The Windham County reformer. (Battleboro, Vt.) 1876-1897, 1893-03-24

tween tnem ana That, because OF It's nOn.ful
flImcnt he felt that he was greatly wronged
as well as having his Invention mlsa .)proprla
ted.
In regard to this charge Of Morey's, Prof
X. Il. Thurston, In his Life gives full ere
dence to the claims of Mnrey as to the jpyen
tion OF 1870 and 1893 at Fairlee. VT, accept.
Ing the statement of VIM A. Morey as pub.
lished In the Providence journal In 1874.
Cyrus Mann has seen much of the cores
pondence between Prof. Sillman of New Ha,
ven and Morcy, and also of others, which
successfully established the claims. Some OF
this correspondence Is in existence TODAY,
Knox, In his Life of Fllton, accepts the state.
ment OF Morey's biographer that he had prob
ably boat on the Connec icut river at Fair.
lee between 100 and 1893; but In regard to
the charge that he had exhibited the same TO
Fulton, 1t Is claimed by Fulton's biographers
that ne was In France at the time the plans of
the Claremont were made, and could not have
known OF what was TRANSPORTING in the new
world with this Vermonter.
| Howe. in his "Eninrnt Mechanics" also
accepts the statement that Morey did mature
and operate a stern.wheel steamboat at Fair.
| lee In 1913. This last author assigns to Ful-
ton the position, not of having been the orig
,nal inventor nor the protector. but rs a sue
cessful person who satisfied the law of the
state OF New York to receive Its prize; and
as the frat TO establish n regular line OF
steamboats,; and by his genius and persever.
ance so improved them as to lay solid foun-
dalton for tn )se who came after him.
| This, you SEQ, places the success of Fulton
entirely upon the commercial side of the en-
| terprise. and takes him out Of the category of
| an inventor leaving the honor to Others, which
we IN Vermont may we'll claim that so far as
1908 Is concerned, the problem has been
completely solved and was'in practical oper-
alton upon the waters.
,r,ho 4
at Fairlee and Oxford was visited bv Chan
celor Livingston before 1907. but the exact
date have not been able to learn and he made
an offer of $1,000 for the right OF using this
invention on North River. The story of an
offer OF 300 900 is not 80 well founded. The
patent for this invention was issued to Mercy
and signed by the president. George Washing
ton. 1t Is singular in its phraseOlogy; It is a
patent for the securing of power by means of
steam. Morey thinking If he could propel y
wheel by steam he might do so whenever and
to whatever II could be applied.
Thomas Davenport, the Inventor of the
Telegraph, the Electric Motor and Elec
trio Railways.
Among the most important Inventions with
which mankind has to do at the present time
is the use of electricity In its variant phases.
To Vermont belongs the credit of having
given to the world the earliest successful har-
ucSSiu2 VI m1Sutb'Sf1, Ut
as 1t was then called, or electricity, as we
now term 1t. through the Inventions Of one
Thomas Davenport. native of Williams
town. This ingenious man was by trade
blacksmith. and worked at his trade In Bran.
don until 1892, when he became intensely IN
teresten In magnetism. and many years lived.
dreamed and worked, surrounded by the sue.
cessfu demonstration of his skill In the de-
velopmnnt OF various electrical apparatus.
In 1884 he had made an electric motor set
ting it upon the top of an earthen drinking
cup, which contained a battery that operated
the motor at the top, which had horizontal
re voving shaft, with the balance wheel at
one end. He exhibited this model IN New
York to a syndicate of gentlemen who pro-
posed to buy it. Among those whom they
brought to examine it for the purpose Of get
ting an opinion was Prof. s. B. Morse, who
carefully examined it and then declined to
give an opinion other than this, "It Is certain
" worthy of careful consideration, and the
subject Is one In which l feel lively inter-
est"
Davenport also Invented 24-wire tele-
graph for the sending OF communications
over long distances. This he had on exhibit. |
ton In the city of New York, and 1t was also
examined by Prof. Morse, and In the New
York Recorder. published In the summer of
1881. a paper edited by Prof. MOrse's brother, |
there is a long article containing reference to
Jub lnVhHtiOn Ol t06 slDgle WIZ tcleStdpu Suu |
also 24.wire telegraph.
