, producing the same effect. 
 
 At the age of eighteen, Henry Bessemer went to London, 
 "knowing no one," he says, "and myself unknown a mere 
 cipher in a vast sea of human enterprise." Here he worked 
 as a modeler and designer with encouraging success. With 
 a diamond point he engraved a large number of elegant and 
 original designs on steel for patent medicine labels. 
 
 He secured plenty of work in his line and was well paid 
 for it. 
 
 At the age of nineteen he began to mature some plans in 
 connection with the production of stamps which he hoped 
 would lead him on to fortune. At that time the old form of 
 stamps were in use that had been employed since the day of 
 Queen Anne, and as they were easily transferred from old 
 deeds to new ones, the government lost a large amount an- 
 nually by this surreptitious practice. The ordinary impressed 
 or embossed stamps such as are now employed on bills of 
 exchange, or impressed directly on skins of parchment, were 
 liable to be entirely obliterated if exposed for some months 
 to a damp atmosphere. A deed so exposed would at last 
 appear unstamped, and would therefore become invalid. To 
 prevent this it was the practice to gum small pieces of blue 
 paper on the parchment, and, to render it still more secure, 
 a strip of metal foil was passed through it, and another piece 
 of paper, with the printed initials of the sovereign, was 
 gummed over the loose end of the foil at the back. The 
 stamp was then impressed on the blue paper, which, unlike 
 parchment, is incapable of losing the impression by exposure 
 to a damp atmosphere. Experience showed, however, that 
 
BESSEMER STEEL. 
 
 by placing a little piece of moistened blotting-paper for a 
 few hours over the paper the gum became so softened that 
 the two pieces of paper and the slip of foil could be easily re- 
 moved from an old deed and then used for a new one. In 
 this way one stamp could be used a second and a third time, 
 thus depriving the public revenue of thousands of pounds 
 every year. 
 
 Our young inventor at once set to work to devise a stamp 
 that could not be used twice. His first discovery was a 
 mode by which he could have reproduced easily and cheaply 
 thousands of stamps of any pattern. " The facility," he says, 
 " with which I could make a permanent die from a thin paper 
 original, capable of producing a thousand copies, would have 
 opened a wide door for successful frauds if my process had 
 been known to unscrupulous persons, for there is not a gov- 
 ernment stamp or a paper seal of a corporate body that every 
 common office clerk could not forge in a few minutes at the 
 office of his employer or at his own home. The production 
 of such a die from a common paper stamp is a work of only 
 ten minutes, the materials cost less than one penny, no sort 
 of technical skill is necessary, and a common copying press 
 or a letter-stamp yields most successful copies." 
 
 To this day a successful forger has to employ a skillful 
 die-sinker to make a good imitation in steel of the document 
 he wishes to forge, but if such a method as that discovered 
 and described by Sir Henry Bessemer were known, what a 
 prospect it would open up ! Appalled at the effect which the 
 communication of such a process would have had upon the 
 business of the Stamp Office, he carefully kept the knowledge 
 of it to himself, and to this day it remains a secret. More than 
 ever impressed with the necessity for an improved form of 
 
BESSEMER STEEL. 
 
 stamp, and conscious of his own capability to produce it, he 
 labored for some months to accomplish his object, feeling 
 sure that, if successful, he would be amply rewarded by the 
 government. To insure the secrecy of his experiments, he 
 worked at them during the night, after his ordinary business 
 of the day was over. He succeeded at last in making a 
 stamp which obviated the great objection to the then exist- 
 ing form, inasmuch as it would be impossible to transfer it 
 from one deed to another, to obliterate it by moisture, or to 
 take an impression from it capable of producing a duplicate. 
 Flushed with success and confident of the reward of his 
 labors, he waited upon Sir Charles Persley, at Somerset 
 House, and showed him by numerous proofs how easily all 
 the then existing stamps could be forged, and how his new 
 invention prevented forgery. Sir Charles, who was much 
 astonished at the disclosure of imperfections in the one and 
 highly pleased with the other, asked the inventor to work 
 out more perfectly the principle of the new stamping inven- 
 tion. Accordingly, Sir Henry devoted several weeks to per- 
 fecting his stamp, with which the Stamp Office authorities 
 were well pleased. The design, as described by the in- 
 ventor, was circular, about two and a half inches in diameter, 
 and consisted of a garter, with a motto in capital letters, 
 surmounted by a crown. Within the garter was a shield 
 with the words, " Five Pounds." The space between the 
 shield and the garter was filled with network in imitation of 
 lace. The die was executed in steel, which pierced the 
 parchment. with more than four hundred holes, and these 
 holes formed the stamp. Such a stamp removed all the ob- 
 jections to the old one. So pleased was Sir Charles with it 
 that he recommended it to Lord Althorp, and it was soon 
 
j 4 BESSEMER STEEL. 
 
 adopted by the Stamp Office. At the same time the in- 
 ventor was asked whether he would be satisfied with the 
 position of superintendent of stamps, with five or six hun- 
 dred pounds per annum as compensation for his invention, 
 instead of a sum of money from the treasury. This appoint- 
 ment he gladly agreed to accept, for, being engaged to be 
 married at the time, he thought his future position in life was 
 settled. Shortly afterward he called on the young lady to 
 whom he was engaged, and communicated the glad tidings 
 of bright prospects, at the same time showing her the de- 
 sign of his new stamp. On explaining to her that its chief 
 virtue was in prohibiting the new stamps thus produced from 
 being fraudulently used twice or thrice, she instantly sug- 
 gested that a date put upon the stamp might add addi- 
 tional security to its legal use. This idea was new to him, 
 and, impressed with its practical character, he at once con- 
 ceived a plan for the insertion of movable dates in the die of 
 his stamp. Having worked out the details of a stamp with 
 movable dates, he saw that it was more simple and more 
 easily worked than his elaborate die for perforating stamps ; 
 but he also saw that if he disclosed his latest invention it 
 might interfere with his settled prospects in connection with 
 the carrying out of his first one. It was not without regret, 
 too, that he saw the results of months of toil and the experi- 
 ments of many lonely nights superseded, but his conviction 
 of the superiority of his latest design was so strong, and his 
 confidence in that of the government so unsuspecting that 
 he boldly placed the whole matter before Sir Charles Pers- 
 ley. Of course the new design was preferred, as with it all 
 the old dies, old presses, and old workmen could be em- 
 ployed. 
 
BESSEMER STEEL. 
 
 65 
 
 Among the other advantages which it presented to the 
 government was the fact that no superintendent of stamps 
 would now be necessaVy, a recommendation which the per- 
 forating process did not possess. The Stamp Office there- 
 fore abandoned Sir Henry's first invention in favor of his 
 latest one, which is still in use. At the same time the gov- 
 ernment abandoned the office of superintendent of stamps it 
 abandoned the ingenious inventor. 
 
 The revenue from stamps grew enormously. The Stamp 
 Office reaped a benefit which it is scarcely possible to esti- 
 mate, while the inventor did not receive a farthing. 
 
 " Success or failure in first efforts often mold the course 
 of after life ; adversity often acts as a stimulant." Fortu- 
 nately, this was the case with Sir Henry Bessemer. While 
 smarting from the injustice of the government, he was en- 
 couraged by the mechanical success of the invention that 
 they had appropriated. He therefore continued to work out 
 new inventions, but took care in future to turn them to more 
 profitable account, and to protect them from piracy. 
 
 His attention was next directed to the difficulty of obtain- 
 ing good patterns of figured Utrecht velvet, and he soon in- 
 vented a machine that overcame this difficulty. Some of the 
 velvet it produced was used in furnishing the state apart- 
 ments at Windsor Castle, and several of these designs are 
 still in use. 
 
 The next matter that seriously engaged his attention was 
 the process of type-casting, improvements in which formed 
 the subject of his first patent. 
 
 His machine, which was patented March 8th, 1838, pro- 
 duced the most accurate type ever cast up to that date. 
 
 Some years after, he constructed what was known as 
 
j56 BESSEMER STEEL. 
 
 " Young's Composing Machine," with which The Family 
 Herald was " composed " by a young lady, who with it could 
 set from six to seven thousand type per hour for ten con- 
 secutive hours, but ultimately the great opposition of the 
 compositors led to its abandonment. 
 
 " Shortly after he had taken out his first patent his atten- 
 tion was accidentally turned to the manufacture of bronze 
 powder, which is used in gold work, japanning, gold print- 
 ing, and similar operations. While engaged in ornamenting 
 .a vignette in his sister's album, he had to purchase a small 
 quantity of this bronze, and was struck with the great differ- 
 ence between the. price of the raw material and that of the 
 .manufactured article. He concluded that the difference was 
 caused by the process of manufacture, and made inquiries 
 with the view of learning the nature of the process. He 
 found that this manufacture was hardly known in England. 
 The article was supplied from Germany. He did not suc- 
 ceed, therefore, in finding any one who could tell him how it 
 was produced. Under these circumstances, he determined 
 to try to make it himself, and worked at it for two years be- 
 fore success crowned his efforts." 
 
 " Knowing very little of the patent law, and considering it 
 so insecure that the safest way was to keep it to himself, he 
 determined to work his process of bronze-making in strict 
 secrecy. He first put up a small apparatus with his own 
 hands, and worked it entirely by himself. He then sent out 
 .a traveler with samples of the article, for which he received 
 -enough orders to feel assured of success. He then com- 
 ununicated his plans to a friend, who agreed to put ten thou- 
 sand pounds into the business as a silent partner. The entire 
 \working of the concern was left in the hands of Sir Henry. 
 
SSEMER STEEL. 
 
 To insure secrecy, he made plans of all the machinery re- 
 quired, and then divided them into sections. He next sent 
 these sectional drawings to different engineering works, in 
 order to get his machinery made piecemeal in different parts 
 of England. This done, he collected the various pieces and 
 fitted them up himself, a work that occupied him several 
 months. Finding everything at last in perfect working 
 order, he engaged assistants in whom he had confidence, and 
 paid them very high wages, on condition that they kept 
 everything in the strictest secrecy. 
 
 " Bronze powder was now produced in large quantities by 
 means of five self-acting machines, which were capable of 
 producing as much daily as sixty skilled workmen could da 
 by the old hand system. 
 
 "This machinery has been in constant use for over forty 
 years without having been either patented or pirated. 
 
 "Three out of the five assistants have died, and in 1871 Sir 
 Henry rewarded the faithfulness of his surviving assistants 
 by handing over to them the business and factory." 
 
 At the great exhibition of 1857 he exhibited several dif- 
 ferent kinds of machines which were considered ingenious 
 combinations of simplicity and power. One was a pump for 
 land and sewer drainage capable of discharging twenty tons 
 of water per minute, and of draining in one hour an acre of 
 land one foot deep in water. 
 
 " A novel machine for grinding and polishing plate-glass 
 was much admired. In it a slate table on which the plate- 
 glass was laid had a series of grooves and, by extracting the 
 air from these grooves by means of an air pump a vacuum was 
 produced so that the pressure of the atmosphere on the 
 upper side of the glass held it firmly to the table while it was 
 
BESSEMER STEEL. 
 
 being ground and polished. By turning a cock which ad- 
 mitted the air again the plate of glass could be instantly 
 removed. The plan then in use for holding down sheets of 
 glass was to imbed them in plaster of Paris an operation 
 which had to be performed four times for each plate, and in 
 which forty tons of plaster per week were consumed in some 
 establishments. This was considered one of the most 
 valuable apparatus among the mechanical appliances ex- 
 hibited." 
 
 In 1853 when the public mind was much exercised by the 
 prospect of the impending war with Russia, Sir Henry 
 Bessemer enthusiastically devoted his attention to the im- 
 provement of the projectiles and ordnance then in use. 
 
 He soon constructed elongated projectiles to which a 
 rotary motion was imparted during their passage through the 
 air without the aid of rifled grooves which still continue to be 
 made in our ordnance and without any deviation from the 
 true cylindrical bore of the gun. To effect this he made 
 small passages lengthwise through the projectiles and open 
 at the end nearest the breech of the gun. Through these 
 passages a part of the exploded powder found its way, and 
 being emitted from the opposite sides of the projectile the 
 reactive force of the exploded gunpowder produced the 
 rotary motion required. Among other peculiarities of this 
 gun was an enlarged powder chamber an improvement that 
 -was made the subject of experiment by other inventors a 
 quarter of a century afterward and he consequently insisted 
 on increasing the strength of his gun and the metal near the 
 ; breech. To prevent inconvenience from this increased 
 weight he constructed his gun in parts which were bolted 
 together. 
 
BESSEMER STEEL. ! 6g 
 
 " By this mode of forming guns I am enabled," he said, 
 " to use iron and steel and thus form a gun of great strength, 
 the parts of which are of comparatively little weight, while it 
 also admits of the various parts being made of the metals 
 most suitable to resist the peculiar strain and wear to which 
 they are severely subjected when in use." 
 
 Seeing that the English Government had no good artillery 
 suitable for firing elongated projectiles and considering the 
 system of rifled grooves as dangerous, he made a series of 
 experiments with six-pounder shots with which he got what 
 he considered more than ample rotation in a smooth-bore 
 gun. He then submitted his plan to the Government 
 authorities at Woolwich, but it was simply pooh-poohed. 
 They never ev#n tried it. 
 
 Shortly after this, while Sir Henry was on a visit to Paris 
 with Lord John Hay, he attended a dinner given to distin- 
 guished French officers before their departure for the Crimea. 
 At that dinner Sir Henry met Prince Napoleon, to whom he 
 took occasion to mention his plan of firing elongated projec- 
 tiles. So favorably was the Prince impressed that he asked 
 Sir Henry to explain it to the Emperor, and with this view 
 arranged an interview. The Emperor was so pleased that 
 he invited Sir Henry to continue his experiments at Vin- 
 cennes. Other business recalling Sir Henry to London, he 
 asked the Emperor's permission to make his experiments in 
 London and to bring the projectiles to Paris for trial. His 
 Majesty not only consented, but said, " In this case you will 
 be put to some expense, but I will have that seen to." Sir 
 Henry returned to London, and in a few days afterward re- 
 ceived an autograph note from the Emperor, authorizing him 
 to draw on " Baring Brothers," of London, for the cost of 
 
jy O BESSEMER STEEL. 
 
 manufacturing projectiles, but leaving him to fill in any 
 amount. 
 
 A good many projectiles were made and sent to Vincennes 
 for trial. Two days before Christmas, when the ground was 
 covered with six inches of snow, several thirty-pounder pro- 
 jectiles were fired through ten boarded targets standing in a 
 straight line, each target being about one hundred yards dis- 
 tant from the other. In this way it was shown by the circular 
 holes made in these targets that the plan of the inventor im- 
 parted sufficient rotation to his elongated projectiles which 
 generally passed through seven of the targets. A mechanical 
 device was also affixed to the mouth of the gun to show the 
 precise amount of rotation by marking the projectiles, and 
 several shots recovered from the snow indicated from one 
 and a half to two and a quarter rotations in passing through 
 the length of the gun, being a greater twist than that pro- 
 duced by the ordinary system of rifling. 
 
 These promising results were considered satisfactory by 
 the French authorities, and they fully justified the anticipa- 
 tions of their designer, but just at the moment when success 
 appeared to be on the point of crowning his labors an inci- 
 dent occurred that changed the whole course of his future 
 life, that materially affected the industrial progress of the 
 world, and afforded another illustration of the saying, " What 
 great events from little causes spring." 
 
 It is but rarely that we can lay hold with certainty of the 
 thread by which genius has been guided in its first discove- 
 ries. This desideratum, however, is not wanting in the case 
 of the great invention that revolutionized the steel trade. 
 When Sir Henry Bessemer had shown to the French military 
 authorities the result of his system of firing elongated pro- 
 
BESSEMER STEEL. 
 
 jectiles from a light cast-iron smooth-bore gun, Commander 
 Minie, who superintended the trials, remarked to him, " The 
 shots rotate properly, but if you cannot get stronger metal 
 for your guns such heavy projectiles will be of little use." It 
 was this observation that first led Sir Henry to think of the 
 possibility of improving the manufacture of iron. It sug- 
 gested to him a new field of invention, and he instantly 
 determined 
 
 " To brave the perils that surely environ 
 The man who dabbles in cast-iron." 
 
 In reporting the results of his artillery experiments to the 
 Emperor he intimated his intention of extending his re- 
 searches to the kind of metal most suitable for artillery 
 purposes. Napoleon gave every encouragement to this new 
 project, and requested that the results might be communi- 
 cated to him. 
 
 " When Sir Henry Bessemer determined to make improve- 
 ments in the manufacture of iron and steel he had not the 
 least idea of how he was going to do it. Both the rudiments 
 and the history of metallurgy were unknown to him, and, at 
 first sight no subject could appear less inviting. The pro- 
 cess then in use for making steel had been practiced for 
 nearly a century without any improvement, and the history 
 of its invention was by no means encouraging. 
 
 " An honest and skillful clockmaker named Huntsman 
 who lived at Doncaster in 1738 was so annoyed at the de- 
 fective nature of the watch springs then used in his trade that 
 he began to make experiments with the view of producing 
 a better quality of steel. Little is known of his experiments, 
 for he kept them strictly secret. After long-continued efforts 
 and many failures he did succeed in his aim, and the process 
 
j^ 2 BESSEMER STEEL. 
 
 which he then invented was the only one in use for the next 
 hundred years. Until then the finest steel was made by the 
 Hindoos, and the price of it, previous to Huntsman's inven- 
 tion, was ten thousand pounds a ton. 
 
 " Huntsman kept his valuable invention a secret for many 
 years. The Sheffield manufacturers multiplied their efforts 
 to fathom the secret which had been so well kept. 
 
 " In the dismal darkness and bitter cold of a winter's night 
 a beggar knocked at the entrance to Huntsman's works. 
 The snow was falling heavily and all outside was gloom and 
 darkness. The shivering beggar asked for shelter. The 
 workmen instantly assented and assigned him a warm corner 
 of the building where he soon fell asleep. But it was a cat's 
 sleep, for, while the unsuspecting workmen proceeded with 
 their work, the sleeping beggar ' eyed ' them and, as the 
 process lasted several hours he continued his feigned sleep. 
 It afterward transpired that the sleeping beggar was an iron- 
 founder of Sheffield, and the success of his stratagem was 
 attested by the erection of a steel works similar to Hunts- 
 man's. 
 
 " It was this system of manufacture that was employed 
 when Sir Henry Bessemer's attention was directed to metal- 
 lurgy. 
 
 " The iron then used for making steel was mostly imported 
 from Sweden, Russia, and Spain. 
 
 " With a view of acquiring practical knowledge of the sys- 
 tem then in use for converting ore into iron, he visited the 
 iron-working districts of the north, and upon his return to 
 London arranged for the use of a factory and began his 
 experiments. 
 
 "After twelve months time and many costly experiments he 
 
BESSEMER STEEL. 
 
 '73 
 
 succeeded in producing an improved quality of cast-iron, 
 almost as white as steel, and tougher and stronger than the 
 best cast-iron then used. Of this metal he cast a small 
 model gun which he presented to the Emperor of France. 
 The comments of the great French leader encouraged Sir 
 Henry to continue his experiments until he had extended 
 their scope from the production of refined iron to that of 
 steel." 
 
 The labor and anxiety entailed by these experiments 
 brought on a short but severe illness, and while he was lying 
 in bed pondering on the prospects of succeeding in another 
 experiment with the pipes and pots, it occurred to him that 
 difficulty might be got over by introducing air into a large 
 vessel from below into the molten mass within. 
 
 Though he entertained grave doubts as to the practica- 
 bility of carrying out this idea, he determined to put it to a 
 working test, and, on recovering health, immediately began 
 to design apparatus for this purpose. He constructed a cir- 
 cular vessel, measuring three feet in diameter and' five feet 
 in height, and capable of holding seven hundred- weight of 
 iron. He next ordered a small powerful air-engine and a 
 quantity of crude iron to be put down on the premises. The 
 name of these premises was Baxter House, formerly the resi- 
 dence of old Richard Baxter, and the simple experiment here 
 described has made that house forever famous. 
 
 The primitive apparatus being ready, the engine was made 
 to force streams of air under high pressure, through the bot- 
 tom of the vessel, which was lined with fire-clay, and the 
 stoker was told to pour the metal, when it was sufficiently 
 melted, in at the top of it. A cast-iron plate one of those 
 lids which commonly cover the coal-holes in the pavement 
 
j~, BESSEMER STEEL. 
 
 was hung over the converter, and all being got ready, the 
 stoker in some bewilderment poured in the metal. Instantly 
 out came a volcanic eruption of such dazzling corruscations 
 as had never been seen before. The dangling pot-lid dis- 
 solved in the gleaming volume of flame, and the chain by 
 which it hung grew red and then white as the various stages 
 of the process were unfolded to the gaze of the wondering 
 spectators. The air-cock, to regulate the blast, was beside 
 the converting vessel, and no one dared go near it, much less 
 to deliberately shut it In this dilemma, however, they were 
 soon delivered, by finding that the process of decarburization 
 or combustion had expended all its fury, and, most wonder- 
 ful of all, the result was steel. The new metal was tried. 
 Its quality was good. The problem was solved. The inventor 
 was elated. 
 
 The result of this first experiment showed that the highest 
 temperature ever known in the arts could be produced by the 
 simple introduction of atmospheric air into cast-iron. After 
 many experiments had been made and large sums of money 
 expended, Sir Henry became anxious for other opinion on 
 the process, accordingly he invited Mr. George Rennie to in- 
 spect the work. On seeing the result of a " blow " in the 
 converter, Mr. Rennie said: "This must not be hid under a 
 bushel. The British Association meets next week ; if you 
 have patented your invention, draw up an account of it in a 
 paper and have it read." 
 
 Acting under this suggestion, Sir Henry wrote a descrip- 
 tion of his new invention, entitling it, " The Manufacture of 
 Malleable Iron and Steel without Fuel." This was the first 
 public announcement of the Bessemer process, made August 
 nth, 1856. 
 
BESSEMER STEEL. I 75 
 
 The new process having been successfully tested by vari- 
 ous iron manufacturers throughout the kingdom, large sums 
 of money, varying from ten thousand to one hundred thousand 
 pounds, were offered for the patent, all of which Sir Henry 
 declined. He desired an annual income from his invention, 
 and with that plan in view arranged to receive so much per 
 year from each firm using his process, the amount to be pro- 
 portionate to the quantity of steel manufactured. 
 
 The Dowlais Iron Company were the first to take a license, 
 and it was arranged that Sir Henry should advise them as to 
 the details of working the process. 
 
 The manager of the works said : " We have seventeen fur- 
 naces in blast, and I will tell you the burden of each of them, 
 you can select your furnace, and if it is possible to put up 
 your apparatus before it, we will do so." Sir Henry replied : 
 " It does not matter where you put up my apparatus, it will 
 work any kind of iron." At that time the furnace where they 
 put up the converter was making iron for common rails. This 
 iron, in its fluid state, was then run direct from the furnace 
 into the converter, where it blazed, sparkled, bubbled, and 
 showed all the beautiful phenomena of the process. The 
 whole operation looked very satisfactory ; but when they 
 came to work the metal produced, they were surprised to find 
 it utterly useless for any purpose. This appeared inexplica- 
 ble, so the experiments were repeated, but the success of the 
 first rude experiment was never equaled, and Sir Henry left 
 Dowlais with serious apprehensions as to the success of his 
 invention. 
 
 The bright prospect which the first announcement of the 
 process raised was now overcast, and was eventually followed 
 by a general gloom. An invention which at first was received 
 
j^5 BESSEMER STEEL. 
 
 with a shout of triumph, was two months afterward declared 
 to be impracticable. 
 
 Then followed months of incessant thought and labor, and 
 of experiments to overcome the new difficulty. 
 
 At the expiration of about three years Sir Henry was fully 
 satisfied that he had overcome the trouble attending the con- 
 tinued success of his new process. 
 
 His next task was to convince the public that an invention 
 which for two or three years had been entombed in the ob- 
 livion of demonstrated failure was now a complete success. 
 To do this required both skill and courage. The incredulity 
 with which great discoveries have almost invariably been re- 
 ceived by the public, when viewed through the perspective 
 of subsequent events, forms one of the most remarkable 
 chapters of human history. In every age there are people 
 who think themselves interested in maintaining the existing 
 state of things. Sir Henry Bessemer knew this only too well. 
 Having succeeded in producing steel by his process, he wished 
 to demonstrate its properties by actual use. With this in view 
 he asked his friend, Mr. Galloway, of Manchester, to distribute 
 the new metal among his workmen when they asked for steel 
 to make tools with, but not to let them know that it was in any 
 way different from what they had been accustomed to use. This 
 was done, and in six weeks Sir Henry returned to Manchester 
 to hear the result. "What do the workmen say about the new 
 steel ?" inquired the anxious inventor. " They have said 
 nothing at all about it," replied Mr. Galloway. " Nothing at 
 all. Oh ! then it will be all right ; that they have no fault to 
 find with it is the best report of any." Sir Henry went among 
 the workmen, and asked what they thought of the steel they 
 had last used. " There's no difference between it and other 
 
BESSEMER STEEL. 1/7 
 
 steel -it's no better than we always get." Such a recom- 
 mendation was sufficient. The steel formerly cost sixty pounds 
 per ton. This new steel cost six or eight pounds a ton. 
 
 After many difficulties the new process began to make 
 progress. Its superiority in respect of rapidity and cheapness 
 over the old process was spreading consternation in the steel 
 trade. One manufacturer after another applied for license to 
 use it. Others endeavored to secure its advantages by other 
 means. 
 
 One day Sir Henry found a London gentleman occupied in 
 his office with a packet of papers a foot high, getting out all 
 the cases he could against him for repealing by scire facias 
 the whole of his patents. He was employed by a company 
 of iron-masters to do so, and said afterward : " When I had 
 gone through the whole of Sir Henry patents and about 
 seventy others which they said anticipated his, I found that 
 they had not a leg to stand upon, and I advised them to apply 
 to him for a license." 
 
 Sir Henry, in giving an account of the process and its re- 
 sults to the Institution of Mechanical Engineers in August, 
 1861, said: 
 
 " For the practical engineer enough has already been said 
 to show how important is the application of cast-iron to con- 
 structive purposes, and how this valuable material may be 
 both cast and forged with such facility as to produce by its 
 superior durability and extreme lightness an economy in its 
 use, as compared with iron. The construction of cast-steel 
 girders and bridges, of marine engine-shafts, cranks, screws, 
 propellers, anchors, and railway wheels are all deserving of 
 careful attention. The manufacturer of cast-steel has only to 
 produce the various qualities of steel required for constructive 
 
7 8 
 
 BESSEMER STEEL. 
 
 purposes to insure its rapid introduction ; for as certainly as 
 the age of iron superseded that of bronze, so will the age of 
 steel succeed that of iron." 
 
 Beside taking out more than one hundred patents Sir 
 Henry Bessemer has invented many wonderful things which 
 he has never patented, such as government stamps of paper, 
 patterns for figured velvet, a telescope and so on through a 
 long list of useful and ornamental articles, by which the 
 versatility of his genius was clearly exemplified and much 
 admired. 
 
 Honor and distinction are his inalienable rights. A multi- 
 plicity of medals, titles, and degrees from every quarter of 
 the globe attest the great esteem of his fellow-men. 
 
 The Bessemer telescope stands on the Bessemer estate, 
 which is some thirty or forty acres in extent, and is on the 
 slope of a hill looking toward the Crystal Palace. 
 
 The same genius that stamps the highest type of mechan- 
 ical and practical science is shown in the artistic arrangement 
 of the grounds surrounding and adjacent to Sir Henry's 
 beantiful residence. What nature has begun art has ex- 
 tended. No more beautiful landscape can be imagined than 
 the reality of Bessemer estate on Denmark Hill, near London. 
 
BENJAMIN WEST. 
 
PAINTING. 
 
 ONE hundred and fifty years ago, Springfield, a Quaker 
 village, slumbered peacefully among the hills oft 
 Southern Pennsylvania. Life flowed there in a slug- 
 gish stream. The morning stillness was unbroken/ 
 by the rumble of loaded trains or the shrill whistle of 
 imperious steam. The serenity of evening was not startled 
 by the click of the telegraph, with its swift messages of 
 revolution and rebellion, of disaster and death. To the-, 
 east, softly undulating hills shut out the horizon. To the- 
 west stretched an unbroken forest of a thousand acres,., 
 in which roamed wild and ferocious beasts and the un- 
 tamed and half-naked savage. The sturdy musket was- 
 the sure accompaniment of all whom inclination or necessity" 
 impelled into the heart of this sombre wood. Simple, quiet^ 
 stagnant the village lay on the borders of this wood like- 
 some silent inland lake dreaming of its own unruffled beauty. . 
 The primitive and simple lives of the Quakers, and their - 
 slow, plodding habits of methodical industry was the peace-- 
 ful accompaniment of the scene. Each man with grave.- 
 humility performed his task, storing yearly "his little dues oT 
 wine and wheat and oil." 
 
 " His best companions innocence and health, 
 And his best riches ignorance of wealth." 
 
 179' 
 
! g PAINTING. 
 
 In this rude -and simple village genius was pleased to 
 cradle her offspring. She. gave him the unbroken solitude 
 of the forest, the placid and peaceful faces of the Quakers 
 and the sombre and sunless background of their lives to im- 
 press their solemn pictures on his mind. She called him 
 from among these staid and solemn children, and said, " Go 
 interpret to the human, the divine." How he answered her 
 call, and struggled to fulfill his trust, let those tell who have 
 stood before the canvases of " Christ Rejected " and " Death 
 on a Pale Horse." The author of these paintings, Benjamin 
 West, the favorite of fortune and the petted protege of no- 
 bility, made the first plaintive cry that betokened his exist- 
 ence in this primitive Quaker village of Springfield. 
 
 His English forefathers, the Wests of Long Crendon, em- 
 bracing among their number Col. James West, the friend of 
 John Hampden, traced their lineage back to Lord Delaware. 
 The descendants of this war-loving nobleman forever sealed 
 the covenant of peace, in 1667, by embracing the tenets of 
 the Quakers. America, with its broad, unoccupied prairies, 
 its soil yielding abundant harvests, its favored climate, and 
 the varied character of its products was drawing a steady 
 stream of emigration from the Old World to the New. Borne 
 on its tide, these Wests of Crendon found a resting-place in 
 Springfield, and there set up their household gods. John 
 West, one of the many offshoots of this parent stem, after a 
 quick courtship, was married to Sarah Pearson, of the So- 
 ciety of Friends, whose grandfather had been the trusted 
 companion of the honored Penn. The sole dowry which, we 
 ;are told, came to her husband through this marriage was a 
 negro slave, a faithful and humble servant. John West, 
 however, in his trade with the Barbadoes, having been an 
 
PAINTING. jgj 
 
 involuntary witness to the cruelties that were practiced upon 
 these degraded and unhappy wretches, determined to set at 
 liberty his bondsman. Struck by the generosity of this act, 
 involving as it did so great a personal sacrifice on the part 
 of West, the Quakers at once adopted it as a tenet of their 
 faith " that no person could remain a member of their com- 
 munity who held a human creature in slavery." So this 
 one good act received an everlasting memorial. 
 
 Whether or not, by this noble act, John West secured to 
 himself the perpetual sunshine of Divine favor, we cannot 
 tell ; but it is certain he found himself heir to those blessings 
 that the " sweet singer of Israel " tells us belong to the right- 
 eous. Ten olive plants bloomed about his table. On the 
 eve of the birth of the tenth, his wife attended a meeting in 
 the fields and listened to a sermon so full of frightful pictures, 
 and so penetrated with wails of despair that she became 
 dangerously ill from mental excitement and agitation. The 
 ebbing tide of life only began to turn and flow slowly back 
 to the poor, terror-stricken woman when her baby was placed 
 in her arms. This baby was Benjamin, born October loth, 
 1 738. The preacher, who had sent such arrows of danger, 
 mingled with his arrows of conviction, on hearing of the 
 event, at one predicted for the child, "born under such pecu- 
 liar circumstances," a wonderful career. How far this 
 prophecy, believed in by the credulous Quaker, influenced 
 him in after years, it is difficult to compute. At any rate, he 
 and his wife tended this latest olive plant during the years of 
 childhood with loving and expectant care, looking for the 
 blooms and fruit propitious augury had foretold. After seven 
 years, they found the first tender swelling of the bud of 
 genius that afterward flowered and attained its full fruition 
 
PAINTING. 
 
 when those loving and gentle hands had been crossed in 
 everlasting repose. 
 
 At seven, that happiest year of happy childhood, little 
 Benjamin was playing in the garden, where his mother and 
 eldest sister were gathering flowers. This sister had been 
 some time married, and was enamored of the sweets of a little 
 human flower that had sprung up at her side. This drowsy 
 little flower, having shut its eyes in sleep, Benjamin was sent 
 to watch by its cradle during the absence of maternal care. 
 Guarding the sleep of infancy, his eyes lingered with tender 
 admiration upon this young thing, so fresh from the hands of 
 God, its softly traced contour, its cheeks of mingled rose and 
 pearl, its curving, crimson lips, its brow as white as innocence 
 itself. A smile, the reflex of some happy dream, dimpled 
 about the baby's mouth. Infatuated, inspired, this childish 
 watcher caught the evanescent beauty of a baby's smile and 
 placed it beyond the power of escape. On the return of 
 mother and sister they found him absorbed in the contem- 
 plation of the baby's picture done in red and black ink on 
 common paper. The swift intuition of mother love divined 
 in this the foreshadowings of something yet to be. The 
 father, for whose inspection the little picture was carefully 
 preserved, affirmed that this was but the unfoldings of the 
 prophecies at his birth. 
 
 Later on his drawings of birds and fruits and flowers won 
 admiration from the tribes of Cherokee Indians about him, 
 and they taught him the composition and preparation of the 
 red and yellow dies with which they stained their arrows. 
 These, with the indigo of domestic use, supplied him with the 
 three primary colors. Here were the colors and there the 
 \paper, and designs and impressions were in his mind, but the 
 
PAINTING. 
 
 1 83 
 
 source of mystery to him now was the mode of application 
 of the colors to the paper. Some neighbor had it from 
 tradition that painters used brushes made of camel's hair. 
 Camels, he was told, were to be found in the far East, and 
 here he was on the limits of the known West. His inge- 
 nuity had recourse to the cat, and he secretly divested poor 
 Tabby of almost all of her fur. This nudity of the cat was 
 attributed to disease by the other members of the family till 
 Benjamin tremblingly confessed his crime a crime most 
 readily condoned when its motive was also confessed. 
 
 A Mr. Pennington, a relative of the family, hearing of this 
 escapade, made this youthful defrauder of the fur of cats a 
 present of a box of paints and six engravings by Grevling. 
 To gloat on his unexpected treasures and to preserve them 
 from the touch of vandal hands Benjamin stored his pictures 
 and paints in the garret. He was now nearly nine and 
 attended the village school, but so strong was the enchantment 
 of this new and divine love that thoughts of duty were for- 
 gotten. Secretly and incessantly he labored for days, shut- 
 ting himself up in the garret, peopled to his excited fancy 
 with such exquisite possibilities. The school-master com- 
 plained to the mother of the aberrations of her boy. Climb- 
 ing to the garret, on thoughts of punishment intent, she 
 beheld her son in silent contemplation of his work. He had 
 made, not a copy of the several engravings, but by grouping 
 and blending had wrought a new design and told a new 
 story. This picture hangs by the side of " Christ Rejected/' 
 on the walls of the Royal Academy, and years afterward, 
 when West was a famous painter, he acknowledged " there 
 were touches of art in it that he had never been able to sur- 
 pass." 
 
184 PAINTING. 
 
 When nine years old Benjamin went with his relative and 
 patron, Pennington, to Philadelphia, and made a picture from 
 nature of the banks and winding water of the river. Mr. 
 Williams, an artist in the neighborhood, was struck by the 
 quality of such work from childish hands and invited Benja- 
 min to his studio. The effect upon his emotional nature was 
 instantaneous and he burst into tears. 
 
 "What books do you read?" asked Mr. Williams. "You 
 ought to read the lives of great men." 
 
 "I read the Bible," answered the young Quaker. "I 
 know the lives of Adam and Joseph, of Moses, of David, 
 of Solomon and the Apostles." In such sublime words did 
 he show the clear conceptions of his faith. He returned 
 from this trip with the settled determination to be an 
 artist. 
 
 At school Benjamin did not apply himself to his books 
 with that ardor and method which the acquisition of knowl- 
 edge requires. We are told that he managed to pass in all 
 his studies except arithmetic. The science of numbers was 
 too absolute to accept any compromise, and West had to 
 resort to ingenuity to evade punishment. This he did by 
 securing the services of some more plodding intellect, and in 
 return he drew for the boy who worked his sums pictures of 
 birds and leaves. 
 
 One half-holiday West was invited by a school-fellow to 
 take a ride with him. The inviter was in the saddle, and 
 there being but one horse, the invited must needs ride be- 
 hind. " I do not ride behind any one," was West's reply to 
 the invitation. The good-natured school-boy instantly 
 relinquished the seat of honor to this spoiled child, and the 
 two proceeded in good spirits. 
 
PAINTING. 185 
 
 "This is my last ride for a long time," said the owner of 
 the horse, " to-morrow I am to be apprenticed to a tailor." 
 
 " Surely you will never be a tailor," answered Benjamin, 
 with disgust. " I intend to be a painter." 
 
 " A painter ! What sort of a trade is that ? I never heard 
 of it before," said the embryo tailor. 
 
 " A painter is the companion of kings and emperors," and 
 with this he leaped from the horse, adding, " I will not ride 
 with one willing to be a tailor." This is the first indication 
 we have that the spoiling and petting was beginning to affect 
 the simplicity of the gifted child. True genius chooses 
 irrevocably its calling; if it brings the companionship of 
 kings and emperors, it is but a happy and incidental thing ; 
 if it secures but the lonely hermitage of the garret ah ! 
 Well, it is fate, it is unavoidable and invincible ! 
 
 A Mr. Flower, a Justice of Peace in the adjoining village 
 of Chester, hearing of the talented boy, invited him to his 
 house. He had secured the services of an English lady as 
 governess for his own children. This accomplished woman 
 was so pleased with the bright and attractive boy that she 
 read to him from the original Greek and Latin stories of by- 
 gone poets, philosophers, painters, and historians. To one 
 who had never before heard of Greece or Rome this was a 
 new and sparkling fountain, and he drank deep draughts 
 with that intensity of pleasure that comes only from long- 
 continued thirst. 
 
 From Chester he went to Lancaster at the request of a 
 Mr. Ross to paint the portrait of his young and beautiful 
 wife. This gave him considerable notoriety among the 
 citizens of Lancaster. A gunsmith who, while he worked his 
 forge, had also cultivated the classics, proposed to the young 
 
PAINTING. 
 
 artist to take the death of Socrates as a subject. West had 
 just been listening to the story of the life of Socrates and 
 his heroic death as related by the English governess, and his 
 imagination quickly acted on the hint of the gunsmith. The 
 figure of Socrates he completed to his satisfaction, but when 
 he came to the slave handing the poison " The slave ought, 
 I think, to be naked," going, in his dilemma, to his friend of 
 the forge, "and I have always painted men clothed." The 
 gunsmith returned to his forge and presently brought out 
 one of his workmen, half-nude and splendidly formed, saying 
 "There is your model." West introduced him with his bare 
 limbs into the picture. So early as this did he show that his 
 conceptions of art were the purest. 
 
 West had now been roaming about so long indulging his 
 one passion that at the age of fifteen we find him with barely 
 the rudiments of an education. Dr. Smith, whose kindly 
 interest in the boy induced him to undertake the part of 
 tutor, with mistaken judgment allowed Benjamin to shirk 
 hard and disagreeable study and to skim through the classics, 
 fastening his attention only to those incidents likely to 
 inflame his imagination. What he needed most was severe 
 and methodical study, but this his indulgent tutor and more 
 indulgent parents did not realize. 
 
 There was now a serious question to be discussed and 
 answered. One of the peculiar articles of faith among the 
 Quakers was the condemnation of the art of painting as being 
 an agency " employed to embellish life, to preserve voluptu- 
 ous images, and add to the sensual gratifications of man. " 
 The Wests were Quakers, and conformed in all things as did 
 the others to the strictures of their sect. The question as to 
 whether Benjamin might follow the beckonings of his genius 
 
PAINTING. 187 
 
 was submitted to the Society for their wise consideration. 
 Benjamin was ruled out while these deliberations of such deep 
 moment to him were held. The spirit of inspiration came 
 first to a Mr. Williamson. " God has bestowed on this youth 
 a genius for art," he said, " shall we question His wisdom ? I 
 see the Divine hand in this ; we shall do well to sanction 
 the art, and encourage the youth. " Like a wind that bends 
 every golden wheat-head down in assent to its whispered 
 love-tale, the same spirit moves over the hearts of these 
 Friends, and every head bowed in grave consent to the words 
 that had been spoken. Benjamin was called in, and Mr. 
 Williamson continued his address: "We have classed paint- 
 ing among vain and ornamental things and excluded it from 
 among us. But this is not the principle, but the misemploy- 
 ment of painting. In wise and pure hands it rises in the 
 scale of moral excellence, and displays a loftiness of sentiment 
 worthy the contemplation of Christians. God hath endowed 
 this youth with rich gifts. May it be demonstrated in his life 
 and works that the gifts of God have not been bestowed in 
 vain, nor the motives of the beneficent inspiration which 
 induces us to suspend the strict operation of our tenets 
 prove barren of religious or moral effect." The voice 
 ceased. One man arose and laid his hand in silent benedic- 
 tion upon West's head ; another followed, till all the men had 
 blessed him, and then the women consecrated him, each by a 
 kiss, to his work. West now considered himself dedicated to 
 Art, to uphold its sanctity and purity. 
 
 Shortly after this young West, aged about eighteen, re- 
 leased from the strict pressure of the rules of the Society, and 
 animated by some impulse bequeathed by his warlike ances- 
 tors, enlisted as a soldier and joined an expedition that went 
 
i8S 
 
 PAINTING. 
 
 in search of the relics of General Braddock's army. With 
 these was Major Sir Peter Halket, whose deep personal in- 
 terest in the expedition centered in the discovery of the re- 
 mains of his father and brother. Many months had elapsed 
 since the battle, but the Indian guide assured Sir Peter he had 
 seen an elderly officer drop dead, and a young subaltern who 
 ran to his assistance, fall mortally wounded across his body. 
 After a long march they came at last upon the " valley of 
 death." The Indian pointed out the .exact spot of the awful 
 tragedy that befell father and son, and when the newly-fallen 
 leaves were thrust away, there they lay, one skeleton above 
 the other. Long afterward, West conceived the idea of em- 
 bodying this scene in a picture, containing as it did all the 
 elements of weird and tragic grandeur. The ghastly relics 
 of what was once noble and brave, the stoical faces of the 
 Indians .and the sympathetic ones of the whites grouped 
 about, the horror that struck young Halket senseless this in 
 its sombre setting of the gloomy wood, had powerfully 
 moved the emotional nature of young West. Had he 
 followed his own inclination and painted this instead of pan- 
 dering to the tastes of others, it would doubtless have been 
 one of his best efforts and a worthy companion piece to the 
 " Death of Wolfe," since we can always depict best that which 
 we have personally and strongly felt. 
 
 Tragedy was awaiting him elsewhere, the tragedy of death 
 in his humble Quaker home. A messenger brought him 
 news that his mother was dangerously ill, and having 
 hastened home, her sweet spirit smiled upon her favorite son, 
 then she could not speak, and was gone. He soon abandoned 
 the home thus deprived of its presiding genius, and estab- 
 lished himself in Philadelphia as a portrait-painter. His 
 
PAINTING. jg 
 
 prices he kept at a small figure, two and a half guineas a 
 head, and this money he carefully saved. From Philadelphia 
 he went to New York, doubled his price and hoarded as 
 carefully as before, hoping to acquire by industry and 
 economy a sum sufficient to take him abroad in the prosecu- 
 tion of his art-studies. 
 
 From this point in his story West stepped into the full sun- 
 shine of fortune. A letter from Philadelphia informed him 
 that a cargo of corn and flour was to be sent from New York 
 to Italy, and that the expedition had been placed in charge of 
 one of the Aliens of Philadelphia. This gentleman, influenced 
 by Dr. Smith, West's former tutor, offered to the young art 
 student a passage to Leghorn. From Leghorn to Rome was 
 but a short distance and Rome was the home of art. So 
 elated was West by this news that he was unable to bear the 
 happy secret alone, and so confided it to a Mr. Kelly, who was 
 at that time sitting to West for a portrait. This gentleman 
 congratulated him on his good fortune, paid for the finished 
 portrait, and gave him a letter to hand to his agents in Phila- 
 delphia. West on arriving in Philadelphia and presenting 
 the letter was told it contained an order for fifty guineas from 
 the generous Kelly, " to aid him in prosecuting his art 
 studies!" He had never known the lack of money in his 
 earliest days, and his star of fortune was still ascending. 
 
 He was now twenty-two, in good health, with plenty of 
 money, and on the eve of embarking for Italy, the goal of his 
 fondest dreams. But one cloud appeared on his horizon, and 
 we cannot well believe this cloud overshadowed him to any 
 painful extent, since his was a cold, unimpassioned nature in- 
 capable of intense suffering. Miss Elizabeth Shewell, a beau- 
 tiful young girl of Philadelphia, had become enchanted with 
 
PAINTING. 
 
 the young artist, and in return for her tender and romantic 
 love, he had given her a sort of passionless regard, which she 
 was forced to accept as the best of which he was capable. A 
 formal betrothal had taken place. The brother of Miss 
 Shewell had selected another of her suitors for her accept- 
 ance, whom she peremptorily refused. He would not permit 
 West to come to the house, and so much was he afraid some 
 elopement scheme would be developed, he placed Miss 
 Shewell in close confinement in her own room under lock and 
 key ; nor did he relax his vigilance till West had set sail for 
 the Old World. This he did, leaving his sweetheart in 
 imprisonment. 
 
 West carried his good fortunes with him into the " city of 
 dead empires." He presented his letters of introduction to 
 some of the leading men, and he soon became a subject of 
 interest and curiosity among native artists. All desired to 
 see this young barbarian from the wilds of the mystical land 
 under the setting sun. Lord Grantham, the first to bestow 
 his patronage, invited him to dinner and introduced him at 
 an evening assembly of artists and people of distinction in 
 society. The Italians crowded about him with ill-concealed 
 curiosity, but the grave simplicity of the manners of the 
 young Quaker left them nothing at which to cavil. These 
 Romans who had been nurtured in the lap of art, for whom 
 the Apollo had posed his graceful form, and the Venus dis- 
 played her charms, and to whom the works of Raphael were 
 more familiar than common wood-cuts were to West, turned 
 out en masse to see him, dazzled by his first view of these 
 immortal and inimitable creations. Thirty equipages, filled 
 with Rome's choicest leaders in society and art, formed the 
 escort of this young and unknown American. The Apollo 
 
PAINTING. 
 
 was concealed in a cabinet, and when the doors were thrown 
 open " My God ! A young Mohawk warrior !" exclaimed 
 West. Indignant surprise spread from face to face. What ! 
 had this young savage traveled all the way to Rome to find in 
 this grand statue but a copy of a fellow-savage? West, 
 immediately divining the light in which he stood, hastened 
 not only to justify his criticism but to convert it into the 
 highest encomium by describing the freedom and elasticity of 
 the movements of an Indian warrior, his length of limb and 
 breadth of chest, his perfect symmetry, and statuesque grace 
 when in repose. 
 
 Mengs was the authority on art at that time in Rome. 
 West knew his own inability to produce an accurate and 
 finished sketch, and was ashamed to exhibit his inferior draw- 
 ings in this company of critics. But to establish his claim 
 to be considered at least an humble member of the brother- 
 hood, he persuaded Lord Grantham to sit to him for a por- 
 trait. The scheme was kept a profound secret, and the 
 finished picture was placed in the gallery of Crespigni, where 
 it was sure to meet inspection and criticism. 
 
 " It is Mengs who has done this," said many ; but one, 
 more acute than the others, pronounced the coloring better, 
 but the drawing inferior to that of Mengs. 
 
 "There is no painter in Rome who could do it so well," 
 was the warm reply. 
 
 Crespigni seized an auspicious moment when the interest 
 was at its height, and pointing to West, nervous and anxious 
 in the background, said: "There is the artist, gentlemen !" 
 The impulsive Italians embraced him, and even the English 
 present cordially shook him by the hand. 
 
 This strain and excitement in the mind of West reacted 
 
PAINTING. 
 
 on his physical nature, and, sick and exhausted, he was com- 
 pelled to seek his lost equilibrium in Leghorn. Eleven 
 "months afterward West, with the warm hues of health once 
 more mantling his cheeks, determined to visit the other 
 centres of art, Florence, Bologna, and Venice. One serious 
 impediment intervened the money with which he had begun 
 his career in art had dwindled to ten pounds. When he 
 went to his agents to draw this his good genius stepped 
 between him and the least shadow of anxiety about pecuniary 
 matters that might have oppressed him. 
 
 " I am instructed to give you unlimited credit," said the 
 agent. " You will have the goodness to ask for what sum 
 you please." This was the result of the united generosity 
 of Allen and Hamilton in Philadelphia. 
 
 West pursued his studies with a lighter heart and a heavier 
 purse. To him, as to all others, the works of Titian were a 
 miracle of coloring. For days he sat under their "lucid 
 splendor," trying to solve the secret of the old Italian. But 
 if the dead have a secret they hold it. As often as West 
 thought to put his hands on it, so often did it evade his 
 grasp. 
 
 After prolonged absence and study he returned to Rome 
 and remained there long enough to give to us his first his- 
 torical paintings, " Cimon and Iphegenia," and " Angelica and 
 Medora." 
 
 There were many chords drawing him toward his native 
 land, and thither he resolved to return, first allowing himself 
 the gratification of a pleasure tour in England, the home of 
 his forefathers. He arrived in London June 2Oth, 1763, but 
 his good genius had been there before him and prepared 
 everything for his reception. His munificent patrons, Allen 
 
PAINTING. 
 
 I9J 
 
 and Hamilton, together with Smith, happened to be there,, 
 and extended to the young artist the warmest welcome and 
 introduced him to many people of distinction. He was 
 delightfully entertained at Reading by his half-uncle, Thomas 
 West. He looked on at Vanity Fair at Bath, and examined 
 pleasurably the art collections at Hampton Court, Windsor, 
 and Blenheim. Reynolds invited him to his studio, and to 
 Wilson he had a letter of introduction from Mengs at Rome. 
 
 West was a shrewd observer. He had not intended any- 
 thing more than a pleasure tour in coming to England, but 
 once here in London he found Reynolds devoted to portaits,, 
 Gainsborough to landscape, Hogarth dying, Wilson unable* 
 to command attention, and Barry, poor, impetuous, high- 
 tempered Barry, quarreling in Rome. Into whose hands 
 should historical painting fall if not into his ? Such an 
 opportunity comes but once in a lifetime. Seizing it, West 
 without a word to any one, took chambers in Bedford Street, 
 and set up his easel. 
 
 He sent his two historical pictures, painted in Rome, with a 
 portrait of General Monckton, one of the commanders in the 
 battle of Quebec, to the exhibition. These were well re- 
 ceived, and from two dignitaries of the Church he obtained 
 orders for pictures, "The Parting of Hector and Androm- 
 ache" for one, and "The Return of the Prodigal Son " for 
 the other. As early as this in his career this favorite of the 
 gods received from Lord Rockingham the tempting offer of 
 seven hundred pounds a year to adorn his Yorkshire home 
 with historical paintings. This he wisely refused, acting on 
 the advice of friends. 
 
 West had now fully determined to remain permanently in 
 London, but he had still a strong motive for returning tern- 
 
1 04 PAINTING. 
 
 porarily to America. His engagement with Miss Shewell 
 had remained unbroken through all these years. The mor- 
 bid opposition of her brother continued as invincible as ever, 
 and his demands for her marriage with the man selected by 
 himself more urgent every day. Though he had sworn 
 West should never see his sister, frequent letters were inter- 
 changed by the betrothed. In these it had been agreed that 
 West should remain in London, and send for Miss Shewell, 
 and she in obedience to his summons should come to 
 London, and there be married. The summons was accord- 
 ingly sent in the summer of 1765, but the brother, learning of 
 the proposed escape of his sister and the ship on which she 
 was to sail, had recourse to his old method, and placed the 
 romantic girl under lock and key. Still holding fast to her 
 pledge to West, she submitted to this, for when was there 
 ever a woman unequal to the hardships imposed by love ? 
 While she was enduring this for her absent lover, an indig- 
 nity to her womanhood, he was painting in London ! Things 
 approached a crisis. The day set for the sailing of the ship 
 was close at hand. A relative of Miss Shewell's, sympathiz- 
 ing with her determination to go to West, was to serve as her 
 escort to London, and had secured passage on the ship for 
 himself and her. The brother, fearing to be overpowered or 
 outwitted at the last moment, invited a number of friends, 
 young gentlemen of the vicinity, to help him keep watch dur- 
 .ing the night preceding the departure of the vessel. This 
 was to sail at daybreak. Miss Shewell was tightly locked in 
 her room, and here were a number of his friends to aid him 
 by resistance, if resistance became necessary. But Cupid 
 was laughing at his bolts and bars, and was as busy as he in 
 .securing friends to aid him. Among Shewell's invited guests 
 
PAINTING. 
 
 were three friends, Benjamin Franklin, Francis Hopkins, and 
 White, afterward Bishop. Before night fell, there had been 
 a whispered consultation among these three, talks of a rope- 
 ladder, and the employment of an emissary to climb to a win- 
 dow. The ship had been visited and the officers put on oath 
 to sail as soon as a lady had been placed on board. This 
 done, they repaired with others to Shewell's house. The night 
 of watching was turned into a night of revelry. At two o'clock 
 the din was loudest. Each vied with the other in telling the wit- 
 tiest joke and singing the merriest song. Toward day they 
 sobered down and the host, having fallen into a short doze, 
 waked to find morning flinging its level rays into his face. 
 Confident of his success, he went to release his sister ; for, 
 the ship having sailed, there was now no longer necessity for 
 imprisonment. Opening wide the door, he was confronted by 
 emptiness and silence. When Miss Shewell arrived in Eng- 
 land, we are told, West went to the quay to meet her ! How 
 he wounded her gentle heart by his coldness, his historian 
 has forborne to tell us, but he has taken the pains to say " she 
 was a faithful and obedient wife for over fifty years, and their 
 fireside had repose and peace." If he had loved her with a 
 more absorbing tenderness, there might have been some 
 storms about this model fireside ; but after the storms would 
 have come those delightful clearings and delicious calms 
 holding a pleasure more intense than the model fireside ever 
 dreamed of. 
 
 Following the ever-increasing good fortunes of the star 
 of his destiny, West was invited to dine by Dr. Drummond, 
 whose love for art was only equaled by his love for the 
 classics. Calling his son, the formalities of the table being 
 over, he bade him read from Tacitus the passage descriptive 
 
196 
 
 PAINTING. 
 
 of the landing of Aggrapina with the ashes of Germanicus. 
 West seized the idea, and before he closed his eyes that 
 night had sketched the scene. Drummond was so pleased 
 that he initiated a movement to raise a subscription for West 
 of three thousand pounds so as to enable him to devote 
 his entire time to historical painting. He and his friends 
 headed the subscription with fifteen hundred pounds, but the 
 rest could not be raised. To another man the failure of this 
 scheme would have been unfortunate, but to West disap- 
 pointments were but blessings in disguise. To Archbishop 
 Drummond the failure of his plan was a bitter wound, and he 
 determined to enlist royalty itself in its behalf. He obtained 
 audience with young King George, bestowed the highest 
 encomiums on the picture West had painted for him, and 
 suggested that his talents be secured for the throne and the 
 country. The king sent for West, presented him to the 
 queen, read to him a passage from Livy, and dismissed him 
 with the command to paint for him " The Departure of 
 Regulus." 
 
 It was while he was engaged on this picture that a discus- 
 sion arose in the Society of Incorporated Artists, of which 
 West was a member, as to what they should do with the 
 funds they had accumulated. Several plans for its invest- 
 ment were submitted, West approving of none. The dis- 
 cussion growing warm, West, with Reynolds, quietly withdrew. 
 These dissenters drew up a plan of their own, submitted it 
 to His Majesty and received his approval and patronage. 
 This was the foundation of the Royal Academy of Arts, in 
 which "The Departure of Regulus " was placed during its 
 first exhibition, and of which West himself was so long 
 President. 
 
PAINTING. 197 
 
 West now by a coup d'etat made for himself a lasting 
 monument and effected a sudden and wonderful change in 
 the world of art. Historical painters had hitherto clothed 
 their warriors of whatever nationality or period in the 
 Grecian or Roman costume. In his " Death of Wolfe," West 
 had the audacity to clothe his Englishman in the soldier dress 
 of that period. Archbishop Drummond and Reynolds went 
 to West during the progress of this picture and tried to 
 dissuade him from so barbarous an idea. " I want to mark 
 the place, the time, and the people, and to do this I must 
 abide by truth," was West's answer to their objections. And 
 Truth glorified her vindicator. No other historical painting 
 has received such unlimited praise, and from this picture 
 dates a revolution in art. 
 
 West's brush was now never idle. From his kingly patron 
 he constantly received new orders. He painted at his sug- 
 gestion eight pictures illustrative of the reign of Edward III. 
 West expended much time and labor on these eight subjects, 
 and they are considered his best works, "The Death of 
 Wolfe," " Death on the Pale Horse," and "The Battle of La 
 Hogue," excepted. 
 
 King George gave orders to West that his chapel be 
 adorned with paintings illustrative of revealed religion. 
 West became a Bible student, and pored over its sacred 
 pages day and night. The result of these studies was thirty- 
 six sketches, twenty-eight of which were executed, and for 
 which West received twenty-one thousand seven hundred 
 and five pounds. It was unfortunate for West that he ever 
 conceived so sublime a flight. His imagination was not bold 
 enough to climb to such a height, nor his heart warm enough 
 to give to his pictures that glow that appeals irresistibly to 
 
198 
 
 PAINTING. 
 
 humanity. Besides many of these scenes had already been 
 traced by other and diviner hands, and his touch had in it 
 something of profanation. 
 
 Sir Joshua Reynolds, President of the Royal Academy 
 since its foundation, having died, West was unanimously 
 elected to take his place, and he continued to hold this posi- 
 tion till 1802. In this year he resigned and Wyatt was 
 elected in his stead, but only held the honor one year, when 
 he was displaced and West unanimously re-elected. Death 
 alone removed him from this distinguished position. 
 
 West was now over sixty-four. The illness of the king 
 having caused a suspension of his work for the chapel, he 
 commenced a series of Scriptural subjects on his own 
 account. The first of these was " Christ Healing the Sick," 
 which he painted for a Quaker hospital in Philadelphia, but 
 being offered three thousand guineas by the British Institu- 
 tion, he sold the picture and sent a duplicate to the hospital. 
 The success of this picture increased the boldness of West's 
 conceptions, and he ventured to depict the grandest visions 
 of inspiration, but his imagination, tired with too long tarry- 
 ing in this exalted atmosphere, flagged and fell. He 
 imagined himself an eagle, capable of sustaining him- 
 self at will upon the boldest crags of inspired thought. 
 Instead, as often as he essayed the heights, his weary 
 pinions, crippled with old age, bore him remorselessly back 
 to earth. 
 
 Elizabeth, his tender and obedient wife, died December 
 6th, 1817. Consecrated by death, West realized what inspir- 
 ation he had drawn from her gentle spirit. He continued 
 to paint three years longer, but his right hand had forgot 
 its cunning. On the nth of March, 1820, in the eighty- 
 
PAINTING. 199 
 
 second year of his life, he fell in death f^om perfect ripe- 
 ness, as 
 
 " The full-juiced apple, waxing over-mellow, 
 Drops in a silent autumn night." 
 
 He reposes by the side of Reynolds, Opie, and Barry, in St. 
 Paul's Cathedral, London. 
 
 It is unfortunate for posterity that West walked forever in 
 the sunshine of prosperity. We cannot think he fulfilled the 
 promise of his early childhood. His conceptions were of the 
 grandest, his execution careful and exact, but his pictures, with 
 one or two notable exceptions, were not humanized and vital- 
 ized by personal feeling and suffering. He had never felt in- 
 tensely, and had never suffered how then could he put into 
 a picture that which, while it draws tears from the eyes, 
 warms and ennobles the heart ? As a mortal, he had a per- 
 sonal conception of Death, the All-Conqueror ; hence we 
 find the grandest of his pictures to be " The Death of Wolfe " 
 and that solemn and weird creation, " Death on a Pale 
 Horse." 
 
THE ELECTRIC LIGHT. 
 
 IT is almost within the present decade that John T. Sprague, 
 an eminent electrician and telegraphic engineer in Eng- 
 land, added a postscript to his work on Electric Light- 
 ing, in which he noticed " a report that Mr. Edison had 
 invented a remarkable dynamo machine," and further 
 observed that " Mr. Edison apparently promises more than 
 he can perform ; neither he nor any one else can bring more 
 out of electricity than there is in it ; and the report savors 
 considerably of 'newspaper science and exaggerated state- 
 ment." Even up till a very recent period it was generally 
 considered that it was impossible to subdivide the electric 
 current as to distribute the light from a number of small 
 lamps so as to make it of practical value otherwise than in 
 large buildings or out-of-door spaces. But the latest writers 
 agree with the spoken opinion of the experienced practical 
 electricians of to-day that the science of electric illumination 
 is yet in its infancy, and the field of exploration unlimited. 
 
 From Oersted's discovery in 1820 that an electric current 
 could be made to deflect a magnetic needle, came the gradual 
 evolution of the electric telegraph ; from Sir Michael Fara- 
 day's discovery, a few years later, of the phenomena of mag- 
 netic induction, came the electric light. From the period of 
 Faraday's discovery, many scientific minds were at work in- 
 200 
 
THOMAS A. EDISON. 
 
THE ELECTRIC LIGHT. 2OI 
 
 dependently for years on the problem of turning it to practi- 
 cal account. Eventually, in about twenty-five years, F. H. 
 Holmes designed, and had perfected, a machine for the gen- 
 eration of electric light, which was exhibited in London be- 
 fore a body of scientific men. Faraday was present at this 
 exhibition, and was delighted with the results attained, saying 
 to Mr. Holmes, " Remember, this, my baby, but you have 
 made a man of the infant." This Holmes machine was ap- 
 proved by the Masters of the Trinity House, and the first 
 light-house illuminated was the South Foreland, in 1858. 
 
