Hidden Treasures Part 28

When he was about sixteen he wrote, in a disguised hand, an article for his brother's paper. This article was published anonymously, and excited great curiosity. Other articles followed, at length the ident.i.ty of the author was discovered, and for some unknown reason the elder brother was offended. From that hour Benjamin resolved to leave Boston, as his brother's influence was used to his disadvantage in that city.

Embarking, he worked his pa.s.sage to New York, where he arrived at the age of seventeen, almost penniless, and without recommendations. Failing to obtain work here he continued on to Philadelphia, where he arrived, disappointed but not discouraged. He now had but one dollar, and a few copper coins, in the world. Being hungry, he bought some bread, and with one roll under either arm, and eating the third, he pa.s.sed up the street on which his destined wife lived, and she beheld him as he presented this ridiculous appearance. Obtaining employment, he secured board and lodging with Mr. Reed, afterward his father-in-law.

Being induced to think of going into business for himself, through promises of financial help from influential parties, he sailed to London for the purpose of buying the necessary requisites for a printing office. Not until his arrival in that great city, London, did he learn of the groundlessness of his hope for aid from the expected quarter. In a strange land, friendless and alone, without money to pay his return pa.s.sage, such was his predicament; yet he lost not his courage, but obtained employment as a printer, writing his betrothed that he should likely never return to America. His stay in London lasted, however, but about eighteen months, during which time he succeeded in reforming some of his beer-drinking companions.

In 1826 he returned to America as a dry-goods clerk, but the death of his employer fortunately turned his attention once more to his especial calling, and he soon after formed a partners.h.i.+p with a Mr. Meredith.

This was in 1728. Miss Reed, during his stay abroad, had been induced to marry another man who proved to be a scoundrel; leaving her to escape punishment for debt, and, it is alleged, with an indictment for bigamy hanging over his head. Franklin attributed much of this misfortune to himself, and resolved to repair the injury so far as lay within his power. Accordingly he married her in 1830. This proved a most happy union. His business connection with Mr. Meridith being dissolved, he purchased the miserably conducted sheet of Mr. Keimer, his former employer, and under Franklin's management it became a somewhat influential journal of opinion.

It was through this channel that those homely sayings, with such rich meanings, first appeared in print. His great intelligence, industry and ingenuity in devising reforms, and the establishment of the first circulating library, soon won for him the esteem of the entire country.

1732 is memorable as the year in which appeared his almanac in which was published the sayings of the world-famous 'Poor Richard.' This almanac abounded with aphorisms and quaint sayings, the influence of which tended mightily to economy, and it was translated into foreign languages, in fact was the most popular almanac ever printed.

After ten years' absence he returned to his native city, Boston, and his n.o.ble instincts were shown, as he consolingly promised his dying brother that he would care for his nephew, his brother's son. Returning to Philadelphia he became postmaster of that city, established a fire department, becomes a member of the a.s.sembly, to which office he is elected ten consecutive years.

Although he was not an orator, no man wielded more influence over the legislative department than did Franklin. As is well-known, he invented the celebrated Franklin Stove, which proved so economical, and for which he refused a patent. For years he entertained the theory that galvanic electricity, and that which produced lightning and thunder were identical; but it was not until 1752 that he demonstrated the truth by an original but ingenious contrivance attached to a kite, and to Franklin we owe the honor of inventing the lightning rod, but not its abuse which has caused such widespread animosity to that valuable instrument of self-preservation.

These discoveries made the name of Franklin respected throughout the scientific world. Forever after this period, during his life, he was connected with national affairs. At one time he was offered a commission as General in the Provincial Army, but distrusting his military qualifications he unequivocally declined. Sir Humphrey Davy said: "Franklin seeks rather to make philosophy a useful inmate and servant in the common habitations of man, than to preserve her merely as an object for admiration in temples and palaces." While it is said of him by some that he always had a keen eye to his own interests all are forced to add he ever had a benevolent concern for the public welfare.

