Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-06-24

Thomas Gregg was born IN Newcastle,
Del, and being all his life an inventor, il
is scarce necessary to say that he died poor.
In early manhood he moved to Fayette
county, this State and made the first ham,
mer and nails used in Fsyette county. He
also made salt, but spent the most OF his
time making iron, and invented the first
furnace ever used for smelling iron by use
of anthracite coal.
JUST HIS LUCE.
He met the ordinary fate of inventors.
While on a visit to Delaware, his foreman,
who had been left in charge to test the in
vention, stole papers, patterns and drawings
and fed to England, where he made himself
and others rich on the fruits of Mr.. Gregg s
genius. Mr.. Gregg went on making iron,
and during the War of 1872 turned
his attention to the subject of ball
proof vessels, his labors eliminating in the
Invention Of 1913 and patent grant of 1914.
In the Journal of the House of Representa-
tives, March "a, 1914, is the entry:
Mr.. Wilson presented a memorial of Thomas
Gregg of Pennsylvania, stating that he had in
vented a ball proof vessel or floating battery,
and presenting model for the examination of
Congress and requesting that its efficiency may
be tested by experiment. Ordered that said
memorial be referred to the Committee on
Naval Affairs.
Carolina, moved that the Committee on
Naval Affairs be discharged from the con-
sideration of the petition of Thomas Gregg
and that it be referred to the Secretary of
the Navy. Mr.. Lowndes conceived preju-
dice against the invention and became an
enemy of Mr.. Gregg, using all his influence
to defeat his plans.
The model presented was burned in 1886.
In 1887 the patent was renewed.
Commodore Dupont, of Delaware, tested
Mr.. Gregg's invention, and was SO pleased
with it that he commended it strongly to
such lawmakers as A. Stewart, Tariff Andy
and D. Surgen, of this State, and Messrs.
Clayton and Bayard, of Delaware, urging
them to push the claims of the inventor.
REBs THE FIRST TO CATCH IT.
The invention was described as ball-proof
and impenetrable. In construction it was
framed on an angle Of Is degrees all around
the hull. The top timbers elevated the
balls and the lower ones were designed to
direct them under the keel. The power
was applied between the keels, where there
was q concave formed to receive the motive
machinery, the power to be reversed to pro-
pei the vessel either way. The principle, it
was claimed, protected men and machinery
effectually, and was capable of performing
more service than half a dozen vessels of
that day.
Either intelligence of Mr.. Gregg's inven-
tion got over into Mills Creek and foated
down to the Potomac and ''on to Rich
mond, or some old-time Southern states
man recolleeted the idea and imported it to
the Confederate authorities, and the result
was the production of the terrible Merrimac
The Scientific american of May "a, 1864,
seems to have been the first to fall to it, and
said:
In the course Of our investigations at the
Patent Office we have come across patent
granted to Thomas Gregg on the 18th of March,
1914, for an invention of a ball proof vessel to
be propelled by steam, which on examination
proves to be an almost exact model of the
Merrimac. The sides were to be plated with
iron inclined at an angle of is degrees And
the drawings show a sharp iron prow evil
IDENTIFY to be used as a ram. This prototype of
the latest triumph in naval architecture, it will
be observed, was patented only seven years
after the introduction of steam navigation.
AFTER JUST RECOGNITION,
The next number of that journal, in
page devoted to the subject, headed 'sThe
cut labeled "The Early Prototype of the
Merrimae."
Soon after the war some Pennsylvanians
memorialized Congress, setting forth that
Mr.. Gregg had spent much money in his
efforts to benefit the Government, and like
many other originators had died compara-
lively pool, and they asked that he be Iecog-
nized as the inventor of the ball-proof iron |
clad, and that liberal appropriation be |
made to his widow who was in such circum- |
stances as to render her appreciative Of such |
Justice. The memorial still slumbers in the |
waste lumber gallery along with the French |
spoilation claims and thousands of others |
lacking powerful lobby leverage. Rev. |
,Tohn O. Gregg 21 wears ago wrote this of |
the invention and his father:
While sharp competition has been carried on |
both in France, England and this country as to
who is entitled to the credit of this invention |
which promises to revolutionize the old-estab-
lished system of naval warfare, humbly sub
nit that a reference to the records of the |
Patent Office at Washington and to some indi- |
Tiduals who are still living will lncontestably
establish the claim of Thomas Gregg and do
Justice TO his genius as the real inventor.