The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1879-04-05
JOHN FH,"ss"S.


~
Col w. G.. Church contributes to the April
Sctibacr Il notable and important papcron Er-
lesson, the engineer, inventor of steain fire
engines, the screw propeller, the Monitor etc,
etc etc. i, will he seen bv the following cA-
tract from the magazine, with Ericsson, rs with
others, 1.-THE cmid is father 10 the MANI
Before he was l. years old, during the win
Ter OF 1873, John had produced a s'IW-mlii ~
ingenious construction, AND had planned 4
pump!ng-cngine designed to clear the mines OF
water The frame Of the saW-mili Was,Ot wood ;
the saw-badc was made from II watch-spring
and the crank which aCtuacd it was cast from
Il broken tin spoon. A file, borrowed from
neighboring blacksmith, 60 cut the teeth, Il
gimlct, and the ubiquitous jack.knlle, We're
the only tools available for this work. y much
more ambitious undertaking was the pumping
engine. The ycal before, when only 9 years
of are, Young Ericsson had made the acquain-
lance Of drawing instruments in one Of the
draurhl offices of the grand ship canal OF Swe-
den ANA learned how these instruments were
used 10 lay out the work OF construction in adj
vance Meanwhile, MS father nau rcmoveuto
the depths of Il pine forest where he selected
the timber for the lock. gates OF the canal. In
this wilderness, a quill and pencil were the
BOYS utmost resources in the way Of drawing
tools Like CrusOc on his island, he had to
bcgin at the beginning, He made compasses
of birch wood, with needles inserted III the ends
OF their legs \ pair OF steel tWecZcIS, obtain
ed from his mothers drcssing-casc, We're con-
vcrcd into Il drawing pen, and the same good
mother was persuaded, after much cntrea,y, 10
allow her sable cloak to be robbed OF hair
enough to provide material for two small
brushes with which to apply the cooring at
that time deemed essential in all mechanical
drawings The pumping engine was 10 be
operated by windmill and here the youth
ful inventor was at fault. He had heard much
about a windmill, but had never seen one,
Following as we'll as he could, the description
of those who had had the happiness to view
this wonderful machine he succeeded in CON
stlucln- ON paper the mechanism connecting
the crank of the windmill shaft with the pump
levers. but how TO turn the mill to the chang
ing wind he could not divine. Fortunately,
Johns father made visit 10 The windmill,
and, in describing what he bad seen, spoke OF
Il ball and socket joint The hint was SUI
ticcnt; the boy rushed to his drawing table and
had soon added Il bali and socket joint where
the connecting rod for the driving crank join
ed the pump lever With the execution OfthiS
drawing began John ErcsSOns mechanical
career The plan conceived and executed I'M
der such discOurIging circumstances by u
mere child attracted the attention ~ Admiral
Count PlaiciI, the President Of the Gotha snip
canal, ON which ErlcssOn's father was employ
ed, and one of Swedcn's great men Continue
as YOU have begun and You will one day pro
duce something extraordinary" prophesicd the
Count Of his young protegc. Richly has the
prophecy been fulfilled.
Ericsson was appointed acadct IN the Swed-
ish corps Of mechanical engineers when he
was - years DID, was soon after promoted to
RirrC1cui' Jewellery and at the are OF - was put
in charge of a section Of the ship canal over
which his TREND, the Count, presided. Six
hundred Of the royal troops at work upon this
section, looked for directions in their daily
work to this child, among whose necessary at
PENDANTS was one who followed after him with
The stool upon which he stood to raise him
self to the height Of his lcveling instruments.
The amusemcnis Of this boy-engIneer are ind-
Gated by his possession at the age of 10 OF u
portfolio of drawings, made IN his leisure mo-
mcnts, giving maps Of the most important
parts of the grand canal, 800 miles in length,
and showing all the machinery and implements
used IN its construction. Many important
works upon this canal winch opens an inland
channel across Sweden from the Baltic to the
North sea, were constructed from drawings
made by Ericsson ut an agc when he might
rather have been expected to be found playing
football