Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1858-10-19
The FIRST Discoveries of Steam Power.

The First Discoveries OF steam fOWers
Hon. Edward Everett, ON Thursday last, d
livered an grafton at an Agricultural Fair at Dal
vers. Massachusetts. In which occurs the follow
ing remarkable passage:
II never contemplate the history OF navlg
ton of the ocean by steam, but it seems to illu
trate to me in the most striking manner the slo
steps by which great movement moves forwar
for generations, for ages, from the first germ
then, when the hour Is come, the rapidity wit
which it rushes to final consummation. All
plause.l Sir, Providence offered this great prot
lem of navigating the ocean by steam to ever
civilized nation almost on the globe. AS Ion
rs the year 1913 there was Captain in Spai
who constructed vessel in the presence Of th
Emperor Charles v, Il state facts, sir, OF bu
limited notoriety.) and in the presence OF Charle
V. and the court at Barcelona he exhibited
vessel of 200 tons propelled by an engine cor
.tructiop which he kept secret. But aDcien
documents tell us it was q monster cauldro
boiler of water. and that there were two moves
BILE wheels on the outside of the vessel Th
Emperor was satisfied with the operation, bu
the treasurer of the kingdom made great ob
lection to the introduction. The engine itse
seems to have sprung to point OF perfectio
hardly surpassed at the present day; for we ar
told that it was very expensive, and that th
boiler was apt to explode. laughter.l
mo encouragement was given TO the enter
prise. Spain was not ripe for it the sge wa
not ripe for IT; and the poor coniriyer, Ger
tain BIasco de Guerrero, wearied and disguste'
At the want of patronage. took the engine on
| If the vessel and allowed the ship 20 rot in tin
arsenal. and the secret of his machine was bu
| ried in his grave. This was in 1913; centu
ry passed away and Providence offers the same
problem to be solved in France. In reference
to this we have 40 extraordinary account, ant
from source equally extraordinary th'
writings of a celebrated female, sir, in the mid
die of that century, equally renowned for heI
beauty. for her immoralites, and for her mis-
fortune in longevity-for she lived to be l34
years of -(aughter)-t famous Marion de
rOrme. There is letter from this lady, writ.
ten TO her admiral in 164l, which contains these
astonishing details. 1t il an account of visit
,he made with the Marquis of Worcester-where
do YOU suppose, Mr.. President fan account
Of some invention in steam navigation made 10
a mad house."
Marion de rOrme says In this enteresting let
ter that. in company with the Marquis, she was
crossing the courtyard of that dismal establish
ment almost petriied with terror, and clingiue
To her COMPANION, when she saw frightiuI face
through the bars of the building and heard this
voice II am not mad-I am not mad; 81 have
made q discovery that will enrich the kingdom
which shall adopt it." Well, she asked the guide
what it meant; lie shrugged his shoulders and
said langhingly, Not much something about
the mowers of steam" Upon this the lady
laughed also, to thrk that man should 60 mad
ON such a frivolous subject. The guide went on
to say that the mans name was Solomon de
Coste: and that he came from Normandy four
years before. and exhibited to the King an In
yentiou he had discovered, by which, by the
power of steam, you could move carriage, nav
ioate the ocean-in short, if you believed him.
said the guide, there was nothing You could not
do by the power of steam. Cardinal RiclIelieu,
who. at that time, was France itself, aud who
welded the whole power of goyernmeDt-and,
in truth. an enlightened man, as worldly wisdom
ooes-was appealed to by Solonan de Coste.-
De Coste was persevering man, and he follow
ed Cardinal Richelieu from place to place, ex-
hibiline his invention, until the cardinal, get
t;ng tired of his opportunities, sent him to the
mad bouse There he was sir, and there, the
y,;de went ON to say, "he has written book, aud
here ia a copy, called Motive Power"
aWeIl. sir, the Marquis of Worcester, who
was au inventor, was nnch interested IN tne
book and Incorporated considerable portion ID
his well know work called "The Century OF In
veution." But you see, sir, from this anecdote,
how France proved in l641, as Spain proved in
1543 thar she was unable to take up aud weld
this mortal thunderbelt. [Applause.l And so,
sir. the problem of navigating the ocean by steam
was reserved for the Ango-Saxon race. Soon
after the time of which we now speak the best
mechanical skill of England was turned towards
this invention. Experiments were often made
with no success, till some time after the middle
of the last century, so late as that, cir, tnose
germs of invention which had been floating
bout in the minds of ingenious men tor nearly
two hundred years, until the middle OF the last
century when the steam englne-and marx yoo,
sir. do not now speak Of the navigation OF the
ocean by steam, but OF the engine itself, that
scarcely inanimate Titan, that living, bnrning
uecbanism-was brought nearly to a state OF
perfection by James Watt, who took out pat
ent in 1859. the great year in which Wellington
and Napoleon were born-and ages after the
names Of Austerlitz and Waterloo shall perish
from the memory of man the myriad hosts OF
Intelligent labor, marshalled by the fiery cham.
oiops that James Watt has placed in the field,
shall gain their bloodless triumph not for the de-
,truction but for the service of mankind. lire.
mendous applause.]
"All hail. then, sir, Isay, to the mute, inde-
tatieable giant in the depths of the darksone
mines along the pathway of travel aud trade,
and on the mountain wave, that shall drag. urge,
heave. haul, for the service OF man. No fatigue
shall palsy thy herculean arm, no trampled hosts
shall writhe beneath thy iron ieet, no widows
heart shall bleed at thy 'benefcent victories
rCLeering Sir, England invented the steam
engine; but il seems as if by the will Of Provl-
dence she could not go farther. Queen OF the
.eas AZ she deemed herself. she could not apply
This invention which she had brought almost to
perfection-snd the navigation OF the ocean by
steam. that part of the problem was reserved
for the other branch of the Anglo Saxon race
the branch situated 10 region in this western
hemisobere whose territory is traversed by some
of the ooblest rivers that belt the surface OF The
globe. and separated by the world wide ocean
from the eastern hemisphere. 1t is amazing to
consider how, with the dawn of the revolution,
the tbourhts of men turned to the application
of steam navigation. Rumsey, Fitch and Evans
made experiments, and those experiments at.
,rscte1 the notice of one whom nothing escaped
belonging to the welfare of his country mean
Washington. [Cheers And we have GER
tifcate expressing the satisfaction with which ne
had witnessed the experiment of Rnmsey. The
attempt proved rather unsuccessful. | rather
think it provideutial appointment that the O.
cesn was not navigated by steam in the revolu
tionary age. The enormous amount OF British
capital and skill, if the ocean had been naviga
ted by steam, would have put in her possession
facilities for blockading the ports, which nigh
have had disastrous effect in the result of tb'
whole contest.
But, sir, the revolution passed and indepen
depce was established; the hour had come ant
the man was there [Cheers.] liz the year l7s'
this system of steam navigation now became
lnatnred in The mind Of Fulton, who found