file which includes the original illustrations4 ,see #chcbi-;h4htm or #chcbi-;h4zip3 7https3_/_/www4gutenberg4org_/cache_/epu b_/#chcbi_/pg#chcbi-;images4html7 or 7https3_/_/www4gutenberg4org_/files_/#ch cbi_/chcbi-;h4zip7 ,images of the original pages are available through ,internet ,archive4 ,see http3_/_/www4archive4org_/details_/roman ceofindustr#jj;coch ,transcriber's note3 ,images have been moved from the middle of a paragraph to the closest paragraph break4 ,mixed fractions are represented using forward slash and hyphen in this text version2 for example1 #c-a_/b represents three and a half4 ,no other changes have been made from the original text4 ,illustration3 ,the ,rush for the ,gold-fields4 ,,the ,,romance ,,of ,,industry ,,and ,,invention ,selected by ,,robert ,,cochrane ,editor of ',great ,thinkers and ,workers1' ',beneficent and ,useful ,lives1' ',adventure and ,adventurers1' ',recent ,travel and ,adventure1' ',good and ,great ,women1' ',heroic ,lives1' c4 ,philadelphia ,j4 ,b4 ,lippincott ,company #ahig ,edinburgh3 ,printed by ,w4 ,r4 ,chambers1 ,limited4 ,,preface4 ,our national industries lie at the root of national progress4 ,the first ,napoleon taunted us with being a nation of shopkeepers2 that1 however1 is now less true than that we are a nation of manufacturers--coal1 iron1 and steel1 and our textile industries1 taken along with our enormous carrying-trade1 forming the backbone of the wealth of the country4 ,a romantic interest belongs to the rise and progress of most of our industries4 ,very often this lies in the career of the inventor1 who struggled towards the perfection and recognition of his invention against heavy difficulties and discouragements2 or it may lie in the interesting processes of manufacture4 ,every fresh labourer in the field adds some link to the chain of progress1 and brings it nearer perfection4 ,some of the small beginnings have increased in a marvellous way4 ,such are chronicled under ,bessemer and ,siemens1 who have vastly increased the possibilities of the steel industry2 in the sections devoted to ,krupp1 of ,essen2 ,sir ,w4,g4 ,armstrong1 of the ,elswick ,works1 where #ah1jjj men are now employed alone in the arsenal2 ,maxim1 of ,maxim ,gun fame2 the rise and progress of the cycle industry2 that of the gold and diamond mining industry2 and the carrying-trade of the world4 ,many of the chapters in this book have been selected from a wealth of such material contributed from time to time to the pages of ,chambers's ,journal1 but additions and fresh material have been added where necessary4 ,,list ,,of ,,illustrations4 ,,page ,the ,rush for the ,gold-fields ,frontispiece ,nasmyth's ,steam-hammer #ai ,bessemer ,converting ,vessel #bh ,bessemer ,process #cj ,krupp's #ae4f ,breech-loading ,gun 7breech open7 #dg ,josiah ,wedgwood #eb ,wedgwood at ,work #ef ,portland ,vase #fb ,the ,worcester ,porcelain ,works #fd ,chinese ,porcelain ,vase #ga ,wool-sorters at ,work #hb ,cotton ,plant #aja ,the ,hand-cradle ,method of extracting ,gold #ajc ,welcome ,nugget #ajf ,hydraulic ,gold-mining #aae ,prospecting for ,gold #abe ,square-cut ,brilliant1 ,round-cut ,brilliant1 ,rose-cut ,diamond #acf ,kimberley ,diamond-mine #aci ,some of the ,principal ,diamonds of the ,world #ade ,the ,great ,harry #aec ,gatling ,gun on ,field ,carriage #afc ,nordenfelt-,palmcrantz ,gun mounted on ,ship's ,bulwark #afd ,lord ,armstrong #aff ,rifle-calibre ,maxim ,gun #agh ,one of the ',wooden ,walls of ,old ,england' #ahd ,the ,majestic #ahf ,section of the ,goubet ,submarine ,boat #aij ,the ,dandy-horse #bjd ,the ,great ,eastern and the ,persia #bcb ,the ,campania #bcg ,clipper ,sailing-ship of #ahej-fj #bda ,la ,france #bdf ,the ,great ,eastern paying out the ,atlantic ,cable #bha ,edison with his ,phonograph #bia ,,contents4 ,,chapter ,i4 ,,iron ,,and ,,steel4 ,,page ,pioneers of the ,iron and ,steel ,industry--,sir ,henry ,bessemer-- ,sir ,william ,siemens--,werner von ,siemens--,the ,krupps of ,essen #i ,,chapter ,,ii4 ,,pottery ,,and ,,porcelain4 ,josiah ,wedgwood and the ,wedgwood ,ware--,worcester ,porcelain #ea ,,chapter ,,iii4 ,,the ,,sewing ,,machine4 ,thomas ,saint--,thimonnier--,hunt--,elias ,howe--,wilson--,morey-- ,singer #gb ,,chapter ,,iv4 ,,wool ,,and ,,cotton4 ,,wool4--,what is ,wool8--,chemical ,composition--,fibre--,antiquity of ,shepherd ,life--,varieties of ,sheep--,introduction into ,australia--,spanish ,merino--,wool ,wealth of ,australia--,imports and ,exports of ,wool and ,woollen ,produce--,woollen ,manufacture #ha ,,cotton4--,cotton ,plant in the ,east--,mandeville's ,fables about ,cotton--,cotton in ,persia1 ,arabia1 and ,egypt--,columbus finds ,cotton-yarn and ,thread in #adib--;,in ,africa--,manufacture of ,cloth in ,england--,the ,american ,cotton ,plant #ia ,,chapter ,v4 ,,gold ,,and ,,diamonds4 ,,gold4--,how widely distributed--,alluvial ,gold-mining--,vein ,gold-mining--,nuggets--,treatment of ,ore and ,gold in the ,transvaal--,story of ,south ,african ,gold-fields--,gold-production of the ,world--,johannesburg the ,golden ,city--,coolgardie ,gold-fields--,bayley's discovery of ,gold there #ajb ,,diamonds4--,composition--,diamond-cutt ing--,diamond-mining-- ,famous ,diamonds--,cecil ,j4 ,rhodes and the ,kimberley ,mines #ace ,,chapter ,,vi4 ,,big ,,guns1 ,,small-,,arms1 ,,and ,,ammunition4 ,woolwich ,arsenal--,enfield ,small-arms ,factory--,lord ,armstrong and the ,elswick ,works--,testing ,guns at ,shoeburyness--,hiram ,s4 ,maxim and the ,maxim ,machine ,gun--,the ,colt ,automatic ,gun-- ,ironclads--,submarine ,boats #aeb ,,chapter ,,vii4 ,,the ,,evolution ,,of ,,the ,,cycle4 ,in praise of ,cycling--,number of ,cycles in ,use--,medical ,opinions--,pioneers in the ,invention--,james ,starley--,cycling ,tours #aib ,,chapter ,,viii4 ,,steamers ,,and ,,sailing-,,ships4 ,early ,shipping--,mediterranean ,trade--,rise of the ,p4 and ,o4 and other ,lines--,transatlantic ,lines--,india and the ,east--,early ,steamships--,first ,steamer to cross the ,atlantic--,rise of ,atlantic ,shipping ,lines--,the ,great ,eastern and the ,new ,cunarders ,campania and ,lucania compared--,sailing-ships #bje ,,chapter ,,ix4 ,,post-,,office--,,telegraph--,,telephon e--,,phonograph4 ,rowland ,hill and ,penny ,postage--,a ,visit to the ,post-office-- ,the ,post-office on ,wheels--,early ,telegraphs--,wheatstone and ,morse--,the ,state and the ,telegraphs--,atlantic ,cables-- ,telephones--,edison and the ,phonograph #bdg ,illustration ,,romance ,,of ,,industry ,,and ,,invention4 ,,chapter ,i4 ,,iron ,,and ,,steel4 ,pioneers of the ,iron and ,steel ,industry--,sir ,henry ,bessemer--,sir ,william ,siemens--,werner von ,siemens--,the ,krupps of ,essen4 ,francis ,horner1 writing early in this century1 said that ',iron is not only the soul of every other manufacture1 but the mainspring perhaps of civilised society4' ,cobden has said that 'our wealth1 commerce1 and manufactures grew out of the skilled labour of men working in metals4' ,according to ,carlyle1 the epic of the future is not to be ,arms and the ,man1 but ,tools and the ,man4 ,we all know that iron was mined and smelted in considerable quantities in this island as far back as the time of the ,romans2 and we cherish a vague notion that iron must have been mined and smelted here ever since on a progressively increasing scale4 ,we are so accustomed to think and speak of ourselves as first among all nations1 at the smelting-furnace1 in the smithy1 and amid the ,titanic labours of the mechanical workshop1 that we open large eyes when we are told what a recent conquest all this superiority is6 ,there was1 indeed1 some centuries later than the ,roman occupation1 a period coming down to quite modern times1 during which ,english iron-mines were left almost unworked4 ,in ,edward ,,iii4's reign1 the pots1 spits1 and frying-pans of the royal kitchen were classed among his majesty's jewels4 ,for the planners of the ,armada the greater abundance and excellence of ,spanish iron compared with ,english was an important element in their calculations of success4 ,in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries1 the home market looked to ,spain and ,germany for its supply both of iron and steel4 ,after that1 ,sweden came prominently forward2 and from her1 as late as the middle of the eighteenth century1 no less than four-fifths of the iron used in this country was imported6 ,the reason of this marvellous neglect of what has since proved one of our main sources of wealth lay in the enormous consumption of timber which the old smelting processes entailed4 ,the charcoal used in producing a single ton of pig-iron represented four loads of wood1 and that required for a ton of bar-iron represented seven loads4 ,of course1 the neighbourhood of a forest was an essential condition to the establishment of ironworks2 but wherever such an establishment was effected1 the forest disappeared with portentous rapidity4 ,at ,lamberhurst1 on the borders of ,kent and ,sussex1 with so trifling a produce as five tons per week1 the annual consumption of wood was two hundred thousand cords4 ,the timber wealth of ,kent1 ,surrey1 and ,sussex--which counties were then the centres of our iron industry--seemed menaced with speedy annihilation4 ,in the destruction of these great forests1 that of our maritime power was supposed to be intimately involved2 so that it is easy to understand how1 in those days1 the development of the iron manufacture came to be regarded in the light of a national calamity1 and a fitting subject for restrictive legislation6 ,various ,acts were passed towards the end of the sixteenth century prohibiting smelting-furnaces within twenty-two miles of ,london1 and many of the ,sussex masters found themselves compelled1 in consequence1 to break up their works4 ,during the civil wars of the seventeenth century1 a severe blow was given to the trade by the destruction of all furnaces belonging to royalists2 and after the ,restoration we find the crown itself demolishing its own works in the ,forest of ,dean1 on the old plea that the supply of shipbuilding timber was thereby imperilled4 ,between #agbj and #agcj the ironworks of ,worcestershire and the ,forest of ,dean consumed #ag1cej tons of timber annually1 or five tons for each furnace4 ',from this time' 7the ,restoration71 says ,mr ,smiles1 'the iron manufacture of ,sussex1 as of ,england generally1 rapidly declined4 ,in #agdj there were only fifty-nine furnaces in all ,england1 of which ten were in ,sussex2 and in #aghh there were only two4 ,a few years later1 and the ,sussex iron-furnaces were blown out altogether4 ,farnhurst in ,western1 and ,ashburnham in ,eastern ,sussex1 witnessed the total extinction of the manufacture4 ,the din of the iron hammer was hushed1 the glare of the furnace faded1 the last blast of the bellows was blown1 and the district returned to its original rural solitude4 ,some of the furnace-ponds were drained and planted with hops or willows2 others formed beautiful lakes in retired pleasure-grounds2 while the remainder were used to drive flour-mills1 as the streams in ,north ,kent1 instead of driving fulling-mills1 were employed to work paper-mills4' ,the plentifulness of timber in the ,scottish ,highlands explains the establishment of smelting-furnaces1 in #agec1 by an ,english company at ,bunawe in ,argyllshire1 whither the iron was brought from ,furness in ,lancashire4 ,few of our readers can be unacquainted with the fact that iron-smelting at the present day is performed not with wood but with coal4 ,it will readily1 then1 be understood that the substitution of the one description of fuel for the other must have formed the turning-point in the history of the ,british iron manufacture4 ,this substitution1 however1 was brought about very slowly4 ,the prejudice against coal was for a long period extreme2 its use for domestic purposes was pronounced detrimental to health2 and1 even for purposes of manufacture1 it was generally condemned4 ,nevertheless1 as wood became scarcer and dearer1 a closer examination into the capabilities of coal came naturally to be made2 and here1 as in almost every other industrial path1 we find a foreigner acting as our pioneer4 ,the ,germans had long been experienced in mining and metallurgy2 and it was a ,german1 ,simon ,sturtevant1 who first took out a patent for smelting iron with coal4 ,but his process proved a failure1 and the patent was cancelled4 ,other ,germans1 naturalised here1 followed in ,sturtevant's footsteps1 but with no better results2 until at last an ,englishman1 ,dud ,dudley 7#aeii-afhd71 took up the idea1 and gave it practical success4 ,the town of ,dudley was even then a centre of the iron manufacture1 and ,dud's noble father1 ,lord ,dudley1 owned several furnaces4 ,but here1 also1 the forest-wealth of the district was fast melting away1 and the trade already languished under the dread of impending dissolution4 ,in the immediate neighbourhood1 meanwhile1 coal was abundant1 with ironstone and limestone in close proximity to it4 ,dud1 who1 as a child1 had haunted and scrutinised his father's ironworks with wondering delight1 was placed just at this juncture in charge of a furnace and a couple of forges1 and immediately turned his energetic mind to the question of smelting with coal4 ,some careful experiments succeeded so well that he wrote to his father1 requesting him to take out a patent for the process2 and this patent1 registered in ,lord ,dudley's name1 and dated the #bb;d ,february #afbj1 properly inaugurated the great metallurgic revolution which had made the ,english iron trade what it now is4 ,andrew ,yarranton was another pioneer in the iron and tin-plate industry1 and wrote a remarkable work on ,england's ,improvement by ,sea and ,land 7#afgg-ha74 ,nevertheless1 even with this positive success on record1 the inert insular mind long refused to follow the path cleared for it4 ,dud's discovery 'was neither appreciated by the iron-masters nor by the workmen2' and all schemes for smelting ore with any other fuel than wood-charcoal were regarded with incredulity4 ,his secret seems to have been bequeathed to no one1 and for many years after his death the old1 much-abused1 forest-devouring system went tottering on4 ,stern necessity1 however1 taught its hard lesson at last1 and a period insensibly arrived when the employment of coal in smelting processes became the rule rather than the exception1 and might be seen here and there