The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1906-12-15
INVENTED ELECTRIC MOOR
rhOma, DNsnpOr. v,'moni y ssk'ml'h
Made First oas.

the Lake Champlain shore at Port
Henry, n. y, by wilherbee, sherman
& Co Is not only additional evidence
Of the increased use OF electricity In
mining but IL recalls the fact that
Thomas Davenport, the Vermont olHck'
smith who Invented the electric motor,
derived his inspiration from watching
the magnetic separalors NJ work Ia
those very iron mines sixty odd years
ago,
The lower lake Champlain region pro-
duces a goodly portion Of the 'Uni'ed
states annual supply or Iron or'. The
Varlous shafts Of this company alone
yield from 500, 600 to 100000 tons OF
ore yearly while with the new eleetri.
cal equipment lhe output will be 1000,
200 tons. OElng 10 the fact that tho
various shahs are scattered over a
considerable area, electricity has been
found 10 be ihc most ncxlble form OF
power transmission ADD Is almost unl'
yersally used.
The new concrete powerhouse will be
erected six miles from the mines aud
will aid la supply INK the Increased dc.
mand for power. The entire electrical
equipment will be, furnished by tho
General Electric company.
Thomas Davenport, the self-,aught
blacksmith whose hobby was the study
and application OF. .electro'magnetism,
was born Ia the little village OF Will
llamstown. W., July o, 1902. Al the
age,of II he became apprenticed 10 4
blacksmith and as young man VAS u
skilled machiDlst
one da, the young blacksmith had
occ,slon To 20 TO Port Henry on busl'
ness at the iron mines and while there
he was greatly Interested In tbs mag.
netic operators. From that very day
he began study OF electricity and
magnetism which ceased only with bis
death and iromIthose rude ideas gath.
cred ut the mines came the first electric
motor.
10 that remote, Scountry village In
1884 Davenport constructed his work.
ing machine In crude form and dur
ing the next six years he built over
hundred motors OF different patterns.
The first exhibitions Of electric mo.
tors we're given IT the Rensselaer, in.
stItute Ia Troy and.at the Franklin In.
stitute, Philadelphia. a motor pur-
chased in 1870 was found years after In
the cabinet at the Troy school. Soon
after the first motors we're built Mr.
Davenport worked with Ransom Cook
OF Saratoga, finished mechanic aud
a very ingenious mru and the two ma
chinists perfected several fine models
Of the electric motors. With these
models the men went TO New York In
1887 and gave exhibitions that aston.
ishsd the world. not much less than the
invention OF the telegraph by Prof $
+. -. Morse, whichlNas made public
IN that same year but few months af-
ter the electric motor.
Davenport's drst locomotive was
constructed on the principle % fixed
field magnet below and revolving
armatu re above which is reversed
twice In every revolution. This com
oioation is the basis OF every motor
today. Among the other models was
one having a horse shoe field magnet
and four pole armature with curved
pole pieces which is an advanced type
Of motor.
In the year 1884, Davenport had
one horse power motoriset up in New
York and startedsto print the pioneer
electrical journal of America. The
publication was weekly entitled "The
Electro Magnet and Mechanics Intel
ligencer. IL survived only few is
sues. 1t was printed by electrical
power.
So absorbed was Davenport in the
wonderful study OF electricity that he
spent not only all his time but all his
money in the pursuit OF this knowledge.
He was a strong advocate OF the mag
netic theory and applied it to every
thing, even the human body.
Very little financial success attend
ed the efforts OF this great inventor
and he died practically poor man,
July 6, 1851, at Salisbury, VT. In 1916
he stopped experimenting with motors
and turned his attention to the appli-
cation of electricity to the strings of
musical instruments.
Wonderful indeed are the strides
electricity has taken since Davenport |
first set his crude motor in working |
order. Who would have dreamed
that the rough country blacksmith |
who stood watching the spectators
working in the mines SO long ago |
would aid so materially in the inven-
ton of modern mining machinery? |
Stronger still is the fact that the prin