The new North-west. [volume] (Deer Lodge, Mont.) 1869-1897, 1890-10-24
ERICSSON'S LIFE WORK.
HOW THE INVENTOR HOPED TO
DEFEND NEW YORK HARBoR.

IltlAaJJV4S ~ IlIH w O1lAs
HOW THE INVENTOR HOPED TO
DEFEND NEW YORK HARBoR.
HIS Genius and His Money Concentrated
In tho Completion Of the Torpedo
Boat Des.royer-Death Interrupts Him
in His Plans.
In an obscure pare Of the Brooklyn navy
yard, behind the Cob dock, half submerged
In the accumulated mud OF six years. lies
the iron vessel Destroyer, to which John
Ericsson devoted the energies OF the last
seven years Of his life, and upon the sue
cessful completion of which he hoped to
achieve a success second only to that Of his
Monitor. my life work. said the great
inventor two months before his death to
an engineer who had been near and dear
to him since the eventful days OF 1861, 'is
to provide q means OF defense for New
York hsrbor." It was with this Destroyer,
now neglected and almost forgotten, that
he had hoped to defend the greatest harbor
of the country to which he had given his
genius. .-@.
"At the time he spoke to ME of his life
work" J" said the engineer above referred to-
"he was active enough to go up stairs two
steps at time, and his shoulders were
quite as erect as they were twenty-five
years before, when he and I worked to-
gether over the plans of the Monitor. In
those few months just preceding his death
Inever saw him so filled with determina-
tion. He based all the hopes of his life
upon the Destroyer. He thought Of moth
ing else He worked for no other object.
To defend the harbor Of New York was
the crowning ambition of his life, fitting
goal in which to close SO useful and 80
brilliant a career.
HIS DESTROYER A FAILURE.
DAY after day, night after night, he
watched the progress of that boat Us a
mother watches her child 1 never saw
such Jealous devotion. He and his true
friend, the late c. H Delamater, paid out
OF their private purses the $4,000 neces-
sary to build the Destroyer This is n
pretty big sum for two men to pay on an
experiment, but they did it without n
scruple, Ericsson feeling confident that his
new craft would be heartily received by
the government to whom he had, in a sim
liar spirit OF generosity, given the Monitor.
His hopes were strengthened after the De-
stroyer was launched by series of very
successful tests made in the North river
These trials ran through several years, and
they were witnessed and highly com
mended by boards Of experts.
And yet when the Destroyer was COM
pleted it was not purchased by the govern
ment. Perhaps the vessel lacked certain
requirements, perhaps she was deficient in
many things that have been recently sup
piled in later models. Yet the system upon
which that vessel was built is precisely the
system upon which torpedo guns so
called, are built today, and, for the very
reason that the Destroyer served as q
model for torpedo experts in subsequent
years, say it is a shame that Ericssons
great invention was allowed to lose itself
in the unnoticcd wrecks of the old time
hulks."
The Destroyer is an iron vessel 1870 feet
long, II feet wide and II feet deep. pro
tected by n wrought iron breastwork Of
great strength near the bow. The vessel
was designed to supplant the widely prev
alent system Of rams. Placed along the
keel, projecting from the bow, was subma-
rine gun Of lG inch cnliber, 80 feet long, the
muZZle projecting through the opening at
the stem. The proiectile is 25 feet long,
and as originally designed it weighed 1900
pounds, including its explosive, which con
sisted Of 800 pounds Of gun cotton. The
Destroyer attacks bows on, discharging its
proiectile ut a distance Of 500 feet from tho
enemy.
"a be,vv bodv of rau1lur Torn, J, ,rr,+o
Er;rsson I;mseif nc anil. ne 1e-e ..,.hoso
density is oraatar tban tbat of atn,osnbar;o
mir movin, IatoralIy +hronyb tha IN, Il,
nhere ,s inevorah1v yndar +ba ;na,o,on ~
Tho e.rtb,s ,ttrnot;en ma tharafara ~ a.
srrihns a foroa tort anad ,>oraha1Ia ~, -
d,,r;ro ;ts fi,,lt. ,,l,;1n s,,h.os.aa I,a,,'
tho we;,,ht of ,v};ch iu annol ~ IA ,ro+ar
II 5isnlsnns l. rnt atYaotaJ ~, ~ ...,',.
attr,rtion ,n1 nonsa,,,o,tI,, l. ra,,+ ~ ~ - ~
tio,,1nIn, tho snrfuoa ~ - ,,;os,.an+ a11;a
ofn,,li,nit.d oytant s,n1, 49,. Iii 'aa.' -
tinrn ~ ,nnya ~, :, ,rai-ht H. ,,ti1 ~,
morire no1v4r ,vb;nl, nronais II haon,,a<.
iass, ti,,t, tin ,as;s,;n,r - ec.aa - - n.'.
ro,,nd;nn ,nodi,,,, ;, ''ee - VA' 'e''7
rTha aIrant,aas of ,ho nas+,o,,o,. >,,,,,u
,hr ram ,re plni,1v ,nn,rant nnd thn,,
| form :. n,rt rho cont rni,;ne ;don !, ~,
| construct;on of o,r nav, shi,s .,,.hora tha
r,n, and tha torn,f,n h,tl hn,,o r,Iana
| lIavino, nnnro,cbaL ,y;thin r.nro ~ na.
| strovnr VA. dor;,,nad ~ .ona . t,>n,oa,,
| throuob thn wntor a;ma1 II tho noe, NJ
,,o,+ 49,, ~, - ~ - -
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