 Henceforth the subject of electric illumination became fas- 
 cinating to all electricians. From Faraday's discovery that 
 an electric current set up by the rotation of a conducting 
 wire among the lines of force of a magnet would produce 
 light, the idea developed in successive stages, until from the 
 little experimental machines used chiefly for amusement (or 
 curative purposes by physicians) have arisen the elaborate 
 apparatus capable of generating immense amounts of elec- 
 tricity, and requiring the working force of powerful and 
 specially adapted steam-engines. 
 
 The inter-dependence of scientific discoveries is illustrated 
 well by the necessary coeval invention, for electric purposes, 
 of driving engines of a peculiar character ; these requiring to 
 be plain, substantial, and having continuous motion ; for the 
 engine may not cease working one moment so long as 
 the light is required to blaze. 
 
 Electric illumination is the finest lighting power as yet dis- 
 covered. Its immediate predecessor, gas, produces light and 
 heat by the direct combustion of the volatile parts of coal at 
 the point where these are required, and both consumes and 
 poisons the air surrounding the points of combustion. With 
 
2O2 THE ELECTRIC LIGHT. 
 
 the electric light, the consumption of air takes place within 
 the furnace instead of at the burner, therefore consumes no 
 outer air, and exhales no noxious vapor ; it converts the 
 power latent in coal into light, but by a different process ; 
 and has the further advantage of possessing all the colors 
 forming perfect light, and therefore, unlike gas, shows 
 all colors in their true shades. This quality makes electric 
 illumination invaluable in dye-works, the rays of the voltaic 
 arc rendering it easy to match all colors in every shade. 
 
 The value of this new light having been proved, the next 
 step was to overcome the difficulty of dividing the electric 
 current so as to form a number of individual lights of less in- 
 tensity than that one supplied from the whole current. This 
 problem was solved by the use of alternating currents and 
 regulators working with the continuous current. 
 
 In 1867 S. A. Varley, Sir Charles Wheatstone, and Dr. 
 Siemens (each prosecuting their ideas quite independently) 
 made the identical discovery of the principle of the re-action 
 of electro-magnetic currents, and, without any previous con- 
 sultation, Siemens and Wheatstone announced their discovery 
 to the Royal Society on the same evening. This discovery 
 gave birth to the " dynamo " machines now in use. 
 
 Inventors in this line of science multiplied, whose names 
 (Edison, Lane, Makin, Swan, Lane-Fox) are familiar as 
 household words ; but forty years before Swan in England 
 and Edison in America almost simultaneously demonstrated 
 the practicability of the idea of electric illumination, the 
 inventor Starr took out a patent for incandescent lighting. 
 
 Although in the earlier days of the new, light Edison's in- 
 ventions were but coldly received, he is generally considered 
 the pioneer of the now established systems ; and the dis- 
 
THE ELECTRIC LIGHT. 2O$ 
 
 tinctive peculiarity of his own system, viz., the distribution of 
 currents from the main generator, has its value fully 
 acknowledged. 
 
 The great light is winning its way all over the civilized 
 globe, and its indirect value extends over diversified spheres 
 of life. It is stated on the authority of indisputable statistics 
 that in one district of New York alone the Bowery street- 
 crimes have diminished sixty-five per cent, since the introduc- 
 tion of this powerful illuminator. It has opened new fields 
 of industry to intelligent workmen, and employs an army of 
 people in every great city, who spend their whole working 
 life underground. 
 
 The rapidity with which electric illumination gains ground 
 is among the marvels of modern scientific evolution. In 
 1880, the largest installation of electric light then known was 
 that of the Savoy Theatre in London about two hundred 
 lights. Now, the Auditorium at Chicago has an installation 
 of three thousand lights; while at the Melbourne Centennial 
 Exhibition of 1888, two thousand Edison and Swan incan- 
 descent lights, and nine hundred and fifty British arc lights 
 were in use ; besides five lights of four thousand candle 
 power each in the dome. Each lamp lighted one thousand 
 one hundred and fifty feet of floor surface. The massive 
 machinery of this enormous plant was chiefly of Victorian 
 manufacture, and included three pair of driving engines, with 
 twelve boilers each of fifteen hundred horse-power, and 
 forty-two dynamo machines. 
 
AERIAL NAVIGATION. 
 
 II If AN is the superior of all created beings, the crown- 
 
 IV I m triumph of the divine workmanship. His 
 
 I 1 intellect, his spiritual nature raise him to a plane 
 
 * 4 where he can comprehend the infinite mind, can 
 
 know in part the infinite thought originating and 
 
 pervading the world. And yet, the tiniest bird that floats an 
 
 airy speck in the blue vault above him has a gift that man 
 
 in his might deigns to envy. 
 
 " Oh ! that I had wings like a dove !" has been the sigh of 
 aspiring humanity since the world began, but the secret of 
 the bird's flight has been locked in its own feathered breast, 
 defying the questioning eye that would search it out. It has 
 seemed to man a humiliating thought that a little bird should 
 flap its wings triumphantly over his head, and soar away till 
 its exultant carol was lost in the azure distance. Darius 
 Green is not the only chagrined mortal who has propounded 
 to himself the indignant query : 
 
 " The birds can fly, an' why can't I ? 
 Are the blue bird an' phebe smarte'n we be ; 
 Does the little chattering saucy wren, 
 No bigger'n my thumb, know more 'n men ? 
 Just show me that, or prove that the bat 
 Has got more brains than's in my hat, 
 An' I'll give in, an' not till then." 
 
 204 
 
AERIAL NAVIGATION. 2O5 
 
 Envy is the first step toward imitation. Man saw fishes 
 swimming in the sea, he studied their movements, and con- 
 structed himself barks whereby he might skim the waves as 
 well. And, in like manner, the genius of men has been for 
 ages contriving, devising, and experimenting, if perchance it 
 could invent an apparatus that should make possible for 
 human beings the flight of the swallow. 
 
 The endeavors to construct flying machines are as old as 
 history. Some iconoclastic realists, who would reduce every 
 cherished myth to the terms of probability, would have us 
 believe that even the mythological Daedalus, whose vaulting 
 ambition led him to fly so near the sun that the scorching 
 solar rays disastrously melted his newly-donned wings of 
 wax, causing him to fall with a " dull, heavy thud" to the 
 earth, was but the precursor of the latter-day aeronauts, and 
 that the mythological tale is but a gently symbolic way of 
 conveying that his venture was a failure. 
 
 The followers of Daedalus have many of them shared his 
 unfortunate fate, but others seem in no way deterred by this 
 from new undertakings. One Simon Magus, in the reign of 
 the Emperor Nero, is said to have fallen and been dashed to 
 pieces while essaying to fly from one house to another. In 
 the fifteenth century, a mathematician by the name of Dante 
 planned and executed a more successful experiment. By 
 means of artificial wings securely fastened to his body, he 
 was enabled to raise himself above Lake Thrasimene. Other 
 inventive geniuses have at divers times believed that they 
 had at last grasped the secret of sustaining and propelling a 
 body in the air, but their machines when put to a test have 
 ever been found lacking in the one thing needful to consti- 
 tute flying. 
 
2O6 AERIAL NAVIGATION. 
 
 The feat of lifting one's self into the air was attained with 
 the invention of the balloon. The discovery of hydrogen 
 gas by Cavendish in 1 766 suggested to scientists a practical 
 method of aerial navigation. Some experiments made by Mr. 
 Cavendish with hydrogen, revealed that that gas was sixteen 
 times lighter than common air. It would therefore rise to a 
 height at which air is sixteen times lighter than it is at the 
 surface of the earth. This discovery suggested to Dr. Black, 
 a professor of chemistry in the University of Edinburgh, the 
 idea of the balloon. He inferred that a bag filled with hy- 
 drogen gas would rise in air. He accordingly constructed a 
 large skin bag, which he filled with this gas, but his experi- 
 ment was unsuccessful, owing to difficulty in obtaining a 
 material for the bag which should be at the same time of 
 sufficient lightness and impervious to air. 
 
 To two brothers, Stephen and Joseph Montgolfier, paper 
 manufacturers at Annonay, France, who had previously dis- 
 tinguished themselves by the invention of a machine called 
 the hydraulic ram, belongs the honor of sending up the first 
 balloon. .Their first ascent was made in June, 1793. The 
 balloon used on this occasion was made of canvas, lined with 
 paper, and weighed five hundred pounds. They had devised 
 a means of filling the bag with hot air, from a fire made of 
 bundles of chopped straw. It is doubtful if the Montgolfiers 
 themselves fully understood the principle underlying the ele- 
 vation of their balloon, they seeming to attribute it to the 
 ascending power of the smoke which filled the bag, rather 
 than to the actual cause, the rarefication of the heated air. 
 The balloon, on being freed, rose rapidly to a height of about 
 a mile, remained suspended in the air for several minutes, and 
 fell at a distance of a mile and a half from the starting place. 
 
AERIAL NAVIGATION. 2O/ 
 
 The news of this experiment spread to Paris where it 
 caused a great sensation. M. Charles, a celebrated lecturer 
 on natural philosophy, was led to supervise a second experi- 
 ment, which was made in August from the Champ de Mars^ 
 Success attended this exploit, and now that the possibility of 
 raising a bag was assured, the experimenters cast about for 
 a means of carrying persons up with the balloon. As yet, 
 no one had hazarded so doubtful a journey. 
 
 Two young men named Pilatre de Rozier and Marquis 
 d'Arlandes were the first to accomplish this feat, making am 
 ascent of three thousand feet, and returning to the earth in> 
 safety. The early experiments were mainly made with ther 
 Montgolfier balloon,, filled with heated air. The aeronauts 
 were obliged to carry with them a supply of fuel to renew the 
 rarefied air as rapidly as it escaped, and from this fact resulted 
 some disastrous accidents. 
 
 Ballooning was now fairly inaugurated. New inventions, 
 modified and improved on the original models, and yet, in all 
 its essential features, the balloon of to-day is a prototype of 
 its predecessors. In place of heated air or hydrogen for 
 inflating the bag, however, aeronauts have of late years sub- 
 stituted carburetted hydrogen, or common coal gas, which has- 
 a mean density of about one-half that of air. Mr. Green,, 
 the English aeronaut, first introduced this improvement. 
 
 No sooner was ballooning demonstrated to be a success- 
 than its application to practical purposes was sought. This- 
 was a most difficult task, since, although buoyancy was- 
 secured with the balloon, to pursue a course in the air involved- 
 other considerations. From their ability to rise to great 
 heights, however, balloons were early pressed into the service 
 of scientific investigators, and much valuable information in 
 
2O8 AERIAL NAVIGATION. 
 
 regard to upper air currents and variations of temperature at 
 different altitudes has resulted from these aerial explorations. 
 To these expeditions, astronomy is, of course, a debtor, 
 although not so largely so as would at first seem probable. 
 Among the most successful of balloon explorers have been 
 Mr. James Glaisher, F. R. S., of England, and Messrs. 
 Camille Flammarion, W. de Fonville, and Gaston Lissandier, 
 of France. 
 
 The majority of the ascents which have been made since 
 the invention of the balloon, and which number many thou- 
 sand in both Europe and America, have been for the amuse- 
 ment of a multitude, as a popular spectacle, rather than for 
 .any scientific or useful purpose. Skillful and daring aero- 
 nauts have not been wanting, who have astounded, and, at 
 the same time, terrified the spell-bound spectators. Of the 
 later French aeronauts, Eugene and Louis Godard have been 
 the most famous. The English aeronaut, Green, had during 
 a professional career of thirty-six years probably a wider 
 experience with the balloon than any other person. He made 
 nearly fourteen hundred ascents, crossing the sea three times, 
 .and twice falling into it. In 1836 he, in company with two 
 other persons, sailed in an enormous balloon, provided with 
 provisions for a fortnight's journeying from London to Weil- 
 burg, a distance of five hundred miles in eighteen hours. A 
 feat of aerial journeying distancing even this was, however, 
 accomplished by Mr. John Wise, the American aeronaut, 
 With three other persons, he journeyed from St. Louis, Mis- 
 souri, to Jefferson County, in New York, one thousand one 
 hundred and fifty miles distance, in nineteen hours and fifty 
 minutes, being an average rate of a mile per minute. 
 . A balloon voyage across the Atlantic was projected in 1873, 
 
AERIAL NAVIGATION. 2OQ 
 
 which, although it never took place, was famous for the extent 
 of the preparations made. The balloon was to be of un- 
 bleached muslin, coated with a varnish made of linseed oil, 
 beeswax, and benzine. It was to be one hundred and ten feet 
 high, and one hundred feet in diameter, with a gas capacity of 
 six hundred thousand cubic feet. A boat was to be attached, 
 which should have water-tight compartments, and should be 
 self-righting. A complete outfit of oars and sails was to be 
 provided, and provisions in water-tight cases sufficient for a 
 thirty days' journey. The weight of the balloon, car, and all 
 accessories, was to be seven thousand one hundred pounds. 
 That this much-talked-of voyage never occurred is to be 
 regretted, since it was expected by scientists to solve many 
 yet unsettled problems of balloon sailing. 
 
 M. Camille Flammarion's celebrated voyage from Paris is 
 one of the most unique of aeronautical excursions. The 
 occasion was none the less romantic than the mode of transit, 
 being a bridal journey. In his inimitably charming language 
 the great astronomer describes the ascent into the air from 
 Paris on a perfect summer evening. The city recedes beneath 
 them like a fair picture, while they approach to the region of 
 the moon and stars. Battle-fields, hamlets, and rivers are 
 passed over in their brief tour, which, although it occupied 
 only six hours, was replete with delightful experiences. 
 
 Shortly after the invention of the balloon, it was imagined 
 that they might be rendered useful for purposes of observa- 
 tion in time of war. An aeronautic school was established 
 at Mendon, France, and balloons were distributed among 1 the 
 French armies. General Gordon is said to have owed his 
 victory in the battle of Fleurus, in 1794, to information about 
 the Austrian positions and movements obtained by French 
 
 14 
 
2IO AERIAL NAVIGATION. 
 
 officers stationed in a balloon. The balloon was held by a 
 cable, but so arranged that the observers could soar above 
 the fire of the enemy. 
 
 In the American Civil War, balloons were again made use 
 of, with valuable results. Early in the war the United States 
 War Department organized a balloon corps, placing it under 
 the management of Messrs. La Mountain, Lowe, and other 
 experienced aeronauts. The feat of telegraphing from an 
 aerial station six hundred feet above the earth was first ac- 
 complished by Mr. Lowe. This achievement was fraught 
 with momentous importance, and, during the spring and sum- 
 mer of 1860, many balloons were sent up. So useful was 
 this balloon corps found to be that it formed a part of Gen- 
 eral McClellan's expedition to the Peninsula, in 1862. These 
 balloons were made of the best and finest description of silk, 
 the varnish, on which much of the success depends, being a 
 secret of Mr. Lowe's. By the application of this varnish, his 
 balloons were made to retain their gas for a fortnight or 
 more, and this quality, it will be readily understood, was for 
 military purposes a most important one. 
 
 The balloon staff consisted of one chief aeronaut, with 
 rank not lower than captain nor higher than brigadier ; one 
 assistant captain, and fifty non-commissioned officers and 
 privates. The apparatus consisted of two generators, two 
 balloons, and an acid cart. Frequent ascents were made by 
 these balloons, and a report of his observations was sent 
 daily by the aeronaut to General McClellan. In clear 
 weather the balloon could, at a height of one thousand 
 feet, command an effective range of vision for ten miles or 
 imore. 
 
 While the army was before Richmond, the balloons were 
 
AERIAL NAVIGATION. 2 I I 
 
 constantly in use, and the reports were anxiously awaited. 
 During the first two days of heavy fighting, a telegraph in- 
 strument was taken up into the car, the wire placed in com- 
 munication with the line to Washington, and reports sent thus 
 directly above the field of battle to the Government. General 
 Fitz-John Porter barely escaped, on one occasion, a disastrous 
 termination to his aerial observations. While he was watch- 
 ing from a captive balloon the enemy's movements, the cable 
 which secured the balloon suddenly broke, and he drifted 
 over the Confederate lines. He hastily pulled the valve- 
 string, thereby causing the machine to descend, when a cur- 
 rent of air going in an opposite direction was reached, and 
 he was landed in safety within the Union lines. At the bat- 
 tle of Fair Oaks, Mr. Lowe, who watched the conflict from a 
 balloon, was the first to make known the enemy's retreat to 
 Richmond. The balloon corps was disbanded after Mc- 
 Clellan's retreat to Harrison's Landing, and no further use 
 seems to have been made of balloons for military purposes 
 during the war. 
 
 It was during the Franco-Prussian War that balloons were 
 next pressed into active service. At the commencement of 
 the war, the French Government had rejected a proposal to 
 supply the army with balloons, deeming them of little practi- 
 cal utility, but the siege of Paris by the Germans, in 1870-71, 
 demonstrated that a balloon is the most feasible means by 
 which the inhabitants of a besieged city may communicate 
 with the outside world. 
 
 The Parisians found themselves cut off from intercourse 
 with the outside, with no machine which could be trusted to 
 pass over the besieging lines in safety. Balloon factories 
 were speedily established in two of the principal railway 
 
212 AERIAL NAVIGATION. 
 
 stations, and nearly seventy machines were made previous to 
 the capitulation. The material of the bags was calico, var- 
 nished with a mixture of linseed oil and oxide of lead, and 
 the balloons were of an average capacity of seventy thousand 
 cubic feet. 
 
 The first balloon left Paris with two hundred and twenty- 
 seven pounds of letters, and landed in safety at Evreux. The 
 work accomplished by balloons during the siege was no less 
 than sixty-one voyages and the carrying of two million five 
 hundred thousand letters. Most of the balloons took with 
 them carrier pigeons, which were intended to bring back re- 
 plies to the letters, but a comparatively small number of the 
 pigeons ever returned to Paris. Since these little birds were 
 capable of carrying only a light weight on their return jour- 
 ney, long letters and messages were reduced by photography 
 to within a space of one or two square inches, on the thinnest 
 kind of paper. When these messages were received they 
 were read by means of a microscope, and transcribed into 
 readable form. Several balloons fell into the hands of the 
 enemy, and three have never been heard from since they left 
 Paris. One, the " Washington," while crossing the Prussian 
 outposts, at a height of three thousand feet, was attacked by 
 so severe a fire from the enemy that the travelers were 
 forced to ascend hastily several hundred feet to escape total 
 demolition. Attempts were made to send the balloons by 
 night to escape the enemy's firing, but these journeys were 
 found to be too hazardous, since the aeronauts were unable to 
 determine their direction of traveling or their distance from 
 the earth. Among persons to make use of the aerial high- 
 way was Gambetta, who left the city by this mode of transit, 
 in order to enter upon the control of affairs at Tours. 
 
AERIAL NAVIGATION. 2IJ 
 
 Serviceable as the balloon has proved in times of war, it 
 is yet seriously doubted by scientists whether it can ever 
 be widely utilized as a means of travel. This is because of 
 the failure thus far to apply any means of steering a balloon 
 which shall enable the aeronaut to pursue an exact course 
 through the air, landing where he will. No one has yet been 
 able to successfully guide a balloon in a horizontal direction, 
 and easily as a balloonist may ascend to great heights, he is 
 largely at the mercy of the winds after having ascended. 
 
 Becoming convinced that the problem of aerial navigation 
 will not be satisfactorily solved by the balloon, the " Aero- 
 nautical Society " has been of late years established in Eng- 
 land, numbering among its members many distinguished 
 men, for the purpose of investigating other means of sailing 
 the air. 
 
 Is there, then, a reasonable probability that men will one 
 day fly through the air as now they sail the ocean ? Men of 
 science answer decisively, Why not ? The act of flying is 
 not conditioned by vitality. It is purely a mechanical action. 
 It consists merely in the adjustment of certain physical forces 
 to the production of motion. These forces are essentially 
 the same as those which man has subjected to his use in 
 other fields, and under conditions apparently as insurmount- 
 able. Once the action of these forces is understood, success 
 should be attainable. It is because men have had incorrect 
 theories as to the principles governing the bird's motion in 
 air that they have failed in their attempts to imitate it. The 
 mechanical conditions of flight must be thoroughly understood 
 to be reproduced. 
 
 The end to aim at in the construction of a flying machine 
 is that it shall apply to the air the same conditions imparted 
 
214 AERIAL NAVIGATION. 
 
 to it by the mechanical wing action of a bird. The bird, by 
 this motion, sustains in air and propels with ease a weight 
 out of all apparent proportion to the surface of its wing. 
 When men shall have fully mastered the principles govern- 
 ing the action of surfaces at different velocities upon elastic 
 and yielding media, as air, when they shall have learned how 
 to obtain a power for a lever upon an unstable fulcrum, they 
 will be not far from the solution of the mystery of aerial 
 navigation. 
 
 How to combine the greatest lightness with the greatest 
 strength is the problem, and the hollow bones of the bird are 
 in this regard the proper model for the builders of aerial 
 machines. A motor power light enough and yet powerful 
 enough to perform the service required has yet to be dis- 
 covered, but that such a power will in time be found who, in 
 the light of past achievements, can doubt ? He who has 
 chained the steam to his car, and made electricity the servant 
 to do his bidding will not surely despair of further conquests. 
 Rather, he will believe that there is no limit to the inventive 
 genius of man, and will rest satisfied only when he has made 
 himself master of every physical force. 
 
 What the navigation of the air will open up for human- 
 kind, imagination can only dream of. We may not even, 
 with airy navies, be on visiting terms with Mars or Venus. 
 We may not yet discover if there are dwellers on the other 
 side of the moon. But one thing is assured. It will usher in 
 an era of swifter transit than the world has yet known. It 
 will bring nations nearer together than even railroads or 
 telegraphs have done, and would be, indeed, a fitting climax 
 to the wonderful achievements which the present century has 
 witnessed. 
 
FIREARMS. 
 
 SING of arms," sang Virgil, and it is of arms and their 
 achievements that most of the poems and histories of 
 the world have been written. The production of 
 weapons for military purposes is one of the first acts 
 to which the energies of a primitive people are directed. 
 They originate with the earliest necessity for national defense 
 or desire for national aggression. Swords, arrows, and 
 battle-axes are implements of the least civilized, the wholly 
 barbarous races. The origin of weapons is therefore almost 
 co-existent with the origin of mankind, and a study of the 
 agents with which the world has fought its battles must ever 
 be an interesting one. 
 
 With the invention of firearms was inaugurated a new era 
 in the history of warfare. In the generic term firearms are 
 included all weapons whose action consists in the propulsion 
 of projectiles by means of an explosive. The existence of 
 firearms is wholly dependent upon a certain hidden quality 
 of gunpowder. Inflammable material was employed by the 
 ancients in warfare. Sulphur and resinous gums, or naphtha 
 and bituminous substances, constituted the materials known 
 in remotely antique times, as "Greek fire," "wild fire," or 
 " Media's oil." These compounds were deflagrated in vessels 
 which could not be denominated firearms. 
 
 215 
 
21 6 FIREARMS. 
 
 A weapon similar to a Roman candle of the pyrotechnists 
 was invented by some of the Eastern nations, and in exten- 
 sive use up to the fifteenth century, in warfare and for the 
 purpose of frightening horses and cattle on pillaging expedi- 
 tions. This instrument consisted of a tube filled with Grecian 
 wax and metal filings alternated with layers of gunpowder and 
 balls of tow mixed with sulphur. The weapon was discharged 
 by lighting it at the muzzle, when the filling burned down till 
 it reached the gunpowder, which, igniting, shot out the balls. 
 
 Gunpowder and firearms were used by the Arabs in the 
 eighth century in the form of weapons known as " manjaniks," 
 which they introduced into Spain in the thirteenth century. 
 Cannon were employed to throw stones at the defense of 
 Seville in 1247, and shortly after these machines figured in 
 other military contests. In 1350 the North German knights 
 were said to have been armed with iron guns, and Einbeck 
 was, in 1365, defended by firearms. 
 
 These early firearms were known to their users in different 
 countries by different names, such as "bombardo" in Italy, 
 "buchsen" in Germany, "quenon" in France," and "crack- 
 eys" or " engynnes of war" in England. It was not before 
 the fifteenth century that firearms were classified and named 
 accordingly. The forerunners of the modern bombs or mor- 
 tars were the "bombards," short vessels from which stone 
 balls were shot at a short distance and considerable height, 
 and with a small charge. Early firearms were usually loaded 
 to the muzzle and fired at an extreme angle. 
 
 The first form of hand firearms to be used was a combi- 
 nation of firearm with another weapon, its effectiveness 
 depending largely upon its unexpected firing, taking the 
 enemy unawares. With this same intent double-barrelled 
 
FIREARMS. 2 I 7 
 
 and repeating weapons were employed. Frearms were com- 
 bined with daggers, swords, axes, and shields, and other forms 
 even were devised for rendering the explosive weapon doubly 
 destructive in the hands of the warrior. The consternation 
 produced by the sudden and unlooked-for discharge of fire- 
 arms probably contributed no less to their success than the 
 actual effect of the projectile hurled. The hand firearm seems 
 thus to have been first introduced as a concealed weapon, 
 pistols being even inserted in the handles of whips carried by 
 Neapolitan brigands and French postillions. 
 
 The culverin or hand cannon consisted of a handle of wood 
 or iron, to which was attached a small tube one-half or three- 
 fourths of an inch in internal diameter. These were used 
 largely in the latter part of the fifteenth century. They are 
 said to have been employed in the army of Edward IV, after 
 his landing at Ravenspur, Yorkshire, and hand culverins 
 figured prominently in the siege of Berwick in 1821. The 
 smallest hand culverins were about four feet in length, hav- 
 ing a weight of about fifteen pounds. These were used by 
 cavalrymen, while the larger weapons, weighing sometimes as 
 much as sixty pounds, were fired by foot soldiers. These 
 large culverins were always supported upon a forked rest, 
 and an attendant called a "varlet" accompanied the culver- 
 iner to assist in firing the piece. A smaller and improved 
 form of culverin was the arquebus, which was capable of be- 
 ing operated by one man. This was first used at the battle 
 of Morat, in 1476. In the matchlock arquebus a hinged lid 
 covered the flash-pan, and the serpentin or lever which held 
 the burning match was forcibly thrown upon the touch pow- 
 der in the flash-pan by means of a spring, but ordinarily the 
 burning slow-match was lowered by pulling the lower end of 
 
2 I 8 FIREARMS. 
 
 the serpentin toward the stock. Descended from the match- 
 lock arquebus were the hagbut, hackbutt, hackenbuse, and 
 musket, the latter being formerly a heavier weapon than the 
 modern form, carrying a double bullet. 
 
 The loading of these early firearms was a slow and difficult 
 performance, necessitating a deliberation in firing incredible 
 to modern combatants. At Kissingen in 1636 and at Witten 
 Mergen in 1638 seven shots were said to have been fired in 
 eight hours. This slowness of action was said to be due to 
 the fact that the musketeers were compelled to load the 
 instrument while the forked rest was attached by a thong to 
 the wrist, and that during this proceeding they were contin- 
 ually harassed by the opposing cavalry and archers. 
 
 With the invention in the latter part of the sixteenth cen- 
 tury in Germany of the wheel-lock, the use of firearms for 
 sporting purposes was more generally adopted. The wheel- 
 lock originated from a gun, in which pieces of pyrites were 
 placed near the flash-pan and ignited by the friction produced 
 by a file rubbed against them. In this weapon a spring 
 pressing against the end of the lever opposite to the one in 
 which the flint is fired holds the flint in the flash-pan. A 
 grooved wheel, with serrated edges, is revolved in the flash- 
 pan by means of a chain and a flat or V spring. This wheel 
 was wound up as is a watch with a movable key. Upon the 
 pulling of the trigger, it was released, and rotating swiftly 
 against the flint, it produced ignition. The wheel-locks were 
 not used extensively out of Germany and Italy, but the Saxon 
 collection of these weapons in the British Museum shows 
 that their invention was at one time considered of great 
 importance. 
 
 The flint-lock, which originated in Spain as a cheap substi- 
 
FIREARMS. 219 
 
 tute for the wheel-lock, was said to have been produced by 
 marauders, who dreaded exposure of their presence by the 
 burning match of the arquebus. It was introduced into the 
 English army in the reign of William III, where it continued 
 in use until 1840. 
 
 For some time after the cannon was invented, it consisted 
 of a weapon with an extremely small bore, scarcely larger 
 than were the muskets of the eighteenth century. Leaden 
 bullets were discharged by these. Had it not been for their 
 heavy workmanship, necessitating small carriages for convey- 
 ing them, they would doubtless have been used as hand fire- 
 arms. Cannon have not a common history, although a com- 
 mon origin with pocket pistols. Various materials have been 
 used in the construction of cannon. In 1378, at Augsburg, 
 they were cast of copper and tin alloy. They have been 
 made of hollowed blocks of stone, of wood, of rope, of 
 leather, of papier-mache. In fact, almost every pure and 
 alloyed metal which it is possible to forge has been used in 
 the manufacture of these weapons. They have even con- 
 sisted, as at Alexandria, Constantinople, and Gibraltar, of 
 cylindrical holes bored in the solid rock, filled with explosives, 
 and used to fire projectiles. 
 
 In early warfare cannon were used chiefly in besieging 
 cities and forts, their weight, combined with the poor roads, 
 making transportation difficult, as well as the inefficiency of 
 the early machines themselves, rendering them of slight 
 utility as field pieces. When used in battle they were fired 
 but once. 
 
 The cannon developed on the one hand into small, portable 
 weapons, hand firearms, and, on the other, into the enormous 
 instruments used in the defense of fortifications. One of 
 
22O FIREARMS. 
 
 these ancient instruments is the " Mons," of Edinburgh Cas- 
 tle, which weighs nearly four tons, and fired a stone shot of 
 over three hundred pounds. The powder chamber of this 
 early cannon exhibits a principle, the reverse of the modern 
 one, of enlarged powder chamber, being of a less diameter 
 than the bore, resembling in this respect the mortar. Can- 
 non similar to this were manufactured at Ghent, in the 
 fifteenth century. 
 
 Field pieces were not greatly developed until the eighteenth 
 century, when an improved finish of the interior was attained, 
 allowing a long and uniform range and accuracy of aim. Im- 
 provements in cannon and quick-firing guns have depended 
 less upon the genius of inventors than on the evolution of 
 mechanical science, which has led to accurate workmanship 
 and ability to work large masses of material. Improvements 
 in explosives in the quality of the metal, and in the ma- 
 chinery available have rendered possible the production of 
 field pieces of prodigious size. The limit in this direction 
 would seem to be rather in the cost of manufacture than in 
 human ability to construct them. 
 
 To impart steadiness to a projectile and increase its accu- 
 racy is the problem which scientific artillerists for a long time 
 strove to solve in the construction of their weapons. The 
 invention of rifling secured the attainment of these ends. 
 Rifling consists in the cutting of grooves in the chamber of 
 the gun barrel, which, by gripping the ball, cause it to rotate 
 round its axis, and thus to be ejected from the barrel more 
 closely in line with the axis of the bore. 
 
 The first rifle known to be used was in 1563. In the latter 
 part of the sixteenth century Augustus Kutter, of Nurem- 
 burg, invented a rifle with grooves in a spiral form, and in 
 
FIREARMS. 221 
 
 1662 the Bishop of Munster originated the idea of elongated 
 projectiles for use in such rifles. 
 
 Rifles were adopted into the British service in the year 
 1800, the old Ninety-fifth regiment, afterward known as the 
 Rifle Brigade, being armed with Baker's rifles, so named 
 from their inventor. This rifle was used by British soldiery 
 until about 1835, when it was replaced by the "Brunswick" 
 rifle, invented by Major Berner, in the Brunswick army. 
 With this rifle the percussion lock first appeared in the 
 British service. By 1842 all the prominent countries of 
 Europe had adopted some form of rifle in their armies. 
 About this date the Prussians discarded the old smooth-bore 
 musket and armed their militia with the celebrated needle 
 gun, " Zundnadelgewehr." This weapon is a bolt gun, with 
 the needle contained in the bolt. On firing the gun the needle 
 is pressed through the powder charge, and strikes the cap in 
 the rear of a papier-mache plug, so that the charge is 
 ignited from the front, it being thought that by this means 
 the bullet encased in the plug will be less likely to be detached 
 from its case. The plug receives the rifling and imparts rota- 
 tion to the bullet. 
 
 A Frenchman, Captain Minie, in 1849 invented the rifle 
 known as the Minie rifle. This rifle marked a change in the 
 form of bullet used, the spherical bullet being in this super- 
 seded by one of a cylindro-conoidal form. This weapon was 
 speedily adopted by the French army, and later by the 
 English. The English army which was sent to the Crimean 
 war armed with this rifle, possessing in its use a great advan- 
 tage over their Russian foes. 
 
 Numerous inventions have, from time to time, improved on 
 the rifle as originally constructed, until it has at the present 
 
222 FIREARMS. 
 
 day a marvelously intricate and effective weapon. The 
 magazine rifle was an important advance in artillery. In this 
 a magazine or case is attached to the gun, being worked by 
 a mechanism actuated by the breech action, by means of 
 which four or more cartridges are fed consecutively into the 
 gun barrel. In the Turko-Russian war in 1877, the great 
 efficiency of this rifle was demonstrated. During the Russian 
 assault before Plevna, the Turks, armed with Winchester 
 repeating rifles, slew the Russians by hundreds as they ad- 
 vanced to the assault. The rifle at present used by the 
 United States troops is the Lee magazine rifle, but the Win- 
 chester and other small bore repeaters are also in use by a 
 part of the army. 
 
 The carbine is a short rifle, precisely like the infantry rifle, 
 with the exception of being a foot shorter, and chambered 
 for a smaller cartridge. All cavalry soldiers in the British 
 army carry Martini-Henry carbines in leather cases for use 
 when on foot. Gunners of garrison batteries have the same 
 weapon with a sword bayonet to fit on to it, both of which 
 are strapped to the foot-board of each limber in field bat- 
 teries. 
 
 The pistol, the smallest form of firearm, was first made in 
 1540, by Camillio Vetelli, at Pistoia. It was evolved from a 
 small hand cannon called " poitrinal," and was at first used 
 as a concealed weapon, being first adopted for military pur- 
 poses by the German Ritters. The pistol figured in the 
 defense of the French by the Ritters in 1554. In the eigh- 
 teenth century double and four-barrelled pistols were com- 
 monly used, and the revolving pistol preceded the invention 
 of the revolver of modern times. For military and police 
 purposes in civilized countries the revolver has superseded 
 
FIREARMS. 223 
 
 the pistol. The duelling pistol, a model of workmanship, 
 and the twenty-pace pistol firing a large bullet with a small 
 charge of powder, as made in Paris at the present time, are 
 not equalled as weapons of precision by any firearm manu- 
 factured. 
 
 The revolver is a firearm in which the barrels or chambers 
 revolve upon a common centre, and are in turn fired by one 
 lock mechanism. The first appearance of revolving weapons 
 was in the seventeenth century, and the earliest form con- 
 sisted of hand guns of two or more barrels invented to turn 
 upon an axis, the powder pan being brought successively 
 under the action of the lock. The barrels were turned by 
 hand, instead of being rotated by pulling a trigger. A 
 Parisian gunsmith, Le Norman, produced a weapon in 1815 
 with five barrels. Another was later invented, having seven, 
 but these were neither of them found practicable. The fa- 
 mous Colt revolver was invented by Colonel Samuel Colt in 
 1835. This has a rifle barrel, a revolving cylinder with six 
 or seven chambers, and a level trigger which operates the 
 mechanism devised to turn the chambers and fire the 
 weapon. 
 
 Since killing is not only a serious, a tragical business, but 
 is also supposed to be a sport, special classes of firearms 
 have been constructed for the use of the sportsman. The 
 term gun, although having formerly a wide range of applica- 
 tion, is now especially employed to distinguish the sporting 
 gun from the military rifle. Firearms for sporting purposes 
 are the shot-gun and the rifle, the latter for large game 
 shooting. 
 
 Sportsmen in Germany in the sixteenth century used hail 
 shot, and after the invention of the arquebus, the wheel-lock 
 
224 FIREARMS. 
 
 came into general use for sportsmen. The first double- 
 barrelled guns were manufactured for use in war, but Italy, 
 in the seventeenth century, produced guns with two barrels 
 side by side. The art of shooting on the wing was first 
 .attempted about 1580. With the development of better 
 forged barrels in the latter part of the eighteenth century, 
 .the fowling piece, a light, double-barrelled gun, was made 
 possible, and this instrument has continued to increase in 
 ; strength and lightness. 
 
 o o 
 
 The sporting rifle dates back to the time of the wheel-lock 
 hunting weapons of Germany. It is peculiarly adapted for 
 large game shooting, where the main essential is the rapid 
 firing of a second shot, together with a paralyzing effect from 
 the bullet. In a military weapon, on the other hand, length 
 of range, with shots following each other in quick succession 
 are the great desiderata. The average muzzle velocity of 
 the military rifle is fifteen hundred feet per second, while 
 that of the express or sporting rifle is two thousand feet per 
 second, force of impact being sought in the latter rather 
 than accuracy and extent of range. The largest military rifle 
 may approach this greatest velocity, but the force at impact 
 is still less than that of the sporting rifle projectile. 
 
 The best military small arms, rifles, may be used at a 
 range of two thousand yards, and the best sporting rifle at 
 three hundred yards. Two-thirds of the charge of a shot- 
 gun will be deposited within a circle thirty inches in diameter 
 at a range of forty yards, and the last shot of the charge will 
 be found not over ten feet behind the first reaching the 
 target at that distance. The average shot-gun has a range 
 -of about forty-five yards, while the range of wild- fowling 
 guns with seven shot, is about one hundred and forty yards. 
 
FIREARMS. 225 
 
 The modern shot-gun is invariably breech-loading, and 
 usually upon the " drop-down " principle. The welding of 
 shot-gun barrels is an interesting and difficult performance. 
 They are generally hand-forged from a rod composed of two 
 different varieties of iron, or of iron and steel. It is neces- 
 sary that one of the metals should be softer than the other,, 
 the excellence of the completed barrel depending upon the 
 greater proportion of the harder metal used in its construc- 
 tion. There are many different methods of twisting together 
 these two different kinds of metal, the Belgians being espe- 
 cially expert at this, combining in some cases as many as six 
 different twisted rods to form a single riband. The English, 
 barrels are, however, of greater hardness than those of the 
 Belgians, and are generally considered superior to the 
 latter. 
 
 Shot-guns are now manufactured in much lighter form 
 than when breech-loaders first came into use, and shorter 
 barrels are employed with no loss of shooting power or ap- 
 parent increase in the volume of recoil. Smokeless explo- 
 sives are in general use for shot-guns in all countries. The 
 best class of shot-guns are now highly perfected, and little 
 further improvement may be looked for in them, unless 
 something new in the form of explosives be invented or some 
 new means of using shot-guns be developed. 
 
 The Continental gun-makers were formerly considered 
 superior to the English, but the English guns now rank above 
 all others, recent English inventions having effected great 
 changes in the arms of that country. The Italian and Spanish 
 smiths have been particularly noted for their superior work- 
 manship in the manufacture of firearms, as in that of other 
 implements wrought of metal. The most curious arms were 
 15 
 
226 FIREARMS. 
 
 those produced at Paris, Amsterdam, Liege, Hanover, and 
 Lisbon. 
 
 Since it is the demand for an article that regulates the 
 supply, the impetus given to the invention and manufacture 
 of firearms has been the wars in which nation pitted against 
 nation has had recourse to all that science could discover 
 and genius could originate to secure the balance of might. 
 The wars of the Middle Ages did much to promote the in- 
 vention and to improve the existing forms of military weapons, 
 while the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-71 has resulted in the 
 manufacture in France and Germany of the best repeating 
 rifles in the world. 
 
 The most important improvements have been in the line 
 of the ignition of the charge of the explosive. The French 
 chemists of the eighteenth century produced fulminating or 
 detonating powders, and their experiments led to the inven- 
 tion by an Englishman about the year 1800 of a highly 
 sensitive explosive compounded of fulminate of mercury and 
 saltpetre. It was, somewhat strangely, to a Scotch clergyman, 
 Alexander J. Forsyth, that the origin in 1807 of the detona- 
 ting principle for exploding gunpowder in firearms was due. 
 A French invention of much importance was the cartridge 
 case containing its own means of iofnitinof. The success of 
 
 O t> O 
 
 modern breech-loading fire small arms is largely due to this 
 instrument, which is used for all quick-firing machine guns 
 as well as for some of the smaller cannon. The making of 
 firearms by machinery was introduced into England in 1856. 
 As inventions have changed the conditions of industrial 
 activity, so they have rendered modern warfare a widely 
 different thing from what war was when men fought with 
 swords or axes hand to hand. The battle of Homer or Virgil 
 
 o 
 
FIREARMS. 227 
 
 has few points in common with a military contest in the latter 
 half of the nineteenth century. In one view those primitive 
 encounters were more brutal, more repellant, when, from 
 behind a shield, the warrior hacked viciously at the body of 
 his enemy. But in the extent of its results the long-range 
 battle of to-day is infinitely more terrible. The Krupp gun, 
 with its marvelous capacity and range, the fearful inventions 
 for the destruction of cities and fleets, the deadly bomb all 
 t^qd to make modern war an almost unthinkable horror. 
 
 YThis greatly multiplied destroying power of military 
 weapons, by means of which hundreds of men may be mown 
 down like grain with a single shot, might well lead one to 
 question the advantages of such an outcome of modern in- 
 ventive genius did not their very terribleness contain in itself 
 the reason for their own annihilation. Such wholesale slaugh- 
 ter of human beings cannot but be revolting to the modern 
 humane sentiment, to the higher regard for human life which 
 a higher civilization has inculcated. Face to face with the 
 horrible desolation which these engines of war carry in their 
 wake, nations can scarcely fail to hesitate before rashly pre- 
 cipitating a war which must result in such wholesale 
 slaughter. The present tendency toward arbitration in the 
 settlement of international difficulties rather than the rushing 
 headlong into war on any trivial provocation is no doubt due 
 largely to this greatly augmented killing capacity of latter- 
 day implements of warfare^ These very triumphs of human 
 inventive genius, which seem to menace the peace of the 
 world, may themselves greatly hasten the day when 
 
 " The war-drum throbs no longer, and the battle-flags are furled 
 In the parliament of peace, the federation of the world." 
 
BANKS AND EXCHANGES. 
 
 HE business of banking is an extremely old one, or, 
 more correctly speaking, some of the functions of 
 1 banks have been exercised from earliest historic times. 
 In the republics of Greece and Rome there were 
 persons who received money on deposit, paid it out on pres- 
 entation of drafts drawn by their clients, and derived their 
 profits from investment of this money. The origin of what 
 might properly be termed a banking system dates, however, 
 from the establishment of the bank of Venice, in the year 
 1171. 
 
 This bank owed its existence to the wars with both East- 
 ern and Western Europe, which had brought great disorder 
 into the financial condition of Venice. To obtain means for 
 carrying on these wars, the government was led to order, as 
 a war measure, a forced loan of one per cent, from every 
 citizen, upon which loan the State promised to pay an interest 
 of five per cent. To conduct the business consequent upon 
 this transaction, a body of commissioners was appointed who 
 should issue to the citizens stock certificates for the sums paid 
 by them. These certificates might be sold or transferred at 
 will. The Italian word for denominating this loan was 
 " monte vecchio ;" but as the Germans at that time possessed 
 the mastery of a great part of Italy, the German word 
 "bank" came also to be applied in common usage. The 
 228 
 
BANKS AND EXCHANGES. 229 
 
 bank of Venice was thus the origin of the funding system, or 
 the system of public debts. It was not until several centuries 
 after its establishment that it began to transact what is now 
 called banking business. This bank continued in operation 
 until the overthrow of the republic, in 1797, by the revolu- 
 tionary army of France. 
 
 The function of these earliest banks was mainly "finan- 
 ciering ;" their purpose to float loans for the government. 
 The banks of Venice, Amsterdam, Hamburg, and others were 
 founded on what is now called the currency principle. This 
 principle is, in brief, that a bank should in no case issue 
 notes greater in amount than the specie nvhich it has in re- 
 serve, it being claimed by the advocates of this principle that 
 any extension of a bank's credit beyond this limit must re- 
 sult in a depreciation of the currency. 
 
 The second function to be historically developed by the 
 banks was the returning to the people good money in place 
 of clipped and diversified coins. The cities of Venice, Ham- 
 burg, and Amsterdam being the centres of an extensive 
 foreign commerce, large quantities of foreign coins, often 
 mutilated and debased in value, naturally flowed into the 
 money circulation. To obviate the inconvenience caused by 
 this multiform and uncertain currency, banks of deposit were 
 established by the authorities in each of these cities, the first 
 being at Amsterdam, which should receive both foreign coin 
 and the light and worn coins of the country, at their intrinsic 
 value in the standard money of the country, making only a 
 slight deduction for defraying the expense of coinage and 
 the necessary expenses of management. For the moneys 
 received, the banks gave to the depositors credit in the form 
 of notes, or by an entry in their books. 
 
230 BANKS AND EXCHANGES. 
 
 These bank credits assured a uniform standard of pay- 
 ment, and laws were enacted requiring all bills above a cer- 
 tain amount upon these cities to be paid in these credits, to 
 which the name of bank money was given. These, being 
 always exchangeable for good money, came naturally to be 
 at a premium, as compared with the clipped and debased 
 coins forming the current money, this premium being some- 
 times as high as nine per cent. It must be observed that 
 these credits of the Amsterdam and other banks, while called 
 " bank money," were widely different from the bank money 
 of our day. In the first place, they did not circulate from 
 hand to hand as mediums of exchange, and, secondly, they 
 were, never issued in excess of the metallic money in the 
 vaults of the banks. 
 
 Banks such as these have never had an existence in Eng- 
 land or America. The banking system of England had its 
 origin during the civil war, in 1697. The goldsmiths of Lon- 
 don began to receive the gold of merchants on deposit, prom- 
 ising to repay it on demand, with interest at six per cent, for 
 the use of it. In exchange for the money received the gold- 
 smiths issued to their depositors credits to an equal amount. 
 To enable them to do this, they were obliged to invest the 
 money so that it should return them a profit. They discov- 
 ered that, in order to meet the demands upon them by de- 
 positors, it was not necessary to keep on hand specie to the 
 full amount ; that, in fact, under ordinary circumstances, about 
 one-tenth that sum was sufficient, since, while part of their 
 customers might on a certain day choose to present their 
 credits and demand their money, a corresponding number 
 were equally likely to pay in coin equivalent in value to that 
 paid out. They therefore invested the surplus funds in their 
 
BANKS AND EXCHANGES. 23! 
 
 possession by buying commercial debts, or bills of exchange, 
 which, being payable in two or three months, soon returned 
 them a profit on their investments. These bills were bought 
 not always with actual cash in their hands, but sometimes by 
 giving in return for them promissory notes. 
 
 The bankers continued till about the year 1772 to issue 
 promissory notes payable to bearer on demand. About this 
 time they introduced a new method of purchasing bills. 
 When they received bills from their customers to discount, 
 the bankers would give them in place of promissory notes, a 
 credit equal to the value of the bill, on their books, and would 
 issue to the creditors printed forms which were called checks, 
 which were bills of exchange payable to bearer on demand. 
 These checks were put in circulation like bank-notes, and a 
 banker was forced to pay a customer's checks to the extent 
 of the money deposited. The modern system of banking by 
 means of checks is the same in principle as that in which bank- 
 notes are issued, the difference being one of form only. The 
 bank-notes were on the face of them obligations of the banker 
 to pay the money named, while checks are not direct obliga- 
 tions of the banker. For this reason when checks are trans- 
 ferred from one person to another the transferrer is usually 
 required to indorse them. Bank-notes usually pass with no 
 indorsement. 
 
 Of the famous banks whose history forms a part of the 
 history of the country in which they are established, the Bank 
 of England is perhaps the most noted. This bank, like 
 that of Venice, grew out of necessity for government aid in 
 time of financial depression. In 1694, during the reign of 
 William and Mary, the war with France compelled England 
 to devise some new means of meeting the heavy debt which 
 
232 BANKS AND EXCHANGES. 
 
 the military expenses were constantly augmenting. The idea 
 occurred to William Patterson that the government, which 
 had been paying from twenty to forty per cent, interest on 
 loans, would grant almost unlimited privileges to an institu- 
 tion which should advance it money at reasonable rates. 
 Following out his suggestions a bill was finally carried by 
 the government for the foundation of a Bank of England, 
 Within ten days after the books were open for subscriptions, 
 so popular was the idea with the people that the entire sum 
 required, one million two hundred thousand pounds, was sub- 
 scribed. 
 
 The bank was opened for business on January ist, 1695, 
 the subscribers being incorporated into a company denomi- 
 nated " The Governor and Company of the Bank of Eng- 
 land." The charter was granted for eleven years, but this 
 was extended in 1697. This bank discounted bills of ex- 
 change at from three to six per cent. The management of 
 the entire public debt of England was placed in the hands of 
 this bank, for which service it received compensation from 
 time to time. It paid also certain pensions and annuities. 
 
 After the close of the Revolutionary War the country 
 entered upon a period of great commercial and industrial 
 prosperity. As is customary at such times, people invested 
 recklessly and multiplied their obligations beyond all possi- 
 bility of fulfillment. The number of banks increased rapidly 
 in England, and the result of the undue inflation of prices 
 and credits was a commercial panic ; exchanges turned 
 against England, and the pressure on the bank was such that 
 in 1797 it was compelled to suspend specie payments. This 
 was regarded at the time as a temporary measure, but the 
 bank did not resume the payment of specie until May of the 
 
BANKS AND EXCHANGES. 233 
 
 year 1823. Resumption was at that time accomplished only 
 with widespread disaster to the commercial world, which 
 could not but be affected by the calling in by England of so 
 large an amount of gold as would enable the bank to re- 
 sume. 
 
 By the bank charter act of 1844, the Bank of England was 
 prohibited from issuing notes beyond a certain limit without 
 an equal deposit of gold. The operation of this law has been, 
 however, three times suspended, the last occasion being in 
 1866, when the rate of discount was raised by the bank to 
 ten per cent. 
 
 During the war of the Revolution in the United States the 
 country was extremely poor, quite destitute of the precious 
 metals. The government experienced great difficulty in get- 
 ting funds to carry on the war. Congress in 1775 attempted 
 to meet this exigency by an issue of two million dollars of 
 paper money, but these issues soon depreciated until they 
 became valueless. 
 
 In 1781, Robert Morris, the celebrated financier of Penn- 
 sylvania, submitted to Congress a plan of a national bank. 
 The provisions for this bank, as outlined by him, were that 
 it should have a capital of four hundred thousand dollars in 
 shares of four hundred dollars each, and should be under the 
 management of twelve directors. On December 3ist an 
 ordinance passed Congress for the incorporation of this bank, 
 and it commenced business in 1782. Of the capital of four 
 hundred thousand dollars required, two hundred and fifty- 
 four thousand dollars had been subscribed by the govern- 
 ment. The first president of the bank was Thomas Willing. 
 This bank became an important auxiliary in aid of the finances 
 of the government, and continued to render valuable assist- 
 
234 BANKS AND EXCHANGES. 
 
 ance until the close of the war. This institution was also 
 incorporated by the State of Pennsylvania on April i8th, 
 1782. Owing to some disagreement between the govern- 
 ment of Pennsylvania and the bank in 1785, the State re- 
 pealed the charter, but the bank continued under the charter 
 of the central government. In 1787, the bank was rechar- 
 tered by Pennsylvania, and the charter has been from time 
 to time extended. 
 
 On the organization of the government of the United 
 States, Alexander Hamilton, then Secretary of the Treasury, 
 in his report on finances urged upon Congress the importance 
 of establishing a bank of the United States. This proposal 
 of Hamilton's met with opposition in Congress, but it finally 
 passed the House in February, 1791, having previously 
 passed the Senate. The capital of this bank was ten mil- 
 lion dollars, to be divided into twenty-five thousand shares 
 of four hundred dollars each. The subscribers were incor- 
 porated as " The President, Directors, and Company of the 
 Bank of the United States." Subscriptions, except those of 
 the United States, were payable one-fourth in gold and silver, 
 and the remaining three-fourths in six per cent, stocks of the 
 United States. The bank was chartered until March 4th, 
 1811. It was authorized to hold property of all kinds to the 
 amount of fifteen million dollars, and was to be under the 
 control of a board of twenty-five directors, who should choose 
 the other officers of the bank. 
 
 This bank was established at Philadelphia, with branches 
 at different points. In 1808, application was made to Con- 
 gress for a renewal of the charter. Mr. Galatin, the distin- 
 guished financier, at that time at the head of the treasury 
 department, reported to Congress a memorial in favor of 
 
BANKS AND EXCHANGES. 235 
 
 such renewal. Mr. Galatin suggested changes in a new act 
 of incorporation, giving sound and excellent reasons for the 
 re-incorporation of the bank. The bill was defeated on 
 February 2oth, 1811, by the casting vote of Vice-President 
 Clinton. The bank was therefore obliged to close up its 
 business. 
 
 The second bank of the United States was established in 
 1816. During the war of 1812-15, the government had 
 found itself repeatedly embarrassed for want of money, and 
 had frequently had recourse to the banks for aid. On the 
 recommendation of Alexander Dallas, Secretary of the 
 Treasury, a bill passed Congress providing for the establish- 
 ment of a bank, the charter of which was to extend to March, 
 1836. The capital of the bank was to be thirty-five million 
 dollars. In 1836, the bank ceased to act under the charter 
 of the United States, but continued, with the same capital, 
 under a charter of the State of Pennsylvania. In 1839, the 
 bank was compelled to suspend specie payments. It re- 
 sumed payments in January, 1840, to finally suspend in Feb- 
 ruary of the same year. 
 
 Prior to the passage by Congress, in 1864, of an act " to 
 provide a national currency," there were many State banks 
 in operation in all the States. These banks received their 
 charters from the States, and there were of these State 
 banks, in 1856-57, no fewer than fourteen hundred. The 
 over-issues of many of these banks, combined with the un- 
 certainty which must naturally arise from so many sources 
 of issue, had led to a disordered condition of the currency. 
 The public had, indeed, by the experience of several serious 
 financial crises, been educated to somewhat sounder views on 
 the subject of money, and a wiser understanding of the princi- 
 
236 BANKS AND EXCHANGES. 
 
 pies underlying a safe banking system, but much still re- 
 mained to be done before a perfected currency should be 
 secured. 
 
 The emergencies of the Civil War led to the initiation by 
 Secretary Chase of a movement which resulted in the estab- 
 lishment of the present banking system of the United States. 
 This system was modeled on that inaugurated in New York 
 in 1838, all notes being secured by an abundant deposit at 
 the Treasury Department in Washington of United States 
 stocks. The Treasury was to sell to the banks United States 
 bonds as the basis for their note circulations, and all notes 
 of State banks were to be taxed ten per cent., which soon 
 drove them out of circulation. As a war measure, the na- 
 tional bank law was not a great success, as the bank did not 
 become fully established before the war was nearly at an 
 end. But it resulted in placing the currency of the country 
 on a more secure basis than had been before accomplished. 
 By this new law the Comptroller of the Currency, whose 
 office was then created, was authorized to permit the estab- 
 lishment of banking associations, of not less than five persons, 
 for periods not exceeding twenty years, with a minimum 
 capital, except in small places, of one hundred thousand dol- 
 lars. Such associations were required to deposit with the 
 Treasury Department United States bonds to the extent of 
 not less than one-third of their capital, the Treasury in turn 
 issuing to them circulating notes in amount equal to ninety 
 per cent, of their bonds. 
 
 The profit to the banks under the present system depends 
 upon the rate of interest on the bonds themselves, and the 
 premium or discount which the bonds may be at any given 
 time purchased. The gradual decline and final disappear- 
 
BANKS AND EXCHANGES, 
 
 ance of the premium on gold, the reduction of the rate of 
 interest on government bonds, and the high premiums upon; 
 bonds bearing the reduced rates of interest have all com- 
 bined to reduce the profits of the banks. The proportion of 
 bank-notes is, from this reduction in the profits of bank-note 
 circulation, steadily diminishing. This fact may, unless some 
 change in the financial system be brought about, cause the 
 country to forego, in time, the great advantages of the pres- 
 ent banking system. 
 
 Differing from bank-notes, yet like them a species of 
 credit, are bills of exchange, which play a very important part 
 in modern commercial transactions. A bill of exchange is- 
 an order from one person to another to pay a certain sum of 
 money. It differs from a promissory note, in that the one is 
 a promise, the other an order to pay something. The mode 
 of paying and of receiving payment for goods from one coun- 
 try to another is by bills of exchange. By this means is ob- 
 viated the expensive and inconvenient necessity of shipping 
 the precious metals from country to country in payment for 
 commodities. Bills of exchange originated in Italy during 
 the twelfth century. The first function performed by them 
 was payment of the taxes levied by the Pope on the Floren- 
 tines. It became the custom of the agents of the Pope to 
 send drafts on their principals to the Pope in payment for 
 taxes collected. A bill of exchange was thus originally a 
 banker's draft addressed to an inhabitant of one country fronr 
 one of another. The oldest bill of exchange known was- 
 dated 1380. It is a matter of some doubt just when the idea 
 of negotiating bills of exchange was introduced. Some 
 writers claim this innovation for Cardinal Richelieu, but this 
 has been disputed. 
 
 " Exchange," in the language of merchants, means the 
 
238 BANKS AND EXCHANGES. 
 
 power which the money of one country has of purchasing the 
 money of other countries. Exchange is at par when for a 
 certain amount of money metal, or its equivalent you can 
 buy a right to receive an equal amount of the same metal in 
 .another country. Exchange is above or below par when the 
 right to receive a given amount of metallic money in another 
 place must be purchased by paying a greater or less amount 
 of the same metal in the place where the purchase is con- 
 summated. Exchange is at par when the payments from one 
 place to another or from one country to another exactly 
 balance each other. When this is not the case exchange is 
 :said to be against the country having the greater sum of 
 payments to make. The premium on bills cannot rise higher 
 than the cost of shipping the precious metals, since, rather 
 than pay a higher price for a bill, the merchant would prefer 
 to ship the gold in payment for goods. 
 
 Credit has become in the modern world a most powerful 
 agent in the transactions of commercial affairs. It is indis- 
 pensable in rendering the entire capital of a country produc- 
 tive by transferring capital from hands in which it would lie 
 idle, or be wasted or destroyed, to those in which it would be 
 employed in productive enterprises. By means of credit, 
 capital may be made available for turning to better account 
 all the industrial talent of a community. Credit is purchas- 
 ing power just the same as money, and an increase of credit 
 in a country has therefore the same effect as would be pro- 
 duced by adding to the amount of metallic money in circula- 
 tion. The superiority of bank money as a convenient medium 
 of exchange is evidenced by its wide adoption at the present 
 day by all civilized countries. 
 
 But while credit has power, it has not, as some imagine, 
 magical power. Lost in admiration of the harmonious work- 
 
BANKS AND EXCHANGES. 239 
 
 ings of the present highly perfected system of banking, many 
 persons are led to believe in the feasibility of a still greater 
 extension of its functions. Since credit fills so large a place 
 in the financial world, may it not assume a still wider power ? 
 May it not, in fact, usurp the place of money altogether ? In- 
 asmuch as a promise to pay money circulates as freely side 
 by side with money, why not dispense with money in its 
 metallic form, and, as credits are more easily created, let 
 nations become wealthy by multiplying them indefinitely ? 
 
 The flaw in this reasoning is the neglect to take account 
 of the thing that gives to credit its value, the fact that it has 
 back of it the ability to fulfill the promise of which it is the 
 representative. A promise may never be kept, there may 
 be no probability that it will ever be called upon for a fulfill- 
 ment. But there is yet a latent quality in the human mind 
 which leads it to demand that a promise shall be possible of 
 realization. The schemes for issuing irredeemable notes, 
 which have in different countries and at various times been 
 attempted, have proved that there is a limit to the extension 
 of credit beyond which the prudent financial intuition of a 
 people will not suffer it to go. 
 
 If the banking functions are to be extended, such expansion 
 must take place on lines of sound principles of money and 
 credit. And the vastly diverging opinions of the thinkers on 
 these subjects would warn against hasty conclusions where 
 they are fraught with so weighty consequences. A safe and 
 judiciously managed system of banking is the most powerful 
 factor in enhancing the material prosperity of a country, 
 while rashly and unwisely conducted it may become rather 
 the means of undermining the foundations of national security 
 and welfare. 
 
MECHANISM IN ART. 
 
 HE evolution of the human mind through the ages, the 
 changes in thought and opinion which " the long re- 
 1 suits of time " have brought about, are none the less 
 astounding than the modifications which the Darwin- 
 ites would have us believe have been brought about in the 
 human form and features. Human history is but one long 
 narration of change, progression, of shifting views and feel- 
 ings. To-day a race, a class, a sect, are scorned, despised ; 
 to-morrow the nations haste to do them honor, the past is ig- 
 nored, " and the multitude make virtue of the faith they had 
 denied." 
 
 The student of to-day reads the history of the past with an 
 ever-growing amazement at the social ideas of caste and con- 
 dition, which were clung to with a religious tenacity by the 
 ancients. It demands all the different conditions and environ- 
 ment which the existence of a slave class creates in a com- 
 munity to enable one to enter into and interpret the feeling 
 which the nations of antiquity had toward any form of manual 
 exertion or the individuals performing it. 
 
 Society has, in all ages, idolized, bowed down to, the painter, 
 the musician, the sculptor. Nations have enrolled their names 
 high among the lists of their great and honored. It was not 
 to be wondered at that a people like the Greeks, whose reign- 
 ing passion was a love for the beautiful, whether in the human 
 240 
 
MKCHANISM IN ART. 24! 
 
 face and form or in painting, sculpture, and architecture, 
 should hold in light esteem the less elegant although equally 
 worthy arts. In them the aesthetic was cultivated to the 
 exclusion of everything else. "The glory that was Greece " 
 came from this love for, this worship of, the beautiful in all 
 things. And so the world has been ever since admiring- and 
 
 o o 
 
 revering their thoughts of beauty, which, imprisoned in 
 marble or reflected on canvas, have lived to tell to the ages 
 what great and lofty souls inspired with true love for their 
 art may accomplish. 
 
 But the Greeks failed to see that while the beautiful is 
 truly useful it is not the only utility. And so the Greek 
 nation perished, because they scorned what Irving has called 
 " the coarser plants of daily necessity." The builders of the 
 cities, the men who planned the walks and constructed the 
 bridges, the inventors, the artificers, were the great unknown 
 of history. The place of the artisan in the society of the old 
 world would be difficult to define, because, forsooth, the 
 artisan was not included in the social regime of the ancient 
 time. He composed part of the great substantial foundation 
 structure on which society rested, but he could hardly be said 
 to have a social existence, as we now use the term. 
 
