The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1893-02-13
DIscovERER OF THE STEAM ENGINE.
Solomon Caus Was Shut Up In a Madhouse
Because of Great Idea.

becouSe Vi orcht luehs
There lived In Normandy where he was
born in 1915, a man named Solomon Caus,
He was an engineer and architect, and had
held several important positions. He wrote
\ great many scientific works and papers
of which, however, no one took much no
tice during bis life, and finally was seized
with an idea which made his friends and
relatives fear that he was mad After pes.
tering the king and the cardinal at Paris,
he was ordered to be taken to Bicetre-the
madhouse-and there shut up. This was
done. They had just one way with mad
people in those days. They shut them in
iron cages and fed them through the bars
like wild beasts. They did this to Solomon
Claus
For long time he stood behind those
bars all day and called to those who would
listen, and to them repeated the story he
had told the cardinal He became the Jest
of the place Some of them even gave him
writing materials, and then amid the mis-
cry of his surroundings he wrote down his
ideas and amused his jailers so much the
more. However, it could not be long be,
fore such life, such surroundings, would
shatter any brain In time Solomon Caus
was as mad as every one believed him.
1t was in 1924 that an English noblemnn,
Lord Worcester, went to Paris and visited
Bicetre. As he was passing through the
great court accompanied by the keeper
hideous face with matted beard and hair ap-
peared at the grating and a voice shrieked
wildly: stop! stop! am not mad. am
shut up here most unjustly. / have made
an invention which would enrich country
that adopted it." "What does he speak
Off" the marquis asked his guide "Oh
that is his madness" said the guide laugh
NThat 10 n ms nal lIaf Solomon
he is from Normandy. He believes that by
the use of the steam of boiling water he can
make ships so over the ocean and carriages
travel by land-in fact, do all sorts of won
derful things, He has even written book
about 1t, which l can show yon.n Lord
Worcester asked for the book, glanced over
It, and desired to be conducted 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 impris-
oned him he was the greatest genius of the
age. He has certainly made very great
discovery"
After this Lord Worcester made many
efforts to procure the liberation of the man,
who doubtless would have been restored to
reason by freedom and ordinary surround
ings, but In vain; the cardinal was against
him, and his English friends began to fancy
that he himself had lost his senses, for one
wrote to another: MY lord Is remarkable
for never being satisfied with any explana-
tions which are given him. but always
wanting to know for himself although he
seems to pierce to the very center of
speakers thoughts with his big blue eyes
that never leave theirs. At visit to B
cetre he thought he had discovered genius
in mailman who declares he would travel
the world over with a kettle of boiling
water. He desired to carry him away to
London that he might listen to his extrav-
aSances from morning till night, and
would, 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 peo.
pie gave the credit of being the discoverer
OF steam power and it is said that from the
manuscript written in his prison Lord
Worcester gathered the idea of machine
spoken of as a water commanding engine"
which be afterward invented Historians
have denied that Caus died in prison, but
there exists n letter written by Marion de
Lorme, who was with Lord Worcester at
the time of his interview with Caus, which
establishes the fact beyond doubt-London
Invention.