Wager Timber Scale Slide Rule
date: label: date made
content: 1902-1921
name: label: maker
content: Wager-Smith, Edward
notes: label: Description
content: Edward Wager-Smith (1872–1920), a native of New Jersey, graduated from the Spring Garden Institute in Philadelphia in 1889 and in 1893 gained employment as a draftsman for Merritt & Company, a structural steel firm in Philadelphia. As he rose to the position of structural engineer by 1910, he invented the Wager Timber Scale and the Merritt Beam Scale (1987.0108.02). This rule assisted architects and construction workers with computing the strength of wooden beams. It has 11 scales: A, thickness in inches; B, depth in inches; C, spacing in feet; D, span in feet; E, fibre [<i>sic</i>] stress in pounds per square inch; F, load in pounds per square foot; G, type of wood; H, depth in inches; I, method of loading; J, span in feet; and K, fibre stress in pounds per square inch. Scales A-B-C-D-E-F are meant to be used together, as are scales A-B-I-J-K-L and scales G-H-I-J.
label: Description
content: The back of the instrument gives government recommendations and regulations for safe stresses on wooden beams and a moisture classification chart by A. L. Johnson, "Economical Designing of Timber Trestle Bridges," U.S. Department of Agriculture Division of Forestry Bulletin No. 12 (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1902), 11–12. The instrument fits in an orange paper envelope, which has instructions on its flap.
label: Description
content: This rule was distributed by the John Howard Herrick Company of Baltimore, a dealer of hardware and building materials. A photographer by avocation, Wager-Smith also designed the Wager Exposure Scale (patented in 1901—see 1993.0386.01) for correctly timing photographic exposures and the Wager Definition Scale (copyright 1905—see 1993.0386.02 and PG*4750) for determining the longest exposure allowable to produce clearly defined images of moving objects.
label: Description
content: The instrument is marked on the front and on the envelope: The Wager Timber Scale (/) FOR COMPUTING THE STRENGTH OF WOODEN BEAMS. It is also marked in both places: THE JOHN HOWARD HERRICK CO. (/) BALTIMORE, MD., U.S.A. It is also marked in both places: PRICE ONE DOLLAR. It is also marked on the front: PAT. JULY 1ST, 1902. This refers to a patent for a "slide-scale" resembling the Merritt Beam Scale and issued on that date to James S. Merritt of Philadelphia. The Wager Timber Scale was advertised for sale from Philadelphia by January 1905 and was mentioned in a textbook as late as 1921.
label: Description
content: References: "Wager-Smith, E.," <i>National Cyclopaedia of American Biography</i> (New York: James T. White, 1926), xix:136–137; "Notes and Comment," <i>The New Photo-Miniature</i> 6, no. 3 (1904): 558; James S. Merritt, "Slide Scale" (U.S. Patent 703,437 issued July 1, 1902); "The Wager Timber Scale," <i>Municipal Journal and Engineer</i> 18, no. 1 (1905): 48; "Municipal and Technical Literature: New Publications," <i>Municipal Engineering</i> 29, no. 6 (1905): 448–449; Ernst McCullough, <i>Practical Structural Design</i> (New York: U.P.C. Co., 1921), 81.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
topic: label: Subject
content: Mathematics
label: Subject
content: Rule, Calculating
label: Subject
content: Carpentry
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Mathematics
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content: Engineering, Building, and Architecture
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content: Science & Mathematics
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content: Slide Rules
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Transfer from Smithsonian Institution Libraries
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1987.0108.01
label: accession number
content: 1987.0108
label: catalog number
content: 1987.0108.01
objectType: label: Object Name
content: slide rule
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: paper (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: metal (part material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: .3 cm x 24.8 cm x .3 cm; 1/8 in x 9 3/4 in x 1/8 in