, 1864-01-09

through two sides ofthe s. New York Herald.''
4 brief sketch Of his nntccedents in this con-
nection will show both his qualifications for
giving opinions on Engineering questions,
and the motives Of his attack.
nickcreon was iginally intended for the
The INV SO fat as to turn his attention to steam
engineering which he was directed By his
connection with Mr.. sickcls, known chiefly
as the Inventor Of cut-otf7' that bears his
neme-nnd Immediately commencedt to carry
out the patents and views Of his client. His
first attempt prentice hand-was tried
upon the Detroit Pumping Enginc in which
he embodied the same crude engineering
ideas, and the same fallacious principles which
he still entertains He obtained the contract
for that engine In precisely the same manner
rs he obtained whatever others he has had,
and whntcvcr notoricty he possesses-by an
indiscriminate and wholesale disparagemcnt
Of everything in bis way, both privately and
through the prcss. That such was the fact,
the following citations from the tenth annual
report Of the Water Commissioners for tho
city Of Detroit will prove:
TIE DETROIT PuMPIHG-ESG1EE.
%1t being made public that It was In con.
temptation to procure pumping engine for
these works, Mr. Edward n. DIckerson, OF
The city Of New York, opened a correspond
ence with Individual members Of the board
relative to furnishing such an engine, and
tnbm itted propositions In yagious forms, ad-
dressed to individual members Of the board,
and to the City Council; also tho public,
through the columns Of daily paper in this
city, offering and guaranteeing tho engine he
proposed to construct, with peculiarly con
structcd pump Of Lis own invention, recent
y patented, to perform a.lpty' greater than
gine in the world.''
t'The Jersey City record books, which
were kept on the Cornish plan-tlis Is an al-
mirnbly constructed Cornish pumping en-
Gine-6howed maximum duty Of Nbout
Too, Cox, 600, he (Dickerscn) would contract to
City engine performed; ]: {. he would con-
trnct 10 put up m engine that would exceed
the duty Of any other engine in the country
by City per cent"
The progress and final result OF this ma
chinery is best told In few extracts from the
report already cited, namely:
executed on tho 10th Of July, 1856, the con
Tractors filing security to the amount Of 1fty
thousand dollars.
.By The terms of the contract, this engine
was to be fully completed By the first day OF
Ju1E, 1857, but the time was subsequently ex.
tended until July !, 1858, and again until
the consent of the su1cties. !.
In this report Of January l. 185S, the en-
ginter Of the Board reported that consider
able portion Of the parts OF the new engine
have been received, and tbs contractors cx-
Feet soon to commence the erection OF
We had to report to you that the engine had
not been completed. The 1st Of January,
1860, came and we were again compelled to
report to you the engine uncompIeted, On
the 1st Of January, 1861, we were compelled
toreport to you that the engine had not yet
1e1~+ +S,n.n n1nir1 e.
It was finally completed about the first o1
May, 1861, and used during about six weeks,
but gave 60 inferior performance that it was
not offered for the tr1al test. Its best duty
was C, ,Ooo, 600 instead Of the promised 15o,'
CCO,6M Subsequently," says the report,
cd, rollers were removed and slides substitu.
ted, and after making several short runs, the
eng gineer in charge employed by the contract
ors, closed the slouEc and left for the city o1
New Tosk, taking witl him the keys Of the
ergine house, to report to his employers.
Shortly after this, In the month Of August
Inst 1sG1,) the keys Of the house wero re-
press, and the President Of the Board received
communication from Mr.. E. n. Dickcrson,
one Of the contractors, apprising him that the
Keys lad been returned as above, and with
I'LL intimadon that the contractors would
probably abandon their intention Of making
The board anticipating the result, had
long before dee,med the contract forfeited
! and notified the contractors and thcir sure
tics accordingly, nnd referred the matter 10 q
committee Of the board, with power to cause
legal proceeding to be instituted for the re-
! covery Of damages for breach Of the con
tract against both principal and securities,
! who have placed the matter In the hands ol
Mceers. Bnrrill, DAWSON d Burrili, attorneys
| in the city of New York. with instructions
to institute suit without delay"
Thus ended this first effort Even Dickcr.
sons effrontry was not sufficient to cnab1e
him to oner preearioas rs performance ol
aud with machine TINT could scarcely be got
to run IN hour without breaking down The
unhappy Water Commissioners grew .Wist
with sorrow, and superseded the Dickerson
abortion with IN en- line Of the well tried and
usual construction, the reputation Of which,
had thus been left to the vindicatson Of time.
