The republic. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1849-1853, 1852-08-24

From Hunts Merehdnts' Magaxins " .
EriCsson's Caloric Engine.
One hundred and twenty years before the Chris
tian era. wheel. driven By JET Of steam ,s re.
| teen centuries soeceeded, making their deep fur.
rows upon the broad face Of creation, before this
whirling toy ripened into the mighty steam en-.
CINE, now 90 familiar to our race. During thii
vast period of time sixty generations Of men were
born, and lived, and garnered for eternity or all
the millions composing these generations, no man
had appeared ingenious enough 70 drive, pstons
TO and fro with that vapor which had turned the
playful wheel in Alexandria That which now
seems to have been its obvious application nearly
two thousand years were consumed in finding out.
II required but cylinder. piston to move within
il, grasping q crank. and with but few and sim
pie contriyances beyond, the steam engine was
complete. That power which had created 70.
tary motion, could produce reciprocating mo.
ton. To estatlish this, neither experiment nor
had been required. both could have been abun.
dainty supplied. Great geniuses had appeared
and scattered their rich gifts among men, and had
passed away; failing to accomplish that which
Watt finally completed. Human skill had multi
piled luxuries. human invention had created in
Vulnerable comforts; but still mankind were "a
destitute Of motive power as when the lsraelites
journeyed from Egypt At the end of the eigh.
assumed a form which enabled it to drag heavy
burdens upon land and sea; and then, as the grim
monster blew its hot breath from its iron lungs,
the globe seemed contracted to half its former size
In strength it was mightier than any moving
thing, and in speed it rivaed the birds Of hea ven
It has become the strong carrier and the fleet racer.
Glowing fires are its food, and its sinews hot
por Its uneartkIy shrek troubles the air, and its
rolling tramp shakes the earth. It impels huge
ships over wide seas; defyiug the hurricane and
mastering the storm. 1t digs the ore, blows the
furnace, Yields the heavy hammer, and turns the
spindle 1t tolls in the workshop; it tolls in mid
ocean; and 1t tolls az il bounds along upon it's iron
track unchecked hv ita D0nderuua train IL hal
traversed mighty waters, walked upon dark and
troubled seas, darted through tunnelled mountains,
and coursed along western wilds.
Its years have been few. The nineteenth centu-
ry dawned upon its early infancy, and the fret
half Of that century closed upon it's gigantic man.
hood. In thiasshort period Of time It las stamped
new and everlasting characters upon the history Of
mankind. 1t has accomplished grand, and, we
believe, its final destiny. We think its end is at
hand, it's mission nearly over. II it has been a
full slave. it has also been costly and dangerous
one.
To prevent this danger, the most watchful care,
the profoundest'skili, have proved unavailiDg. II
the slaughter Of our race, caused by its bursting
boilers, could be presented to view, humanity
would stand appalled,. Its course has been marked,
and its onward track strewn With mangled bodies
It is time that this fierce and expensive though
mighty bond servant should be replaced by one
equally powerful, cheaper, and less dangerous.
bss
cannot be probably used for commercial purposes
upon the ocean. For O voyage of three thousand
miles, large portion of the freghting capacity Of
the engine and huge boilers, occupya part at leas.
Of that space which should be filled with merchan-
disc. The expense of the coal consumed is enor-
nous; but this could be borne If it occupied Less
room. In proportion as the voyage is extended,
pcnsive; until finally the entire chip would be in.
sufficient to contain the fuel necessary to feed the
engine. steamer of the Collins line consumes,
we are informed, about one thousand tons Of coal
for a voyage of three thousand mes. Double this
distance, and although the cost of the coal Is but
doubled nearly the entire freighting room of the
steamer 10 absorbed by it, and her power to earn
freight ia gone Still increase this distance, with
machinery becomes worse than useless. The broad
Pacific cannot be traversed by it. Its rich com.
merce invites the merchant ship, and rewards the
navigator, but the steamer must hug it's shores,
is the mission Of man to hold the earth end its
tiers in subsection by machinery. By machinery
he 10 destined to tighten the drudgery which at the
dawn of creation fell upon his race. TO accom-
plish this he has been endowed with genius and
inventive power and where the force of thou
sand giants would be fruitiess, these triumphantiy
prevail. They gave to the world steam as a mo-
tive power 1t has proved inadequate to the wants
than the interests of commerce can sustain.
,pG 9 i've Y Ss snd # the
has appeared: II is the most sublime develop.
ment Of force ever seen in machinery. It is exert
ed by that life giving, elastic fluid, the atmo-
sphere. It 10 drawn from that vast magazine
through which the lghtnings play, and il supplied
breeze and roars in the hurricane. We are not
intimately acquainted with machinery, nor are
we altogether ignorant of the principles of me
chanical science. We know enough of both TO
form an intelligent judgment concerning the won
derful machine to which we allude, and which we
have carefully examined. 1t is not, like most new
inventions, presented in mere model. 1t does
not, like most new inventions, rest in bare expert.
ment. Were these its conditions, the Merchants
Magazine would express no judgment concerning
it's utility, indulge in any speculatons to it's
supposed value. We ehould leave this talk to
those who are supposed to be better acquainted
with the science of mechanics, and with the prac-
teal value Of untrsd inventions, than the editor Of
a commercial journal We are not here called
upon to perform this task.
A celebrated painter has said, "Let my produc
tions be subjected to the judgment Of the whole
world, but heaven deliver me from that of my own
profession" This may not, in majority of cases,
prove to be just apprehension; but it is quite GER
tain that there 10 in every profession conservative
spirit, which clings to the knowledge of the past,
and distrusts that which is new and untried. This
10 strikingly illustrated in the case of the steam
engine.
We all know that, at this time, the only mode in
use 70. Producing a rotary motion from the reoip.
by means Of a crank. It 10 equally well known
that to enable the stationary engine to ''pass the
centre," ponderous fly wheel Is employed Now
it will hardly be credited that both these methods
neers as utterly impracticable. In l77TNey. Stew
art read paper before the Royal soc,etg in Lon;
don, describing method for obtaining u continued
circular motion for turning all kinds Of mills, from
the reciprocatisg motion of the steam-engine
Gated continuance, which practice soon proved to
be worthless. In the course Of his remarks he in
cidentally noticed the method of obtaining the
circular motion by means of q crank, which, said
he, occurs naturally in theory, but in practice
would be impossible"
This paper was, by the council Of the society, re-
ferred to Mr.. sneaton, one Of the most distin.
guished engineers of that age. He not only con.
demned the crank, but the fly wheel also; and, in
consequence of obese views, very complicated and
expensive means were adopted 70 produce the de-
sired rotary motion from The reciprocating motion
Of the piston, until at length from necessity the
wards used ~
We have mentioned these circumstances to show
the wiadom Of the course pursued by Captain
Ericsson in not snbjecting his invention to public