The burdens bearing so heavily upon the colonies: Pennsylvania, Maryland, Georgia, and Ma.s.sachusetts, appointed Franklin as their agent to the mother-country. Arriving in London in 1757, despite his mission, honors awaited him at every turn. There he a.s.sociated with the greatest men of his time, and the universities of Edinburgh and Oxford honored him with the t.i.tle of L.L.D. and the poor journeyman printer of a few years before, a.s.sociated with princes and kings. At the end of five years he returned to America, and in 1762 received the official thanks of the a.s.sembly. Two years later he was again sent to England, and he opposed the obnoxious stamp act, and where he carried himself with decorum and great ability before the entire n.o.bility. Upon his return to America he was made a member of the a.s.sembly the day he landed, where he exerted his whole influence for a Declaration of Independence, and soon after had the pleasure of signing such a doc.u.ment.

In 1776 Congress sent him to France, where he became one of the greatest diplomats this country has ever known. During his voyage over he made observations relative to the Gulf Stream, and the chart he drew of it nearly one hundred years ago, still forms the basis of maps on the subject. As is well known, to Franklin more than all others, are we indebted for the kindly interference by France in our behalf, whose efforts, though ineffective in the field, helped the revolutionary cause wonderfully in gaining prestige. At the close of the war Franklin was one of the commissioners in framing that treaty which recognized American independence. His simple winning ways won for him admiration in any court of embroidery and lace, while his world-wide reputation as a philosopher and statesman won for him a circle of acquaintances of the most varied character. On the 17th of April, 1790, this great statesman died, and fully 20,000 people followed him to the tomb. The inscription he had designed read:

"The body of Benjamin Franklin, printer; Like the cover of an old book-- Its contents torn out, and script of its lettering and gilding: Lies here food for worms."

Yet the work itself shall not be lost. For it will, as he believed, appear once more, in a new and more beautiful edition, corrected and amended by the Author. Truly, America has been rich in great men, of which Franklin was not the least. Dr. Franklin, in his will, left his native town of Boston, the sum of one thousand pounds, to be lent to the young married artificers upon good security and under odd conditions. If the plan should be carried out as successfully as he expected, he reckoned that this sum would amount in one hundred years to one hundred and thirty-one thousand pounds. It was his wish, and so expressed in his will that one hundred thousand pounds should be spent upon public works, "which may then be judged of most general utility to the inhabitants; such as fortifications, bridges, aqueducts, public buildings, baths, pavements, or whatever makes living in the town more convenient to its people, and renders it more agreeable to strangers resorting thither for health or temporary residence." It was also his wish that the remaining thirty-one thousand pounds should again be put upon interest for another hundred years, at the end of which time the whole amount was to be divided between the city and the State. The bequest at the end of the first one hundred years may not attain the exact figure he calculated, but it is sure to be a large sum. At the present time it is more than one hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars, and it has many years yet to run.

ELI WHITNEY.

The year of 1765 was made famous by the birth of a man who was destined to enrich his country millions of dollars.

Eli Whitney was born at Westborough, Ma.s.sachusetts, December 8th, 1765, and received a good education, graduating at Yale College. Going South as a tutor in a private family, his attention was arrested by the slow process by which the seed was extracted from cotton. At that time a pound of greenseed cotton was all that a negro woman could clean in a day.

At the instance of Mrs. Greene, widow of General Greene, he set about constructing a machine to do the work. He had no facilities for pus.h.i.+ng the work, even having to manufacture his tools, but he persevered and accomplished his purpose. Rumors of the machine spreading over the State, a mob at night broke open the building wherein the machine was stored, carried his precious model away, and before he could make another, various machines were in use. However, he went North to Connecticut and established a manufactory to make the machines. South Carolina granted him $50,000 after long and vexatious litigation, and North Carolina allowed him a percentage, which was paid in good faith.

But, although Eli Whitney had invented a machine which would do in one day as much as an ordinary hand would in months, which has been worth hundred of millions of dollars to the South; yet, through the influence of Southern members, Congress would not renew his patent, and so much opposition was raised that he actually never received from his invention the money he had spent to perfect it. All efforts to obtain a financial recognition in this invention failing, he abandoned the manufacture of the cotton-gin. He was not discouraged, not at all, but turned his attention to fire-arms. These he greatly improved, being the first to make them adjustable, that is, any single piece to fit the same place in any of the thousands of guns that might be in process of manufacture in his works. He manufactured arms for the government, and reaped a fortune which he had so honestly earned.

On January 8th, 1825, the country lost this wonderful genius, but his fame is growing year by year, as one of the world's benefactors.

ROBERT FULTON.

The genius of Fulton was of no ordinary mold. It began to unfold in less than ten years after his birth, which occurred at Little Britain, Pennsylvania, in the year 1765. His parents were farmers, and of Irish birth, but Protestants in religious belief.