 The arts were classified by the ancients under two heads, 
 as is done in modern time, but their very nomenclature of 
 these two classes respectively reveals the different attitude 
 occupied toward them from that of the present. The early 
 classification was into the liberal and the servile arts. In 
 the first class, the liberal arts, which, as the name liberal, 
 from Latin liber, free, implies, were those practiced by free 
 men, were included painting, music, sculpture, poetry, and 
 oratory. They were the same professions as those which, at 
 16 
 
242 MECHANISM IN ART. 
 
 the present day, are denominated the fine or liberal arts. 
 The second class, the servile arts, were those which were 
 deemed fit occupations only for slaves. This class embraced 
 all of what are now called mechanical pursuits and also the 
 useful arts. This latter term is equally a misnomer, in that 
 it ignores the true usefulness of all in poetry, music, or 
 painting that ministers to man's mental or spiritual being, 
 and lifts him above mere animal existence. 
 
 All of these mechanical arts were, by the Greeks, relegated 
 to the hands of slaves. It would have been thought a degrada- 
 tion for a freeman to perform such tasks. Agriculture alone 
 was held a worthy calling for a free Greek citizen. There 
 may be, perhaps, a lingering trace of this idea in the physio- 
 cratic views of a later day that agriculture alone was productive 
 labor. The Greeks, indeed, held trade in little favor. It was 
 a part of their policy of exclusiveness to eschew commercial 
 relations with other nations. And it is to commerce and a 
 large interchange of commodities that the industrial arts 
 must owe their greatest prosperity. Among nations famous 
 for their commercial activity we find even at that early day 
 a quite different attitude toward the mechanical arts. We 
 find them held in high regard by the natives of Tyre and 
 Sidon and by the Phoenicians. This is not difficult to under- 
 stand, since the works of the artificers were in these great 
 trading countries the foundation of the national wealth. 
 
 Turning to ancient Rome, we find much the same state of 
 things as in Greece. The fine or liberal arts alone were 
 deemed a worthy employment for a Roman citizen. The 
 mechanical arts were left to be practiced entirely by the slave 
 population, and the artisans in Rome were a degraded class, 
 the lowest stratum of the social structure. Even so great a 
 
MECHANISM IN ART. 243 
 
 mind as that of Cicero's shared the national scorn for any 
 form of manual labor. " All artisans," he said, " are en- 
 gaged in a sordid employment, nor can anything ingenious 
 come out of a workshop." Down to so late a period as 
 during the reign of the Emperor Charlemagne, we find the 
 industrial arts still left to the serfs. 
 
 Shortly after Charlemagne's time, however, we discover the 
 mechanic gradually coming to a position of higher repute in 
 the community. It began to be a not altogether unheard-of 
 thing for a free citizen to employ himself in one of the once- 
 degraded professions. About this time, too, it became 
 customary for the monks to beguile the monotony of their 
 leisure hours, formerly devoted almost exclusively to the weary 
 copying of manuscript, to the practice of some one of the 
 useful arts. The tenth century witnessed a marked change 
 in the condition and estimation of the artisan. It is related 
 that at Vicenza, in Italy, a criminal could actually escape the 
 death penalty by calling to his relief a Roman law, which 
 decreed that a prisoner might for a first offense be pardoned, 
 if he could prove himself to be exceptionally skilled in any 
 useful art. About the tenth century guilds and societies of 
 artisans began to be formed, by becoming a member of 
 which the artisan enjoyed certain privileges and advantages. 
 
 The Hebrew nation was peculiar for the esteem in which 
 the industrial arts were from earliest times held by them. 
 In one of the books of Moses we find mention of one skilled 
 in manual arts, and thus skill, far from being despised, was 
 looked upon as divine in its origin. The second King of 
 Judea, in seeking workmen to build his temple, was compelled 
 to appeal to a Phoenician prince to send him workmen, 
 since, he said, the Sidonians were known to be skilled above 
 
244 MECHANISM IN ART. 
 
 all other peoples. We find in all the writings of the Hebrews, 
 most respectful reference to the useful arts. Parents were 
 counseled to teach their children a trade, the Jews holding 
 that manual skill was no detriment to mental advancement. 
 This feature of the Jewish people was adhered to by William 
 Penn in the code of conditional laws drawn up by him for the 
 government of Pennsylvania and Delaware. The code con- 
 tained a statute to the effect that all children who had 
 reached the age of twelve years should be taught some useful 
 trade, as an encouragement to industry in the poor, and as a 
 safeguard for the wealthy, in case they should become dis- 
 possessed of their property. 
 
 The disdain with which most of the early nations regarded 
 the whole subject of mechanics, has resulted in great loss to 
 the modern world as well. It is known that there were pro- 
 duced occasional inventions of great importance in those 
 ages, of machines for moving large bodies, and for perform- 
 ing other mechanical services, but. the neglect of the learned 
 to turn their attention to such subjects, and the slight popular 
 estimate of their importance, suffered not only the names of 
 the artisans, the inventors, to perish, but even all knowledge of 
 the valuable processes to be buried with their time. The suc- 
 cessive steps in the invention of machines were never 
 recorded, but one work of importance, a treatise prepared 
 by Vitrivius on architecture, during the reign of Augustus, 
 containing any information of value on such matters. How 
 the vast blocks of stone, of which the pyramids and other 
 massive structures of antiquity were composed, were raised 
 to so great height ; what was the nature of the powerful 
 mechanical invention which could perform such gigantic feats 
 are secrets which no ancient documents disclose. 
 
MECHANISM IN ART. 245 
 
 Archimedes, it is true, developed some theories in regard 
 to mechanical laws which were far in advance of the notions 
 of his time so far, indeed, that it was centuries before his 
 doctrines gained anything like general acceptance. But the 
 difficulties encountered by the ancient philosophers in apply- 
 ing to practical purposes the theories which their brains had 
 conceived, lay in the inefficiency and lack of skill of the classes 
 to whom the practice of the mechanical arts was relegated. 
 These arts being left to the hands of a slave population, 
 suffered naturally the stagnation which characterizes all in- 
 dustries exclusively the occupation of serfs. Slave labor is 
 always found less intelligent, less capable of development, 
 than the labor of free workmen, and the art which depends 
 for its existence upon the exertions of a servile class will ever 
 be found slow of advancement. The great ideas concerning 
 the action of the physical forces of the universe, which the 
 great minds of the time worked out by long and arduous 
 processes of thought, failed of the fruits of good which they 
 should have borne to the world, because there were lacking 
 the skilled hands, the ingenious workmanship which must 
 supply the machinery needed to reduce them to practical ap- 
 plication. 
 
 It is not to be wondered at, therefore, considering the 
 esteem in which the useful arts were held, that so many 
 centuries should pass without any observable progress being 
 made in them. Men were content to go on in the same 
 beaten track that their fathers had trod, ploughing their fields 
 with the same implements, spinning their flax and wool in the 
 same primitive manner that their ancestors for hundreds of 
 years had done before them. It was scarcely worth any one's 
 while to turn his thoughts to the invention of better ways of 
 
246 MECHANISM IN ART. 
 
 doing. Labor-saving devices concerned the upper classes 
 but little, since the labor economized would be at the most 
 slave labor, and the artisan class occupied themselves too 
 degraded a position for any great creative work to be looked 
 for from them. 
 
 The Baconian philosophy did much to disentangle men's 
 minds from the confusions of abstruse metaphysical specula- 
 tions, and turn their thoughts toward those useful arts which 
 were essential to the bettering of human condition in the 
 realm of material things. Tames I of England extended 
 
 O J > 
 
 great patronage to the mechanical arts, and during the 
 reign of that sovereign considerable progress was made. It 
 opened up an era of hopefulness for the artisan, when the 
 invention of the crreat machines used in the textile and other 
 
 o 
 
 industries, made possible the accomplishment by machinery 
 of much that had formerly to be produced by slow and 
 laborious hand labor. Machinery revolutionized the indus- 
 trial, it brought temporary hardship and deprivation to many 
 artisan classes, but it brought in the long run a better con- 
 dition to the laborer. The minute division of labor, which 
 prevails in the modern industrial world, may indeed impart 
 monotony of labor to the workman condemned to the endless- 
 repetition of a single unvarying task. But, after all, monotony 
 of work is not so bad as monotony of life. The shorter 
 hours for labor which the introduction of machinery brought 
 about have given the laborer greater leisure and opportunity 
 for improving his condition than he before had. So well have 
 such opportunities been improved that the great inventions 
 of later years have been mainly the outcome of the genius of 
 the artisan class. 
 
 It has remained for these later days to place the mechanic 
 
MECHANISM IN ART. 247 
 
 arts in their proper rank, as of equal dignity and value with 
 the fine arts, and with this higher estimate of the useful arts, 
 has come a truer appreciation of the individuals whose lives 
 are given to the practice of the mechanical professions. The 
 great and famous men, who have by their inherent talents 
 risen from the ranks of mechanics to positions of prominence 
 and honor, would of itself cast eternal discredit on the ancient 
 theory that such labor had in it that which must necessarily 
 degrade the mind. The modern world, instead, crowns with 
 honor the successful inventor. Wealth, to-day, showers with 
 bounteous hand her treasures upon the man who has accom- 
 plished some mechanical triumph. 
 
 And after all, do we not mistake in denominating as purely 
 mechanical the work of the shop, the task of the machinist ? 
 It has been said of the fine arts that they are those in which 
 the mind has more to do in production than has the hand, 
 while the mechanical arts are more the product of the hand 
 than of the brain. But what industrial art is wholly me- 
 chanical ? It has been well said that the man who first 
 invented even the rudest tool was an artist. He must have 
 had imagination, design, the power to reason and deduce 
 conclusions. There was in the production of that simple 
 implement far greater exercise of mind than of muscle. And 
 the same is true in practice as in invention. We watch a 
 man tending a highly complex machine. His action looks to 
 the careless observer a simply mechanical task. There seems 
 in the one thing which he is required to do over and over 
 again, no call for mental exertion, no demand upon the 
 higher faculties. And yet to fit that man to do that work, to 
 properly train his mind up to the point of rightly tending 
 that intricate piece of mechanism, has required centuries of 
 
248 MECHANISM IX 
 
 education and development. The ignorant savage could no 
 more perform such a feat than he could write a poem or 
 paint a picture. The power of mental application, the self- 
 control, the adaptation in his thought of the means to the 
 end would be found wholly lacking in him. He would 
 possess the muscular strength requisite for its performance 
 in a greater degree perhaps than the civilized artisan, but the 
 intellectual training, that cleverness and dexterity which are 
 the slow growth of generations of civilizing agencies, would 
 place a wide distance between the skilled workman and the 
 savage. And going thus through the entire list of the 
 mechanical professions, we might well find it difficult to dis- 
 cover one to which this test applied would not reveal that it 
 was more or less the product of the mental faculties. 
 
 With the study of the physical forces of the universe, and 
 their application to the many different devices which minister 
 to human needs and pleasures, has come a great enlarge- 
 ment of man's mental horizon. " Material progress," says 
 E. C. Stedman, "determines the intellectual and spiritual 
 progress of the human race." And not a science of to-day 
 but what owes an overwhelming debt of gratitude to the 
 inventions and skilled workmanship of the artisan classes. 
 The wonders of the heavens are more clearly and marvel- 
 ously revealed to man because of the exquisitely ground 
 lenses of the telescope, and the ingenious machinery in which 
 they are fixed. The human intellect is quickened and ex- 
 panded with the rapid interchange of thought made possible 
 by the printing press, the telegraph, and the steam engine. 
 
 The world is coming to know that men cannot separate 
 one art or class of arts from the others, and pursue them to 
 the neglect and exclusion of all else, but that there is a close 
 
MECHANISM IN ART. 249 
 
 interdependence of all arts and industries, as well as of all 
 classes of society, the one upon the other. That nation which 
 scorns the useful, the practical, and cultivates the beautiful 
 alone, declines and falls because it had a one-sided, an un- 
 natural development. It is only by a true recognition of the 
 harmonious connection existing between all the arts, by a wise 
 utilization of all the forces in the world, that the unity, the 
 completeness, the fullness of national life is attained. 
 
BICYCLES AND CYCLING. 
 
 HE early stages of the development of the bicycle 
 seem to be involved in obscurity. The idea of self- 
 
 1 propulsion by means of wheels must, undoubtedly, 
 have arisen from the habit to which Young America 
 is still addicted, that of sitting in a hand-cart and shoving 
 along, by using the feet, in places where the slope will not 
 allow the cart to go without assistance. At first, experiments 
 were made with four, three, and two wheels. It is said that 
 one wheel was also tried, but abandoned as not practical for 
 general use. But, even to-day, some excellent trick-riding is 
 done on an ordinary carriage wheel without gearing or appli- 
 ances of any sort. 
 
 The first of which we find an account, but no description, 
 is said to have been invented by one Richard Lovell Edge- 
 worth, about 1767. 
 
 Soon after the great continental war, in 1815, the first 
 bicycle was introduced into England from France. It is de- 
 scribed as being a primitive, awkward affair, having a couple 
 of heavy wooden wheels of equal diameter, of the size of car- 
 riage wheels, and joined by a longitudinal wooden bar, on 
 which the rider's seat was fixed. The wheels were placed 
 one behind the other. This machine was propelled by push- 
 ing the feet against the ground. For about fifty years all the 
 250 
 
BICYCLES AND CYCLING. 251 
 
 appliances used for self-propulsion were found to be too 
 crude and unwieldy for general adoption, and the machines 
 were only used spasmodically and for short times. In addi- 
 tion to the description given, these early machines had an 
 arm-rest placed at the front part of them. In propelling this 
 crude affair, the rider placed himself in the saddle or seat, 
 astride the wooden beam, and with his arms on the rest 
 pushed the "dandy-horse," as it was called, by kicking the 
 ground on either side of him alternately with his feet. We 
 are told that skillful riders, by so doing, were enabled to 
 attain. sufficient impetus to cause the machine to run for some 
 distance unaided ; but when the momentum was exhausted 
 they would be obliged to begin pushing again. 
 
 In 1816 a "celerifere," or velocipede, was exhibited in the 
 garden of Tivoli, Paris. This is the same machine which is 
 supposed to have been introduced the following year into 
 England by Baron von Drais, who was a resident of Mann- 
 heim on the Rhine. Velocipedes of three or more wheels 
 had been in use in England long prior to this time, but this 
 was the first vehicle which was known there as a bicycle. 
 This had wheels of thirty inches in diameter. It was called, 
 after the Baron, the Drais cycle. Following its introduction 
 into England, Denis Johnson, in 1819, invented some im- 
 provements and called it "pedestrian curricle." This had an 
 adjustable saddle, cushioned arm-rest, and handles, which were 
 curved and arranged differently from those in previous use. 
 It was called both "dandy-horse" and " hobby-horse." It was 
 introduced into New York in 1819 and created a great furore. 
 It was forty years afterward that an ingenious Frenchman 
 devised the pedal attachment. On account of the undignified 
 attitude the rider was compelled to assume in propelling these 
 
252 BICYCLES AND CYCLING. 
 
 early machines, they were the subjects of much ridicule and 
 fell into disrepute. It is said that the satire of Cruikshank 
 effectually killed the hobby-horse of 1818. 
 
 The making 1 of the first practical bicycle, about 1846, is 
 credited to Gavin Dalzell, a Scotch cooper, who lived at 
 Lesmahagow, in Lanarkshire. It was called the " wooden- 
 horse," on account of the material of which it was constructed. 
 " The saddle was low, and the pedal movements, or ' stirrups/ 
 which moved backward and forward alternately, were con- 
 nected by iron rods with the cranked axle of the driving- 
 wheel." 
 
 After a thorough trial of these new appliances, in 1867 
 cycling was revived. Prior to this date, however, M. Michaux, 
 of Paris, had evolved from his fertile brain the idea of pedal 
 attachments instead of stirrups to revolve the front or driv- 
 ing-wheel. The adoption of pedals involved the addition of 
 the balancing-handle, by which the base of the machine could 
 be changed as desired by turning the front wheel, even to a 
 right angle, if necessary to balance the machine. This was 
 called the bicycle, though generally known as the " bone- 
 shaker," which is considered the more appropriate term, as it 
 was made of wood, shod with iron tires, and without springs. 
 The craze for cycling was at this time a serious one, affecting 
 rich and poor alike, but the cost of the vehicles largely de- 
 barred the poorer classes from the pleasure. On account of 
 the high price and difficulty of riding these machines, they 
 fell into disuse, and cycling threatened to become a lost art. 
 Another addition about this time or a little later, in 1869, 
 is credited also to M. Michaux, who conceived the idea of 
 making the front or driving-wheel much larger than the hind 
 one. Soon after this date, M. Magee, also of Paris, largely 
 
BICYCLES AND CYCLING. 253, 
 
 improved the machines by constructing them entirely of steel 
 and iron. These have since been greatly improved by the 
 addition of many modern devices and appliances ; as, the 
 application of crank action to the revolving axles, strong 
 beaks to prevent excessive jostling, improvements in saddles 
 and steering apparatus, and, greatest of all, the adoption of 
 rubber for tires, which has proved the salvation of cycling. 
 The identity of the English inventor of the rubber tire is not 
 clearly established. These additions, together with suspen- 
 sion-wheels and steel framing, which have since been adopted, 
 make the modern bicycle, and have rendered cycling a "joy; 
 beyond compare" to those who are so favored as to possess- 
 wheels. India rubber and steel have signal advantage over 
 iron and wood in both strength and lightness, and the latest 
 evolution of the bicycle, the " safety/' combines all the expe- 
 dients which have proven of practical value. 
 
 The use of the large wheeled bicycle debarred women and 
 girls from riding the wheel. To obviate this difficulty, and to 
 meet a great demand, the safety was manufactured. It was- 
 also thought to be a great assistance in learning to ride the 
 large wheel. It has proven to be of such practical value irn 
 every direction that it has been generally adopted by both 
 men and women. It being so much easier to mount, and 
 danger from falls or headers being reduced to a minimum by 
 its use, it has largely superseded the large cycle, or "ordi- 
 nary." 
 
 The utility of the bicycle has been proven beyond all ques- 
 tion of doubt. It has been demonstrated, times without, 
 number, that a person of average abilities can journey over 
 from three to six times the space he could if walking, and/ 
 with much less weariness. Three hundred miles have been 
 
254 BICYCLES AND CYCLING. 
 
 traversed in a single day, and the " iron steed " was as fresh 
 as at first for three hundred more the next day. No rub- 
 bings, nor food, nor stiffened joints to be nursed back to their 
 normal condition. It has been used in all departments of life, 
 and been found of great service in them all. With it ministers 
 visit their parishioners, doctors their patients, and business 
 men find it a very satisfactory steed to ride to their offices 
 and stores. It will not scare, shy, or balk ; will stand quietly 
 as long as desired ; does not require to be harnessed and 
 .unharnessed, or bedded for the night, but altogether adapts 
 itself to the requirements or wishes of its owner and rider. 
 So generally is this state of affairs appreciated that many 
 hundreds of thousands are in use. 
 
 The literature of cycling is abundant and varied, ranging 
 from weeklies to annuals, to say nothing of the road-books 
 and hand-books, without number. The first bicycling paper 
 of which we have any knowledge was mainly a business 
 paper or trade journal, by Cunningham, Heath & Co., of 
 Boston, called the American Bicycling Journal. It should 
 scarcely be called a bicycling paper, so much of its space 
 being devoted to business. The first number of this paper 
 was issued in December, 1877. The first real one, the Bi- 
 cycling World, was founded in October, 1879. The first book 
 was the American Bicycler, by Hough ton, Mifflin & Co., pub- 
 lished May, 1879. It has been well said that " 1877 was day- 
 break, 1878 was morning twilight, and 1879 was sunrise for 
 the revival of bicycling." 
 
 Prior to the final adoption of the bicycle as the popular 
 means of self-locomotion, there had been numerous attempts 
 to introduce a variety of tricycles and velocipedes, but all 
 were discarded as altogether too cumbrous to meet the require- 
 
BICYCLES AND CYCLING. 255 
 
 ments. The same was true of all steam and electric con- 
 trivances and carriages. To this day nothing has been 
 invented that will in any way compete with the safety bicycle 
 for both sexes. There is no doubt that the cycle would have 
 advanced much more rapidly than it has toward perfection had 
 the skilled engineers and mechanics devoted their attention to 
 the subject. But for many years it was only considered by 
 them as the figment of an idle brain, and not likely to be 
 anything but a toy. Hence their apathy. As soon as they 
 turned their attention to it improvement went forward in 
 mighty strides. 
 
 It has been found that persons with inbred love of athletics 
 make the best riders of bicycles. Its use, however, should 
 not be confined to these persons, for the therapeutics of the 
 wheel are of inestimable value. It is a matter of doubt if 
 there can be found a well-informed, intelligent physician who 
 will say that the judicious use of the bicycle is injurious. 
 The testimony to the contrary is overwhelming. Noted phy- 
 sicians everywhere are giving the weight of their influence in 
 favor of cycling, and have also adopted the wheel in their 
 own practice. 
 
 It is proven, beyond dispute, that for the head, heart, chest, 
 back, and lungs the upper and nobler parts of man it is 
 of incalculable benefit. All parts of the system are brought 
 into play at the work of guiding, controlling, and balancing 
 the machine. The arms, shoulders, and back feel the exer- 
 cise more than the legs. In this exercise the circulation be- 
 comes active, the sluggish liver stirred up, the kidneys toned 
 and strengthened, and the digestive functions improved and 
 increased. The benefit to those of sedentary habits and oc- 
 cupations cannot be estimated. It will give them strength, 
 
256 BICYCLES AND CYCLING. 
 
 tone, and vigor throughout their entire system. One of its 
 .strongest points for them is that it requires them to be out in 
 the sun and light and air. 
 
 It is nearly a century and a quarter since Blanchard and 
 Magurer constructed their bulky contrivance to be propelled 
 by the rider. It was described in Le Journal de Paris, July 
 syth, 1779. The bicycle proper is less than fifty years old, but 
 velocipedes antedate that by a hundred years. The first oc- 
 currence of the name is found in the English Patent Records, 
 in the provisional specifications of J. I. Starren, filed April 
 8th, 1869. 
 
 Pierre Lallement was the French mechanic who took off 
 one of the rear wheels of a velocipede, set the other up to 
 the middle of the axle, applied the foot cranks to the front 
 axle, and thus made the first " bone-shaker." This was ex- 
 hibited by his employer, M. Michaux, at the Paris exhibition 
 of 1865. It was not patented, and Pierre Lallement came the 
 following year to the United States, where, while looking for 
 employment, he constructed a similar machine with two 
 -wheels, which he had brought over with him. He rode it in 
 the streets of New Haven, Conn., causing much excitement. 
 A Yankee, by the name of Carroll, induced him to take out a 
 patent for the device in connection with himself, Carroll fur- 
 nishing the requisite funds. This patent was secured No- 
 vember 2Oth, 1866. He called it a velocipede. It is described 
 .as being made of wooden wheels of nearly equal size, with 
 iron tires, one before the other, and surmounted by a wooden 
 perch. It was kept upright by means of the handles which 
 turned the wheel in the direction in which it was inclined to 
 /all. 
 
 The bicycle, which was first rightly entitled to the name was 
 
BICYCLES AND CYCLING. 257 
 
 that one introduced into England in 1869. Until the last five 
 years the United States has not sustained the reputation of 
 the American character for inventiveness, mechanical excel- 
 lence, or progress and enterprise in this matter. In 1878 the 
 Pope Manufacturing Company, of Boston, opened warerooms 
 for the sale of imported bicycles. The outlook being prom- 
 ising, they began to manufacture them, and the Columbia 
 was the first good American bicycle. It has proved an ex- 
 cellent and practical roadster. But it has only been since 
 the adoption of the safety for general use that universal in- 
 terest has been evoked. 
 
 There are clubs, associations, and leagues without number, 
 but the most prominent of them all are the Cyclists' Touring 
 Club, of England, which is also the oldest, and the League 
 of American Wheelmen, of the United States. These are 
 large bodies and wield an extensive influence. 
 
 B. W. Richardson, M. D., proves from his own experience 
 that the bicycle has conferred on men and women " a new 
 faculty of locomotion." He argues that beside developing 
 physical strength, skill, courage, and endurance, it calls forth 
 other powers ; as the observation and scientific research in 
 various lines. It generally, symmetrically, and thoroughly 
 develops all the muscles and functions of the body. A man 
 suffering from inguinal hernia has ridden sixty miles while he 
 cannot walk five, and has also joined in long and hard runs 
 and otherwise generally "kept up with the procession." 
 This exercise is largely conducive to the formation and 
 establishment of "a sound mind in a sound body." For 
 nervous diseases of all kinds it is fraught with much benefit. 
 If all of the weight rested on the pedals and was used in 
 propelling the rider there would be no more energy expended 
 
258 BICYCLES AND CYCLING. 
 
 than in walking, but the truth is that two-thirds of the 
 weight rests passively on the saddle while the remaining one- 
 third is all that is needed to work. On good roads ten miles 
 can be traversed sooner and easier than three can be walked. 
 The moral tendency of the wheel is excellent, as no drunken 
 person can maintain his equilibrium. It exhilarates the mind 
 and is an enticing, fascinating exercise. 
 
 American bicycling dates from 1865, but had no actual 
 foundation till 1878. A Frenchman rode one on the stage, 
 performing astonishing feats of skill. The Hanlon Brothers 
 saw it, obtained, improved, and helped to perfect bicycles. 
 In 1877 about a dozen gentlemen rode wheels. 
 
 " Applied cycling " commands attention and careful trial 
 by the people, as well as the approval of the right minded. 
 The bicycle is a piece of machinery which is a great factor in 
 recreation, for health giving, without which we are nothing, 
 and for utility, which we almost worship. Some one has 
 truly said, "Its use is inseparably connected with the acquisi- 
 tion of knowledge, beginning with* mechanics and extending 
 through physiology, climatology, topography, geography, 
 natural history, and every other region of popular science." 
 
 England is working out the problem of military cycling, 
 and her results are eminently successful. It is said to be 
 claimed by those who have made the question a special 
 study, who are military experts well acquainted with cyclists 
 and their capabilities, that they can be made, at least, a very 
 valuable supplementary screening aid, and in performing 
 some duties have exceptional advantages. Their trained use 
 of maps and intimate local geographical knowledge ; rapidity 
 of movement; powers of endurance, attack, and defense; to 
 maintain a continuous front and of concentration ; independ- 
 
BICYCLES AND CYCLING. 259 
 
 ence of supply of ammunition ; indestructibility of means of 
 locomotion ; the capacity to be moved to certain points in 
 sufficient numbers, and to take advantage of open railway 
 communication, as wheels can be loaded on to cars in which 
 horses could not possibly be transported. General Wolsely 
 says : " The day will come, and is coming, when large bodies 
 of cyclists will be recognized and become integral parts of 
 every army in the field." 
 
 There is no doubt that its use will not be restricted to 
 recreation and the military, but messenger boys, telegraph 
 boys, mail carriers, and those in various avocations will adopt 
 them as the speediest means of locomotion for short dis- 
 tances. 
 
 The objections to the use of bicycles are so slight and the 
 advantages so great that its use at the present time has be- 
 come well-nigh universal, and the owner of a wheel looks 
 upon it as " a thing of beauty and a joy forever/' 
 
ALUMINUM. 
 
 HE earliest whisper regarding aluminum dates back to 
 1807. But it is almost an unrecorded whisper, as 
 
 1 even the name of the discoverer has not descended 
 
 with it to the present time. For many years after 
 
 this date the metal was only known as a laboratory curiosity, 
 
 and not until about 1860 did it take its place among the 
 
 regularly manufactured products of the world. 
 
 Aluminum is so common in nature that it is almost uni- 
 versal, and is literally trodden under foot. It is the metallic 
 base of alumina, which is the characterizing constituent of the 
 common clays. It also abounds in feldspar, slate, and many 
 other rocks .and minerals. Cryolite, a mineral first found in 
 Ivigtuk, in Arksylfiord, on the west coast of Greenland, was 
 the ore originally used for the manufacture of aluminum, but 
 later beauxite, a mineral found at Beaux, in the south of 
 France, was found to be rich in the metal, and was adopted 
 as a more convenient source of supply. 
 
 The first authentic discovery of aluminum was by one 
 Wohler in 1827. He seems to have dropped the investiga- 
 tion for awhile, but in 1846 he again began his research, the 
 result of which was the obtaining of minute globules or beads 
 of the metal. This was done by heating a mixture of chloride 
 of alumina and sodium. 
 260 
 
ALUMINUM. 26l 
 
 In 1885, Deville, the French chemist, showed, as the result 
 of several experiments, that aluminum could be prepared ex- 
 tensively, in compact shape, without great difficulty. He 
 spoke of it as " the intermediate metal between the noble and 
 the base metals." This was indeed true regarding the price, 
 as well as in regard to the properties of it. 
 
 These early researches of Deville were begun in the 
 laboratory of the Normal School of Paris, but afterward con- 
 tinued under the patronage of Emperor Napoleon III at the 
 chemical works of Javel. 
 
 The use of beauxite for procuring aluminum is these early 
 experiments was in this wise : The beauxite was heated 
 with soda ash, producing the aluminate of soda, which was 
 separated from the insoluble part by lixiviation, or leaching. 
 Carbonic acid being then passed through the solution, pure 
 alumina was precipitated. Balls were then formed by com- 
 bining common salt and charcoal. These were put in an 
 earthen-ware retort and heated while chlorine gas was passed 
 through it. By this means there was a union of the char- 
 coal and oxygen, and also of the chlorine and aluminum. 
 This latter combination, being sublimed with common salt, 
 was collected as a double chloride of aluminum and sodium. 
 This combination being heated in a reverberatory furnace 
 with metallic sodium and fluxes, the sodium absorbed the 
 chlorine, thus setting the aluminum free, and it was thrown to 
 the bottom where it could be collected and molded for use. 
 
 The manufacture of aluminum was not commenced in 
 England until 1860, when Mr. I. L. Bell began it at Wash- 
 ington, near Newcastle-ori-Tyne. The usefulness of the 
 metal not being understood at this date, there was but slight 
 demand for it, and it being an expensive process the works 
 
262 ALUMINUM. 
 
 there were shut down and France has stood unrivalled in its 
 production until recently, when the Aluminum Crown Works 
 were started at Hollywood, near Birmingham, England. 
 
 In America extensive works were started in Detroit, Mich., 
 known as the American Aluminum Company's works. 
 
 The color of aluminum is white, resembling silver, having, 
 however, a bluish hue, not unlike zinc. This color can be 
 bleached in several ways : by the use of hydrofluoric and 
 phosphoric acids, and by a heated solution of potash. While 
 the color is sensibly that of silver, it looks whiter on account 
 of the alloy in silver. The pure aluminum is perceptibly 
 whiter than the commercial, for the latter is never pure, no 
 matter how prepared. The chemically pure aluminum has 
 no taste, but tastes like iron when it is strongly charged with 
 silicon. It has no odor in its pure state, but also smells like 
 iron when it is impure. 
 
 It is very light in weight, being four times lighter than 
 silver and two and a half times heavier than water. 
 
 In elasticity it compares with silver and its tenacity is 
 nearly equal to the same metal. It is one-third as strong as 
 steel. 
 
 It is highly sonorous. A bar of the pure metal being sus- 
 pended by a fine wire and struck emits a delightful sound, 
 like a crystal bell. The greater the purity, the more sonor- 
 ous. Hence, its availability for tuning forks. Attempts have 
 been made to cast bells from it, but the result has not been 
 entirely satisfactory, as the clappers seem to interfere with 
 the free transmission of the sound, and they sound too much 
 like a cracked pot. This sound emitted by the struck bar or 
 ingot is found upon analysis to consist of two tones, A sharp 
 and D sharp, which follow each other in rapid succession.. 
 
ALUMINUM. 263. 
 
 These tones are nearly synchronous, but the latter is more 
 subdued. 
 
 Aluminum is a fixed metal, losing none of its weight by 
 being violently heated in a forge fire in a carbon crucible, 
 nor does it show the slightest tendency to volatilize at any 
 temperature. 
 
 It is considered to be one of the best conductors of elec- 
 tricity, and the use of aluminum wire is strongly advocated 
 for telegraphic purposes. It is thought to equal silver in 
 this respect. Some scientists saythat it conducts both heat 
 and electricity even better than silver or copper. 
 
 Aluminum forms crystals when cooled slowly. These crys- 
 tals are in the form of needles, crossing each other in every 
 direction. Other forms have been reported, from time to 
 time, but, upon investigation, they have proved to be incom- 
 plete, or only fragments of these longer crystals. 
 
 This metal is very ductile, as well as very malleable. The 
 finest wire for art embroidery, and the thinnest leaves for 
 gilding and decorating are made from it. In this, it equals 
 gold and silver. In toughness it approaches iron, and is sus- 
 ceptible of a brilliant polish. It melts at one thousand two 
 hundred and ninety-two degrees Fahrenheit, or seven hun- 
 dred degrees Centigrade, and is thus cast into ingots for 
 market. 
 
 By exposure to the air, whether dry or damp, it will neither 
 oxidize or tarnish. The gases which so readily darken sil- 
 ver have no effect on this metal. Sulphurous vapors cannot 
 tarnish it. Water and steam at a white heat affect it very 
 feebly, acting only in spots. 
 
 The true solvent of this metal is hydrochloride acid, weak 
 or concentrated, but when the metal is pure it acts slowly, 
 
264 ALUMINUM. 
 
 While aluminum does not withstand chemical agents in 
 general as strongly as the noble metals, it does withstand air, 
 sulphuric acid, nitric acid, and sulphuretted hydrogen, which 
 iron, copper, and silver do not. For this reason, it makes an 
 excellent substitute for these metals in many of their uses. 
 
 It is too soft in its pure state to endure much wear, or to 
 keep a high polish, and too weak to support much strain ; 
 hence, the alloys of it which are made by combining it with 
 other metals. 
 
 The ingots haveadensityof twoand fifty-six one-hundredths, 
 but when hammered and worked this density is increased to 
 two and sixty-seven one-hundredths. It is, consequently, lighter 
 than glass. On account of this lightness, it is used for 
 various kinds of instruments: mechanical, optical, surgical, 
 etc., etc. 
 
 In combination with other materials many useful compounds 
 are formed. With copper, there are several alloys which are 
 white, very hard and light, besides a yellow alloy, which is 
 very similar to gold in color, though, of course, much lighter 
 in weight. , It is called aluminum bronze, consists of from 
 five per cent, to ten per cent, of aluminum, and is very 
 strong. This alloy was discovered by Dr. Percy, of London. 
 For some time it was manufactured into watch chains, pencil- 
 cases, and other small articles of ornament. More recently 
 it is being made into table-plate, and is also used in carriage 
 mountings. Its tensile strength can be made equal to steel, 
 so it has been found available for field-guns. Its durability 
 and anti-friction qualities cause it to possess great advantages 
 for bearings of shafts. 
 
 An alloy with tin has been compounded and used for op- 
 tical instruments. 
 
ALUMINUM. 265 
 
 "Tiers Argent" is the name of an alloy from which spoons 
 and forks and small table-ware are made. This is a mixture 
 of aluminum and silver. An alloy of five per cent, of silver 
 is used for watch springs. 
 
 Although the history of aluminum is a short one, being 
 only contemporaneous with the present generation, its 
 general utility creates for it a most prominent place in the 
 arts and sciences. It is being proven to be one of the most, 
 if not the most, serviceable of the metals This is, of course, 
 on account of its great tenacity,. lightness, ductility, and mal- 
 leability, as well as its non-corrosive qualities. 
 
 It is said : " From all the experiments which have been re- 
 ported, and all the observations which have been made, we 
 can conclude that aluminum has complete analogies with no 
 one of the simple bodies which we consider metals." 
 
 What first engrossed the minds of the chemists experi- 
 menting for aluminum was how to extract it. They troubled 
 themselves very little about the ultimate expense of the 
 operation. A much cheaper process than any then in use 
 was invented by H. Y. Castner, of New York, in 1886, which 
 he patented in June of that year, and the subsequent year 
 made his invention known. This was the first patent taken 
 out on this process since 1808. 
 
 About 1 760 Morveau called the substance obtained by cal- 
 cining alum, alumina. Lavoisier was the first to suggest that 
 the earths and alkalies had metallic bases. From this, 
 alumina was suspected of being the oxide of a metal, and the 
 metal was called aluminum. This was long before the 
 separation of it was effected. 
 
 As has been intimated, 1807 is the first that we hear of 
 any research into the preparation of aluminum. This at- 
 
266 ALUMINUM. 
 
 tempt was crowned with so little success that it seemed to 
 merit but the slightest mention. Oerstedt, in 1824, believed 
 that he had succeeded in extracting the metal, and published 
 his method. But his successors in the work, using his direc- 
 tions, were unable to produce it. It was concluded that he 
 had omitted a part of the operation. 
 
 In 1855, in the Palais de 1'Industrie, was seen, for the first 
 time, a large bar of this wonderful metal ticketed as " Silver 
 from Clay." 
 
 In 1859, the first aluminum works were started in England, 
 at Battersea, near London. There are no details given as to 
 the size of the establishments or length of time they were in 
 operation. It is believed, however, that they were ultimately 
 merged into those of the Bell Brothers, at Newcastle-on- 
 Tyne. 
 
 Since 1860 numerous patents have been issued and many 
 inventions devised to facilitate its manufacture, and also look- 
 ing to the reduction of its price. How effectively this has 
 been accomplished will be shown by contrasting the price per 
 pound in 1856, which was $90.90, with that in 1889, or $ 2 oo. 
 
 The separation of aluminum by electrolysis was discov- 
 ered accidentally and simultaneously by Deville, in France, 
 and Bunsen, in Germany, in 1854. The battery method now 
 usually employed is to run an electric current from a ten-cell 
 battery through the double chloride. Carbon poles are used. 
 Large globules of the metal collect at the negative pole, 
 which, after being collected, are melted together into a com- 
 pact mass under a layer of fused salt. The battery is also 
 used in plating, for which aluminum is very superior. In 
 combination with nickel, it makes a beautiful white plate 
 which is far more durable than silver. It is itself capable of 
 
ALUMINUM. 267 
 
 being gilded and silvered in six different colors. Thus it 
 can be readily seen how it practically excels either gold or 
 silver. 
 
 During the last thirty-five years aluminum has been used 
 in making medals, ornaments, furniture trimmings, culinary 
 utensils, and many other small articles. The first article 
 ever made from it was a baby's rattle for the Prince Imperial 
 in 1856. At first there was much difficulty experienced in 
 using the metal in its application to the mechanical , arts, 
 owing to the lack of a suitable solder, which would not be 
 attacked by the acids with which the aluminum was cleaned. 
 This is now obviated by the discovery of a solder composed 
 of six per cent, of aluminum, four per cent, of copper, and 
 ninety per cent, of zinc. Consequently, the use of the metal 
 has become almost illimitable. 
 
 Aluminum is susceptible of a high polish, which is given it 
 by dipping the polishing stone into an emulsion of equal 
 weights of olive oil and rum and polishing the same as silver, 
 though not with so heavy a pressure. The soiled surfaces 
 are cleaned by dipping the article into benzine and drying in 
 fine sawdust. 
 
 It can be stamped and pressed into any shape. The 
 United States government, in 1865, experimented in making 
 coins of this metal, but the results were not encouraging 
 enough to ensure their adoption as currency. 
 
 Of the early work in manufacturing aluminum, it is said 
 that prior to Wohler, Davy had tried both the electrical and 
 the vapor of potassium methods for separating the metal, but 
 was not successful in his attempts. He could only secure a 
 very impure article. 
 
 Aluminum leaf was first made by C. Falk & Co., of Vienna. 
 
268 ALUMINUM. 
 
 It is said that a very thin leaf will burn like paper when 
 made into a roll. It burns with a brilliant white flame. 
 
 Aluminum resists the action of the graver's tool, as it slides 
 over the surface as it would over glass. In order to engrave 
 it, it has to be prepared with a varnish of four parts turpen- 
 tine and one part stearic acid ; or one of olive oil and rum, 
 when it may be cut as easily as pure copper. 
 
 It is slow to melt because its specific heat is considerable 
 and its latent heat seems to be very great. 
 
 There is no other metal so abundant or so widely scattered, 
 but it is impossible to obtain it in a free state, as it is always 
 in combination, nor can it be gotten by the ordinary methods of 
 smelting, etc., as with other metals. Although so universal, 
 it is a most curious fact that it is never found in the animal 
 tissues, nor in plants, seeming to show that it is not necessary 
 to their growth or development. Possibly it may be injurious 
 to them. While aluminum is found everywhere in clay, until 
 the adoption of recent methods the silica in the clay has 
 rendered its extraction well-nigh impossible, at least at a 
 figure that would create a market for it. Thus, for many 
 years the manufacture of aluminum was greatly restricted. 
 With the improved facilities of the present, the day is 
 probably near its dawn which will see aluminum substituted 
 for a majority of purposes in which other metals are now 
 used. Housekeepers will demand their culinary utensils 
 made of this metal because of its weight and its failure to 
 oxidize and corrode. Ornamentation will demand its use on 
 account of its great beauty and service. Its great adaptation 
 to the mechanical arts has already been shown. Surgeons 
 have found the use of suture wire of aluminum superior to 
 any other. Dentists use it for plates for artificial teeth, as it 
 
ALUMINUM. 269 
 
 is light and no electric current is caused by taking other 
 metals into the mouth. It will be likely to replace gold and 
 silver because of its weight and cost, as well as its resistance 
 of the action of gases and chemical agents. It will replace 
 the common metals on account of its beauty and weight. It 
 has been thought that aerial navigation would be recon- 
 structed by its adoption. This is a little doubtful, as magne- 
 sium is nearly as strong and only seven-tenths as heavy. 
 While it will not resist the elements as well, it may be easily 
 protected so that it will. 
 
 Aluminum is not likely to be imitated or counterfeited, 
 but some of its products undoubtedly will be. This will be 
 especially true in the case of the gems of which it is the chief 
 constituent. It occurs prominently in rubies, sapphires, 
 garnets, topazes, to say nothing of the countless stones not 
 deemed precious. Knowing the formulae of their composi- 
 tion, it would be easy to imitate these gems, and cause them 
 to become far more plentiful than the supply of Dame 
 Nature. 
 
 It is very difficult to estimate the amount of aluminum 
 manufactured since Deville first started the industry in 
 1854-56. The output of that time is placed at fifty-five 
 pounds. In 1872 one firm, H. Merle & Co., issued four 
 thousand pounds ; another firm, the Bell Bros., one thousand 
 six hundred and fifty pounds. Of course, this amount has 
 been greatly augmented in these later years. 
 
EVOLUTION OF THE CABLE CAR. 
 
 | *ROM the olden time, " before the steam engine bullied 
 
 I / the earth with thunderous stroke, and reduced space 
 
 I 1 to a mere matter of time," the problem of " rapid 
 ^ transit" has vexed the minds of the people. Many 
 
 solutions have been offered, both for individual and 
 collective propulsion, \vhich should be faster than walking. 
 From the " bestridden walking-stick," as the velocipede or 
 " hobby-horse " of Von Drais was dubbed, down to the 
 present perfection of bicycles, cable and electric roads and 
 steam moguls, many devices have been invented, only to be 
 discarded, upon trial, as inadequate for the end in view. 
 
 When the railroad first began to run in the United States, 
 the roads of the country were in a miserable condition, so the 
 people most eagerly welcomed the rail traffic, merely stipu- 
 lating that the engines should be detached in going through 
 the towns, and horses substituted as the traction power. 
 Subsequently, the engine was allowed to draw the train 
 through city and town limits, but at a much slower pace, and 
 latterly there has been the addition of a bell to be rung as a 
 signal and warning to all in dangerous proximity to trains. 
 From this changing from engine to horses the idea of the 
 street railway was evolved. The very first car built to be 
 drawn by horses was a rude log cabin, having seats along 
 
 270 
 
EVOLUTION OF THE CABLE CAR. 
 
 each side, with a table in the centre of the room. Afterward, 
 the coach or omnibus was adopted for many years. 
 
 The end aimed at in a street railway system is to concen- 
 trate the greatest power in the least possible space, not only 
 in the turning of corners, but for economy of space in straight 
 lines. It was formerly thought that only the steam engine 
 could do this, but results have proved that the cable systems 
 now in use can accomplish this purpose equally well, if not 
 better, within the limits of their use. 
 
 The credit of originating a complete cable system does not 
 belong to any single inventor. As with many other valuable 
 discoveries of our time, the cable trains of to-day are the ag- 
 gregation of numerous devices emanating from the braips of 
 many scientific men. 
 
 The first cable lines were used to convey ores and coal 
 from mines. These were simply overhead ropes, worked by 
 means of pulleys, and were used in grades where animal 
 power was not available. Their use proving their utility, 
 they began to be more generally adopted, and their service 
 extended to the carrying of passengers and freight. The 
 first ore cars, or tubs, were suspended from a stationary rope 
 by wheels or pulleys fixed along the centre of the top of the 
 vehicle, and drawn by another rope. When they came to be 
 adopted for carrying living freight or movables this running 
 gear had to be doubled to secure equilibrium. Then the 
 wheels are placed along each upper edge of the cars and two 
 stationary and two traction ropes were employed. One of 
 this kind was built at Gibraltar for the purpose of conveying 
 men and stores from the town to the fortifications at the 
 summit. 
 
 The idea of using wire cables for hauling vehicles is v^ry 
 
2/2 EVOLUTION OF THE CABLE CAR. 
 
 old, but secreting the rope beneath the surface is of recent 
 origin. This was first called " underground haulage.*' 
 Chains as well as ropes were employed in early experiments, 
 but the use of them has been abandoned, as the ropes have 
 proved far more practical. In the lines now in use the ends 
 of the rope are joined, thus making the endless cable system, 
 which possesses features of peculiar merit, as will be seen in 
 the descriptions which follow. This plan was first practically 
 adopted in connection with a street car line in the city of San 
 Francisco, in 1873, with both mechanical and financial suc- 
 cess. To the great enterprise and mechanical ingenuity of 
 this City of the Golden Gate are due the origin and success 
 of the modern cable system. 
 
 The first permit in San Francisco for a wire cable road 
 was granted to General Abner Doubleday and Captain R. L. 
 Ogden, of the army, who were the originators of the enter- 
 prise. The duties of the General calling him away from San 
 Francisco, he sold his stock and interest to Mr. A. S. Halli- 
 die, who studied, worked over, and perfected the system. It 
 was ready, for use in August, 1873. It has been found to be 
 " adapted to all kinds of metropolitan railroading where the 
 surface of the street has to be kept free from obstructions, 
 where locomotive steam engines are not permitted, or where 
 the grades of streets are so steep as to make the use of 
 horses difficult or impossible." It is said that Mr. Hallidie 
 was led to apply his patents to the street cars by seeing the 
 poor, overloaded horses straining in climbing the steep 
 grades, slipping, falling, and being dragged for some dis- 
 tance by the heavy loads attached to them. 
 
 This cable system is thus described : " An endless steel 
 wire rope, three inches in circumference, eleven thousand 
 
EVOLUTION OF THE CABLE CAR. 273 
 
 feet long, is stretched the whole distance, lying in iron tubes, 
 supported every thirty-nine feet on eleven-inch sheaves. 
 This rope is supported at every change of angle at the lower 
 crossings on sheaves four feet in diameter, passing around a 
 horizontal sheave eight feet in diameter at the lower end of 
 the line, and at the engine house around two angle sheaves, 
 each eight feet in diameter, which lead the rope on the grip 
 pulleys, also eight feet in diameter, which are driven by one 
 fourteen by twenty-eight engine. The steam is furnished by 
 one boiler, sixteen feet by fifty-four inches, using three thou- 
 sand seven hundred pounds of coal per day. They have 
 also duplicate boiler and engine which are held in reserve. 
 
 "The patent grip pulleys being furnished at their circum- 
 ference with jaws that grip and release the rope automati- 
 cally by the pressure of the rope in the jaws prevent the rope 
 from slipping, and being set in motion by the engine actuates 
 the endless rope while traveling up one tube and down the 
 other. 
 
 " In addition to the sheaves that support the rope in the 
 tubes at the upper side of each crossing where the incline 
 makes an angle upward there are sheaves in the tubes that 
 keep the rope down and from striking the upper part of the 
 tube. 
 
 " It will be understood that there is an opening in the upper 
 side of the tube. This opening runs the entire length of 
 each tube, forming a long slot five-eighths inch wide. This slot 
 is not immediately over the centre of the tube, but on one 
 side to keep sand and dirt from falling on the rope, to clear 
 the upper sheaves, and to enable the foot of the gripping 
 attachment to pass by and under the upper sheaves in the 
 tube. 
 
 18 
 
2J4 EVOLUTION OF THE CABLE CAR. 
 
 " The connection between the cars on the street and the 
 traveling rope is made by means of this gripping attach- 
 ment. The traction car or * dummy ' with the gripping 
 attachment is attached to the passenger car firmly, so that 
 there can be no danger of accident. The passenger car is 
 amply provided with brakes. In addition to the usual car- 
 brake there is another attachment operated in the same 
 manner as ordinary brakes, which forces a broad band of 
 wood down on each track immediately under the car. Strong 
 iron drags are provided, so that if any accident should occur 
 in going up the hill they will immediately catch in the street 
 and prevent the car from going backward. When it is 
 necessary to back down-hill these drags are raised up out 
 of the way by the conductor. 
 
 "The 'dummy' is also provided with powerful brakes. 
 The ' dummy ' and cars are connected with a suitable 
 coupling so that the weight of the car going down comes 
 on the ropes, and is utilized to draw up the other cars on 
 the other track. The brakes are not usually employed when 
 coming down, except when it is necessary to stop, as the car 
 runs down with the same speed as the rope, as long as the 
 gripping attachment is in connection with the rope." The 
 rope runs seventeen and a half hours per day, at a speed of 
 six miles per hour. The road has a gauge of three feet six 
 inches. An ordinary thirty-pound steel " T " rail is used, 
 set flush with the surface of the street. 
 
 The first Cable Street Car line was run on Clay Street 
 Hill Railway, but after three years of testing, when its 
 economy and practicability had been thoroughly established, 
 other lines were started in other parts of the city which have 
 met with the same practical success 
 
EVOLUTION OF THE CABLE CAR. 275 
 
 In 1876 Mr. George Sigl, the celebrated Viennese engineer, 
 had a wire cable system running to the top of the " Mount 
 Sofienalpe," one of the most delightful lookouts west of 
 Vienna. It was about six hundred and fifty yards long from 
 the end of Halter Valley to the summit. It exceeds all other 
 roads in cheapness, simplicity, and small power needed to 
 operate it. It is run by a twelve-horse power engine. 
 
 Col. W. H. Paine, in 1878, invented and patented an in- 
 genious device for attaching the cars to the cable, which has 
 been generally adopted. It is called the " rolling grip." It is 
 so constructed as to allow the cars to start slowly and to 
 gradually acquire the speed of the moving cable. He first 
 invented this improvement for the mining cars at Solomon's 
 Gap, at Wilkes-Barre, Pa. 
 
 There is no record of the adoption of the modern cable 
 system by the Chinese, but in Hong Kong a sugar refinery 
 has an aerial cable for the transfer of its products. 
 
 Cabling has progressed from the crudest forms till the 
 present, when every feature of the system is covered with a 
 multitude of patents to numerous persons. In England, over 
 forty-five years ago, a patent was granted applying to certain 
 parts of such a system, and while not exactly like those sub- 
 sequently patented in the United States, there is sufficient 
 similarity to show that the same principles are used by the 
 modern railway cable lines. 
 
 Prior to 1850 even horse-cars had not been used in the 
 United States, and it was not until they were proven to be 
 successful here were they finally adopted in England. These 
 will all be superseded, at no distant day, by more approved 
 as well as economical means of transportation. 
 
 Before 1870, and directly after the obtaining of letters- 
 
276 EVOLUTION OF THE CABLE CAR. 
 
 patent by E. S. Gardner, of Philadelphia, many skilled and 
 scientific men gave their attention to the subject of cable 
 traction. Some proposed that the cables should be raised on 
 poles, especially for use on elevated roads, others that the 
 cars themselves should be suspended, running from the top 
 instead of from the base, as they now do, and many imprac- 
 ticable schemes were advanced. However, the elevation, or 
 suspension, rather, of the cars was tried in the city of New 
 York, on Greenwich Street, but after a thorough trial this 
 method was abandoned, although it is said the principles were 
 not at fault, but were not sufficiently well understood. Some 
 believe that this plan will yet be applied to elevated roads 
 with success, as its adoption will dispense with the heavy 
 locomotives and motors now used. 
 
 Previous to 1872 Mr. Hallidie, of San Francisco, had studied 
 the various methods of "carrying ropes" in vogue amongst 
 the various mines of the country, and secured many patents 
 for their improvement. The Clay Street Railway, before 
 spoken of, was begun under his auspices in June, 1873, and 
 opened to the public in August of the same year. His friends 
 considered his scheme as purely visionary, and would not 
 assist him in his effort. But, as is the history of so many such 
 ventures, it succeeded in spite of opposition or derision, and 
 through his energy and persistence cabling has become an 
 assured success throughout the world. 
 
 In 1879 Robert Gillham, of Kansas City, turned his atten- 
 tion to the details of cable operation, but, like Mr. Hallidie, 
 met with marked opposition. He, however, was enabled to 
 secure the co-operation of Eastern capitalists who were will- 
 ing and ready to aid him, not only with their money and influ- 
 ence, but with time and work as well. In Kansas City every 
 
EVOLUTION OF THE CABLE CAR. 277 
 
 imaginable difficulty had to be met and overcome. Grades 
 as steep as any in the country, high iron viaducts, and long 
 spans as means of approach to the high bluffs, and tunnels 
 passing under houses and streets, were some of the impedi- 
 ments in the way. But, in spite of all this, it is said that this 
 system is the finest in the country. This road was completed 
 in the spring of 1885. By it was demonstrated that right 
 angles could be turned and excessive heights scaled. 
 
 & o 
 
 In using the grip of the Kansas City cable, one of its jaws 
 is directly under the cable and the other above it. The main 
 shank or plates of the grip pass from these jaws through a 
 slot three-fourths of an inch wide, located in the centre be- 
 tween the rails, at level of the street and which extends from 
 one end of the road to the other in both tracks, connecting 
 with the upper frame of the grip, where they are fastened to 
 the operating levers. By throwing the grip lever forward, the 
 upper part of the jaw closes upon the moving cable. When 
 the gripman wishes to stop the train, he reverses the lever, 
 when, by the use of a suitable brake attachment, the cars are 
 brought to a standstill. There are two tracks having the car 
 rails and the slot rails in position, which rest upon heavy cast- 
 iron yokes or supports. The slot rails form the narrow slot 
 through which the grip shank passes. The tube, or conduit, 
 below the street is made from Portland cement concrete, laid 
 around cores, which are removed when the cement has thor- 
 oughly set. At curves a series of vertical, conical-shaped 
 curve pulleys are arranged, which are in continual motion 
 while the cable is running. The cable itself is, in most cases, 
 made of steel. It is usually of one and one-half inches in 
 diameter, weighs two and one-half pounds per foot, and is 
 made from six strands, of nineteen steel wires in each strand. 
 
278 EVOLUTION OF THE CABLE CAR. 
 
 The Kansas City Cable Railway was the first duplicate 
 cable railway built. If the cable is broken, there need be no 
 cessation of travel, as is necessary with single line roads. 
 Delays cannot occur, as there is a duplication of machinery 
 throughout the entire length of the road. An interesting 
 feature of this system is a little stationary steam engine, fixed 
 to the bed-plates of the driving machinery, of power suffi- 
 cient to move slowly either set of drums and cables without 
 the aid of the additional weight of the cars gripping the 
 cable. One set being thus in motion propelling cars on the 
 street, the little engine is put in motion and the other cable 
 moves slowly into the house, where it can be inspected and 
 repaired as occasion requires. By this means the work of 
 night inspection can be entirely done away with, as the cables 
 cannot be properly inspected while propelling the cars, on 
 account of the rapid motion. This duplication of machinery 
 was an absolute necessity in Kansas City, because, in case 
 of an accident, no horses could possibly be substituted to 
 climb the grades. 
 
 While cabling \\as first used over grades too steep for the 
 advantageous use of animal-power, the economy of its work- 
 ing has been so thoroughly demonstrated that it is being 
 adopted in many of our large cities. It saves great wear 
 and tear on streets. No one is shocked by overburdened, 
 overworked, falling, and injured horses. It is estimated that 
 the saving by the adoption of this system is from thirty to 
 forty per cent. The usual rate of speed is from six to eight 
 miles an hour. By its use steep grades are as accessible as 
 level stretches. The trains are easily stopped and started. 
 There are fewer cars required, because the increased speed 
 admits of more trips being made. This system is not affected 
 
EVOLUTION OF THE CABLE CAR. 279 
 
 by the weather, as will be shown later on. Not the least 
 benefit to humanity by its use is the extirpation of the bar- 
 barous horse-car system, that " cruelty unworthy of humanity 
 and civilization.'* 
 
 In 1 88 1, Mr. C. B. Holmes, of Chicago, carefully investi- 
 gated the results of the operation of cable roads, and con- 
 cluded to apply the principle to the State Street and Wabash 
 Avenue lines, which were under his control. To him be- 
 longs the credit of proving that this kind of traction was 
 available under all kinds of weather and temperature. The 
 mercury has dropped as low as twenty-nine degrees below 
 zero, there has been two and a half feet of snow, and the 
 frost has penetrated five and one-half feet into the ground 
 without causing the loss of a single trip. The great ad- 
 vantages of this kind of traction has led to its introduction 
 on both the west and north sides of Chicago, as well as the 
 lengthy extension of the south side line. It has also been 
 used and greatly extended in several other cities of the 
 United States, in New Zealand, Australia, and other countries 
 where extensive transportation is required. 
 
 Not until 1883, after being most thoroughly tested, and 
 having stood the most crucial conditions, was it finally 
 adopted in England. At this date a line was laid up High- 
 gate Hill, London, which has been as successful as the Ameri- 
 can lines. Similar lines have since been constructed on other 
 streets of that city. 
 
 The modern road, or tramway, as it was called, was first 
 constructed and used in New York city in 1832, though not 
 really introduced and adopted until later. In 1860 the first 
 street railway was laid in England, in Birkenhead. Mr. 
 George Francis Train was the inventor and designer. 
 
28O EVOLUTION OF THE CABLE CAR. 
 
 During the next year the system obtained a temporary 
 footing in the suburbs of London, but the roads were con- 
 sidered too much trouble, and the lines were soon removed. 
 Eight years later an Act of Parliament was obtained for horse 
 cars in Liverpool. 
 
 While the discussion of the adoption of the cable system 
 in England was in progress it was thought that the erratic 
 meteorological variations of the British climate would 
 seriously interfere with its successful operation. But the 
 adoption and trial of the plan in Chicago, where the most 
 variable weather and greatest extremes of temperature were 
 to be encountered, resulted in giving the measure the desired 
 impetus to secure its adoption abroad. 
 
 In bringing the cabling systems to their present perfection 
 the problem before the scientific engineers has been : " To 
 devise and establish a mechanical system of locomotion that 
 will afford the traveling public the same, if not better, com- 
 fort and accommodation than heretofore, and an equal degree 
 of safety in transit at the same rate of fares. At the same 
 time any such proposed scheme should show a distinct re- 
 munerative advantage to the shareholders and be reasonably 
 free from the numerous objections raised by municipal or 
 local authorities." 
 
 Among the principal cities of the world now using cable 
 systems are : San Francisco, Chicago, Kansas City, Philadel- 
 phia, Pittsburgh, New York, Omaha, Denver, Sioux City, St. 
 Paul, St. Louis, Los Angeles, Cincinnati, and Portland in the 
 United States ; London and Birmingham, England ; Sydney, 
 Australia ; and Edinburgh, Scotland. 
 
 It has been found that electric and steam motors can 
 accomplish no more than the cable, beside requiring such 
 
EVOLUTION OF THE CABLE CAR. 28 1 
 
 heavy running gear and causing more noise and dirt by their 
 employment So cabling has passed beyond the age of ex- 
 periment, and has now become a demonstrated fact and 
 possibility. 
 
 In consideration of the approximate annihilation of both 
 time and space as demonstrated in all kinds of methods for 
 rapid transit, it may well be said : 
 
 " Let those ride now who never rode before, 
 And those who rode, now ride the more." 
 
THE PHONOGRAPH. 
 
 : HE phonograph was invented in 1877. in experiment- 
 ing with the telephone, in connection with the vibrating 
 
 1 diaphragms of that instrument, Thomas Alva Edison 
 discovered the principles and facts which led to the 
 invention of this later machine. The primitive machines 
 were first exhibited in 1878, both in England and America, 
 since which time the instrument has risen above the rank 
 of a lecture illustration and a philosophical toy, and has 
 proven itself to be of immense value in many practical lines 
 of work. 
 
 Previous to the success of Mr. Edison with the phonograph, 
 there had been various attempts, by other parties, to con- 
 struct talking machines, which resulted more or less success- 
 fully. 
 
 Chladni was the inventor of a method for rendering visible 
 vibrations caused by a blow or any other impulse. 
 
 Professor Faber, of Vienna, built up an artificial organ of 
 speech, the parts of which performed the same functions as 
 the similar parts of our vocal organs. He solved the problem 
 of a talking machine by reproducing the mechanical causes 
 of vibrations making the voice and speech. Edison solved it 
 by obtaining the mechanical effects of those vibrations. Faber 
 reproduced the movements of our vocal organs, Edison the 
 282 
 
THE PHONOGRAPH. 283 
 
 motion of the drum skin of the ear when acted on by vibra- 
 tions caused in using the vocal organs. In one way this 
 "acoustical marvel of the century" is as simple as a coffee 
 mill, but, scientifically, there are many subtile questions about 
 it. By his invention Edison did for sound what Daguerre did 
 for light, made it possible to secure and permanently retain 
 the most fleeting impressions. With a vibrating plate, tinfoil, 
 and a crank it became possible to arrest and fix all kinds of 
 sounds, preserve them indefinitely, and reproduce them again 
 upon demand, as they were at first received. 
 
 Professor Mayer, of Stevens Institute, Hoboken, N. J., 
 made an acoustic apparatus, including several talking pipes. 
 He could make them speak certain words quite distinctly by 
 moving his hand on the top of them. Even short sentences 
 were uttered. But none of these devices had the simplicity 
 of a grindstone, as was claimed for the phonograph. 
 
