The Hot Springs star. (Hot Spings [Hot Springs], Dakota [Dakota Territory, i.e. S.D.]) 1886-189?, 1888-07-20
flRsr YANKEE STEAM ENGINE.
Description OF One In Use In Cranstcn. n
l., In 15os.

FIRST YANKEE STEAM ENGINE.
Description OF . In Use In Cranston, n.
l., In 15ss.
-
tn the biography and diary Of Man
essel Cutler, Ill. D., of Ipswich, Mass,
just issued; is given Il description Of
what is probably the first practical sta
tionary steam engine in use iii the
United States. 1t appears in the diary
Ut Dr.: Cutler as written when tile linz
preston was fresh III his mind. It may
be called a yankee steam engine.
having been made under the direction
OF q Rhode Island man. and contain
ing improvements upon its English
prototypes. The diarist was OH a chaise
Journey to New York. and his diary is
OF the date Of June "a, 1887. He SAYS:
To go to the furnace and efigine was
eight miles, nearly, out Of my way; but
my curiosity was SO much excited by
the description Of so singular a scheme
the only u in A~merica--that 1
could not deny myself the pleasure of
viewing it. arrived at the ore beds
(ron orc) at IL O'Clock. Tho engine
was at work raising water from a We'll
eighty feet deep. The iron tiue is two
and one-half feet wide by six feet long,
with Q sqtiafe hearth at the mouth,
secured from fire by large, thick, iron
plates. On the back part of the flue is
a winding funnel, which passes into o
chimney on the back part of the build
ing.
Above the flue is placed q wooden
boiler, six feet in diameter, which is
constantly kept full of water when the
engine is in motion. the boiler rises
above the first story of the building,
much in the form of the large ~cisterns
used in distillerics, where it receives, at
the top, the %condensing cylinder, two
and onc-half feet in diameter, and
made Of plated iron.
From this cylinder q large worm
passes with many windings down the
boiler. The valve that passes into this
cylinder is more than two feet in diam
cter, and rises and descends by means
of an iron rod made fast to one end of
a large beam. Around the top of the
boiler T. numerous lcadcn pipes
some connected with the condcMserand
some not-furnishcG with stopcocks
for admitting or excluding air or water:
as necessary in working the machine;
but they are too numerous and compli-
Gated To admit of any description from
q mere view of the machine.
A large reservoir of water is placed
i'll the third loft of the house, constant
ly a~ffording water to the works below,
and is constantly supplied, with apump
for that purpose, by the working of the
machine.
The large beam is u massive piece of
timber near four feet in diameter and
twenty feet long, being two very large
oak timbers nicely forged together. II
moves on u large iron bolt in the cen-
ter, like the beam of scales, and has two
arching tiAibcrs ut each end, forming
the scgmcnts of q circle, along which
two chains of u prodigious size play al
the beam moves.
One of these chains leads to the pis-
ton or valve of the condenser, and the
other, Mt the opposite end, to the
pumps in the we'll. There are four
cold-water pipes, one feeding pipe and
one venting pipe. BY the same motion
of the beam which raises the water out
of the well all these pipes open or close
by means of stopcocks and valves, a.
the design of them requires.
There are two large pumps in the
we'll. which is eighty feet deep, aud
t%wenty-thrce feet wide. The sides of
the we'll are supplied by large timbcrs,
laid horizontal, SO as to make the form
Of the well quintangular, and tue ends
Of the Gmbers arc laid into one another.
The engine raises seven hogshcals OF
water in a minute, and the flue con.
sunes twOcords of wood in twcnty-fOur
hours.
The immense weight of the beam, the
cast-iron wheels, large chains, and
other wcighty parts of the works occa.
sion IL most tremendous noise and
trembling of the large building in
which il is erected when the machine
is in motion. by the sides of the well
from which the water is drawn are two
other wells, seventy feet deep. These
are sunk down into the bed of ore, and
in these are the workmcn, ten ortwelvt
in number digging ore.
The ore is raised in large buckets
which hold about one ton weight, lie
down and drawn mp by large chains
carried from the well TO u large cap
stan. which is constantly turned by al
OK. As one bucket rises another zoe.
down. These wells are kept dry by th'
water continually drawing of into iii,
we'll where the pumps are fixed, ane
the pumps keep the water below til,
height where the men work.
This curious machine was mad,
under the direction Of MI. JOSEPH
Brown. of Providence. and is a stand
ing proof of the ability of that abb,
philosopher. The invention was no
new. but he has made many valuabl,
improvements in simplifying and max
ing the workings of it more convenien
above what had yet been done in Eu
rope. 1t cost upward of fl,0O0 stcr
ling.