Middletown transcript., 1876-06-10


daily. Thus was completed one of tn
greatest inventions of modern times
and one which the inventor lived to Sc
result in increasing the cotton produc
tions from 5000, 900 to 215. 900. .00'
pounds.
In 1876 the great scientific discover,
of the non-materiality of heat wa
made by an American, Benjamin
Thompson. Count Rumford, then resid
ing in Munich. He had deserted hi
country during the war, and accepted
service under foreign prince. Thi
discovery lies at the foundation of th'
mechanical theory of heat, and directl.
led to the grandest doctrines of moderl
Science, the correlation of forces an(
the conservation of energy
We may note the establishment o
broom making as a new industry, ant
the invention Of broom making machin
cry in 1897, by the Shakers located
along the Mohawk river In the same
year Amos Whittemore. of Massachu
setts, devised the first machine for the
manufacture of wool and cotton cards
this device punctured the leather an6
set the wires. This proved of greaI
value to the industry, and highly remu.
nerative to the inventor During the
following year Robert McKean patented
the first steam sawmill.
At the opening Of the nineteenth
century the signs of remarkable pro-
gress we're everywhere discer rnable. In
ten years the population had increased
by nearly two millions The exports
for 1899 we're $7S.665.522 against
S79, ,069, 148 imports. and during the
previous decade 306 patents had been
granted.
In 1901, the oxyhydrogen blowpipe
was invented by DR. Robert Hare, Of
Philadelphia, one of the greatest as
we'll as the earliest of American scien-
lists It occurred to bin that fame
produced by the combustion of oxygen
and hydrogen gases ought to be attended
with higher heat than that generated
by burning charcoal. But the two
gases mingled in certain proportion
produced dangerous explosive mix
ture, and DR. Hare was thus led to
adopting the expedient of storing the
gases in separate vessels, and bringing
them together by tubes which met at
the point of ignition.
Now followed one of the most impor-
tant advances in steam navigation, al
though the fact was not recognized for
years after. 1t was the practical demon
stration of the efficacy Of the screw
propeller by Col. John Stevens, of
Hoboken. who, in 1904. built boat
containing Watt engine, tubular
boiler of his own invention, and the
bladed screw. 1t was pirogue some
fifty feet long The machiae itself is
still in existence. and was illustrated
in these columns some time ago Dur
ing the same year, Oliver Evans ran
an amphibious, stern paddle-whee) boat
on the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers
This was driven by double action high
pressure engine-the first Of its kind
which rotated wheels when the craft
was ashore, and operated the stern
paddle when afoat In 1906, Thomas
Blanchard, of Massachusetts,, invented
a machine which made FIVE hundred
tacks per minute. With With perfectly perfectly finished
heads and points. Soon after, be de-
vised an apparatus for turning gun bar
rels throughout their entire length by
one self-directing operation. This was
the initial work which combinated,
twenty-five years later, in the maguifi-
cent invention of the lathe for turning
irregular forms. Blanchard's inventions
are now applied to many operations in
making musket stocks, and comprise
no less than thirteen different machines
for making different portions Of the
weapon
The following year, 1907. witnessed
the triumphal voyage of Robert Full
tons steamer, the Clermont, from New
York to Albany. Fulton at that time
was already an inventor Of reppte, both
in England and in the United States.
He had devised mill for saving
marble, machines for spinning fax and
making ropes, an exoavator for canals,
and be had successfully tried, probably.
the first submarine torpedo boat 1t
was in relation to the latter that be re-
turned to this country from England.
Here he received Congressional appro-
priation, and made some successful ex-
pcriments in blowing up vessels; but
Commodore Rodgers re-
ported the system impracticable. Later,
he obtained the exclusive right to nav
igate the Hudson river in his steam
vessels. In 1874. Fulton built for the
United States government the fret steam
war vessel. a heavy and unwieldy
mass, capable Of making about two and
a half miles per hour The war of 1912.
in which she was designed to be used,
terminated before her completion Full
on died during the construction of the
vessel
During the year 1907, oil cloth for
loors was invented apd manufactured
n Philadelphia, and John Bedford. Of
he same city, devised the fret metal
pound boots and shoes. The first
oreeoh- loading military arms ever Offer
ID to troops. and likewise the FIRE arm
made on the interchangeable system,
we're invented by John H. Hall. Of
Massachusetts,, in 1911 Some Of these
I'D weapons were captured at Fort
Dopelson, in 1869.
In 1919, anthracite coal was for the
irst time successfully utilized 1t ap-
,ears that Colonel George Shoemaker,
# Pottsville. took nine wagon loads of
ne "black stones" to Philadelphia. and
here sold two wagon loads to Messrs.
White & Hazard, wire manufacturers
White and his firemep worked faithfully
or half day, but the stones refused to