 Another instrument was a small speaking trumpet, con- 
 structed by a Mr. W. H. Barlow. This was four inches long, 
 with an ordinary mouthpiece joined to a tube one-half inch in 
 diameter, the thin end of which widened out so as to form an 
 opening two and one-quarter inches in diameter. This was 
 covered with a membrane of gold-beater's skin, or thin gutta- 
 percha. A spring, which held a marker, was made to press 
 against the membrane with a slight pressure, to prevent, as 
 far as possible, the effects of jarring and vibratory action. 
 
 But Edison's invention has far outstripped all others, and 
 by it a new field may be opened in the arts and sciences. It 
 is impossible to even conjecture the uses to which the won- 
 derful instrument may be adapted. Time and necessity 
 alone will determine. The use of the phonograph has resulted 
 in the solidification and preservation indefinitely of something 
 
284 THE PHONOGRAPH. 
 
 more ethereal and impalpable than any gas sound and 
 thought; and by this has been realized one-half of the poet's 
 aspiration : 
 
 " O, for the touch of a vanished hand, 
 And a sound of a voice that is still." 
 
 In this way voices that are hushed forever may yet speak 
 to us. What a comfort this would be to many sorrowing 
 ones. 
 
 It was the vibrations of the earlier forms of membranes 
 of stretched gold-beater's skin having a small piece, or point, 
 of iron attached to their centres, which led to the suggestion 
 of the phonograph. In the first machines, as in the telephone, 
 a stretched membrane received the vibrations of the waves 
 of speech, but instead of communicating them to a similar 
 membrane at the other end of the line they were recorded 
 by means of a fine point on a cylinder covered with a sheet of 
 tinfoil. Afterward a diaphragm of very flexible iron was 
 substituted for the membrane, which in turn has been dis- 
 placed and superseded by a diaphragm, or disc, of glass, to 
 which is attached the cutting and reproducing styles. 
 
 The extraordinary acoustical discovery was that this bit of 
 iron could reproduce all the peculiarities and variations of the 
 atmospheric waves impinging upon the membrane when 
 words were spoken within its range. Parafine paper was 
 first used as the receiving medium, then tinfoil was tried, 
 which has given way to a cylinder of wax that is now ex- 
 clusively used in the machines. 
 
 The best idea of the machine will be gained by a descrip- 
 tion of one of the tinfoil instruments, noting afterward the 
 important additions and improvements. This description 
 will be given in nearly the inventor's own words : 
 
THE PHONOGRAPH. 285 
 
 The instrument is composed of three parts mainly ; namely, 
 a receiving, a recording, and a transmitting apparatus. 
 
 The receiving apparatus consists of a curved tube, one 
 end of which is fitted with a mouthpiece. The other end is 
 about two inches in diameter and is closed with a disc, or 
 diaphragm, of exceedingly thin metal, capable of being thrust 
 slightly outward, or vibrated, upon gentle pressure being 
 applied to it from within the tubes. To the centre of this 
 diaphragm (which is vertical) is fixed a small blunt steel 
 pin, which shares the vibrating motion of the diaphragm. 
 This arrangement is set on a table, and can be adjusted suit- 
 ably with respect to the second part of the instrument the 
 recorder. 
 
 This recorder is a brass cylinder about four inches in 
 length and four inches in diameter, cut with a continuous 
 " V " groove from one end to the other, so that in effect it 
 represents a large screw. There are forty of these grooves 
 in the entire length of the cylinder. The cylinder turns 
 steadily while the instrument is in operation, upon a vertical 
 axis, its face being presented to the steel point of the receiv- 
 ing apparatus. The shaft on which it turns is provided with 
 a screw-thread and works in a screw bearing, so that as the 
 shaft is turned (by handle) it not only turns the cylinder but 
 carries it upwards. The rate of this vertical motion is such 
 that the cylinder behaves precisely as if its groove worked in 
 a screw bearing. Thus, if the pointer be set opposite the 
 middle of the uppermost part of the continuous groove at 
 the beginning of this turning motion, it will traverse the 
 groove continuously to its lowest part, which it will reach 
 after forty turnings of the handle. More correctly, perhaps, 
 we might say that the groove continuously traverses past the 
 
286 THE PHONOGRAPH. 
 
 pointer. Now suppose that a piece of some such substance 
 as tinfoil is wrapped around the cylinder. The pointer when 
 at rest just touches the tinfoil. But when the diaphragm is 
 vibrating under the action of aerial waves, resulting from 
 various sounds, the pointer vibrates in such a way as to in- 
 dent the tinfoil, not only to a greater or less depth according 
 to the play of the pointer to and fro, in a direction square to 
 the face of the diaphragm, but also over a range all round 
 its mean position. The groove allows the pressure of the 
 pointer, against the tinfoil, free action. If the cylinder had 
 no grooves, the dead resistance of the tinfoil, thus backed up 
 by an unyielding surface, would stop the play of the pointer. 
 Under the actual conditions, the tinfoil is only kept taut 
 enough to receive the impressions, but yielding sufficiently 
 to let the play of the pointer continue unrestrained. 
 
 If now, a person speaks into the receiving tube, and the 
 handle of the cylinder be turned, the vibrations of the pointer 
 are impressed upon the portion of the tinfoil lying over the 
 hollow groove, and are retained by it. They will be more or 
 less deeply marked according to the quality of the sounds 
 emitted, and according also, of course, to the strength with 
 which the speaker utter the sounds, and to the nature of the 
 modulations and inflections of his voice. The result is a 
 message verbally imprinted upon a strip of metal. It is 
 sound preserved in visible shape. It almost equals the story 
 of Baron Munchausen hearing words frozen, melting into 
 speech again. It has been spoken of as the crystallization of 
 sound. 
 
 Having secured the record of sounds, of whatever nature, 
 a contrivance is needed to reproduce them. This is done by 
 the transmitter, which is a conical drum, having its larger end 
 
THE PHONOGRAPH. 287 
 
 open, and the smaller end, about two inches in diameter, cov- 
 ered with paper stretched tight like a drum-head. In front 
 of this diaphragm is a light, flat, steel spring, held vertically, 
 and ending in a blunt steel point projecting from it and corre- 
 sponding exactly with the one on the diaphragm of the re- 
 ceiver. The spring is connected with the paper diaphragm 
 of receiver by a silken thread just sufficiently in tension to 
 cause the outer face of the diaphragm to be slightly convex. 
 Removing the receiving apparatus from the cylinder and set- 
 ting the cylinder back to its original position, the transmitting 
 apparatus is brought up to the cylinder till the steel point 
 just rests, without pressure, in the first indentation made in 
 the tinfoil by the pointer of the receiver. If, now, the handle is 
 turned at the same speed as when recording the steel point 
 will follow the line of impressions, and vibrate in periods 
 corresponding to impressions produced by the point of the 
 receiving apparatus. The paper diaphragm being thus set 
 into vibrations of requisite kind in number, depth, and side 
 range, there are produced precisely the same sounds that 
 set the diaphragm into vibration originally. Thus the words 
 of the speaker are heard issuing from the conical drum in 
 his own voice, tinged with a slightly metallic or mechanical 
 tone. If the cylinder is turned more slowly when transmitting 
 than in receiving the voice assumes a bass tone ; if turned 
 more quickly it is given in a treble voice. 
 
 An infinite number of copies can be made of tinfoil im- 
 pressions by making plaster-of-Paris casts of the original and 
 rubbing off impressions from it on a clean sheet of foil. 
 
 In the last machines the screw-feed thread has been in- 
 creased from forty to one hundred. The recording stylus is 
 now a cup-shaped affair, and gouges out rather than cuts in 
 
288 THE PHONOGRAPH. 
 
 its motion. Both the recording and the reproducing styles 
 are now made of sapphire, as the recording surface now em- 
 ployed will turn the edge of the sharpest steel tool. They 
 are both firmly attached to the face of the one glass disc, or 
 diaphragm, thus rendering an extra reproducing disc unneces- 
 sary. The recording stylus is free in its action and has an 
 oscillating motion, so that it can inscribe any form of sound 
 on the cylinder. 
 
 A hinged weight, having a compound motion, is fixed to 
 the face of the glass disc to regulate the movements of the 
 reproducing stylus and to adjust it in case of any inequalities 
 in the surface of the cylinder. This automatic reproducer 
 will follow the track of the recorder faithfully, no matter how 
 irregular the surface may be. 
 
 The recording cylinders now in use are a hard wax compo- 
 sition of a dark brown color. They are very fragile, and have 
 to be handled with the greatest care. In sending them from 
 place to place it is necessary to pack them most carefully 
 and send by express, as transportation by mail is very risky. 
 These cylinders are about a quarter of an inch in thickness 
 and are sloped toward one end. This is done that they may 
 conform to the metal cylinder on which they are slipped to be 
 used. This sloping is to prevent their reversal when they 
 are to be used in reproduction. It is now impossible to make 
 a mistake in putting them on to the cylinder. 
 
 At the back of the machine is a turning-rest holding a sap- 
 phire knife used in cleaning or shaving off the surface of the 
 cylinder after its contents have been transcribed or it is of no 
 further service. Thus a fresh surface is presented for the 
 recording stylus to indent. This shaving may be done from 
 thirty to a hundred times, according to the thickness of the 
 shaving taken off. 
 
THE PHONOGRAPH. 289 
 
 The receiver is a glass disc of about eight thousandths 
 of an inch in thickness. It is set into a metal cup and 
 thus held in position. These receivers are manufactured 
 abroad. 
 
 Despite the number of improvements and patents, the 
 machine of to-day is practically the same as first issued. It 
 has not been found necessary to make any fundamental 
 change. Those required have been of practice rather than 
 of principle. 
 
 By abandoning the metallic transmitter it was found that 
 the unpleasant metallic sound heard in transmitting or repro- 
 ducing was entirely done away with, and that all sounds 
 could be enunciated by the machine as accurately as received 
 by it. The hearing tubes of to-day are small rubber tubes, 
 two or three feet in length, branching below the chin, when 
 held in position, into a smaller tube for each ear, which is fitted 
 with a hard rubber bell. These are held against the ear, not 
 thrust into it. Phonographs are now arranged so that 
 several sets of these tubes can be adjusted for hearing 
 simultaneously. By this means an entire class is able to lis- 
 ten to a lecture at once. 
 
 It is thought by many that Edison should have a place 
 beside Columbus, for while the greatest of discoverers suc- 
 ceeded in locating the New World, this new discoverer, this 
 savant of our day, has greatly increased its usefulness and 
 conferred upon it a new claim to universal consideration. 
 
 The inventor considers the main utility of the phonograph 
 to be for purposes of letter-writing and other forms of dicta- 
 tion. The advantages in this direction are numerous. The 
 time of the stenographer is entirely saved, as the " dictation " 
 can be given when the typewriter is at work at something 
 
 19 
 
2QO THE PHONOGRAPH. 
 
 else. Dictation is not necessarily confined to business hours 
 as the pronograph is always ready for use. It never tires nor 
 grumbles at long hours or overwork. There is no question 
 regarding inaccuracies, for the machine cannot speak a sin- 
 gle word that has not been spoken into it, nor make a ques- 
 tionable sign which may mean several things, as is so often 
 the case with stenographic outlines. Neither dictator nor 
 transcriber is limited in speed. It will record as fast as any 
 one can speak, and reproduce as rapidly as an expert can 
 follow it. It will repeat for the transcriber an indefinite 
 number of times without losing its temper, and it never asks 
 the dictator to repeat a word or sentence which he thought 
 he had left behind some time ago. The method is so simple 
 that there need be no loss of time by any one in learning the 
 entire business. By the previous preparation of a number 
 of cylinders, several typewriters can be kept busy as well as 
 one by the ordinary means, and thus time and labor both 
 saved. 
 
 It is adapted to all occupations in which writing plays a 
 prominent part. Authors, lecturers, clergymen, and others 
 will find its assistance invaluable. One minister makes use 
 of it in this wise : He has a speaking tube running from his 
 pulpit to the basement room of the church, where is stationed 
 the phonograph, in charge of his son, who receives the ser- 
 mon as it is delivered and repeats it to the instrument. This 
 method has been successful from the first trial of it. 
 
 The story is told of a celebrated campaign orator, who 
 upon being invited to deliver about two hundred lectures, at 
 widely-separated points, procured the use of several phono- 
 graphs to record his oration, which was then sent rapidly by 
 express to the various appointments, thereby rendering him- 
 
THE PHONOGRAPH. 29 1 
 
 self, as it were ubiquitous. This way is much more satisfac- 
 tory than reading a printed report, because not only the words 
 spoken but the very tones and inflections of the voice arev 
 faithfully rendered. 
 
 One publishing house in Chicago finds that by the use of 
 these machines there is a wonderful increase in its productive 
 capacity. This is estimated as high as seventy-five per cerat., 
 to say nothing of the improvement in quality and the saving 
 in expense. The members of this firm say they would as soon 
 think of going back to tallow dips as a means of illumination 
 as to abandon the phonograph for the stenographer with his/ 
 uncertain note-book. 
 
 Mr. A. W. Clancy, President of the National Phonographic 
 Association, says of the phonograph : " It is a faithful servant 
 and will conduct business like a setting hen, and never strike 
 for higher wages." 
 
 Unlike the telephone, it loses nothing said to it, but leaves, 
 a record which may be as enduring as time. It is said, how 
 ever, that a machine is to be attached to the telephone, or az 
 combination of the two- instruments effected in such a mancier' 
 that a record of telephone conversations may be secured.. 
 Also, that there is a machine to be attached to pianos and! 
 other keyed musical instruments to record the music played 
 by them. 
 
 The Anthropological Society is using the phonograph fair 
 the purpose of recording and preserving the songs, folk lore^ 
 and language of the various Indian tribes which are soow 
 likely to become extinct. The Indians call it "The Sound! 
 Writer that Talks." It is equally valuable in the class-roonii 
 as a means of imparting oral information. For studies in 
 which it is necessary to reproduce exact sounds and tones, as- 
 
29 2 THE PHONOGRAPH. 
 
 in the study of foreign languages, elocution, and the like, it 
 is inestimable. 
 
 As a practical, disinterested critic is has no equal, and by 
 its use you may hear yourself as others hear you. 
 
 Although the phonograph is commonly spoken of as an 
 electrical invention it is not in the least dependent upon elec- 
 tricity for its operation in any way. Electricity has been 
 applied as a motive power because it is considered as the 
 most practical, not that it is necessary. Hand power was 
 first used, then a foot-power treadle, then a clock work motor, 
 .and finally the electric motor. 
 
 There is no doubt that as the phonograph becomes more 
 widely known its merits will secure for it almost universal 
 adoption in those professions and callings for which it is espe- 
 cially adapted. 
 
LIGHTING BY GAS. 
 
 ^^^p" 
 
 HERE is perhaps no more wonderful invention than 
 that which enables the modern man, by the mere 
 turning of a screw to flood his house with a light 
 second in brilliancy and usefulness only to the great 
 solar light. It is a striking illustration of the acuteness of 
 the scientific mind that it should have dreamed of utilizing 
 in this way so elusive a thing as a colorless, formless fluid, 
 whose very presence could not be detected by the eye, but 
 required the revealing touch of a match to make it visible. 
 
 The ancients possessed slight knowledge of any aeriform 
 bodies, except the atmosphere. Some of the early writers 
 indeed made mention of artificial gases under the designa- 
 tion of spiritus or flatus, but they seem to have had an im- 
 pression that these were but impurities of the atmosphere. 
 Paracelsus, a Swiss alchemist of much renown, made the ob- 
 servation that gas was evolved by the action of the oil of 
 vitriol on iron, but this discovery he appeared to regard as of 
 no especial consequence. The early alchemists by their ex- 
 periments and their ofttime fruitless searchings for the unat- 
 tainable, learned, nevertheless, much of natural objects and 
 natural science. And it is to them that the world owes many 
 of the discoveries which have been utilized for the benefit of 
 mankind. It is to an alchemist, Van Helmont, that the dis- 
 
 293 
 
LIGHTING BY GAS. 
 
 covery, in 1624, of the gaseous composition of atmospheric 
 air is due. Observing carbonic acid gas in the Spa waters of 
 Germany, he regarded it as an aeriform, elastic substance, 
 which could be obtained only by the act of chemical decom- 
 position. As it seemed more of an essence than common air, 
 he denominated it Gheist, the German name for ghost or 
 spirit, and from this is derived our English word gas. It was 
 many years before this discovery of Van Helmont's was 
 made the basis of any practical use. 
 
 The manufacture of gas was without doubt suggested by 
 experimenting with the natural gas which issues from the 
 -earth in various parts of the world. Strabo, Plutarch, and 
 other ancient authors speak of perpetual fires which burned 
 upon the altars of some of their deities, and in the works of 
 Herodotus and Vitruvius we find mention of the bituminous 
 wells of the island of Zante, which cast forth streams of in- 
 flammable vapor. To the simple-minded and superstitious 
 people these phenomena were regarded as miraculous mani- 
 festations, and the priests availed themselves of these fires to 
 inspire their credulous devotees with greater reverence for 
 priestly supernatural power. Such wells were found in re- 
 mote times in India and China, and the inhabitants are said 
 to have conveyed the gas through bamboo pipes, and to have 
 used it for boiling salt. 
 
 Natural gas wells are found also in England and in the 
 United States. In Bloomfield, Ontario County, New York, 
 one of these wells is said to yield daily about four hundred 
 .thousand cubic feet of gas. Other remarkable gas wells 
 .exist in Ohio, one of especial interest being situated near 
 'Gambier. The gas from this well has continued to issue 
 ^without cessation since 1866, with no diminution of volume. 
 
LIGHTING BY GAS. 295 
 
 When a lighted match is applied to the stream, as it flows 
 from a two-inch pipe, a flame twenty feet or more in length 
 is produced. 
 
 It is not surprising that the ancients, in whose theology fire 
 has always figured more or less conspicuously, should have 
 regarded such phenomena as natural fire issuing from the 
 ground with reverential awe and fear. It remained for later 
 and less superstitious generations to not only examine criti- 
 cally, but to seek to artificially imitate these burning foun- 
 tains. In the Wigan coal district of Lancashire, England, was 
 a well on the surface of whose waters a perpetual fire was 
 burning. When a light was touched to this water, it was 
 found to burn like oil. Mr. Shirley, a gentleman residing 
 near this spring, soon saw that it was not the water which 
 burned, but that something emanating from the earth was 
 the burning substance. He proved this by draining the well 
 of its water, and then setting fire to the dry earth remaining, 
 which immediately burned with a flame a foot or more in 
 height. By a series of experiments he discovered that the 
 waters of the spring were impregnated with carburetted hy- 
 drogen gas, proceeding from the seam of coal underlying the 
 earth about the spring. Mr. Shirley wrote to the Royal So- 
 ciety of London, describing his experiments with this spring, 
 and these observations of his were, nearly a century later, 
 duplicated by a clergyman, Rev. John Clayton, who published 
 a book containing an account of his investigations. In 1726, 
 a number of interesting experiments were conducted by Dr. 
 Stephen Hales, between whom and Mr. Clayton rests the 
 credit of having been the first to produce gas by the distilla- 
 tion of coal. In 1733, Sir James Lowther addressed a paper 
 to the Royal Society on the subject of the " inflammable air " 
 
296 UGHTING BY GAS. 
 
 which issued from a coal pit near Whitehaven, Cumberland. 
 This air, he explained, was easily lighted, and was with diffi- 
 culty extinguished. He collected some of the air in bladders 
 and burned it before the Society, and so great was the im- 
 pression created by his experiments that, some years later, 
 the idea was broached of carrying this gas in tubes to the 
 town for purposes of lighting. But this scheme was looked 
 upon by the conservative community as wholly impracticable 
 and chimerical, and was shortly abandoned. 
 
 In 1767, the important discovery was made by Dr. Watson, 
 afterward Bishop of Llandoff, that coal gas does not lose its 
 inflammability or elasticity by being passed through tubes 
 immersed in water, which is equivalent to saying that its 
 illuminating properties are unchanged by the condensation 
 of some of its constituents. 
 
 The* idea of utilizing the gas obtained by these various ex- 
 periments for illuminating purposes seems first to have oc- 
 curred to a Scotch engineer, William Murdoch, living at 
 Redruth, in Cornwall. He discovered that, by means of care- 
 fully regulating the processes of carbonization and conden- 
 sation, he could obtain a uniform product of high illuminating 
 power. He conceived the notion of confining the gas in re- 
 ceptacles, and conveying it through pipes for lighting houses. 
 In this manner he lighted his own house, carrying the gas 
 from his gas-works, about seventy feet distant. He invented, 
 also, a portable gas lantern, which he used to light his steps 
 on his night excursions about the country. This latter 
 achievement was regarded with much disfavor and not a 
 little apprehension by the superstitious country folk there- 
 abouts, and the clever engineer suffered the penalty of other 
 minds in advance of their time in being seriously suspected 
 of practicing witchcraft. 
 
LIGHTING BY GAS. 297 
 
 In 1798, Murdoch erected works for the manufacture of 
 gas at the Soho Foundry of Messrs. Boulton & Watt, near 
 Birmingham, and became himself the personal superintendent 
 of the works. On the occasion of the peace of Amiens, in 
 1802, Mr. Murdoch brilliantly illuminated the foundry with 
 unique devices, and the superiority of this new mode of il- 
 luminating was thus vividly impressed upon the admiring 
 and astonished spectators. The use of gas for lighting pur- 
 poses began, after that time, to be adopted by cotton mills 
 and other establishments, although people were strangely- 
 slow in availing themselves of so obvious an improvement 
 on former methods. The Lyceum Theatre, of London, was 
 the first place of amusement lighted by gas. 
 
 Gas had, like other innovations, to encounter much opposi- 
 tion and scornful incredulity. The great Napoleon, who had 
 the misfortune to be a man of occasional grave mistakes, is 
 said to have remarked, when informed of the project of 
 lighting a city by gas: "Cest une grande folie" Even Sir 
 Humphrey Davy inclined to consider the whole matter as the 
 impractical dream of a visionary enthusiast. 
 
 In 1801, a Frenchman named Le Bon had discovered the 
 secret of producing gas by the distillation of wood, and had 
 used this gas for lighting his own house. Before Le Bon 
 had carried out his plan of illuminating the city of Paris with 
 this gas, another man had arisen who proclaimed himself the 
 inventor of gas-lighting. This aspirant for the inventor's 
 honors was a Mr. Winsor, a German, who was suspected of 
 having been an assistant of Le Bon's, and of having gained 
 the knowledge that he possessed from his master. His 
 claims were widely disputed, but he persisted in his attempts 
 to establish a gas manufactory so untiringly that his efforts 
 were at length crowned with a measure of success. 
 
298 LIGHTING BY GAS. 
 
 The first American city to be lighted by gas was Baltimore, 
 and the first charter to an American gas-light company was 
 granted in 1816. Boston adopted the new mode of lighting 
 in 1822 and New York in 1823, and the superiority of gas 
 lighting over methods previously in vogue being now fully 
 demonstrated it was rapidly introduced into all the consider- 
 able cities of the country. The Baltimore gas company origi- 
 nally undertook the manufacture of gas from coal-tar, but this 
 proving a complete failure, the works were remodeled, and the 
 gas then made from bituminous coal. 
 
 Many raw materials may be employed in the production of 
 illuminating gas. Almost any combustible body when dis- 
 tilled yields gaseous products available for generating light. 
 Among materials which have been used for this purpose are 
 coal, wood, resin, peat, oil, fats, bones, and other substances. 
 Bituminous coal is, however, most largely used, being for 
 many reasons the most successful material. When this coal 
 is burned in air it is mostly converted into gases which com- 
 bine with oxygen, but when the air is excluded, as is the case 
 when coal is burned in retorts, these gases, not being able to 
 unite with oxygen, may be collected into receptacles, thence 
 conducted into tubes and burned. A great number of gases, 
 liquids and solids, are produced by the distillation of coal, the 
 principal of these being coke, tar, olefiant gas, and sulphu- 
 retted hydrogen. The products of distillation are dependent 
 upon the degree of heat to which the coal is subjected. At 
 a low temperature the weight of coke in the retort will be less, 
 and the amount of carbon remaining in combination with hy- 
 drogen greater, but these hydrocarbons will be mainly liquid 
 and solid, not gaseous. At a high temperature, on the con- 
 trary, the greater will be the weight of coke or carbonaceous 
 
LIGHTING BY GAS. 299 
 
 residue, and the proportion of permanent gases and their 
 lightness also will increase in proportion to the heat. They 
 may be composed almost wholly of hydrogen and carbonic 
 oxide. A moderate temperature is preferable in the manufac- 
 ture of gas, and the quality of coal or other substance used 
 will also condition this. 
 
 In the production of gas from coal, as also from wood, 
 resin, or petroleum, the material is subjected to three different 
 processes. These are : First, distillation of the crude gas ; 
 second, the separation of the gas from condensable matter, as 
 tar, etc. ; third, the purification of the gas from all injurious 
 and undesirable gases. For the purpose of distillation the 
 coal or other material is put in fire-clay retorts placed in fur- 
 naces, one furnace being arranged to hold from five to ten re- 
 torts. 
 
 A large gas establishment may contain as many as a hundred 
 furnaces. Iron was formerly used for making these retorts, 
 but fire-clay has been proved to be more durable and fully as 
 impervious. The coal is placed in the retort, which has been 
 raised to a red heat, and a heat of about twenty-two hundred de- 
 grees applied to it for five hours. By this means the solid and 
 o-aseous products of distillation are obtained, and the volatile 
 gases, being all except the coke, are passed into a tube in- 
 serted in a hydraulic main. A portion of the gases are here 
 condensed, and those still uncondensed pass into another 
 large pipe to be carried to the cooler and condenser, where 
 they are conveyed through a series of peculiarly-shaped pipes 
 surrounded with water. From the condenser the gas passes 
 to another apparatus designed for still further purification. 
 
 In some gas works what is called a washer is employed for 
 this latter service, consisting of a vertical chamber through 
 
LIGHTING BY GAS. 
 
 which the gas is passed, and at the same time subjected to 
 repeated spraying from jets of water. The impurities which still 
 remain, being chiefly sulphuretted hydrogen and carbonic acid, 
 are then removed by still another process. The gas is for 
 this purpose sometimes passed through milk of lime, which is 
 called the wet lime process, or through layers of protochloride 
 of iron mixed with quick-lime, or sulphate of iron and slaked 
 lime. Much care is required in the management of these 
 slaked-lime purifiers, as the gas is apt to escape and combin- 
 ing with the air to form a dangerous explosive, from which 
 grave accidents have resulted. 
 
 The illuminating power of the gas depends chiefly upon 
 the amount of olefiant gas, heavy carbu retted hydrogen, 
 which it contains, the majority of the other gases being car- 
 riers rather than producers of light. The luminosity is also 
 affected by other things, depending much upon the form of 
 the burner. If burned in a very tall chimney, so that a rapid 
 current is produced, it has been observed that the illuminating 
 power of gas may be greatly lessened. Small or thin flames 
 are also undesirable, since the thinner the flame the greater 
 is the exposure to the oxygen in the air, and the swifter con- 
 sumption of the solid portions of carbon. By the careful 
 distillation of two thousand pounds of good bituminous coal, 
 eight thousand cubic feet of purified illuminating gas may be 
 produced. 
 
 Connected with the gas works are meters, by which the 
 volume of gas is registered before it passes to the reservoirs. 
 From the reservoirs it is conveyed through cast-iron main 
 pipes through the streets, and from these in small wrought- 
 iron pipes into buildings. 
 
 Other materials, besides coal, have been employed with 
 
LIGHTING BY GAS. 30 1 
 
 varying degrees of success in the production of illuminating 
 gas. Le Bon's experiment with wood, in the eighteenth cen- 
 tury, was not found practicable, as the gas produced was infe- 
 rior in illuminating power to that manufactured from coal in 
 England. The reason assigned for this was that the heat 
 used was not sufficient to produce the heavier hydrocarbons. 
 Professor Pettenkofer, of Munich, showed, by experiments, that 
 the gases evolved by the carbonization of wood consist almost 
 wholly of carbonic acid, carbonic oxide, and marsh gas. 
 Olefiant gas, on which the illuminating power largely depends, 
 was nearly wanting. But he proved that the tarry substances 
 and vapors produced would, when subjected to a much greater 
 heat, produce a large quantity of heavy hydrocarbon gas. It 
 is necessary, therefore, in the manufacture of wood gas, that 
 there should be retorts for changing the wood into tarry 
 vapors, and others, where, by the application of a higher heat, 
 these may be converted into permanent gases. The hydro- 
 carbons in wood gas have been found to have an illuminating 
 power one-half greater than that of an equal volume of 
 olefiant gas. It has a specific gravity somewhat greater than 
 that of average coal gas, which necessitates the use of burn- 
 ers with larger orifices. The production of gas from wood 
 has been for some time successfully accomplished in Ger- 
 many. 
 
 Gas has been made from resin, and a product of high illumi- 
 nating power has resulted. It was some years ago employed 
 in Philadelphia to add to the richness of coal gas, and several 
 towns in the southern part of the United States still manu- 
 facture it, but the limited quantities of the raw material ren- 
 der it unavailable for extensive use. Petroleum has been 
 much used in Germany, Austria, and Russia, and also to some 
 
3O2 LIGHTING BY GAS. 
 
 extent in the United States for the making of gas. The raw 
 oil is conveyed from a reservoir into cast-iron retorts, heated 
 red hot, and from these it passes into an apparatus for puri- 
 fying it, in which hydrochloric acid is one of the agents em- 
 ployed. It is estimated that one hundred weight of Penn- 
 sylvania oil will produce about sixteen hundred feet of gas. 
 This gas is the richest made, two hundred cubic feet of this 
 being considered as nearly equal in illuminating power to 
 one thousand feet of coal gas. 
 
 The last material which an unscientific mind would pro- 
 nounce available for the production of gas would doubtless 
 be water, and yet many inventors have received patents for 
 making gas from water. It was discovered that when steam 
 was forced through retorts in which were red-hot coke, char- 
 coal, or anthracite, there were generated hydrogen, carbonic 
 oxide, carbonic acid, and a small amount of light carburetted 
 and of sulphuretted hydrogen gases. Purification by means 
 of lime, or lime and oxide of iron, removed the carbonic acid 
 and the sulphuretted hydrogen, and the gases remaining might 
 then be used for purposes of heating, or, by one of two pro- 
 cesses, might be available for illuminating. These processes 
 are, by heating coils of platinum wire in the flame, or by im- 
 pregnating it with hydrocarbon vapors, or by uniting it with 
 permanent hydrocarbon gases, the latter being found the most 
 satisfactory means. 
 
 Selligue, a French gas engineer, invented a process for 
 manufacturing water gas, having received the suggestion 
 which led to his invention from Jobard, of Brussels. This 
 appliance consisted of a furnace provided with three vertical 
 cylindrical retorts, two of which were filled with charcoal or 
 coke. Steam was passed into the first retort, where the 
 
LIGHTING BY GAS. 303 
 
 various gases were evolved. They were then conveyed into 
 the second retort, where the carbonic acid was changed by 
 the red-hot coke or other burning material into carbonic 
 oxide. From this they were carried to a third retort, in which 
 a stream of oil from bituminous shale flowed over red-hot 
 iron chains. A Mr. White, of Manchester, patented later a 
 process designated as the English hydrocarbon process, in 
 which the retorts were quite similar to those used in 
 making ordinary coal gas. Anthracite is said to be used 
 more satisfactorily in the production of water gas than either 
 coke or coal. 
 
 The employment of electricity in late years as an illumi- 
 nating agent has given rise to the belief in many minds that 
 it may in turn supersede gas altogether, but there seems as 
 yet little ground for such apprehension. Both gas and elec- 
 tricity as a means of lighting appear to possess superiority, 
 in the application to different purposes, and so long as that 
 is the case there would be found no reason for the sole em- 
 ployment of the one to the exclusion of the other, unless, 
 indeed, electric lighting should prove a far cheaper mode of 
 illuminating, and that seems yet a thing to be demonstrated. 
 
SUBTERRANEAN EXPLORATIONS. 
 
 VISIONARY and extravagant accounts of the wonders 
 and wealth concealed in the depths of the sea have 
 always obtained ready credence. Alluring stories of 
 the sunken Spanish galleons laden with gold, silver, 
 
 and precious stones have tempted many a bold diver 
 to his destruction. The sunken treasures of Captain Kidd, 
 Black Beard, and other daring, if less known pirates have 
 been responsible for many attempts to solve the mysteries 
 of the deep. In narratives of ancient date we are told that 
 the pearl and sponge divers of the East were able to remain 
 under water two hours without the aid of air-giving appara- 
 tus. It is needless to say that no such endurance is possible. 
 The depth to which they could descend and the time of their 
 immersion have been much exaggerated. A skilled diver 
 without extraneous aid can remain under water but two or 
 possibly three minutes. In a diving and swimming contest 
 between some North American Indians and Englishmen in a 
 London swimming bath, one of the Indians, a noted swimmer 
 and diver, remained under water just one minute and a half, 
 but a London artisan beat him by a few seconds. A few 
 rapid respirations before the diver makes the final plunge 
 will enable him to remain longer under water. It can be 
 readily understood that if the blood be forced to take an 
 
 7O4 
 
SUBTERRANEAN EXPLORATIONS. 305 
 
 excess of oxygen a longer time should elapse before a fresh 
 supply would become necessary. Many divers without appa- 
 ratus suffer severely from the continual efforts to hold the 
 breath. Spitting of blood and inflamed eyes are common 
 among them. At the close of the pearl and sponge diving 
 seasons the divers emerge from their labors with golden 
 locks that would be the envy of a belle of civilization. This 
 is a sufficiently curious phenomenon when seen in connec- 
 tion with the black and shining epidermis of the Malay pearl 
 diver. This curious change is brought about by the chemical 
 action of the water. There is little doubt that the efforts of 
 the primitive diver were directed to the acquisition of some 
 of the vast wealth supposed to lie at the bottom of the sea, 
 and only incidentally to the gathering of sponges and pearls. 
 As civilization advanced and the need arose for the build- 
 ing of the foundations of piers and bridges and the explora- 
 tion and raising of sunken vessels, the attention of engineers 
 and philosophers was turned to the discovery of a contri- 
 vance for aiding the diver in prosecuting his dangerous but 
 important calling. The aquatic kettle, described by Tais- 
 nier as having been used by two Greeks in Spain, at Toledo, 
 in 1538, in the presence of the Emperor Charles V and a vast 
 multitude of spectators is one of the earliest reliable accounts 
 of a diving bell. It was similar in construction and principle 
 to the modern diving-bell, but clumsy and cumbersome and 
 wanting in efficient means of renewing the supply of air, 
 Dr. Halley, the noted English astronomer, made some valu- 
 able experiments with the diving-bell in 1720, but it was not 
 until i 788 that Smeaton's the one now in use was made 
 and found to fit the requirements of submarine explorations. 
 The Greeks, by far the most richly endowed in constructive 
 20 
 
306 SUBTERRANEAN EXPLORATIONS. 
 
 imagination of any of the ancient people, gave little thought 
 to the regions beneath the sea. The true love of the deep 
 and interests in its hidden regions has been confined to the 
 people of modern days, and especially to the people of 
 Northern regions. 
 
 The principle of the construction of the modern diving- 
 bell may be readily understood by placing an insect or two 
 upon a cork in a pail of water, invert a tumbler over the cork, 
 then push the apparatus to the bottom of the vessel ; on 
 raising the glass to the surface the little voyagers will come 
 up perfectly safe and unsoaked. The diving-bell as now 
 used consists of a cast-iron chest, weighing about five tons 
 and suspended by blocks and tackle. 
 
 On the top of the bell there are eight apertures fitted with 
 very thick glass for admitting light, and in the centre is the 
 passage into which the hose is screwed for admitting the air 
 supply. The interior is fitted with two seats which can be 
 removed to make room when the men are at work, and in the 
 centre is a lifting chain to which stones are attached to facili- 
 tate their being lifted and properly adjusted to the beds on 
 which they are to be laid. The bell is used according to two 
 different systems, depending on the nature of the work to be 
 performed. In building masonry under water it is suspended 
 from a staging of timber, but in excavating rock or removing 
 boulders scattered over a considerable area where a staging 
 would be impracticable, it is suspended from a barge or 
 lighter. The invention of the diving dress, like that of most 
 useful appliances, was graduate and the work of many minds. 
 The diving dress, known as the open dress, first invented in 
 1829, although excellent in many of its features, precluded 
 the possibility of the wearer being in any other than an up- 
 
SUBTERRANEAN EXPLORATIONS. 3O/ 
 
 right or slightly sloping position ; if he fell on his face or 
 side there was great danger of drowning. The need of a 
 dress that would meet the requirements of any position the 
 diver might be placed in led to the invention of what is 
 known as the close dress, which is now in universal use. The 
 long-continued work of divers in connection with the removal 
 of the wreck of the " Royal George " suggested many im- 
 provements in dress and equipments, which have stood the 
 tests imposed upon them. The diving dress envelopes the 
 whole body of the diver the upper portion being the helmet, 
 the intermediate portion being the breast-plate, and the lower 
 portion the dress. The water-proof material, of which the 
 dress is made, is generally of sheet India rubber, covered on 
 both sides with tanned twill to protect the India rubber from 
 injury. 
 
 The sponge, coral, and pearl fisheries, originally carried on 
 only by naked divers, are now conducted to a great extent 
 by artificial aids. At moderate depths, not exceeding thirty 
 to forty feet and in clear water, sufficient light is transmitted 
 to enable the diver to perform any ordinary work, but in 
 working in turbid water candles are employed. An electric 
 and an oil lamp have been constructed which can be employed 
 by divers requiring the use of a light at great depths. 
 
 The depth at which diving can be safely conducted is a 
 question of importance. The ordinary depth at which diving 
 has been employed in harbor work is from thirty to thirty- 
 five feet, and it has been used sixty feet at Dover. With the 
 diving dress much greater depths have been attained. In 
 removing the cargo of a sunken ship off South America, a 
 diver named Hooper made seven descents to a depth of two 
 hundred and one feet, and remained below forty-two consecu- 
 tive minutes. This feat is said to be unparalleled. 
 
308 SUBTERRANEAN EXPLORATIONS. 
 
 It is difficult for a diver to walk against even a moderate 
 tide, and men who, by accident, get on the tide side of their 
 work generally have to be hauled up to their boat and low- 
 ered down again in order to get on the windward side of it. 
 There is less difficulty in making bell divers than hemlet 
 divers, probably on account of their working in company 
 there being always two men in a bell, and the same amount 
 of self-reliance is not needed. The sensations experienced 
 in a diving-bell are common in greater or less degree to all 
 divers ; when the bell first touches the water pain in the ears 
 and above the eyes is felt, which continue while the bell is in 
 motion. When the bottom is reached, there is a cessation 
 of these symptoms, which are replaced by a feeling of 
 depression, the acuteness of which depends on the depth of 
 submersion. The motion of the bell, up or down, is very 
 gradual not exceeding three feet per minute, but even at 
 that slow rate the pains in the head are considerable 
 
 The workmen accustomed to subaqueous existence do not 
 feel these inconveniences, but the novice suffers greatly. 
 The work is unsuitable for any but the most robust those 
 of a full habit of body being in as great danger as the weak 
 and bloodless. A melancholy interest attaches to all suba- 
 queous explorations. In imagination we see the whitening 
 bones of the pirate beside the ghastly skeleton of his hapless 
 prey the bolting, beams, and planks of the merchantman 
 freighted at its setting out with high hopes of the fortune to 
 be won ; its harbor, alas ! the twilight-calm and awful hush 
 of the abysmal depths of ocean. 
 
 The ancients used to say that the ocean was the son of the 
 sky and the land, and father of the rivers and fountains. Had 
 it occurred to them, they might have carried the simile still 
 
SUBTERRANEAN EXPLORATIONS. 309 
 
 further, and said that the earth was the child of the deep, for 
 everywhere upon its surface the ocean's bed is only covered 
 by a few inches of alluvial soil. 
 
 Until recently the physical and biological conditions of the 
 deep sea were entirely unknown, and likely to so remain. 
 The idea of a lifeless waste at the bottom of the sea was so 
 generally prevalent that any evidence to the contrary would 
 scarcely secure the least attention. It was thought that 
 organisms, brought up by the sounding line, were met and 
 captured in transit. The difficulties in the way of early in- 
 vestigators were very great. The diver was restricted in his 
 work to about twenty fathoms, or one hundred and twenty 
 feet. At this depth there was a pressure upon him of five 
 atmospheres, or seventy-five pounds a square inch, which 
 was equal to about one hundred and fifty thousand pounds 
 on the entire body. 
 
 It is said of this time : " The restless intellect of man, 
 which, ages before, had sought to solve the riddle of the Uni- 
 verse, to penetrate the mysteries of the stars, to make tribu- 
 tary to itself all time and all space, scarcely cast a glance of 
 interest toward the great world of life under the waters." 
 Soundings had, indeed, been made. They had even been 
 dignified with the name of " deep-sea soundings," but those 
 descending to the greatest depths possible only touched the 
 peaks of some submerged mountain range, or brought to 
 view some specimens of the life on some lofty plateau, or 
 table land, of the great volcanic chains. But modern science 
 and ingenuity have set before us the bounds and measure- 
 ments of this submarine realm, and it has become geo- 
 graphically known to us. The contour of the bottom of the 
 ocean has been found to be not unlike that of the land above 
 
3IO SUBTERRANEAN EXPLORATIONS. 
 
 it. Mountain systems, deep gorges, valleys and plains 
 abound. Between the types of life in sea and land there is a 
 sort of inverted analogy. They become fewer as they recede 
 from the sea level, and the conditions are more severe. 
 
 The first exploration of these submarine areas was effected 
 by means of the sounding lead and line. By them the depth 
 was ascertained, and fragments of earth brought to the sur- 
 face for examination. The primitive instrument used was a sin- 
 gle prismatic block of lead, weighing from eighty to one hun- 
 dred and twenty pounds. On the upper end is fixed a ring, 
 to which the line is attached. When a sounding is to be made, 
 the lower end, or base upon which it rests, is coated with tal- 
 low, and the lead plunged rapidly into the water. In moder- 
 ate depths the slackening of the line indicates that the lead 
 has encountered an obstacle and will go no further, but in 
 great depths this method cannot be relied upon to give cor- 
 rect information or accurate results. Should the line be 
 strong enough to sustain the weight of any considerable part 
 of its own length besides the weight of the attached lead, it 
 will be too stiff and heavy to be carried plumb to the bottom 
 by the lead ; should it be any lighter, it breaks under the 
 strain required of it. An improvement on this device was 
 introduced into the United States Navy some years ago. A 
 fine line, the length of which has been measured, has a heavy 
 weight attached to it. It is quickly lowered into the water. 
 When the pull upon the line ceases it is at once cut, and the 
 length of the missing line represents the depth. But this 
 would only record measurements. The soil and sand secured 
 by the other method gave important information as to the 
 nature and composition of the ocean's bed. But these speci- 
 mens were so small that it was soon found necessary to adopt 
 
SUBTERRANEAN EXPLORATIONS. 31 I 
 
 some more satisfactory means for the pursuit of scientific in- 
 vestigations. For this reason dredging was resorted to, and 
 has proved eminently successful. 
 
 The idea of deep-sea dredging had been entertained by 
 the scientific world for a long time before actual experiments 
 in that line were made. It was thought to be a possibility, 
 but neither a motive for its undertaking, nor the means of its 
 accomplishment were at hand. Later the commercial world 
 required a more direct and speedy means of commercial in- 
 tercourse across the ocean, so the first proof of the feasibility 
 of deep-sea exploration was in response to a practical, not 
 scientific demand. The necessity for laying the various tele- 
 graphic cables supplied the wanting incentive, as well as the 
 perfection of the appliances requisite to carry out the work. 
 It had been demonstrated that dredging at depths could be 
 done, and that, too, in the face of numerous difficulties, but 
 as it was a process so laborious and requiring so many fa- 
 voring conditions for its successful performance, it became 
 necessary to secure some more effective and simple ma- 
 chinery for gaining the required information of the physical 
 peculiarities of the ocean's bed. This resulted in a combi- 
 nation of the sounding line and the dredge. 
 
 There are several forms of these instruments in use 
 amongst naturalists. One is described as a huge pair of for- 
 ceps which form a chamber when closed. The arms are held 
 asunder by a bolt, and it is heavily weighted. Upon striking 
 the bottom the bolt is displaced, the forceps close upon the 
 mud of the sea bed, and the instrument is ready for the up- 
 ward pull with its inclosed freight. Another and more 
 popular form consists of a tube of metal, whose lower ex- 
 tremities are provided with valves that open upward. The 
 
312 SUBTERRANEAN EXPLORATIONS. 
 
 tube passes through a perforation in the cannon ball, used 
 as a weight to the instrument. When the end of the tube 
 strikes the earth, the mud, sand, or whatever there is there 
 for it to encounter, fills the tube through the opening valve. 
 The weight is disen^a^ed and the valve closes as the instru- 
 
 o o o 
 
 ment is drawn up through the water. The tube may be 
 unscrewed and the contents examined at leisure. 
 
 The principle of the detaching weight, which was invented 
 by pass-midshipman Brookes, of the United States Navy, is 
 of incalculable value, as it enables the deep-sea explorer to 
 accomplish his purpose with less labor and less machinery 
 and secures the great advantage to be acquired in the use 
 of a fine line. Frequent and carefully repeated soundings 
 by this method show the error of the earlier investigators. 
 The old method reports various lengths of thirty-four, thirty- 
 nine, forty-six, and even fifty thousand feet of line as having 
 been paid out, at different points, without finding bottom. 
 By the new method, working .in exactly the same localities, 
 there has been found no greater depth than twenty-four 
 thousand feet. 
 
 When it became necessary to lay the cable there could be 
 no guess work about its bed. The consequences were far 
 too momentous to admit of mistakes, or even the question 
 of a peradventure. The information must be exact. 
 
 The Mediterranean telegraphic cable was stretched in 
 1857. It worked satisfactorily until 1860, when it was dis- 
 covered that it was severed in seventy fathoms of water and 
 about two miles from shore. After much angling for it and 
 strenuous effort, the sea end was secured and brought up. 
 That portion of it which had lain in the deep sea was covered 
 with marine life. Thus, the first news from the profound 
 
SUBTERRANEAN EXPLORATIONS. 313 
 
 depths may truly be said to have been a telegraphic message. 
 A list of these organisms was made out and recorded by Dr. 
 Allman. The depth varied from seventy fathoms to one and 
 a half miles. All former methods could not be implicitly re- 
 lied upon, because, as has been already said, the sounding 
 line might bring up animals from any depth, and there was 
 no known way of ascertaining whether their true habitat was 
 at the bottom of the sea or not. 
 
 Dredging before the preliminary work for the laying of 
 this cable had seldom been deeper than six hundred feet. 
 Any device or machinery hitherto in use was greatly inade- 
 quate for the giant enterprise which at this time confronted 
 the scientists. At this juncture Great Britain came to the 
 front with an offer, not only of all known appliances best 
 adapted for the work, but vessels, seamen, and a corps of 
 naturalists, sufficient to execute the plan. They were able 
 to dredge and sound to a depth of nearly three miles with 
 perfect success. In earlier attempts the labor of hauling in 
 the rope was excessive. The use of an engine for this pur- 
 pose was now introduced. 
 
 It is estimated that by means of deep-sea explorations one 
 hundred and forty million square miles have been reclaimed 
 from scientific death. This surface, on which it was pre- 
 viously supposed that nothing could exist, has been proved 
 to be teeming with rich and exquisite forms of animal life, 
 no less varied than the fauna of the shallower waters. 
 These organisms are celebrated for their soft and beautiful 
 colors, their wonderful phosphorescence of rainbow tints, and 
 their elaborate and delicate formations. There are continu- 
 ally being brought to light new wonders and beauties, which 
 elicit great admiration, both for their intrinsic value and for 
 
314 SUBTERRANEAN EXPLORATIONS. 
 
 their aid in the solution of this weighty problem. The report 
 of the cruises of the " Porcupine " and " Lightning " show that 
 hauls made at depths of three thousand and more feet, as well 
 as those of six thousand feet, proved life to be abundant at 
 each depth. There were fifty-seven of the former hauls and 
 sixteen of the latter. 
 
 In two casts taken off the mouth of the Bay of Biscay, at a 
 depth of nearly three miles, characteristic specimens of all 
 five sub-kingdoms of the invertebrates were brought to the 
 surface, carefully examined and classified. Thus was finally 
 settled the existence of a profusion of 'animal life in the pro- 
 foundest depths. The specimens brought up by the broken 
 cable, before alluded to, were not merely clinging lightly to 
 the surface, but were firmly cemented to it, and many gave 
 evidence of having grown there. These deep-sea organisms 
 are adapted to the locations in which they are found. They 
 are so constructed that the intense pressure upon them does 
 not seriously affect them. On account of the low temperature 
 of the water they do not reduce their own temperature by 
 exercise. Sharks taken from these great depths are incapable 
 of movement when brought to the surface, while those that 
 live at the top always have to be struck and gashed to quiet 
 them. 
 
 The geographical distribution of animal life depends upon 
 the deep-sea temperature, which is not determined, as it is on 
 land, by the latitude. The water is generally colder as we 
 descend, and it is o degree at the ocean depths. In some 
 places the water forms what is called a "cold wall," with cur- 
 rents flowing around it. In immediate proximity, in the 
 North Atlantic Ocean, lie areas which show varying tempera- 
 tures of several degrees. It was formerly believed that water 
 
SUBTERRANEAN EXPLORATIONS. 315 
 
 at the bottom of the sea was of uniform temperature, and 
 that about thirty degrees all over the earth, but like the older 
 determinations of depth this theory must now be discarded. 
 The extreme cold of the deep sea does not retard abundant 
 and vigorous animal life, but vegetable life is not found, on 
 this account, together with the absence of light, which is 
 essential to vegetable growth and development. Some of 
 these latter forms drift from the spot where they grow, and 
 sink to the bottom, but the abyssal darkness sustains no life 
 of this kind. The animals of these great depths must live 
 somehow, must be sustained by organic matter. How do 
 they get it ? To be sure the higher forms can prey upon the 
 lower, but how are the lowest forms nourished ? This has 
 long been a question under discussion by scientists, and 
 several methods have been suggested, but it all has resulted 
 in the proof that the water holds the suitable matter in solu- 
 tion for- their sustenance, and that they appropriate it through 
 absorption. 
 
 The Sargossa Sea, that vast marine meadow occupying 
 three million square miles in the middle of the Atlantic 
 Ocean, yields an immeasurable supply of this material, the 
 great oceanic currents transport it, every river and stream 
 adds its quota to the ocean, every bed of seaweed contributes 
 its share, and all these become the purveyors to the waiting 
 life at the bottom. This life at the depths is usually of a 
 jelly-like consistency, capable of taking nourishment only in 
 a soluble form. The individuals possess few if any organs or 
 special functions. They receive their nourishment through 
 absorption through the exposed surfaces of their bodies. 
 
 Their method of breathing was another problem to be 
 solved. The ocean water has atmospheric air diffused 
 
31 6 SUBTERRANEAN EXPLORATIONS. 
 
 through it at all depths, as is proved by analysis. Air is as 
 necessary to the maintenance of the lives of marine animals 
 as to those of the land, though in much smaller quantities. 
 Carbonic acid is a product of respiration, and the layer of 
 water immediately above this vast layer of organic life is 
 found to be destitute of oxygen, but surcharged with carbonic 
 acid gas. This is invariably the case. But by diffusion this 
 gas is taken away by the water and the oxygen substituted 
 for it. By this means the respiration of the deepest fauna is 
 provided for through three miles of intervening water. The 
 water is aerated by every disturbance at the surface. 
 Every breeze or gale that skims or ploughs the top, and 
 every paddle or other device which dips into the surface 
 helps on the good work, and does its part toward supporting 
 the life at the bottom. 
 
 The depths of the Mediterranean hold no life. This is 
 owing to the absence of vertical currents in the water, as 
 there is but little variation in the different strata of water, 
 and the requisite commotions do not exist. As this body of 
 water is locked within high walls never less than ten thou- 
 sand feet above the profounder depths, only superficial 
 currents through the Straits of Gibraltar can operate through- 
 out its expanse. 
 
 Superstition played its part in hindering early investigation, 
 as the sailors" often tossed overboard the most valuable of 
 specimens, because " it was unlucky to keep them on board 
 the boat." 
 
 Doubts that the bottom of the sea were really a vast azoic 
 waste were induced by the reports of Dr. Wallich, the 
 naturalist to the " Bull-dog" sounding expedition, under Sir 
 Leopold McClintock, that he had brought from twelve hun- 
 
SUBTERRANEAN EXPLORATIONS. 317 
 
 dred fathoms, starfishes with stomachs filled with the deep- 
 sea foraminifers. 
 
 One of the later additions and improvements added to the 
 dredging apparatus is a 1 trawl, or net. These make the work 
 far more effective. The trawl has an open mouth, so hung 
 and arranged that any animals disturbed by the movements 
 of the machine naturally swim or float into the net. They 
 have long, frayed tassels to further entangle the passing or 
 adjacent organisms. These tassels were added because it 
 w r as found that so many specimens attached themselves to the 
 outside of the trawl. The first ones tried were the swabs 
 used for cleaning the decks. Captain Calver first used them. 
 They are now large bunches of " teazed-out " hemp. The 
 deepest successful haul of the trawl was made in the Pacific 
 Ocean, in three thousand one hundred and twenty-five 
 fathoms of water, that of Ball's dredge, the one now most 
 commonly in use, was made in the Atlantic, in three thousand 
 one hundred and fifty fathoms. 
 
 The earliest record of deep-sea dredging is that of Sir John 
 Ross, in his Arctic Expedition, in one thousand fathoms of 
 water. He brought up evidences of life at this depth. Sir 
 John Franklin obtained the same results. 
 
 In 1864,0. O. Sars, a distinguished Swedish naturalist, was 
 sent by the government of that country upon an expedition 
 connected with the Commisson on Fisheries, and he dredged 
 within the Arctic Circle. He brought up numerous forms of 
 animal life. His investigations proved that there was now 
 existent a mature form of crinoid which had before only been 
 known as a fossil of the Oolitic period. This discovery led 
 to the pursuit of other and further explorations under the 
 auspices of the British Government, by the " Lightning " and 
 " Porcupine.". 
 
31 8 SUBTERRANEAN EXPLORATIONS. 
 
 The very first naturalist to use the dredge was Otto 
 Frederick Muller, a Danish zoologist, of the last century. He 
 operated about 1770-79 and systematically investigated the 
 fauna of the sea. In 1779116 published his admirable De- 
 scriptions and History of the Rare and Less Known Animals 
 of Denmark and Norway. 
 
 After this but little was heard about dredging until Dr. 
 Robert Ball introduced the modern dredge named after him. 
 
 Until recent date there has not much attention been paid 
 to dredging in the United States. In 1867, Professor Pearce, 
 superintendent of coast survey, commissioned Count F. L. 
 Pourtales, one of his officers, to make dredgings in connec- 
 tion with the laying out of a track for the cable between Key 
 West, Florida, and Havana. These results were so satis- 
 factory that dredgings were subsequently conducted through 
 all the adjacent waters. 
 
 The "Challenger," a corvette of two thousand three hundred 
 and six tons burthen, fitted out and dispatched by the British 
 Government in the winter of 1872, on a cruise of circum- 
 navigation for dredging purposes, did the most systematic 
 and satisfactory work in this line that had been accomplished. 
 It had the most liberal and complete organization for the 
 purpose. Nothing seemed lacking. Powerful engines hauled 
 in the dredge, libraries, laboratories, and work-rooms were 
 provided, and a staff of the ablest naturalists were there to 
 conduct investigations and to attend to the packing and 
 preservation of the specimens required for future examina- 
 tions. 
 
 There have been several varieties of the dredge, or dredge 
 attachments. The Prince of Monaca used one with an elec- 
 tric light attached to attract the fishes. There were dredges 
 
SUBTERRANEAN EXPLORATIONS. 319 
 
 used by the Suez Canal Company having connected with 
 them an apparatus, or battering ram, for breaking away the 
 rock obstructions. 
 
 The world has been long engaged in submarine investiga- 
 tions. Diving for oysters was practiced in Homer's time. 
 Roger Bacon says that Alexander was possessed of some 
 artificial means of seeking out the secrets of the deep. 
 Bladders over the mouth were the first contrivance for artifi- 
 cial assistance in diving. In the year 380 the diving cap was 
 in use. In an expedition of the Greeks against Syracuse 
 divers were employed who sawed the wooden stockades 
 placed under water at the mouth of the harbor to prevent 
 the Greek ships from entering. 
 
 The result of all this investigation is to teach us to newly 
 comprehend the ocean. " Its bosom which so teems with 
 animal life ; its face, upon which time writes no wrinkles, are, 
 it would seem, as obedient to the great law of change as any 
 other denartment of nature." 
 
MINING GOLD AND SILVER 
 
 Y OME one has said that gold and silver sway the 
 \C movements of human life as potently as the sun and 
 / 1 moon sway the tides of the ocean. There have been 
 ^^X those who worshiped fame, honor, beauty, country 
 but the devotees of the cold, hard, glittering silver and 
 gold have in every land, in every clime, far outnumbered 
 them all. For, if to worship a thing be to fix one's whole 
 mind and heart steadfastly upon it, to desert one's home and 
 kindred, one's friends and sacred honor for it, then more 
 people in the civilized world to-day bow the knee to the 
 " Almighty dollar " be it a gold or a silver dollar than to 
 any other deity. And this they do because gold and silver 
 may be transmuted into almost every other material good. 
 We may lament the worship of the material, but we are com- 
 pelled to admit while we deplore. 
 
 The fact that the oldest records of the human race make 
 mention of gold and silver, proves that the art of mining dates 
 from a period of remotest antiquity. The Old Testament 
 refers frequently to these metals, disclosing that they were 
 always accounted riches. The processes of beating gold, of 
 making it into wires, as also of weaving it into linen for 
 priestly garments, were known to the Jewish people. They 
 likewise used it as a setting for precious stones, and the tem- 
 320 
 
MINING GOLD AND SILVER. 321 
 
 pie of Solomon was profusely decorated with goid. We read' 
 of the beams and pillars of ancient temples being covered 
 with plates of silver and gold, and that the tiles upon the- 
 reof of the temple at Ecbatana were made of solid silver., 
 Idolatrous nations have in all times been wont to fashion their 
 idols of gold and silver, the lavishness with which the precious 
 metals were employed for these purposes clearly demonstrat- 
 ing the existence of mines both marvelously rich and easily 
 accessible. 
 
 A story which has to modern ears an Oriental largeness of 
 ring to it, yet well illustrates the ancient abundance of the^. 
 precious metals. It is of the captive Inca of Peru, who, to- 
 purchase his royal freedom, promised to collect within two 
 months gold articles enough to fill nine feet in depth a room 
 twenty-two feet long by seventeen wide. This gold, when 
 placed in the crucible and melted yielded no less than one 
 million three hundred and twenty-six thousand pesos de oro, 
 a sum equal to about fifteen million dollars. Truly a costly 
 ransom. 
 
 Concerning the mines and mining operations of antiquity,, 
 classic writers have, however, left little on record. The land 
 of Ophir, regarding whose exact location no one can now 
 speak authoritatively, although it is supposed to have been 1 
 the East Indies, or the southeast coast of Africa, was the 
 region from which the Phoenicians and Israelites obtained, 
 their gold. The rich gold mines of Ethiopia and Nubia are. 
 supposed to have been the sources from which the Pharaohs, 
 of Egypt derived their enormous wealth. The Phoenicians 
 are known to have mined for gold and other metals in Sar- 
 dinia, and to have worked mines in Spain, presumably for 
 lead and silver 
 21 
 
322 MINING GOLD AND SILVER, 
 
 Prior in time to the mining of the Phoenicians was that of 
 
 o 
 
 the Egyptians, who worked successfully rich mines of gold, 
 silver, and copper in both Arabia and Ethiopia. Ruins of 
 mining- works in the Sinaitic desert are believed to be the re- 
 
 o 
 
 mains of early Egyptian mines. The gold mines of Croesus 
 in Asia Minor continued to be worked down to the time of 
 Zenophon, but later writers speak of the supply of gold from 
 these mines having become exhausted. The Grecians mined 
 silver from very productive mines in Attica, and rich gold 
 mines in Thrace and Thasos, and there are evidences that 
 mining was carried on by the inhabitants of Western Europe 
 before the time of the Romans. The early mines of Spain 
 were exceedingly rich, and the Spanish silver mines were 
 among the first to be worked. Pliny makes mention of a mine 
 in what is now the province of Seville, which afforded a daily 
 yield of three hundred pounds of silver. 
 
 Rome, by her successive conquests, gained in time control 
 of all the most valuable mines of that period, including those 
 of Spain, Sicily, Asia Minor, Greece, and Egypt. Slave labor 
 was largely employed in these mines, which were leased by 
 the government to persons who did not scruple to plunder 
 the republic of her mineral treasures. The output from the 
 mines was enormous, and many of them were exhausted. 
 
 There are in the United States traces of mining in pre- 
 historic times, but such ancient mines have been found only 
 in the copper districts of Lake Superior, and in parts of New 
 Mexico. The implements found in these deserted mines 
 convey some idea of the methods employed by the primitive 
 miners. Miners' tools of peculiar design have been discov- 
 ered in many of the ancient pits. Among these are great 
 numbers of stone hammers and copper chisels, wooden 
 
MINING GOLD AND SILVER. 323 
 
 shovels, bowls, and the like. The Portage Lake and Onton- 
 agon district have furnished many curious and interesting 
 relics of these ancient miners, who are believed by some to 
 have belonged to the race of the pre-historic mound- 
 builders. 
 
 The great demands upon the mines Kuon, during the 
 Middle Ages had resulted in despoiling these storehouses of 
 their hidden wealth, and in the absence of new discoveries 
 of mines, the metallurgists made countless futile endeavors 
 to find a means of transmuting the baser metals into gold. 
 But, although many an alchemist staked both fame and 
 fortune on such ventures, no success was ever known to 
 crown their efforts. The amount of gold and silver in the 
 Old World just previous to the discovery of America is said 
 to have fallen to thirty-four million pounds, the diminished 
 product from the mines being no more than sufficient to 
 make good the loss by wear destruction of the metals in cir- 
 culation. 
 