on an unusually large scale--especially at the celebrated ,coalbrookdale works1 in the valley of the ,severn1 ,shropshire4 ,the founder of the ,coalbrookdale industries was a ,quaker--,abraham ,darby 7#afgg-agag74 ,a small furnace had existed on the spot ever since the days of the ,tudors1 and this small furnace formed the nucleus of that industrial activity which the visitor of ,coalbrookdale surveys with such wonder at the present day4 ,in ,darby's time1 the principal cooking utensils of the poorer classes were pots and kettles made of cast-iron4 ,but even this primitive ware was beyond native skill1 and most of the utensils in question were imported from ,holland4 ,exercising an effort of judgment1 which1 moderate as it was1 seems to have been hitherto unexampled1 ,darby resolved to pay that country a visit1 and ascertain in person why it was that ,dutch castings were so good and ,english so bad4 ,the use of dry sand instead of clay for the moulds comprised1 he found1 the whole secret4 ,on returning to ,england1 ,darby took out a patent for the new process1 and his castings soon acquired repute4 ,the use of pit-coal in the ,coalbrookdale furnaces is not supposed1 however1 to have become general until the worthy ,abraham had been succeeded by his son2 but when it once did become so1 the impetus thereby given to the iron trade and to coal-mining was immense4 ,it is the latter industry which may pre-eminently claim to have called the steam-engine into existence4 ,the demand for pumping-power adequate to the drainage of deep mines set ,newcomen's brain to work2 and the engine rough-sketched by his ingenuity1 and perfected by the genius of ,watt1 soon increased enormously the production of iron by rendering coal more accessible and the blast-furnace more efficient4 ,a son-in-law of ,abraham ,darby's1 ,richard ,reynolds by name1 made a great stride towards the modern railway by substituting iron for wood on the tramways which connected the different works at ,coalbrookdale2 and it was a grandson of the same ,abraham who designed and erected the first iron bridge4 ,england1 we have seen1 borrowed the idea of her smelting processes and iron-castings from ,germany and ,holland2 but the discovery of that important material1 cast-steel1 belongs1 at least1 to one of her own sons4 ,yet even here the relationship is a merely conventional one1 for ,benjamin ,huntsman 7#agjd-aggf7 was the child of ,german parents who had settled in ,lincolnshire4 ,huntsman's original calling was that of a clock-maker2 but his remarkable mechanical skill1 his shrewdness1 and his practical sense1 soon gave him the repute of the 'wise man' of the district1 and brought neighbours to consult him not only as to the repair of every ordinary sort of machinery1 but also of the human frame--the most complex of all machines6 ,it was his daily experience of the inferior quality of the tools at his command that led him to make experiments in the manufacture of steel4 ,what his experiments were we have no record to show2 but that they must have been conducted with ,teutonic patience and thoroughness there can be no doubt1 from the formidable nature of the difficulties overcome4 ,england1 however1 long refused to make use of ,huntsman's precious material1 although produced in her very midst4 ,the ,sheffield cutlers would have nothing to do with a substance so much harder than anything they were accustomed to1 and ,huntsman was actually compelled to look for his market abroad6 ,all the cast-steel he could manufacture was sent over to ,france1 and the merit of employing this material for general purposes belongs originally to that country4 ,the inventions of ,henry ,cort 7#agdj-ahjj7 for refining and rolling iron 7#aghe7 were the mainspring of the malleable iron trade1 and made ,great ,britain independent of ,russia and ,sweden for supplies of manufactured iron4 ,one authority has stated that since #agij1 when ,cort's improvements were entirely established1 the value of landed property in ,england had doubled4 ,but he was unfortunate in business life1 and in #ahaa upwards of forty iron firms subscribed towards a fund for the assistance of his widow and nine orphan children4 ,david ,mushet 7#aggb-ahdg7 did much for the expansion of the iron trade in ,scotland by his preparation of steel from bar-iron by a direct process1 combining the iron with carbon1 and by his discovery of the effect of manganese on steel4 ,steel is the material of which the instruments of labour are essentially made4 ,upon the quality of the material1 that of the instrument naturally depends1 and upon the quality of the instrument1 that1 in great measure1 of the work4 ,watt's marvellous invention ran great risk1 at one time1 of being abandoned1 for the simple reason that the mechanical capacities of the age were not 'up' to its embodiment4 ,even after ,watt had secured the aid of ,boulton's best workmen1 ,smeaton gave it as his opinion that the steam-engine could never be brought into general use1 because of the difficulty of getting its various parts made with the requisite precision4 ,the execution by machinery of work ordinarily executed by hand-tools has been a gigantic stride in the path of material civilisation4 ,the earliest phase of the great modern movement in this direction is represented1 probably1 by the sawmill4 ,a sawmill was erected near ,london as long ago as #affc--;by a foreigner--but was shortly abandoned in consequence of the determined hostility of the sawyers2 and more than a century elapsed before another mill was put up4 ,but the sawmill is comparatively a rude structure1 and the material it operates upon is easily treated1 even by the hand4 ,when we come to deal1 however1 with such substances as iron and steel1 the benefit of machinery becomes incalculable4 ,without our recent machine-tools1 indeed1 the stupendous iron creations of the present day would have been impossible at any cost2 for no amount of hand-labour could ever attain that perfect exactitude of construction without which it would be idle to attempt fitting the component parts of these colossal structures together4 ,the first impulse1 however1 to the improvement of machine-tools for ironwork was given by a difficulty born not of mass but of minuteness4 ,up to the end of the last century1 the locks in common use among us were of the rudest description1 and afforded scarcely any security against thieves4 ,to meet this universal want1 ,joseph ,bramah set his remarkable inventive faculties to work1 and speedily contrived a lock so perfect1 that it held its ground for many a day4 ,but ,bramah's locks are machines of the most delicate kind1 depending for their efficiency upon the precision with which their component parts are finished2 and1 at that time1 the attainment of this precision1 at such a price as to render the lock an article of extensive commerce1 seemed an insuperable difficulty4 ,in his dilemma1 ,bramah's attention was directed to a youngster in the ,woolwich ,arsenal smithy1 named ,henry ,maudsley1 whose reputation for ingenuity was already great among his fellows4 ,bramah was at first almost ashamed to take such a mere lad into his counsels2 but a preliminary conversation convinced him that his confidence would not be misplaced4 ,he persuaded ,maudsley to enter his employment1 and the result was the invention1 between them1 of the planing-machine1 applicable either to wood or metal1 as also of certain improvements in the old lathe1 more particularly of that known as the 'slide-rest4' ,in the old-fashioned lathe1 the workman guided his cutting-tool by sheer muscular strength1 and the slightest variation in the pressure necessarily led to an irregularity of surface4 ,the rest for the hand is in this case fixed1 and the tool held by the workman travels along it4 ,now1 the principle of the slide-rest is the opposite of this4 ,the rest itself holds the tool firmly fixed in it1 and slides along the bench in a direction parallel with the axis of the work4 ,all that the workman has to do1 therefore1 is to turn a screw-handle1 by means of which the cutter is carried along with the smallest possible expenditure of strength2 and even this trifling labour has been since got rid of1 by making the rest self-acting4 ,simple and obvious as this improvement seems1 its importance cannot be overrated4 ,the accuracy it insured was precisely the desideratum of the day6 ,by means of the slide-rest1 the most delicate as well as the most ponderous pieces of machinery can be turned with mathematical precision2 and from this invention must date that extraordinary development of mechanical power and production which is a characteristic of the age we live in4 ',without the aid of the vast accession to our power of producing perfect mechanism which it at once supplied1' says a first-class judge in matters of the kind1 'we could never have worked out into practical and profitable forms the conceptions of those master-minds who1 during the past half-century1 have so successfully pioneered the way for mankind4 ,the steam-engine itself1 which supplies us with such unbounded power1 owes its present perfection to this most admirable means of giving to metallic objects the most precise and perfect geometrical forms4 ,how could we1 for instance1 have good steam-engines if we had not the means of boring out a true cylinder1 or turning a true piston-rod1 or planing a valve-face8' ,it would perhaps be impossible to cite any more authoritative estimate of ,maudsley's invention than the above4 ,the words placed between inverted commas are the words of ,james ,nasmyth1 the inventor of that wonderful steam-hammer which ,professor ,tomlinson characterises as 'one of the most perfect of artificial machines and noblest triumphs of mind over matter that modern ,english engineers have yet developed4' ,illustration3 ,nasmyth's ,steam-hammer4 ,this machine enlarged at one bound the whole scale of working in iron1 and permitted ,maudsley's lathe to develop its entire range of capacity4 ,the old 'tilt-hammer' was so constructed that the more voluminous the material submitted to it1 the less was the power attainable2 so that as soon as certain dimensions had been exceeded1 the hammer became utterly useless4 ,when the ,great ,western steamship was in course of construction1 tenders were invited from the leading mechanical firms for the supply of the enormous paddle-shaft required for her engines4 ,but a forging of the size in question had never been executed1 and no firm in ,england would undertake the contract4 ,in this dilemma1 ,mr ,nasmyth was applied to1 and the result of his study of the problem was this marvellous steam-hammer--so powerful that it will forge an ,armstrong hundred-pounder as easily as a farrier forges a horse-shoe1 and so delicately manageable that it will crack a nut without bruising its kernel6 ,,bessemer ,,steel4 ,in #agbb1 ,reaumur produced steel by melting three parts of cast-iron with one part of wrought iron 7probably in a crucible7 in a common forge2 he1 however1 failed to produce steel in this manner on a working scale4 ,this process has many points in common with the ,indian ,wootz-steel manufacture4 ,as we have seen1 to ,benjamin ,huntsman1 a ,doncaster artisan1 belongs the credit of first producing cast-steel upon a working scale1 as he was the first to accomplish the entire fusion of converted bar-iron 7that is1 blister-steel7 of the required degree of hardness1 in crucibles or clay pots1 placed among the coke of an air-furnace4 ,this process is still carried on at ,sheffield and elsewhere1 and is what is generally known as the crucible or pot-steel process4 ,it was mainly supplementary to the cementation process1 as formerly blister-steel was alone melted in the crucibles2 but latterly1 and at the present time1 the crucible mode of manufacture embraces the fusion of other varieties and combinations of metal1 producing accordingly different classes and qualities of steel4 ,in #ahci1 ,josiah ,marshall ,heath patented the important application of carburet of manganese to steel in the crucible1 which application imparted to the resulting product the properties of varying temper and increased forgeability4 ,he subsequently found out that a separate operation was not necessary to form the carburet--which is produced by heating peroxide of manganese and carbon to a high temperature--but that the same result could be attained by simply in the first instance adding the carbon and oxide of manganese direct to the metal in the crucible4 ,he unsuspectingly communicated this after-discovery to his agent--by name ,unwin--who took advantage of the fact that it was not incorporated in the wording of the patent1 and so was unprotected1 to make use of it for his own advantage4 ,the result was one of the most remarkable patent trials on record1 extending over twelve years1 and terminating in #ahee against the patentee--a remarkable instance of the triumph of legal technicalities over the moral sense of right4 ,a very important development of the manufacture of steel followed the introduction of the ',bessemer process1' by means of which a low carbon or mild cast-steel can be produced at about one-tenth of the cost of crucible steel4 ,it is used for rails1 for the tires of the wheels of railway carriages1 for ship-plates1 boiler-plates1 for shafting1 and a multitude of constructional and other purposes to which only wrought iron was formerly applied1 besides many for which no metal at all was used4 ,sir ,henry ,bessemer's process for making steel1 which is now so largely practised in ,england1 on the continent of ,europe1 and in ,america1 was patented in #ahef4 ,it was first applied to the making of malleable iron1 but this has never been successfully made by the ,bessemer method4 ,for the manufacture of a cheap but highly serviceable steel1 however1 its success has been so splendid that no other metallurgical process has given its inventor so great a renown4 ,although the apparatus actually used is somewhat costly and elaborate1 yet the principle of the operation is very simple4 ,a large converting vessel1 with openings called tuyeres in its bottom1 is partially filled up with from #e to #aj tons of molten pig-iron1 and a blast of air1 at a pressure of from #ah to #bj lb4 per square inch1 is forced through this metal by a blowing engine4 ,pig-iron contains from #c to #e per cent4 of carbon1 and1 if it has been smelted with charcoal