, 1874-03-08
Rsw has made! Bat in how short time? Who
invented til The circular saw Ia the

| and has not been IN use much over half
century. The inventor lived in Hartford, Ct.
/ his name have forgotten he is not alive. br
| his wife survived him. md iB now alive, or wa
two years ago, residing in Vermont. And i
acknowledgment OF the great good which be
husbands Invention haddone, a President of On
| Of the railroads of that State gave her fre
pass to ride over his road 30 long as she nigh
| live: The circular saw was never patented an
the inventor never had greater benefit from hi
| discovery than what ho derived from running hi
/ own SAW In this way was the inventor of TIL
! great and valuable instrument, and truly
even uurecorded The manufacturers Of woot
should sec that monument be erected to hi
| memory.
| THE scnEw-Auazn
! has history hardly less interesting. It neycl
| yet has been put upon the printed page wlcr
| tho screw-augcr came into use, or who invented
! it, or by whom it was first manufactured. Very
| old men may now remember when the pod-auge1
] was the one commonly in use. The screw-auSel
| is not much used in England. They say they
] cannot bore true with it. The screw ia mostly
confined to bits or augers not more than half an
inch in size. They start the auger with gouge
as our graudfathers uEed to do in
NEW ENGLAND.
The screw-augor vas first made in this coun-
try, and in its present form invented, about
seventy-fve years ago, by. q common country
blacksmith. His name was
ISRAEL SCOTT.
At the timo le made the first auger, be lived in
! the north part Of the Town Of Amherst, in
Massachusetts, in llttlo village where four
roads met, called ''Tho City, He WAS very
honest man and did not claim to be the inve,i-
tor, because he said an English journoy1nat,-
blacksmith whom ho had employed told him that
lie had seen hit 30 constructed that, while bor-
ing into the wood, it was drawn in by tho screw,
This gave Mr.. Scott the hint, and he con-
structed the anger substantially as it now ia,
with the ccntre-screw, the cutting lip or blade,
and the spiral twist Of the shank. For many
years ho was the only manufacturer Of
this kind OF augcr, and his reputation became
quite extended. It WAS not made with the ele-
gance and finish OF tho auger OF the present day.
But it would bore well, aud stand well in use :;
for he had wonderful knack in getting the
right temper upon edge-toolB. few. years
later, be removed to Whatciy, hlnss, where he
continued to make augers and shoe horses.
About 1916 he returned to Amherst, and had
charge Of the cotton-factory at Parting Village,
near "The City;" and in 1928 he moved to
North HALEY, where he died about the year
1910. Smell, about that time, became popular
manufacturer OF a1ge1s, that went into tho mar
ket for sale, and substituted the Scott anger.
Mr.. Scott had 3 peculiar brand Of his own make,
with which he used to stamp all the augers lie
made for customers; it was simply II. SCOTT"
Such q high reputation did his forged and un-
polished work attain that many counterfeit all
gers, made in his style and branded with his
name, were manufactured and thrown into hard
ware Btores- They were even brought to his
own village store for sale.
TIE sCnEW PROPELLER.
Many years before the scrow was applied to
the p-opelling OF boats, the writer OF thus heard
A[r. Scott toll the particulars of his making
markablo Instrument for one Of hi4 customers.
It ,Eas at tho time when shera was much DISCUS
sion and interest taken in the making OF steam
boats and the way to apply steam-power to get
tfSnn
.ments. This screw was made Tor man living
near 1.-THE Pond, ia Learerett, and who was
amusing himself in the running Of small boats
on "the Pond" This instrument, or machine,
screw nearly foot IN diameter, and several feet
in length,-juss like one Of Scott's augere,
which Buggestcdit, if it wero made Of mammoth
size The man Was very secret about the use he
intended to make OF it :; but. said Mr.. Scott, ''I
have no doubt he meant to use it in running one
Of his little boats.''
That is very likely; and that this mas
THE FIRST ATTEMPT
made to propal boat by q screw, tried even be-
fore the paddle wheel was counted q SUCCESS !;
and the attempt failol simply because OF the |
length Of the screw. the motion Of which, when
too long, would produce back~action in tte |
water which would retard aud neutralize its mo-
n1entunl. Just such screw as tbis was frat rut
upon steamer OH the Thames, and it worked so !
badly that it WAS pronounced failure; when, |
fortunately. as they wore about to lay the screw
up, it was accidentally broken Off near the first |
twist, at its junction with the boat; after which,
to the great surprise of the experimenters, ii
worked well. and was accepted as success. |
Patent Museum at .Kensington, in London,
where it vas shown to the writer BY the Gu |
rator
SMITH,
The notice Of whose death WIS recently pub |
ished in The TRIBUNE. Smith held tue posi- |
lion Of Curator, and was also the recipient of a
pension, complimentary or in reward for his ,
services as the inventor OF the bcrew-propeller
into use by the British Government.
had every style Of the screw on exhibition in
ho Museum.
ERICSSON
1t the same time had the credit Of the propeller
n this country. The idea was not probably
original with either they had but different
orms Of applying the same device. Ericsson is
great mechanic md inventor, apd ia go for tue
Ie may be trusted, es Brunel WAS, upon his
eputaton.
This leads me to tahe up, in this connection,
mother invention OF Ericsson's.
TIE Hor-A1n ENGINE.
This was thought at the time to- be great
md almost revolutionary invention. These
ngines arc still somewhat in use, but do not
ulfll practically what thoy originally promised.
t was, at tho time when introduced, not pre-
ended 70 be IN original idea. Tho manner Of
Ten years before this invention was an
ounced, q few days after had published in
ay newspaper some account Of al important in-
ention, was called upon, near the close Of the
az, by an old man. who came suddenly into my
flee, with largo staff in his hand, and his
oots md trousers legs ba1ly bcBmeared with
and. It was before the making OF the Ga1ena
,ailroad. Ho stated that he had come
1 all tho way from st. Charles on
oot and through tho mud. having been two
ays upon the way, for the purpose Of consulting
10 upon an important matter, with belief | /
lat could help him. He stated that he Vas
&c inventor OF an engine to be run By hot air
lstcad Of steam. That man
nov LIVES IN ST. CHARLES,
ane County. would give his nalne If ] we're
Ire of getaug it quite right. I raised the aues- I
OIL Of tbs practicability OF tho Invention. lad 1
lifting tho power thcro is in the expansion of ,
+ BY heat, Us we'll as the expansion Of water, or
u conversion into steam. He stated that he /
I'd experimental upon it ; that the statements ]
ado in books upon the subject, as to the extent {
tho power Of the expansion wero not correct. +
o had, some years before. made cr1de ma
line Of hollow log. aud had prepared piston ,
work in it, and had got up heat by tho sud- {
n combustion OF intaumablo material, mud he t
ID proved by that crude experiment that the 1
orkirg Of engine by that power WAS a '
~ practical matter. He had, y
tlte1 ,nto,,fn5 44,a ;rvort;n. wi |