Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1896-12-22

Roman London was about one mile In
| length, from the tower to Ludgate, and
one-half mile In breadth, from the
Thames 10 London wall. Its remsin-
are found at Cheapside, eighteen feet be-
| low the present surface. II Is said to
have been originally called the city of
I.ud, British king who ruled here just
before the Roman period. la the inter
vening centuries il has been visited by
plague. fire, frost, storm and disaster.
At length we halt nj the terminus OF
the railway, and 80 the guard unlocks
aud lets US out, we are besieged by
porters and cahmen; but being unable TO
| dissolve into atoms and give them all
chance, we submit To the one who grasps
our hand baggage first, and follow him
10 a carriage called "four-wheeler.
We then must return and search Tor our
luggage" for there Is no checking sys-
TEN in England, and one must keep her
eve on her own baggage, and identity 1t
In the baggage wan.
Our destination is the home OF Mr..
Hiram Maxim, the inventor: as the car
riage bears Us thither, through thorough
fare and locality made familiar and inl-
D -
painters, Chas. Dickens, We see and feel
All that he has portrayed; and every
sight l. familiar To our eyes, every sound
10 our ears. as il we had seen X ana
heard II thousands OF times before; even
the beggar that comes 10 our carriage
window, and follows Us 10 the door,
with couutenauce filled with the elo-
auent pathos of hunger, and holding IN
her Youthful but shrivelled hand sick
ly looking fern, importuning Us to buy
seems an old acquaintance; and The SIX
pence we hestow seems but small price
10 nav for this natural experience.
At last. the goal i reached, and we
ARE ushered in by the butler, and iind
warm and tender welcome from the
charming and accomplished mistress of
the house; and Immediately on hearing
of the arrival Of the shipwrccked way
farer, the host hastens To greet us WIN
warm and hearty welcome, and we stand
| In the presence OF the great man 10
whom all the armies OF the earth bow
dnwn-except that of his own country,
where the 1.-The prophet has no honor.
/ 4 presence both striking and impressive
/ for the ewes are the first feature one sees
piercing. bright and very black, rs
/ also are the eyebrows, while the hair and
beard, though thick and abundant, are
vhite-not with the frosts OF winters,
| but with the more severe frosts oi deep
mental study. .,
! II would take volumes To tell you all
that has been said and written about
this man who has been talked OF and
written Of, in the last ten years, more
I than Queen Victoria herself. The Eu-
ropean Journals and contemporaries AL
ways mention him as the great man
and the "eminent inventor lie was
born in 1910. in the town Of Sangeryllle,
Maine. his parents being from the Oldest
families In the United States. lie doubt
| less inherited his taste for scientific pur-
/ suits from his father, who was great
student. and though poor in this world :
goods, was rich in intellectual develop
ment. He has two brothers who have
made their mark in the world OF inven-
| ton. one having recently discovered the
/ lost art of the old Hindoo iron workers,
who could convert iron into metal
hard enough 10 cut glass, and make n
| hole in the hardest steel.
The only schooling young Hiram ever
had Was what could be procured in those
davs at common district school, ana al
the age of II he started out from MS
fathers house with no capital but "A Jack
knife. together with his indomltaoie
will. keen observation and persistence OF
purpose. He was first apprentlced 10 a
carriage maker, and next went TO Fitch
burg. Mass, where he was employed III
hi, uncle's metal working establishment.
Afterwards he entered the factory OF a
philosophical instrument maker in Bos-
ton. and later Joined the staff of an iron
workers and shipbuilders' factory-al-
wavs spending his leisure moments
STUDYING theories and sciences.
| In 1871 he turned his attention to
electrical sciences. and his progress in
that line will be remembered by many
who knew the important part played by
the now famous inventor in the first
davs Of electric lighting, some time be-
fore the name os Edison was Identified
with that pursuit. The first electric
lights in the United States were origin
ated and erected by him. from which he
made fortune, and the multitude OF
other inventions which have emanated
from his fertile brain would number
more than 100. Among them are an au-
tomato gas headlight for locomotives, a
gas generating apparatus, steam trap
or valve, which cannot be excelled and
il still the standard. an automatic fire
extinguisher, an automatic steam pump
ing engine. feed valve heaters, gas max
ing devices, steam and vacuum pumps,
engine governors, gas motors, liquid
meters. apparatus for carburetting air
for illuminating purposes, and many
Others. In 1881 his patent of arc lamps
was put into ''interference" with Edi-
sons. and in four trials the decision was
against Edison, 10 whom he Is said TO be
far superior in originality, fertility and
resource.
His electrical inventions won him the
distinction of the French order OF
Chevalier de la Legion d. Honour, con-
ferred on him by Pres. Grevy, and FOL
his later achievements he has received
decorations from the Queen OF Spain, the
Shah of Persia, the Car Of Russia, and
the Sultan of Turkey, from whom ne
received the order Of the Granc
Medjid, the highest distinction in Tur'
key.
More of Mr. Maxim, his famous gun
and his home life, in my next.
MARTHA MAXIM.