Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1905-03-14
INVENTIONS DUE TO BOYS.
Great Achievements In Sciences and
Mechanics Brought About by Boys.


Great Achievements In Seienos and
Mechanics Brought About by Boys.
Captain Cody, the inventor Of the
aeroplane kite, who recently gave an
exhibition at the Crystal Palace Of his
new man lifting air machine, was con-
siderably astonished when, on the
morning Of the trial, q couple Of mod
els of his invention came fluttering
gayly over the grounds from outside.
Subsequent Investigation, says Pear
sons Weekly, proved that the tiny
duplicates had been built to scale by
a couple of precocious Penge youths,
who had made mental notes Of the
principles. upon which Mr.. Cody's orr
ginals were, constructed while on a
visit to the Palace some days pre-
viously.
The boys had spent the whole Of
their pocket money in materials, had
occupied their spare time in putting
the kites together, and had utilized
the spacious coal yard attached to the
Penge Railway station for the conduct
Of their preliminary experiments.
Sir John Brown, who made the first
roller armor plates for modern bat
tleships. was but a lad Of sixteen when
the sight of a carriage worked by a
spiral spring at village fair suggest
ed to him the conical spring buffer for
railway trucks. out Of which, after a
long struggle. he ultimately made a
fortune.
Eli Whitney, the inventor Of the
cotton gin, got the germ Of his great
idea from seeing. through the inter-
stices Of a hut, an old negro work q
handsaw among the freshly picked
cotton stored within.
The teeth of the saw tore the lint
from the seed easily and quickly, and
young Whitney Che was barely thirteen
at the time), realized at once that a
machine working number Of similar
saws simultaneously would revolution
Ize the cotton growing industry.
He said nothing to anybody. but set
to work building models and expert
menting. His difficulties were enor-
nous, for he not only had to make his
own wheels, cogs, etc., but he had also
first to forge his own tools, and even
to manufacture the paint wherewith
to- color his many plans and drawings
But he succeeded in the end, and
though the outbreak Of war and other
hindrances prevented the invention
from being actually placed upon the
market until many years afterward,
the first complete cotton gin ever con-
structed was built from those very
models and plans, and with scarcely
a single alteration.
At Attercliffe, near Sheffield, In 1760,
there lived a matchmaker named
Huntsman. whose temper had often
been tried by the defective quality Of
the watch springs then In use.
He sometimes wondered IL It were
not possible to make these articles of
like nature, and at last came to the
conclusion that IL he could only melt
a piece of steel and cast 1t into an In
got, its composition would be the same
throughout. -. -s4s
He experimental, and at last sue
ceeded. The supply created the de-
mand. And ere long Huntsman was
turning out cast steel ingots by the
hundreds Of tons, and reaping for
tune.
The workmen Of the mills were paid
very high wages, and were sworn to
secrecy. Nor did they betray their
trust-at least not Willingly.
But one bitter night they gave shell
ter to a wan, half frozen lad, dressed
In tattered corduroys. He asked no
questions. Indeed, he seemed doing
most Of the time in the warm glow Of
the furnaces.
Nevertheless, when he went he took
the secret of steel casting with him,
and within half a dozen weeks there
were as many mill owners In Shefield
working the new process.
Samuel Crompton, boy Of 1s. cop
led the best features Of the spinning
machine invented by Hargreayes and
added to them some Of his
own and, after thirty months OF anx-
ious and secret experimenting, pro-
duced the first spinning mule-so-call-
ed because 1t was a kind Of hybrid be-
tween Hargreaves's jenny and Ark
wright's waterframe.
The raw apprentice lad was, how
ever. no match In cunning for the cot
ton lords, who soon found out the Sc
cret of his new machine and shame
lessly robbed him Of the fruits Of his
ingenuity.
Many years afterward, 1t Is true,
they used their influence to secure for
him a parliament grant Of $4,000. but
he was then a broken hearted and dis
appointed man, to whom the money
came too late to be Of any real SER
vice.
The late Sir Isaac Holden's inven-
tions In connection with the wool
combing industry have almost obscur-
ed from the public's remembrance the
fact that he was also the originator
Of the lucifer match.
This happened while filling the po-
sition Of lecturer on chemistry at the
Castle Street Academy, Reading. He
used to rise at In the morning In
order to pursue his studies and found
the old fashioned flint and steel ex-
tremely inconvenient. So, one day,
he made a paste Of phosphorus and
other substances, stuck 1t on the end
Of a silver of wood and found 1t would
ignite on being rubbed against any
rough substance.
Holden himself did not realize the
Importance Of his discovery. Not SO,
however, a pupil Of his to whom he
showed 1t. This youngster, VINO
Glanced to be the son Of a London
chemist, at once wrote
10 his father about it, and shortly af-
Ter lucifer matches were issued to the
world.
Lord Armstrong as a boy was in
ended for the law, but as 1t happened |