from a pure ore1 as is the case with ,swedish iron1 the blast is continued till only from 4#be to #a per cent4 of the carbon is left in the metal1 that is to say1 steel is produced4 ,sometimes1 however1 the minimum quantity of carbon is even less than 4#be per cent4 ,in ,england1 where a less pure but still expensive cast-iron--viz4 haematite pig--is used for the production of steel in the ordinary ,bessemer converter1 the process differs slightly4 ,in this case the whole of the carbon is oxidised by the blast of air1 and the requisite quantity of this element is afterwards restored to the metal by pouring into the converter a small quantity of a peculiar kind of cast-iron1 called spiegeleisen1 which contains a known quantity of carbon4 ,but small quantities of manganese and silicon are also present in ,bessemer steel4 ,the 'blow' lasts from #bj to #cj minutes4 ,steel made from whatever kind of pig-iron1 either by this or by the 'basic' process1 is not sufficiently dense1 at least for most purposes1 and it is accordingly manipulated under the steam-hammer and rolled into a variety of forms4 ,bessemer steel is employed1 as we have said1 for heavy objects1 as rails1 tires1 rollers1 boiler-plates1 ship-plates1 and for many other purposes for which malleable iron was formerly used4 ,basic steel is now largely made from inferior pig-iron1 such as the ,cleveland1 by the ,thomas-,gilchrist process patented in #ahgh4 ,it is1 however1 only a modification of the ,bessemer process to the extent of substituting for the siliceous or 'acid' lining generally used1 a lime or 'basic' lining for the converter4 ,limestone1 preferably a magnesian limestone in some form1 is commonly employed for the lining4 ,by the use of a basic lining1 phosphorus is eliminated towards the end of the 'blow4' ,phosphorus is a very deleterious substance in steel1 and is present1 sometimes to the extent of #b per cent41 in pig-iron smelted from impure ore4 ,the four inventions of this century which have given the greatest impetus to the manufacture of iron and steel were--the introduction of the hot blast into the blast-furnace for the production of crude iron1 made by ,j4 ,b4 ,neilson1 of the ,glasgow ,gas-works1 in #ahbg2 the application of the cold blast in the ,bessemer converter which we have just described2 the production of steel direct from the ore1 by ,siemens1 in the open hearth2 and the discovery of a basic lining by which phosphorus is eliminated and all kinds of iron converted into steel4 ,this last was the discovery of ,g4 ,j4 ,snelus1 of ,london1 and it was made a practical success by the ,thomas ,gilchrist process just described4 ,in #ahhc1 ,mr ,snelus was awarded the ,bessemer gold medal of the ,iron and ,steel ,institute 'as the first man who made pure steel from impure iron in a ,bessemer converter lined with basic materials4' ,,sir ,,henry ,,bessemer4 ,sir ,henry ,bessemer1 the inventor of the modern process of making steel from iron1 which has just been described1 was the son of ,anthony ,bessemer1 who escaped from ,france in #agib1 and found employment in the ,english ,mint4 ,he was born in #ahac1 at ,charlton1 ,herts1 where his father had an estate1 was to a great extent self-taught1 and his favourite amusement was in modelling buildings and other objects in clay4 ,he came up to ,london 'knowing no one1 and no one knowing me--a mere cipher in this vast sea of enterprise4' ,he first earned his living by engraving a large number of elegant and original designs on steel with a diamond point1 for patent medicine labels4 ,he found work also as designer and modeller4 ,he has been a prolific inventor1 as the volumes issued by the ,patent ,office show4 ,it has been said that he has paid in patent stamp duties alone as much as ,l#aj1jjj4 ,at twenty he invented a mode of taking copies from antique and modern basso-relievos in such a way that they might be stamped on card-board1 thousands being produced at a small cost4 ,his inventive faculty also devised a ready method whereby those who were defrauding the government by detaching old stamps from leases1 money-bills1 and agreements1 and by using them over again1 could be defeated in their purpose4 ,his first pecuniary success was obtained by his invention of machinery for the manufacture of ,bessemer gold and bronze powders1 which was not patented1 but the nature of which was long kept secret4 ,another successful invention was a machine for making ,utrecht velvet4 ,he also interested himself in the manufacture of paints1 oils1 and varnishes1 sugar1 railway carriages1 ordnance1 projectiles1 and the ventilation of mines4 ,in the ,exhibition of #ahea he exhibited an ingenious machine for grinding and polishing plate-glass4 ,like ,lord ,armstrong1 ,bessemer turned his attention to the subject of the improvement of projectiles when there was a prospect of a ,european war in #ahec4 ,he invented a mode of firing elongated projectiles from smooth-bore guns1 but received no countenance from the officials at ,woolwich4 ,commander ,minie1 who had charge of the experiments which ,bessemer was making on behalf of the ,emperor of the ,french1 said3 ',yes1 the shots rotate properly2 but if we cannot get something stronger for our guns1 these heavy projectiles will be of little use4' ,this started ,bessemer thinking and experimenting further1 and led up1 as we will see1 to the great industrial revolution with which his name stands identified4 ,he informed the ,emperor that he intended to study the whole subject of metals suitable for artillery purposes4 ,he built experimental works at ,st ,pancras1 but made many failures1 furnace after furnace being pulled down and rebuilt4 ,his prolonged and expensive experiments in getting a suitable ordnance metal were meanwhile using up his capital2 but he was on the eve of a great discovery1 and began to see that the refinement of iron might go on until pure malleable iron or steel could be obtained4 ,his wife aided and encouraged him at this time as only a true wife can4 ,after a year and a half1 in which he patented many improvements in the existing systems of manufacture1 it occurred to him to introduce a blast of atmospheric air into the fluid metal1 whereby the cast-iron might be made malleable4 ,he found that by blowing air through crude iron in a fluid state1 it could thus be rendered malleable4 ,he next tried the method of having the air blown from below by means of an air-engine4 ,molten iron being poured into the vessel1 and air being forced in from below1 resulted in a surprising combustion1 and the iron in the vessel was transformed into steel4 ,the introduction of oxygen through the fluid iron1 induced a higher heat1 and burned up the impurities4 ,feeling that he had succeeded in his experiment1 he acquainted ,mr ,george ,rennie with the result4 ,the latter said to him3 ',this must not be hid under a bushel4 ,the ,british ,association meets next week at ,cheltenham2 if you have patented your invention1 draw up an account of it in a paper1 and have it read in ,section ,g4' ,accordingly ,bessemer wrote an account of his process1 and in ,august #ahef1 he read his paper before the ,british ,association ',on the ,manufacture of ,malleable ,iron and ,steel without ,fuel1' which startled the iron trade of the country4 ,on the morning of the day on which his paper was to be read1 ,bessemer was sitting at breakfast in his hotel1 when an iron-master to whom he was unknown1 laughingly said to a friend3 ',do you know that there is somebody come down from ,london to read us a paper on making steel from cast-iron without fuel8 ,did you ever hear of such nonsense8' ,amongst those who spoke generously and enthusiastically of ,bessemer's new process was ,james ,nasmyth1 to whom the inventor offered one-third share of the value of the patent1 which would have been another fortune to him4 ,nasmyth had made money enough by this time1 however1 and declined4 ,in a communication to ,nasmyth1 ,sir ,henry ,bessemer thanked him for his early patronage1 and described his discovery3 ',i shall ever feel grateful for the noble way in which you spoke at the meeting at ,cheltenham of my invention4 ,if ,i remember rightly1 you held up a piece of malleable iron1 saying words to this effect3 ,here is a true ,british nugget6 ,here is a new process that promises to put an end to all puddling2 and ,i may mention that at this moment there are puddling-furnaces in successful operation where my patent hollow steam-rabbler is at work1 producing iron of superior quality by the introduction of jets of steam in the puddling process4 ,i do not1 however1 lay any claim to this invention of ,mr ,bessemer2 but ,i may fairly be entitled to say that ,i have advanced along the roads on which he has travelled so many miles1 and has effected such unexpected results1 that ,i do not hesitate to say that ,i may go home from this meeting and tear up my patent1 for my process of puddling is assuredly superseded4' ,after giving an account of his failures1 as well as successes1 ,sir ,henry proceeded to say3 ',i prepared to try another experiment1 in a crucible having no hole in the bottom1 but which was provided with an iron pipe put through a hole in the cover1 and passing down nearly to the bottom of the crucible4 ,the small lumps and grains of iron were packed round it1 so as nearly to fill the crucible4 ,a blast of air was to be forced down the pipe so as to rise up among the pieces of granular iron1 and partly decarburise them4 ,the pipe could then be withdrawn1 and the fire urged until the metal with its coat of oxide was fused1 and cast-steel thereby produced4 ',while the blowing apparatus for this experiment was being fitted up1 ,i was taken with one of those short but painful illnesses to which ,i was subject at that time4 ,i was confined to my bed1 and it was then that my mind1 dwelling for hours together on the experiment about to be made1 suggested that instead of trying to decarburise the granulated metal by forcing the air down the vertical pipe among the pieces of iron1 the air would act much more energetically and more rapidly if ,i first melted the iron in the crucible1 and forced the air down the pipe below the surface of the fluid metal1 and thus burnt out the carbon and silicum which it contained4 ',this appeared so feasible1 and in every way so great an improvement1 that the experiment on the granular pieces was at once abandoned1 and as soon as ,i was well enough1 ,i proceeded to try the experiment of forcing the air under the fluid metal4 ,the result was marvellous4 ,complete decarburation was effected in half an hour4 ,the heat produced was immense1 but unfortunately more than half the metal was blown out of the pot4 ,this led to the use of pots with large1 hollow1 perforated covers1 which effectually prevented the loss of metal4 ,these experiments continued from ,january to ,october #ahee4 ,i have by me on the mantelpiece at this moment1 a small piece of rolled bar-iron which was rolled at ,woolwich ,arsenal1 and exhibited a year later at ,cheltenham4 ',i then applied for a patent1 but before preparing my provisional specification 7dated ,october #ag1 #ahee71 ,i searched for other patents to ascertain whether anything of the sort had been done before4 ,i then found your patent for puddling with the steam-rabble1 and also ,martin's patent for the use of steam in gutters while molten iron was being conveyed from the blast-furnace to a finery1 there to be refined in the ordinary way prior to puddling4' ,illustration3 ,,bessemer ,,converting ,,vessel3 a1 a1 a1 tuyeres2 b1 air-space2 c1 melted metal4 ,several leading men in the iron trade took licenses for the new manufacture1 which brought ,bessemer ,l#bg1jjj within thirty days of the time of reading his paper4 ,these licenses he afterwards bought back for ,l#ca1jjj1 giving fresh ones in their stead4 ,some of the early experiments failed1 and it was feared the new method would prove impracticable4 ,these experiments failed because of the presence of phosphorus in the iron4 ,but ,bessemer worked steadily in order to remove the difficulties which had arisen1 and a chemical laboratory was added to his establishment1 with a professor of chemistry attached4 ,success awaited him4 ,the new method of steel-making spread into ,france and ,sweden1 and in #ahgi the works for making ,bessemer steel were eighty-four in number1 and represented a capital of more than three millions4 ,his process for the manufacture of steel raised the annual production of steel in ,england from #ej1jjj tons by the older processes to as many as #b1jjj1jjj tons in some years4 ,it was next used for boiler-plates2 shipbuilding with ,bessemer steel was begun in #ahfb1 and now it is employed for most of the purposes for which malleable iron was formerly used4 ,the production of ,europe and ,america in #ahib was over #aj1jjj1jjj tons1 of a probable value of ,l#hd1jjj1jjj1 sufficient1 as has been remarked1 to make a solid steel wall round ,london #dj feet high1 and #e feet thick4 ,it would take1 according to the inventor1 two or three years' production of all the gold-mines in the world to pay in gold for the output of ,bessemer steel for one year4 ,the price of steel previous to ,huntsman's process was about ,l#aj1jjj per ton2 after him1 from ,l#ej to ,l#ajj4 ,now ,bessemer leaves it at ,l#e to ,l#f per ton4 ,and a process which occupied ten days can be accomplished within half an hour4 ,illustration3 ,bessemer ,process4 ,in his sketch of the ',bessemer ,steel ,industry1 ,past and ,present' 7#ahid71 ,sir ,henry ,bessemer says3 ',it is this new material1 so much stronger and tougher than common iron1 that now builds our ships of war and our mercantile marine4 ,steel forms their boilers1 their propeller shafts1 their hulls1 their masts and spars1 their standing rigging1 their cable chains and anchors1 and also their guns and armour-plating4 ,this new material has covered with a network of steel rails the surface of every country in ,europe1 and in ,america alone there are no less than #age1jjj miles of ,bessemer steel rails4' ,these steel rails last six times longer than if laid of iron4 ,bessemer was knighted in #ahgi1 and has received many gold medals from scientific institutions4 ,in addition he has1 to use his own words1 received in the form of royalties #a1jeg1gdh of the beautiful little gold medals 7sovereigns7 issued by her ,majesty's ,mint4 ,the method chosen by the ,americans