"a gentleman of our acquaintance several
years since suggested that any intelligence
might be communicated almost instantaneous
~ hundreds, If not thousands OF miles. BY /
means of very fine wires. properly coated to
Drotr Ct them from moisture and extending
between places thus widely separated. II is
we'll known that the electric fluid occupies no
oerceptlble time In passing many mics on a
wire, and If it Is possible by connecting one
md of the wire with an electrical or galvanic
battery to produce any sensible effect what
'ver Mt the other, 1t Ia obvious that II there
ire "a wires. each representing letter OF the
Ilphabet, they may be connected with the
,atterv successfully In any order. and II so
connected In the order of the letters of any
word or sentence. that word or sentence could
re read or written bv a person standing at the
ther end of the wires. All the paragraphs
4 a newspaper could thus be touched bv a
nan In Philadelphia, and tie contents. cerba-
I'M ct htera'um. convened to New York as
ast as com posltor could set I'D the tvpe"
This Is understood to have reference both .
D the invention Of Morse and that Of Daven. !
ort. and Prof. Pope of New York, after a {
lll Investigation of all the tauces, and !
avlng consulted with many gentlemen who +
aw the model and were conversant with the Q
circumstances. has come to the conclusion '
rat Davenport, inventing as be did. bis "a
iIc lcIo2Idpus uau WIG ioi ShSu l.,
tier of the aiphihet. which was examined = =
= Prof. Morse, furnished the basis of the b
tiers invention. a
Morse did not begin to think of q single c
ire until 1855. lie had gone no farther Il
ian the thought of the use of magnetism with r.
lie wire. but when be saw the q wire inven-
on of Davenport with the mechanism at one V
I'd for sending the electric current and the o
)paratus at the other for registering the sig o.
n, the problem was solved What Morse ~
d was to invent an alphabet enabling him to
spense with % Of Davenport's wires and use q
p remaining one. lie
Mr.. Davenport also exhibited bis invention Ell
1885 at Mtddlebury college, then at the In sc
tuition at Troy, presided over by Miss VIII al
I'd; then st Princeton college, and also 10 70
sw York, Springfield and Boston. Prof. i te
seph Henry gave him certificate attesting N N
e originality of his invention. His first ar
tent was dated Feb. %, 1887. and was for Ia
g broad use of magnetism "a the propelling re
rec for motive power. Mr.. Ellsworth, then Is
the head OF the patent Office, on the 4th Of ne
y 1883, wrote TO him that his was the first %
tent issued to anyone for such an inven- Ri
N. l.,
In 1910 he begin the publication of news NJ
per in the city Of New York, the printing FL
ess of which was driven by one of his cleo
C motors. and In one of the editions he
lnts an editorial giving an estimated com ii
rson between the cost OF steam when GER s su
tied nv the use Of wood, and power pro. vi
ced from electricity. and showing by his
sic large balance IA favor OF electricity;
d then he adds, THE power Of electricity
far superior to steam. and must and will
umphanty succeed" q prophecy which st'
ty years later Is being fulfilled. es
Among bis Inventions rs that OF circular In
lway, a model two and onc-halt feet In .rs
lmeter having been made In 1857 aud sold an an
the Troy seminary presided over by Mise an
llard, ana IL mas renamed IN troy until thu
o years ago when 1t was procured by Prof. 81,
pc and presented bv him tn the society Of I'M
,cirlcsI Euglneers of New York. de
10 that model, there Is a stand for the bat co 90.
Y, n circular track. magnetic field, revolv- ro
armature, divided commutator, the con. bn
stt0u 0f the Qrmafuro nv NJ a laval M