The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1853-02-02
The New Era.

resistless power and ineyhaustlble wealth had.
by single stroke of his wand. so ordered mat
tiers that almost every commodity which is es-
sential to our comfort was cheapened commu-
nication from place to place facilitated, mans
power over matter increased. and one Of the
most frightful sources of Insecurity to life re-
moved all this, too. without clogging the boon
with onerous conditions. or claiming any reward
for his pains-many reader perhaps, would
for a moment lose sight of the myth to which
we were indebted for the miracle. and permit
his fancy to wander unreprovcd down the
splendid vista which would open before him.
The magician is no myth. The caloric engine is
q substantial reality Three hundred orders
including one or two for the fast presses Of the
New YORK HERALD-already received by the
patentees, are tangible evidence q the practical
success of the experiment. We may then. with
out soaring into Fairyland. speculate awhile on
the astounding revolution it is destined to effect
In three points calorc is preferable to steam
as motive power Additional force is ac-
CURED the cost of fuel is six times less and ac
cidents to life and limb are impossible, with Or
binary care.
We say that in these three respects. Captain
Ericsson's engine is undoubtedly superior to
the most perfect steam engine ever constructed
The Ericsson vessels may fail, or require addi-
tional improvements to enable them 10 compete
with our fast steamers errors may be brought
to light in the machinery; and further expert
ments may fail to corroborate the principle APP
parently established by The trial trips of the
Ericsson. But whatever disappointment may
possibly await the inventors in the application
of their engine to nautical purposes, the dis
covery of a new motive power is undoubted,
and its usurpation of the throne hitherto Occu-
pied on land by steam, is unquestionable.
Whatever manufactures are made. whatever ma
chinery is now worked by steam will in very
short period-say from two 10 ten years hence
be entirely dependent on caloric. Steam en-
gines will be cast aside, or sold for old iron.
The acquisition Of additional power and the
economy Of liye-siXths in the fuel, are adyan-
tages which the most hardened conservatism
will be unable to resist
We could fill column with the bare cnume-
ration of the articles of comfort and luxury in
the preparation of which steam is now a ncces-
sary auxiliary. There is hardly garment we
wear or utensil we employ, which does not
owe something to the steam-engine. Our very
food is prepared by steam. Except in very re-
mote parts of the country, where the water
power presents very striking facilities. every
mill is worked by steam. The materials of
which our houses are built is sawn by steam,
the windows and doors are shaped by steam
lathes and the iron-work cast in steam fOun-
dries. Our furniture is made by steam. anl but
few Of the thousand articles Of luxury which
constitute the comfort of modern residence,
can boast that they owe nothing to Watt The
prints which adorn the walls have been struck
off by steam-press, and the books which I'LL
the library are printed by a lfteen-horse power,
bound in leather from tannery worked with
ten horse power. and pressed by 3 six-horse
power engine. The steel pen with which we
write is made by steam. and so is the paper on
which it travels, and the desk on which it rests.
In short, steam has so narrowed the field in
which the physical power of man can BIZ use
fully displayed, that we shall need to think
twice before an instance of its necessary exercise
occurs to us. Steam-engines, putting. snorting
and smoking, are next-door neighbors to all Of
US; they arc to be heard in every street, at every
corner, at the bottom Of every courtyard.
Steam has become the great producer Of the
age.
Now. all this is about to cease. Watt aud
Fulton have filed the world with their name for
half a century, and their race is run. Their
successor Ericsson. is already on the steps Of the
throne they arc about to abdicate.
The iirst consequence OF the substitution OF
caloric for steam will be to cheaper everything
that is made by machinery. The gain in the
consumption Of fuel must eventually be made
by the consumer. All the articles which we
have enumerated as being the product Of steam.
will, before many years elapse, fall sensibly in
price. Saw-mills, and -four mills, newspa-
per Offices, and factories, will save eighty
per cent in the cost of coal or wood. The
reduction will not benefit the miller or the
manufacturer so much as the public. Labor,
too, viii rise in value. Experience has
shown that labor rises in proportion to
the decrease in cost OF its usual auxiliaries.
Then manual labor may be thrown out
Of It's usual channels, and protectionists may
groan at the painful fact that human beings
cannot End employment in occupations which
may be successfully filed BY q set of cog-whecls
in q caoric engine; but intellect will rise in
price, and new channels for its development
viii be thrown open. Boards may be sawn
cheaper by machinery than by hand; bat the
construction. management and adaptation Of
the new machinery TO practical purposes viii
afford scope Tor tic lucrative employment Of
thousands
Next, the field occupied by caloric win be
much more extensive than that now filed by
steam. The expense Of fuel has always been a
drawback to the Introduction Of the steam en-
ginc that objection removed we can hardly