New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1855-01-13


i'm by which tho engineer could readily ASH
the at 81 he stroke ~ which The cut o should tax
piece throughout he whole stroke Of ;bs piston,
beCagse the valve, when TIPPED aud MADE 70 i4ii u
thss exciting apparatus would -lam aai Bate "a.
sect AID 20 get out Of or9er and derange the whoe
enFiLe
Tie sliding valve engine vas npe f-c. and waite
fol Of fuel hy r-asOn u other auI different causes
There was a loss e power IA mpvac the siids-v4ye
when closed by Iea-ob OF It. beuy n1icly cOluece
with cCIIespOLCi1g valve, which ~as beitg opened
While lie fret one remaiDed closed. There wa
waste If The eXaf sive force Of the steam owing 10
drawing IN The opening and c0-isg VI tue s'ea n
and exhaust aves and above all stu greater waste
of e1petsve force resulting from the uoe of throttle
valve FOR itc purpose Of heul regulation. There
also great waste Of pO"er re.ultng from tae
deiecte Of the process Of regulation by me governor
in connection with the throttle valve which was the
kind OF gul8tion then usually employed. The wire
drawing a. the throttle valve objected redu 'ion Of
the tension OF the steam according 10 tbs Indications
which the governor gave Of the varying pressure Of
steam il the boiler, or Of loo on the engine. Ana
thus tie re- uaOn necessary in stations ry lne
used in meuu icctOries, was only obtained BY great
wastefulDess Of the expansive force Of the steam
which, it ]. TO be rencmbered l. always equivalent 10
wate Of fuel The defects Of regular y winch nave
been meLtiCue1, were common "a Octh The puppst
valve engine, and the sliding valve cDgine-in 50
much both kinds OF engine were regulated through
the throttle valve only.
IL under thee circumstances that the iOundi-
Ons of the present controversy were lad by the TO
meCb5nicisLs who, although other names appear On
the record he'c are, nevertheless really the parties
10 thIs litigation lfyou scraiinize never so carefully
YOU will find them entitled 10 equal favor. Eacn Is
native citizen of our State the first Of American
States the foremost as we th nk Of all States IN the
elements OF Intelligence, freedom and benetc:nce
TOW ara the human Sickels was born in tue
City Corss III the to vi OF Greenwich which, though
aI Lm dred mes distant, is yet of the rural and
manufacturing suburbs. BY the constitution OF the
tsue before US each il deemed an original inventor
l. H. boo inc. inf
the steam engine The patents to Corliss according to
The CeCsiOus Of the Courts, hot merely place hun on
on equal ioolipg with Sickels but in cases OF con-
fict shift the tuIcen of proof and place Il on tue
shoulders Of his competitor.
Each made his Invention in quite euy life and
each il yet young and may reasonably hope iOr ac-
combating years IN which 70 attain higher fame, by
anc greater acts Of usefuoess 10 bis country ana
TO mar kind. A litigation which wastes their time
and energies IL to be depored-not lsss by society
thon by Themselves.
The controversy to be settled is whether these sew
eral improvements are distinct inventions.
Before we proceed 10 determine the c)ntroTersy,
We must first eetie the principles Of mechanical sci
en,e sanctioned by law, which mus. control the de-
cision The principles are simple and PLAIN although
a thick atmosphere of metaphysical subtleties may
gather around Us es we advance 10 apply them.
Fusf-Every machine effects some fixed purpose
OF purposes by mechanical means.
Seccnd-Mechaucal means various Those
which effect a given purpO-e that - equally acc )m
IleneQ by some OtIcT hthue ana sheet l1tt gwen
purpose BY operating III the came way mere equiv
aieIts for such otneT means. On the other n4Dd
meals ore the equivalents OF each other 10 effect
given purpose merely because they effect tn pur
pore. But TO Constitute them equivalents they must
perform the puTpOse by al arrangement OF parts
substantially the same aud operating in the same
way.
ihUG-A roacbne that effects a purpose distinct
from the purpose effected by another machine Is dif
feTent from that other machine.
IOuTfh-A mBChine that ELECTS the purpose
which il effected by another machine aud etlec's 1t
by the same equivalent Iaeansis identical with that
other machine
FHh--A machine, though il effects the same pun
pose VII CD e Effected by sDo,Ler machine, yet If 1t
eject that pUrpose by means which not the
or equiv alcui mt ans ID different from that other
chine.
SiJtA-When a machine is presented to US as
combustion of parts elements, ehecting given
purpose another machine which effects tue sans pur
po.e is not identical unless it has equally tbs same
Continuation OF tI0cy The same o. eqHt 9irH paris or
elements
Let us now proceed to hear he controversy We are
in machine mandatory, and we have here the so
inventors before Zach shall describe the purposes
of the chine he has invented, aud shall select his
parts 81 elements, and combine and arrange them 10
our preseDCe.
Mr. Sichels, you viii please state the purposes OF
your invention. Mr. Sckes answers First, pro
po.e to improve tte manner OF con-tructn, an ar
ranging tie apparatus which Is now usedl Tor llilng
s,a tripping The steam valves % the engine, by
which the steam admitted though these valves can
he II ore readily cut of at any desired part of the
of the piston, than by the sal appa,atus which
now used.
secoLc, | purpose TO improve the wn'er dash pot
and plunge used in the steam engine, and apply
the joViCe az improved, III such way that Il will
regulate the descent Of the siean-ydlses GA then
81 ais when closing and Will consequently preserve
them u po.d working order for a long time " Very
wsn Mr. Sickes these useful aud important pur'
poses But let US understand you accurately. Do
laiu n m. ip1 n le -fi
o. 10y detachlng the valves from the mechanism that
works them ?" "Certainly not, Mr.. Sickels r5pes,
have Only invented an mprov OF the D,aHasr
of cor siTuCtBg and arranging the apparatus Tor ting
ard tripping the valves that already exists and is
known as applied by Mr.. HOgg, of this City, year
ago, ON the steamboat South America My manner
Of constructing the apparatus cliieIs fromhis use
a srytnc when Re uses a fork for taking up and
dropping the waive stem | use an adjustable
sliding. piece which will eusbls the engineer 70 fix
the point OF cutoff either within OT beyond half stroke,
when he uses a cam tba, will not allow cut oil to
tax 9 place hey ond half-stroke.
This ia very plain Mr. Sickes. And now LET ne I'm.
derstsnd more accurately whether Il is the puppst
valve engine, the sliding valve engine, or both
of those kinds of engines to which the apparatus you
propose 10 improve belongs, and 10 which the appa-
iatus for tripping the valve as improved by you VII
belong when 90 improved
Mr. sickels replies. " The apparatus which | an to
improve is the existing apparatus which Is used Tor
liiLpg and iripp u the valves OF the steam engine
Every one knows that it is only the puppet valves
that can be At,ed and ripped 1t is Mr.. Hogs up:
psrstus for lifting and tripping puppsvalyes, that
am to improve, and my apparatus, when improved,
will st be applied to lifting and tripping pupPet-
valves Without other changes than any sh Ill make,
it could Lot be applied TO any other kind OF valve
NV Improvement will consist in this: that by means
OF it steam be cut of at any desrsd part OF the
stroke"
Wene1t inquire, Mr. Sickels concerning your i'm
proved water da,h-pot and plunger Do You claim
a new principle or method Of constructing dash