Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1859-08-04
WASHINGTON NEWS AND GOSSIP.


The " NOVELTY WORKS." NEW YoRk-How
THEY ORIGINATED-SrEAM FIRE ENGINES AND
SAW MLLs-SALIsBURr'ss BaIcK AND lille
MAcHINEs-IMPRovED CLEANLINESS OF NV
YORK, &c, &c. "a Il
Editorial Correspondence. Of Ne sta,.l/ n
mo. 49, NEW YORK, jay 90 1859.
In my letter of yesterday was necexsariiy bsief
In noticing those remarkable elements o. and
incidents in the prosperity Of New York-her
mammoth iron works that possess far more in
terest in my eyes than the frpPeres and folies of
its fantastic fashions Of the times. Their growth
and condition so forcibly illustrate the onward
march Of our hole country in every thing, add
ing to its wealth, to the development Of its re-
sources, and the progressing mastery OF mind over
matter, by and through which the United States
is so rapidly conquering the circumstances by
which they were originally surrounded, as that IT
is source Of great pleasure indeed to me TO study
them. The Novelty Works are the largest and
most famous. They grew, as did the city, from
a very small beginning. When DIR. Knott was
making his experiments with his little steamer
''Novelty'' in the incipiency Of river navigation
by steam, it was there that preparations were
made TO construct his engine and boiler; there
being then no establishment in the country suited
for building marine engine Of any description.
The original building was designed to be only
sufficient to complete that work. Before its COM
pletion, however, orders came in so rapidly TO
determine its proprietors to make the establish
ment permanent one. As the demands Of the
country's commerce have increased these works
have increased with those demands, until II is
now by far the largest Of the kind in the United
| States Its premises extend from the East River
| to the Third avenue, believe, and from Twelfth
20 4 ;rl
it occupies ten acres of land, worth to-day half
| million of dollars at least. The full complement
Of hands required in its operations is twelve hun
dred, most Of them being skilled mechanics; the
| number employed, however, depending much
upon the season and the number of orders on hand
| Up to this time the marine engine and boiler
works Of some fifty huge sea steamers have been
constructed there, mostly for American capitalists,
but not few for foreign governments and COM
| panies. The Russian frigate Admirsl's engines
| and boilers were made there recently, it will be
remembered The report of her voyage out just
received, shows that for speed and staunchness
| she is without a superior a war steamer afoat
in any sea- fact likely to benefit New York
greatly, in suPerinducing other such contracts
between foreign governments and her steamship
| builders
Yesterday. found two ocean steamers two
4
four smaller ones, all in the docks of the Novelty
| Works at once. Some were there for repairs of
their engines and boilers. while others were new
and were having their engines and boilers put in
| them BY long odds, the heaviest and most diff
cult castings evsr made on this side of the Allan
| tic, are made there; for engines with cylinders
apparently four or five feet in diameter. Nearly
every thing new which has proved of great i'm
portance to the country in the way Of inventions
| In iron, Of large size or great complication has
| been perfected at these works-improvenen i'm
| sugar mills, steam saw mills, &c, &c / saw
| there yesterday, for instance. the famous steam
| fire engine-one being turned out. The liberality
| and true public spirit of Stillman and Allen the
| proprietors. have induced them to take by the
hand numerous inventors without means but
| with good ideas, and to furnish them at their
own cost, THAT of Messrs s. Il Al with the
means OF making the tedious and costly expert.
ments necessary in perfecting their machines
| Thus, the final success of the steam fire engine a
beautiful and ingenious machine-now a fixed
facts in a considerable measure due to their
| sagacity and enterprise. The steam fire engine I
saw there weighs about COO pounds and sells for
| "a, 600. They make another weighing not more
than ton and half, for about 5000 The
smaller one will do the work Of ten ordinary fire
engines; while the larger one does not occupy
more space than is occupied by an ordinary hand
fire engine.
The patentee. a Mr.. Lee, is the person who re-
Gently ran one designed for Philadelphia to that
city by turnpike to the shment of the people
of both cities. anna believer that in another de-
cade they will drive the hand ire-engine almost
completely out OF use. The latter costs perha Us
half as much as the former, and does not effect q
1.-THE as much. That fact is now BILE
/ 81,
about to be shipped to Louisiana. They are de-
signed for the sugar planters use in procuring fuel
for boiling the cane. Placed in a forest they at
the trees down and them into four feet lengths
ehectng, with the labor of two men, what has up
TO this time been the work of twenty The build
| ing or the Novelty Works, wherein the trip ham
Hers operate, as enormous, the hammers them
serves being the largest wot of So too with
the boiler shop, where / saw three or four mann
moth steamship boilers being completed; one of
them with diameter Of fourteen feet and a length
OF twenty-ive. Perhaps one hundred MECHANICS
Were hammering upon them at the same time,
making such a noise as that one could hear moth
ing else
Salisbury's brick and tile (drain) mac hines are
being perfected here also. Some months ago. !
LOOK occasion to explain Gin the STAR the princi-
pies thls machine, and to express the belief that
|
business future of the country ever CONSTRUCTED
among us. The first fullsized machine Is but lust
finished: and works MISUNDERSTANDING out not
only better bricks, when burned than any Others
ever made, so far, but bricks which without
burning answer completely for inside walls. and,
II seems to me, these must speedily come into use
TO that end. But for the sagacity and ENTERPRISE
OF the ProPrietors of the Novelty Works the coun
try might have been deprived of the now certain
results OF this machine. One not familiar with
such matters can hardly realize the great cost of
experimenting to perfect the various labor. saving
machines that are annually being added to the Ii, !,
OF useful practical American inventions. At such
an establishment only can it be conprehended by
all Fifty different pattcrnsfrequently are required
and hundreds Of castings must be made from them
e'e a portion of a work, perhaps not more than a
lew inches square. can he made to operate salts
factorily What is true Of part is apt to be true
OF all the parts of complicated combination Of
such machinery as is constructed at such works
But may not weary the Stars readers with a
disquisition on mechanics, when they expect me