The evening Argus. [volume] (Rock Island, Ill.) 1861-1871, 1871-06-10
The ART OF mRcHANIsn.

The ART OF MECHANIsE.
Our attention is called every day and ir-
esistibly riveted upon some new mechanic
Il invention which seems TO Us the most
beautiful and useful work of art we ever
law, and sometimes we panse in laughing
nereduiity aud admiration, ana exclaim,
what next?" for it almost makes us think,
as We gaze upon the perfection and simple |
utility of the --latest thing OUT" that this is
a climax, aud that invention has ct last !
spent the power Of its arm and the vigor Of
its intellect. After q moments reflection,
we remember that the same thought crossed
our minds yesterday, and many yesterdays
before. From the day when the ingenious
jacquard invented, seventy-one years ago,
his sppendage to the loom, for weaving
figured silk and cotton, as well as carpets,
inventions in machinery have cropped up
every day, and the science of invention-if
we may coin the term-has made the most
rapid strides. The widest dream, at the
ClObe vi ING Ad6b NObAA 49,
dared to invent, as a tale, what we are, and
what we have done and are doing nova
days. If required to prophecy, he might
have made up a tale which would have been
ridiculously improbable, but he could no
more have imagined the tools, mechanism,
and work done to-day than We can those of
future era nay, not half so well, for the
data of to-day are in ell human probability,
much better data to go to work with, than
we're those of his time. The inventor of the
locomotive steam engine, when asked at
what speed he could and dare run wha. is
now our daily bell ringer" replied, twelve,
or perhaps fourteen miles per hour" We,
ourselves, know one instance, wherein q
mail train traversed the country at speed
of seventy-five miles per hour We know
for certainty, that the power of steam in
producing speed with the aid of machinery,
has been practically defined. and
that definition is, that 1t has no
known limit but the capacity of the ma
chinery to utilize it. The only question
now left on that point for mechanics is the
speed-or It's inverse, the power which will
be called for by future inventors. AS they
have always, so far, shown themselves equal
to their task whenever the want presented
itself, It is only fair to suppose that they
will continue to be so in the future. So that
whereas in old times men were sceptical
from ignorance, they are now prepared
and with tolersbly good reason-to believe
almost anything in the way Of possible and
probable invention. So numerous and
diverse are those Of to day and so great the
demand for machinery of every description
for without il We find we cannot get along
at sll-that it has given rise to the most
earnest and energetic competition among
man ufacturing mechanical engineers. The
amount of talent possessed and displayed
wholly unequaled on the rest OF the surface
of the globe. The difficulties which they
have to en- counter in the source Of their
labors, and the manner in which they do en-
counter those difficulties has no equal any
where. And 1t is, perhaps, that fact which
makes the American preeminent. When
no obstacles are present it seems a char
aoteristic of mankind TO wax indolent and
careless, but the presence of let, hindrance
or difficulty, brings cut what there is in men
and indomitable perseverance and giant
strife With the elements themselves and tina,
whole system of created things called ma
ture. 1t is, however, manifest TO any OBJ.
serving enquirer without the aid of argu-
ment that though the majority of mechanics
may turn out work remarkable for its ex
cellence, still there are some few wko far
surpEss the rest. In addition TO being
possessed Of higher degree of salient and
experience it is generally the case that these
men are the proprietors Of the largest and
most complete establishIl ents, and are
possessed of very large capital to run the
thing with. During "Trip down east We
NNIcf AAU OlANi hhNy hNAdtb OuVukD ~
be able to visit an establishment of thi,
class, which is perhaps the most com
plete if not the largest factory
in the States. We allude *
the vast machine mandatory Of Woo
| Light, d Co., at Worcester in Massachusetts
! These gentlemen have also g warehouse a
/ lO7 Liberty Street, New York City, Her
/ We were enabled to see machinery in pur
! perfection. Machines making machines OIL
every side and il every stagefrom the crud
metal to tho exquisitely finished engine
Probab y-being more in the position of
j sightseer than anything else-our attention
was most rivetted by that wonderful steam
tool the Nssnysh hammer, which will smes
| IRON and knead it together with es much O
more ease than we could handle putty
| Longfellow says of his blacksmith
| lyon can heaF him swing his heavy sledge,
/ With measured beat and slow
| Like Q sexton tolltng the village bell
When the eV ming sun is low
The poets description is most accur ate
Sledg'ng iron is very laborious work, Blu
the above mentioned Worcester firm max
light of it with these Narmyth hammers c
their manufacture, and, per contra, they wi
crack an egg for you, or one of the men Wi
put his head underneath the descending ham
mer and will escape with the highest of fits
but so as not to rufhe the hair, owing to tn
minute scale of adjustment CT which the toe
is capable. Then We were shown the manu-
factnre of Engine Lathes Shaping an
SlOtting machines; Planning Machines; Ma
chimes to cut bolts, and machines to dri
with. They were turning out an immensit
of work in these, as also IA Mill work an
Gun machinery, all of which appeared to III
from what we heard, to be going to ever
conceivable part of the States, which the