At seventeen he went to Philadelphia and begun the study of printing.

Four years later he evinced such decided talents in miniature painting that his friends united in sending him to London, where he remained for some years under the teaching of the world-renowned West. Being a friend of West, he was thus drawn into a.s.sociation with such men as the Duke of Bridgewater and the Earl of Stanhope. Through the influence of the former he adopted the profession of a civil engineer. He also became acquainted with Watt, who had just brought out his great improvement on the steam engine, the details of which Fulton mastered.

While in London, at this time, he also contrived a new device for sawing marble which proved to be a valuable improvement. To this period in his life also belongs his invention of a machine for spinning flax. In 1797 he removed to Paris where he remained seven years, a.s.siduously studying the sciences. It was during his sojourn there that he brought out his celebrated torpedo-boat, since known as the Nautilus, a name derived from its resemblance in action to that wonderful little animal. This boat was a plunging machine designed for sub-marine service in placing torpedoes and other work, for which a sub-marine vessel could be used.

According to Colden this boat was brought to a wonderful state of perfection, his account of which may be interesting.

On the 3rd of July, 1801, he embarked with three companions on board his plunging boat, in the harbor of Brest, and descended in it to the depth of five, ten, fifteen, and so on, to twenty-five feet; but he did not attempt to go deeper because he found that his imperfect machine would not bear the pressure of a greater depth. He remained below the surface one hour. During the time, they were in utter darkness. Afterwards he descended with candles; but finding a great disadvantage from their consumption of vital air he caused, previous to his next experiment, a small window of thick gla.s.s to be made near the bow of his boat, and he again descended with her on the 24th of July, 1801. He found that he received from his window, or rather aperture covered with gla.s.s, for it was no more than an inch and a half in diameter, sufficient light for him to count the minutes on his watch.

Having satisfied himself that he could have sufficient light when under water; that he could do without a supply of fresh air for a considerable time; that he could descend to any depth and rise to the surface with equal facility; his next object was to try her movements as well on the surface as beneath it. On the 26th of July he weighed his anchor and hoisted his sails; his boat had one mast, a main-sail and a jib. There was only a light breeze, and therefore she did not move on the surface at more than the rate of two miles an hour; but it was found that she would tack and steer, and sail on a wind or before it as well as any common sail-boat. He then struck her masts and sails; to do which, and to perfectly prepare the boat for plunging, required about two minutes.

Having plunged to a certain depth he placed two men at the engine which was intended to give her progressive motion, and one at the helm, while he, with a barometer before him, governed the machine which kept her balanced between the upper and lower waters. He found that with the exertion of only one hand he could keep her at any depth he desired. The propelling engine was then put in motion, and he found that on coming to the surface he had, in about seven minutes, made a progress of four hundred metres, or five hundred yards. He then again plunged, turned her around, while under the water, and returned to near the place he began to move from.

He repeated his experiments several days successively until he became familiar with the operation of the machinery, and the movements of the boat. He found that she was as obedient to her helm under water, as any boat could be on the surface, and that the magnetic needle traversed as well in the one as in the other.

On the 27th of August Mr. Fulton again descended with a store of atmospheric air compressed into a copper globe, of a cubic foot capacity, into which two hundred atmospheres were forced. Thus prepared he descended with three companions to the depth of five feet. At the expiration of an hour and forty minutes, he began to take small supplies of pure air from his reservoir, and did so, as he found occasion, for four hours and twenty minutes. At the expiration of the time he came to the surface without having experienced any inconvenience from having been so long under the water.

Fulton, about this time, hearing of Fitche's experiments in the United States with steam, became more than ever interested in the subject of "navigating boats by means of fire and water." Our Minister to Great Britain, Robert R. Livingstone, becoming greatly interested in steam navigation, and especially in Fulton's ideas in the matter, agreed to furnish the necessary funds to bring to success the enterprise.

Accordingly, they ordered an engine of Watt & Boulton, "which would propel a large boat," and the engine arrived in America during the year 1806. Fulton at once set to work to build a boat to fit the machinery, and in 1807 the "Clermont" was ready for trial.

