The daily morning journal and courier., 1896-05-07

l department and secure through malls over the Shore Line road, but long and exciting struggle was necessary be- | fore the result was obtained. Mean- while the war had begun and MT Bush- nell turned his attention to shipbuild- | ing, employing the services of MT. Samuel H, Pook. one of the most ex- perienced and scientific naval con structors in the United States, who af- ter the completion of the stars and Stripes" had matured plans for the iron plated steamer Galena. At the request of Hon. Gideon Welles, secretary of | the navy, MT. Bushnell, greatly aided | by Hon. James E. English, member Of congress from New Haven, had already secured the passage of @ bill authoriz- ing the secretary of the navy to appoint three naval experts to examine all plans for iron vessels and adopt whatever might be approved. Under this bill a contract was entered into for the con- struction oe the Galena. But many naval officers doubling the ability of the l vessel to carry the amount of armor l proposed, the plans were submitted to | Captain John Ericsson of New York, who pronounced them satisfactory, say | ing that the vessel would easily per- | form the work that was expected of her. It was at this interview, how ever, that the plan of the Monitor was | first brought to light. MT. Bushnell l having gained the information he de- sired concerning the Galena was about to retire when Captain Ericsson asked him if he would like to see a battery | that would be absolutely impregnable l to the heaviest shot and shell, and then | placed before him the model of the | Monitor, which he had invented many years before, but winch owing to the strained relations existing between him and the navy department he had never presented to the United States govern ment
 | OYerioyed at the discovery of the Monitor and received carte blanche to to with the invention as he thought best MT. Bushnell at once called on Secretary Welles and laid the plans be- fore him, announcing that the coun- | try was now safe. He next associated himself with Messrs. Griswold and Winslow of Troy, N. r., as partners in
 the enterprise, offering each of them l quarter interest in the undertaking, retaining a quarter each for himself and Captain Ericsson, and then with his as- sociates submitted the plan to the naval
 board. President Lincoln was greatly pleased with the plan, as were the two members of the board, Admirals Smith and Paulding. But Captain Davis de- 1 clared that he would never sign a re- port recommending its adoption. Mat ters thus had come to a standstill, and | .,il %oIr had not Mr Bushnell by pardonable subterfuge succeeded in getting Cap tain Ericsson to come to Washington and plead the case before the assembled board, which resulted in the adoption of the Monitor. though under such con- ditons as to make her construction the result of ardent patriotism of her build CTS, who were under obligations to re- fund the money advanced by the gov ernment on account, in case the vessel should not prove a success on her trial trip. It should be borne in mind that the Monitor was the property of the gentlemen above named when she went into action at Hampton Roads, and by defeating the Merrimac saved Wash ington and the Union. Meanwhile other enterprises were on foot A shipyard was established in Fair Haven, from which MT Bushnell turned out more steamships for the government than were furnished by any other builder in the country. In connection with Cap tain Ericsson and associates eight mon itor batteries, much improved on the original, were constructed, among them the Puritan and Dictator, either of | which could have contended successful Fly with the navy of any nation in the
 world.
 His relation with the government ne-
 cessitated his frequent presence in
 Washington and brought him in ire quent contact with many public men.
 One Of them, Senator Dixon of Hart ford, placed MT. Bushnells name in the
 original Pacific railroad bill as one of the incorporators, and from that time forward this enterprise commanded his closest attention. He attended the meeting for organization in Chicago in 1863, and was appointed one of1the com
 mittee to procure subscriptions to the stock, s2,000,000 being required and 20 per cent. paid in before the company could begin business. Of this $2,000, ,000 MT. Bushnell secured more than three | dHu NdS IlIllSell lllt ldESeSC subscriber to the original stock. He was also largely instrumental in secur-
 ing the amendment of 1864 without which it would have been impossible to complete the road. He was also the only incorporator who remained from first to last in connection with the en-
 terprise, leaving the company only af-
 ter it had become great success, and
 unfortunately for himself embarking in the construction of what is now the Atlantic and Southern Pacific railroad. Owing to the great financial depression in 1873 and the repudiation of Louis jana, the company, from which MT. | Bushnell was to receive millions of dol lars on contract failed and so embar- rassed him that he was compelled to suspend, losing thus the large fortune which he had been twenty years in ac- | cumulating. Overwork and anxiety prostrated him, and for some years hs health was far from good. During 1864 he purchased an extensive iron property called the Iron Ridge in Wis consin, and erected a blast furnace, us- ing charcoal as fuel, making pig iron at a lower price per ton than any other furnace in the country. This property he sold to Byron Kilbourn's Rolling Mill company for a large profit on the | scrfT al a !. cod o