 But the newly-discovered world, by the profusion of its 
 riches, speedily much more than made up to the Old World 
 for the famished condition of the old mines. In consequence 
 of the vast importations of the precious metals, compared 
 with that of other commodities, their value rapidly declined, 
 and mines which had heretofore been worked with a profit, 
 now no longer paid for working. It has been estimated that 
 there was exported from the mines of America into Europe, 
 during the eight years following the discovery of the New 
 World, gold to the value of fifty-two thousand pounds, and 
 the annual yield scarcely diminished up to 1521. Until 1819, 
 gold alone was imported from America. The conquest of 
 Mexico caused large quantities of both gold and silver, es- 
 
324 MINING GOLD AND SILVER. 
 
 pecially the latter, to flow into European countries. In 1545,. 
 the discovery of the mines of Potosi augumented still further 
 the production of silver. After that time no accurate data 
 are furnished for determining the relative proportion of the 
 two precious metals. Some one has, however, roughly esti- 
 mated that the amount of gold exported to the Old World by 
 the New during the first three hundred years after its dis- 
 covery was equal to three and a half times the entire yield 
 of the old mines, while the quantity of silver exported was 
 twelve times the Old World product. 
 
 Russia was, previous to the discovery of gold in California, 
 the greatest gold-producing country in the world. The 
 Russian gold region was formerly in the Ural district, but in 
 the time of Nicholas, an exceedingly rich gold country, esti- 
 mated to be as large as the whole of France, was brought to 
 the knowledge of the government in Southern and Eastern 
 Siberia. The yield from this district alone in 1843 was about 
 eleven million dollars. The average annual production is 
 now about fifteen million dollars. 
 
 Gold was first discovered in Australia in 1839, by Count 
 Strzelecki. He at once made known his discovery to the 
 governor of the colony of New South Wales, but the latter 
 personage, being of the opinion that the presence of a great 
 number of convicts in the colony made it undesirable to pro- 
 claim the gold secret immediately, prevailed upon the Count 
 to refrain from publishing it abroad. Several other persons 
 made within a few years succeeding the discovery that Aus- 
 tralia was rich in yellow metal, but not until 1851 occurred 
 the "find," which resulted in placing the former convict 
 province foremost among the gold-producing countries of the 
 world. Once it was noised throughout the world that gold 
 
MINING GOLD AND SILVER. 325 
 
 In large quantities had been found in New South Wales, a 
 great immigration to this region took place. Extensive min- 
 ing operations soon revealed gold deposits far surpassing in 
 richness the fondest dreams of the most imaginative pros- 
 pectors. It was calculated that the amount of gold exported 
 from Victoria and New South Wales, within a period of 
 fifteen months, was nineteen million five hundred thousand 
 pounds sterling, nearly four times the supposed annual pro- 
 duction of the entire world previous to that time. The most 
 extensive o-old mines of Australia are in Victoria. The 
 
 o 
 
 Australian gold has a higher color than the gold of California, 
 and is of finer quality. 
 
 Gold in the United States is found mainly in two regions, 
 the one extending along the Atlantic slope, designated as 
 the Appalachian region, the other extending along the Pacific 
 Coast through California and the adjoining States and Terri- 
 tories. The Appalachian gold region stretches down through 
 portions of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, 
 and sections of Alabama and Tennessee, in a belt varying 
 greatly in width, being in some places more than seventy-five 
 miles in lateral extent. The largest proportion of gold found 
 in this region has been in North Carolina, in which State 
 occur two auriferous belts extending, the one in a southwest- 
 erly the other in a northeasterly direction. Gold is said to 
 have been found in the Southern States at an early period in 
 the country's history, but it is only since the opening of the 
 present century that the Southern gold region has received 
 any special attention. North Carolina had been until 1827 
 the only State from which any considerable quantity of gold 
 was obtained, but South Carolina and Virginia shortly after 
 that date be^ran to contribute a moderate amount of the 
 
326 MINING GOLD AND SILVER. 
 
 precious metals to the national supply. The entire amount 
 of Southern gold presented at the mints and assay offices of 
 the United States from the first working of the mines to the 
 year ending in June, 1873, reached a value of something over 
 twenty million dollars. 
 
 The gold and silver mines, upon which rests the mineral 
 fame of the United States, are of course those of the Pacific 
 slope region. Gold had been supposed to exist in California 
 for several hundred years before the great discovery of 1848. 
 A priest at the Mission of San Jose, had, in a book published 
 in Spain in 1690, made mention of the finding of gold upon 
 the placers of Upper California, and other writers at later 
 times declared that the country possessed an abundance of 
 gold, occurring in nuggets of from two to eight pounds. The 
 discovery of 1848 is, however, claimed to have had an acci- 
 dental origin, the abundant presence of the precious metal 
 being revealed to a party of Americans engaged in repairing 
 a mill-race. The news spread in time throughout the Union, 
 and then came the celebrated gold days of 1849, a period of 
 mining excitement unparalleled in history. A tide of emigra- 
 tion immediately poured into California from the Eastern 
 States, Mexico, South America, and even from Europe and 
 China, as soon as the fabulous stories of the hidden wealth had 
 reached the public ear. In less than six months, four thousand 
 men were reported at work on the new gold site, their labors 
 resulting in a daily output of from thirty to fifty thousand 
 dollars. Every mountain and hill that bore traces of an 
 auriferous formation was tunneled and bored by these eager 
 gold seekers. The sands of the rivers were washed and 
 made to yield up their grains of wealth. 
 
 The great gold region of California is situated on the 
 
MINING GOLD AND SILVER. 327 
 
 western slope of the Sierra Nevada, and embraces a belt of 
 country about five hundred miles in length and forty miles in 
 width. The gold veins occur in, or in close contact with clay 
 and sandstone formations, and likewise in granite and lime- 
 stone rocks. The greatest production of California gold has 
 been from the placers, these deposits being found in the beds 
 of rivers, and also in what are supposed to be ancient water- 
 courses. Gold is obtained in less abundance than in Califor- 
 nia in many other of the Western States and Territories, 
 noticeably in Nevada where it occurs chiefly in combination 
 with the silver ore in the great Comstock vein in Colorado, 
 Montana, Washington, Idaho, and Arizona. 
 
 Silver mining in the United States dates almost wholly from 
 the discovery of the Comstock lode in 1859, although New 
 Mexico and Arizona had previously yielded small amounts of 
 the white metal. The Comstock vein in richness far surpasses 
 the famous mines of Spain and Mexico, the product for the 
 single year of 1874 amounting to twenty-three millions of 
 dollars. The " Big Bonanza" mine in the Comstock lode is 
 the richest mine in the world. It was discovered in 1874. The 
 average yield of ore from this lode is about eight hundred 
 dollars per ton, but certain drifts have produced even two 
 thousand dollars to the ton, and specimens have been found 
 which contained eight thousand dollars of pure silver in a ton 
 of quartz. The bullion from the Comstock lode yields in 
 combination with the silver, gold, in value about one-third. 
 Little silver is produced in the Eastern States. A small quan- 
 tity is found in combination with the native copper of the 
 Lake Superior mines, and the Silver Islet mine and other 
 Northern Michigan mines have vielded considerable amounts 
 of argentiferous ore. 
 
328 MINING GOLD AND SILVER. 
 
 Much of the world's gold and silver has come from Mexico, 
 whose mineral wealth has been famous for ages. Among the 
 treasures of Montezuma, the silver is said to have been far 
 less in quantity than the gold, but since the opening of the 
 silver mines in the sixteenth century, the yield of silver from 
 Mexico has exceeded that from all other countries. From 
 South America has been derived also large supplies of both 
 gold and silver, the mines of Brazil, Peru, Chili, and other 
 sections being of wondrous extent and richness. The yield 
 from South America has much diminished of late years, but 
 there are believed to be districts possessing gold and silver 
 in great abundance, which, from the unheathiness of the 
 climate, as well as from political causes, have been almost 
 wholly unworked. Images made of gold have been discovered 
 on the Isthmus of Panama, in the graves of aboriginal dwell- 
 ers, which imply the existence of ancient mines whose loca- 
 tions are now unknown. 
 
 Gold is found usually in metallic form, in scales, nuggets, 
 or grains. Native gold is found invariably in combination 
 with from one to forty per cent, of silver. No analysis of 
 gold has yet been made which did not give evidence of at 
 least a small amount of silver. Gold is found often, also, in 
 combination with various other metals, as with iron and cop- 
 per. Gold ores, properly so called, are of rare occurrence. It 
 is usually scattered in small particles through the quartz, 
 when existing in rocks, and found in dust or nuggets, when 
 in sand or gravel. Gold is distinguished as quartz gold, 
 such as is found in veins or lodes, and wash gold, that obtained 
 from placers, gravel deposits, and the like. By native gold is 
 meant an alloy of gold and silver with some iron, copper, and 
 
MINING GOLD AND SILVER. 329 
 
 other metals. It is in this form of combination that most of 
 the gold found in the world is obtained. 
 
 Silver is often found in the native state, although usually 
 this metal is obtained from the sulphuret. Silver does not- 
 appear in sands or gravel, but always in rocks, and instead 
 of being in minute particles, it is found in veins or masses of 
 -ore. A yield of forty dollars per ton of pure gold ore is a 
 very rich product, while a yield of one hundred dollars per 
 ton is not an unusually rich product from a silver mine. Pure 
 silver in the mass is the whitest metal known. It is harder 
 and stronger than gold, and in malleability and ductility is 
 second only to the yellow metal. As a heat-conducting 
 medium it surpasses all other metals, this among other proper- 
 ties rendering it best qualified to retain the heat of liquids. 
 Silver alloys readily with most metals on melting. It occurs 
 so invariably in alloy with gold that some one has said they 
 may almost be said to constitute but one mineral species, 
 which should range "from silver with a slight trace of gold to 
 gold with a slight trace of silver." 
 
 It has been supposed by some that gold is confined to the 
 rocks of one geological period, but this is an error. In Col- 
 orado gold is found in rocks of the eozoic age, while in the 
 Appalachians, the gold is deposited in strata of the palaeozoic 
 age. The gold-bearing strata of Nova Scotia are slates and 
 sandstones, which are supposed to date back to the lower 
 Cambrian period. The strata of Wales and of Australia be- 
 long also to this period. The gold of California is said to be 
 mainly in strata pertaining to the Jurassic period, but it is be- 
 lieved that part of the auriferous rocks of that country are of 
 
 the eozoic ao-e. 
 & 
 
 The crumbling and falling to pieces of the gold-bearing 
 
33O MINING GOLD AND SILVER. 
 
 rocks causes the gold in grains to be swept down to lower 
 levels, thus forming deposits of gold in river-beds. These 
 often become covered with clay or sand to such a depth that 
 the real nature of the auriferous formation is not suspected. 
 Gold is sometimes found in such veins in great abundance, 
 and by washing away the covering of clay or sand the nug- 
 gets of gold may be obtained. In such deposits have been 
 discovered the largest nuggets of gold ever found. The 
 largest nugget in the world is claimed to be that called the 
 " Sarah Sands," which was found in Australia, and weighed 
 two hundred and thirty-three pounds and four ounces troy. 
 The purest specimen of gold known is said to be one ob- 
 tained from the Ural Mountains in Yekaterinburg, in which 
 the proportion of gold in one hundred parts of metal was 
 ninety-eight and ninety-six hundredths. The yield of the 
 California mines is exceedingly rich, being very near the 
 pureness of the American and French gold coins, which is 
 nine hundred in one thousand parts. The average propor- 
 tion of gold in the product of the California mines is eight 
 hundred and eighty thousandths ; that of Australia is nine 
 hundred and sixty-three thousandths. The richest gold mine 
 in the world is said to be the Douglas mine, in Australia.. 
 The output from this mine is in value two hundred thousand 
 dollars a month. 
 
 Gold mining is accomplished by a mechanical or a chemi- 
 cal process, or a combination of both, depending upon the 
 nature and location of the deposit. Washing is the mechan- 
 ical means most generally resorted to for separating the gold 
 from the substances with which it is found in union. Many 
 different ways of performing this operation have been in- 
 vented, the location and circumstances determining which is 
 
MINING GOLD AND SILVER. 331 
 
 the most feasible in each instance. The method called pan- 
 ning consists in washing the earth or pulverized rock in a 
 vessel in such a manner that the fine earth particles are 
 swept over the edge of the vessel, leaving the gold with the 
 larger stones behind. The stones are then removed, and the 
 process continued until nothing but the gold mixed with 
 black sand, usually titaniferous iron, which latter may be 
 either blown away or expelled by a magnet. Quicksilver is 
 sometimes used to separate the fine gold from the other 
 materials. 
 
 The rocker is an invention something like a cradle, contain- 
 ing a sheet-iron bottom riddled with half-inch perforations. 
 The earth containing gold is placed in the hopper, and water 
 is then poured upon it, the rocker being at the same time 
 kept in motion so as to let the earth with the fine particles of 
 gold pass through the holes, which are not large enough to 
 permit the passing of the coarser stones. The sluice is usu- 
 ally a long wooden trough, through which the gold-bearing 
 dirt is made to pass by the agency of a constantly flowing 
 stream of water. Various inventions are made use of to 
 catch the gold after it is freed from the baser substances, 
 mercury being much used to assist in this end. 
 
 The hydraulic process, which was invented in Placer County, 
 Cal., in 1852, is the most celebrated gold-mining process. By 
 this method a stream of water under enormous hydraulic 
 pressure is hurled upon the mass of gold-bearing ore, which 
 has been prepared by blasting for the action of the water. 
 So great is the force of this water torrent that great frag- 
 ments of rock, earth, and gravel are torn apart and swept like 
 sand grains into the vast sluices awaiting their reception. By 
 the employment of the hydraulic process the cost of working 
 
332 MINING GOLD AND SILVER. 
 
 many California mines has been greatly reduced. Some one 
 has made an estimate of the average cost of handling a cubic 
 yard of gravel by the various mechanical processes, reckon- 
 ing the wages of the miners at four dollars a day. He found 
 the cost thus calculated to be respectively : by the panning 
 process, twenty dollars ; in the rocker, five dollars ; with the 
 long torn, one dollar; by the hydraulic method and sluices, 
 five cents. Quartz gold is obtained by pulverizing the rock 
 containing the gold, and then separating the precious metal 
 from the quartz by washing and amalgamating. The smelt- 
 ing processes are the same for the extraction of both gold 
 and silver. For the separation of the two metals always 
 found together, the nitric acid and sulphuric acid, or the chlo- 
 rine process is generally employed. 
 
 The methods of obtaining silver from the ores may be 
 denominated as the smelting, amalgamation, and humid ex- 
 traction process. Silver ores, which consist mainly of native 
 silver imbedded with other minerals in rocks, are subjected 
 to the smelting process. Of such ores are those found in 
 Northern Michigan. At the smelting works at Wyandotte, 
 Michigan, iron pyrites is added to the ore, whereby a regulus 
 consisting of sulphide of iron and sulphide of copper is first 
 obtained. When this is in a molten condition, lead is mixed 
 with this. After taking up the greater part of the silver, the 
 lead separates by its own weight. The silver is then re- 
 moved from this alloy formed with the lead by cupellation. 
 
 The amalgamation method invented by Bartholome de 
 Medina, about the middle of the sixteenth century, is the one 
 which is practiced, with but slight changes, at the present 
 time. The ore is first crushed, and then ground fine in 
 circular troughs called arrastras. Mercury is then added, by 
 
MINING GOLD AND SILVER. 333, 
 
 which means the silver is extracted from the other sub- 
 stances. The character of the ore determines in each case 
 which process is the better adapted to the extraction of the 
 silver. 
 
 Great obstacles stand in the way of obtaining accurate 
 statistics as to the total production of gold and silver in the 
 world. The statistics of the countries producing the precious 
 metals record the amounts deposited for coinage, but these 
 fail to give an adequate idea of the entire production. Ac- 
 cording to one estimate, the annual production of gold at the 
 opening of the nineteenth century was about fifty-three 
 thousand nine hundred and forty pounds troy, to which 
 amount contributed respectively: New Granada, twenty- 
 three per cent. ; Brazil and Southern Asia, eighteen per cent, 
 each ; Chili, thirteen per cent. ; Mexico, eight per cent. ; 
 Australia, six per cent. ; and Peru, four per cent. An estimate 
 made in the year 1860, shows a vast increase in the produc- 
 tion, as well as a great change in the distribution of the pro- 
 duct among the various countries. We find in 1860, the 
 yield increased to five hundred and eighty-five thousand 
 three hundred and seventy pounds troy, of which Australia 
 yields thirty-seven per cent. ; California and the adjoining 
 States and Territories thirty-one and nine-tenths per cent. ; 
 and Russia, eleven and three-tenths per cent. In 1865, the 
 product was five hundred and fifty-nine thousand five hundred 
 aud eighty-seven pounds. Of this amount, California pro- 
 duced thirty-seven and five-terlths per cent. ; Australia, 
 twenty-seven and nine-tenths per cent. ; and Russia, twelve 
 and four-tenths per cent. 
 
 The value of the gold production of the chief gold coun- 
 tries in 1867, is stated as being: for the United States, fifty- 
 
MINING GOLD AND SILVER. 
 
 six million five hundred thousand dollars ; for Australia, 
 thirty-one million five hundred and fifty thousand dollars ; for 
 Russia, fifteen million five hundred thousand dollars. Prior 
 to the discovery of gold in California in 1848, one-half of the 
 entire annual supply of gold came from Eastern Russia. 
 But since the year 1850, Australia and the Pacific coast of 
 the United States have been the great gold producing 
 regions. The United States raises now one-half the gold 
 and one-half the silver of the entire world's supply. The 
 gold yield of the United States in forty years is estimated in 
 value as one billion nine hundred million dollars. 
 
 Tables adapted from a series of tables carefully prepared 
 by Ivan G. Michaels, Washington, D. C., give a comprehen- 
 sive idea of the increase in the world's product of gold and 
 silver and their values, from the beginning of the Christian 
 era to the year 1889, the latest date attainable. The figures 
 from A. D. i to 1780, give the yield for centuries, after 1780, 
 for periods of twenty years. 
 
 WORLD'S PRODUCTION OF GOLD AND SILVER FROM A. D. I TO A. D. 1889. 
 
 GOLD. 
 
 SILVER. 
 
 A. D. 
 
 LBS. AVOIR. 
 
 DOLLARS. 
 
 LBS. AVOIR. 
 
 DOLLARS. 
 
 I to 1492 
 
 13,472,164 
 
 4,445,814,120 
 
 30,056,635 
 
 6l6,l6l,OI7 
 
 1493 to l6o 
 
 1,570,200 
 
 518,165,600 
 
 51,168,800 
 
 I 048,960,400 
 
 1601 to 1700 
 
 1,985,060 
 
 656,069,800 
 
 81,814,800 
 
 1,677,203,400 
 
 1701 to 1780 
 
 3,397,460 
 
 I,I2I,l6l,8oO 
 
 86,796,140 
 
 1,779,320,870 
 
 1781 to 1800 
 
 782,760 
 
 258,310,800 
 
 38,678,000 
 
 792,899,000 
 
 1801 to 1820 
 
 5 6 4,542 
 
 186,298,860 
 
 22,039,260 
 
 451,804,830 
 
 1821 to 1840 
 
 759,010 
 
 250,473,000 
 
 30,291,690 
 
 620,979,645 
 
 1841 to 1860 
 
 5,633,988 
 
 1,859,216,040 
 
 36,876,870 
 
 755,975335 
 
 1861 to 1880 
 
 7,920,264 
 
 2,613,687,120 
 
 69,012,570 
 
 1,414,757,767 
 
 1881 to 1888 
 
 2,500,639 
 
 825,210,445 
 
 47,105,840 
 
 965,670,098 
 
 Total . . . 
 
 38,586,087 
 
 12,733,400,285 
 
 493,840,609 
 
 10,123,732,862 
 
MINING GOLD AND SILVER. 
 
 335 
 
 The effect of the California and Australia gold discoveries 
 is shown in the extraordinary increase for the period from 
 1840 to 1860, and continuing to 1880. After 1880 there is 
 a perceptible falling off, but still an enormous production. 
 The great output of silver from the Nevada mines, between 
 1860 and 1880, appears in the almost doubling of the figures 
 for that period. When it is remembered that this increase 
 was, with a few inconsiderable exceptions, almost wholly from 
 one silver district, the great Com stock lode, the richness of 
 the yield will be appreciated. 
 
 Another estimate of the total world production of the 
 precious metals, divides it into three important periods, the 
 first extending from the opening of the Christian era 
 to the discovery of America, the second from 1492 to 
 the gold discoveries of 1848, and the last from 1848 to 
 1889. This plan brings into prominence the addition of 
 gold and silver to the world, by the discovered wealth 
 of the New World, and later by the discoveries in California 
 and Australia. 
 
 WORLD'S PRODUCTION OF GOLD AND SILVER. FIRST PERIOD A. D. 
 i TO DISCOVERY OF AMERICA IN 1492. 
 
 GOLD. 
 
 SILVER. 
 
 LBS. AVOIR. 
 
 DOLLARS. 
 
 LBS. AVOIR. 
 
 DOLLARS. 
 
 13,472,164 
 
 4,445.814,120 
 
 30.056,635 
 
 6l6,l6l,OI7 
 
 In quantity, gold to silver as i to 2.23. In value, gold 
 87.8 per cent., silver 12.2 per cent. 
 
336 
 
 MINING GOLD AND SILVER. 
 SECOND PERIOD 1492 TO 1848. 
 
 GOLD. 
 
 SILVER. 
 
 LBS. AVOIR. 
 
 DOLLARS. 
 
 LBS. AVOIR. 
 
 DOLLARS. 
 
 11,725,284 
 
 3,869,343,720 
 
 358,718,505 
 
 7,353,729,353 
 
 In quantity, gold to silver as i to 30.59. In value, gold 
 34.5 per cent., silver 65.5 per cent. 
 
 THIRD PERIOD 1848 TO 
 
 GOLD. 
 
 SILVER. 
 
 LBS. AVOIR. 
 
 DOLLARS. 
 
 LBS. AVOIR. 
 
 DOLLARS. 
 
 13,388,639 
 
 4,418,250,870 
 
 105,065,469 
 
 2,153,842,114 
 
 In quantity, gold to silver as i to 7.92. In value, gold 
 67.3 per cent., silver 32.7 per cent. 
 
 Probably nine-tenths of all the gold obtained is from placer 
 deposits. Nearly three-fourths of the gold product of the 
 United States from 1848 to 1888 was derived from the 
 placers of California. The average yearly value of the gold 
 product is estimated at about one hundred and fourteen 
 million dollars. The annual production of the United States 
 has fallen somewhat since the fifties and sixties, but still ranges 
 at about thirty million dollars. A mining expert has been 
 quoted as saying that there is enough gold in one little dis- 
 trict of Colorado to pay off the entire national debt of the 
 United States. Such statements may contain exaggeration, 
 
MINING GOLD AND SILVER. 337" 
 
 but there seems no good ground for concluding that the 
 United States resources for both gold and silver are by any 
 means yet fully developed. An abundant domestic supply 
 of both the precious metals would appear to be assured for 
 many years to come. 
 
 Ancient fiscal privileges of royalty granted mines contain- 
 ing gold or silver to the King. In many of the grants to the 
 colonies, one-fifth of the product of gold and silver mines was 
 reserved as a royalty. In the gold and silver mines of Vir- 
 ginia, the London company reserved another fifth to itself. 
 But it is becoming more and more the custom of civilized 
 countries to remove all restrictions to the ownership of gold 
 and silver mines, and to place property in them on the same 
 legal footing as that in any other thing, with, of course, the 
 exception, that the laws governing ownership in mining 
 property must, from the peculiarities of such property, differ 
 somewhat from those applicable to other forms of real estate. 
 
 It is estimated that about one-fourth of all the gold pro- 
 duced is used for coinage, and the remaining three-fourths is 
 employed in the arts. The demand of gold for purposes of 
 coining has been greatly increased of late years by the change 
 in the monetary system of many countries from a bimetallic 
 to a monometallic currency. This change has teen- made 
 through a feeling on the part of such governments whether 
 well founded or not, time may demonstrate that the shifting 
 value of silver, and the difficulty of maintaining a constant 
 ratio between the two metals, rendered a double monetary 
 standard uncertain and inexpedient. Such a step as the 
 demonetization of silver could not but result in a fall in the 
 value of the white metal, till it reached the plane of the les- 
 sened demand. 
 
 22 
 
338 MINING GOLD AND SILVER 
 
 Modern inventions in mining" machinery make it possible to 
 work at a profit now, mines which would not with former 
 methods have repaid the expenses of working. The location 
 of the mine, the situation of the metal-bearing vein, largely 
 conditions of course, the expense of extracting the metal from 
 the ore, making it difficult to calculate with accuracy what is 
 an average expense of mining either gold or silver. The 
 higher wages paid in the United States might at first seem to 
 imply a greater cost of working mines in that country, than 
 in the countries of the Old World. But in mining, as in other 
 industries, cheap labor is found to be unprofitable labor, and 
 the United States can to-day place her gold and silver in the 
 markets of the world as cheaply as any country known. It 
 is related that at the Spanish mine, Washington Township, 
 Nevada County, Colorado, in 1887, three thousand tons of 
 gold ore were mined at thirty-seven and a half cents per ton, 
 and milled at twenty-three cents per ton. Thus was demon- 
 strated a possibility of working ore worth only one dollar per 
 ton at a profit of thirty-nine and a half cents. 
 
 The discovery of gold or silver in any country enables that 
 country, by being in possession of cheaper coin to obtain on 
 easier terms commodities from other nations. The gain is, 
 in the first instance, wholly on the part of the country in which 
 the precious metal is found. When, on the contrary, a coun- 
 try does not itself produce gold or silver, every increase in 
 its circulation must be purchased with goods of real value in 
 that country, By the rise of prices in the country in which 
 the metal is discovered, international values are affected. 
 Conditions of national wealth are changed. But in time the 
 precious metal flows out into the circulation of other coun- 
 tries, a' beneficent stream carrying widespread prosperity in 
 
MINING GOLD AND SILVER. 339 
 
 its wake, until in the process of years, by the agency of com- 
 mercial operations, the nations of the world come to share in 
 the new-found wealth of the gold-producing country. For in 
 these latter years of international trade and intercourse, no 
 nation's gain or loss is wholly its own. In it " all the rest 
 have equal claim." 
 
THE STEAMBOAT. 
 
 HE original idea of a boat for crossing streams and 
 other small bodies of water is directly traceable to the 
 floating log ; as the very simplest form is that log 
 pointed at either end. Several logs were next lashed 
 together by pliant twigs and branches, forming the raft which 
 was propelled by long poles. The earliest Egyptian draw- 
 ings show boats made from sawn planks and having numer- 
 ous sails and oars. 
 
 The process of boat building has been a progress by 
 stages ; and the civilization of a tribe or nation is accurately 
 determined by the form of boat they use. There are six 
 clearly defined stages of the work, and every one of these 
 six grades still survive in some section of the world. Even 
 the most primitive of all, the unhollowed log, is used on the 
 northern coast of Australia, i. Is found the floating log, 
 rafts, or even bundles of brush-wood or reeds tied together. 
 2. Dugouts, or logs hollowed out, sometimes by means of 
 fire, sometimes with the crude tools of savagery. 3. Inflated 
 skins, or canoes of bark or skins that were stretched on a 
 rude frame. The inflated skins were known as " balsas." 
 4. Canoes of bark or skins fastened together with sinews, or 
 
 o 
 
 thongs, or fibers of vegetable growth. 5. Vessels of sawn 
 planks or boards fastened to inserted ribs. These often hah 
 340 
 
THE STEAMBOAT. 34! 
 
 decks and half decks in them. 6. Vessels of which the 
 framework is first fashioned and the covering nailed on after- 
 ward. This is the highest form yet reached. 
 
 For a long time boats were of a light draught, as they were 
 always beached during the winter time. The Romans built 
 their boats of light woods, as pine and cedar, but their war 
 boats were more ponderous, being built of oak and heavily 
 clamped together at their bows with iron or brass, that they 
 might be used, on occasion, as battering rams. The Viking 
 war ship was clinker built, seventy-eight feet long, seven feet 
 amidships, five and three-fourths feet deep, and drew less than 
 four feet of water. It had thirty-two oars and one mast, forty 
 feet high, which probably carried a single, square sail. The 
 galleys of Alfred, which kept these boats in check, were pro- 
 pelled by from forty to sixty oars, but they were only fit for 
 shore service and could not put to sea. The ships of Canute 
 carried only eighty men. The " large ships " of Richard 
 Cceur de Lion, in 1190, which transported his forces to the 
 Crusades, were only of small size and moved by sails. 
 Henry V, during the early fifteenth century ordered the 
 building of several large ships which were the wonder and 
 admiration of that time. One was one hundred and fifteen 
 feet long, one hundred and twelve feet keel, and forty-six 
 feet beam. Both Henry VII and Henry VIII did much to 
 encourage ship building, both for commerce and war. 
 
 In 1511, in Scotland, was built the " Great Michael," "ane 
 varie monstrous schip." This boat was two hundred and 
 forty feet long, which far exceeded any boat previously con- 
 structed. This, in the main, is the history of the early at- 
 tempts at boat building. 
 
 For some time before 1 788, paddle wheels were experi- 
 
342 THE STEAMBOAT. 
 
 mented with for propelling larger boats. These were all 
 driven by hand power. 
 
 The use of steam dates from antiquity. It is among the 
 relics of ancient Egyptian civilization that we find the first 
 records in the early history of the steam engine. Hero, in 
 Alexandria, about 250 B. C., wrote his manuscript, entitled 
 " Spectalia seu Pneumatica," in which he describes several 
 forms of boilers used in the generation of steam which was 
 applied to the motion of what seems to have been a variety 
 of philosophical toys. He described the hand fire engine 
 which is still employed in the small towns of this country. 
 
 The first steam boilers were nearly spheroidal, ellipsoidal, 
 or cylindrical. Those of Salomon De Caus, engineer and 
 architect to Louis XIII, in 1615, were spherical; those of 
 Edward Somerset, the second Marquis of Worcester, in 1663, 
 were also spherical, while those of Thomas Savery, in 1698, 
 were ellipsoidal and cylindrical. After this steam boilers re- 
 ceived a variety of shapes, until, upon the general adoption 
 of high pressure, it became necessary to give them the strong- 
 est possible form. The material first used in their construc- 
 tion was copper, but it is now usually wrought iron or steel. 
 
 The present forms of boilers are to be classed as plain flue 
 and tubular. The plain cylindrical boiler is the only represent- 
 ative of its class in common use. It is perfectly cylindrical, 
 with heads that are either flat or hemispherical. Flue boilers 
 are often cylindrical and contain one or more cylindrical flues, 
 passing from one end of them to the other, under the water 
 line, carrying the furnace gases and thus affording a much 
 larger heating surface than could be secured without them. 
 A cylindrical boiler having one lengthwise flue is known as 
 the Cornish boiler, because it was first used at Cornwall, 
 
THE STEAMBOAT. 343 
 
 The two-flued boilers are called the Lancashire. These flues 
 have one-third the diameter of the boiler shell. Several tubes 
 of less diameter are frequently used, and when the greatest 
 amount possible of heating surface is required, tubes of from 
 one and one-half inches to four or five inches are used. Flues 
 are usually made by riveting the sheet-iron together, the same 
 as for the outside shell. But sometimes these sheets are welded 
 together. The tubes are frequently made of brass or copper, 
 to secure the most rapid transfusion of heat through the 
 water. Another advantage in their employment is that a 
 much smaller boiler may thus be used, as a smaller area of 
 heating surface will be required. A sectional boiler is one 
 differing from the usual forms in its peculiar arrangement of 
 water and steam spaces. In it are a large number of small, 
 compact apartments occupying the space of its interior. It is 
 considered that this is the safest kind of boiler, for the tubes 
 are of material which will withstand a much greater strain 
 than is ever required of them. 
 
 The earliest specimen of these boilers is supposed to be 
 the one used by Col. John Stevens, in 1804, at Hoboken, N. J. 
 He built the direct-acting, high-pressure and condensing en- 
 gine, with sectional boiler, and experimented with it on the 
 Hudson River. In the following year, 1805, his son, John Cox 
 Stevens, patented this boiler in England. The machinery of 
 Stevens's first boat is still to be seen, in a state of good pres- 
 ervation, in the Museum of the Stevens Institute of Tech- 
 nology, at Hoboken. 
 
 It is quite impossible to locate accurately the first use of 
 steam as a motive power for boats. Blasco de Garay is 
 credited by Spanish writers with applying steam to the pro- 
 pulsion of a boat at Barcelona in 1543. If this feat was really 
 
344 THE STEAMBOAT. 
 
 accomplished, it is the first on record. Giovanni Branca, at 
 Rome, in 1629, published an account of the mechanical appli- 
 cation of the steam jet to the impulsion of a wheel, by forcing 
 the steam against the vanes of the wheel, and proposed its 
 application to many practical purposes. The Marquis of 
 Worcester, in his Century of Inventions, published in 1663, 
 tells of an appliance which consisted of steam boilers operat- 
 ing alternately, and of pipes conveying steam from them to a 
 vessel in which its pressure acted in such a way as to force 
 water upward, as had been previously suggested by De Caus. 
 This was set up in Vauvhall, near London, and was the first 
 instance of the practical application of steam in England. 
 Thomas Newcomen, John Canley, and Thomas Savery pat- 
 ented the first steam engine which was worthy of the name ; 
 the others could only be said to be experiments. Humphrey 
 Potter, an ingenious boy mechanic, in 1713, caused the valve 
 gear to work automatically by means of leading cords from 
 the beam. Henry Beighton, in 1718, substituted a plug rod, 
 as well as the more substantial appliance still known to en- 
 gineers, for the leading cords. The improved Newcomen 
 engine came into use throughout England during the eight- 
 
 o o o o o 
 
 eenth century. 
 
 James Watt, an instrument maker at the University of 
 Glasgow, Scotland, while repairing a model Newcomen en- 
 gine in 1 763, began a series of experiments, which finally 
 made the steam engine of universal service. In 1765, he 
 .attached a separate condenser, which saved fully three-fourths 
 each of water and heat. He also substituted oil and tallow 
 to keep the piston from leaking, instead of flooding it from 
 above with water, as had been the custom previously. He 
 closed the top with a cylinder head, and protected the cylin- 
 
THE STEAMBOAT. 345 
 
 der with a non-conducting covering, to prevent the loss of 
 heat by radiation. He also applied the " steam jacket." The 
 firm of Boulton & Watt commenced making these engines, 
 at Soho, near Birmingham, Eng., in 1773. Watt suggested 
 the economy of steam by its expansion, in 1 769, and in 1 776 a 
 form of cut-off was adopted by him which he patented in 1 782. 
 The crank and fly-wheel were patented by Wasborough, in 
 1 781. By these various devices it is estimated that the power 
 of the steam engine was at least doubled. 
 
 o 
 
 Engines are called condensing or non-condensing, as they 
 have, or do not have, a condenser. They are high or low 
 pressure. High-pressure engines are those supplied with 
 steam of fifty pounds and upwards to the square inch ; low- 
 pressure, those having forty pounds and downwards to the 
 square inch. 
 
 Engines are classed, according to the use for which they 
 are intended, into stationary, pumping, portable, locomotive, 
 or marine. The simplest form is the locomotive, as in it 
 neither the governor nor condenser is used. The oldest form 
 of pumping engine now in use is the Cornish. 
 
 Oliver Evans, in 1779, projected the high-pressure, non- 
 conducting steam engine. He used them to run grain and 
 saw mills, locomotives and vessels. This is still the most 
 common of all forms in use. 
 
 Joseph Dixon, in 1823, coupled two engines with cranks at 
 right angles. The detachable, adjustable, or drop cut-off 
 ^alve gear was patented by Frederick E, Sickles, of New 
 York, in 1842. Zachariah Allen and George H. Corliss, of 
 Rhode Island, first applied the governor to determine the 
 point of cut-off. This was patented by Corliss in 1849. 
 
 The revival of the double cylinder engine with rapid motion 
 
346 THE STEAMBOAT. 
 
 of piston, high pressure and considerable expansion, which 
 have proved so economical and successful, have been the only 
 recent features in this branch of engineering progress. The 
 Corliss engine is the best known stationary engine. It is 
 generally used in America and extensively copied in England. 
 
 Marine steam engines are of various forms, but a few 
 shapes only are in general use. They almost invariably have 
 condensers. While these were formerly run at low pressure^ 
 now sixty pounds are used. 
 
 In the early days of steam navigation, paddle wheels were 
 exclusively used for propelling boats, but latterly the screw 
 has almost entirely superseded them. The first use of the 
 screw, of which there seems to be any record, was the one, by 
 means of which the tug of Captain Ericsson, a scientific vete- 
 ran, in 1837, towed the Admiralty barge from Somerset House 
 to Blackwell and back. The paddle engines of the United 
 States are most commonly the overhead beam engines, driven 
 by steam of from twenty to fifty pounds pressure and fitted 
 with jet condenser ; and the high pressure, non-conducting, 
 direct-acting engines, used mainly on our Western rivers. 
 These are driven by steam, one hundred to one hundred and 
 fifty pounds pressure, and they exhaust the steam into the 
 atmosphere. This is the simplest form of direct-acting engine. 
 The beam engine is distinctively an American type, being 
 seldom, if ever, seen abroad. They are usually employed for 
 vessels of great length, light draught and high speed. Screw 
 steamers are far more efficacious than paddle-wheel steamers, 
 not alone on account of. the screw being a better instrument 
 of propulsion, but because it allows the use of more efficient 
 machinery and conserves a great amount of energy which is 
 entirely wasted with the paddle wheel in putting the water in 
 
THE STEAMBOAT. 347 
 
 motion, which coming in contact with the hull of the vessel is 
 set in motion by friction and the resulting current is left be- 
 hind to expend its energy by contact with the surrounding 
 water. In the case of the screw, the currents so produced 
 impinge upon the screw, which works at the stern of the ves- 
 sel, and impart to it a part of that force which otherwise would 
 be lost in making currents. The screws work deeply in the 
 water and, for this reason, are not so liable to slip as are the 
 paddle wheels. Hence, screws have become the sole instru- 
 ment of propulsion where the depth of water will permit their 
 use. The screw engines are light, compact, and speedy in 
 their work. They use steam economically and power is ap- 
 plied more effectively than with the wheel. On account of 
 their compactness, smaller size, and lightness, more paying 
 freight can be transported, which adds greatly to the commer- 
 cial value of the steam vessel. 
 
 Screw propellers are of various forms, but not many differ- 
 ent shapes are in common use, as a few kinds are found to be 
 most practical. The usual form has two blades of nearly 
 equal breadth from centre to periphery, or slightly widening 
 toward their extremities. These are more commonly used 
 in vessels of high speed running free, as tugs. In naval ves- 
 sels screws of two blades are usually employed. In the early 
 vessels these screws were so adjusted that they could be 
 hoisted out of the water, into a sort of." well," when the ves- 
 sel was under sail, or set behind the sternpost, where their 
 resistance to the progress of the boat was reduced to a mini- 
 mum. In the largest boats the screws have three or four 
 blades. The first use of paddle wheels to propel vessels 
 antedates the Christian era. 
 
 To Denis Papin, the French physicist, is due the idea of the 
 
34S THE STEAMBOAT. 
 
 piston. It was first employed by him in a model constructed 
 in 1690. He is said to have experimented with his engine in 
 a model boat, in 1 707, on the Fulda, at Cassel. This ingen- 
 ious man, before his invention for using steam, spent much 
 time on a scheme for moving machinery by creating an at- 
 mospheric vacuum by the explosion of gunpowder in a cylin- 
 der. Sir Isaac Newton was at this time President of the 
 Royal Society, before which Papin detailed his plan. The 
 matter being left in the President's hands, he decided that 
 while the scheme was no doubt practicable, the finances of the 
 society were in such a crippled condition that they would not 
 warrant a trial under its auspices, at this time. 
 
 In 1736 Jonathan Hulls secured a patent in England for 
 moving vessels by steam power. 
 
 Numerous inventions now followed, some practical and in- 
 genious, others only distinguished for their whimsicalities ; as 
 one on record of a M. Genevois, a clergyman of Berne, 
 Switzerland, in 1759, a sort of steam propeller which would 
 expand like the foot of a duck and present a large surface to 
 the water when pushed against it, but would fold up into 
 quite a small compass when moved in an opposite direction. 
 This was not found to be practical, and though several have 
 experimented with the same idea since that time, it has never 
 been adopted. 
 
 From 1731 to 1815, Patrick Miller, a retired Edinburgh 
 banker, grappled with the problem of steam navigation on a 
 small lake on his estate, in Dalswinton, Dumfreeshire, Scot- 
 land. James Taylor, the tutor of his sons, at length suggested 
 to him that steam was probably the only agent that would 
 successfully turn his paddle wheels. Feeling the necessity of 
 experienced mechanical assistance, they associated with them 
 
THE STEAMBOAT. 
 
 William Symington, a mechanic of Wanlockhead mines, who 
 had already invented an ingenious engine for road locomo- 
 tives. In 1 789 another larger vessel was built and tried on 
 the Forth and Clyde Canal, at a speed of seven miles an 
 hour. 
 
 While the honor of practically establishing steam naviga- 
 tion cannot be truly claimed for any one person, it may be 
 safely said that Patrick Miller, James Taylor, and William 
 Symington were mainly instrumental in bringing about the 
 great achievement. It was chiefly to the inspection and study 
 of Symington's experiments that Fulton was indebted for his 
 ideas on this subject. At first, Fulton's boat moved so slowly 
 that it was pronounced a failure. But his experiments with 
 the " Clermont," in 1 807, were successful. Her passage up the 
 Hudson is said to have struck terror to the hearts of the 
 sailors of other crafts. " The crews shrank beneath their 
 decks from the terrific sight, and others prostrated themselves 
 and besought Providence to protect them from the approach 
 of the horrible monster which was marching on the tides and 
 lighting its path by the fires which it vomited." 
 
 The patent of Jonathan Hulls, before alluded to, by which 
 England claims precedence to America in the matter of steam 
 navigation, bears date of December 2ist, 1736, is signed by 
 Queen Caroline as witness, and was for a " machine for car- 
 rying ships and vessels out of or into any harbor or river 
 against wind or tide." 
 
 o 
 
 William Henry, of Chester County, Pa., experimented with 
 a model steamboat on the Conestoga in 1736. A similar 
 attempt was made by the French nobleman, Count d'Auxi- 
 rons, who was assisted by M. Perier, in 1774. M. Perier 
 repeated the experiment in 1775. Marquis de Jouffrey was 
 
35O THE STEAMBOAT. 
 
 employed in the same work from 1776 to 1783, using a larger 
 vessel, and he found his efforts successful. James Rumsey, 
 in the United States, in .1784-86 wrestled with the same 
 problem. In 1786 he propelled a boat on the Potomac, near 
 Sheppardstown, at the rate of four miles an hour, by using a 
 jet of water forced out at the stern. John Fitch, who had an 
 experimental boat on the Delaware, in 1786, tried the same 
 means of propulsion. He propelled by paddles suspended 
 by the upper ends of their shafts and moved by a series of 
 cranks. This boat was sixty feet long. Another vessel made 
 many trips on the Delaware, which reached an average speed 
 of seven and one-half miles an hour. In 1 796, after his re- 
 turn from England, where he had been experimenting on the 
 Thames, John Fitch again resumed his experiments at New 
 York, using a screw. 
 
 Besides these, there were several other attempts at steam 
 navigation, more or less successful, before the advent of 
 Robert Fulton, an American artist, and afterward civil engi- 
 neer, who built a steamboat on the Seine, in 1803. He was 
 assisted by Chancellor R. Livingstone, whom he had pre- 
 viously known in America. Fulton returned to the United 
 States in 1806, and with Livingstone had a boat built in which 
 was placed the machinery made by Boulton & Watt. This 
 boat was named the "Clermont" and made a successful trip of 
 five miles an hour from New York to Albany, on August 7th, 
 1807. The upward trip was not continuous, but the return 
 trip occupied thirty hours. This boat, which was lengthened 
 ten feet in 1808, and some change made in its machinery, 
 was the first ever made commercially successful. Almost 
 simultaneously, Stevens brought out the " Phoenix," a side- 
 wheeler. This steamer could not ply on the Hudson, as 
 
THE STEAMBOAT. 351 
 
 Fulton and Livingstone had the monopoly of navigation on 
 that river, so it was taken by ocean around to the Delaware. 
 This was the first ocean voyage made by steam. From this 
 on steamers multiplied, and their power, speed, and capacity 
 increased. Ocean navigation by steam, begun in 1808, by 
 Stevens, became an assured success by the trip of the " Savan- 
 nah" in 1819, which went from Savannah, Ga., to Russia, by 
 way of England. In this trip both steam and sails were 
 used. She returned direct from St. Petersburg to New York 
 in twenty-six days. In 1825, the steamer " Enterprise" went to 
 Calcutta from England. In 1836, there was a proposition to 
 establish a steamer line between Liverpool and New York. 
 The first transatlantic line to be established was the Cunard, 
 which sent its first vessel, the " Britannica," from Liverpool 
 July 4th, 1840. 
 
 The first naval screw boat used in the English Navy was the 
 "Archimedes," which was built in 1840. It was considered 
 so successful that paddles have almost been eliminated in 
 British waters. The first transatlantic screw steamer was the 
 " Massachusetts." By it steam vessels were introduced into 
 Chinese waters. The hulls and machinery of these vessels 
 were sent out from the United States in sailing vessels. 
 
 The steamers now commonly in use are usually four or 
 five hundred feet in length, and have a speed of fifteen or 
 twenty miles an hour, using engines of three and four thou- 
 sand horse-power and consuming about one hundred tons of 
 coal per day, crossing in about eight or ten days. Advances 
 in nautical science have enabled several boats to lately make 
 the trip in about five days. 
 
 The " Great Eastern," the largest boat that had ever been 
 constructed, was begun in 1854 and completed in 1859, by 
 
352 THE STEAMBOAT. 
 
 J. Scott Russell. She was built on the Thames, England, and 
 was six hundred and eighty feet long, eighty-three feet wide, 
 fifty-eight feet deep, with twenty-eight feet draught. She was 
 propelled by four paddle wheels and four screws, and was of 
 twenty-four thousand tons measurement. The paddle wheels 
 had a diameter of fifty-six feet, and the screws, twenty-four 
 feet. The steam boilers supplying the paddles had more 
 than an acre of heating surface, while those supplying the 
 screws had much more. She was expected to have a speed 
 of sixteen and one-half miles an hour. Her most important 
 work was the laying of the ocean cables. On account of the 
 great expense in running her, she was abandoned as a regu- 
 lar traveler, and only called on in an emergency. She has 
 now been condemned to destruction, and if she has not 
 already been pulled to pieces she will soon be. 
 
 Steam engines in their early years were known as " fire or 
 heat engines," which is really the more proper term for them, 
 because heat is the energy which performs the labor through 
 the medium of water. 
 
 Such is partially the story of the origin and progress of 
 steam navigation which has become one of the mighty won- 
 ders and triumphs of human patience and ingenuity. By it 
 the steamboat of to-day can " walk the waters like a thing of 
 life," and by its almost universal adoption great strides have 
 been taken toward breaking down the barriers of ignorance 
 and barbarity. 
 
PHOTOGRAPHY. 
 
 f~"\HOTOGRAPHY, that "child of optics and chemistry," 
 LX is both a science and an art. It is one of the great- 
 I est scientific facts of the present day and is not. 
 
 < ^^ ^ restricted to the mere making of pictures, as com- 
 monly understood, but it includes everything 
 coming under its literal meaning: "Writing by means of 
 light." It embraces all processes by which any kind of pic- 
 ture can be secured by the chemical action of light, without 
 reference to the sensitive surface upon which it acts. It 
 delineates objects by the agency of the light which they 
 reflect or radiate. 
 
 Observations of chemical changes by the action of light 
 were probably made in pre-historic times, as there has always 
 been the fading of the flowers, the tanning of the skin, and 
 similar natural chemical effects. The Greeks knew that the 
 opal and the amethyst parted with their brilliance in the sun- 
 light. Pliny noticed that wax bleached when exposed to the 
 sun's rays. Other organic substances were observed to 
 change color under the influence of sunlight ; some bleaching 
 and others darkening, according to the nature of their ingre- 
 dients. It is said that the alchemists noticed, as early as the 
 twelfth century, that the chloride of silver blackened by ex- 
 posure to the beams of the sun. This occurred in proportion 
 23 353 
 
354 
 
 PHOTOGRAPHY. 
 
 to the intensity of the light, but the change was gradual. 
 Fabricius, in 1556, observed the curious action of sunlight 
 upon the silver compounds, and publicly proclaimed it. He 
 abandoned his work on this line because it seemed to lead 
 him away from gold, for which he was searching, so he did 
 not further pursue his discoveries. 
 
 The first germ of photography, as an art> was the experi- 
 ment of Priestley's. He deposited some chlorides of silver 
 on the side of a bottle made of glass, and put around the 
 bottle a piece of dark paper, out of which some letters had 
 been cut, and exposed the arrangement to the sunlight. The 
 result was that the silver surface protected by the dark paper 
 was white, but the holes had permitted the unprotected part 
 to blacken. 
 
 In 1727, T. A. Schultze, a German experimenter, coated 
 paper with a mixture of silver nitrate and chalk. This he 
 exposed to light under a sheet of translucent paper, by which 
 means was obtained a negative, or reversed copy. 
 
 Charles W. Scheele, a German chemist, in 1777, experi- 
 mented to determine whether it was some special colored 
 ray or the whole beam which wrought the change. By means 
 of a prism he dispersed the beam into its rays, and exposing 
 a sheet of paper coated with silver the darkening commenced 
 in the indigo or violet ray and extended far beyond sight. 
 Going in the other direction it ceased in the blue ray, and the 
 green, yellow, orange, and red ones produced no effect upon 
 the silver. Thus was discovered that the sunlight did not 
 
 o 
 
 darken the silver by virtue of its light alone, but by some 
 other principle which the beam contained. Scheele stated as 
 the result of his experiment that silver salt would blacken as 
 much under violet li^ht in fifteen seconds as under the red 
 
PHOTOGRAPHY. 355 
 
 in twenty minutes. There is no doubt that he worked with 
 an imperfect or defective prism, as the subsequent investiga- 
 tions of other scientists have proven that the red rays exert no 
 influence whatever upon the silver salt. He found, further- 
 more, that the decomposition of the salt into its elementary 
 substances chlorine gas and silver was what caused the 
 blackening. By this decomposition the gas escapes, but the 
 silver remains in a finely distributed metallic form. What 
 he discovered has beerr retained as the basis upon which has 
 been built a theory of photographic printing. The English 
 historians call Scheele a Swede, the mistake arising from the 
 fact that at this time his home, Stralsund, was in possession 
 of the Swedes. 
 
 The first instrument to be used in photography is the 
 camera obscura, which Baptista Porta, the Italian philosopher, 
 in 1569, has the honor of inventing. His camera consisted 
 simply, as its name implies, of a darkened room, to which 
 not a ray of light was admitted excepting through a small 
 hole in the window shutter. In a room of this kind, when 
 there is bright sunlight out doors, an inverted, but not very 
 vivid image of external objects within range of the aperture 
 is cast upon a screen placed in front of the window. By 
 fixing a double convex lens in the hole, Porta improved this 
 primitive contrivance and also by adding a mirror so placed 
 on the outside as to catch the rays of light and reflect them 
 through the lens. This caused the image to appear much 
 brighter, more distinct, and in its natural position instead of 
 inverted. This invention was considered a great curiosity, 
 and multitudes flocked to Porta to see these marvelous pic- 
 tures painted by the sun, glowing with color, and so wonder- 
 fully accurate. Improvements in the camera were soon made, 
 
356 PHOTOGRAPHY. 
 
 and it became, as we would say in these days, such a fad that 
 it was a favorite adjunct to the country houses of the rich. 
 These were usually in the form of a small circular house, 
 when possible erected specially for it on a hill-top. 
 
 It is not known when the first lens was made, nor for what 
 purpose, but amongst the ruins of Nineveh there has been 
 found a double convex lens, showing that it must have been 
 in existence at least a thousand years before the Christian 
 era. This is the first optical instrument of which we have 
 any knowledge. 
 
 With the dawn of the nineteenth century and the progress 
 made in chemistry, the times seemed more propitious for the 
 development of the arts and sciences. There is a question 
 about this art which has never been satisfactorily answered, 
 and that is: Who was its discoverer? It is known that in the 
 house of Mr. Boulton, of the firm of Boulton & Watt, a de- 
 scendant of Matthew Boulton, at Soho, near Birmingham, 
 Eng., who died in 1809, were found a camera and metal 
 plates, about the size of note paper, exactly like those subse- 
 quently used by Daguerre in the early days of photograph}-. 
 There were two of these plates, and on each was the faint 
 image of the house at Soho, evidently produced by means of 
 light. All experts examining them immediately pronounced 
 them to be photographs taken by the aid of a camera from 
 nature. In addition to this expert testimony there was at- 
 tached to them a memorandum stating they were indeed sun 
 pictures which represented the house as it was before certain 
 alterations were made in it in 1 799. Thus the discoveries of 
 Niepce and Daguerre were anticipated, but the secret died 
 with him. There has been found the mention of a camera 
 belonging to one of the Wedge woods in 1791. Investigators. 
 
PHOTOGRAPHY. 357 
 
 place the dates of the first experiments in photography as 
 early as 1790-91. At this latter date it is known that 
 Thomas Wedgewood, the celebrated porcelain manufacturer, 
 had a camera repaired. He subsequently published his 
 method in the Journals of the Royal Institution in 1803. 
 He and Sir Humphrey Davy experimented with paper and 
 leather soaked in a solution of nitrate of silver, which they 
 changed later on for chloride of silver, as they found that to 
 be far more sensitive to the action of light. This was a cor- 
 roboration of the results obtained by Scheele. Their work 
 proved abortive because they could not permanently fix the 
 impressions secured. This was a difficulty which even Sir 
 Humphrey's superior chemical skill could not surmount. 
 The crying need of the hour was some agent to fix the 
 picture. Many media for this purpose had been proposed 
 and experimented with, but nothing was found to be thor- 
 oughly practical until a soda salt was tried. This salt, the 
 hyposulphite, was discovered in 1799 by Chassier, but Sir 
 John Herschel first employed it for photographic purposes 
 in 1840. 
 
 In 1814 M. Nicephore Niepce, of Chalons, on the Saone, 
 commenced his experiments in heliography, as he called it. 
 He gave Daguerre the benefit of his extensive experience, 
 and there is no doubt that he was the means of securing 
 for Daguerre the name and fame which have been accorded 
 him. Niepce died in 1833, a d on June I4th, 1837, ms son 
 M. Joseph Isidore Niepce, made an arrangement with M. 
 Louis Jacques Mande Daguerre that they should pursue 
 their investigations together and that the results should be 
 
 & o 
 
 for their mutual benefit. Niepce followed his father's pro- 
 cess, but did not succeed in making any especial improve- 
 
358 PHOTOGRAPHY. 
 
 ment on it, while Daguerre so perfected his theory that the 
 old way was abandoned. Daguerre's process was the mak- 
 ing of pictures in the camera upon iodized silver plates. The 
 improvements made upon it soon caused the art to become 
 of practical and commercial value, and its devotees were 
 counted by the thousands. This process was announced 
 publicly in 1839, and the scientific world is said to have been 
 surprised and delighted at the beauty of the pictures he ex- 
 hibited. * 
 
 The oldest sun picture in existence is one that was pro- 
 duced by the elder Niepce some time before 1820. It is a 
 carbon photograph and is preserved in the British Museum. 
 " It is on a white metal plate, the clean surface of which forms 
 the lights, and dark bitumen, a substance early found to be 
 sensitive to light, the shadows." 
 
 In 1839 Mr. Mungo Ponton proclaimed the discovery that 
 the bichromate of potash was powerfully affected by the rays 
 of the sun when it was spread on paper. A little later 
 Becquerel commenced experimenting upon this salt in com- 
 bination with organic matters, such as starch and isinglass. 
 He discovered that the mixture formed a film which could be 
 made insoluble in water by exposing it to the light. In 1835 
 Professor J. W. Draper, of the University of New York, 
 chronicled a series of his experiments in this line in the 
 J. Franklin Institute. He used the bromide of silver and 
 other compounds more sensitive than any others that had 
 ever been employed. 
 
 Independently of the discoveries, inventions, and experi- 
 ments of others, Mr. Henry Fox Talbot, of Lacock Abbey, 
 was led accidentally to try the nitrate of silver process, with 
 which he experimented in 1834. He presented the Royal 
 
PHOTOGRAPHY. 359 
 
 Society with a paper, on January ist, 1839, entitled "The 
 Art of Photogenic Drawing." His early pictures were all 
 negative or reversed, as the light was shade in them, and the 
 shade was light. He secured a patent February 8th, 1841, 
 He called these pictures Calotypes, but the name was changed 
 later to Talbotypes. 
 
 In 1848 Niepce de St. Victor, a nephew of Nicephore de 
 Niepce, used a glass plate coated with iodized albumen, but 
 not very successfully. M. Blanquart made it more practical, 
 but it was perfected by M. Le Gray. Waxed paper was 
 afterward introduced by Le Gray, which became a great 
 favorite. This paper was rendered translucent by the use of 
 white wax. He also suggested the collodion process, though, 
 it was left for Archer, of London, to make it a practical 
 success. 
 
 In 1855, M. Poitevin, of Paris, made the next important 
 advance in the art by producing the first photographs in pig- 
 ments. His description, deposited with the Prefect of the 
 Seine, is as follows : " I apply various liquid and solid colors 
 to paper, cloth, glass, and other surfaces, by mixing such 
 colors with the compound of a chromate or bichromate and 
 organic matter and applying the new mixture to the paper or 
 other surface. The photographic impression is produced 
 upon this prepared surface by the action of light passing 
 through a negative photographic picture or other suitable 
 object or screen, and it is then washed with a sponge and a 
 large quantity of water. The albumen, or other organic 
 matter, is rendered insoluble at the parts where it has been 
 acted upon by the light, and the design is thus reproduced in 
 the color which has been employed." But others, not know- 
 ing of his process, reached the same results. In those pic- 
 
360 PHOTOGRAPHY. 
 
 tures there was a deficiency of half tone, and they had not 
 that delicacy to which the public had become accustomed in 
 the photograph. After long discussion and many trials the 
 desired result was reached by printing on one side and wash- 
 ing on the other, so that the thin, insoluble surface that would 
 naturally form the half tones should not be washed away. 
 This method was at first thought to be almost if not quite 
 impossible, but the feat was accomplished by a Mr. Swan, of 
 Newcastle, one of a firm of noted chemists and makers of 
 photograph materials in that town. His process is to coat 
 the paper evenly with gelatine, sugar, and the coloring pig- 
 ment. For this he has a specially contrived machine and is 
 able to do it on a large scale. He next renders the surface 
 sensitive by drawing it through a solution of bichromate of 
 potash and exposes it in the usual way behind the negative. 
 The results of the exposure are not visible, nothing but a 
 sheet of shining black paper, from which the picture has to 
 be brought by washing, not the exposed surface, but the 
 reverse. To accomplish this he cements the paper by means 
 of an India rubber solution, face downward, upon another 
 sheet of paper and lets the cement dry. Then it is immersed 
 in water, the India rubber protecting the impressed surface 
 of the film, but the water soon penetrates the other paper, 
 softens the gelatine under it, and permits the removal of the 
 first paper. This leaves the back of the film exposed. It is 
 then thoroughly washed until the unhardened parts are all 
 cleansed away, and the picture stands forth in all its loveli- 
 ness ; high lights, delicate middle tints, and deep shade, as 
 accurately fixed as in the finest silver printed photographs. 
 The image is now reversed, so it becomes necessary to re- 
 mount it in its first position. This is done by coating with 
 
PHOTOGRAPHY. 361 
 
 pure gelatine and pressing- it on to the card which is to 
 finally receive it. Then it becomes necessary to remove the 
 India rubber paper which is now on top. For this a little 
 benzole is used which dissolves the rubber without injury to 
 the gelatine, and when the loosened paper comes off the 
 picture is finished. This is a less troublesome and a much 
 cheaper process than the ordinary photographs. These 
 pictures are also very permanent. The work of simple 
 photography is marvelous, but it is thought that the multi- 
 tude of pictures secured by photegenic action, both in form 
 and material, goes beyond the category of marvels and is 
 considered almost miraculous. India ink sketches are repro- 
 duced in India ink, sepia, in sepia, red chalk, in red chalk, etc. 
 These prints are called Autotypes, and it has been well said 
 of them : " Surely this is the greatest triumph that any pro- 
 ductive art has yet achieved." By means of these pictures 
 and a small outlay of money the works of the great masters 
 may be studied. 
 
 Previous to 1854, all photographic work had been done 
 with moist plates, or plates freshly prepared. This made the 
 impedimenta for field work very cumbersome. In La Lumiere 
 of April 22d, and May 27th, 1854, M. Gaudin describes his 
 researches and experiments with dry plates. In August of 
 the same year Mr. Muirhead, of England, announced that 
 light acted almost as satisfactorily on a dry surface as on a 
 wet one. Dr. Taupenot, however, seems to have been the 
 first one to use a dry plate to advantage. These plates have 
 been so improved that photographs can now be taken in the 
 merest fraction of a second. By their employment flash-light 
 pictures have become a possibility. These lights are pro- 
 duced by scattering powdered magnesium into a lamp flame. 
 
362 PHOTOGRAPHY. 
 
 The forms of these lamps are many and ingenious. They 
 are usually spirit lamps, having connected to them a recep- 
 tacle for holding the powdered magnesium, with a pneumatic 
 ball and tube attached. By pressing the ball, a puff of wind 
 drives the powder into the blaze. This light is used for taking 
 interiors and other places where sunlight is not available. 
 
 A most valuable improvement in all dry-plate processes 
 was the introduction of the alkaline developer. It is of 
 American origin, being used by Major Russell, in 1862. By 
 its use the development of the plates is greatly accelerated. 
 
 In 1864, Bolton and Sayce published the germ of the col- 
 lodion emulsion process, which greatly simplified the photo- 
 graphic work of that time. Gelatine was substituted for the 
 collodion by Dr. R. L. Maddox, in 1871. This process was 
 improved through the experiments of several men until it. 
 reached a high state of perfection, and is the best now in use 
 where glass plates are employed. 
 
