The Red Cloud chief., 1879-05-08

Auc OOyuOOV u 0SeSt k8lncets
Colonel w. c. Church, editor Of the
army and Nary journal and late Of the
GALAXY, contributes to the April Serb
ner q notable and important paper on
Ericsson, the engineer, inventor Of
steam 6re-engines, the screw propeller.
the Monitor, ETC., etc., etc. Mr.. Eriss-
sen has heretofore 20 steadily avoided
public mention that the present sketch
will be to many the first adequate &C
count Of this interesting person.
Before he was IL years old, during
the winter Of 1913, John had produced
. saw-mill Of ingenious construction,
and planned q pumping engine design
ed TO clear the mines Of water. The
frame Of the saw-mill wa Of wood; the
saw-blade was was made from . watch
spring, and the crank which actuated it
vas cast from q broken tin spoon. A
file, borrowed from . neighboring black
smith, to cut the saw teeth, . gimlet,
and the ubiquitous jask-knife, we're the
only tools available for this work. A
much more ambitious undertaking
was the pumping engine. The year be-
fore, when only 3 years of age, young
Ericsson had made the acquaintance Of
drawing instruments in one of the
draught Offices of the grand ship canal
of Sweden, and learned how these in
struments were used to lay out the work
of construction in advance. Mean
while, his father had removed to the
depths of q pine forest where he select
ed the timber for the lock-gates of the
canal. In this wilderness, . quill and q
pencil were the boys utmost resources
in the way of drawing tools. Like Cru
soc on his island, he had TO begin at the
beginning. He made compasses of
brentwood with needles inserted in the
ends of the legs. A pair of steel
tweezers, obtained from his mothers
dressing-case, were converted into q
drawing-pen. and the same good moth
er vas persuaded, after much entreaty,
to allow ter sable cloak to be robbed Of
hair enough to provide material for two
small brushes with which to apply the
colOring at that time deemed essential
in all mechanical drawings. The pump
ing engine was to be operated by q wind
mill, and here the youthful inventor
was at fault. He had heard much
about a windmill but had never seer
one. Following, IS well as he could,
the description of those who had had
the happiness to view this wonderful
machine, he succeeded in constructing
on paper the mechanism connecting the
crank of the windmill shaft with the
pump levers, but how to turn the mill
to the changing wind he could not d.
vine. Fortunately Johns father made
a visit to the windmill, and, in describ-
ing what he bad seen, spoke of q "ball
and socket joint" The hint was suffi-
Gent; the boy rushed to his drawing ia
bic and had soon added q ball and sock
ct joint where the connecting-ro for
the driving crank joined the pump lever.
With the execution of this drawing be.
gan John Ericsson's mechanical career.
The plan conceived and executed under
such discOuraging circumstances by q
mere child attracted the attention of
Admiral Count Platen, the President of
the Gotha Ship Canal, on which Erics-
sons father was employed, and one of
Sweden's great men. "Continue as
you have begun and you will one day
produce something extraordinary"
prophesied the Count of his young
protege. Richly has the prophecy been
fulfilled.
Ericsson was appointed q ca let in the
Swedish corps of mechanical engineers
when he was IL years old, was soon
after promoted to niUellenr (leveler),
and at the age of Is was put in charge
of a section of the ship-canal over
which his friend, the Count, presided.
Six hundred of the royal troops, at
work upon this section, looked for d.
rections in their daily work to this
child, among whose necessary attend
ants was one who followed after him
the stool upon which he stood to
raise himself to the height of his level
ing instruments. The amusements of
this bOy-engineer are indicated by his
possession at the age of ID of q portfolio |
Of drawings, made in his leisure mo-
ments, giving maps of the most i'm
portant parts of the grand canal, 800
miles in length, and showing all the
and implements used in its
construction. Many important works
lpon this canal, which opens an inland
channel acros Sweden from the Baltic
the North Sea, were constructed
rom drawings made by Ericsson at an
lge when he might rather have been
expected to be found playing football.
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