The Sumter banner. [volume] (Sumterville, S.C.) 1846-1855, 1853-01-04

could look into the portfolios of
your contributors, in every quarter Of
the Union, and see there the sketch
es of halffinished essays, still.born po.
ems, links and fragments ofideas and
conceptions, which shut breathed
and died. you might form some sno.
tons that were presented to me,
on entering the workshop, of Jabez
Doolittle. But to my text again
The First Locomotive There it
stood occupying the centre of all pre-.
vious conceptions-rat-traps, churns,
apple-parers, pill.rollers, cooking.
stoves and shingle-splitters, which
hung or atood around it; or, as my
Lord Byron says, with reference to
@ more ancient but not more impor.
tant invention:
| Where each conception was heavenly guest.
ray of immortality, and stood
Star-iike around, until they gathered to God ;
And there it stood, 'thc concentrated
focus of all previous rays of inyen-
tive genius--'The First Locomotive. ;
An unpainted. unpublished, unad-
orned. ovenshaped mass, of double
rivetcd sheet iron, with cranks, and
pipes, and trunnel heads, and screws
and valves, all firmly based on four
strongly-made travelling.wheels.
'lt's curious critter to look at
says Jabez, 'but you'll like it bet
ter when you see it in motion
He was by this time iyniting q
quantity of charcoal, which he had
stuffed under the boiler, i filled
the b'iler,' says he, 'arter I stop.
ped working her yesterday, and it
hal't leaked drop since. 1t will
soon bile up; the coal is 6rst.rate.'
Sure enough, the boiler soon gave
evidence of troubled watcrs,' when,
by pushing one slide, and pulling an.
other. the whole machine, cranks
and piston, was in motion.
1t works slick, don't it?' said ia.
bez.
But replied, 1T don't moye.'
you mean, said he, '.the travel.
ling wheels don't move; well, l don't
mean they shall till l get my pa.
tent. You see,' he added, crouch.
ing down, that trunnel head, there
that small cog wheel? Well, that 3
out of gear just yet; when turn that
into gear, by this crank. it fits, you
see, on the main trovelling wheel,
and then the hull scraIe will move, as
nigh as | can calculate, little slow.
er than chain ligh,nin', and darn d
leetle too! But it won't do to give
it try afore I get the patent. There
is only one thing yet,' he continued,
that han't contrived- but that is
IA simple matter and that is the
shortest mode of stoppin' on her.
My first notion is, to see how fast /
can make her work, without smash.
ing all to bits, and that's done BY
scrcwing down this upper value; and
II show YOU
And with that. he clambered I'D on
the top, with turning-screw in one
hand, and horn of soft soap m the
other, and commenced screwing
down the valves, and oiling the pis.
ton rod and rank;joints; and the
motion of the mysterious mass in.
creased until all seemed buz.
1T is nigh about perfection, ain
it?' says he.
| stood amazed in contemplating
the object before me, which confes.
scd could not fully understand; and
hence, with the greater, readiness, per
mittcd my mind to bear off to 9th
CT matters more comprehensive, to
the future, which is always more clear
than the present, under similar circum
stances. needed not; for the very
best reason in the world, because un
derstood not, the complicated dcscrip
ton that Jubez was giving of his still
more complicated invention. All
knew was, that here was a machine OF
four good sturdy, wcll-braccd wheels
: and it only required n recorded pa
tent to authorize that small connect
ing cog-whcel, or trnnncl-hcad, tt
. be thrown ':into gear" when it woult
move of, without oats, hay, or horse
shoes, and distance the mail-coaches
AS was surrounded with notions, i
was not extraordinary that one shoult
take full possession of me. 1t dawn
cd upon me, when saw the machine
first put into motion, and was nov
full orbcd above the horizon of m,
desire; it was 10 see the first locomo
} tive move of. The temptation wa
irresistible. 'And who knows though
!, but some prying scamp may hay
! been 'pccping through the key-hole
, while Jabcz was at work, and, catch
ing the idea, may be now at work q
some clumsy imitation?-an if h
docs not succeed in turning tn
first trick, may at least divide tn
honors with my friend:'
) Jabez, said !, olevating my voic
above the noiso Gf the machine, 'ther