The reader will not be surprised at the statement of an eye-witness: "When it was announced in the New York papers that the boat would start from Cortlandt street at 6:30 a. m., on the 4th of August, and take pa.s.sengers to Albany, there was a broad smile on every face as the inquiry was made if any one would be fool enough to go?" One friend was heard to accost another in the street with: "John, will thee risk thy life in such a concern? I tell thee she is the most fearful wild fowl living, and thy father should restrain thee." When the eventful morning came, Friday August 4th, 1807, the wharves, piers, housetops, and every available elevation was crowded with spectators. All the machinery was uncovered and exposed to view. The periphery of the balance wheels of cast iron, some four or more inches square, ran just clear of the water.

There were no outside guards, the balance wheels being supported by their respective shafts, which projected over the sides of the boat. The forward part was covered by a deck which afforded shelter for her hands.

The after-part was fitted up in a rough manner for pa.s.sengers. The entrance into the cabin was from the stern in front of the steersman, who worked a tiller as in an ordinary sloop.

Black smoke issued from the chimney; steam issued from every ill-fitted valve and crevice of the engine. Fulton himself was there. His remarkably clear and sharp voice was heard high above the hum of the mult.i.tude and the noise of the engine, his step was confident and decided; he heeded not the fearfulness, doubts or sarcasm of those by whom he was surrounded. The whole scene combined had in it an individuality, as well as an interest, which comes but once, and is remembered a lifetime. Everything being ready the engine was set in motion, and the boat moved steadily but slowly from the wharf. As she turned up the river and was fairly under way, there arose such a huzza as ten thousand throats never gave before. The pa.s.sengers returned the cheer, but Fulton stood upon the deck, his eyes flas.h.i.+ng with an unusual brilliancy as he surveyed the crowd. He felt that the magic wand of success was waving over him and he was silent. The entire trip was an ovation, and is thus described by Colden:

"From other vessels which were navigating the river she had the most terrific appearance when she was making her pa.s.sage. The first steam-boats used dry pine for fuel, which sends forth a column of ignited vapor many feet above the flue and whenever the fire is stirred a galaxy of sparks fly off, and in the night have a very beautiful and brilliant appearance. This uncommon light first attracted the attention of the crews of other vessels. Notwithstanding the wind and the tide were adverse to its approach they saw with astonishment that it was coming rapidly towards them; and when it came so near that the noise of the machinery and paddles was heard, the crews (if what was said at the time in the newspapers be true) in some instances shrunk beneath the decks from the terrific sight, and left the vessels to go ash.o.r.e, while 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 it vomited."

Of peculiar interest and instruction is the following narrative connected with this historic voyage from the graphic pen of one who was personally an actor in the scene described: "I chanced to be at Albany on business when Fulton arrived there in his unheard of craft, which everybody felt so much anxiety to see. Being ready to leave, and hearing that his craft was going to return to New York, I repaired on board and inquired for Mr. Fulton. I was referred to the cabin, and there found a plain, gentlemanly man, wholly alone and engaged in writing. 'Mr.

Fulton, I presume?' 'Yes sir.' 'Do you return to New York with this boat?' 'We shall try to get back, sir.' 'Can I have a pa.s.sage down?'

'You can take your chance with us, sir.' I inquired the amount to be paid, and after a moment's hesitation, a sum, I think six dollars, was named. The amount in coin, I laid in his open hand, and with his eye fixed upon it, he remained so long motionless that I supposed it might be a miscount, and said to him, 'Is that right sir?' This question roused him as from a kind of reverie, and, as he looked up, the tears were br.i.m.m.i.n.g in his eyes and his voice faltered as he said: 'Excuse me sir; but my memory was busy, as I contemplated this, the first pecuniary reward I have ever received for all my exertions in adapting steam to navigation. I should gladly commemorate the occasion over a bottle of wine with you but really I am too poor for that just now; yet, I trust we may meet again when this will not be the case.'

"Some four years after this," continues the writer of this reminiscence, "when the Clermont had been greatly improved, and her name changed to North River, and when two other boats, the Car of Neptune and the Paragon had been built, making Mr. Fulton's fleet consist of three boats regularly plying between New York and Albany, I took pa.s.sage upon one of these for the latter city. The cabin in that day was below, and as I walked its deck, to and fro, I saw that I was very closely observed by one, I supposed a stranger. Soon, however, I recalled the features of Mr. Fulton; but without disclosing this, I continued my walk. At length, in pa.s.sing his seat, our eyes met, when he sprang to his feet and eagerly seizing my hand, exclaimed, 'I knew it must be you, for your features have never escaped me; and, although I am still far from rich, yet I may venture that BOTTLE NOW!' It was ordered, and during its discussion Mr. Fulton ran rapidly, but vividly, over his experience of the world's coldness and sneers, and the hopes, fears, disappointments and difficulties that were scattered through his whole career of discovery up to the very point of his final crowning triumph, at which he so fully felt he had at last arrived."

