Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1886-10-27
sInventions ~ aoyr..

Popular Science: Some Of the most
important inventions have been the
workof mere boys The invention Of.
the valvesmoton 10 the steam engine.
was made By boy. Watt left the en-
CINE in . very incomplete condition,
from the fact that he had no way to-
open or close the valves except by the
means Of levers operated by the hand.
be set up large engine at one of the
mines, and a2boy was hired to work
these valve levers. Although this was,
not hard work. yet it required his con-
slant attention. 40 he was working
these levers, he saw that parts Of the
engine moved in the right direction
and At the exact time that he had to
.oeen Of, close the valves. he procured
q long, strong cord, and made one end
fast to the proper part of the engine
and the other end to the valve lever.
Then he had the satisfaction Of seeing
the engine move off with perfect regu-
larity of motion. A short time after
the foreman came around and saw the
boy playing marbles at the door.
Looking at the engine, he saw the in
genuity of the boy, and also the adj
vantages OF SO great an invention.
Mr.. Watt then carried ont the boys
inventive genius in a. practical form,
and made the steam engine perfect
automatic working machine. The
power loom is the invention of q far
mer boy who had never seen or heard
of such thing. He cut one out with
his knife, and after he had got it all
done he with great enthusiasm showed
to his father, who at once kicked it
pieces, saying that he would have
no boy about him who would spend
his time on sucL foolish things.
The boy was afterward. apprenticed
to blacksmith, and he soon found that
his new master was kind and took
lively interest in him. He had made a
loom of what was left of the one his
father had broken up, which he showed
to his master. The blacksmith saw
that he had no common boy as appren-
tice, and that the invention was a very
valuable one. He Immediately had a
loom constructed under the supervision
of the boy. Invoked to their perfect
satisfa ction. and the blacksmith
furnished the means to manu- acture
the looms, the boy to receive
one-half the profits. In about year
the blacksmith wrote to the boys
father that he should visit him, and
bring with him wealthy gentleman
who was the inventor of the celebrated
power-loom. You may be able to
Judge of the establishment at the old
home when his son was presented as
the inventor. who told him the loom
was the same as the model that he
(the father) had kicked to pieces a
year before. Smeaton. the great mech
anic, when a boy, disdained the ordin-
ary playthings of boyhood. He collected
the tools of workmen and bothered
them with questions. One day, after
having watched some mill-wrights, he
was discovered, to the great distress
of his family, in situation of extreme
danger. fixing windmill on the top
of the barn. His father sent him to Lon
don to study law, but he declared that
Flaw did not suit the bent of his
genius" and ADDRESSED a memorial to
show his utter. incompetency for legal
pursuits. His father finally allowed
him to do as he wished, and it was he
who built the Eddystone lighthouse in
The midst of the waves.