Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1888-11-08
THE STEAM HAMMER,
Something About Powerful Machine
and It's Inventor.
What a Boy Did-Triumphs Achieved
by His Mastery Art.

s6tau manner, Ihe life OF James
Nasmyth was romance. His achieve
ments were noble, his success brilliant
and his character was SO cheerful, sunpy,
upright and happy that it is delight to
dwell upon it.
He himself has told Us, in words of
simple, hearty enthusiasm, the story of
his boyhood and of the triumphs of his
manhood. It is curious that his ve1y
name had history in striking contrast
with the actual facts Of his life. One of
his ancestors, it is said, in trying to
escape from the enemy on battlefield
assumed the disguise of blacksmith.
He was caught after a sharp race, when
his captor, perceiving his disguise, ex-
claimed, "Why, you are nae smyth" (no
smith, whence came the family name of
Nasmyth. Now no greater smith ever
lived than this James of The contrary
name who made the steam hammer. The
old warlike family motto, too, "Non arte,
sed marte' (Not by art, but by war;, was
SO entirely contradictory to James Ma
smiths pursuits that he turned It intirely
around, and made it "Non marie, sed
arte" Not by war, but by art). It was
indeed, by his masterful art that he
achieved triumphs more enduring for
the good of mankind than any war has
ever been. Let US see what an unusual kind
of boy James Nasmyth was. He
came of very practical and mechanical
family. His grandfather was an archi-
tect of Edinburgh, while his father was not
only very fair artist in cOlors, but also
had skill as an architect and as a
mechanic. James was born and brought
up in the quaint old Scottish capital. His
mother was shrewd, keen-witted Scotch
woman, who very early IN her boys life
preceived that he was very noticin'
BARN." When Janes, in his teens, was
at the Edinburg High School, his meohani-
cal ingenuity quickly became apparent.
The favorite toy of the Edinburgh boys at
that time we're spinning tops and small
cannon. James thought he could make
better tops and cannon thai they sold at
the store So he set to work aWith his
fathers foot-lathe, and soon de tops
which delighted his school co rades be-
yond measure. He also made his brass
cannon which worked perfectly, and
even out of old keys contrived to fashion
small hand gun. Flying kites and pa
per balloons he easily constructed, and he
made himself wonderously popular at
school by freely supplying his mates with
these means of enjoying their holidays.
He soon conceived great interest in
chemistry. The father of one OF the
schoolmates had chemical laboratory at
Leith, mile or SO distance from Edin-
burgh, and to this laboratory young Mas
myth was freely admitted. When some
interesting experiment was about to be
made, Tom Smith, Nasmyth's young
friend, would hoist white flag on a pole
in the garden at Leith, whereat Nasmyth
eagerly ran down and took part in the
experiment. The boys not only had q
hand in the experiments, but taught
| themselves how to make each substan SO
used in them, instead OF buying the sub
stances in the shops. This Nasmyth
| soon became a very skillful practical
| chemist.
At the sge of II young Nasmyth began
to turn his mechanical talents to practi
cal account. He made little steam en-
CINE for grinding his fathers colors; he
| constructed some Workshop engines and
the model of coDdensing engine to be
used at mechanics Institutes, AID after
attending for four or five years the Edin-
burgh School of Arts, made the model of
steam carriage for railway purposes.
For it was just at that time, when
Nasmyth was 10, that the possibility Of
applying steam to land travel was on the
point of being proved. 1t took Nasmyth
four months OF absorbing labor to com
plete his steam carriage, and when done
it was run successfully on the Queens
berry road, near Edinburg, carrying eight
passengers, who sat upon low seats only
three feet from tie ground. This seems
to US now very rude and uncouth way
~
carriage proved to be success, it was
looked upon az wonder of wonders.
One of the most important events of
young Nasmyth's life was when he was
admitted to the famous works of Henry
Maadsley, In London. Mr.. Maudsley was
an eccentric but kind-hearted man, and
very hrewd in mechanical work, and his
reputation was world wide. He had long
refused to admit any more pupils in his
works; but he was Sc struck with the
genius shown in the models which Mas
myth displayed to him that he not only
accepted the young Scott as pupil. but
took him into his own private workshop.
'Here wish you to work." said Ma1ds-
ley. ''beside me as M assistant" Mas
myth remainei with this generous patron
two years, when Maudsiey died.
Nasmyth was now July equipped for
| his life-work. He took charge of a large
foundry near Manchester. where he soon
acquired more then COM petence.
He was enc of those who had the rare
privilege of witnessing the opening of
thu first railway, between Manchester
and Liverpool, and to see Stephenson's
Crockett" draw the first train out of Man
chester. The establishment of railways
gave abundance of work to Nasmyth,
who now made locomotives for the new
| companies which rapidly spraDg up.
But the great achievement of Mas
myths life was the invention of that
powerful steam hammer which still con-
tinues to be a marvel to all who see its
| opera ton, at once mighty and delicate.
It is said of this machine that 1t can chip
an egg resting on az anvil without break
ing II, while it can also deliver twelve
| ton blow which Will make whole town
ship rremble. We can MOI do better than
quote Nasmyth's own description of this
crovning mechanical triumph of his
life:
cit consisted of, first, massive anvil
on which to rest the work; second, a
block Of iron constituting the hammer
or blow giving portion, and third. an in
verified steam cylinder to whose piston
rod the hammer. block was attached. All
that was then required to produce most
| sctive hammer was simply to admit
, steam Of sufficient pressure into the cyl
in6er SO as to act on the under side
of the piston, and thus to raise the ham
mer block attached to the end of the pis-
ton-rod. By a very simple arrangement
of slide valve, under the control Of an
attendant, the steam was allowed to es-
cape. and thus permit the massive block