to perpetuate his name has been the founding of the growing centre of industry called ,bessemer in ,indiana1 while ,bessemer1 in ,pennsylvania1 is the seat of the great ,edgar ,thompson steel-works4 ,thus the man who was at first neglected by government has become wealthy beyond the dreams of avarice1 and his name is immortal in the annals of our manufacturing industry4 ,,sir ,,charles ,,william ,,siemens ,,and ,,the ,,siemens ,,process4 ,another pioneer in the manufacture of steel and iron was ,,charles ,,william ,,siemens1 the seventh child of a ,german landowner1 who was born at ,lenthe1 near ,hanover1 #dth ,april #ahbc4 ,he showed an affectionate and sensitive disposition while very young1 and a strong faculty of observation4 ,he received a good plain education at ,luebeck1 and in deference to his brother ,werner he agreed to become an engineer1 and accordingly was sent to an industrial school at ,magdeburg in #ahch1 where he also learned languages1 including ,english2 mathematics he learned from his interested brother4 ,he left ,magdeburg in #ahda in order to increase his scientific knowledge at ,goettingen1 and there he studied chemistry and physics1 with the view of becoming an engineer4 ,werner1 his elder brother1 was still his good genius1 and after the death of their parents counselled and encouraged him1 and looked upon him as a probable future colleague4 ,they corresponded with one another1 not only about family affairs1 but also about the scientific and technical subjects in which both were engrossed4 ,this became a life-long habit with the brothers ,siemens4 ,one early letter from ,william described a new kind of valve-gearing which he had invented for ,cornish steam-engines4 ,then the germ of the idea of what was afterwards known as the 'chronometric governor' for steam-engines was likewise communicated in this way4 ,mr ,pole says that his early letters were significant of the talent and capacity of the writer4 ',they evince an acuteness of perception in mechanical matters1 a power of close and correct reasoning1 a sound judgment1 a fertility of invention1 and an ease and accuracy of expression which1 in a youth of nineteen1 who had only a few months' experience in a workshop1 are extraordinary1 and undoubtedly shadow forth the brilliant future he attained in the engineering world4' ,werner in #ahda had taken out a patent for his method of electro-gilding1 while ,william early in #ahdc paid his first visit to ,england1 travelling by way of ,hamburg4 ,he took up his abode in a little inn called the ',ship and ,star1' at ,sparrow ,corner1 near the ,minories4 ,in an address as ,president of the ,midland ,institute1 ,birmingham1 on #bhth ,october #ahha1 he related his first experiences in ,england1 and how he secured his first success there4 ,mr ,siemens said3 ',that form of energy known as the electric current was nothing more than the philosopher's delight forty years ago2 its first application may be traced to this good town of ,birmingham1 where ,mr ,george ,richards ,elkington1 utilising the discoveries of ,davy1 ,faraday1 and ,jacobi1 had established a practical process of electroplating in #ahdb4444 ,although ,i was only a young student of ,goettingen1 under twenty years of age1 who had just entered upon his practical career with a mechanical engineer1 ,i joined my brother ,werner ,siemens1 then a young lieutenant of artillery in the ,prussian service1 in his endeavour to accomplish electro-gilding4444 ,i tore myself away from the narrow circumstances surrounding me1 and landed at the ,east ,end of ,london1 with only a few pounds in my pocket and without friends1 but an ardent confidence of ultimate success within my breast4 ',i expected to find some office in which inventions were examined into1 and rewarded if found meritorious1 but no one could direct me to such a place4 ,in walking along ,finsbury ,pavement ,i saw written up in large letters1 ,so-and-,so--,i forget the name--undertaker1 and the thought struck me that this must be the place ,i was in quest of2 at any rate1 ,i thought that a person advertising himself as an undertaker would not refuse to look into my invention1 with the view of obtaining for me the sought for recognition or reward4 ,on entering the place ,i soon convinced myself1 however1 that ,i came decidedly too soon for the kind of enterprise there contemplated4' ,by dint of perseverance1 however1 ,siemens secured a letter from ,messrs ,poole and ,carpmaell1 of the ,patent ,office1 to ,mr ,elkington of ,birmingham4 ,elkington and his partner ,josiah ,mason both met the young inventor in such a spirit of fairness that1 as he says1 he returned to his native country1 and to his mechanical engineering1 'a comparative ,croesus4' ,after the lapse of forty years his heart still beat quick when thinking of this determining incident in his career4 ,the sum which ,elkington paid him for his 'thermo-electrical battery' for depositing solutions of gold1 silver1 and copper was ,l#afjj1 less ,l#aaj for the cost of the patent4 ,although quite successful at the time1 other and cheaper processes speedily supplanted it2 but the young ,german had gained a footing and the money he needed for future experiments4 ,when he came back to ,germany he was looked upon as quite a hero by his admiring family circle4 ,it was indeed a creditable exploit for a youth of twenty4 ,when he returned to ,england again in ,february #ahdd1 he received so much encouragement from leading engineers and scientific men for his 'chronometric governor1' that he decided to settle permanently there1 and he became a naturalised ,british subject in #ahei4 ,he joined with a civil engineer1 named ,joseph ,woods1 for the promotion and sale of his patents4 ',anastatic printing' was one of his early inventions1 which1 however1 never became profitable4 ,then came schemes in paper-making1 new methods of propelling ships1 winged rockets1 and locomotives on new principles1 all of which were a continual drain on his own and his friends' resources without a corresponding return1 so that in #ahde he took a situation and earned some money by railway work1 which enabled him to pay another visit to ,germany4 ,in #ahdf1 undaunted by previous failures1 he threw himself heartily into the study of the action of heat as a power-giving agent1 and invented an arrangement known as the 'regenerator' for saving certain portions of this waste4 ,as afterwards applied to furnaces for iron1 steel1 zinc1 glass1 and other works1 it was pronounced by ,sir ,henry ,bessemer a beautiful invention1 at once the most philosophic in principle1 the most powerful in action1 and the most economic of all the contrivances for producing heat by the combustion of coal4 ,he now secured an appointment in #ahdi with ,fox ,henderson1 ,birmingham1 at a fixed salary of ,l#djj a year1 and his interest in his patent4 ,here he profited largely by the experience gained1 but the engagement terminated in #ahea1 when he afterwards settled as a civil engineer in #g ,john ,street1 ,adelphi1 in ,march #aheb4 ,his next great achievement was the production of steel direct from the raw ores by means of his regenerative furnace1 which the ,president of the ,board of ,trade in #ahhc mentioned in the ,house of ,commons as one of the most valuable inventions ever produced under the protection of the ,english patent law1 and he said further that it was then being used in almost every industry in the kingdom4 ,siemens had spent fourteen years in perfecting this regenerative furnace1 and it took him other fourteen to utilise it1 and perfect it in making steel direct from the raw ores4 ,martin of ,sireil1 who made one or two additions to the ,siemens steel furnace1 has been termed its inventor1 but this claim has no foundation4 ,what is known1 however1 as the ',siemens-,martin process' is now competing very effectively with the ,bessemer process4 ,it consists essentially in first obtaining a bath of melted pig-iron of high quality1 and then adding to this pieces of wrought-iron scrap or ,bessemer scrap1 such as crop ends of rails1 shearings of plates1 c4 ,these1 though practically non-infusible in large quantities by themselves1 become dissolved or fused in such a bath if added gradually4 ,to the bath of molten metal thus obtained spiegeleisen or ferro-manganese is added to supply the required carbon and to otherwise act as in the ,bessemer converter4 ,the result is tested by small ladle samples1 and when it is of the desired quality a portion is run off1 leaving sufficient bath for the continuation of the process4 ,siemens took out his patent for the 'open hearth' process of steel-making 7the ,forth ,bridge is built of steel made in this way7 in #ahfa1 and four years later erected sample steel works at ,birmingham4 ,the engineer of the ,london and ,north-,western ,railway adopted his system at ,crewe in #ahfh1 and the ,great ,western ,railway works followed4 ,in #ahfi this process was being carried out on a large scale at the works of the ,landore-,siemens ,steel ,company and elsewhere in ,england1 as well as at various works on the ,continent1 including ,krupp's1 at ,essen4 ,in #ahfb1 ,siemens was elected a ,fellow of the ,royal ,society1 and in #ahgd was presented with the ,royal ,albert ,medal1 and in #ahge with the ,bessemer ,medal in recognition of his researches and inventions in heat and metallurgy4 ,he filled the president's chair in the three principal engineering and telegraphic societies of ,great ,britain1 and in #ahhb was ,president of the ,british ,association4 ,as manager in ,england of the firm of ,siemens ,brothers1 ,sir ,william ,siemens was actively engaged in the construction of overland and submarine telegraphs4 ,the steamship ,faraday was specially designed by him for cable-laying4 ,in addition to his labours in connection with electric-lighting1 ,sir ,william ,siemens also successfully applied1 in the construction of the ,portrush ,electric ,tramway1 which was opened in #ahhc1 electricity to the production of locomotion4 ,in his regenerative furnace1 as we have seen1 he utilised in an ingenious way the heat which would otherwise have escaped with the products of combustion4 ,the process was subsequently applied in many industrial processes1 but notably by ,siemens himself in the manufacture of steel4 ,the other inventions and researches of this wonderful man include a water-meter2 a thermometer or pyrometer1 which measures by the change produced in the electric conductivity of metals2 the bathometer1 for measuring ocean depths by variations in the attraction exerted on a delicately suspended body2 and the hastening of vegetable growth by use of the electric light4 ,he was knighted in ,april #ahhc1 and died on ,november #ai of the same year4 ,there is a memorial window to his memory in ,westminster ,abbey4 ,as the elder brother of ,sir ,william ,siemens was so closely connected with him in business life1 and may be said to have encouraged and led him into the walk of life in which he excelled1 he also deserves a notice here4 ,,werner ,,von ,,siemens1 engineer and electrician1 was born ,december #ac1 #ahaf1 at ,lenthe in ,hanover4 ,in #ahcd he entered the ,prussian ,artillery2 and in #ahdd was put in charge of the artillery workshops at ,berlin4 ,he early showed scientific tastes1 and in #ahda took out his first patent for galvanic silver and gold plating4 ,by selling the right of using his process he made #dj louis d'or1 which supplied him with the means for further experiments4 ,during the ,schleswig-,holstein war1 he attracted considerable attention by using electricity for the firing of the mines which had been laid for the defence of ,kiel harbour4 ,he was of peculiar service in developing the telegraphic service in ,prussia1 and discovered in this connection the valuable insulating property of gutta-percha for underground and submarine cables4 ,in #ahdi he left the army1 and shortly after the service of the state altogether1 and devoted his energies to the construction of telegraphic and electrical apparatus of all kinds4 ,the well-known firm of ,siemens and ,halske was established in #ahdg in ,berlin1 and to them the ,russian government entrusted the construction of the telegraph lines in that country4 ,subsequently branches were formed1 chiefly under the management of the younger brothers of ,werner ,siemens1 in ,st ,petersburg 7#aheg71 in ,london 7#aheh71 in ,vienna 7#aheh71 and in ,tiflis 7#ahfc74 ,in #aheg1 ,siemens accomplished the remarkable feat of successfully laying a cable in deep water1 at a depth of more than #ajjj fathoms4 ,this was between ,sardinia and ,bona4 ,shortly after he superintended the laying of cables in the ,red ,sea2 and these successful experiments soon led to the greatest undertaking of all1 the connection of ,america with ,europe4 ,besides devising numerous useful forms of galvanometers and other electrical instruments of precision1 ,werner ,siemens was one of the discoverers of the principle of the self-acting dynamo4 ,he also made valuable determinations of the electrical resistance of different substances1 the resistance of a column of mercury1 one metre long1 and one square millimetre cross section at #j deg4 ,c41 being known as the ,siemens ,unit4 ,his numerous scientific and technical papers1 written for the various journals1 were republished in collected form in #ahha4 ,in #ahhf he gave #ejj1jjj marks for the founding of an imperial institute of technology and physics2 and in #ahhh he was ennobled4 ,he died at ,berlin1 #fth ,december #ahib4 ,a translation of his ,personal ,recollections by ,coupland appeared in #ahic4 99 99 99 99 99 ,space forbids us mentioning other worthy names in the steel and iron trade1 although we cannot pass by ,sir ,john ,brown1 founder of the ,atlas ,steel-works1 ,sheffield 7#aheg71 and one of the first to adopt the ,bessemer process4 ,he was also the pioneer of armour-plate making4 ,the immense strides he made in business may be judged from the fact that when he started in #aheg his employees numbered #bjj1 with a turnover of ,l#cjjj a year2 in #ahfg they numbered #djjj1 and the turnover was ,l#a1jjj1jjj4 ,the weekly pay roll amounted to ,l#gjjj in #ahhc1 and when he handed over the business to his successors1 he was paid ,l#bjj1jjj for the goodwill4 ,,krupp',s ,,iron ,,and ,,steel ,,works ,,at ,,essen4 ,one of the largest iron and steel manufacturing establishments in the world is that founded by the late ,alfred ,krupp1 the famous ,german cannon-founder1 whose name is so well known in connection with modern improvements in artillery4 ,his principal works are situated at ,essen1 in ,prussia1 in the midst of a district productive of both iron and coal4 ,the town of ,essen1 which at the beginning of the present century contained less than four thousand inhabitants1 has become an important industrial centre1 with a population of nearly eighty thousand persons1 this increase being chiefly due to the growth of the ironworks1 and the consequent demand for labour4 ,in the vicinity of the town1 numerous coal and iron mines1 many of which are owned by the ,krupp firm1 are in active working1 and furnish employment to the large population of the surrounding district4 ,much of the output of iron ore and coal from these mines is destined for consumption in the vast ,krupp works within the town4 ,those works had their origin in a small iron forge established at ,essen in the year #ahaj by ,frederick ,krupp1 the father of ,alfred ,krupp4 ,the elder ,krupp was not prosperous2 and a lawsuit in which he became involved1 and which lasted for ten years1 though finally decided in his favour1 reduced him nearly to bankruptcy4 ,he died in #ahbf1 in impoverished circumstances1 leaving a widow and three sons1 the eldest of whom was ,alfred1 aged fourteen4 ,the business was continued by the widow1 who managed1 though with difficulty1 to procure a good education for her sons4 ,when the eldest1 ,alfred1 took control of the works in #ahdh1 he found there1 as he himself has described1 'three workmen1 and more debts than fortune4' ,krupp's subsequent career affords a remarkable instance of success attained1 despite adverse circumstances1 by sheer force of ability and energy1 in building up a colossal manufacturing business from a humble beginning4 ,on his death in #ahhg his only son succeeded him4 ,at the present time1 ,krupp's works within the town of ,essen occupy more than five hundred acres1 half of which area is under cover4 ,in #ahie1 the number of persons in his employ was #be1cjj1 and including members of their families1 over #ej1jjj4 ,of the army of workers1 about #ag1jjj were employed at the works in ,essen1 the remainder being occupied in the #eej iron and coal mines belonging to the firm1 or at the branch works at ,sayn ,neuwied1 ,magdeburg1 ,duisburg1 and ,engers2 or in the iron-mines at ,bilbao1 in ,spain1 which produce the best ores4 ,in ,krupp's ,essen works there are one hundred and twelve steam-hammers1 ranging in weight from fifty tons down to four hundred pounds4 ,there are #ae ,bessemer converters1 #ah ,martin-furnaces1 #dbj steam-engines--representing together #cc1aej horse-power--and twenty-one rolling trains2 the daily consumption of coal and coke being #cajj tons by #afdh furnaces4 ,the average daily consumption of water1 which is brought from the river ,ruhr by an aqueduct1 is #bd1gjj cubic metres4 ,the electric light has been introduced1 and the work ceases entirely only on ,sunday and two or three holidays4 ,connected with the ,essen works are fifty miles of railway1 employing thirty-five locomotives and over #ajjj wagons4 ,there are two chemical laboratories2 a photographic and lithographic studio2 a printing-office1 with steam and hand presses2 and a bookbinding room1 besides tile-works1 coke-works1 gas-works1 c4 ,though1 in the popular mind1 the name of ,krupp is usually associated with the manufacture of instruments of destruction1 yet two-thirds of the work done in his establishment is devoted to the production of articles intended for peaceful uses4 ,the various parts of steam-engines1 both stationary and locomotive2 iron axles1 bridges1 rails1 wheel-tires1 switches1 springs1 shafts for steamers1 mint-dies1 rudders1 and parts of all varieties of iron machinery1 are prepared here for manufacturers4 ,the production is1 in ,dominie ,sampson's phrase1 'prodigious4' ,in one day the works can turn out #bgjj rails1 #cej wheel-tires1 #aej axles1 #ahj railway wheels1 #ajjj railway wedges1 #aejj bombshells4 ,in a month they have produced #bej field-pieces1 thirty #e4g-;inch cannon1 fifteen #i4cc-;inch cannon1 eight #aa-;inch cannon1 one #ad-;inch gun1 the weight of the last named being over fifty tons1 and its length twenty-eight feet seven inches4 ,till the end of #ahid the firm has produced #be1jjj cannon for thirty-four different states4 ,alfred ,krupp devoted much attention to the production of steel of the finest quality1 and was the first ,german manufacturer who succeeded in casting steel in large masses4 ,in #ahfb he exhibited in ,london an ingot of finest crucible steel weighing twenty-one tons4 ,its dimensions were nine feet high by forty-four inches diameter4 ,the uniformity of quality of this mass of metal was proven by the fact that when broken across it showed no seam or flaw1 even when examined with a lens4 ,the firm can now make such homogeneous blocks of seventy-five tons weight if required4 ,such ingots are formed from the contents of a great number of small crucibles1 each containing from fifty to one hundred pounds of the metal4 ,the recent developments of the manufacture of steel by the open-hearth process have removed all difficulty in procuring the metal in masses large enough for all requirements1 and of a tensile strength so high as thirty-three to thirty-seven tons to the square inch4 ,crucible steel1 however1 though more expensive1 still holds its place as the best and most reliable that can be produced2 and nothing else is ever used in the construction of a ,krupp gun4 ,by the perfected methods in use at the ,essen works1 such steel can be made of a tensile strength of nearly forty tons to the square inch1 and of marvellous uniformity of quality4 ,the ores used in the ,krupp works for making the best steel are red haematite and spathic ore1 with a certain proportion of ferro-manganese4 ,the crucibles employed are formed of a mixture of plumbago and fire-clay1 shaped by a mould into a cylindrical jar some eighteen inches in height1 and baked in a kiln4 ,when in use1 they are filled with small bars of puddled metal1 mixed with fragments of marble brought from ,villmar1 on the ,lahn4 ,they are then shovelled into large furnaces1 whose floors are elevated three or four feet above the ground-level4 ,in the earthen floor of the immense room containing the furnaces are two lines of pits1 one set to receive the molten metal1 the other intended for the red-hot crucibles when emptied of their contents4 ,when the crucibles have undergone sufficient heating1 the furnace doors are opened simultaneously at a given signal1 and the attendant workmen draw out the crucibles with long tongs1 and rapidly empty them into the pits prepared for the reception of the metal4 ,the empty crucibles when cooled are examined1 and if found unbroken1 are used again2 but if damaged1 as is usually the case1 are ground up1 to be utilised in making new ones4 ,the production of steel by this method furnishes employment for eight or nine hundred men daily in the ,krupp works4 ,the ,bessemer process for converting iron into steel is also largely used there for making steel for certain purposes4 ,all material used in the different classes of manufactures is subjected at every stage to extreme and exact tests2 the standards being fixed with reference to the purpose to which the metal is to be applied1 and any material that proves faulty when suitably tested is rigorously rejected4 ,the guns originally manufactured by the ,krupp firm were formed from solid ingots of steel1 which were bored1 turned1 and fashioned as in the case of cast-iron smooth-bore cannon4 ,with the development of the power of artillery1 the greater strain caused by the increased powder-charges and by the adoption of rifling--involving enhanced friction between the projectile and the bore--had the result of demonstrating the weakness inherent in the construction of a gun thus made entirely from one solid forging1 and that plan was eventually discarded4 ,artillerists have learnt that the strain produced by an explosive force operating in the interior of a cannon is not felt equally throughout the thickness of the metal from the bore to the exterior1 but varies inversely as the square of the distance of each portion of the metal from the seat of effort4 ,for example1 in a gun cast solid1 if two points be taken1 one at the distance of one inch from the bore1 and the other four inches from the bore1 the metal at the former point will during the explosion be strained sixteen times as much as that at the distance of four inches4 ,the greater the thickness of the material1 the greater will be the inequality between the strains acting at the points respectively nearest to and farthest from the interior4 ,the metal nearest the seat of explosion may thus be strained beyond its tensile strength1 while that more remote is in imperfect accord with it4 ,in such a case1 disruption of the metal at the inner surface ensues1 and extends successively through the whole thickness to the exterior1 thus entailing the destruction of the gun4 ,this source of weakness is guarded against by the construction of what is termed the built-up gun1 in which the several parts tend to mutual support4 ,this gun consists of an inner tube1 encircled and compressed by a long 'jacket' or cylinder1 which is shrunk around the breech portion with the initial tension due to contraction in cooling4 ,over the jacket and along the chase1 other hoops or cylinders are shrunk on successively1 in layers1 with sufficient tension to compress the parts enclosed4 ,the number and strength of these hoops are proportionate to the known strain that the bore of the gun will have to sustain4 ,the tension at which each part is shrunk on is the greater as the part is farther removed from the inner tube2 the jacket1 for example1 being shrunk on at less tension than the outer hoops4 ,the inner tube1 on receiving the expansive force of the explosion1 is prevented by the compression of the jacket from being forced up to its elastic limit2 and the jacket in its turn is similarly supported by the outer hoops2 and on the cessation of the internal pressure the several parts resume their normal position4 ,this system of construction originated in ,england1 and is now in general use4 ,the first steel guns on this principle were those designed by ,captain ,blakely and ,mr ,j4 ,vavasseur1 of the ,london ,ordnance ,works4 ,at the ,exhibition of #ahfb1 a ,blakely #h4e-;inch gun1 on the built-up system1 composed wholly of steel1 was a feature of interest in the ,ordnance section4 ,the plan devised by ,sir ,w4 ,armstrong1 and carried into effect for a series of years at ,woolwich and at the ,armstrong ,works at ,elswick1 consisted in enclosing a tube of steel within a jacket of wrought iron1 formed by coiling a red-hot bar round a mandrel4 ,the jacket was shrunk on with initial tension1 and was fortified in a similar manner by outer hoops of the same metal4 ,the want of homogeneity in this gun was1 however1 a serious defect1 and ultimately led to its abolition4 ,the difference in the elastic properties of the two metals caused a separation1 after repeated discharges1 between the steel tube and its jacket1 with the result that the tube cracked from want of support4 ,both at ,woolwich and at ,elswick 7described on a later page71 therefore1 the wrought-iron gun has given place to the homogeneous steel built-up gun1 which is also the form of construction adopted by the chief powers of ,europe and by the ,united ,states of ,america4 ,the failure of some of his solid-cast guns led ,krupp1 about #ahfe1 to the adoption of the built-up principle4 ,with few exceptions1 the inner tube of a ,krupp gun is forged out of a single ingot1 and in every case without any weld4 ,the ingot destined to form the tube has first to undergo a prolonged forging under the steam-hammers1 by which the utmost condensation of its particles is effected4 ,it is then rough-bored and turned1 and subsequently carefully tempered in oil1 whereby its elasticity and tensile strength are much increased4 ,it is afterwards fine-bored and rifled1 and its powder-chamber hollowed out4 ,the latter has a somewhat larger diameter than the rest of the bore1 this having been found an improvement4 ,the grooves of the rifling are generally shallow1 and they widen towards the breech1 so that the leaden coat of the projectile is compressed gradually and with the least friction4 ,the jacket and hoops of steel are forged and rolled1 without weld1 and after being turned and tempered1 are heated and shrunk around the tube in their several positions1 the greatest strength and thickness being of course given to the breech end1 where the force of explosion exerts the utmost strain4 ,the completed gun is mounted on its appropriate carriage1 and having been thoroughly proved and tested and fitted with the proper sights1 is ready for service4 ,the testing range is at ,meppen1 where a level plain several miles in extent affords a suitable site for the purpose4 ,for many years all guns of the ,krupp manufacture have been on the breech-loading system1 and he has devoted much time and ingenuity to perfecting the breech arrangements4 ,the subject of recoil has also largely occupied his attention4 ,in the larger ,krupp guns the force of recoil is absorbed by two cylinders1 filled with glycerine and fitted with pistons perforated at the edges4 ,the pistons are driven by the shock of the recoil against the glycerine1 which is forced through the perforations4 ,in ,england a similar arrangement of cylinders1 containing water as the resisting medium1 has been found effective2 and in ,america1 petroleum is employed for the same purpose4 ,the advantages of the use of glycerine are that in case of a leak it would escape too slowly to lose its effect at once1 and it is also more elastic than water1 and is less liable to become frozen4 ,the resources of ,krupp's establishment are equal to the production of guns of any size that can conceivably be required4 ,he has made guns of one hundred and nineteen tons weight4 ,the portentous development of the size and power of modern ordnance is exemplified by these guns and the ,armstrong guns of one hundred and eleven tons made at ,elswick4 ,amongst the class of modern cannon1 one of the most powerful is ,krupp's seventy-one-ton gun4 ,this1 like all others of his make1 is a breech-loader4 ,its dimensions are--length1 thirty-two feet nine inches2 diameter at breech end1 five feet six inches2 length of bore1 twenty-eight feet seven inches2 diameter of bore1 #ae4ge inches2 diameter of powder-chamber1 #ag4cb inches4 ,the internal tube is of two parts1 exactly joined2 and over this are four cylinders1 shrunk on1 and a ring round the breech4 ,its rifling has a uniform twist of one in forty-five4 ,it cannot possibly be fired until the breech is perfectly closed4 ,its maximum charge is four hundred and eighty-five pounds of powder1 and a chilled iron shell of seventeen hundred and eight pounds4 ,illustration3 ,krupp's #ae4f ,breech-loading ,gun 7breech open74 ,krupp did much to promote the welfare and comfort of his workpeople4 ,for their accommodation1 he erected around ,essen nearly four thousand family dwellings1 in which more than sixteen thousand persons reside4 ,the dwellings are in suites of three or four comfortable rooms1 with good water-arrangements2 and attached to each building is a garden1 large enough for the children to play in4 ,there are one hundred and fifty dwellings of a better kind for officials in the service of the firm4 ,boarding-houses have also been built for the use of unmarried labourers1 of whom two thousand are thus accommodated4 ,several churches1 ,protestant and ,catholic1 have also been erected1 for the use of his workmen and their families4 ,there have likewise been provided two hospitals1 bathing establishments1 a gymnasium1 an unsectarian free school1 and six industrial schools--one for adults1 two for females4 ,in the case of the industrial schools1 the fees are about two shillings monthly1 but the poorest are admitted free4 ,a ,sick ,relief and ,pensions ,fund has been instituted1 and every foreman and workman is obliged to be a member4 ,the entrance fee is half a day's pay1 the annual payment being proportioned to the wages of the individual member2 but half of each person's contribution is paid by the firm4 ,there are three large surgeries2 and skilful physicians and surgeons1 one of whom is an oculist1 are employed at fixed salaries4 ,for a small additional fee each member can also secure free medical aid for his wife and children4 ,the advantages to members are free medical or surgical treatment in case of need1 payment from the fund of funeral expenses at death1 pensions to men who have been permanently disabled by injuries while engaged in the works1 pensions to widows of members1 and temporary support to men who are certified by two of the physicians as unable to work4 ,the highest pension to men is five pounds monthly1 the average being about two pounds sixteen shillings monthly4 ,the average pension to widows is about one pound fourteen shillings monthly4 ,the firm have made special arrangements with a number of life insurance companies whereby the workmen can1 if they choose1 insure their lives at low rates4 ,they have formed a ,life ,insurance ,union1 and endowed it with a reserve fund of three thousand pounds1 from which aid is given to members needing assistance to pay their premiums4 ,an important institution in ,essen is the great ,central ,supply ,store1 established and owned by the firm1 where articles of every description--bread1 meat1 and other provisions1 clothing1 furniture1 c4--are sold on a rigidly cash system at cost price4 ,connected with the ,central ,store are twenty-seven branch shops1 in positions convenient for the workpeople1 placing the advantages of the system within the easy reach of all4 ,the original name1 ',frederick ,krupp1' has been retained through all vicissitudes of fortune as the business title of the firm4 ,the small dwelling in which ,alfred ,krupp was born is still standing1 in the midst of the huge workshops that have grown up around it1 and is preserved with the greatest care4 ,at his expense1 photographs of it were distributed among his workmen1 each copy bearing the following inscription1 dated ,essen1 ,february #ahgc3 ',fifty years ago1 this primitive dwelling was the abode of my parents4 ,i hope that no one of our labourers may ever know such struggles as have been required for the establishment of these works4 ,twenty-five years ago that success was still doubtful which has at length--gradually1 yet wonderfully--rewarded the exertions1 fidelity1 and perseverance of the past4 ,may this example encourage others who are in difficulties6 ,may it increase respect for small houses1 and sympathy for the larger sorrows they too often contain4 ,the object of labour should be the common weal4 ,if work bring blessing1 then is labour prayer4 ,may every one in our community1 from the highest to the lowest1 thoughtfully and wisely strive to secure and build his prosperity on this principle6 ,when this is done1 then will my greatest desire be realised4' 99 99 99 99 99 ,germany has become a formidable competitor to ,great ,britain in the iron and steel trade1 and ,german steel rails1 girders1 and wire come in freely to this country4 ,from reports we learn that ,great ,britain produced in #ahhb #h-a_/b million tons of iron and #e million tons of finished iron and steel1 while the production of ,germany was then less than #c-a_/b and #b-a_/b million tons respectively4 ,english production had fallen to #g-a_/b million tons of iron and #d million tons of finished iron and steel in #ahie1 while ,germany had risen to #e million tons and #f million tons respectively4 ,contrary to what has been commonly believed1 it appears that the difference all round in wages amongst ironworkers1 as between ,england and ,germany1 is not great4 ,chicago1 ,pittsburg1 ,buffalo1 and ,new ,york are the chief centres of the ,american iron and steel trade1 the production of pig-iron in #ahie being about #i-a_/d million tons1 whereas in #ahhj it was well under #d million4 ,at present over #d millions of tons are produced of ,bessemer pig-iron4 ,illustration ,illustration ,,chapter ,,ii4 ,,pottery ,,and ,,porcelain4 ,josiah ,wedgwood and the ,wedgwood ,ware--,worcester ,porcelain4 ,when ,mr ,godfrey ,wedgwood1 a member of the famous firm of potters at ,etruria1 near ,burslem1 ,staffordshire1 went to work about forty years ago1 his famous ancestor and founder of the world-famed ,wedgwood ware was still named amongst the workmen as ',owd ,wooden ,leg4' ,a son of ,mr ,godfrey ,wedgwood1 now in the firm1 is the fifth generation in descent1 and the manufactory is still carried on in the same buildings erected by ,josiah ,wedgwood one hundred and twenty years ago4 ,one hundred years ago ,josiah ,wedgwood1 the creator of ,british artistic pottery1 passed away at ,etruria1 near ,burslem1 surrounded by the creations of his own well-directed genius and industry1 having 'converted a rude and inconsiderable manufacture into an elegant art and an important part of national commerce4' ,his death took place on #c;d ,january #agie1 the same year in which ,thomas ,carlyle saw the light at ,ecclefechan1 and one year and a half before the death of ,burns at ,dumfries4 ,during fifty years of his working life1 largely owing to his own successful efforts1 he had witnessed the output of the ,staffordshire potteries increased fivefold1 and his wares were known and sold over ,europe and the civilised world4 ,in the words of ,mr ,gladstone1 his characteristic merit lay 'in the firmness and fullness with which he perceived the true law of what we may call ,industrial ,art1 or1 in other words1 of the application of the higher art to ,industry4' ,novalis once compared the works of ,goethe and ,wedgwood in these words3 ',goethe is truly a practical poet4 ,he is in his works what the ,englishman is in his wares1 perfectly simple1 neat1 fit1 and durable4 ,he has played in the ,german world of literature the same part that ,wedgwood has played in the ,english world of art4' ,illustration3 ,,josiah ,,wedgwood4 ,long ago1 in his sketch of ,brindley and the early engineers1 ,dr ,smiles had occasion to record the important service rendered by ,wedgwood in the making of the ,grand ,trunk ,canal--towards the preliminary expense of which he subscribed one thousand pounds--and in the development of the industrial life of the ,midlands4 ,since that time ,smiles has himself published a biography of ,wedgwood1 to which we are here indebted4 ,more than once it has happened that the youngest of thirteen children has turned out a genius4 ,it was so in the case of ,sir ,richard ,arkwright1 and it turned out to be so in the case of ,josiah ,wedgwood1 the youngest of the thirteen children of ,thomas ,wedgwood1 a ,burslem potter1 and of ,mary ,stringer1 a kind-hearted but delicate1 sensitive woman1 the daughter of a nonconformist clergyman4 ,the town of ,burslem1 in ,staffordshire1 where ,wedgwood saw the light in #agcj1 was then anything but an attractive place4 ,drinking and cock-fighting were the common recreations2 roads had scarcely any existence2 the thatched hovels had dunghills before the doors1 while the hollows from which the potter's clay was excavated were filled with stagnant water1 and the atmosphere of the whole place was coarse and unwholesome1 and a most unlikely nursery of genius4 ,it is probable that the first ,wedgwoods take their name from the hamlet of ,weggewood in ,staffordshire4 ,there had been ,wedgwoods in ,burslem from a very early period1 and this name occupies a large space in the parish registers during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries2 of the fifty small potters settled there1 many bore this honoured name4 ,the ware consisted of articles in common use1 such as butter-pots1 basins1 jugs1 and porringers4 ,the black glazed and ruddy pottery then in use was much improved after an immigration of ,dutchmen and ,germans4 ,the ,elers1 who followed the ,prince of ,orange1 introduced the ,delft ware and the salt glaze4 ,they produced a kind of red ware1 and ,egyptian black2 but disgusted at the discovery of their secret methods by ,astbury and ,twyford1 they removed to ,chelsea in #agaj4 ,an important improvement was made by ,astbury1 that of making ware white by means of burnt flint4 ,samuel ,astbury1 a son of this famous potter1 married an aunt of ,josiah ,wedgwood4 ,but the art was then in its infancy1 not more than one hundred people being employed in this way in the district of ,burslem1 as compared with about ten thousand now1 with an annual export of goods amounting to about two hundred thousand pounds1 besides what are utilised in home-trade4 ,john ,wesley1 after visiting ,burslem in #agfj1 and twenty years later in #agha1 remarked how the whole face of the country had been improved in that period4 ,inhabitants had flowed in1 the wilderness had become a fruitful field1 and the country was not more improved than the people4 ,all the school education young ,josiah received was over in his ninth year1 and it amounted to only a slight grounding in reading1 writing1 and arithmetic4 ,but his practical or technical education went on continually1 while he afterwards supplemented many of the deficiencies of early years by a wide course of study4 ,after the death of his father1 he began the practical business of life as a potter in his ninth year1 by learning the throwing branch of the trade4 ,the thrower moulds the vessel out of the moist clay from the potter's wheel into the required shape1 and hands it on to be dealt with by the stouker1 who adds the handle4 ,josiah at eleven proved a clever thrower of the black and mottled ware then in vogue1 such as baking-dishes1 pitchers1 and milk-cans4 ,but a severe attack of virulent smallpox almost terminated his career1 and left a weakness in his right knee1 which developed1 so that this limb had to be amputated at a later date4 ,he was bound apprentice to his brother ,thomas in #agdd1 when in his fourteenth year2 but this weak knee1 which hampered him so much1 proved a blessing in disguise1 for it sent him from the thrower's place to the moulder's board1 where he improved the ware1 his first effort being an ornamental teapot made of the ochreous clay of the district4 ,other work of this period comprised plates1 pickle-leaves1 knife-hafts1 and snuff-boxes4 ,at the same time he made experiments in the chemistry of the material he was using4 ,wedgwood's great study was that of different kinds of colouring matter for clays1 but at the same time he mastered every branch of the art4 ,that he was a well-behaved young man is evident from the fact that he was held up in the neighbourhood as a pattern for emulation4 ,illustration3 ,wedgwood at ,work4 ,but his brother ,thomas1 who moved along in the old rut1 had small sympathy with all this experimenting1 and thought ,josiah flighty and full of fancies4 ,after remaining for a time with his brother1 at the completion of his apprenticeship ,wedgwood became partner in #ageb1 in a small pottery near ,stoke-upon-,trent3 soon after1 ,mr ,whieldon1 one of the most eminent potters of the day1 joined the firm4 ,here ,wedgwood took pains to discover new methods and striking designs1 as trade was then depressed4 ,new green earthenware was produced1 as smooth as glass1 for dessert service1 moulded in the form of leaves2 also toilet ware1 snuff-boxes1 and articles coloured in imitation of precious stones1 which the jewellers of that time sold largely4 ,other articles of manufacture were blue-flowered cups and saucers1 and varicoloured teapots4 ,wedgwood1 on the expiry of his partnership with ,whieldon1 started on his own account in his native ,burslem in #agfj4 ,his capital must have been small1 as the sum of twenty pounds was all he had received from his father's estate4 ,he rented ,ivy ,house and ,works at ten pounds a year1 and engaged his second-cousin1 ,thomas1 as workman at eight shillings and sixpence a week4 ,he gradually acquired a reputation for the taste and excellence of design of his green glazed ware1 his tortoiseshell and tinted snuff-boxes1 and white medallions4 ,a specially designed tea-service1 representing different fruits and vegetables1 sold well1 and1 as might be expected1 was at once widely imitated4 ,he hired new works on the site now partly occupied by the ,wedgwood ,institute1 and introduced various new tools and appliances4 ,his kilns for firing his fine ware gave him the greatest trouble1 and had to be often renewed4 ,james ,brindley1 when puzzled in thinking out some engineering problem1 used to retire to bed and work it out in his head before he got up4 ,sir ,josiah ,mason1 the ,birmingham pen-maker1 used to simmer over in his mind on the previous night the work for the next day4 ,wedgwood had a similar habit1 which kept him often awake during the early part of the night4 ,probably owing to the fortunate execution of an order through ,miss ,chetwynd1 maid of honour to ,queen ,charlotte1 of a complete cream service in green and gold1 ,wedgwood secured the patronage of royalty1 and was appointed ,queen's ,potter in #agfc4 ,his ,queen's ware became popular1 and secured him much additional business4 ,an engine lathe which he introduced greatly forwarded his designs2 and the wareroom opened in ,london for the exhibition of his now famous ,queen's ware1 ,etruscan vases1 and other works1 drew attention to the excellence of his work4 ,he started works besides at ,chelsea1 supervised by his partner ,bentley1 where modellers1 enamellers1 and artists were employed1 so that the cares of his business1 'pot-making and navigating'--the latter the carrying through of the ,grand ,trunk ,canal--entirely filled his mind and time at this period4 ,so busy was he1 that he sometimes wondered whether he was an engineer1 a landowner1 or a potter4 ,meanwhile1 a step he had no cause to regret was his marriage in #agfd to ,sarah ,wedgwood1 no relation of his own1 a handsome lady of good education and of some fortune4 ,wedgwood had begun to imitate the classic works of the ,greeks found in public and private collections1 and produced his unglazed black porcelain1 which he named ,basaltes1 in #agff4 ,the demand for his vases at this time was so great that he could have sold fifty or one hundred pounds' worth a day1 if he had been able to produce them fast enough4 ,he was now patronised by royalty1 by the ,empress of ,russia1 and the nobility generally4 ,a large service for ,queen ,charlotte took three years to execute1 as part of the commission consisted in painting on the ware1 in black enamel1 about twelve hundred views of palaces1 seats of the nobility1 and remarkable places4 ,a service for the ,empress of ,russia took eight years to complete4 ,it consisted of nine hundred and fifty-two pieces1 of which the cost was believed to have been three thousand pounds1 although this scarcely paid ,wedgwood's working expenses4 ,prosperity elbowed ,wedgwood out of his old buildings in ,burslem1 and led him to purchase land two miles away1 on the line of the proposed ,grand ,trunk ,canal1 where his flourishing manufactories and model workmen's houses sprang up gradually1 and were named ,etruria1 after the ,italian home of the famous ,etruscans1 whose work he admired and imitated4 ,his works were partly removed thither in #agfi1 and wholly in #agga4 ,at this time he showed great public spirit1 and aided in getting an ,act of ,parliament for better roads in the neighbourhood1 and backed ,brindley and ,earl ,gower in their ,grand ,trunk ,canal scheme1 which was destined1 when completed1 to cheapen and quicken the carriage of goods to ,liverpool1 ,bristol1 and ,hull4 ,the opposition was keen3 and ,wedgwood issued a pamphlet showing the benefits which would accrue to trade in the ,midlands by the proposed waterway4 ,when victory was secured1 after the passing of the ,act there was a holiday and great rejoicing in ,burslem and the neighbourhood1 and the first sod of the canal was cut by ,wedgwood1 ,july #bf1 #agff4 ,he was also appointed treasurer of the new undertaking1 which was eleven years in progress4 ,brindley1 the greatest engineer then in ,england1 doubtless sacrificed his life to its success1 as he died of continual harassment and diabetes at the early age of fifty-six4 ,wedgwood had an immense admiration for ,brindley's work and character4 ,in the prospect of spending a day with him1 he said3 ',as ,i always edify full as much in that man's company as at church1 ,i promise myself to be much wiser the day following4' ,like ,carlyle1 who whimsically put the builder of a bridge before the writer of a book1 ,wedgwood placed the man who designed the outline of a jug or the turn of a teapot far below the creator of a canal or the builder of a city4 ,in the career of a man of genius and original powers1 the period of early struggle is often the most interesting4 ,when prosperity comes1 after difficulties have been surmounted1 there is generally less to challenge attention4 ,but ,wedgwood's career was still one of continual progress up to the very close4 ,his ,queen's ware1 made of the whitest clay from ,devon and ,dorset1 was greatly in demand1 and much improved4 ,the fine earthenwares and porcelains which became the basis of such manufactures were originated here4 ,young men of artistic taste were employed and encouraged to supply designs1 and a school of instruction for drawing1 painting1 and modelling was started4 ,artists such as ,coward and ,hoskins modelled the ',sleeping ,boy1' one of the finest and largest of his works4 ,john ,bacon1 afterwards known as a sculptor1 was one of his artists1 as also ,james ,tassie of ,glasgow4 ,wedgwood engaged capable men wherever they could be found4 ,for his ,etruscan models he was greatly indebted to ,sir ,w4 ,hamilton4 ,specimens of his famous portrait cameos1 medallions1 and plaques will be found in most of our public museums4 ,the general health of ,wedgwood suffered so much between #agfg and #agfh that he decided to have the limb which had troubled him since his boyhood amputated4 ,he sat1 and without wincing1 witnessed the surgeons cut off his right leg1 for there were then no anaesthetics4 ',mr ,wedgwood has this day had his leg taken off1' wrote one of the ,burslem clerks at the foot of a ,london invoice1 'and is as well as can be expected after such an execution4' ,his wife was his good angel when recovering1 and acted as hands and feet and secretary to him2 while his partner ,bentley 7formerly a ,liverpool merchant7 and ,dr ,darwin were also kind2 and he was almost oppressed with the inquiries of many noble and distinguished persons during convalescence4 ,he had to be content with a wooden leg now4 ',send me1' he wrote to his brother in ,london1 'by the next wagon a spare leg1 which you will find1 ,i believe1 in the closet4' ,he lived to wear out a succession of wooden legs4 ,indifference and idleness he could not tolerate1 and his fine artistic sense was offended by any bit of imperfect work4 ,in going through his works1 he would lift the stick upon which he leaned and smash the offending article1 saying1 ',this won't do for ,josiah ,wedgwood4' ,all the while he had a keen insight into the character of his workmen1 although he used to say that he had everything to teach them1 even to the making of a table plate4 ,he was no monopolist1 and the only patent he ever took out was for the discovery of the lost art of burning in colours1 as in the ,etruscan vases4 ',let us make all the good1 fine1 and new things we can1' he said to ,bentley once2 'and so far from being afraid of other people getting our patterns1 we should glory in it1 and throw out all the hints we can1 and if possible1 have all the artists in ,europe working after our models4' ,by this means he hoped to secure the goodwill of his best customers and of the public4 ,at the same time he never sacrificed excellence to cheapness4 ,as the sale of painted ,etruscan ware declined1 his ,jasper porcelain--so called from its resemblance to the stone of that name--became popular4 ,the secret of its manufacture was kept for many years4 ,it was composed of flint1 potter's clay1 carbonate of barytes1 and terra ponderosa4 ,this and the ,jasper-dip are in several tones and hues of blue2 also yellow1 lilac1 and green4 ,he called in the good genius of ,flaxman in #agge2 and1 for the following twelve years1 the afterwards famous sculptor did an immense amount of work and enhanced his own and his patron's reputation4 ,flaxman did some of his finest work in this ,jasper porcelain4 ,some of ,flaxman's designs ,wedgwood could scarcely be prevailed upon to part with4 ,a bas-relief of the ',apotheosis of ,homer' went for seven hundred and thirty-five pounds at the sale of his partner ,bentley2 and the ',sacrifice to ,hymen1' a tablet in blue and white ,jasper 7#aghg71 brought four hundred and fifteen pounds4 ,the first named is now in the collection of ,lord ,tweedmouth4 ,wedgwood's copy of the ,barberini or ,portland ,vase was a great triumph of his art4 ,this vase1 which had contained the ashes of the ,roman ,emperor ,alexander ,severus and his mother1 was of dark-blue glass1 with white enamel figures4 ,it now stands in the medal room of the ,british ,museum alongside a model by ,wedgwood4 ,it stands #aj inches high1 and is the finest specimen of an ancient cameo cut-glass vase known4 ,it was smashed by a madman in #ahde1 but was afterwards skilfully repaired4 ,wedgwood made fifty copies in fine earthenware1 which were originally sold at #be guineas each4 ,one of these now fetches ,l#bjj4 ,the vase itself once changed hands for eighteen hundred guineas1 and a copy fetched two hundred and fifteen guineas in #ahib4 ,illustration3 ,portland ,vase4 ,josiah ,wedgwood now stood at the head of the potters of ,staffordshire1 and the manufactory at ,etruria drew visitors from all parts of ,europe4 ,the motto of its founder was still ',forward2' and1 as ,dr ,smiles expresses it1 there was with him no finality in the development of his profession4 ,he studied chemistry1 botany1 drawing1 designing1 and conchology4 ,his inquiring mind wanted to get to the bottom of everything4 ,he journeyed to ,cornwall1 and was successful in getting kaolin for chinaware4 ,queen ,charlotte patronised a new pearl-white teaware2 and he succeeded in perfecting the pestle and mortar for the apothecary4 ,he invented a pyrometer for measuring temperatures2 and was elected ,fellow of the ,royal ,society4 ,amongst his intimate friends were ,dr ,erasmus ,darwin1 poet and physician 7the famous ,charles ,robert ,darwin was a grandson1 his mother having been a daughter of ,wedgwood's71 ,boulton of ,soho ,works1 ,james ,watt1 ,thomas ,clarkson1 ,sir ,joseph ,banks1 and ,thomas ,day4 ,we have an example of the generosity of ,wedgwood's disposition in his treatment of ,john ,leslie1 afterwards ,professor ,sir ,john ,leslie of ,edinburgh ,university4 ,he was so well pleased with his tutoring of his sons that he settled an annuity of one hundred and fifty pounds upon him2 and it may be that the influence of this able tutor led ,thomas ,wedgwood to take up the study of heliotype1 and become a pioneer of photographic science1 even before ,daguerre4 ,how industrious ,wedgwood had been in his profession is evident from the seven thousand specimens of clay from all parts of the world which he had tested and analysed4 ,the six entirely new pieces of earthenware and porcelain which1 along with his ,queen's ware1 he had introduced early in his career1 as painted and embellished1 became the foundation of nearly all the fine earthenware and porcelains since produced4 ,he had his reward1 for besides a flourishing business1 he left more than half a million of money4 ,,worcester ,,porcelain4 ,one of the most artistic and interesting industries in this country is the manufacture of porcelain in the ancient city of ,worcester4 ,there is no special local reason for the establishment of such works there1 but ,worcester has been noted as the home of the famous porcelain for more than a century4 ,it was in #agea that ,dr ,wall1 a chemist and artist1 completed his experiment in the combination of various elements1 and produced a porcelain which was more like the true or natural ,chinese porcelain than any ever devised4 ,this was the more remarkable because kaolin had not then been discovered in this country4 ,the inventor set up his factory in ,worcester1 close to the cathedral1 and for a long time he produced his egg-shell and ,tonquin porcelain in various forms1 chiefly1 however1 those of table services4 ,transfer-printing was introduced later on1 and was executed with much of the artist's spirit by experts who attached themselves to the ,worcester works after the closing of the enamel works at ,battersea4 ,it was a remarkable century in its devotion to ceramic art2 and it was characteristic of the ruling princes of the ,continent that they should patronise lavishly various potteries of more or less repute4 ,towards the end of the century the first sign of this royal favour was vouchsafed to ,worcester4 ,george ,,iii4 visited the factories1 and under the impetus given by his patronage1 the wares of the city advanced so much in popularity that1 in the early part of this century1 it is said1 there were few noble families which had not in their china closets an elaborate service of ,worcester1 bearing the family arms and motto in appropriate emblazonment4 ,in #ahaa1 ,george ,,iv4 being then ,prince ,regent1 several splendid services of ,worcester porcelain were ordered to equip his table for the new social duties entailed by his regency1 and one of these alone cost ,l#djjj4 ,in the museums at the ,worcester works there are specimens of many beautiful services1 designed in accordance with the contemporary ideas of pomp and stateliness4 ,the porcelain artists in those days must have been well versed in heraldry2 for their chief duties seem to have been the reproduction of crests and coats-of-arms4 ,some of the services have interesting stories4 ,there is one of deep royal blue1 beautifully decorated1 and bearing in the centre an emblematical figure of ,hope4 ,the story ran that it was ordered by ,nelson for presentation to the ,duke of ,cumberland1 and that the figure of ,hope was really a portrait of ,lady ,hamilton4 ,this1 however1 was an error3 the service was ordered by the ,duke himself in the ordinary way1 and though ,lord ,nelson did order a service of ,worcester porcelain1 he died before it could be completed1 and it was afterwards dispersed4 ,another story attaches to a plate adorned with a picture of a ship in full sail approaching harbour4 ,the ,imaum of ,muscat sent many presents to the ,prince ,regent1 and hinted that he would like a ship of war in return4 ,the ,english authorities1 however1 did not see fit to give attention to this request1 and sent him instead many beautiful things1 including a service of ,worcester ware1 bearing on each piece a scene showing the royal yacht which bore the gifts entering the cove of ,muscat4 ,when the potentate heard1 however1 that his dearest