The morning call., 1893-01-09
A FORGOTTEN INVENTION.
Strange Legend Regarding the Dis
covery of Steam Power.


There lived IN Normandy. where no was
born, in l576. man named solomon Caus.
He was an engineer and architect, and had
held many important positions. lie wrote
great many scientific works and papers Of
which. however, no one took much noiiee
during his life. ana finally was seized With
an idea which made lis friends and relatives
fear that he was mad. After FOSTERING the
King and the Cardinal at Paris, he was
ordered TO b. taken 20 Bicetre-the mai
house-and there shut 40. This WAS done
They bad just one way Win mai people 10
those days.
They shut them in iron cages and fed
them through the bars like VII beasts
Ih1j did this g. solomon avs ter "a Tone
iiree "a stood habss ,hsss. he.= al .sse y
called 70 .huse who would iisirn. ami o.
them repeated the story be hal told the
Cardinal lie became the Jest Of the place
some OF them even gave him Wuting
materials. and then. amid tie misery OF his
surroundings. he wrote down his ideas and
amused his jailers so much tue more.
However. Il could no. be long before such a
life, such surroundings, would shatteT any
brain. La time Sol0man Caus was as mad
as every one believed him.
Ii was in 1924 that an English nobleman,
Lord Worcester. went to Paris and visited
Bceire. As he was passing through the
u
hIdeOus face with matted beard and hal.
appeared at the grating and voice shrieked
wildly. stop! stop! | am not mad. am
shut up here most uniustly. | have made
an invention which would enrich country
that adopted IT," What does he speak
ofY' the Marquis asked his guide. "OH
that Is his Madness, said the man, laugh.
Ing. THAT is man called Solomon
Caus; he is from Normandy; he believes
that by the use Of the steam of boiling
water he can make ships 20 over the
ocean and carriages travel by land in fact,
do all sorts Of wonderful things. He has
even written book about it which | can
show YOU" Lord Worcester asked for the
book. glanced over 1t and desired to be con
Quoted to the cell OF the writer. When he
returned he had been weeping THE poor
man Is certainly mad now" he said, but
when You imprisoned him here he was the
greatest genius Of the age. He has certainly
made very great discovery. After this
Lord Worcester made many efforts 10 pro-
cure the liberation OF the man who doubtless
would have been restored to reason by free
dom and ordinary surroundings, but in vain
the Cardinal was against him, and his Eng
lish friend began to fancy that he himself
had lost his senses, for one wrote TO an
other: My lord is remarkable for never
being satisfied With any explanations which
are given him, but always wanting to know
for himself. although he seems to pietce to
the very center oil sneakers thoughts with
his big blue eyes that never leave theirs
At visit to Bicetre he thought he had dis
covered genius in mailman, who declares
he would travel the world over with a kettle
of boiling water. He desired 10 carry him
away to London that he might listen to his
extrayagances from morning till night. and
would. L think, If the maniac had not been
actually raving and chained to the wall"
Thus In Bicetre died the man to whom,
after his works were published, many
people gave the credit of being the dis
coverer of steam power, and il is said that
from the manuscript written in his prison
Lord Worcester gathered the idea of
machine spoken of as "water-command-
ing engine" which he afterward invented.
Historians have denied that Caus died in
prison, but there exists a letter written BY
Marion de L0rme. who was with Lord
Worcester at the time of his interview with
Caus. which establishes the fact beyond
doubt.