 Films are the most recent improvements in the sensitive 
 surfaces used in photography. By them the art has been 
 well-nigh, revolutionized. Mr. Woodbury, in 1876, invented 
 a material as transparent as glass. He combined collodion, 
 castor oil, and Canada balsam, w r hich he spread and dried on 
 a sheet of glass. An emulsion coating which was sensitive 
 to the light was next applied, and after drying thoroughly the 
 sheet of the compound was stripped from the glass and cut 
 into requisite sizes. By its flexibility, it modified the whole 
 business of changing plates, as this could now be effected by 
 a handle on the outside of the camera. A Mr. Warnerke 
 took up the same idea a few years after, and patented a 
 roller slide on which strips of these films could be operated 
 in the instrument. 
 
PHOTOGRAPHY. 363: 
 
 Messrs. Morgan & Kidd first applied a gelatine emulsion 
 to paper which has become known as bromide paper. It is 
 chiefly used in enlarging, though it was originally intended 
 to use it for negative work, as the paper was subsequently 
 rendered transparent. The Eastman Company introduced a 
 film of excellent quality, which they wound on spools to be 
 inserted in the camera. When the strip had been entirely 
 used, it was taken out, the negatives separated by cutting 
 them apart, and then they were made translucent by a prep- 
 aration of vaseline. 
 
 Transparent and flexible celluloid has brought photog- 
 raphy to still greater perfection. This substance was 
 invented and proposed for photographic use by Parkes, in 
 1855, k ut as collodion dissolved it, it could not be employed. 
 Being insoluble in water it makes the best backing for a 
 gelatine film. It is now made nearly as clear as glass and is 
 the best thing yet introduced. It is made thin enough to be 
 wound on spools and used in roll holders. While it costs 
 more than glass it is very generally used. Its advantages 
 are that it is not fragile, but light and portable, and free from 
 the halations, or blurrings, which are caused principally by 
 reflections from the back surface of glass. 
 
 Photographic lenses are of two kinds : those used in taking 
 portraits, and those for views. The portrait lenses are of 
 large aperture but give a small image, while the view lenses 
 have a small aperture but give a much larger image. There 
 is a portrait lens called a doublet, by which views can be 
 taken. Generally, however, views may not be taken by por- 
 trait lenses, but portraits, under some circumstances may be 
 taken by the view lenses. The single view lens is the 
 cheapest, and for views alone has not been excelled. 
 
364 PHOTOGRAPHY. 
 
 Photographic lenses have been improved in various ways. 
 Aluminum is now used for their mountings instead of brass, 
 which reduces their weight. The lens diaphragms have also 
 been improved by a contrivance which expands and contracts 
 like the iris of the eye. For this reason it is called the Iris 
 lens. This arrangement consists of several flat blades or 
 tongues of thin, blackened metal, which are fastened to a ring 
 in the lens mount. By turning this ring, expansion or con- 
 traction is caused, thus increasing or reducing the aperture 
 as desired. By the use of the Jena optical glass in these 
 lenses, a larger field can be covered with a given aperture 
 than formerly. The first great improvement upon Daguerre's 
 process was in the use of enlarged lenses, by means of which 
 Mr. Draper, of New York, was the first to secure portraits 
 from life. 
 
 Improvements in the printing of photographs have kept 
 pace with those of the other departments, and there seems to 
 be little left to be desired in this noble art. 
 
 As a description of the largest photograph in the world, 
 on exhibition at the Columbian Exposition, may be interest- 
 ing to many, it is inserted : " D. R. Day, of the Standard Oil 
 Company, has placed in position the largest photographic 
 transparency ever made. It is seven feet long and fifty 
 inches high, and is a photograph of a relief map of the United 
 States, showing the oil-bearing districts. Photographers stand 
 before the colored transparency, in the north gallery of the 
 Mines building, and declare it to be the bie^est thino- in the 
 
 < - > oo o 
 
 Exposition, and so it is, from their standpoint. J. K. Hillers, 
 of the United States geological survey, is the man who made 
 the wonderful photograph. He is known among his craft as 
 the best photographer on large work in the country, but he 
 
PHOTOGRAPHY. 365 
 
 distinctly affirms that money cannot tempt him to even 
 attempt to make another seven-foot picture. Enlarged bro- 
 mide prints on paper have been made that came within half a 
 foot of the Standard Oil Company's photograph, but to place a 
 photograph on a piece of plate glass which could fill up a 
 seven-foot window has heretofore been deemed impossible. 
 
 " The model relief map was started three years ago. It is 
 made of wood veneers, one-thirty-second of an inch thick, each 
 thickness representing one hundred feet of elevation. The 
 map was built up of these veneers, and then carved in relief 
 and a plaster cast taken. With the light striking it from 
 the northwest, it was photographed, the lights and shadows 
 giving it a beautiful tone. When the negative was trans- 
 ferred to paper, the States, lakes, and names were drawn in,, 
 and a negative was taken from it twenty inches square. 
 This negative was enlarged to the size of the transparency, 
 twenty-four inches by fifty inches. 
 
 " No ordinary camera could do the work, so the photog- 
 rapher made a camera of a room twelve by fifteen feet in 
 size. The room was blackened inside and made light and 
 even air tight. The shutter was placed in the window and 
 the lens in the shutter. Mr. Hillers had three expert photog- 
 raphers assisting him in the work, and they built a silvering 
 vat which used two hundred and fifty dollars worth of nitrate 
 of silver, and a developing vat, both in the gigantic camera, 
 so that probably for the first time the camera itself was used 
 as the developing room. 
 
 " The work was focused on a ground-glass plate, the same 
 size as the photograph. This was done by three men hold- 
 ing the plate and moving it back and forth until the proper 
 focus was secured. Then the sensitive plate was made ready. 
 
566 PHOTOGRAPHY. 
 
 This was a piece of American plate-glass, three-eighths of an 
 inch thick, made and polished for this particular picture. The 
 photographers had to wait two months for proper conditions 
 of light and temperature. A work of this nature had never 
 before been attempted on such a large scale. Mr. Killers was 
 obliged to feel his way, for he did not know just how long the 
 plate should be exposed. A test was first made with a small 
 plate, and this gave him an approximate measure of time. 
 
 "With rare good fortune, the first exposure of the new 
 plate was a success, and a beautiful photograph was secured. 
 Then a specially arranged hose was turned against the big 
 plate to wash away the chemicals. It took an hour to do 
 this. After the toning process came the matter of varnish. 
 This was the critical phase of the operation. The plate was 
 laid on four rubber balls, one at each corner, and Photog- 
 rapher Hillers tilted it while an assistant poured on half a 
 gallon of varnish. Success still remained with him, and the 
 transparency was ready for its colors. 
 
 " The oil-bearing districts are shown in yellow, and each 
 particular region where oil is actually brought to the surface 
 is shown in the color of the oil itself. It took four months 
 from the beginning, when the first negative of the map was 
 taken, to finish the transparency. It is valued at five thou- 
 sand dollars." 
 
 The next largest photograph is also on exhibition at this 
 World's Fair, It is in the northwest corner of the Manu- 
 facturer's building. It measures five feet in length. The 
 subject is a trade name, in very large letters. The stem of 
 each letter is decorated with the figure of a little child. Each 
 figure is quaintly and differently costumed, which makes a 
 beautiful combination. New South Wales has the finest com- 
 
PHOTOGRAPHY. 367 
 
 plete collection of photographs at the Exposition. Those of 
 this country in the Liberal Arts building show the best fea- 
 tures of New South Wales, its cities and landscapes. 
 
 Perhaps the progress of the art from its first inception to 
 the present time will be best appreciated by comparing the 
 lengths of time required for exposure of the plates in each 
 process. 
 
 Daguerre's process originally required thirty minutes. 
 
 The calotype, or talbotype, requires two or three minutes. 
 
 The collodion process takes ten seconds. 
 
 The collodion emulsion process takes fifteen seconds. 
 
 The rapid gelatine emulsion process requires one-fifteenth 
 of a second. 
 
 Films require one-thousandth of a second. 
 
 Think of it, ye rapid, eighteenth century Americans ! What 
 a penalty our grandmothers had to pay for their vanity ! 
 Would it be possible for us to sit quietly long enough to have 
 our daguerreotypes taken ? 
 
 The extent of the utility of the art will never be measured, 
 except by the demand. All divisions of the arts and sciences 
 are served by it. By the wedding of the camera and the 
 telescope sidereal photography has become a possibility. 
 The photographer presents to nature a retina far more sen- 
 sitive than that of the natural eye. It correctly records the 
 most rapid motions of life, as a trotting horse, a moving 
 train, or the dust of an approaching cyclone. 
 
 From the time of the alchemists' search for gold, which 
 opened up the paths for modern chemistry by its accidental 
 discoveries, to the present day and stage of its perfection, 
 photography has steadily progressed until it holds an undis- 
 puted place among the foremost of the arts. 
 
SEWING-MACHINES. 
 
 S far back in the beginnings of time as when Adam and 
 Eve held a monopoly of all the arts and sciences, 
 the accomplishment of sewing was ushered into 
 existence. In the most authoritative account which 
 has come down to us of the doings of our first 
 parents, it is related that they sewed fig leaves together to 
 make themselves garments. The primitive simplicity of their 
 costumes has long since been discarded by the men and 
 women of civilized communities, and with the advance in 
 complicity of attire has kept pace development in the art of 
 sewing. 
 
 For ages upon ages all sewing and embroidery was per- 
 formed by slow, laborious hand processes, and no thought of 
 more rapid achievement by the use of machinery seems ever 
 to have been dreamed of by the painstaking toilers with the 
 needle. Marvelous, truly, have been the fabrics so skillfully 
 wrought in ingenious devices, but great and wasteful have 
 been the time and labor expended upon them. That no one 
 should have thought of the application of machinery to the 
 making of garments is indeed surprising ; but it had been 
 employed for centuries as a substitute for almost every other 
 form of handwork before any attempt was made to construct 
 a sewing-machine. 
 368 
 
SEWING-MACHINES. 369 
 
 The first essays to make a machine for sewing aimed at the 
 imitation of hand sewing, using but a needleful of thread, and 
 making a running through-and-through stitch. It was found, 
 however, that this was impracticable for many reasons, among 
 others, because of the wear on the thread and so inventors 
 sought to form by means of machinery the old crochet stitch. 
 Until Elias Howe, in 1844, invented the lock stitch, made by 
 a shuttle, the sole use to which sewing-machines were put 
 was to embroider, while anything in the shape of a sewing- 
 machine was unknown a hundred years ago. 
 
 Charles F. Weisenthal, in 1755, invented and patented a 
 double-pointed needle for hand embroidery. The needle had 
 an eye in the centre, and was to be manipulated by holding 
 it in the middle with the fingers in such a way that it should 
 not require turning. This invention maybe perhaps regarded 
 as the first step toward the invention of a sewing-machine. 
 
 In the latter part of the last century, and the first of this, 
 several inventions foreshadowing the machine of later date 
 were made. In 1790 an Englishman, Thomas Saint, was 
 granted a patent for a machine used in making shoes. This 
 resembled in some important particulars the modern sewing- 
 machine. By means of a needle and a series of hooks this 
 machine made a single-thread chain-stitch. For some reason 
 the invention of Saint never came into general use. In 1804 
 a French patent was granted to Messrs. Stone and Henderson 
 for a machine designed for the making of wearing apparel ; 
 but this, too, failed of general adoption. 
 
 After several other but partially successful ventures, a 
 Frenchman named Barthelemy Thimonnier, a poor tailor of 
 St. Etienne, invented, in 1830, a wooden crochet sewing- 
 machine. Having patented it, he organized in 1841 the firm of 
 24 
 
3 JO SEWING-MACHINES. 
 
 " Ferrand, Thimonnier, Germain Petit et Cie." He succeeded 
 in interesting in the enterprise a government engineer, who 
 was clever enough to perceive the great value of the invention. 
 Through the influence of this friend, a factory was opened in 
 the Rue de Sevres, and eighty wooden machines were set in 
 motion for the making of army clothing by contract. But 
 jealousy and ignorance induced an angry mob to make an 
 attack upon the establishment, destroy the machines, and force 
 the unhappy inventor to take refuge in flight. Beaunier, the 
 government engineer who had assisted him, shortly after 
 died, and Thimonnier, reduced to poverty, was compelled to 
 make his way back to his native place, St. Etienne. 
 
 Not wholly discouraged, he still continued to work at his 
 invention, and in 1848 he produced a model much superior 
 to his first machine, the last one being of metal instead of 
 wood, as formerly. Through the aid of M. Maguin, of Ville- 
 franche, he obtained a patent in England, and this time he 
 sold the patent to a Manchester company. In this instance, 
 as is usually the case, the public were slow to appreciate the 
 merits of a new invention. A workshop was established in 
 Paris, but was destroyed in the Revolution of 1848. Misfor- 
 tune continued to befall the persevering inventor, and after 
 battling for many years with adverse fate, he died in poverty 
 in 1857. Thimonnier's machine used a hooked needle and 
 made a chain-stitch. It is still regarded as a remarkably 
 clever invention, and one which should have conferred better 
 returns upon its originator. 
 
 Among other machines which followed Thimonnier's inven- 
 tion was one for producing ornamental stitching upon gloves, 
 which was produced by Edward Newton and Thomas Arch- 
 bold. In this the needle worked under the material, forming 
 
SEWING-MACHINES. 371 
 
 an inverted chain-stitch. The machine had six needles, which 
 made six rows of stitches. One of the machines patented in 
 America was adapted for working in leather, and was the in- 
 vention of John Greenough. It was patented in 1842. An- 
 other American machine was designed by Leonard Bostwick. 
 The peculiarity of this machine consisted in its having a sta- 
 tionary horizontal needle, against which the cloth, after being 
 crimped by toothed wheels, was passed. The result was 
 a running stitch suitable for joining laces, or other loose 
 sewing. 
 
 It is not until December, 1844, that we find a patent grantee! 
 to any one for a lock-stitch machine. In this year, John Fisher 
 and James Gibbons invented and patented a sewing-machine^, 
 operating by means of a shuttle, which carried thread, gimp,, 
 or cord. The shuttle was given a reciprocating motion, so 
 that it came between the thread and the bent part of the as- 
 cending needle, by which movement it left its own thread to 
 be caught down by the needle in its descent. This machine 
 was designed for working patterns on fabrics. The same in- 
 ventor, at the same time, patented a machine for embroider- 
 ing. The inventor of these machines, John Fisher, of Not- 
 tingham, was at that time a young man, but nineteen years 
 of age. The shuttle machine, which he had originated, in all 
 unconsciousness of the future usefulness which lay hidden in 
 his invention, was later developed into a sewing-machine. But 
 the young inventor confessed that he had not in his own mind 
 any thought of constructing a sewing-machine, and was not 
 aware that he had done so. 
 
 It is to Elias Howe, Jr., an American born at Spencer, 
 Mass., in 1819, the son of a farmer and small mill-owner, that 
 the honor of being the inventor of the first sewing-machine 
 
372 SEWING MACHINES. 
 
 capable of successful and practical operation, is generally con- 
 ceded to belong. In 1835, young Howe went to Lowell to 
 serve with a manufacturer of cotton machinery, at the munifi- 
 cent salary of fifty cents a day. By the financial panic of 
 1837, he was deprived of work, and going to Cambridge, 
 Mass., he obtained a position in the shop of a Boston machin- 
 ist, named Ari Davis. In the quiet hours snatched from this 
 occupation, there first occurred to him the idea of making a 
 sewing-machine. Once the thought had obtained a lodgment 
 in his mind, every leisure moment was devoted to his darling 
 project. For five years he planned and devised, at the end 
 of that time, in May, 1845, produced a model of a sewing- 
 machine. This, owing to his poverty, he was enabled to do 
 only through the pecuniary assistance of an old school-mate, 
 George Fisher. With this friend he formed a partnership, 
 and in September, 1846, he secured a patent for the first prac- 
 tical sewing-machine. 
 
 But the path of the inventor is by no means strewn with 
 roses. The artisans of Boston, bitterly opposed to any form 
 of labor-saving machines, refused to make use of the inven- 
 tion, and Mr. Howe was forced to seek employment as an 
 engineer on the railroad. His health failing him, in this oc- 
 cupation, in 1847 h e ma -de a visit to England, in the hope of 
 finding there a more favorable reception for the masterpiece 
 of his genius. All in vain. No better success awaited him 
 
 <^ 
 
 there, and without even money to pay for a return voyage, he 
 worked his way back to the United States as a common 
 sailor. During his stay in England, he had disposed of his 
 rights in the invention, in that country, and had made changes 
 in the machine adapting it to work in corset, umbrella and 
 valise manufacturing. 
 
SEWING-MACHINES. 373 
 
 On his return to the United States, he found that unscrup- 
 ulous persons had not hesitated to take advantage of his ab- 
 sence to construct imitations of his machine, regardless of the 
 patent, and sell them throughout the country. Through the 
 assistance of friends, he finally, after many appeals of legal 
 interference, secured the recognition of his first right to the 
 invention. This was a long stride toward prosperity. Success, 
 so long eluding him, was now fairly within his grasp. In the 
 course of a year Mr. Howe was able to repurchase all of the 
 patents on his machine which adversity had obliged him to 
 part with. On every sewing-machine that was manufactured 
 in the United States after this he received a royalty, and the 
 struggling inventor living on an income of three hundred 
 dollars a year, became in a few short years the affluent manu- 
 facturer whose yearly income amounted to two hundred 
 thousand dollars. Everything bent before him now. At the 
 expiration of his patent in 1867, it was estimated that he had 
 netted about two million dollars from his invention. He had 
 organized in 1863 a company of which he was president, for 
 the manufacture of sewing-machines. This company erected 
 a large factory at Bridgeport, where an extensive business 
 was carried on, 
 
 During the civil war Mr. Howe enlisted as a private soldier 
 in the Seventeenth Connecticut Regiment, serving in this 
 capacity until failing health obliged him to resign. He ren- 
 dered still further aid to the government, in the shape of an 
 advance of money to pay the regiment, when the government 
 was pressed for funds. Many medals were conferred on Mr. 
 Howe, in recognition of his great achievements. At the 
 World's Fair in Paris in 1867, he was given the gold medal, 
 and likewise the cross of the legion of honor. 
 
374 SEWING-MACHINES. 
 
 It is often difficult to say just how much one person is in- 
 debted to others for the ideas which lead to his attainments. 
 Equally perplexing is it to decide always to just which one 
 of several competing" inventors belongs the credit of having 
 been the first to grasp and make material the happy thought. 
 It is, therefore, not surprising that there should be those to 
 contest the honor ascribed to Elias Howe as the originator 
 of the modern sewing-machine. It is claimed by some that 
 Walter Hunt, of New York, was the true inventor, and that 
 Howe's priority was only in the obtaining of the patent. 
 
 Walter Hunt is said to have constructed, between 1832 
 and 1834, a sewing-machine in which an eye-pointed needle 
 fixed to the end of a vibrating arm carried a thread through 
 the cloth, forming a loop, through which moved a shuttle 
 bearing another thread, the result being a stitch now known 
 as the lock-stitch. In 1854, Mr. Hunt applied for a patent 
 for his machine, but this was refused him on the ground that 
 all of the chief features of his invention had been previously 
 patented by Mr. Howe. It was held that the right of Hunt 
 to a patent had been forfeited by abandonment. It is, of 
 course, possible that had Mr. Hunt entered an application 
 for a patent some years earlier, Mr. Howe might have been 
 compelled to share with him the honors which he now wears 
 alone. But be that as it may, no one will certainly deny 
 that the rewards which the lucky aspirant gained were justly 
 due to the energy and perseverance which marked his entire 
 career as an inventor. 
 
 Sewing-machines are classified according to the form of 
 stitch produced by them, as the " chain-stitch," " double- 
 loop," "lock-stitch," and the "buttonhole-stitch" machines. 
 In the chain-stitch machine but one thread is used, and 
 
SEWING-MACHINES. 375 
 
 this is looped upon itself by means of a curved needle 
 or hook moving beneath the fabric. This curved needle 
 catches the thread, as it is passed through the cloth, in the 
 eye of the vertical needle, holding it until the needle again 
 descends through the thread loop thus produced. The ver- 
 tical needle rising, draws this loop up on the lower side of 
 the cloth, and by these successive ascents and descents of 
 the needle a chain of stitches is formed. This stitch is rav- 
 eled with facility by merely taking hold of the thread after it 
 has been drawn through the loop, much as knitting is raveled. 
 Because of this quality of raveling, the chain-stitch machines 
 are disliked by some sewers, and for certain manufacturing 
 purposes they are manifestly unsuited. But this very feature 
 renders this often a most convenient machine for domestic 
 use, where the housekeeper of moderate means regards the 
 remodeling of garments an important branch of the family 
 sewing- . An illustration of this class of machines is the Wil- 
 
 o 
 
 cox & Gibbs, an old and well-known make. 
 
 Two threads are employed in the double loop-stitch ma- 
 chine, one placed above, the other below the cloth, the upper 
 thread being passed through the eye of the vertical needle, 
 while the lower is threaded into a circular needle vibrating 
 just underneath the fabric. The vertical needle descends, 
 carrying the upper thread with it, down through the goods, 
 to be here caught by the under thread, with which it is looped 
 and interlooped. A stitch is in this way formed which is in- 
 terlooped with the stitch next to it, giving, on the under side 
 of the cloth, the appearance of three threads, while the upper 
 side presents the same single-thread stitch of the chain- 
 stitch machine. This stitch, drawn firmly to its place, makes 
 a durable and strong stitch, well adapted to either plain sew- 
 
376 SEWING-MACHINES. 
 
 ing or embroidery. This is the stitch of the Grover & Baker 
 machines. These machines use a large quantity of thread, 
 and the stitch, like the chain-stitch, is easily raveled. This 
 stitch is still retained in machines of recent manufacture, al- 
 though the Grover & Baker, the machine originally produc- 
 ing it, is no longer made. 
 
 About four-fifths of all the sewing-machines now used are 
 constructed after the lock-stitch, or, as it is sometimes termed, 
 the double lock-stitch pattern. The stitch in all these ma- 
 chines is the same, and is formed on substantially the same 
 principles. The lock-stitch is a double-thread machine, with one 
 thread above and one under the fabric. The stitch is in every 
 instance produced by passing one thread in the eye of a ver- 
 tical descending needle through the cloth, and then, through 
 the loop thus made, passing another thread, usually carried 
 by a shuttle. The needle, in its ascent, draws the under 
 thread upward, and the two threads are securely inter- 
 locked in the cloth, making a stitch than which nothing 
 could be more serviceable or durable. This stitch does 
 not ravel. 
 
 There are many different kinds of machines employing the 
 lock-stitch, but they may be classified into two large divisions, 
 distinguished as those having the vibratory, oscillatory, or 
 shuttle movements, and those made wholly on the rotary 
 motion principle. The Singer and the Wheeler & Wilson 
 machines are the two makes of sewing-machine which best 
 illustrate the two kinds of lock-stitch, being the two in most 
 general use. Other lock-stitch machines, of which there are 
 many hi^h-grade varieties manufactured, are the Remington, 
 the Howe, the Florence, the Weed, the Domestic, the Ameri- 
 can, and others less widely known. All of these alike form 
 
SEWING-MACHINES. 377 
 
 the lock-stitch on the principle of the vibratory or oscillatory 
 shuttle motion, or on that of the rotary motion. 
 
 The Singer machine had originally a vibratory or recipro- 
 cating shuttle, which supplied the lower thread to the machine. 
 In 1878 the company adopted the oscillating shuttle. This 
 shuttle has a long beak, and is so placed as to seize and hold 
 the loop until the needle ascending is free from the cloth. 
 While the needle is raised the shuttle passes through the 
 loop, pulling the thread down through the eye of the needle. 
 Much strain upon the thread is avoided by this device, the 
 opening in the cloth allowing the thread free movement. 
 
 The Wheeler & Wilson machines are constructed on the 
 rotary hook principle. This consists of a rotating hook, made 
 by a disc of polished steel, with curved, pointed ends, and a 
 slot cut in the periphery. This disc being attached to a hori- 
 zontal pulley shaft, which revolves with it, casts off from its 
 edge each time that it revolves a loop made by the upper 
 thread on the outside of the needle, passing downward 
 through the slot. The rotating hook catches this loop, and 
 draws it with it part way around, and, on its being slipped 
 off, the thread is a second time partially lifted by the ascend- 
 ing needle. The thread crosses the bobbin, interlocking with 
 the bobbin thread, forming loops, which, lightly drawn up, 
 produce the lock-stitch. The bobbin revolves in an opposite 
 direction from the hook, and is fitted on the outer side of the 
 rotating hook in a concave holder. In this way the correct 
 tension is secured, while the proper length of thread for each 
 stitch is measured off. 
 
 The stitch of the buttonhole-stitch machine is in substance 
 a lock-stitch, in which the under thread is carried up upon 
 the edge of the buttonhole. This stitch can be produced by 
 
378 SEWING-MACHINES. 
 
 means of an attachment applied to an ordinary machine. The 
 buttonhole-stitch machine works automatically, cutting its 
 own buttonhole, which it works either before or after it is cut. 
 It cords the buttonhole and bars the end, and when the work 
 is completed stops automatically. This machine is a marvel- 
 ous piece of workmanship, seeming to be endowed with 
 something like intelligence in its action. One of these ma- 
 chines will work six thousand buttonholes in a day; fifteen 
 hundred stitches per minute being the rate of speed. They 
 will work on any kind of goods, from the finest cambric to 
 the heaviest leather. 
 
 Many fancy stitch machines have been manufactured which 
 can do back-stitching, basting, over-and-over sewing, hem- 
 stitching, and, in fact, almost every stitch known to the doer 
 of hand needlework. The ordinary machine has now attach- 
 ments for doing hemming, binding, ruffling, quilting, tucking, 
 braiding, and other forms of work, which the earlier inventions 
 made no attempt to perform. New additions are being con- 
 stantly made to the varying execution of all machines, so that 
 the instrument of a year is found lacking beside the one com- 
 pleted to-day. 
 
 The machines as first invented by Mr. Howe had one great 
 defect, which was exhibited by all sewing-machines of that and 
 later times. There was no way of moving the cloth along without 
 interfering with the operations of the needle. Many attempts 
 were made to remedy this difficulty, such as a needle vibrat- 
 ing vertically, and thus moving the fabric along ; but none 
 proved wholly successful. 
 
 Mr. A. B. Wilson, in 1851, finally invented and patented a 
 device known as the "four-motion feed," which exactly met 
 the want. This apparatus consists of a serrated bar which 
 
SEWING-MACHINES. 379 
 
 moves in a slot in the horizontal plate on which the cloth is 
 fed. The four motions are an upward, a forward, a down- 
 ward, and a backward motion. By the upward motion the 
 teeth of the serrated bar are fastened in the fabric, the for- 
 ward motion moves the cloth forward, the downward motion 
 causes the teeth to lose their hold, and the backward motion 
 consists of the horizontal passage of the bar backward be- 
 neath the plate, in position for a repetition of these move- 
 ments. The motion by which the cloth is carried forward is 
 timed by eccentrics upon a wheel, or by other means, so that 
 it occurs while the needle is raised, thus escaping interference 
 with the passage of the cloth. Mr. Wilson's invention has 
 since been adopted by all machines for flat-bed work. By 
 the operation of this four-motion feed, the cloth may be 
 turned in any direction without stopping the machine, an im- 
 provement greatly expediting and otherwise facilitating sew- 
 ing. In the Wilcox & Gibbs machines the four motions are 
 secured by a single eccentric, and an invention has been pro- 
 duced by which the number of stitches to the inch may be 
 determined. 
 
 Although not half a century has passed since the sewing- 
 machine became practically useful, there is now no machine 
 in more general use. The economic effects of this invention 
 can scarcely be overestimated. Entering as it does into so 
 universal a domestic occupation as the making of clothing, it 
 reaches all classes. It has given rise to an entirely new in- 
 dustry, the sale of ready-made clothing. And in this case, as 
 in other instances where machine work has been substituted 
 for hand-work, the result has been ultimately a great cheapen- 
 ing in the price of the finished product. Best of all, it has 
 brought to the over-burdened woman, too closely wedded to 
 
380 SEWING-MACHINES. 
 
 her needle, the more abundant leisure that bespeaks great 
 good both for body and mind. Where weeks were formerly 
 consumed in the making of garments, as many days will now 
 accomplish far more satisfactory results. 
 
 True, it is asserted that with the gain in rapidity of work, 
 attained by the sewing-machine, has come elaboration in 
 clothing to counterbalance it, that modern aesthetic taste re- 
 fuses to be satisfied with former simple fashions. There is 
 doubtless much truth in this, but it is only what takes place 
 with advance in any department of industry. The progress 
 of civilization brings increase of wants on all sides. There is 
 no limit to human desires. And with the satisfying of these 
 ever-multiplying desires, comes a fullness and broadness of 
 life which we sum up in the term civilization. All inventions 
 pave the way, indeed, to more wants, but also to greater 
 satisfactions. 
 
PRECIOUS STONES. 
 
 " Thou hast been in Eden, the garden of God ; every precious stone was thy covering, 
 the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the 
 emerald, and the carbuncle. . . . Thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones 
 of fire." Ezekiel xxviii, 13, 14. 
 
 k RECIOUS stones, those " flowers of the mineral king- 
 dom," as they are most appropriately called, have 
 been, from time immemorial, the symbols of power, 
 beauty, and excellency, and they abound in the 
 imagery of Holy Writ. They have figured prom- 
 inently in the affairs of individuals and nations, and have 
 been the inciting cause of intrigues, wars, and crimes. The 
 course of their wanderings has been marked by deception, 
 theft, and murder. To put it most mildly, they have been 
 the occasion of a vast amount of exaggeration. They were 
 venerated by the ancients and endowed with many super- 
 natural attributes. They were not confined alone to the 
 imagery of Scripture, but play a prominent part in its reality, 
 as the breast-plate of the priests and the reputed wealth of 
 various kings and nations attest. 
 
 Precious stones are disseminated throughout the entire 
 world. They are found in the torrid deserts of the Dark 
 Continent, on the icy steppes of Siberia, in the tropical heat 
 of India and the Island of Ceylon, amidst the glaciers of 
 
 ^ 
 
382 PRECIOUS STONES. 
 
 Switzerland, and the river beds of South America. Ger- 
 many and Spain, as well as North America, contribute their 
 quota. But the tropical countries seem to be most prolific. 
 
 In all the boundless wealth of nature there is nothing 
 which has proved so fascinating to man, from time beyond 
 the reach of history, as brilliancy. So it should not excite 
 surprise that precious stones, those " flowers of the rock " to 
 which is added the crowning gift of durability, should have 
 inspired so much admiration, not to say veneration. To these 
 peerless little objects was ascribed a spiritual, as well as 
 material power, ability to cure disease, avert calamity, and 
 drive away bad demons, and render the possessor invulner- 
 able and invisible at will. The philosophers Plato and 
 others believed that the minerals, animals, and plants were 
 all living beings. Theoprastus, the pupil and friend of Aris- 
 totle, wrote a treatise on precious stones, but the entire man- 
 uscript is not now supposed to be in existence. He attributed 
 sex to them, distinguished by their brilliancy. The dullest 
 were the female ; the brightest, male. Dioscorides, in the first 
 century of the Christian era, wrote concerning precious 
 stones. He fully develops the idea that they possess a mul- 
 titude of secret virtues, which is even yet believed by many. 
 These tiny bits of the commonest materials, these mere crys- 
 tals of the most ordinary clays and earths, men reputed to 
 be very wise, as the world counts wisdom, have considered 
 far more precious than liberty, or even life. 
 
 It is the rarity, beauty, and durability of a stone which con- 
 stitute its preciousness. The market for gems is subject to 
 many vicissitudes, mainly from the caprices of fashion. Each, 
 perhaps with the exception of the diamond, has, in turn, been 
 abandoned for a time in favor of some new favorite. Upon 
 
PRECIOUS STONES. 383 
 
 their introduction again to favor, they usually come under a 
 new name, as u The Uralian Emerald," or the " Cape Ruby," 
 etc. The beautiful qualities of very few of the gems are 
 apparent when they are first found. This is particularly true 
 of the brilliant ones. These concentrated treasures of the 
 earth most commonly appear as water-worn pebbles, rough- 
 ened and indented by the attrition and blows received during 
 the years, and even centuries, of their pilgrimage upon the 
 earth. But few are found in their native bed or matrix, but 
 have traveled by means of flood and other natural agencies, 
 often far from the place of their formation. There is, prob- 
 ably, nothing so difficult to satisfactorily describe as a beau- 
 tiful gem, as the nomenclature of colors, etc., required is 
 neither adequate nor accurate. 
 
 There is no decay to gems. They may lie buried for cen- 
 turies beneath volcanic lava and ashes or other detritus, be 
 incarcerated in the grasp of a mummy, or awaiting their dis- 
 covery in their own native beds, but when finally exhumed 
 they still gleam in their original splendor and magnificence. 
 
 The Jews entertained many strange superstitions regard- 
 ing the mysterious influence of precious stones. They fore- 
 told future events by the change in color or brilliancy. For 
 this purpose they used twelve precious stones on which were 
 engraved as many anagrams of the name of God. In the 
 Talmud it is stated that Noah derived all the light he had in 
 the ark from precious stones. Gyges, King of Lydia, is said 
 to have had a ring by which the wearer was rendered invis- 
 ible. He died 680 B. C. 
 
 The ancients believed there was a mysterious sympathy 
 between the seven planets and seven of the precious stones ; 
 the Turquoise had relation to Saturn; Carnelian to Jupiter, 
 
PRECIOUS STONES. 
 
 Emerald to Mars ; Diamond, the Sun ; Amethyst, Venus ; 
 Lodestone, Mercury ; and Crystal, the Moon. There was 
 also supposed to be a similar relation between the months 
 of the year and the precious stones. 
 
 January Garnet, for constancy and fidel- 
 ity. 
 
 February Amethyst, sincerity. 
 
 March Bloodstone, courage, presence of 
 mind. 
 
 April Diamond, innocence. 
 
 May Emerald, success in love. 
 
 June Agate, health and long life. 
 
 July Carnelian, contented mind. 
 August Sardonyx, conjugal fidelity. 
 September Chrysolite, antidote against 
 
 madness. 
 
 October Opal, hope. 
 November Topaz, fidelity. 
 December Turquoise, sincerity. 
 
 In the olden days, precious stones were considered the 
 most acceptable offerings to the gods, and the temples and 
 shrines would be the objective point of the marauder in times 
 of conquest and war, on account of the vast accumulation of 
 wealth in them. 
 
 Precious stones, being one of the factors in the world's 
 wealth, have a literature exclusively their own, but there is 
 much to be learned of them through general literature, as 
 well as from works which are exclusively scientific. 
 
 DIAMONDS. 
 
 These glorious, mysterious gems, surpassing all others in 
 hardness and brilliancy, take first rank among the precious 
 stones. The diamond is aptly called the "king of gems," 
 for there are none which excel, and very few, indeed, which 
 can even approach its loveliness. 
 
 The Greeks attributed the origin of all precious stones to 
 their gods. Fantastic notions constituted the general belief 
 regarding the origin of gems. Those pertaining to each will 
 
i'RECIOUS STONES. 385 
 
 be noted in its account. The youth who rocked the cradle of 
 Jupiter on the island of Crete was transformed into the 
 u adamas," the Greek for diamond, and fell to the ground 
 amid lightnings and thunder. 
 
 The diamond is commonly found in connection with gold, 
 and Plato described it for this reason as like the kernel of 
 the gold, and he supposed it was the noblest and purest part 
 which had become condensed into a transparent mass. The 
 Greeks thought that rock crystal was a congelation, like ice, 
 and could only be found in the coldest regions. They called 
 these crystals " unripe diamonds," and the real gems " ripe 
 diamonds." 
 
 There are six kinds of diamonds : Ethiopian, Indian, Ara- 
 bian, Macedonian, Cyprian, and the Siderite, which last re- 
 sembles polished steel. There have also been diamonds 
 found in the United States, but not so plentifully as to estab- 
 lish a special class. Diamonds are found in all colors, even 
 black, but the tints are usually very light. While a very large 
 portion of the diamonds found are white, a perfectly color- 
 less transparent gem is rarer than would be supposed. The 
 application of heat will modify their colors, sometimes per- 
 manently, and sometimes they will, after a time, return to 
 their original condition. As yet, there has been no satisfac- 
 tory theory advanced for this variety of tints, and Nature 
 still keeps her secret not only of the forming of the diamond, 
 but its tinting, intact. It is thought that the yellow diamond 
 has the greatest variety of tint. Rose-colored ones are not 
 numerous, but the deep, rich red ones are extremely rare. 
 A few only of these latter are on record. The Emperor 
 Paul, of Russia, bought one for one hundred thousand rou- 
 bles. It weighed ten carats. There are several specimens 
 25 
 
386 PRECIOUS STONES. 
 
 of the other reddish shades to be found in the different col- 
 lections of Europe. Blue diamonds are nearly as beautiful 
 and rare as the red. These gems differ from sapphires in 
 the quality of the tints and the play of colors peculiar to the 
 diamond. Unless some have been found lately in Brazil or 
 South Africa, the only ones known were found in the old 
 mines of India. Green diamonds are also of various shades, 
 but the pure emerald or grass-green hue is very rare, but 
 when found it surpasses the brilliancy and fire of the finest 
 emeralds, There is one in Dresden which has been consid- 
 ered " one of the five paragons among all the gems of the 
 world." It is supposed that an American amateur of precious 
 stones owns the finest specimen of green diamond ever 
 found. Black diamonds are exceedingly rare. One was ex- 
 hibited at the London Exposition in 1851, which was the ad- 
 miration of all experts, because of its size and color. It is a 
 wonderful gem, weighing three hundred and fifty carats, and 
 of a coal black hue. Others of a brown hue have been 
 found, and occasionally those of a cloudy or milky appear- 
 ance, like opals, are discovered. 
 
 Diamond mines consist generally of mere diggings and 
 washings of the mud of rivers. The loose earth containing 
 the diamonds lies always a little below the surface, toward 
 the lower outlet of broad valleys rather than upon the sum- 
 mits of the surrounding hills. It is supposed that diamonds 
 have a volcanic origin, and were thrown forcibly out in some 
 convulsion of nature and scattered broadcast much in the 
 same way as a spray might be on a smaller scale. Some 
 have thought them to be the crystallization of petroleum, 
 with which the matrix was saturated during the coal period. 
 Newton advanced the idea that they were of an unctuous sub- 
 
PRECIOUS STONES. 387 
 
 stance which coagulated, and subsequently crystallized. 
 Other eminent philosophers have held the same opinion. 
 Sir David Brewster believed the diamond was once a mass 
 of gum, which came from a species of wood, crystallized in 
 the processes of nature. It has been thought to be of more 
 recent origin than gold, for some specimens have been found 
 containing that precious metal. The possibility has been 
 suggested that it is still in the process of formation, with 
 capacity for growth. But all this conflict of opinion has not 
 resulted in a definite knowledge of its origin. The matrix, 
 in which the gem is found, seems to vary in different coun- 
 tries. In India it occurs in a sort of sandstone breccia or " pud- 
 ding-stone," consisting of horneblende, jasper, chalcedony, 
 and quartz, cemented together by a silicious substance. This 
 conglomerate, broker! into loose pebbles, forms the diamond 
 fields. In Africa and Brazil jasper, granite, itacolumite, and 
 peridot are indicative of the presence of diamonds. In 
 Australia its associates are shales, trap-rocks, sandstones, 
 and conglomerates. Agassiz believed that the formation 
 bearing diamonds was the glacial drift. 
 
 The remarkable brilliancy of the diamond is thought to be 
 due to its great reflecting power, as it throws back all the 
 light falling upon it at a little more than an angle of twenty- 
 four degrees. The beautiful play of colors, peculiar to the 
 diamond, comes from its refractive and dispersing powers. 
 It is this blending and scattering of the rays of light which 
 causes the " fire " for which the gem is noted, and for which 
 it is incomparable. The perfectly colorless specimens pre- 
 sents this interesting phenomenon in a much greater degree 
 than the other varieties. It has been found that these pris- 
 matic colors are more vivid under artificial light than they are 
 
388 PRECIOUS STONES. 
 
 under the sun's rays or any other natural light. In 1664 
 Robert Boyle described the phosphorescence, or its property 
 of shining in the dark after being exposed to sunlight. This 
 property is confined to certain stones, though it is said that 
 it may be generated by steeping in hot water. Graphite and 
 charcoal are the most active conductors, while the diamond, 
 composed of the identical chemical constituents, is a non- 
 conductor of electricity. It acquires positive electricity by 
 attrition, both when in a natural and a polished condition, in 
 which respect it differs from most other precious stones, which 
 are negative if rough, and positive only when polished. It is 
 impossible to dissolve it, or, indeed, to affect it in the slightest 
 degree by the strongest acids known to chemistry. Before 
 the middle of the fourteenth century it was believed impossi- 
 ble to destroy it by fire, but the fallacy of this belief has since 
 been proven. 
 
 One great point in favor of its vegetable origin is that its 
 first cousins, the graphite and charcoal, are known to be the 
 result of plant life. Why, then, should not the diamond, 
 pure, crystallized carbon, be also ? So we find that the chemi- 
 cal value of the diamond is only equal to pure charcoal. 
 But its intrinsic and commercial worth is much greater, as an 
 ounce of the dust has brought two hundred and fifty dollars. 
 
 The diamond is the only gem that is infusible. It has been 
 stated that after the great conflagration at Hamburg in 1842, 
 many diamonds that had been defaced by exposure to the 
 heat were sold for the merest trifle, under the supposition 
 that they were permanently injured by the fire. Upon being 
 repolished it was found that their former brilliance and lustre 
 had returned, and they had only lost slightly in weight. The 
 fact of the combustibility of the diamond was established by 
 
PRECIOUS STONES. 389 
 
 experiments at Vienna in 1750, and others of more recent 
 date. The old idea that the diamond could not be broken 
 has been also exploded, and it is now known that the gem is 
 very brittle. A fall on the floor has been known to seriously 
 injure valuable specimens. Its formation is laminar, as it 
 splits readily "with the grain," thus causing it to be easily 
 divided into any desired size without the tedious process of 
 cutting and grinding by friction. 
 
 There are three divisions of this gem into its different 
 molecular states. First, the crystals, the most beautiful and 
 perfect forms used in ornaments. Second, the imperfect 
 crystals called bort, which is said to be excessively hard, far 
 surpassing the perfect diamond in this respect. This kind is 
 crushed into powder for polishing the more beautiful forms. 
 Third, the uncrystallized or amorphous form. This is a steel- 
 gray, opaque mass, called carbonado, which is also used in 
 polishing. It is often porous, but possesses the hardness 
 requisite for polishing. 
 
 Some gems have been known to split or burst from natural 
 causes. This is more likely to happen with tinted specimens, 
 especially those tinted with a faint brown, It is reported that 
 specimens which were perfect upon being taken from the 
 mines would, the next morning, be found lying in fragments 
 from some cause which is still a matter of speculation. 
 
 While the diamond now stands undisputably first among 
 gems, it has not always been so classed by all nations. The 
 ancient Romans and Indians gave it first place, but the Per- 
 sians only classed it as fifth in the scale, and other nations 
 have given it the third place. Its possession was once claimed 
 as a royal privilege, and none but the nobility presumed to 
 appropriate it for ornament. It is supposed that the Phceni- 
 
390 PRECIOUS STONES. 
 
 cians and Syrians were the first to use it in jewelry, but they 
 did not long lack imitators, while to-day it has become a uni- 
 versal favorite, with its use limited only by the ability to pur- 
 chase the gem. It was used very profusely in the earlier 
 days by royalty. We are told that among the effects of 
 Sultan Mahmoud at the beginning of the eleventh century 
 were more than four hundred pounds avoirdupois of dia- 
 monds. The value of this gem to the ancient Romans and 
 the early mediaeval nations was not in the intrinsic beauty, for 
 they had not yet learned to develop that beauty by polishing, 
 but on account of its supposed supernatural powers. Being 
 believed to promote harmony in the conjugal relations, it was 
 at any early period chosen as the marriage ring. 
 
 The value of diamonds is dependent upon their size, color, 
 and form of crystals. There are twin, triple, and even quad- 
 ruple crystals that must have joined at the very instant of 
 solidification. In the rough they are valued at half their 
 weight. The Mohammedans say that the gems are the tears 
 of Adam after his expulsion from Eden. In Europe large 
 diamonds have been considered the badge of caste, but few 
 were imported into the United States prior to 1848, 
 
 The first diamonds were found in India, and that country 
 was long the only place known to have them. The mines of 
 Golconda are often spoken of. This is an error, as Golconda 
 has no mine; there is a fortress of that name where the 
 gems are collected, cut, and polished in preparation for 
 market. In 1727 it was discovered that diamonds could be 
 found in Brazil, in the province of Minas Geraes. The first 
 ones found were used as playthings by the children, and for 
 counters at cards by the ignorant negroes. They were found 
 in searching for gold. It was for the interest of the Indian 
 
PRECIOUS STONES. 39! 
 
 trade that these should be branded inferior to the Indian 
 gems, and for some time they were so considered, but 
 thorough investigation fully established their equality. The 
 crops of all fowls killed in Brazil are examined for the 
 diamonds they may possibly contain, and it is said that 
 several quite valuable ones have been secured from this 
 source. One man found a stone of five carats clinging to 
 the roots of a cabbage he had pulled for his dinner. 
 
 In 1754 a slave, who had been transferred from the mines 
 of the Minas Geraes region to the district of Bahia, noticed 
 indications in the soil similar to that in which he had been 
 working, and suspecting the presence of diamonds, he 
 searched and found them to be abundant. This great find 
 was the means of reducing the price about one-half. When 
 a slave finds a diamond of seventeen or eighteen carats he 
 is given his freedom. 
 
 The first authentic cutting and polishing of diamonds is 
 credited to Louis van Berghem, of Bruges, in 1456, but the 
 knowledge of the art must have long antedated this time, as 
 it is known that there are very ancient church ornaments in 
 existence which were cut as four-sided pyramids. Emperor 
 Charles also had ornaments of polished diamonds. In the 
 inventory of the effects of the Duke of Anjou, 1360-68, a 
 diamond was mentioned, cut into the form of a shield. Van 
 Berghem discovered that by continuously rubbing two 
 diamonds together their surfaces were polished and facets 
 formed. His experiments resulted in the adoption by him 
 of diamond powder and the wheel for polishing purposes. 
 It is, at least, considered that if not the original discoverer 
 of this beautifying art, he certainly introduced many improve- 
 ments by means of the wheel and by cutting the facets ac- 
 
392 PRECIOUS STONES. 
 
 cording to mathematical principles. By so doing the art at 
 once claimed its place among the sciences as well as the arts. 
 Mr. H. D. Morse, of Boston, is the inventor of a machine 
 for cutting and polishing gems to avoid the necessity for 
 American jewelers having their gems cut abroad. 
 
 There are various forms in which precious stones are cut, 
 the commonest of which are classed as table, brilliant, rose, 
 and cabochon. The translucent and opaque varieties are 
 usually cut en cabochon, the garnet being the only transparent 
 stone which is advantageously cut en cabochon ; that is, having 
 no facets, or as convex, concave, double convex, or with one 
 flattened and one convex surface. With the others there is 
 a sacrifice of brilliancy if so cut. The old style of cutting 
 diamonds several centuries ago was called the table or Indian 
 cut. These were cut with a square or oblong plane on both 
 sides, one much smaller than the other. Later the rose 
 became the prevalent fashion. This consisted of a dome 
 above a flat base, usually with a double row of facets. 
 Smaller stones can be manipulated by using this form better 
 than any other. 
 
 The one commonly in use is a later invention, and known 
 as the brilliant, which is described as having the form of two 
 cones joined at their bases, the upper one being truncated. 
 The art of sawing diamonds when they were too thick in 
 proportion to the required surface is said to have been in- 
 vented by a Dutchman by the name of Dalbeck in the first 
 part of this century. The flat, thin stones are cut in the 
 table form. 
 
 The white varieties of other stones are often classed as 
 diamonds by the uninitiated, but there are several tests to 
 settle the question in doubt. One is that the diamond is the 
 
PRECIOUS STONES. 393 
 
 only stone that will scratch the sapphire ; another, diamond 
 alone will cut glass. Other gems will scratch it, but the 
 diamond will entirely separate its particles. Diamonds are 
 sometimes ground steadily for a day without any perceptible 
 effect upon their surface. 
 
 Among the curiosities belonging to Charles I, of England, 
 there was an engraved diamond, the rarest ever known. It 
 is supposed to have been sent by Henrietta Maria to that 
 country to buy ammunition in time of war. Its vicissitudes 
 were numerous, and it is now in Russia, the property of 
 Prince Potemkni. 
 
 The measure of weight or carat, is equal to about four 
 grains. Its name is supposed to be derived from the u kirat," 
 the name of a bean, the fruit of a tree, known as the " kuara," 
 which is a native of Africa. " Kuara " signifies " sun " in 
 the language of that country, and the name was given to the 
 tree because its flowers and fruit were flame colored. These 
 seeds being always of nearly uniform weight, the. natives have 
 been in the habit, from time immemorial, of using them to 
 weigh gold. These beans were transported into India at an 
 ancient period, and have been there long used to weigh 
 diamonds. The grains of the jewelers' carat are a little 
 lighter than the Troy grains. 
 
 There are many exceedingly valuable specimens of this 
 " king of gems," and there are also several magnificent claim- 
 ants whose genuineness is doubted. Among the latter is the 
 Braganza, owned by the government of Portugal. It has 
 never been cut, and its weight has been variously estimated 
 from one thousand six hundred and eighty to one thousand 
 eight hundred and eighty carats. As the government seems 
 to be jealous of any investigations, it is impossible to know 
 
394 PRECIOUS STONES. 
 
 absolutely either its rank or its worth. It is thought by many 
 that this stone is only a white specimen of some other gem, 
 as the sapphire, topaz, etc. 
 
 A cablegram announces the finding on June 3Oth, 1893, of 
 the "largest diamond in the world." It was found in the New 
 Jagersfontein Company's mine in South Africa. It is said to 
 be the most perfect stone found. Its weight is nine hundred 
 and seventy-one carats, and its color is a blue-white. It was 
 found by a Kaffir, who was working in the mine shortly after 
 blasting. He handed it over to the manager and received 
 seven hundred and fifty dollars, a horse, saddle, and bridle for 
 it. The mine was worked under contract with some party to 
 take all stones found, good, bad, or indifferent at so much a 
 carat. This contract expired the day the large stone was 
 found, and it was probably the last one found under it. The 
 form of this magnificent gem is a sloping cone, flattened on 
 two sides and standing on an oval base, so flush as almost to 
 appear to have been cut. It is about three inches high, and 
 its width about two, while the flat base measures nearly two 
 inches by one and a quarter. It has been named the " Jagers- 
 fontein Excelsior," and is now in London. 
 
 It is thought that there are not many more than a hundred 
 large diamonds in the world those weighing over thirty 
 carats. The oldest of these is the famous Koh-i-noor, or 
 " Mountain of Light," as its name signifies. Its antiquity is 
 traditional, as it is said to have been found in the Godavery 
 River, Southern India, four or five thousand years ago, pre- 
 vious to the great Indian war of the Mahabharata. It was 
 lost in this battle by the chief who wore it, and, coming into 
 the possession of the family of the Rajah of Malwar, became 
 the property of his successors for many generations, when 
 
PRECIOUS STONES. 395 
 
 the Mohammedan conquerors of India appropriated it at the 
 beginning of the fourteenth century. It was in the Imperial 
 treasury at Delhi, until the Persian conqueror, Nadir Shah, 
 carried it off in 1739. The wanderings of this gem from this 
 time till it became an occupant of the royal treasury of Wind- 
 sor Castle are many and various. 
 
 Previous to the " Excelsior," above described, the " Great 
 Mogul " was the largest authentic diamond that had been 
 found. It was discovered in 1650, and came into the pos- 
 session of the vizier of the King of Golconda. On account 
 of the king's jealousy, he was obliged to flee. Coming to 
 Aurungzeeb, one of the most celebrated of the Mogul rulers, 
 he purchased his favor by the magnificent presents he gave 
 him. Among them was this gem, which thus received its 
 name. Its weight when originally found is said to have been 
 nine hundred carats, but it has been reduced by bungling 
 artisans until it now only weighs two hundred and eighty 
 carats. It was of the first water, or perfectly colorless stone, 
 and valued at one million six hundred and eighty thousand 
 dollars. 
 
 The next largest stone, the Pitt, or Regent, is now claimed 
 to be the most conspicuous gem in the French crown. It 
 was found in the mines at Puteal, India, in 1701, by a slave, 
 who stole it and escaped with it to the coast, where he was 
 decoyed on board an English ship by the captain, then robbed 
 and cast overboard. This captain sold it for five thousand 
 dollars, and, becoming dissipated, he eventually hung himself. 
 Thomas Pitt, the grandfather of the celebrated William Pitt, 
 bought the gem from a Parsee merchant. It was cut in Lon- 
 don, as a brilliant, by hand, at a cost of twenty-five thousand 
 dollars. The fragments have been estimated from seventeen 
 
396 PRECIOUS STONES. 
 
 to forty thousand dollars. The work required two years. It 
 was sold to the Regent of France, in 1727, from whence 
 comes its name. It is estimated to be worth two million four 
 hundred thousand dollars. It was exhibited at the Exposition 
 of 1855. It is said there are no gems of more symmetrical 
 form, transparency, purity, and beauty. Before cutting it 
 weighed four hundred and ten carats, but was reduced to one 
 hundred and thirty-six carats by that process. 
 
 Another gem, contesting for this second place, is the Or- 
 loff. It is absolutely impossible to accurately trace its his- 
 tory on account of the conflicting tales of romance, intrigue, 
 and crime concerning it. It is frequently, in these records, 
 confounded with both the Great Mogul and another gem, 
 called the " Moon of the Mountains," which is a Persian 
 stone. All agree that it is an Indian stone. It is said to 
 have once formed the eye of a famous Indian idol, stolen by 
 a French deserter and sold to an English sea captain, from 
 whom it passed to a Jew, then to a Greek, and in 1772 was 
 bought by Count Orloff for the Empress Catherine for four 
 hundred and fifty thousand roubles and an annuity of four 
 thousand roubles and a title of Russian nobility. The stone 
 was set in the Russian sceptre and weighs about one hundred 
 and ninety-five carats. It is the shape of half a pigeon's 
 egg, and cut in the rose form. 
 
 Another famous gem is the Great Sancy. This has well 
 been called "the sphinx among diamonds," on account of the 
 conflicting, bewildering stories which claim to be its history. 
 In this matter it holds first rank. A part of the trouble 
 seems to arise from the fact that there are three gems called 
 by that name. These are : the Great Sancy, the Demidoff 
 Sancy, and the Little Sancy. Charles the Bold was supposed 
 
PRECIOUS STONES. 397 
 
 to have been the first possessor of this gem of which any ac- 
 count can be found. He lost it on the day of his memorable 
 defeat. The rest of its history is obscure till it is found in 
 the hands of Nicholas de Harlay, Seigneur de Sancy, Am- 
 bassador of Henry IV of France to the court of Elizabeth. 
 It is said that this is the first diamond ever polished. 
 
 It would be impossible within the space of this article to 
 give an account of all the remarkable diamonds of the world. 
 These " transparent images of eternal light " have many 
 worthy representatives whose histories are wonderful and 
 their beauties marvelous. 
 
 Red diamonds are very rare. There is one among the 
 crown jewels of Russia which weighs but ten carats and cost 
 seventy-five thousand dollars. Ablue one, known as the " Hope 
 Blue," was exhibited at London, in the Exposition of 1851, 
 weighing forty-four and one-quarter carats, and estimated to 
 be worth one hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars. 
 Dresden has some fine yellow stones, the largest of which 
 only weighs twenty-nine and one-half carats. There is also 
 a green diamond at Dresden, which is exceedingly beautiful. 
 It weighs forty and one-half carats, and is valued at one hun- 
 dred and fifty thousand dollars. Messrs. Tiffany & Co., of 
 New York, have a mixed diamond. Part of it is black and 
 part white. They have also one which appears to be brown, 
 but it gives out beautiful, dark rose-red reflections. 
 
 While the imitations of diamonds abound, it has thus far 
 been proven a laborious and expensive task to manufacture 
 genuine ones. Experiments conducted for this purpose have 
 only resulted in the forming of such small crystals as not to 
 threaten any competition to the natural market. Just at 
 present the London chemists are greatly interested in the 
 
398 PRECIOUS STONES. 
 
 attempts of one M. Moissan. He claims to have discovered 
 a process by which he confidently expects to manufacture the 
 gem in marketable quantities. He transforms graphite into 
 diamond by the infusion of purified sugar. His experiments 
 will be followed with great interest by the scientific world, and 
 if he should succeed in his attempts, it will be unfortunate 
 for the possessors of fortunes in these precious gems. It has 
 long been believed that this great secret of Nature would be 
 solved, and there have been many laborers in this department 
 of science. Upon the eventual difficulty and expense of the 
 manufacture of these gems will depend the degree to which 
 the market will be affected. 
 
 SAPPHIRES. 
 
 " The azure light of Sapphire's stone 
 Resembles that celestial throne." 
 
 The sapphire ranks next to the diamond in hardness, it be- 
 ing able to scratch every other stone. The Greeks consid- 
 ered it sacred to Jupiter. It is a blue, transparent variety of 
 corundum, .or native alumina. And every one knows that 
 alumina is the principal ingredient in common clay. The an- 
 cients seem to have given the name of sapphire to all blue 
 stones, or, rather, their term was hyacinthus. This primitive 
 name, as well as our modern one, refers to its color azure. 
 It is supposed to have been of Syriac origin, and meant " to 
 shine," as did also the Arabic "jacut," which is thought to 
 have suggested the term " huakinthos " to the Greeks. Ac- 
 cording to the ancient Pefsians, the globe rests on a vast sap- 
 phire, the reflection of which colors the sky. In Exodus 
 xxiv, 10, is written: "And they saw the God of Israel; and 
 there was under his feet, as it were, a paved work of a sap- 
 
PRECIOUS STONES. 399 
 
 phire stone, and, as it were, the body of heaven in his clear- 
 ness." Epiphanes states that the vision which appeared to 
 Moses on the mount was in sapphire, and that the first tables 
 of the law given by God to Moses were made of sapphire. 
 The blue sapphire is an emblem of heaven, virtue, truth, con- 
 stancy, heavenly love, and contemplation. The clearness of 
 the sapphire denotes hope. Sylvanus Morgan said, " The 
 sapphire denotes prudence, distinguished by their sex, viz., 
 male and female, whereof the bluest are thought to be the 
 male." The wearing of it was supposed to quell the animal 
 senses. It was also thought to be a great enemy to " black 
 cholera," and that it would clear the mind and mend the 
 manners of the wearer. It was powdered and mixed with 
 milk, and taken as a remedy to cure boils. 
 
 The largest sapphire known is in the Mineralogical Mu- 
 seum, at Paris. It weighs a little more than one hundred and 
 thirty-two carats, and was bought by a French jeweler for 
 thirty-four thousand dollars. There is an account of another 
 piece which was dug out of the alluvium at Ratnapoora, in 
 1853, weight not given, which was valued at more than twenty 
 thousand dollars. The sapphire is a very cold gem, on ac- 
 count of its density, and this property gave rise to the belief 
 that it would extinguish fires. The oldest ecclesiastical jewel 
 extant is set with a sapphire, as, on account of its reputed 
 ability to preserve the virtue of the wearer, it was considered 
 the most appropriate gem for church uses. The sapphire 
 has quite a range of color, being found in white, blue of all 
 shades, red, and, more rarely, gray or green. It crystallizes 
 in six-sided prisms, terminated in six-sided pyramids. Ceylon 
 produces more of these gems than any other country, and 
 they are noted for their great beauty and size. They are 
 
400 PRECIOUS STONES. 
 
 also found in Arabia, and some other parts of Asia, Siberia, 
 Bohemia, Greece, Saxony, France, Switzerland, Brazil, and 
 the United States. The Ceylon mines have been worked for 
 centuries. The blue diamond is distinguished from the sap- 
 phire by its superior brilliancy, and its ability to scratch the 
 latter gem. There are several celebrated sapphires. One 
 belonging to the Saxon crown, said to have been bought from 
 an Afghan, and thought to be the finest one known. Baroness 
 Burdett-Coutts Bartlett has two magnificent gems valued at 
 nearly two hundred thousand dollars. There is one now 
 owned by Queen Victoria, called the Lennox, or Darnley 
 sapphire, which was set as a heart-shaped pendant for 
 Margaret Douglass, in 1575. The ornament to which this 
 is a pendant is a marvelous and complicated production of 
 great beauty and value, and combines numerous mottoes 
 and emblems. 
 
 The sapphire loses its color by the application of heat, but 
 it thus acquires a great brilliancy, very nearly approaching the 
 diamond, but not quite so iridescent. In the British Museum 
 is to be seen a small statue of Buddha cut from a single sap- 
 phire. In the Hope collection are several specimens which 
 exhibit varying colors under different kinds of light. The 
 most celebrated of the antique sapphires is said to be the 
 signet ring of the Emperor Constantinus II, which weighs 
 fifty-three carats, and is in the Rinuccini collection. 
 
 A sapphire, once the property of Edward the Confessor, 
 which was cut in the form of a rose, is now the centre of a 
 cross in the crown of England. A remarkable specimen has 
 been reported which is said to weigh nine hundred and fifty- 
 one carats, of a beautiful blue tint, and without a flaw, belong- 
 ing to the royal treasury of Ava, Burmah. As these State 
 
PRECIOUS STONES. 4-OI 
 
 jewels are jealously guarded, there is no vouching for this 
 statement. 
 
 Sapphires were engraved as early as the fifth century. 
 
 Sapphires as beautiful and as genuine as those produced 
 in the laboratory of Nature have been manufactured. Thomas 
 J. Edison, the "Wizard of Menlo Park/' makes those he 
 uses in his inventions, and it is said that they are even 
 superior in beauty to the natural gems. 
 
 RUBIES. 
 
