New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1890-12-08

| could have attached to him had ne 'dh'n 'i'.'V
| position. After this he turned MS "'"."'iol
! other work and pushed his ho'-''lr c"E '''c
! nctically. finally securing capt." 10 ""i'' Wv
! Ericsson shin which was to cs'""Hs" '"c pm
| ciplc Here again his enthusiasm dPI""' '" -"
| misei him and obscuNd his Ju"Snio.'' i''
49,, sinlirc of ,bo Ericsson was the immediate
cause of the collapse OF the uh"ci''Ni"-' 40
nor;mcr, had shown that the new engine TOOK up
,,a ,h room, to he proftably placed IN mercantile
- All ,hcro were other drawbacks when
..1 - tbo way of It's practical success OH
| large scale. ala - those
| rho bistorv of the Monitor as toid IN '"eNo
,,.s IN. Mr. Church will be in great part ne"
IN +bc majority of readers. Ericsson ""'' -,
,,c, nrobablv the only man in the country anu
opitc nossibly the only man then hVne' WI" oo"'u
have built the fighting machine WHO" ''"ff'"
the Ncrrimac's destructive career, ana al ''c ''''
time rcvolutioni2ed naval architecture al "No'
! ,ho world And the reason Of his readiness was
that in engineering and sunncry he h'd long "''n
modi,atinr those problems of the future whose
gravity he was one of the first TO recognize Inc
idea Of the Monitor had been with nm LOT Nc"iS
! He had set himself To devise an lmpIc2h'"" no'-
In, Cor, and Inc had hit upon this conceptions
So when the emergency came he was prepare" '''
il and being a master of his profession To rs
done and exactly low to 80 it. When he received
tbc order of the Government for the MONITOR hcr
plans were already drawn. Fortunately for the
countrv he was allowed 10 supcrintend the con
o,ruction himself: but even II was he had 10
Withstand q steady shower of criticism. warning
n,iSoivinc and suggestion from naval officers who
knew nothing ABOUT the work. yet Thought tneh-
selves perfectly competent t" advise ana assist
the builder Most OF us can recall the knd 81
GLOOMY predictions which were current at the time
II was said that the Monitor would never iioa'
with her armor on. that her ovcrhanc al stem an"
stern would I've 50 acted by tho Sra rs 10 wrench
her deck off. that her crew would he smolhcrcd,
that her turrct would get damned the first time
it was struck by the cncmv'S shot. and much more
10 the same purport But Ericsson attended 7"
ms business finished the Monitor and delivered
her to the Government al the critic" moment
with what result all know.
II is interesting and significant that nearly
all the defects discovered in the orrin'!
Monitor were directly attributable to inter
ference with and dcyiations from the plans Of tie
inventor Thus her cakin. under tie tHri"i
on the way to Hampton Roads WAS caused hy The
oflico,ls action OF somebody III the Navy Yard
where She was built in packing the sp'c" between
the bottom of the tnrrct and Tho deck with "akHm'
tie turrct having been raised To get tdS P1rhlhE
in But it when tie Navy Department
undertook 10 build a fleet of ll-h'-drmgif IRON
clad steamers for coast ami HN'r u,r 'h''
Ercsson'S superiority was made 10 appear. 'h
order L. obtain the political benefits OF as
trihution Of patronage the building Of thes"
vessels was given 10 a number of yards me
theory was that EricSsons plans were 10 hc fol-
lowed but in practice tins was not done; ana ~
n result the Whole S20.0oo,poo expended upon
tie fleet was wasted not ort oi ne N'NN''7
.,or Going into service. Whatever Ericsson did
was done well. upon scientific prn'ip'>' wan
the best materials. and in the soun!cst way. I"'
when hi, plans were given 10 others 10 i"l""'
ncrvcrstv. faithlcssress and coaccit operated I"
introduce all manner of changes. every one "'
which was generally for the worse. II is perhaps
scarcely necessary 10 add That he h'd 'f"H'i'
in Getting ms money from HE Governments fnd
that it became necessary 70 suspend WORK "n '"'
Puritan and the Dictator and refuse -
deliver them. before a proper settlement '"''
! be obtained. Ericsson however. never lost heart,
and what is still more he never "lih""d his
services from his adopted country. Ih'' ''
! should have missed The great fortune for ne
| accumulation of which his remarkable genius
fitted him. is indeed not surprising, for business
/ talent is rarely loincd with ere tive force h''
| his invention was ;, prolific and he was ne
i"'i''i ~ I, ~ ,,;,o -, ti,.s.,f ~. a,iircl
'"'I''0 ''''. 1...a,o,., and ,,,s crob.cd f.,
! . .,,,. L,.ip,~s aud
devote himself 10 those scientific and m"ch'nI'h
| problcms which had long occupied hiS leisure.
! OF these the sun-cngiuc appears 10 have b'H
| his favoritc. and he was busy with 1t f. ihc very
! eHd "i Hi9 INV 49, ,.,t .,,,
! "| S'"'''i''' ,,,., o,l ,b,.p,b
! Joc' - VIM" J" -'' 49,, ..,..,i
/ DIS D'SI"|'I' ~ ,, or.l
/ by any "l TIE '''''"'' .t.
! II, experiments appear ~ '.'
! II was I"'N '"''". wy
/ "'lcr lh''"N'" VI ~" ''"'
| NI. Church has some Interesting '"'P"IS u''"
the personal characteristics OF Eil'~>oh. h''
is said upon his religion l. suggestive. ''"IN ''
/ be- WAS "a rank macrnllS', >" dominated NV '"'
! laws of mechanics th3t Ar c''ld S' h"'I"" ="
! yond them in the universe. Every machine