THE PENSACOLA NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. AMI
YULEE.
While the Detroit pumping engine was
dragging it's slow length along to such uttel
failure, Dicke1Eo1 was smittcn with ambi
ton to build marine enginc-an engine fol
flrst-c1ass naval vessel and he commenced
| zating TO the Navy Department all Its cngi
uears.@ He aesailcd the engineers Of thnt da5
| in exactly the style Of his speech now pub
! lished in the Herald; they were fools ant
knavcs, because they opposed their practica
| experience to his crudiles, and their know
| ledge to his ignorance; but he made no prog
rcss until he brought Ills political associate;
| to his assistance.
he was at that time affiliated with the thc1
Senators, Mallory and Yulee, Of Florida, ami
they bestirrcd themselves vigorously IN hi
favor. Mallory was Chairman Of the scnat'
Committee on Naval Affairs, and neccssaril,
had great influence with Mr.. Toucey, the thci
Secretary Of the Navy, who long resisted til
attempt; but his opposition was finally oyer
bore, and the Secretary signed the ill-omenet
contract with great reluctance. Every engi
necr he consulted, without exception, gayc
decided opinion against the proposed engines
and confidently predicted-What was mos
unfortunately rea1lzed-that they would prov
a complete failure,
They were strongly opposed by the thel
Enginccr.in- Chief of tic Navy and by lia i'm
mediatc predecessor-both Of great expert
ence and the highest professional standing
and By the entire corps Of naval engineers
in civil life, and were the common topic 0
ridicule In engineering circles. By the term
| Of the cont1nct the contractors were to fur
nish the necessary drawings and directions
for the entire machinery, to superintend ths
construction Of the same, and to grant thu
1
The work was to be done at the Govern
mcnt expense IN the shops OF the Washington
Navy Yard. The contractors had thus tht
| public purse and the finest shops in the cou1
| f1y at their command. Nothing was wanttnt
| to the production Of a perfect engine bu1
knowledge on the part of the contractors o
how to make it, Now wss repeated seconi
| edition OF the operations with the Detroit
| cnriue, The machinery was finally com
! n]cted after undergoing many notifications
! large and costly portions, owing to blunde7
in lie design, haying been thrown away ant
others substituted. all being done at the GOV
ernment workshops afs anu at It's expense.
tended to be two -bladed lifting ono, in orde
tl,af It might be hoisted out of the waite
| when The Vessel was under sail alone; and i
| YVES also intended that the maximum revolu
tions Of tie engines shonld be eighty Pc
| minute, tho pitch OF the screw being mud
sufficiently snla1 to allow @ nat speed: m ~
| cd. lost faith In the designs they had advo
! cated with so much assnrnnce, and IN orae
| to ma1.c their machinery practicable, 1ncrcas
| ed the pitch Of tho screw enough to rednc
Tic speed Of TIC engines 10 maximum Q
forty Per minnie
| TiIs required q corresponding increase II
! the surface of the scrcW, which was nov
| brought up to Tbs prcpostcrous diameter Q
eighteen feet inches, and the number 9
bladcs Increased from two to four. It coul'
no longer be hoisted ont Of the water, no
cycn applied to the stern Of the vessel mt
! that too had undergone change to recsiy
it; The keel, likewise, having to be greati
deepencd, Increased Thy tho amount added
Tie ycaseI's dEaught Of watcF,-already raaz
imun for rserviee-anl decreased her valne an
ueefulpess to tho same degree.
This change in tho screW-wl,ich was a,so
lutely necessary to allow the engines 10 fans
ton 8ta1l--nfter il had been made, required
10 he thrown away, together with It's cost