The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1905-01-06
GET THE COLD SHOULDER.
Unkindness Of Humanity Toward In
ventors Who HIVE Moved the
\. World Forward. <

lie or meuOlT "a WaIt, IuS AAoo y AAS
made the steam engine practical. Watt
didn't know exactly what he was doina
for the race, but II you all sit down and
try to think of the world without steam
engines you will begin to understand,
| says the Minneapolis journal. I. .-y
| And Just at this point there comes
along a man in New York somewhere
named Hoffman, who claims, after 30
years struggle, to have invented a "ro-
tary" steam engine which will relegate
to the scrapheap all the engines now In
use. Nearly all the people who know
anything about engines give Mr.. Hoff-
man the incredulous smile. And per-
haps rightly. So they did Watt. But in
his case they were wrong.
When Watts engine was first talked
about there were numbers of scientific
persons who rose up to give expert opin-
ions on the subject, and, with very few
exceptions, their opinions were exceed
ingly unfavorable. They were sure it
could not succeed, for one reason, some
for another. One declared that the CO.
hesive strength of iron was insufficient
to- do the work that Watt expected; an
other detailed an experiment he had
male with an iron vessel which burst
un( Dr. the strain, a fact that led him to
believe that no boiler could be. made
strong enough to resist the expanding
steam. A third felt sure that il the en-
CINE were set to work the weaker parts
would all give way. ,s&
But the prophecies of the scientists in
regard to the steam engine were nothing
to the forebodings of the working peo-
pie, who foresaw themselves thrown
out of employment, and who repeatedly
threatened to "do" Watt. r
If you want to get the incredulous
smile or the hatred of those who are
benefited or who might be benefited il
they would you want to invent or dis
cover something radically new or some
new application Of an old idea. About
"a million people who don't know what
you are doing and don't care rise up to
knock and sit down virtuously to feast
afterward, perfectly sure that they have
done God service.
When, in 1845, it was announced that
a man named Howe had invented ma
chine that could sew, every tailor gave
a loud boot of derision, the idea being
deemed superlatively ridiculous. One
knight of the shears said that no sewing
machine could be made to work unless
1t could be made to sit cross-legged.
Comic poems were printed in the news
papers, and predictions, intended to be
humorous, were volunteered that ma
chimes would soon be invented that
would sweep the house from cellar TO
garnet, run errands and tend the baby
when the woman of the establishment
wanted to CAD about.
Not tailor in America had the slight
est faith in the machine, and many re-
fused even to look at it when Howe took
it to their places to exhibit its workings.
None would use it, for they were afraid
1t would ruin their trade, and the popu-
lar prejudice among them continued
long after it's success had been demon
strated. But before this they were prac-
tically unanimous in predicting it's fall
ure. The idea that a machine could be
made to do the work of human fingers
in an operation so delicate as that of
sewing was something entirely beyond
comprehension. - ~
The history Of the human race has
ever shown that humanity is an ass
but not an incurable one. Here is where
we part company with pessimists. They
believe that our asirinity is incurable.
We think it will wear away with time.
It has in the past, why shouldn't it keep
on? At any rate, let us try not to add
to the general bray that is going up, but
let us work and pray for the general
shortening up of ears that is sure to
come about more and more as we be-
come wiser and better. It's cheaper.