And in reviewing all these matters, he said: "I have again and again recalled the occasion, and the incident of our first interview at Albany; and never have I done so without renewing in my mind the vivid emotion it originally caused. That seemed, and does still seem to me, the turning point in my destiny, the dividing line between light and darkness, in my career upon earth, for it was the first actual recognition of my usefulness to my fellow-men." Why was it that Fulton won renown. True it was that he possessed unusual genius. We know that every one cannot be a Fulton, yet how few there are who would have exercised the stick-to-it-ive-ness that he was obliged to do before success came. How few would have pa.s.sed through the trials and withstood the sneers that Robert Fulton pa.s.sed through. On the 24th of February, 1815, he died, when the honor of first crossing the ocean by steam power was being contemplated by him, but his fame was established, and need naught to enhance it.

ELIAS HOWE, JR.

Difference of opinion there may be as to the abstract question, who first conceived the principle involved in sewing by machinery, or in respect to who first constructed a machine that would fulfill that idea; but so far as great results are concerned the world must be considered as indebted to Elias Howe, Jr., a New England mechanic, born and reared in obscurity, and at an early age thrown upon his own resources. He was born at Spencer, Ma.s.sachusetts, July 9th, 1819. His father was a farmer and miller, but at sixteen he left home, engaging in a cotton mill.

s.p.a.ce will not permit us to follow him through all the details of his varied experience during his early years. It will be sufficient to say that he lived in Boston in his twentieth year, where he was working in a machine-shop. He was a good workman, having learned his trade at Harvard by the side of his cousin, Nathaniel Banks, who has since greatly distinguished himself as a general in the United States army and speaker of the House of Representatives.

He was married soon after, and when twenty-two or three, his health failing, he found himself surrounded by a family, and poverty staring him in the face. The idea suggested itself to Howe in the following manner, as described by Parton in the _Atlantic Monthly_: "In the year 1839 two men in Boston, one a mechanic, the other a capitalist, were striving to produce a knitting-machine, which proved to be a task beyond their strength. When the inventor was at his wit's end, his capitalist brought the machine to the shop of Ari Davis, to see if that eccentric genius could suggest the solution of the difficulty, and make the machine work. The shop, resolving itself into a committee of the whole, gathered about the knitting-machine and its proprietor, and were listening to an explanation of its principles, when Davis, in his wild, extravagant way, broke in with the question: 'What are you bothering yourself with a knitting-machine for? Why don't you make a sewing-machine?' 'I wish I could,' said the capitalist, 'but it can't be done,' 'Oh, yes, it can,' said Davis. 'I can make a sewing-machine myself.' 'Well,' said the other; 'you do it, Davis, and I'll insure you an independent fortune.' There the conversation dropped, and was never resumed. The boastful remark of the master of the shop was considered one of his sallies of affected extravagance, as it really was, and the response of the capitalist to it was uttered without a thought of producing an effect. Nor did it produce any effect upon the person to whom it was addressed, as Davis never attempted to construct a sewing-machine.

"Among the workmen who stood by and listened to this conversation was a young man from the country, a new hand named Elias Howe, then twenty years old. The person whom we have named capitalist, a well-dressed and fine looking man, somewhat consequential in his manners, was an imposing figure in the eyes of this youth, new to city ways, and he was much impressed with the emphatic a.s.surance that a fortune was in store for the man who would invent a sewing-machine. He was the more struck with it because he had already amused himself with inventing some slight improvements, and recently he had caught from Davis the habit of meditating new devices. The spirit of invention, as all mechanics know, is exceedingly contagious. One man in a shop who invents something that proves successful will give the mania to half his companions, and the very apprentices will be tinkering over a device after their day's work is done."

Thus it was that the idea of a sewing-machine first entered Howe's mind.

The following is the touching story of Howe's early struggle and final triumph as told by himself: "I commenced the invention of my sewing-machine as early as 1841, when I was twenty-two years of age.