 " They brought me rubies from the mine, 
 
 And held them to the sun ; 
 I said, ' They are drops of frozen wine 
 From Eden's vats that run.' " 
 
 Rubies are the red corundum. If they are perfect in color 
 and of good size they are worth ten times as much as dia- 
 monds. The finest Oriental rubies come from Burmah, 
 though they are found in many other parts of the world. 
 Pliny, under the name of carbunculus, classed several stones; 
 as the ruby, spinel, and garnet. The King of Burmah is 
 called "Lord of the Rubies," on account of the extensive 
 ruby mines about sixty or seventy miles from his capitol. 
 Rubies are also found in Ceylon, Siam, Tartary, Bohemia, 
 France, and America, To account for the abundance of ru- 
 bies to be found in Ceylon, a Chinese work states that the 
 origin of the trade in that island was coeval with the visit of 
 the Hindoo god, Buddha, who sprinkled the land with sweet 
 dew, which caused it to produce red gems. The belief was 
 prevalent that impending evil was foretold by this gem by its 
 turning darker or opaque in proportion to the intensity of the 
 calamity. It was also supposed to give the power of seeing 
 26 
 
4<D2 PRECIOUS STONF.S. 
 
 in the dark, if hung around the neck, as well as to cure dis- 
 eases of the eyes, if tied in a linen cloth over the forehead. 
 The Arabs say: " Rubies purify the blood, quench thirst, dis- 
 pel melancholy, avert danger, and insure honor, and that a 
 true gem when put in the fire becomes invisible ; in water, it 
 o-lows with heat, and in the dark, shines like a hot coal." The 
 
 C3 
 
 Greeks called the ruby "anthrax,'' or " live coal." They be- 
 dieved it to give notice of poison, as do all the nobler gems, 
 >to grow dark on approach of evil, banish sadness, and many 
 forms of vice and sin. Theoprastus said : " In the males, the 
 stars appear burning within them, but the females throw out 
 their brightness." 
 
 Pliny said : " The males are more acrid and vigorous, the 
 females were languishing." 
 
 The finest rubies, those held in the highest estimation, are 
 of a deep carmine hue, a red color known as " pigeon's 
 blood." The rubies used in the ancient jewelry were 
 polished, but seldom faceted, supposed to be on account of 
 the native lapidaries disliking so strongly to waste any por- 
 tion of the precious material. Antique engravings on this 
 gem are very rare, and many of these supposed to be ruby 
 are found to be some other form of crystals. There is one 
 described by Chardin, the traveler and dealer in gems, which 
 belonged to the Persian treasury. This was the size of half 
 a hen's egg, and bore an inscription. It is also said that a 
 Persian king owned a pink ruby which was engraved with the 
 motto : " Riches are the source of prosperity." Rubies of 
 undoubted genuineness have never been known to exceed 
 twenty-four carats. Others much larger have been reported, 
 but have generally been found to be something else. It is 
 probable that the finest collection of rubies belongs to the 
 
PRECIOUS STONES. 403 
 
 Russian treasury. Tavernier is authority for the statement 
 that the throne of the Great Mogul was adorned with one 
 hundred and eight rubies, weighing from one hundred to two 
 hundred carats each. 
 
 The color of the ruby ranges from a deep cochineal to a 
 deep rose red, being shaded with purple in some cases. 
 
 Another ancient belief concerning the ruby was that if it 
 was bruised in water it would relieve infirmities of the eyes 
 and help disordered livers. If the four corners of a house, 
 garden, or vineyard were touched with it they would be pre- 
 served from lightning, tempest, and worms ; it also dispersed 
 infectious air. When worn it was impossible to conceal it, as 
 its lustre would show beneath the thickest clothes. 
 
 EMERALDS. 
 
 " The Emerald burns intensely bright, 
 With radiance of an olive light ; 
 This is the faith that highest shines, 
 No need of charity declines." 
 
 Emeralds were supposed by the Orientals to have a mirac- 
 ulous origin. The story runs thus : "A person was watch- 
 ing a swarm of fire-flies in an Indian grove one moonlight 
 night. After hovering for a time in the moonbeams, one par- 
 ticular fire-fly, more brilliant than the rest, alighted on the 
 grass and there remained. The spectator, struck by its fixity, 
 and approaching to ascertain the cause, found, not an insect, 
 but an emerald, which he appropriated, and afterward wore 
 in a ring." It was also believed that if a snake or serpent 
 fixed his eyes on the lustre of an emerald he would become 
 immediately blind. The Shah of Persia is said to have a 
 little casket of gold blessed by Mahommed, which is capable 
 of rendering him invisible as long as he remains unmarried. 
 
404 PRECIOUS STONES. 
 
 Emeralds are supposed to have originally come from Peru, 
 being brought to Europe through Asia. The finest ones are 
 said to be obtained in Muzo, Colombia, but they are also 
 found in Salzburg, Siberia, and India. They have been found 
 in Norway, the Tyrol, France, Mexico, and North Carolina 
 in the United States. It is said that Russia has the finest 
 collection of emeralds in the world, one of them being as 
 large as an egg. De la Vega said that the chief goddess of 
 Peru was an emerald as large as an ostrich's egg, which was 
 exhibited at great festivals. The people came from all parts 
 of the country to behold their goddess and bring her gifts of 
 emeralds. These gifts were called her daughters, and the 
 priests gave the people to understand that she delighted in 
 receiving them. When the Spaniards conquered Peru they 
 captured these " daughters " without ceremony, but the 
 "mother" had been so securely secreted that it is said that 
 she has not since put in an appearance. Great quantities 
 of very valuable emeralds were appropriated by Spanish 
 brigands during their invasion of Mexico. Some finally 
 found their way to the royal treasury of Spain. Cortez 
 took five superb emeralds, of exquisite beauty and unique 
 design, from a Peruvian temple and presented them to his 
 wife. 
 
 The first of these gems was cut in the shape of a rose with 
 its leaves, the second was a toy, the third was cut in the form 
 of a bell with its clapper composed of one large pear-shaped 
 pearl. It had engraved upon it in Spanish this inscription : 
 " Blessed is he who created thee." The fifth of these won- 
 derful gems was a cup, upon which was engraved in Latin : 
 " Among those born of women, a greater has not risen." An 
 offer of eighty thousand dollars was made for one of these 
 
i'lU-XIOUS STONES. 405 
 
 curiosities. These gems are now supposed to be lying buried 
 deep in sand off the coast of the Barbadoes, as they were 
 lost when Cortez was shipwrecked in 1529. Some authors 
 claim that the second in this list was a horn. He still had 
 other valuable emeralds left, among which were two vases, 
 estimated at three hundred thousand ducats. 
 
 There is said to be a faultless gem weighing three hundred 
 carats in the rich collection at Constantinople. It is set in 
 the handle of a poniard. There was one found in the Tem- 
 ple of the Sun, in Peru, which was the size of a pigeon's egg. 
 There is in the royal treasury of Persia an emerald the size 
 of a walnut, upon which is engraved the names of the kingly 
 owners, as it passed through their hands from time to time. 
 The famous emerald mines of Mount Zebarah " Mountain 
 of Emeralds " between the Nile and the Red Sea, Egypt, 
 are supposed to have not been explored since the time of the 
 Ptolemies until their rediscovery by a M. Caillaud. He found 
 everything as it had been left by the miners centuries ago. 
 Their appliances and tools were left carelessly about as 
 though work would be resumed in the morning. There were 
 some forty excavations carried to a depth of eight hundred 
 feet below the surface of the ground, and four hundred men 
 could work in them. The Arabs believed that these caves 
 had been taken possession of by wild beasts and demons who 
 would kill any intruder. The night before an entrance was 
 effected they spent the entire night in firing guns to drive 
 away these evil spirits. 
 
 Peru supplied the European markets till the discovery of 
 the New Grenada mines. The gems found in these mines 
 are considered the finest ever mined. 
 
 It is said that Ireland is called the " Emerald Isle" on 
 
406 PRECIOUS STONES. 
 
 account of a ring set with an emerald, sent to Henry II of 
 England, by Pope Adrian as the instrument of his investure 
 with the dominion of that island. This ring, however, is not 
 to be found. 
 
 The emerald is a gem of great antiquity. In a poem 
 written by Orpheus, 400 B. C., the supernatural powers of 
 this precious stone is alluded to. They abound in antique 
 and Roman jewelry in the shape of slices of native prisms, 
 in beads, and very rarely for intaglios. They were seldom 
 engraved on account of their brittleness and objection 
 to waste. 
 
 THE TOPAZ. 
 
 From the Greek intagli which have come down to us, it is 
 known that this gem was known to the ancients at a very 
 early period. It is supposed that the name comes from an 
 island in the Red Sea, known to the early nations as Topazos, 
 where the gem was found. It is diffused over the world, be- 
 ing found in India, Siberia, Australia, Saxony, Austria, Brazil, 
 Mexico, and several of the United States. It is found in a 
 variety of colors, as saffron-yellow, wine-color, pale violet, 
 sea-green, blue, gold, ruby, rose, sapphire-blue, and light 
 blues. Its colors will fade in the light. It is seldom found 
 in very large crystals without flaws. In Saxony, massive 
 rocks are formed of it. The pure white topaz is often sold 
 for diamond, which is easily done on account of its brilliancy. 
 In the early times it was supposed that this gem had a gift of 
 inner radiance that could dispel darkness, like the carbuncle. 
 Set in gold and worn around the neck or left arm, it was a 
 charm against all sorcery and magic, and it also could dispel 
 nightmare, banish melancholy, cure cowardice, calm anger 
 and madness, and brighten the wit. 
 
PRECIOUS STONES. 407 
 
 OPALS. 
 
 Pliny thus describes the opal : " Of all precious stones, it 
 is opal that presents the greatest difficulty of description, it 
 displaying at once the piercing fire of the carbunculus, the 
 purple brilliancy of amethyst, and the sea-green of smarag- 
 dus (emerald) the whole blended together and refulgent 
 with a brightness that is quite incredible." The opal has 
 well been said to hold within its magical influence all the 
 gems it seems to embody, and is a natural prism. The name 
 is derived from a Greek word meaning " eye," hence, it was 
 believed to strengthen the sight, The Turks esteemed this 
 gem as highly as the diamond. Large opals are exceedingly 
 rare. The groundless stories founded on the legend of Rob- 
 ert the Devil have discouraged its use, as it is accused of 
 bringing ill-luck to its wearer. The opal has thus far defied 
 satisfactory imitation. 
 
 It is hydrated silica, and differs from quartz in containing 
 from five to fifteen per cent, of water. The beautiful play of 
 colors which it exhibits is owing to numerous fissures, which 
 refract the light. It never crystallizes, and is always cut en 
 cabochon, and not with facets. It has been known to split 
 by holding a ring in which it was set too near the fire in frosty 
 weather. There are several varieties as the fire opal, jas- 
 per opal, wood opal, etc. The fire opal is found in Mexico, 
 Hungary, and the Faroe Islands. It is remarkable for its 
 flame-like reflections, of hyacinthine reel, shading to honey 
 yellow, and often showing prismatic colors. Vegetable pro- 
 ducts and trees are sometimes petrified into opal hence, 
 called wood opal. These do not display the prismatic hues 
 of the true opal. The jasper opal retains the lustre of the 
 
408 PRECIOUS STONES. 
 
 opal, but has the color of yellow jasper. The Romans se- 
 cured their opals from the East, probably Ceylon, but the 
 largest one known by them was not larger than the half of a 
 hazel nut. There was one exception. Nonius, a Roman 
 senator, was the possessor of one of the full size of a hazel 
 nut, and because he would not surrender it to Marc Antony, 
 on demand, for what that worthy considered an equivalent, 
 he was exiled. It is said eight hundred and fifty thousand 
 dollars was offered for it. The ancients are said to have un- 
 derstood how to successfully counterfeit the opal, but the art 
 has died with them. The most celebrated modern mines are 
 those qf Hungary, Honduras, and Mexico. When first taken 
 from the mine it is stated that the opal is transparent and 
 colorless, but after being exposed to the light and heat it 
 lessens in size and soon shows its natural iridescence, grow- 
 ing gradually more and more beautiful till the excess of mois- 
 ture is driven off. The violet tint is first seen, then the 
 others. The sunlight is the best colorer of the gem. The 
 most notable opal of modern times was the one belonging to 
 the Empress Josephine. It was called the "Burning of 
 Troy," on account of the long flame-like emanations which 
 shot forth from it. 
 
 The ancients believed it brought good-will to the wearer. 
 Albertus Magnus said : " If you wish to become invisible, 
 take an opal and wrap it in a bay leaf, and it is of such na- 
 ture that it will make the by-standers blind hence, it has 
 been called " the patron of thieves." 
 
 AMETHYSTS. 
 
 The origin of this precious stone is thus chronicled : " A 
 beautiful nymph, beloved of Bacchus, was changed into the 
 
PRECIOUS STONES. 409 
 
 amethyst, which represented the color of the god's favorite 
 beverage. It is only a quartz, beautifully colored. Its name 
 comes from a Greek word meaning " unintoxicated." It was 
 in great demand by the Greek and Roman topers, on account 
 of the belief that it had the power of preventing the evil 
 consequences of their dissipation, made them vigilant and ex- 
 pert in business, expelled poison, gave victory to soldiers, 
 and secured easy capture of wild beasts and birds. The 
 Peruvians believed that if the names of the sun and moon 
 were engraved upon it, and it was hung around the neck 
 with the hair of a baboon, or the feather of a swallow, it was 
 a charm against witchcraft. The best amethysts come from 
 India, Persia, and Siberia, but they are found in Switzerland, 
 Hungary, Brazil, and the United States. They are worth 
 about five dollars a carat. They lose their color by the ap- 
 plication of heat. It is most probably the easiest to imitate 
 of any of the gems. It was thought that this gem was the 
 best for ecclesiastical purposes. 
 
 THE TURQUOISE. 
 
 The turquoise is a blue or bluish-green mineral. The first 
 was found in Persia, and was brought to Western Europe by 
 way of Turkey ; hence, its name, turkis stone, or as the 
 French have it, " turquoise." Large pieces are exceedingly 
 rare. It is never crystallized, but is found as stalactitic 
 masses, veins, nodules, and incrustations. Most specimens 
 are liable to fade or turn green with age, though many of the 
 oldest specimens known have still retained their beautiful 
 blue tint which is so highly prized. It is the stone which was 
 most commonly used for amulets, because of its mystical 
 powers. The Syrian turquoise is found principally in low, 
 
41 PRECIOUS STONES. 
 
 boggy earth. The ancients attribute to it the power to heal 
 marital misunderstandings. It is also said to change in color 
 and lustre according to the degree of health its wearer 
 possesses, and thus to foretell coming sickness or death. 
 Turquoise was first mentioned by an Arab in the twelfth 
 century. It is the symbol of sincerity and fidelity. The best 
 specimens are in the Persian and Russian crowns, and at 
 Moscow there is a throne covered with more than two thou- 
 sand of these gems. It is a mistake to suppose that they are 
 to be found in Russia. This has arisen from the fact that 
 they are polished and sold at Moscow by both Persian and 
 Turkish merchants. The turquoise can be imitated. 
 
 PEARLS. 
 
 " Its use and rate values the gem, 
 Pearls in their shells have no esteem." 
 
 Although, properly speaking, pearls cannot be called pre- 
 cious stories, as they have the same value and use, we cannot 
 forbear speaking of them in this connection. The pearl has 
 been considered, from time immemorial, as one of the loveli- 
 est gems that ever graced an ornament, and no labor or ex- 
 pense have been spared in the search for it. These gems 
 are simply concretions of calcareous matter combined with 
 the gelatinous substance secreted by the pearl oysters. 
 
 For centuries pearls formed an important item in the 
 natural productions of Ceylon. The earliest native record 
 of fishing for them is 306 B. C., and these oyster beds still 
 continue to yield the gems. Suetonius says that twenty cen- 
 turies ago the Romans procured pearls from Great Britain. 
 The common Oriental belief concerning the origin of the 
 
PRECIOUS STONES. 411 
 
 gems is that they are " rain from the sky, which turns into 
 pearls as it falls into the sea." Pliny says the oysters pro- 
 duce them by feeding on heavenly dew. The oysters are 
 dived for in from four to twelve fathoms of water. The pre- 
 sent fishing ground of Ceylon is off the west coast of the 
 island. The season begins in February of each year. Aripo 
 is an old established fishing g'round, having been used in the 
 sixteenth century. Pearls are now found off Borneo, Aus- 
 tralia, Central America, some of the Pacific Islands, and in 
 the Gulf of California. The divers protect themselves from 
 the sharks, those " tigers of the sea," by the use of charms. 
 They will usually descend from forty to fifty times a day, 
 bringing up from two thousand to three thousand oysters. 
 The most favorable time for fishing is soon after sunrise. 
 
 ^> 
 
 The diver generally claims one-fourth of the catch. The 
 finest pearls are found in shells that are four or five years 
 old. If young shells are brought to the surface they are re- 
 turned to the water. The pearl oyster proper is twice as 
 large as the Shrewsbury. Pearls are weighed by the grain 
 instead of carat. 
 
 Pompey is said to have introduced the fashion for pearls 
 into Europe. A cart was required to carry away the pearls 
 which he took from Mithridates. Caesar gave away a pearl 
 worth a quarter of a million of dollars to Servilia, the mother 
 of Brutus. Caligula had. a pearl collar made for a favorite 
 horse. The most famous pearl, the beautiful Peregrina, was 
 found by a little negro boy in 1560. He obtained his liberty 
 by opening the oyster. This bivalve was such a small one 
 that he was about to throw it back into the sea in disgust, 
 but on second thought he opened it and secured the magnifi- 
 cent gem. It is of the size of a pigeon's egg and pear- 
 
,412 PRECIOUS STONES. 
 
 shaped. It was presented by the little negro's master to 
 Philip II, and is still in Spain. No sum has been set upon it, 
 so it is virtually priceless. An offer of five hundred thou- 
 sand dollars has been scouted. The single pearl which 
 Cleopatra is supposed to have dissolved and swallowed 
 had a value of four hundred and three thousand six hundred 
 and forty-four dollars. This story is considered by many as 
 apochryphal, because any acid which would quickly dissolve 
 a pearl would do the same for the stomach of the drinker. 
 
 The largest pearl ever found in America is the Queen. It 
 was discovered in the Notch Brook near Paterson, N. J. It 
 was bought by Messrs. Tiffany & Co., of New York, who 
 sold it to the Empress Eugenie for two thousand five hun- 
 dred dollars. It was found in 1857. Pearls have also been 
 found near Milford, Conn., and in the Little Miami River, 
 Ohio. 
 
 Perfect pearls of the size of walnuts are called "para- 
 gons," when they are of the size of a small cherry they are 
 known as "diadems." Pearls are also found in the rivers of 
 Scotland, and a merchant of Edinburgh, Unger by name, has 
 a necklace of these Scotch gems, valued at one thousand 
 seven hundred and fifty dollars. They range from twenty- 
 five to four hundred and fifty dollars each. 
 
 Fora pearl to rank as "first quality" it must be irides- 
 cent, a pure white in color or of a delicate azure tint, and 
 have a bright lustre. Those having a yellow tinge are con- 
 sidered as of inferior quality. When cut across pearls are 
 found to be formed in concentric layers like an onion. The 
 perfect sphere is the form which is held in the highest esteem, 
 though misshapen pearls are often very valuable on account 
 of their excellent quality or unique shapes. These freaks of 
 
PRECIOUS STONES. 413 
 
 nature are called "baroques." The smallest sizes of pearls 
 are called " seed pearls." 
 
 In former times powdered pearls were considered invalu- 
 able for stomach complaints. The pearl is the symbol of 
 modesty. . 
 
TUNNELS. 
 
 UNNELS are mainly divided into two classes: natural 
 
 and artificial. Of the first class there are many and 
 
 1 varied examples, notably, Mammoth Cave, in Ken- 
 
 tucky, U. S., and Fingal's Cave, off the southwest 
 
 coast of Scotland. 
 
 NATURAL TUNNELS. 
 
 Caves have been used from pre-historic times as places of 
 abode, refuge, and sepulchre. Around them have also 
 clustered many legends of myths and superstition. They 
 were formerly considered the abodes of the gods, sibyls, and 
 oracles. In the Roman mythology they were the homes of 
 the nymphs ; in the Grecian, they were used as the temples of 
 their divinities, Pan, Bacchus, Pluto, etc., and from them were 
 delivered the oracles at Delphi and other places. In Persia, 
 they were used in the worship of their sun-god, Mithras. 
 This god, by origin, was " the god of the bright heaven 
 and day, closely related in conception to, and yet expressly 
 distinguished from the sun." He was associated with the 
 god, Varuna, and as a pair they denoted the heaven of day 
 and the heaven of night. Their seventh month bore his 
 name, and the sixteenth day of each month was sacred to 
 his worship, when prayers were offered to him three times a 
 day, morning, noon, and night. Upon the conquest of Assy- 
 414 
 
TUNNELS. 415 
 
 ria and Babylonia, the Persian religion was greatly modified 
 by these more cultured races. Mithras then became identi- 
 fied with the sun, and there was instituted for his worship an 
 elaborate, mysterious ritual. The famous rest of the Seven 
 Sleepers, of Ephesus, was taken in a cave. The Moorish 
 children yet believe that the hills of Granada hold the great 
 Boabdil and his sleeping hosts, who will be awakened to re- 
 store the Moorish magnificence of Spain, when some adven- 
 turous mortal shall invade their territory. Numerous in- 
 stances are given in the Bible of the use of caves in the 
 human economy, and need not be cited here. 
 
 The excavation of the natural tunnels of the earth, in a 
 majority of cases, is obviously due to the erosive power of 
 water, usually in the form of rivers, though the incessant 
 swash of the sea breakers, with the steady grinding of tli<; 
 shingle, is also sure to find the weak spot or vein in the rock 
 they so continuously bombard. The caves of volcanic regions 
 are sometimes due to the expansion of the steam and gases 
 incarcerated by the falling, flowing, molten mass of lava. 
 
 Caves are mostly found in the limestones of the Devonian, 
 Carboniferous, and other ages. Their formation is due to 
 the disintegrating influence of the carbonic acid contained in 
 the water, together with the attrition of the detached debris 
 carried onward by the force of the water. They are to be 
 found principally in the limestone formations of the different 
 ages and periods. They are found at various levels, and 
 where the strata are compact enough to sustain a roof. They 
 also occur in gypsum rocks. 
 
 Caves originating from the action of carbonic acid and 
 water have their own peculiar characteristics. "They open 
 on the abrupt sides of valleys and ravines at various levels, 
 
41 6 TUNNELS. 
 
 and are arranged round the main axes of erosion, just as the 
 branches are arranged round the trunk of a tree. In a great 
 many cases the relation of the valley to the ravine, and of 
 the ravine to the cave is so intimate that it is impossible to 
 deny that all three have been produced by the same causes. 
 The caves themselves ramify in the same irregular fashion as 
 the valleys, and are to be viewed merely as the capillaries in 
 the general valley system through which the rain passes to 
 join the main channels." Instances are not uncommon where 
 the streams are still flowing in their subterranean beds. 
 Caves are still in all stages of production, from the simple 
 funnel-shaped depression, called " pot-holes," to the stupend- 
 ous cavern, whose area is still expanding by the agencies at 
 work upon it. Many ravines were once caves, but have 
 become unroofed through the degradation of the arching rock, 
 
 o o o 
 
 which lies often throughout their entire length in masses of 
 gigantic and varying proportions. 
 
 Stalactites and stalagmites usually abound in caves. These 
 forms, as well as the more beautiful ones of efflorescence, 
 are made by the deposition of the insoluble carbonate of 
 lime left by the water which percolates through the rock and 
 crystallizes in unique and often fantastic designs. Columns, 
 another form of cave decorations, are formed by the junction 
 of the stalactites with opposite stalagmites, where a continu- 
 ous trickle of water acts for a long time. The beauty of the 
 caves is greatly enhanced by the presence and number of 
 these columns. 
 
 Caves which have been used as the residence of man and 
 the lairs of wild beasts are classified according to the nature 
 of the remains found in them. Those having the remains of 
 animals now extinct, as the mammoth, woolly rhinoceros or 
 
TUNNELS. 
 
 Paleolithic man, are known as Pleistocene caves. The ones 
 which contain the remains of man in connection with those 
 of the domestic animals, either in the Neolithic, Bronze, or 
 Iron ages are called Pre-historic. There are still others of 
 which we have the history, and they are, therefore, named 
 Historic caves. 
 
 The quest for fossil bones, so highly esteemed for medicine 
 in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, led to the dis- 
 covery of the bone caves of the Hartz Mountain and other 
 regions. These bones were those of the bear, hyena, lion,, 
 wolf, and fox, together with those of the reindeer, horse, andl 
 bison. Flint, stone, and bone implements are also found im 
 the caves, giving clues as to the men who occupied them. 
 
 The pre-historic caves are distinguished from the others by 
 their containing the bones of domestic animals, and the bones 
 of wild animals found in them are those belonging to living 
 species. 
 
 America has the honor of having the noblest specimen of 
 caves in the world. It is located in Edmonson County, Ky.,, 
 some eighty-five miles southwest of Louisville. Its dis- 
 coverer was a hunter by the name of Hutchings in 1809,. 
 who was following the trail of a wounded bear. The mouth' 
 of this great cave is in a forest ravine, six hundred feet above 
 sea level and one hundred and thirty-four feet above the 
 Green River. The cavernous limestone in which it was 
 found extends over an area of eight thousand square miles r 
 and is of the Sub-carboniferous period. In this extent of sur- 
 face there are numerous other caves vying with the Mam- 
 moth in beauty but not in size. 
 
 The temperature of this cave is uniformly fifty-four degrees 
 Fahrenheit throughout the entire year. During summer 
 27 
 
41 8 TUNNELS. 
 
 there is a strong wind issuing from the mouth of the cave, 
 and in the opposite direction during the winter. The atmos- 
 phere is noted for its singular purity, and on account of its 
 dryness has been considered beneficial for consumptives, but 
 the experiments tried were not satisfactory on account of the 
 absence of natural light. There are numerous ramifications 
 to this cave which have been made the lines of various excur- 
 sions. Of these there are two principal ones, called the long 
 route and the short route. The former extends a distance 
 of about eighteen miles, and the latter about half that length. 
 This cave gives evidence of its pre-historic occupancy by the 
 bits of half-burned cane torches and other signs. While the 
 diameter of the entire cavern is less than ten miles, it is esti- 
 mated that the aggregate of all accessible avenues equals 
 about one hundred and fifty miles. Pits and domes abound, 
 and the beauty of the gypsum crystal efflorescence is well 
 known. This is not generally distributed throughout the 
 entire cave, but confined to certain rooms. In the rainy 
 season the vast volumes of water which enter through the 
 numerous domes and pits collect in a room, known as River 
 Hall. Here they form several large bodies of water, having 
 connection by springs with Green River. In times of freshets 
 in the Green River the streams of the cave have been known 
 to rise sixty feet above the level of the low-water mark. 
 These streams are only navigable from May to October of each 
 year. They are severally called the " Dead Sea," " River 
 Styx," "Lake Lethe," and "Echo River," which is the 
 largest of all. There are fishes in these waters, but, of 
 course, they are eyeless, for of what use could eyes be in 
 perpetual darkness ? 
 
 It would be an idle task to attempt a complete description 
 
TUNNELS. 419 
 
 of the many and varied rooms and avenues of this monstrous 
 tunnel. The literature of the cave is abundant and well re- 
 pays the reading. 
 
 Fingal's Cave, on the island of Staffa, off the southwest 
 coast of Scotland, is worthy of special mention, as it is a 
 large excavation in columnar basalt ; the same formation as 
 the Giant's Causeway. This is the most remarkable cave in 
 Europe. 
 
 ARTIFICIAL TUNNELS. 
 
 The human animal is not content with the conquest of the 
 surface of the earth for his benefit, but yearns for the control 
 of the realms above and the dominion of the regions beneath. 
 This is evidenced in the numerous attempts at aerial naviga- 
 tion, and the many uses to which tunnels have been put dur- 
 ing the history of the world. Enterprise, science, ingenuity, 
 and determination have broken down every barrier to human 
 progress. Having subjugated the outside of the earth, man 
 does not hesitate to make its interior tributary to his necessi- 
 ties and requirements. The tunnels of the world may well 
 be classed among the " imperial works of man," even in these 
 days which are so prolific in the achievements and triumphs 
 of engineering skill. How true it is that this is a tunnelling 
 age. 
 
 Tunnels are by no means a modern invention. Herodo- 
 tus speaks of one, in the. island of Samos, cut through a 
 mountain nine hundred feet high. This tunnel was eight by 
 fifteen feet, and measured four thousand three hundred and 
 seventy-five feet in length. In Bceotia, Lake Copais was 
 drained by a tunnel. Caesar found that Alexandria was 
 almost undermined by the numerous aqueducts through 
 which water was carried from the Nile to the houses of that 
 
420 TUNNELS. 
 
 city. The ancient Romans, Peruvians, and Mexicans had re- 
 markable tunnelled aqueducts. According to Livy, a tunnel 
 was begun in 398 B. C., at the instance of the Delphan oracle, 
 to tap Lake Albanus. Fifty shafts were sunk, and it was 
 completed within a year from the time of its commencement. 
 It was six thousand feet long, with an orifice of six by three 
 and a half feet. It was excavated through the hardest lava. 
 The instruments used by the ancients were very crude, and 
 the wonders they accomplished with them are truly marvel- 
 ous. There was a tunnel under the Euphrates, at Babylon, 
 in the time of Semiramis. This was constructed to connect 
 the royal palace, which was on one side of the river with the 
 temple of Jupiter Belos on the other side. There were two 
 channels of communication between these two edifices, and 
 both were stupendous works of art. One of them was a 
 bridge supported by strong piers ; the other, an arched 
 tunnel, lined with brick, and it was twelve feet high by fifteen 
 feet wide. 
 
 In the matter of tunnelling, Egypt led the world by many 
 centuries. There were extensive tunnels opposite the Pyra- 
 mids, which were used as quarries. Wherever the Romans 
 conquered, there are found remains of tunnels for various 
 purposes ; as, drains, roads, water supply, etc. Passing no- 
 tice must be taken of the famous excavation, the Cloaca 
 Maxima, of ancient Rome, by which the sewage of that city 
 was drained into the Tiber. The ground was so honeycombed 
 by it and its tributaries that Pliny speaks of it as a city sus- 
 pended in the air, rather than resting upon the earth. He 
 says this stupendous drain was constructed by Tarquinius 
 Superbus, though others from around the Forum and other 
 valleys were commenced by Tarquinius Priscus. The an- 
 
TUNNELS. 42 1 
 
 tiquity of the structure .s evidenced by the stone of wnich it 
 is built, as it is the same species that was used in the most 
 ancient masonry. Its termination at the Tiber is still visible. 
 There are three arches, one within the other, built of large 
 blocks of stone. The innermost of these arches is more 
 than thirteen feet in height. These large blocks of stone 
 are joined together without cement. There are also similar 
 drains in other Roman cities, but they do not approach the 
 dimensions of this gigantic affair. 
 
 On the line of the Mersina Railway, in Asia Minor, there 
 is a river which flows through a natural tunnel. At only a 
 little distance from this point, there is another river flowing 
 through an artificial tunnel, twenty feet wide by twenty-three 
 feet high, which was cut upwards of sixteen hundred years 
 ago, through rock of such density that the tool-marks are 
 still visible, not being worn away by the action of the water 
 during all these centuries. 
 
 It is thought that the Romans learned tunnelling from 
 the Etruscans. It is certainly an index of civilization, as 
 it has flourished and waned with the rise or decadence of 
 nations. 
 
 Instances of modern tunnelling are so common that it 
 would be impossible to give here a detailed account of them 
 all, or even to mention them all. As adjuncts to railroading 
 alone, there are several thousands of tunnels in service 
 throughout the world. 
 
 The primitive method of tunnelling, before the invention 
 of drilling machinery and other modern appliances, was by 
 building fires against the rock to be excavated. When thor- 
 oughly heated, water was dashed against the hot surface, 
 causing it to seam and crack, when it would be picked or 
 
422 TUNNELS. 
 
 beaten off and removed from the cavity. The modern way 
 of driving tunnels is to sink shafts and bore in opposite 
 directions until the excavations from each end are joined. 
 This plan is not always feasible, as in the case of what is 
 known as the Mont Cenis Tunnel, through the Alps. Here, 
 as well as in many other instances of mountain tunnelling, the 
 great height of the mountain peaks precluded the use of 
 shafts, so work had to be exclusively carried forward from 
 each end, joining in the centre. The great problem in tun- 
 nelling is to run two, or more, lines of excavation so that 
 they will meet and not miss each other. In the Mont Cenis 
 tunnel, the lines of the opening varied about half a yard. 
 The cutting of this tunnel and the accuracy of the junction 
 is considered an unparalleled feat of engineering skill. It 
 has an ascending grade from either end. 
 
 The first mention of the Mont Cenis Pass was about 755, 
 when Pepin led his army across it to aid the Pope against 
 the Lombard king. Fifty years after Charlemagne, his son, 
 crossed with another army, having the same end in view. 
 The name of Mont Cenis, however, for the tunnel, is a mis- 
 nomer, as that mountain is from sixteen to twenty miles dis- 
 tant from either end. There are three peaks penetrated by 
 the tunnel Mount Tabor, Frejus, and Grand Vallon. When 
 the tunnel was first proposed, it seemed but the idle dream 
 of enthusiasts. The difficulties in the way might have well 
 appalled the bravest and boldest of engineers. All possible 
 objections were raised as to its practicability and worth by 
 scientific men and others. There were all sorts of conjectures 
 about it, and obstacles of all kinds thrown in the way. Fire, 
 gas, water, or lakes, and even caverns, rock 'too hard to 
 bore, and other terrible things might be encountered. One 
 
TUNNELS. 423 
 
 great difficulty in boring tunnels was the excessive heat in 
 them. This was greatly increased by the operations of blast- 
 ing and driving the boring machines by steam. It was not 
 till the combination of compressed air as a motor power with 
 the borer that the work has been conducted with greater 
 safety and expedition. 
 
 This stupendous piece of work was begun on August 3ist, 
 1857. The object of the undertaking was to open up a 
 shorter way of communication between the north of Europe 
 and Italy, but it would never have been achieved, except for 
 the marked improvements in engineering and mining appli- 
 ances. The idea of a tunnel through the Alps is supposed 
 to have been first advanced by M. Medail, a Piedmontese, 
 about 1832, who showed where the range was the thinnest 
 between Piedmont and Savoy. Ten years later he gave the 
 Italian government a plan for a tunnel through the ridge. 
 Twenty-five years were spent in talk and investigations be- 
 fore the work was actually begun. The first part was hand 
 work, but the drilling machine was introduced in 1861, which 
 materially increased the rate of progress. The work upon 
 this tunnel cost fifteen million dollars. It was completed in 
 December, 1870, and in 1871 was opened for traffic. The 
 method of perforating for blasting in this tunnel was in this 
 wise : Holes at the centre, very near together, were first 
 drilled. Then another row around these, at greater intervals, 
 were drilled. The centre holes were first filled and blasted, 
 which made a hole in the centre of the space, then another 
 firing of the outer circle effected a complete breaking away 
 of the rock. The drill perforator is described as a long car- 
 riage, all wheels and bars. It had from nine to twelve revolv- 
 ing chisels. There have been decided improvements in this 
 
424 TUNNELS. 
 
 class of apparatus, which contrast strongiy with the bulky 
 engines first constructed. They can now make hundreds of 
 strokes a minute, without cessation, and can be managed by 
 one man. The drills, or perforators, are independent of each 
 other, so if an accident befalls one, the work is not impeded. 
 It can easily be withdrawn, at convenience, and readily 
 replaced. 
 
 The Hoosac Tunnel, in Massachusetts, is another triumph 
 in this line, -At the time of its inception, it was thought such 
 an impracticable project that the time of its completion was 
 used as a synonym of eternity. The first idea was to per- 
 forate the mountain for a canal. The Hoosac Mountain 
 
 stood in the way of the most natural low-orade route between 
 o 
 
 Boston and the West. In 1848 the Massachusetts Legisla- 
 ture granted a charter to the Troy & Greenfield Railroad 
 Co., for a road from Greenfield, Mass., to the State line of 
 New York, which was to connect with a road to be built from 
 Troy, N. Y. It was understood that this road was to pass 
 through the Hoosac Mountain. Work was commenced on 
 the west end of the road, in 1851, but the Legislature refus- 
 ing its financial assistance, the work could not be continued 
 until 1854, when the State loaned its credit to the amount of 
 two million dollars, which was all that it was at first supposed 
 the measure would require. State scrip was issued at various 
 times. It was soon found that a much larger sum would be 
 required, which was not forthcoming. Work was stopped 
 July 1 2th, 1861, and the State foreclosed its mortgage, which 
 it had taken upon the road and other property for security. 
 After two or three years of investigation and figuring, the 
 State resumed and managed the work till 1868, when a con- 
 tract for its completion was made with the Messrs. Shanley, 
 
TUNNELS. 425 
 
 of Canada, who finished the work as specified. It was 
 thought that the work was built ahead of its time, as one 
 terminus was only a country village and the other merely a 
 State line. But to-day, wherever there are products to be 
 moved in the United States, will be seen cars labelled, 
 " Hoosac Tunnel Line." The first proposition for this tun- 
 nel was in 1820, before the days of railroading. The railroad 
 proving, about this time, an assured success, it was decided 
 to tunnel for a road-bed instead of a canal. Three routes 
 were surveyed, but the original selection was confirmed and 
 work commenced. Loammi Baldwin, the engineer, exclaimed, 
 in reference to it : " It seems as if the finger of Providence had 
 pointed out this route from the East to the West." A bystander 
 is said to have retorted : " It is a great pity the same finger 
 was not thrust through the mountain." The first machinery 
 used in this tunnel weighed seventy-five tons. It was ex- 
 pected to cut a groove about a foot in width, conforming to 
 the circumference of the tunnel. Then the core, thus formed 
 in this centre, was to be blasted out or broken off with 
 wedges. When it had entered the rock for ten feet, it broke 
 down and proved its inadequacy for the work, and was 
 eventually sold for old iron. Later, better machinery was 
 substituted, and the work progressed to completion in Novem- 
 ber, 1873. 
 
 Another class of tunnels is known as the sub-aqueous, or 
 those passing under rivers. One of the most noted of these 
 is the Thames Tunnel. Sir Mark Isambard Brunei is the 
 sharp-eyed, quick-witted, ingenious man who constructed this 
 tunnel. The suggestion was given him by seeing a piece of 
 ship timber perforated by that most destructive worm, the 
 " teredo navalis." His study of the method of its working 
 
426 TUNNELS. 
 
 brought out the idea of a " large cast-iron shield, which 
 should bore like an auger, by means of strong screws, while 
 as fast as the earth was cut away bricklayers should 
 be at hand to replace it with an arch." His own description 
 of this apparatus is : " An ambulating coffer dam, traveling 
 horizontally." The previous attempts of Mr. Vasie, in 1805, 
 and those of Mr. Trevethick, in 1807, were abortive, but the 
 plans of Brunei were so acceptable to the Institute of Civil 
 Engineers, as well as the public, that a company was formed, 
 in February, 1824, and thirteen hundred and eighty shares 
 of stock subscribed for. Work was commenced on March 
 2d, 1825. 
 
 It is said that if we will imagine an edifice of three rows 
 each of twelve iron boxes, nine feet deep, six feet high, and 
 three feet wide, each box faced with small movable boards, a 
 good idea will be had of the Brunei shield for the workmen. 
 It was placed in front of the completed brick arch, each man 
 removing one or two boards and working out some clay. It 
 would then be shoved forward into the excavation so made, 
 that fresh surface might be presented to the operations of 
 the workmen. During the construction of this tunnel, there 
 were numerous accidents and incidents owing to the careless- 
 ness of the workmen and the breaking in of the river. The 
 holes made by this latter catastrophe were filled by gravel and 
 clay in bags which had witch hazel boughs thrust through them 
 before sinking to place, so they would cling together. Rafts 
 loaded with clay, and tarpaulins were also used. There were 
 five irruptions of the Thames, at the second one of which 
 there were six lives lost, but none in any of the other in- 
 stances, except one man. The work was completed on 
 August ist, 1842, at a cost of two million three hundred and 
 
TUNNELS. 427 
 
 forty thousand dollars. It was in 1818 that Brunei took out 
 a patent for a new mode of making tunnels by means of an 
 excavating machine, or shield. Some one has thus described 
 it : " Beneath the great iron ribs of the shield, a kind of 
 mechanical soul seems to have been created. It has its shoes 
 and its legs, and uses them, too, with good effect. It raises 
 and depresses its head at pleasure ; it presents invincible 
 buttresses in its front, to whatever danger might there 
 threaten ; and when the danger is passed, it again opens 
 its breast for the further advances of the indefatigable host." 
 
 Of aqueduct tunnels, America has several fine specimens, 
 of which perhaps the most notable is the new Croton aque- 
 duct of New York city, which extends from the Croton dam 
 to the reservoir in the city, a distance of thirty-three and a 
 quarter miles. Practically the whole of this was tunnelled 
 out of the rock. There were shafts sunk about one and a half 
 miles apart and headings were driven each way. 
 
 Chicago has several aqueduct tunnels extending out into 
 the lake to cribs for the intaking of the water supply of the 
 city. On account of the contamination of the supply of drink- 
 ing water, drawn from the lake, by the sewage which flowed 
 into the Chicago river, the idea of securing a supply farther 
 from shore, and at a distance where it was then thought this 
 sewage could never affect, the idea of tunnelling to that dis- 
 tance was conceived. To Mr. E. S. Chesborough, an accom- 
 plished engineer, is due the credit of this idea. Upon inves- 
 tigation, his scheme was found to be perfectly feasible, and 
 plans were prepared for its construction. This tunnel was 
 pronounced, at that time, the greatest marvel the world ever 
 saw, and the Thames Tunnel was considered but child's play 
 beside it. The contract for the work was signed on the 28th 
 
TUNNELS. 
 
 day of October, 1863, and specified that the work should be 
 finished "on or before the ist day of November, 1865." 
 
 This time had to be subsequently extended for years. 
 Ground was not broken till March i;th, 1864, owing to delays 
 in the casting of the immense cylinders for the shore shaft 
 of the tunnel. The first attempts were unsuccessful on 
 .account of the quicksand encountered, and the contract had 
 to be altered. The tunnel has a slope from the crib, or lake 
 terminus to the shore of two feet in each mile, so that it 
 might be emptied in the event of needed repairs. Two 
 workmen could only work ahead of the masons, as the tunnel 
 was so small, only five feet and two inches in height, and its 
 width five feet. This made a very tedious operation, as it was 
 damp and dark, and impure air abounded, making piping 
 necessary for the transmission of fresh oxygen to the 
 miners. The objective point of this tunnel was the crib in 
 the lake. This was made on shore and built and launched 
 like any other marine hulk. It was pentagonal in shape and 
 made with three walls, one within the other, all firmly bolted 
 together and thoroughly braced. Each wall was caulked and 
 tarred to render it water-proof. This structure was launched 
 on July 24th, 1865, and a gala day was made of the occasion. 
 It was towed to its final resting spot by tugs, its flood gates 
 were opened, and it sank beneath the water. When it had 
 sunk to place it was filled with stone, excepting its centre 
 compartment, which was reserved for the lake shaft. Cables 
 were attached to its corners, and these were anchored to the 
 bottom of the lake by marine mooring screws, which were 
 already imbedded in the lake. A lighthouse was subse- 
 quently built over the centre. This was two miles from 
 shore. After the shaft had been sunk in the crib to the re- 
 
TUNNELS. 429* 
 
 quired distance under the lake, a heading was started shore- 
 ward to meet the outcoming miners. During winter and the 
 freezing over of the lake to this point, the corps of workmen 
 at the lake end were cut entirely off from shore communica- 
 tion, except by means of signals. When the two lines finally 
 joined, it was found that they did not vary as much as a 
 whole inch. Well might it be said : " The work on the tun- 
 nel was comparatively nothing ; it was the inception and the 
 daring which determined to carry out the idea to a successful 
 result that are amonof the wonderful. The confidence in the 
 
 o 
 
 ability to burrow two miles out under the lake, and then come 
 up to the surface in deep water, was of the sublime kind 
 which assimilates to the faith that removes mountains." The 
 two corps shook hands on November 24th, 1866. Since that 
 date, the necessity has arisen, from the immense increase in 
 the population of the Garden City, and the greatly increased 
 contamination of the water, to add three other tunnels of 
 various lengths, the last one being fully double the length of 
 the first. So Chicago has several specimens of what the out- 
 side world denominated a " wild job," and declared could not 
 be done. Beside these lake tunnels this city has two others 
 under the Chicago river, for the use of the street cable 
 railways, and one for foot passengers. 
 
 Tunnels have acquired such an assured place in civil engi- 
 neering that there are scarcely any of the leading cities of 
 the world which have not from one to many of them, used for 
 various purposes. 
 
 Since the time, two thousand two hundred and eighty- 
 eight years ago, when the miners of Furious Camillus drove 
 the famous " Emissarium " through a part of Mont Alba and : 
 tapped the waters of a lake, to the present of engineering 
 
430 TUNNELS. 
 
 perfection, the improvements in appliances have been almost 
 incredible. Work which would then have taken years can now 
 be accomplished in days, and in a much more finished manner. 
 
 As the adoption of tunnels has progressed, it is interesting 
 to notice some of the objections urged against their con- 
 struction. Perhaps one of the most senseless is the idea 
 that by their use to connect foreign countries, the insular and 
 peculiar characteristics of a people are destroyed. 
 
 Schemnitz, the principal mining city of Hungary, has a 
 tunnel, the Joseph II Mining Adit, which has been claimed as 
 the deepest gallery of efflux of that place, and the longest 
 subterranean work of this kind in the world. It was com- 
 menced in 1782, during the reign of Joseph II, and completed 
 September 5th, 1878. Its length is sixteen thousand five 
 hundred and thirty-eight meters. 
 
 In 1871, Italy, Germany, and Switzerland voted large sums 
 of money for building a road, to be begun immediately. It 
 was to run from Lake Lucerne, Switzerland, to Lake Mag- 
 giore, Italy, one hundred and eight miles. Nearly a quarter 
 of this distance was to be tunnelled through mountains of 
 solid granite. The main tunnel entered the Alps at Groesch- 
 enen, Switzerland, and came out at Airolo, Italy. This sec- 
 tion was forty-eight thousand nine hundred and thirty-six 
 feet in length. There are also a number of smaller tunnels, 
 The cost was greatly under-estimated, and when the mistake 
 was discovered it threatened to kill the project completely, 
 even though the work was fairly started. This blunder made 
 a difference of one hundred and two million francs. The 
 stock ran down, and many stockholders were nearly ruined 
 by the collapse. It soon became apparent that if all was not 
 lost, more must be added to the investments already made. 
 
TUNNELS. 431 
 
 To add to the trouble, times were hard, crises were imminent, 
 and war was on the continent. The required funds were 
 finally raised, and the contract to complete the work was 
 given to Louis Favre, of Geneva. Boring in this tunnel was 
 done by compressed air-drills. There were fifty-five of these 
 air- drills at work at each end of the excavation. These 
 drills are thus described : " A large, long, iron framework 
 some seven feet wide and six feet high and ten feet long, 
 stands on a bit of railway built for the purpose close to the 
 rock. To the sides of this iron frame are clamped little gun- 
 metal cylinders, supplied with compressed air from the air- 
 tubes running in from the compressors outside the tunnel. 
 To the ends of the extending portions of these little cylinders 
 are fastened the long iron drills, which are driven into the 
 rock at the rate of one hundred and fifty strokes per minute. 
 There is no boring in a proper sense, it is simply drilling. A 
 simple contrivance causes it to turn over and over as the drill 
 progresses. These machines punch holes into the rock about 
 four feet deep, and are then moved back to a safe distance, 
 while the holes so pierced are filled with long cartridges of 
 dynamite, to be fired by fuses." These machines make a 
 deafening noise while at work, and it is impossible to carry 
 on a conversation, or even give orders, except by signals. In 
 many of these tunnel excavations the darkness is so murky 
 that signal lights are of no avail, and torpedoes, for warning 
 to engineers, have to be resorted to. After a blast, the com- 
 pressed-air in the machine is allowed to escape, by which 
 means the foul gases and smoke are gradually pushed to the 
 rear and fresh air substituted for the workmen to breathe. 
 These machines would progress sometimes eighteen or nine- 
 teen feet in a day, if the material to be excavated was not too 
 
432 
 
 TUNNELS. 
 
 obdurate; again the rate of progress would only be ten and 
 one-half feet for each machine. 
 
 Mr. Hell wag, the engineer-in-chief, invented the spiral 
 tunnel, by which the line of travel was elevated, or raised in 
 grade. There were three thousand five hundred persons 
 employed in the construction of this tunnel. The perforators 
 of a drilling machine are so adjusted that they attack the 
 rock at different points and varying angles, upon a surface 
 seven meters square. The average hole is from thirty to 
 forty inches deep where the material will permit, but only 
 about seven inches deep in the hardest quartz rock. The 
 first rock-drill was patented by a man by name of Bartlett, 
 in 1855, but these machines have since then been so modified, 
 improved, and multiplied that there are now many different 
 systems of these appliances. 
 
 The driving of the third of the Alpine tunnels, the Arl- 
 berg, was begun in 1880 and completed in a little more than 
 three years, as by this time all mining apparatus had been so 
 greatly improved that progress could be more speedy than 
 formerly. Air-drills were used, and also a rotary hydraulic 
 drill. After each explosion a fine spray of water was injected, 
 which was of great benefit to the ventilation. Headings 
 were made in each direction, right and left, from shafts which 
 were opened up from twenty to seventy yards 'apart, so the 
 work was expeditiously accomplished. This tunnel, when 
 completed, measured six and one-half miles in length, while 
 the St. Gothard was nine and one-half miles. 
 
 Many famous tunnels cannot be here described, and thou- 
 sands of others cannot even be alluded to, but persons wish- 
 ing to continue this subject will find an amount of literature 
 upon the topic which merits perusal. 
 
TUNNELS. 433- 
 
 It is interesting to note the advance in the perfection of 
 explosives, from the gunpowder of the first blast, to the 
 finest tri-nitro-glycerine of the later work, manufactured, ire 
 the greatest purity, near the scene of action. Of this, more 
 than half a million pounds were used in the excavation of one 
 tunnel alone, the Hoosac. Nitro-glycerine was discovered 
 by Sobrero in 1846, but we are indebted to Nobel for the 
 key to its use in blasting. From his experiments with nitro- 
 glycerine, Nobel invented dynamite, and, subsequently, the 
 blasting gelatine. 
 
 Short cuts and expeditious transits are secured by the use. 
 of tunnels, and, from the evidences of the past, we are led to^ 
 believe that there are no mechanical or natural difficulties 
 which the persistence and ingenuity of man cannot surmount - 
 if necessity should require. 
 
 28 
 
LIGHT. 
 
 OF all the elements which play a high part in the mate- 
 rial universe, the light which emanates from the sun 
 is certainly the most remarkable, whether we view it 
 in its sanatory, scientific, or aesthetical relations. It 
 is, to speak metaphorically, the very life-blood of na- 
 ture, without which everything material would fade and per- 
 ish. It is the fountain of all our knowledge of the external 
 universe, and it is now becoming the historiographer of the 
 visible creation, recording and transmitting to future ages all 
 that is beautiful and sublime in organic and inorganic nature, 
 and stamping on perennial tablets the hallowed scenes of 
 domestic life, the ever-varying phases of social intercourse, 
 and the more exciting tracks of bloodshed and of war which 
 Christians still struggle to reconcile with the principles of 
 their faith. 
 
 The influence of light on physical life is a subject of which 
 we, at present, know very little, and one, consequently, in 
 which the public, in their still greater ignorance, will take 
 little interest ; but the scenes of light which, under the name 
 of Optics, has been studied for nearly two hundred years by 
 the brightest intellects of the Old and New World, consists 
 of a body of facts and laws of the most extraordinary kind, 
 rich in popular as well as profound knowledge, and affording 
 
 434 
 
LIGHT. 435 
 
 to educated students male and female simple and lucid ex- 
 planations of that boundless and brilliant array of phenomena 
 which light creates and manifests and develops. While it 
 has given to astronomy and navigation their telescopes and 
 instruments of discovery, and to the botanist, the naturalist, 
 and the physiologist their microscopes simple, compound, 
 and polarizing it has shown to the student of nature how 
 the juices of plants and animals, and the integuments and 
 films of organic bodies elicit from the pure sunbeam its pris- 
 matic elements, clothing fruit and flower with their gorgeous 
 attire, bathing every aspect of nature in the rich and varied 
 hues of spring and autumn, painting the sky with azure, and 
 the clouds with gold. 
 
 Thus initiated into the mysteries of light, and armed with 
 the secrets and powers which science has wrested from the 
 God of Day, philosophers of our own age have discovered 
 in certain dark rays of sunbeam a magic though visible pen- 
 cil, which can delineate instantaneously every form of life and 
 being, and fix in durable outline every expression, demoniacal 
 or divine, which the passions and intellects of man can im- 
 press upon the living clay. They have imparted to the cul- 
 tivators of art their mighty secret, and thousands of travel- 
 ing artists are now in every quarter of the globe recording 
 all that earth and ocean and air can display, all that man has 
 perpetrated against the strongholds of his enemies, and all 
 that he has more wisely done to improve and embellish the 
 home which has been given- him. 
 
 o 
 
 A branch of knowledge so intimately connected with our 
 well-being, so pregnant with the displays of the divine wis- 
 dom and beneficence, and so closely allied in its aesthetical 
 with every interest, social and domestic, might have been ex- 
 
436 
 
 LIGHT. 
 
 pected to form a part in our educational courses, or, through 
 the agencies of cheap literature and popular exposition, to 
 have commanded a place in the school and in the drawing- 
 room, and to have gilded, if not to have replaced, the frivol- 
 ities of fashionable life. Such expectations, however, have 
 not been realized. Men of science, who are much in the 
 society of the educated world, and especially of those favortd 
 classes who have the finest opportunities of acquiring knowl- 
 edge, are struck with the depths of ignorance which they en- 
 counter, while they are surprised at the taste which so gener- 
 ally prevails for natural history pursuits, and at the passion 
 which is universally exhibited even for higher scientific ink>i- 
 mation which can be comprehended by the judgment and ap- 
 propriated by the memory. The prevailing ignorance, there 
 fore, of which we speak is the offspring of an imperfect sys- 
 tem of education, which has already given birth to great 
 social evils, to financial laws unjust to individuals and ruinous 
 to the physical and moral health of the community. If the 
 public be ignorant of science and its applications in their 
 more fascinating and intelligible phases, if our clergy, in their 
 weekly homilies, never throw a sunbeam of secular truth 
 among their people, if legislators hardly surpass their con- 
 stituents in these essential branches of knowledge, how can 
 the great interests of civilization be maintained and advanced ? 
 how are scientific men to gain their place in the social scale ? 
 and how are the material interests of a great nation, depend- 
 ing so essentially on the encouragement of art and science 
 to be protected and extended? How are Europe and 
 America to fare, if they will continue the only civilized nations 
 which, amid the perpetual struggles of political factions, 
 never devote an hour of their legislative life to the considera- 
 
IT. 
 
 tion of educational establishments and the consolidation of 
 scientific institutions ? 
 
 Impressed with the importance of these facts, and in the 
 hope that some remedy may be found for such a state of 
 things, we have drawn up the following article in order to 
 show how much useful and popular and pleasing information 
 may be learned from a popular exposition of the nature and 
 properties of the single element of light, in its sanatory, its 
 scientific, and its artistic or aesthetical relations. Should our 
 more intelligent readers arise from its perusal with infor- 
 mation which they had not anticipated and which they had 
 previously regarded as beyond their depth, our labor in 
 preparing it will be amply rewarded, and we shall hope to 
 meet them again in our surveys of the more popular branches 
 of science. 
 
 In attempting to expound the influence of light as a sana- 
 tory agent we enter upon a subject which, in so far as we 
 know, is entirely new, and upon which little information is to 
 be obtained ; but admitting the existence of the influence it- 
 self, as partly established by observation and analogy, and 
 admitting, too, the vast importance of the subject in its per- 
 sonal and social aspects, we venture to say that science fur- 
 nishes us with principles and methods by which the blessings 
 of light may be diffused in localities where a cheering sun- 
 beam has never reached, and where all the poisons and ma- 
 laria of darkness have been undermining the soundest con- 
 stitutions, and carrying thousands of our race prematurely 
 to the grave. 
 
 The influence of light upon vegetable life has been long 
 and successfully studied by the botanist and chemist. The 
 researches of Priestley, Ingenhousz, Sennebier, and Decan- 
 
433 
 
 LIGHT. 
 
 dolle, and the more recent ones of Carradori, Payen, and 
 Macaire have placed it beyond a doubt that the rays of the 
 sun exert the most marked influence on the respiration, the 
 absorption, and the exhalation of plants, and, consequently, 
 on their general and local nutrition. Dr. Priestley tells us, 
 " It is well known that without light no plant can thrive ; and 
 if it do grow at all in the dark, it is always white, and is in 
 all other respects in a sick and weakly state." He is of 
 opinion that healthy plants are in a state similar to sleep in 
 the absence cf light, and that they resume their proper func- 
 tions when placed under the influence of light and the direct 
 action of the solar rays. 
 
 The general result of experiments is thus given by their 
 author : " Upon the whole, then, I am inclined to infer from 
 the general tenor of the experiments I have hitherto made 
 that both the exhalation and the absorption of moisture 
 by plants, so far as they depend upon the influence of 
 light, are affected in the greatest degree by the most 
 luminous rays, and that all the functions of the vegetable 
 economy which are owing to the presence of this agent, 
 follow, in that respect, the same law." (Phil. Trans., 1836, 
 pp. 162-3.) 
 
 This curious subject has been recently studied in a more 
 general aspect by Mr. Robert Hunt, who has published his 
 results in the Reports of the British Association for 1847. 
 Not content with ascertaining, as his predecessors had done, 
 the action of the sun's white and undecomposed light upon 
 the germination and growth of plants, he availed himself of 
 the discovery of the chemical or invisible rays of light, and 
 sought to determine the peculiar influence of these rays and 
 of the various colors of solar light upon the germination of 
 
LIGHT. 
 
 439 
 
 seeds, the growth of the wood, and the other functions of 
 plants. 
 
 In order to explain the results which he obtained we must 
 initiate the reader into the constitution of the white light 
 which issues from the sun. If we admit a cylindrical beam 
 of the sun's light through a small circular aperture into a 
 dark room, it will form a round white spot when received on 
 paper. Now this white beam consists of three visible colored 
 beams, which, when mixed or falling on the same spot, make 
 white, and of two invisible beams, one of which produces 
 heat and the other a chemical influence called actinism, which 
 produces chemical changes, the most remarkable of which 
 are embodied in photographic pictures. The whole sunbeam, 
 therefore, contains luminous or colored-making rays, heating 
 rays, and chemical rays. 
 
 When white light, therefore, acts upon plants, we require 
 to know which of these rays produces any of the remarkable 
 changes that take place ; and as it is not easy to insulate the 
 different rays and make them act separately, the inquiry is 
 attended with considerable difficulty. By using colored 
 glasses and colored fluids, which absorb certain rays of white 
 light and allow others to pass, Mr. Hunt made arrangements 
 by which he could submit plants to an excess of red, yellow, 
 or bhie rays, or to an excess of the heating rays, or of the 
 chemical or actinic ones. In this way he was not able to 
 study the pure influence of any of those rays in a state of 
 perfect insulation, but merely the influence of a preponder- 
 ance of one set of rays over others, which is sufficient to in- 
 dicate to a certain extent their decided action. This will be 
 better understood from a few results obtained with differently 
 colored media. 
 
44 
 
 Light. Heat. Chemical rays. 
 
 White light contains, 100 100 loo 
 
 Solution of bichromate of potash, .... 87 92 27 
 
 Solution of sulphate of chromium, ... 85 92 7 
 
 Series of blue glasses, 40 72 90 
 
 Solution of sulphate of copper, 60 54 93 
 
 Solution of ammoniate of copper, .... 25 48 94 
 
 It is very obvious that the action of the chemical rays will 
 be obtained from the three last of these colored media, and 
 the action of the luminous and heating rays from the two 
 first, where the chemical rays are comparatively feeble. 
 In this way Mr. Hunt obtained the following interesting 
 results : 
 
 1. Light prevents the germination of seeds. 
 
 2. The germination of seeds is more rapid under the in- 
 fluence of the chemical rays, separated from the luminous 
 ones than it is under the combined influence of all the rays, 
 or in the dark. 
 
 3. Light acts in effecting the decomposition of carbonic 
 acid by the growing plant. 
 
 4. The chemical rays and light (or all the rays of the spec- 
 trum visible to a perfect eye) are essential to the formation 
 of the coloring matter of leaves. 
 
 5. Light and the chemical rays, independent of the rays 
 of heat, prevent the development of the reproductive organs 
 of plants. 
 
 6. The radiations of heat, corresponding with the extreme 
 .red rays of the spectrum, facilitate the flowering of plants, 
 .and the perfecting of their reproductive principles. 
 
 In spring Mr. Hunt found that the chemical rays were the 
 most active, and in very considerable excess, as compared 
 with those of light and heat. As the summer advanced, the 
 
44i 
 
 light and heat increased in a very great degree relatively to 
 the chemical rays ; and in autumn the light and the chemical 
 rays both diminish relatively to the rays of heat, which are 
 by far the most extensive. 
 
 " In the spring," says Mr. Hunt, " when seeds germinate 
 and young vegetation awakes from the repose of winter, we 
 find an excess of that principle which imparts the required 
 stimulus ; in the summer, this exciting agent is counter- 
 balanced by another possessing different powers, upon the 
 exercise of which the structural formation of the plant de- 
 pends ; and in the autumnal season these are checked by a 
 mysterious agency which we can scarcely recognize as heat, 
 although connected with calorific manifestations, upon which 
 appears to depend the development of the flower and the 
 perfection of the seed." 
 
 The very curious fact of plants bending toward the light, 
 as if to catch its influence, must have been frequently ob- 
 served. Mr. Hunt found that, " under all ordinary circum- 
 stances, plants, in a very decided manner, bent toward the 
 light ;" and, what is exceedingly interesting, when the light 
 employed was red, from passing through red fluid media, the 
 plants as decidedly bent from it. The property of bending 
 toward the light is strikingly exhibited by the potato ; and it 
 has been found that the yellow or most luminous rays are 
 most efficacious in producing this movement, while the red 
 rays, as before, produce a repulsive effect. 
 
 If light, then, is so essential to the life of plants that they 
 will even exert a limited power of locomotion in order to 
 reach it, it is not unreasonable to suppose that it may be 
 necessary, though to a less extent, for the development and 
 growth of animals. When we look at the different classes 
 
442 
 
 of inferior animals we hardly observe any relations with 
 light excepting those of vision ; but, under the conviction 
 that light does influence animal life, various naturalists have 
 devoted their attention to the subject. In his chapter u on 
 the influence of light upon the development of the body," 
 Dr. W. F. Edwards has given us some important information 
 on the effect of light in the development of animals, or in those 
 changes of form which they undergo in the interval between 
 conception and fecundation and adult age a process which, 
 previously to birth, is generally carried on in the dark. " There 
 are, however, animals," says Dr. Edwards, " whose impreg- 
 nated eggs are hatched, notwithstanding their exposure to 
 the rays of the sun. Of this number are the batrachians 
 (frogs). I wished to determine what influence light, indepen- 
 dently of heat, might exercise upon this kind of develop- 
 ment." With this view, he placed some frog's spawn in 
 water, in a vessel rendered impervious to light, and some in 
 another vessel which was transparent. They were exposed 
 to the same temperature, but the rays of the sun were ad- 
 mitted to the transparent vessel. All the eggs exposed to 
 light were developed in succession, but none of those in the 
 dark did well. 
 
 As almost all animals are more or less exposed to light 
 after birth, Dr. Edwards thought it would be interesting to 
 determine the peculiar effect of light upon the development 
 of the body. As all animals, in growing, gradually change 
 their form and proportions, and make it difficult to observe 
 slight shades of modification, he chose for his experiments 
 species among the vertebrata whose development presents 
 precise and palpable differences. These conditions are com- 
 bined in the highest degree in the frog. In its first period it 
 
LIGHT. 443 
 
 has the form and even the mode of life of a fish, with a tail 
 and gills, and without limbs. In its second period it is com- 
 pletely metamorphosed into a reptile, having acquired four 
 limbs, and lost its tail and gills and all resemblance to a fish. 
 Dr. Edwards employed the tadpoles of the Rana obstet- 
 ricians, and he found that all those which enjoyed the pres- 
 ence of the light underwent the change of form appertaining 
 to the adult. " We see, then," says Dr. Edwards, "that the 
 action of light tends to develop the different parts of the 
 body in that just proportion which characterizes the type of 
 the species. This type is well characterized only in the adult. 
 The deviations from it are the more strongly marked the 
 nearer the animal is to the period of its birth. If, therefore, 
 there were any species existing in circumstances unfavorable 
 to their further development, they might possibly long sub- 
 sist under a type very different from that which nature had 
 designed for them. The Proteus Anguiformis appears to be 
 of this number. The facts above mentioned tend to confirm 
 this opinion. The Proteus Anguiformis lives in the subterra- 
 neous waters of Carniola, where the absence of light unites 
 with the low temperature of those lakes in preventing the 
 development of the peculiar form of the adult." 
 
 The experiments of M. Morren on the animalcules gener- 
 ated in stagnant waters, and those of M. Moleschott on the 
 respiration of frogs as measured by the quantity of carbonic 
 acid gas which they exhale, confirm the general results ob- 
 tained by Dr. Edwards ; but the most important researches 
 on the subject have just been published by M. Beclard, in the 
 note which appears among the works at the head of this 
 article. During the last four years he has been occupied 
 with a series of experiments on the influence of the white and 
 
LIGHT. 
 
 444 
 
 .colored light of the spectrum, on the principal functions of 
 nutrition ; and, in the note referred to he has presented to 
 the Academy of Sciences, in a concise form, some of the 
 more important results which he has obtained. 
 
 Having placed the eggs of the fly (Musca carnaria) in six 
 bell glasses, violet, blue, red, yellow, transparent, and green, he 
 found, at the end of four or five days, that the worms were 
 most developed in the violet and blue glasses, and least in the 
 green; the influence of the other colors diminishing in the or- 
 der we have named them from violet to green. Between 
 these extremes the worms developed were as three to one, 
 both with respect to bulk and length. 
 
 In studying the influence of the differently colored rays 
 upon frogs, which have an energetic cutaneous respiration, 
 equal and often superior to their pulmonary respiration, M. 
 Beclard found that the same weight of frogs produced more 
 than twice the quantity of carbonic acid under the green than 
 under the red glass. When the same frogs were skinned, the 
 opposite result was obtained. The carbonic acid was then 
 greater in the red than in the green rays. 
 
 In the number of experiments on the cutaneous exhalations 
 of the vapor of water from frogs, the quantity was one-half 
 less in darkness than in white or violet light, in which the ex- 
 halation was the same. 
 
 We come now to consider the influence of light upon the 
 human frame, physical and mental, in health and disease, in 
 developing the perfect form of the adult, and in preserving it 
 from premature decay. We regret to find that our knowl- 
 edge on these points is so extremely limited, and we are sur- 
 prised that physicians and physiologists should not have 
 availed themselves of their numerous opportunities in hospi- 
 
LIGHT. 445 
 
 tals, prisons, and mad-houses of studying so important a sub- 
 ject. We must grope our way, therefore, among general 
 speculations and insulated facts in the hope of arriving at 
 some positive results ; and we have no doubt that the direct 
 influence of light over the phenomena of life will not be 
 found limited to the vegetable kingdom and the lower races 
 of the animal world. 
 
 Man, in his most perfect type, is doubtless to be found in 
 the temperate regions of the globe, where the solar influences 
 of light, heat, and chemical rays are so nicely balanced. Un- 
 der the scorching heat of the tropics, man cannot call into 
 exercise his highest powers. The calorific rays are all power- 
 ful there, and lassitude of body and immaturity of mind are 
 its necessary results ; while in the darkness of the Polar re- 
 gions the distinctive characters of our species almost disap- 
 pear in the absence of those solar influences which are so 
 powerful in the organic world. 
 
 It is well known to all who are obliged to seek for health 
 in a Southern climate that an ample share of light is consid- 
 ered necessary for its recovery. In all the hotels and lodg- 
 ing-houses in France and Italy, the apartments with a south 
 exposure are earnestly sought for, and the patient, under the 
 advice of his physician, strives to fix himself in these genial 
 localities. The salutary effect, however, thus ascribed to light 
 might arise from the greater warmth which accompanies the 
 solar rays ; but this can hardly be the case in mild climates,, 
 or, indeed, in any climate where a fixed artificial temperature 
 can be easily maintained. Something, too, is doubtless owing 
 to the cheering effect of light upon an invalid, but this effect 
 is not excluded from apartments so situated that out of a 
 western or a northern window we may see the finest scenery 
 illuminated by the full blaze of a meridian sun. 
 
446 LIGHT - 
 
 While the distinguished Sir James Wylie, late physician 
 to the Emperor of Russia, resided in St. Petersburg, he 
 studied the effect of light as a curative agent. In the 
 hospitals of that city there were apartments entirely with- 
 out light, and, upon comparing the number of patients who 
 left these apartments cured, he found that they were only 
 one-fourth the number of those who went out cured from 
 properly lighted rooms. In this case, the curative agency 
 could not reasonably be ascribed either to the superior 
 warmth or ventilation of the well-lighted apartments, because 
 in all such hospitals the introduction of fresh air is a special 
 object of attention, and the heating of wards without windows 
 is not difficult to accomplish. 
 
 But though the records of our great hospitals assist us in 
 our present inquiry, yet facts sufficiently authentic and in- 
 structive may be gathered from various quarters. In the 
 years of cholera, when this frightful disease nearly decimated 
 the population of some of the principal cities in the world, it 
 was invariably found that the deaths were more numerous in 
 -narrow streets and northern exposures, where the salutary 
 beams of light and actinism had seldom shed their beneficial 
 influences. The resistless epidemic found an easy prey 
 among a people whose physical organization had not been 
 matured under those benign influences of solar radiation 
 which shed health and happiness over our fertile plains, our 
 open valleys, and those mountain sides and elevated plateaus 
 where man is permitted to breathe in the brighter regions of 
 the atmosphere. 
 
 Had we the means of investigating the history of dungeon 
 life of those noble martyrs whom ecclesiastical and political 
 tyranny have immured in darkness or of those wicked men 
 
LIGHT. 447 
 
 whom law and justice have rendered it indispensable to sep- 
 arate from their species, we should find many examples of 
 the terrible effects which have been engendered by the exclu- 
 sion of all those influences which we have shown to be neces- 
 sary for the nutrition and development, not only of plants, 
 but of many of the lower animals. 
 
 Dr. Edwards, whose experiments on animals we have al- 
 ready referred to, applies to man the principles which he 
 deduced from them ; and he maintains even, that in " climates 
 in which nudity is not incompatible with health, the exposure 
 of the whole surface of the body to light will be very favora- 
 ble to the regular conformation of the body." In support of 
 this opinion, he quotes a remarkable passage from Baron 
 Humboldt's Voyage to the Equatorial Regions of the Globe, 
 in which he is speaking of the people called Chaymas : 
 a Both men and women," h-e says, "are very muscular; their 
 forms are fleshy and rounded. It is needless to add that I 
 have not seen a single individual with a natural deformity. 
 I can say the same of many thousands of Caribs, Muyscas, 
 and Mexican and Peruvian Indians, whom we observed dur- 
 ing five years. Deformities and deviations are exceedingly 
 rare in certain races of men, especially those who have the 
 skin strongly colored." 
 
 If light thus develops in certain races the perfect type of 
 the adult who has grown under its influence, we can hardly 
 avoid the conclusion drawn by Dr. Edwards " that the want 
 of sufficient light must constitute one of the external causes 
 which produce those deviations in form in children affected 
 with scrofula ; and the more so, as it has been generally ob- 
 served that this disease is most prevalent in poor children 
 living in confined and dark streets." Following out the same 
 
44 8 
 
 principle, Dr. Edwards " infers that, in cases where these de- 
 formities do not appear incurable, exposure to the sun in the 
 open air is one of the means tending to restore a good con- 
 formation. It is true," he adds, " that the light which falls 
 upon our clothes acts only by the heat which it occasions, but. 
 the exposed parts receive the peculiar influence of the light. 
 Among these parts we must certainly regard the eyes as not 
 merely designed to enable us to perceive color, form, and 
 size. Their exquisite sensibility to light must render them 
 peculiarly adapted to transmit the influence of this agent 
 throughout the system ; and we know that the impression of 
 even a moderate light upon these organs produces in several 
 acute diseases a general exacerbation of symptoms." 
 
 The idea of light passing into the system through the eyes, 
 and influencing the other functions of the body, though at 
 first startling, merits, doubtless, the attention of physiologists. 
 The light and heat and chemical rays of the sun, combined in 
 every picture on the retina, necessarily pass to the brain 
 through the visual nerves ; and, as the luminous rays only 
 are concerned in vision, we can hardly conceive that the 
 chemical and heating rays have no function whatever to per- 
 form. 
 
 If the light of day, then, freely admitted into out apart- 
 ments, is essential to the development of the human form, 
 physical and mental, and if the same blessed element lends 
 its aid to art and nature in the cure of disease, it becomes a 
 personal and a national duty to construct our dwelling-houses, 
 our schools, our work-shops, our churches, our villages, and 
 our cities upon such principles and in such styles of architec- 
 ture as will allow the life-giving element to have the fullest 
 and the freest ingress, and to chase from every crypt and 
 
LIGHT. 449 
 
 cell and corner the elements of uncleanliness and corruption 
 which have a vested interest in darkness. 
 
 Although we have not, like Howard, visited the prisons and 
 lazarettos of cur own and foreign countries in order to num- 
 ber and describe the dungeons and caverns in which the vic- 
 tims of political power are perishing without light and air, yet 
 we have examined private houses and inns, and even palaces, 
 in which there are many occupied apartments equally devoid 
 of light and ventilation. In some of the principal cities of 
 Europe, and in many of the finest towns of Italy, where ex- 
 ternal nature smiles in her brightest attire, there are streets 
 and lanes in such close compression, the houses on one side 
 almost touching those of the other, that hundreds of thousands 
 of human beings are neither supplied with light nor with air, 
 and are compelled to carry on their professions in what seems 
 to a stranger almost total darkness. Providence, more 
 beneficent than man, has provided a means of lighting up to 
 a certain extent the workman's home by the expanding power 
 of the pupil of his eye in order to admit a greater quantity 
 of rays, and by an increased sensibility of his retina, which 
 renders visible what is feebly illuminated ; but the very exer- 
 cise of such powers is painful and insalutary, and every at- 
 tempt that is made to see when seeing is an effort, or to read 
 and work with a straining eye and an erring hand, is injuri- 
 ous to the organ of vision, and must sooner or later impair 
 its powers. Thus deprived of the light of day, thousands are 
 obliged to carry on their trades principally by artificial light 
 by the consumption of tallow, oil, or carburetted hydrogen 
 gas thus inhaling from morning till midnight the offensive 
 odors, and breathing the polluted effluvia which are more or 
 less the products of artificial illumination. 
 29 
 
45 o 
 
 It is in vain to expect that such evils, shortening and ren- 
 dering miserable the life of man, can be removed by legisla- 
 tion or by arbitrary power. Attempts are gradually being 
 made in various great cities to replace their densely congre- 
 gated streets and dwellings by structures at once ornamental 
 and salutary ; and Europe is now admiring that great reno- 
 vation in a neighboring capital, by which hundreds of streets 
 and thousands of dwellings, once the seat of poverty and 
 crime, are now replaced by architectural combinations the 
 most beautiful, and by hotels and palaces which vie with the 
 finest edifices of Greek or of Roman art. 
 
 These great improvements, however, are necessarily local 
 and partial, and centuries must pass away before we can ex- 
 pect those revolutions in our domestic and city architecture 
 under which the masses of the people will find a cheerful and 
 well-lighted and well-ventilated home. We must, therefore, 
 attack the evil as it exists, and call upon science to give us 
 such a remedy as she can supply. Science does possess 
 such a remedy, which, however, has its limits, but within those 
 limits her principles and methods are unquestionable and 
 efficacious. 
 
 Wherever there is a window there is light, which it is in- 
 tended to admit. In narrow streets and lanes this portion of 
 light comes from the sky, and its value as an illuminating 
 agent depends on its magnitude or area, and on its varying 
 distances from the sun in its daily path. But whether it be 
 large or small, bright or obscure, it is the only source of light 
 which any window can command ; and the problem which 
 science pretends to solve is to throw into the dark apartment 
 as much light as possible all the light, indeed, excepting that 
 which is necessarily lost in the process employed. Let us 
 
LIGHT. 45 1 
 
 suppose that the street is a fathom wide or two yards, and 
 that the two opposite faces of it are of such a nature that we 
 can see out of a window a considerable portion of the sky 
 two yards wide. Now, the lintel of the window generally 
 projects six or eight inches beyond the outer surface of the 
 panes of glass, so that if the window is at a considerable dis- 
 tance below the luminous portion of the sky, not a single ray 
 from that portion can fall upon the panes of the glass. If 
 we suppose the panes of glass to be made flush with the outer 
 wall, rays from every part of the luminous space will fall upon 
 the outer surface of the glass, but so obliquely that it will be 
 nearly all reflected, and the small portion which does pass 
 through the glass will have no illuminating power, as it must 
 fall upon the surface of the stone lintel on which the window 
 now rests. If we now remove our window and substitute 
 another in which all the panes of glass are roughly ground 
 on their outside, and flush with the outer wall, a mass of light 
 will be introduced into the apartment, reflected from the in- 
 numerable faces or facets which the rough grinding of the 
 glass has produced. The whole window will appear as if the 
 sky were beyond it, and from every point of this luminous 
 surface light will radiate into all parts of the room. The ef- 
 fect thus obtained might be greatly increased were we per- 
 mitted to allow the lower part of the window to be placed 
 beyond the face of the wall, and thus give the ground surface 
 of the panes such an inclined position as to enable them to 
 catch a larger portion of the sky. The plates or sheets of 
 glass which should be employed in this process may be so 
 corrugated on one side as even to throw in light that had suf- 
 fered total reflection. In aid of this method of distributing 
 light, it would be advisable to have the opposite faces of the 
 
45 2 
 
 LIGHT. 
 
 street, even to the chimney-tops, whitewashed and kept white 
 with lime ; and for the same reason, the ceiling and walls and 
 flooring of the apartment should be as white as possible, and 
 all the furniture of the lightest colors. Having seen such 
 effects produced by imperfect means, we feel as if we had 
 introduced our poor workman or needle-woman from a dun- 
 geon into a summer-house. By pushing out the windows, 
 we have increased the quantity of air which they breathe, and 
 we have enabled the housemaid to look into dark corners, 
 where there had hitherto nestled all the elements of corrup- 
 tion. To these inmates the sun had risen sooner and set 
 later, and the midnight lamp is no longer lighted when all 
 Nature is smiling under the blessed influence of day. 
 
 But it is not merely to the poor man's home that these pro- 
 cesses are applicable. In all great towns, where neither pal- 
 aces nor houses can be insulated, there are, in almost every 
 edifice, dark and gloomy crypts thirsting for light ; and in the 
 city of London there are warehouses and places of business 
 where the light of day almost never enters. On visiting a 
 friend, whose duty confined him to his desk during the offi- 
 cial part of the day, we found him with bleared eyes, strug- 
 gling against the feeble light which the opposite wall threw 
 into his window. We counselled him to extend a blind of 
 fine white muslin on the outside of his window and flush with 
 the wall. The experiment was soon made. The light of the 
 sky above was caught by the fibres of the linen and thrown 
 straight upon his writing-table as if it had been reflected 
 from an equal surface of ground glass. We recollect another 
 case equally illustrative of our process. A party visiting the 
 mausoleum of a Scottish nobleman wished to see the gilded 
 receptacles of the dead which occupied its interior. There 
 
LIGHT. 453 
 
 was only one small window through which the light entered, 
 but it did not fall upon the objects that were to be examined. 
 Upon stretching a muslin handkerchief from its four corners, 
 it threw such a quantity of light into the crypt as to display 
 fully its contents. 
 
 But while our process of illuminating dark apartments is a 
 great utilitarian agent, it is also an aesthetical power of some 
 value, enabling the architect to give the full effect of his de- 
 sign to the external fagade of his building without exhibiting 
 to the public eye any of the vulgar arrangements which are 
 required in its interior. The National Picture Gallery of 
 Edinburgh, erected on the Mound, from the beautiful designs 
 of the late W. H. Playfair, is lighted from above ; but there 
 are certain small apartments on the west side of the building 
 which cannot be thus lighted, and these being very useful the 
 architect was obliged to light them by little windows in the 
 western facade. These windows are dark gashes in the wall, 
 about two feet high and one foot broad, and being unfortu- 
 nately placed near the Ionic portico, the principal feature of 
 the building, they entirely destroy the symmetry and beauty 
 of its western fagade. Had there been no science in Edin- 
 burgh to give counsel on this occasion, the architect should 
 have left his little apartments to the tender mercies of gas or 
 oil ; but science had a complete remedy for the evil, and in 
 the hope that the two distinguished individuals who have the 
 charge of the Gallery, Sir John Watson Gordon and Mr. D. 
 O. Hill, will immediately apply it, we now offer to them the 
 process without a fee. 
 
 Send a piece of the freestone to the Messrs. Chances, of 
 the Smethwick Glass Works, near Birmingham, and order 
 sheets of thick plate-glass the exact size of the present open- 
 
454 
 
 LIGHT. 
 
 ing, and of such a color that when one side of the glass is 
 ground the ground side will have precisely the same color as 
 the freestone. When the openings are filled with these 
 plates, having the ground side outward, the black gashes will 
 disappear, the apartment will be better lighted than before, 
 and the building will assume its true architectural character. 
 The plates of glass thus inserted among the stones may, 
 when viewed at a short distance, show their true outline ; but 
 this could not have happened if, during the building of the 
 wall, one, two, or three of the stones had been left out and re- 
 placed by plates of glass of exactly the same size as the 
 stones. This method of illumination will enable future archi- 
 tects to illuminate the interior of their buildings by invisible 
 windows, and thus give to the exterior facade the full aestheti- 
 cal effect of their design. 
 
 If it is important to obtain a proper illumination of our 
 apartments when the sun is above the horizon, it is doubly 
 important when he has left us altogether to a short-lived 
 twilight, or consigned us to the tender mercies of the moon. 
 In the one case it is chiefly in ill-constructed dwelling-houses 
 and large towns and cities where a dense population, crowded 
 into a limited area, occupy streets and lanes in almost abso- 
 lute darkness, that science is called upon for her aid ; but in 
 the other, we demand from her the best system of artificial 
 illumination, under which we must spend nearly one-third of 
 our lives, whether they are passed in the cottage or in the 
 palace, in the open village or in the crowded city. 
 
 When we pass from the flickering flame of a wood fire to 
 rods of pine-root charged with turpentine from the cylinder 
 of tallow to the vase filled with oil from the wax lights to 
 
 o 
 
 the flame of gas, and from the latter to the electric li^ht we 
 
LIGHT. 455 
 
 see the rapid stride which art and science have taken in the 
 illumination of our houses and streets. We have obtained a 
 sufficient source of light; we require only to use it safely, 
 economically, and salubriously. The method which we mean 
 not only to recommend, but to press upon the public atten- 
 tion, unites the three qualities which are essential in house 
 illumination ; but till our legislators and architects and the 
 leaders of public opinion shall be more alive to the import- 
 ance of scientific truths in their practical phase, we have no 
 hope of being honored with their support. True knowledge, 
 however, advances with time. Vulgar prejudices are gradu- 
 ally worn down ; and in less than a century, whether we have 
 the electric light or not, we shall have our artificial suns shed- 
 ding their beneficent rays under the guidance of science. 
 
 The present method of lighting our houses, by burning the 
 lights within its apartments, is attended with many evils. The 
 intolerable increase of temperature in well-lighted rooms, 
 whether they are occupied by small or large parties the 
 rapid consumption of the oxygen which our respiratory sys- 
 tem requires to be undiminished the offensive smell of un- 
 consumed gas the stench of the oleaginous products of 
 combustion the damage done to gilded furniture and picture 
 frames the positive injury inflicted on the eyes, by the action 
 of a number of scattered lights upon the retina and the 
 risks of fire and explosion are strong objections to the sys- 
 tem of internal illumination. About half a century ago, the 
 writer of this article proposed to illuminate our houses by 
 burning the gas externally, or placing it within the walls of 
 the house, or in any other way by which the products of com- 
 bustion should not vitiate the air of the apartment. The 
 plan was received with a smile. It had not even the honor 
 
456 LIGHT. 
 
 of being ridiculed. It was too Quixotic to endanger existing 
 interests or trench upon vested rights. Owing to the ex- 
 tended use of gas, however, its evils became more generally 
 felt ; but no attempt was made to alter the existing system 
 till 1839, when a committee of the House of Commons was 
 appointed to inquire into the best method of lighting the 
 House. Many eminent individuals were examined ; and in 
 consequence of the report of the committee, the new system 
 was adopted of lighting from without, or in which the air 
 breathed by the members is entirely separated from the air 
 which supplies the burners. A similar change has, we be- 
 lieve, been made in the mode of lighting the House of Lords, 
 but the new system in its most general aspect has been ad- 
 mirably carried out in one or more apartments in Bucking- 
 ham Palace, where the light is distributed from the roof, as if 
 from the sky above, without any of the sources of light being 
 visible. This method, of course, can be adopted only in halls 
 or apartments with an external roof. In all other cases, con- 
 siderable difficulties must be encountered in houses already 
 built and occupied ; but we have no doubt that the ingenuity 
 of the engineer and the architect will overcome them, whether 
 the system is to be accommodated to old buildings or applied in 
 its most perfect state to houses erected on purpose to receive 
 it. But, however great be these difficulties, it is fortunate 
 that whether we are to have the advantage of the electric 
 light or a purer form of carbu retted hydrogen gas, the mode 
 of distributing it will be, generally speaking, the same, and 
 we therefore need not hesitate to introduce the new system 
 on the ground that it may be superseded by another. 
 
 Having so recently escaped from the inhumanity of a tax 
 which prohibited the light and air of heaven from entering 
 
LIGHT. 457 
 
 our dwellings, we trust that the governments of Europe will 
 freely throw these precious influences into the dark abodes 
 of their overcrowded cities, and that wealthy and philan- 
 thropic individuals will set the example of lighting, heating, 
 and ventilating according to the principles of science. Dr. 
 Arnott has already taught us how to heat our apartments 
 with coal fires without breathing either the gases or the dust 
 which they diffuse. Why should we delay to light them with- 
 out breathing the noxious gas, and overlaying the organs of 
 respiration with the nameless poisons which are generated in 
 the combustion of the animal and vegetable substances em- 
 ployed in the furnishing of our apartments ? 
 
 II. Having thus treated of the element of light in its sana- 
 tory relations, we shall now proceed to consider it in its scien- 
 tific aspect. We do not propose to write an essay on optics ; 
 our sole object is to show to the unscientific reader how much 
 interesting knowledge may be conveyed to him on subjects 
 which he has hitherto shunned as beyond his depth. Though 
 thirsting for scientific knowledge, he may have neither time 
 nor taste for the perusal even of a popular treatise, and yet 
 be delighted with instructive and memorable facts which can 
 be interpreted by the eye, and with large views of the mate- 
 rial world, which sometimes startle reason, and " make even 
 the simple wise." 
 
 How few ever ask themselves the question, What is light ? 
 And how few could give a rational answer to it if put by 
 their children ! In a room absolutely dark there is obviously 
 no light. The moment we light a gas-burner or a candle 
 light streams from it in all directions as if it were something 
 material, but diminishing in brightness more rapidly than the 
 distance increases that is, at twice the distance from the 
 
458 
 
 LIGHT. 
 
 burner it is four times weaker, at thrice the distance nine 
 times weaker, and at four times the distance sixteen times 
 weaker. Philosophers describe this property of light by 
 saying that it varies as the square of the distance from the 
 burner four, nine, and sixteen, the degrees of brightness 
 being the squares of the distances two, three, and four. 
 
 If light consists of material particles issuing from the sun 
 or an artificial flame, we might expect to feel them imping- 
 ing upon our tender skins, as we sometimes think we feel 
 them on the retina when the eyes are extremely sensitive to 
 the faintest light. If we open a bottle of musk in a very 
 large apartment, the odoriferous particles immediately stream 
 from it in all directions, but though they are really material, 
 they neither affect the skin nor any other nerves but those of 
 smell, and yet their size must be incomparably greater than 
 those of light, which pass through glass and all transparent 
 bodies whatever. 
 
 It was the earliest opinion of philosophers that of Sir 
 Isaac Newton, Laplace, and others that light does consist 
 of material particles, emitted from luminous bodies, thrown off 
 from them by some force or power of which we know nothing, 
 and reflected from the surfaces of all ordinary bodies, but a 
 number of very remarkable experiments, made chiefly in our 
 own day have led many philosophers to believe that light con- 
 sists in the vibrations or undulations excited by luminous 
 bodies in a medium called the luminiferous ether, which fills 
 all transparent bodies, and extends to the remotest distances 
 in space. It is supposed to be analogous to sound, which is 
 propagated by vibrations or undulations in air, and the mode 
 of its propagation may be illustrated by the beautiful circular 
 rings or waves formed on the surface of stagnant water 
 
LIGHT. 459 
 
 round the spot where a stone has fallen upon it, or, what is 
 more instructive, by the motion propagated along a field of 
 growing corn. In the undulations on the surface of water 
 the waves do not advance, as they appear to do, but merely 
 rise and fall without carrying forward any light bodies that 
 may be floating on their surface. In the field of corn the 
 motion passes from each stalk to its neighbor, and conse- 
 quently there is nothing moved from its place, a motion 
 merely being propagated from stalk to stalk, as it may be 
 from particle to particle of the luminiferous ether. 
 
 Whether we adopt the emission theory of Newton or the 
 undulatory theory of Hooke and Huygens we must be 
 startled with the fact, almost incredible, that in the one case 
 the material particles are launched through space from all 
 luminous bodies in all possible directions without their im- 
 pinging on one another, and that in the other the waves or 
 undulations of the elastic ether are circling in all directions 
 from a thousand centres without being defaced or obliterated. 
 If a number of intense odors were to be let loose from the 
 same centre they would soon mutually interfere, and the fine 
 waves on a peaceful lake if propagated from some adjacent 
 centres would soon disturb each other and disappear. It is 
 otherwise, however, with the radiant locomotives of light. 
 Whether they be material particles or the vibrations of an 
 elastic medium, they will ever carry, without the risk of colli- 
 sion, the great messages of the universe, 
 
 Now it is obvious that if any visible event were to happen 
 on any of these planets or stars it could not be seen by us 
 upon the earth till after the time mentioned in the table. If 
 the nearest fixed star were to be destroyed it would continue 
 to be seen by us for forty-five years after it had ceased to 
 
4 6o 
 
 exist, the last rays which issued from it requiring that time to 
 reach the earth. In'like manner, if our earth had been created 
 six thousand years ago it would just now only have become 
 visible at the most distant star, a point of space to which 
 light takes six thousand years to travel. 
 
 These facts may be of some use to such of our readers as 
 are familiar with certain recent speculations, which have as 
 much science as to amuse us and as much fancy as to mislead 
 us. The ingenious author of a little work, entitled, The Stars 
 and the Earth asserts that "pictures of every occurrence 
 propagate themselves into the distant ether upon the wings 
 of the ray of light, and though they become weaker and 
 smaller, yet at immeasurable distances they still have color 
 and form, and as everything possessing color and form is 
 visible, so must these pictures also be said to be visible, how- 
 ever impossible it may be for the human eye to perceive* 
 them with the hitherto discovered optical instruments." " The 
 universe, therefore, incloses the picture of the past like an 
 indestructible and incorruptible record, containing the purest 
 and the clearest truth." The grave and pious Principal 
 Hitchcock, taking up these views, has carried them far 
 beyond the limits of science and common sense. The 
 anonymous writer wants only new optical instruments, but 
 the divine tells us " that there may be in the universe created 
 beings with powers of vision acute enough to take in all these 
 pictures of our world's history, as they make the circuit of the 
 numberless suns and planets that lie enbosomed in boundless 
 space. Suppose that such a being is at this moment upon a 
 star of the twelfth magnitude with an eye turned toward the 
 earth. He might see the deluge of Noah just sweeping over 
 the surface. Advancing to a nearer star he would see the 
 
LIGHT. 4 6l 
 
 Patriarch Abraham going out, not knowing whither he went. 
 Coming still nearer, the vision of the crucified Redeemer 
 would meet his gaze. Coming nearer still, he might alight 
 upon worlds where all the revolutions and convulsions of 
 modern times would fall upon his eye. Indeed, there are 
 worlds enough, and at the right distances in the vast empy- 
 rean to show him every event in human history." 
 
 The anonymous speculator tells us that there are pictures 
 of every occurrence inclosed by the universe on indestruc- 
 tible tablets, but he does not tell us what lens separates one 
 picture from the infinite number of them which must exist, 
 nor what is the tablet on which it is depicted, so that, grant- 
 ing him his instruments, he himself could not tell us when 
 and how to apply them, or what they would exhibit. Let Dr. 
 Hitchcock, too, have his " created beings " with the highest 
 powers of vision, and place them on a star which the rays 
 proceeding from Noah's deluge, sweeping over the earth, 
 may just have reached. He forgets that the earth is revolving 
 about its axis and moving round the sun that clouds and 
 darkness are periodically covering its visible hemisphere 
 that "every event in human history" does not occur in open 
 day, and could not be seen by a contemporary observer 
 placed anywhere above the earth's surface ; and, therefore, 
 that all his speculations have not only no foundation in sci- 
 ence, but no meaning in sense. . The only truth which they 
 so elaborately overlay is that there are stars in the universe 
 so remote from the earth, or from each other, that the light 
 of the one cannot reach the other till after the lapse of a 
 great number of years a simple corollary from the fact that 
 light moves with the velocity of one hundred and ninety-two 
 thousand five hundred miles in a second. Not content, how- 
 
462 LIGHT. 
 
 ever, with torturing this little truth, he calls in the aid of elec- 
 tric reactions, odylic reaction, chemical reaction, organic reaction, 
 mental reaction, geological reaction, all words without meaning, 
 in order to prove first, that our minutest actions, and per- 
 haps our thoughts, from day to day, are known throughout 
 the universe ! and, second, that in a future state, the power 
 of reading the past history of the world, and of individuals, 
 may be possessed by man ! 
 
 Next in popular interest to the almost inconceivable veloc- 
 ity of light is the number of influences or elements of which 
 a white beam of the sun's light is composed. It had always 
 been supposed that the sun's light was perfectly white, heat- 
 ing as well as illuminating, every substance on which it fell ; 
 and that the colors of the rainbow, and of all natural bodies, 
 were changes produced somehow or other upon white light, 
 or were caused by the mixture of white light with different 
 degrees or kinds of blackness. Sir Isaac Newton found, 
 however, that white light consists of red, orange, yellow, green, 
 blue, indigo, and violet light in certain proportions, and that 
 the white light which we see is a mixture of all these seven 
 colors. If by any means we remove the red color, then the 
 mixture of all the other colors will not be white, but have a 
 blue tint ; and if by any means we can take away the blue 
 rays, the mixture of all the rest will be reddish or yellow. 
 In like manner, if we remove or extinguish out of a beam of 
 white light any one of the seven colors, or any part of one of 
 the colors, the light will be no longer white, but red or red- 
 dish, yellow or yellowish, or blue or bluish, according to the 
 color or the quantity of it that has been removed. 
 
 Now, all the leaves of plants and flowers, and all natural 
 bodies whatever, have the power of absorbing every sort of 
 
LIGHT. 463 
 
 light which falls upon them, except light of their own color, 
 which they reflect or radiate. When the sun's white falls 
 upon the red petal of the scarlet geranium, the petal absorbs 
 nearly all the other six colors which exist in the white light, 
 and reflects only the red. In like manner, when the sun's 
 light falls upon the blue petal of the tradescantia virginica y 
 the petal absorbs nearly all the other rays, and reflects only 
 the blue. That the red petal of the geranium, and the blue 
 petal of the tradescantia, are not in themselves red and blue is 
 evident from this, that if we throw upon them any other light, 
 they will each appear black that is, they derive their red and 
 blue light solely from their reflecting the red and blue rays, 
 which form part of the white light of the sun. Now these 
 statements are perfectly true, if the red color of the petal in 
 the one plant, and the blue color of the petal in the other, 
 were the pure red and blue colors of the sun's light ; but they 
 never are so exactly, so that, when other colors than red fall 
 upon the red petal, it is not black, but of a dark color ; and 
 when other colors than blue fall upon the blue petal, it is not 
 black, but of a dark color a result which Sir Isaac Newton 
 thus expresses : " The colors of all neutral bodies have no 
 other origin than this, that they are variously qualified to 
 reflect one sort of light in greater plenty than another." 
 
 These observations of the origin of colors, and of the com- 
 position of white light, enable us to initiate the general reader 
 into the subject of the harmony of colors, a species of knowl- 
 edge easily acquired, and of essential importance in the art 
 of painting, and in all the decorative arts. In studying the 
 works of the ancient masters, it is obvious that they were not 
 acquainted with the true principles of harmonious coloring; 
 and, in modern times, we know of no artist but Mulready 
 
464 
 
 LIGHT. 
 
 who has evinced in his work anything like a thorough knowl- 
 edge of the subject. Without descending into particulars, 
 we state that red and green are harmonic colors, and blue and 
 yellow. If the red verges upon the orange, the green must 
 be bluish- green, and if the blue verges upon green, its har- 
 monic yellow must verge upon orange. The reason why these 
 colors harmonize with each other is that red and green, and 
 blue and yellow make white light, for the same reason any 
 number of colors in a painting would be harmonious, pro- 
 vided they are in such proportions as to make white light. 
 This, of course, is true only as a general principle ; for if the 
 painting represented a brilliant sunset, there must be a pre- 
 dominance of red. In order to explain why harmonic colors 
 should, when combined, make white light, we must refer to 
 the curious physiological fact that when the eye is strongly 
 impressed with any one color, it sees at the same time its 
 harmonic color, or the color required to make white light. 
 If you look steadily upon a red wafer upon a white ground 
 for a few seconds, and turn the eye aside, you will see a green 
 wafer. If you are in a room where the light of the sun passes 
 through a bright red curtain, any hole or opening in the cur- 
 tain will appear green. The reason of this is that the eye is 
 rendered less sensible to red light by looking at the curtain, 
 and, therefore, seeing less of red, which is in the white light 
 of the hole or opening, the whole appears green. If a pic- 
 ture is painted with two leading colors which are not har- 
 monic suppose bright red and bright blue then it is obvious 
 that after the eye has been fixed on the red part, it will see 
 green, and this green will appear as a spot on the blue part 
 of the picture ; whereas, if the two colors had been red and 
 green, the green seen, after looking at the red, would not 
 
LIGHT. 465 
 
 appear as a spot on the real green of the picture. When two 
 colors are harmonic, and placed in juxtaposition, they brighten 
 one another, and the forms to which the colors are applied 
 are more distinctly seen. If the hour and minute hands of a 
 public clock, for example, are highly gilt, and the hours gilt 
 on a blue ground, the time will be more distinctly seen than 
 if any other colors had been employed. 
 
 Another department of optics which claims the notice of 
 the general reader is that of vision the way which we see 
 and are seen. When we are told by some wise people that 
 having two eyes we really see things double, though we have 
 learned to consider them only single, and that we actually 
 see objects upside down, though we have learned from ex- 
 perience that they stand upright, it is high time that we 
 should know something on the subject, In the shutter of a 
 dark room make a little hole, and place a small lens in it. Be- 
 hind the lens hold a sheet of paper, and you will see the 
 landscape inverted, and, if there are men in it, you will see 
 on the paper their heads downward and their feet upward. 
 This is the case in the human eye ; every picture painted on 
 the retina being inverted when we look at it behind, in an 
 eye prepared for the purpose. But if, in the dark room, we 
 place an eye behind the head of an inverted figure, and look 
 through the hole or lens, we shall see the head uppermost, 
 and if we place the eye behind the foot of the figure, and 
 look through the hole or lens, we shall see the feet under- 
 most, and conclude that the figure is correct. Now, the eye 
 is so constructed that every point of an image painted upon 
 the retina is seen in a direction perpendicular to the point of 
 the retina upon which it falls, and hence it is absolutely nec- 
 essary to have an inverted picture of objects on the retina in 
 30 
 
466 
 
 LIGHT. 
 
 order to see them erect. With regard to double vision, it 
 is quite true that when we see an object single, we see two 
 pictures of the same object, one with each eye ; but every 
 one point of the one picture is seen in the same place and 
 direction as every point of the other, and therefore the two 
 pictures necessarily appear single throughout. If we had not 
 the power, by the muscles of our eyes, to place the one image 
 exactly upon the other, the two pictures would be visible. If 
 we had an hundred eyes in place of two, and the power of 
 directing their axes to one point, we should still see only one 
 object. 
 
 Of all the triumphs which science has achieved in any of 
 its departments, the most magical, and the one, too, least un- 
 derstood by unscientific persons, are the powers of the micro- 
 scope and telescope. The power to enlarge a thousand 
 times and render visible the minutest parts of objects whose 
 very existence the eye cannot discover ; and the power of 
 magnifying to any extent, and bring within the scrutiny of 
 the astronomer planets and stars and other celestial objects 
 which the sharpest eye cannot descry in the heavens. It is 
 not easy to explain the method of doing this without dia- 
 grams, but a sufficiently intelligible explanation may be ob- 
 tained from well-known properties of lenses. If we place 
 any object before a lens, an image of the object is formed be- 
 hind it. If the object is near the lens, and small, the image 
 will be distant and large, the sizes of each being proportional 
 to their distance from the lens. If a small object, invisible to 
 the eye, or imperfectly visible, is in front of a lens and placed 
 near it, its image will be enlarged so as to make it visible ; 
 and by looking at this enlarged image with another lens we 
 may magnify it much more, rendering what was invisible vis- 
 ible, and exhibiting structures unseen by the eye. 
 
LIGHT. 467 
 
 In the case of the heavenly bodies, or of distant objects on 
 our own globe, we cannot bring them near a lens so as to 
 produce an enlarged image of them to be afterward magni- 
 fied. We use, however, lenses of a great focal length that 
 is, which form their image at a great distance behind them 
 and these images of distant objects are much larger than the 
 small images of them formed by the eye. These enlarged 
 images are again magnified by viewing them with a small lens. 
 But as light is always lost in magnifying an object, it is neces- 
 sary, as in the finest achromatic telescopes of glass, to have 
 the lenses as large as they can be got, eighteen or twenty 
 inches in diameter, to admit much light; and in the reflecting 
 telescope, such as those of Lord Rosse, specula have been 
 used three and six feet in diameter, to collect light enough to 
 enable high magnifying powers to be applied to the images 
 formed in the focus of the speculum. 
 
 There is one other property of light, discovered in our own 
 day, of which it behooves every person to have some knowl- 
 edge, however slight. It is the polarization of light, a re- 
 markable property, which is often talked of by persons who 
 do not know even the meaning of the name. If we reflect a 
 ray of ordinary light, coming either from the sun or candle, 
 from the surface of any transparent body, solid or fluid, at an 
 angle between fifty-three and sixty-eight degrees fifty-three 
 degrees for water, fifty-six degrees for glass, and sixty-eight 
 degrees for diamond the ray of light so reflected is polar- 
 ized light. Receive the polarized ray the ray polarized by 
 glass, for example upon another plate of the same glass at 
 an angle of fifty-six degrees, and turn the plate round to three 
 hundred and sixty degrees, a complete circle, keeping the ray 
 always incident at the same angle of fifty-six degrees ; you 
 
468 
 
 LIGHT. 
 
 will observe four positions, distant ninety degrees, at which 
 the light disappears, the glass being unable to reflect it, and 
 other four positions, distant forty-five degrees from these, and 
 ninety degrees from each other, where the light reflected is 
 the brightest; the light reflected in all other positions increas- 
 ing from the dark to the bright position. The polarized light, 
 therefore, possessing these properties must have suffered 
 some remarkable change by being reflected at an angle of 
 fifty-eight degrees from the glass ; and consequently it differs 
 entirely from ordinary light, which is equally reflected from 
 the glass during the rotation of the glass round the ray. 
 
 Let us now fix these two plates of glass so that ordinary 
 light falling upon the first plate is polarized, and place the 
 second plate in one of the four positions where the polarized 
 ray will not be reflected, and the flame from which it proceeds 
 appears as a black spot when we look into the second plate. 
 In this simple little apparatus, which a child may make, we 
 call the first plate of glass the polarizer, because it polarizes 
 the ordinary light, and the second plate the analyzer, for rea- 
 sons which we shall presently see. If we now take a thin 
 slice of gypsum or sulphate of lime (which is as transparent 
 as glass) about one-hundredth of an inch thick, and holding 
 it between the polarizer and analyzer, we look into the ana- 
 lyzer so as to see the black spot through the slice of gypsum, 
 we shall be surprised to find that, upon turning the slice 
 around, there are four positions of it, distant ninety degrees, 
 where the gypsum will have the most brilliant color suppose 
 red restoring the light of the vanished flame, and that in 
 other four positions, distant forty-five degrees from these, 
 where all color disappears, and the black spot returns. If we 
 now fix the film of gypsum in the position where it gives the 
 
LIGHT. 
 
 469 
 
 brightest red, and make the analyzer revolve round the polar- 
 ized ray or black spot, we shall find two positions, one hun- 
 dred and eighty degrees distant, where the red will be seen 
 upon the black spot. At points forty-five degrees distant 
 from these the red will disappear and the black spot return. 
 At other four points, distant forty-five degrees from them, the 
 gypsum will be of a bright green color, the colors getting 
 paler and paler as the analyzer comes to the position which 
 gives the black spot. Hence we see that when the slice of 
 gypsum revolves, only one color, varying with the thickness 
 of the slice, is seen, and when the analyzer alone revolves, 
 two colors, red and green, or blue and yellow, are seen ; and 
 these colors are always the pure harmonic colors. These two 
 colors make pure white or colorless light, and they are ana- 
 lyzed by the analyzer, which, in one position, reflects to the 
 eye one color, viz., the red, but is not able, in the same posi- 
 tion, to reflect the other color, namely, the green. In another 
 position, however, it reflects \hzgreen and not the red, so 
 that it has analyzed, when mixed, the two colors, red and 
 green, which compose the colorless light transmitted by the 
 slice of gypsum. 
 
 If, instead of the slice of gypsum, we place in the appa- 
 ratus plates of Iceland spar, quartz and beryl, etc., and make 
 the light pass along the axis of the crystal, we shall observe 
 the most beautiful phenomena of circular and highly-colored 
 rings with a black cross ; and if we use biaxal crystals, such 
 as arragonite or nitre, we shall see the most brilliantly-colored 
 double system of rings along the principal axis of the crystal. 
 
 Our limited space will not permit us to give any further 
 account of the wonderful properties of polarized light, and 
 of the almost magical structures which it develops. 
 
470 
 
 When we look with the most powerful microscopes at 
 many transparent bodies, animal, vegetable, and mineral, we 
 see no structure whatever; but when we make polarized light 
 pass through them, it emerges with certain changes in its 
 state, produced by the structure of the body, and these 
 changes are rendered visible by the analyzer in a variety of 
 tints, either faint or brilliant. 
 
 " The existence of solar rays accompanying light more re- 
 frangible than the violet rays, and cognizable by their chemi- 
 cal effect was first ascertained by Mr. Ritter; but Dr. Wol- 
 laston made the same experiment a very short time afterward, 
 without having been informed of what had been done on the 
 Continent. These rays appear to extend beyond the violet 
 rays of the prismatic spectrum, through a space nearly equal 
 to that which is occupied by the violet. In order to complete 
 the comparison of their properties with those of visible light, 
 I was desirous of examining the effect of their reflection from 
 a thin plate of air, capable of producing the well-known rings 
 of colors. For this purpose I formed an image of the rings, 
 by means of the solar microscope, with the apparatus which 
 I had described in the journals of the Royal Institution, and 
 I threw this image on paper dipped in a solution of nitrate of 
 silver placed at a distance of about nine inches from the mi- 
 croscope. In the course of an hour, portions of three dark 
 rings were very distinctly visible, much smaller than the 
 brightest rings of the colored image, and coinciding very 
 nearly in their dimensions with the rings of violet light that 
 appeared upon the interposition of violet glass. I thought 
 the dark rings were a little smaller than the violet rings, but 
 the distance was not sufficiently great to be accurately ascer- 
 tained ; it miorht be as much as one-thirtieth or one-fortieth 
 
LIGHT. 
 
 471 
 
 of the diameters, but not greater. It is the less surprising 
 that the difference should be so small, as the dimensions of the 
 colored rings do not by any means vary at the violet end of 
 the spectrum so rapidly as at the red end. For performing 
 this experiment with very great accuracy, a heliostat would 
 be necessary, since the motion of the sun causes a slight 
 change in the place of the image ; and leather impregnated 
 with muriate of silver would indicate the effect with greater 
 delicacy. The experiment, however, in its present state, is 
 sufficient to complete the analogy of the invisible with the 
 visible rays, and to show that they are equally liable to the 
 general law (of interference) which is the principal subject 
 of this paper." 
 
 The beautiful process of the Calotype or Talbotype, viewed 
 as a whole, was the undoubted invention of Mr. Henry Fox 
 Talbot. As a new art which gave employment to thousands, 
 he brought it to a high degree of perfection. He expended 
 large sums of money in obtaining for the public the full bene- 
 fit of his invention, and toward the termination of his patent, 
 he liberally surrendered to photographic amateurs and others 
 all the rights which he possessed, with the one exception of 
 taking portraits for sale, which he conveyed to others, and 
 which he was bound by law and in honor to secure to them. 
 As Mr. Talbot had derived no pecuniary benefit from his 
 patent, he had intended to apply for an extension of it to the 
 Privy Council ; but the art had been so universally practiced, 
 that numerous parties were interested in opposing the appli- 
 cation, and individuals were found who laid claim to the use 
 of some of the chemical materials used in the calotype, and 
 who combined with others to reduce the patent, and thus to 
 prevent the possibility of its renewal. Although we are con- 
 
472 
 
 LIGHT. 
 
 fident that a jury of philosophers in any part of the world 
 would have given a verdict in favor of Mr. Talbot's patent, 
 taken as a whole, and so long unchallenged, yet we regret to 
 say that an English judge and jury were found to deprive 
 him of his right and transfer it to the public. The patrons 
 of science and art stood aloof in the contest and none of our 
 scientific institutions, and no intelligent members of the 
 Government, came forward to claim from the State a national 
 reward to Mr. Talbot. In France, the Government, by the 
 advice of M. Arago, acted a very different part to Niepce 
 and Daguerre, the inventors of the Daguerreotype. The in- 
 vention was given as a present from the State to France, and 
 even to Europe, and Niepce and Daguerre received between 
 them an annual pension of six hundred and thirty-three 
 pounds. 
 
 The great defect in Mr. Talbot's process, not in his patent, 
 was, that paper was the substance upon which his calotype 
 pictures were to be taken. He early saw the difficulty of 
 obtaining this material of a suitable quality for photographic 
 purposes, and he made many attempts to remedy the evil, 
 but although several paper makers exerted themselves to the 
 utmost, and succeeded, to a certain extent, in manufacturing 
 a highly improved article, yet the size employed and various 
 chemical substances used in the process, rendered it impossi- 
 ble to procure paper of that fineness and uniformity of text- 
 ure which the advanced state of the art required. When the 
 artist had bestowed the greatest pains in taking a negative 
 picture, and had taken it sometimes two or three times, he 
 often found his own labor lost, and the expectations of his 
 sitters disappointed. 
 
 Under these circumstances the idea occurred to M. Niepce 
 
LIGHT 473 
 
 St. Victor, Commandant of the Louvre, to whom photography 
 owes so many obligations, to reject paper altogether for nega- 
 tives, and to use a film of albumen spread upon glass. To 
 do this he takes five ounces of the whites of fresh eggs, 
 mixed with one hundred grains of iodide of potassium, 
 twenty grains bromide of potassium, and ten grains of 
 common salt. This mixture is beaten up with a fork, and 
 after resting all night it is ready in the morning for use that 
 is, it is ready to spread into a uniform film upon glass, and 
 employed instead of paper for taking negative photographs. 
 The great advantage of the albumen process is that the 
 film is perfectly smooth and homogeneous, and may be ob- 
 tained of a very large size. Its defect, however, is its want 
 of sensibility, so that it can be employed only for statues and 
 landscapes. It seems to have been very little used in Eng- 
 land, but has been brought to perfection by Messrs. Ross & 
 Thomson, of Edinburgh, who, to use the words of Mr. Hunt, 
 " have been eminently successful operators with it, many of 
 their pictures, which are of a large size, exhibited more artis- 
 tic effect than is obtained by any other photographers. Some 
 of the positives produced are very fine. At the last meeting 
 of the British Association in Edinburgh, these gentlemen ex- 
 hibited some positive images on glass plate. These were 
 backed up with plaster of Paris for the purpose of exalting 
 the effects, which were exceedingly delicate and beautiful. 
 We have now before us six of these magnificent photo- 
 graphs, fifteen and a half inches by fifteen and a half inches, 
 representing Edinburgh from the Calton Hill, interior of 
 Holyrood Chapel, Melrose Abbey in two aspects, the Golden 
 Gate of St. Andrew's Cathedral, and the north doorway of 
 Dunfermline Cathedral, Benan, and Benvenu, and we have 
 
474 LIGHT - 
 
 no hesitation in saying that they surpass everything that has 
 been done in this process. 
 
 Owing to the great length of time required to take a pho- 
 tograph in albumen, various attempts have been made to 
 render it more sensitive or to obtain a more sensitive material 
 equally uniform and manageable. Mr. Hunt had, in 1884, 
 recommended the use of the fluorides, and M. B. Everard 
 has lately employed the fluoride of potassium along with the 
 iodide of potassium as a means of obtaining instantaneous 
 images on albumen. Mr. Hunt has found that the image 
 appears immediately on exposure in the camera, and antici- 
 pates great advantages from the use of the fluorides. 
 
 For the same reason M. Niepce St. Victor has recently 
 published a process, in which, in place of albumen, he em- 
 ploys seventy grains of starch rubbed down in seventy grains 
 of water, and then mixed with three or four ounces more of 
 water. After five and a half grains of iodide of potassium 
 are added the whole is boiled till the starch is properly dis- 
 solved. It is then laid upon a plate of glass and is said to 
 give tablets of great sensibility. The serum of milk and 
 gelatine and other substances have also been proposed and 
 used to obtain a surface more transparent than paper and 
 more sensitive than albumen, but most of them have been 
 abandoned, at least for portraits, since the introduction of 
 collodion by Archer in 1850. 
 
 The discovery and use of collodion is doubtless the great- 
 est improvement that has been made in photography. Collo- 
 dion is a limpid fluid of the color of sherry, and is made by 
 dissolving gun-cotton in ether containing a little alcohol. 
 Gun-cotton is made by mixing seventy grains of fine selected 
 cotton with water, nitre, and sulphuric acid in the proportions 
 
LIGHT. 475 
 
 of three, four, and five ounces. After the cotton has been 
 washed in this bath by stirring it with two glass rods, it is 
 taken put, well washed with water to remove every trace of 
 acid and hung up to dry. Fifteen grains of gun-cotton, thus 
 prepared, is placed in a mixture of nine fluid ounces of recti- 
 fied sulphuric ether with one ounce of alcohol sixty degrees 
 over-proof. The cotton will be almost wholly dissolved with 
 the exception of some fibres, which will fall to the bottom. 
 The clear solution or collodion when poured off is ready to 
 be iodized by adding to it a certain quantity, to be deter- 
 mined by experiment, of an alcoholic solution of the iodide 
 of silver and the iodide of potassium. A glass plate, well 
 cleansed from grease, is coated with a thin film of collodion, 
 obtained by pouring a small quantity on the plate, and run- 
 ning it off by one corner into a bottle. This film, solidified 
 by the evaporation of the ether, is now excited by a solution 
 of thirty grains of nitrate of silver in one ounce of water. It 
 is placed in the camera, and the image developed and fixed 
 by processes, which we cannot, of course, here find room to 
 detail. 
 
 Collodion may be prepared from paper, flax, the pith of the 
 elder, and many other vegetable substances. In whatever 
 way it is made, the name of pyroxylin is given to it. Lignine, 
 or the true substance of wood, is convertible into a substance 
 analogous to true gun-cotton. Lignme, combined with strong 
 nitric acid, forms a substance called xyloidide. The prepara- 
 tions of collodion by R. W. Thomas are in much esteem, and 
 are sold under the name of Xylo-iodide of Silver. 
 
 Although M. Btot, in 1840, considered it as an illusion to 
 expect photographs having the color of the objects which they 
 represent, yet a certain advance, and one of some importance, 
 
476 LIGHT. 
 
 has been made to this result. In a former article we referred 
 to the attempts of M. Claudet and Sir John Herschel to copy 
 the colors of nature. Mr. Hunt " procured colored images, not 
 merely impressions of the rays of the spectrum, but copies 
 in the camera of colored objects." But the most important 
 results have been obtained by M. Edmund Becquerel, and M. 
 Niepce St. Victor of Paris. 
 
 In November, 1884, M. Edmund Becquerel exhibited to the 
 Academy of Sciences " a photochromatic image of the solar 
 spectrum, and colored photographs obtained in the camera 
 obscura." These photographs were on daguerreotype plates; 
 c.nd there can be no doubt that all the colors of the spectrum, 
 and those of natural objects were obtained by his process. 
 Unfortunately, however, no method of fixing them could be 
 found, and the colors disappeared very quickly when exposed 
 to light, though they could be preserved for a long time in 
 the dark. 
 
 M. Niepce St. Victor has pursued this subject with more 
 success than his predecessors. Mr. Hunt has examined pic- 
 tures of his on metallic plates " in which every color of the 
 original was most faithfully represented," but they eventually 
 faded into one uniform reddish tint ; and M, Niepce St. Victor 
 tells us that he has made a hundred attempts to fix these 
 helio-ckromes, as he calls them, without the slightest success. 
 
 Important as these researches are, M. Niepce St. Victor 
 has published two " Memoirs " on a new action of light, which 
 has excited much interest in the scientific world. Having ex- 
 posed for a quarter of an hour to the sun's direct rays an en- 
 graving which had been kept several days in the dark, he 
 applied the engraving to a sheet of sensitive paper, and after 
 twenty-four hours' contact, he obtained a negative picture of 
 
LIGHT. 4/7 
 
 the engraving. If the negative, taken from a dark place, 
 where it has been for several days, be applied to a sheet of 
 the sensitive paper, without exposure to the direct rays of 
 the sun, no negative picture is produced. Wood, ivory, gold- 
 beater's skin, parchment, and even the living skin, struck by 
 light, will give a negative picture ; but metals and enamels 
 will not. If a film of mica, glass, or rock crystal is placed 
 between the engraving and the sensitive paper no negative 
 picture will be got ; but if the engraving is covered with a 
 stratum of collodion or gelatine, the picture will be obtained. 
 If the distance between the engraving and the sensitive paper 
 is only three millimetres, or one-eighth of an inch, a picture 
 will be produced ; and if the lines of the engraving are strong, 
 a distance of a centimetre will not prevent it. If we take an 
 opaque tube, shut up at one end and lined with paper, and 
 expose the open end for an hour to the direct rays of the sun 
 and if at the end of twenty-four hours we apply the open end 
 of the tube to a piece of sensitive paper, we shall obtain a 
 negative image of the opening. If the tube be hermetically 
 sealed after exposure to the sun's rays, it will preserve for a 
 long time the power of acting upon sensitive paper. M. 
 Niepce St. Victor placed a sheet of white paper that had 
 been in the dark in the camera, where it continued to receive 
 for three hours an image brilliantly illuminated by the sun. 
 When taken out and applied to a sheet of sensitive paper, it 
 reproduced very visibly, in twenty-four hours, the original 
 image in the camera obscura. 
 
 In his second Memoir our author exhibits this " persistent 
 activity" or "storing up " of light, as he calls it, in another 
 interesting experiment. He places a glass or paper negative 
 upon a sheet of paper that has been several days in the dark, 
 
478 
 
 LIGHT. 
 
 and after a sufficient exposure to the sun's rays, he takes out 
 the paper in the dark, and develops the picture by a solution 
 of nitrate of silver, and fixes it by merely washing it in pure 
 water. In order to obtain a picture more quickly and more 
 vigorously developed, he impregnates th^ sheet of paper, till 
 it becomes of a pale, straw yellow color, with an aqueous 
 solution of nitrate of uranium, " which admits in a higher de- 
 gree than the paper the luminous action of storing up with 
 the persistent luminous activity." The picture, when taken, 
 as before, is fixed by simple immersion in pure water till the 
 salt of uranium is completely removed. Thus fixed the pic- 
 tures resist the energetic action of a boiling solution of cyan- 
 uret of potash ; and we may, therefore, hope that they will 
 be indestructible by time. This great discovery of M. 
 Niepce St. Victor will be received with surprise by the sci- 
 entific world, who regard light and all its chemical influences 
 as the effect of simple motion. When light has been stored 
 for days, it is difficult to understand how it can afterward 
 begin to vibrate and perform all its former functions. 
 
 Although M. Niepce St. Victor's experiment on the per- 
 manence of the nitrate of uranium photographs is very inter- 
 esting, yet time only can solve the problem of their absolute 
 indestructibility; and we must continue to practice the art 
 with all the fears and misgivings of the past. It is fortunate, 
 however, that several processes have been invented by which 
 photographs can be rendered as permanent as engravings 
 and multiplied to any extent. The best of these processes 
 is the photo-galvanographic one of Mr. Paul Pretsch, who, 
 after his .right by patent, established a company at Islington, 
 and has published, in a series of numbers, magnificent speci- 
 mens of the art. Solutions of glue in solutions of nitrate of 
 
LIGHT. 479 
 
 silver, io HJe of potassium, and bichromate of potash are 
 mixed according to a rule and spread like albumen over the 
 glass plate. A photograph or engraving is placed on the 
 prepared plate and a negative taken in sunlight. The glass 
 is then placed in water, with a little alcohol and the darkened 
 spots are rendered soluble, w r hile the other parts are insol- 
 uble, so that in a few minutes we have a picture represented 
 not only by light and shadow, but by the unequal thickness 
 of the gelatine on the glass. When the plate is dry, soft 
 gutta-percha is pressed upon the picture until it hardens. 
 The gutta-percha has consequently an image the reverse of 
 the first. After rubbing it over with bronze powder or black 
 lead, it is placed in a solution of sulphate of copper, and an 
 electrotype plate taken from it, in the usual way, with a vol- 
 taic battery. From this plate others can be readily taken, 
 and, as in ordinary copper-plate printing, thousands of copies 
 can be thrown off. " By this process," says Mr. Hunt, " pic- 
 tures, in which the most delicate details are very faithfully 
 preserved, and the nice graduations in light and shadow 
 maintained in all their beauty, are now printed from the elec- 
 trotype plate obtained from the photograph. The process of 
 photo-galvanography is evidently destined to take a very high 
 position as a means of preserving the beauties of nature and art. 
 In miniature painting it has taken a new profession. Mr. 
 Duppa, distinguished artist, after making his photograph 
 transparent, paints with oil colors on the back of the photo- 
 graph, so that he never can take away the original likeness. 
 Mr. Dickinson, on the contrary, and others, paint upon the 
 photograph itself; and, at a trifling risk of affecting the like- 
 ness, they have the power of correcting defects, both in form 
 and expression, which exist in almost every sun-picture. 
 
4 8o 
 
 To the landscape and historical painter photography has 
 proved an invaluable assistant. Messrs. Ross & Thomson 
 published, some time ago, the most beautiful photographs for 
 foregrounds, taken while growing at the foot of rocks and 
 trees. Of these, the ferns, the dock leaves, the fox-glove, and 
 the nettle are beyond all praise ; but, charming as these are, 
 they are surpassed by two on a larger scale, which have re- 
 cently appeared under names of " The Quiet Corner " and 
 " The Dykeside." These photographs, fifteen and one-half 
 by fifteen and one-half inches, full of the poetry of vegetable 
 life, teem with wild plants of the most picturesque and lovely 
 forms, and rich in the variety and luxuriance of leaf and 
 stem. Though devoid of fragrance and of color, they allure 
 us to the cooling fountain which waters them. They tempt 
 us to nestle in the little rocky hollow which they adorn, and 
 to weep with human sympathies amid creations that are fated 
 but to bloom and die. 
 
 The most important application of photography has cer- 
 tainly been to the stereoscope, not only in reference to art, 
 but to the great purposes of education and to the illustration 
 of works on every branch of knowledge. The surface of the 
 moon has been drawn with singular beauty. The eclipses of 
 the sun and moon have been delineated, and various other 
 astronomical phenomena which the observer could not other- 
 wise have recorded. But, perhaps, one of the most curious 
 applications of the art has been the microscopic portraits, as 
 executed with such skill by Mr. Dancer, of Manchester. 
 Some of these are so small that ten thousand could be in- 
 cluded in a square inch, and yet, when magnified, the pictures 
 have all the smoothness and vigor of ordinary photographs. 
 
IOAN DEPT. 
 
 id 196555 
 
 . 8 1972 1 
 
 .General L