wish had been thwarted in this way1 he refused to allow the vessel to enter the harbour1 and all the presents had to be brought back again4 ,the picture on the plate1 therefore1 is more imaginative than accurate4 ,illustration3 ,the ,worcester ,royal ,porcelain ,works4 ,the ,worcester porcelain began to develop in fresh directions soon after the ,great ,exhibition of #ahea1 which gave an impulse to the efforts of the artists1 and the decorative side of the work was brought into a much more prominent position4 ,for instance1 the ',worcester enamels1' in the style of those of ,limoges1 were introduced1 and an illustration of this work is to be seen in a pair of remarkable vases1 bearing enamel reproductions of ,maclise's drawings1 founded on the ,bayeux tapestries4 ,about this time1 too1 after several years of experiment1 the ivory ware--an idea inspired by the lovely ivory sculptures in the ,exhibition--was brought to perfection4 ,it is a beautiful1 creamy1 translucent porcelain1 singularly fitted for artistic treatment1 and it is now the most characteristic of the later developments of the ,worcester work4 ,in fact1 the art directors of the enterprise will not issue now any new wares in the style of those which found favour at an earlier period1 for they know that they would instantly be palmed off on the unwary as the genuine products of the bygone times4 ,to trace the process of the manufacture1 from the mixing of the ingredients to the burning of the last wash in the decorated piece1 is very interesting4 ,it is a process freely shown to visitors1 and forms one of the principal lions in the sober old town which has lain for so many centuries on the banks of the ,severn4 ,the materials are brought from all parts of the world4 ,kaolin1 or china clay1 which is the felspar of decomposed granite washed from the rocks1 is brought from ,cornwall1 so is the ,cornish or china stone2 felspar is brought from ,sweden1 and though of a rich red1 it turns white when burnt2 marl and fire-clay come from ,broseley1 in ,shropshire1 and ,stourbridge2 flints are brought from ,dieppe2 and bones--those of the ox only--come all the way from ,south ,america to be calcined and ground down4 ,the grinding is a slow matter2 each ingredient is ground separately in a vat1 the bottom of which is a hard stone1 whereon other hard stones of great weight revolve slowly4 ,from twelve hours' to ten days' constant treatment by these remorseless mills is required by the various materials1 some needing to be ground much longer than others before the requisite fineness is attained4 ,it is essential that all the ingredients should be reduced to a certain standard of grain2 and the contents of each vat must pass through a lawn sieve with four thousand meshes to the square inch4 ,when the materials are sufficiently ground to meet this test1 they are taken to the 'slip-house1' and mixed together with the clays1 which do not need grinding4 ,a magnet of great strength is in each mixing trough1 and draws to itself every particle of iron1 which1 if allowed to remain in the mixture1 would injure the ware very much4 ,when properly mixed1 the water is pressed out1 and the paste or clay is beaten so that it may obtain consistency4 ,then it is ready to be made into the many shapes which find popular favour4 ,the process of manufacture depends on the shape to be obtained4 ,a plain circular teacup may be cast on a potter's wheel of the ancient kind4 ,when it is partly dried in a mould1 it is turned on a lathe and trimmed2 then the handle1 which has been moulded1 is affixed with a touch of the 'slip'--the porcelain paste in a state of dilution is the cement used in all such situations--and the piece is ready for the fire4 ,a plate or saucer1 however1 is made by flat pressing2 a piece of clay like a pancake is laid on the mould1 which is set revolving on a wheel2 the deft fingers of the workmen press the clay to the proper shape1 and it is then dried4 ,but the elaborate ornamental pieces of graceful design are made in moulds1 and for this process the clay is used in the thin or 'slip' state4 ,the moulds are pressed together1 the slip is poured into them through a hole in one side1 and when the moisture has been absorbed by the plaster moulds sufficiently1 the piece is taken out4 ,it is often necessary1 in making a large or complicated piece1 to have as many as twenty or thirty castings4 ,in moulding a figure1 for instance1 the legs and arms and hands1 even the thumbs in many cases1 are cast separately1 and with many other parts of the design are laid before a workman1 who carefully builds up the complete figure out of the apparent chaos of parts1 affixing each piece to the body with a touch of slip4 ,when these wares are complete1 they have to be fired for the first time2 and they are taken to a kiln1 and placed with great care and many precautions in the grim interior4 ,the contraction of the clay under fire is a matter to which the designers must give much study2 and the change which takes place during forty hours' fierce firing in the kiln is shown by contrasting an unburnt piece and a piece of 'biscuit' or burnt ware1 and marking the shrinkage4 ,your ware must be calculated to shrink only so much2 if it shrink a shade further1 the whole process may be spoiled4 ,there is a loss of twenty-five per cent4 sometimes in these kilns1 in spite of the assiduous care of the workmen4 ,when the biscuit ware has cooled1 it is dipped in the glaze1 which is a compound of lead and borax and other materials--virtually a sort of glass--and then it is fired for sixteen hours in the 'glost oven4' ,there is no contraction in this ordeal2 but there is a risk none the less from other causes4 ,in fact1 there is the danger of injury every time the ware goes to the fire1 and as the highly decorated pieces have to go to the kiln many times1 it may be inferred that the labour of weeks and even months is sometimes nullified by an untoward accident in the burning4 ,it is during the process of decoration that the ornate vases and figures make so many trips to the fire4 ,the artist department is a very large and important one4 ,the designers1 however1 are a class of themselves4 ,they project the idea2 it is the business of the artist1 in these circumstances1 to execute it4 ,the painters are taken into the works as lads and trained for the special service4 ,what you remark chiefly in going through the decorating rooms is the great facility of the artists4 ,you see a man with a plate or vase on which he is outlining a landscape1 and you marvel at the rapid1 accurate touches with which he does the work4 ,flowers1 birds1 and figures they can reproduce with great skill1 and many of them are artists not merely in facility but in instinct4 ,they work with metallic colours only4 ,they rely on copper1 for instance1 to give black and green1 on iron to yield red hues1 and so on2 and the gold work is done with what seems to be a dirty brown paste1 but is really pure gold mixed with flux and quicksilver4 ,when the first wash is put on1 the piece must be fired1 so that the colours shall be burnt into the glaze4 ,then it returns to the painter1 who adds the next touches so far as he can2 the firing again follows2 the piece is returned to him once more2 and so on it goes till the work is complete4 ,it is therefore a highly technical business1 especially as the colours change very much in the fire1 and the painter has to work with full knowledge of the chemical processes in every firing4 ,there is one form of the decorative process which is very singular--that is1 the piercing work4 ,the artist has the vase in the dried state before the firing1 and with a tiny1 sharp-pointed knife he cuts out little pieces according to the design in his mind1 and produces an extremely beautiful perforated ware1 the elaborate pattern and the lace-like delicacy of which almost repel the idea that the work is done by the unaided hand of man4 ,in the colour processes1 the work is virtually complete when the dull gold has been burnished2 and the porcelain is then ready to be transferred to the showrooms1 or exported to ,america1 which is the greatest patron1 at present1 of ,worcester art4 ,america1 however1 failed to retain one lovely vase no less than four feet high1 the largest ever made in the works2 it was taken to the ,chicago ,exhibition and back without accident1 and was then sold in ,england for one thousand pounds4 ,it is important to remember the distinction between 'pottery' and 'porcelain3' the porcelain is clay purified by the fire1 whereas pottery leaves the oven as it entered it--clay4 ,the purification of the ware is really an illustration of the process which sustains the artistic inspiration of the work4 ,the gross1 the vulgar1 the mean are eliminated2 a standard of beauty is set up1 and to it every article must conform4 ,it is to this ideal1 sustained by a long succession of artists through a century and a half1 that ,worcester owes its world-wide reputation as the birthplace of some of the loveliest porcelain ever burnt in a kiln4 ,illustration3 ,chinese ,porcelain ,vase4 ,illustration ,,chapter ,,iii4 ,,the ,,sewing-,,machine4 ,thomas ,saint--,thimonnier--,hunt--,elias ,howe--,wilson--,morey--,singer4 ,although the sewing-machine has not put an end to the slavery of the needle1 and although ',the ,song of the ,shirt' may be heard to the accompaniment of its click and whirr1 just as it was to the 'stitch1 stitch' of ,tom ,hood's time1 yet has it unquestionably come as a boon and a blessing to man--and woman4 ,its name now is legion1 and it has had so many inventors and improvers that the present generation is fast losing sight of its original benefactors4 ,indeed1 we take the sewing-machine to-day as an accomplished fact so familiar as to be commonplace4 ,and yet that fact is a product of as moving a history as any in the story of human invention4 ,it is the growth of the last half-century1 prior to which the real sewing-machine was the heavy-eyed1 if not tireless1 needlewoman1 whose flying fingers seemed ever in vain pursuit of the flying hours4 ,needlework is as old as human history1 for we may see the beginnings of it in the aprons of fig-leaves which ,mother ,eve sewed4 ,what instrument she used we know not1 but we do know from ,moses that needles were in use when the tabernacle was built4 ,yet1 strange to say1 it was not until the middle of last century that any one tried to supersede manual labour in the matter of stitching4 ,it is said that a ,german tailor1 named ,charles ,frederick ,weisenthal1 was the first to attempt it1 but for hand-embroidery only--with a double-pointed needle1 eyed in the middle4 ,this was in #agee1 and fifty years later1 one ,john ,duncan1 a ,glasgow machinist1 worked out ,weisenthal's idea into a genuine embroidering machine1 which really held the germ of the idea of the 'loop-stitch4' ,but neither of these was a sewing-machine1 and before ,duncan's invention some one else had been seized with another idea4 ,this was a ,london cabinetmaker called ,thomas ,saint1 who in or about #agij took out a patent for a machine for sewing leather1 or rather for 'quilting1 stitching1 and making shoes1 boots1 spatterdashes1 clogs1 and other articles4' ,this patent1 unfortunately1 was taken out along with other inventions in connection with leather1 and it was quite by accident that1 some eighty years later1 the specification of it was discovered by one who had made for himself a name in connection with sewing-machines4 ,even the ,patent ,office did not seem to have known of its existence1 yet now it is clear enough that ,thomas ,saint's leather-sewing-machine of #agij was the first genuine sewing-machine ever constructed1 and that it was on what is now known as the 'chain-stitch' principle4 ,rude as it was1 it is declared by experts to have anticipated most of the ingenious ideas of half a century of successive inventors1 not one of whom1 however1 could in all human probability have as much as heard of ,saint's machine4 ,this is not the least curious incident in the history of the sewing-machine4 ,in ,saint's machine the features are--the overhanging arm1 which is the characteristic of many modern machines2 the perpendicular action of the ,singer machine2 the eye-pointed needle of the ,howe machine2 the pressure surfaces peculiar to the ,howe machine2 and a 'feed' system equal to that of the most modern inventions4 ,whether ,saint's machine was ever worked in a practical workshop or not1 it was unquestionably a practicable machine1 constructed by one who knew pretty well what he was about1 and what he wanted to achieve4 ,now note the date of ,thomas ,saint's patent 7#agij71 and next note the date of the invention of ,barthelmy ,thimonnier1 of ,st ,etienne1 who is claimed in ,france as the inventor of the sewing-machine4 ,in #ahcj1 ,thimonnier constructed a machine1 principally of wood1 with an arrangement of barbed needles1 for stitching gloves1 and in the following year he began business in ,paris1 with a partner1 as an army clothier4 ,the firm of ,thimonnier1 ,petit1 ,co41 however1 did not thrive1 because the workpeople thought they saw in the principal's machine an instrument destined to ruin them2 much as the ,luddites viewed steam-machinery in the cotton districts of ,england4 ,an idea of that sort rapidly germinates heat1 and ,thimonnier's workshop was one day invaded by an angry mob1 who smashed all the machines1 and compelled the inventor to seek safety in flight4 ,poor ,thimonnier was absent from ,paris for three years1 but in #ahcd returned with another and more perfect machine4 ,this was so coldly received1 both by employers and workmen in the tailoring trade1 that he left the capital1 and1 journeying through ,france with his machine1 paid his way by exhibiting it in the towns and villages as a curiosity4 ,after a few years1 however1 ,thimonnier fell in with a capitalist who believed in him and his machine1 and was willing to stake money on both4 ,a partnership was entered into for the manufacture and sale of the machine1 and all promised well for the new firm1 when the ,revolution of #ahdh broke out1 stopped the business1 and ruined both the inventor and the capitalist4 ,thimonnier died in #aheg1 in a poorhouse1 of a broken heart4 ,this ,french machine was also on the chain-stitch principle1 but it was forty years later than ,saint's4 ,in between the two came1 about #ahcb1 one ,walter ,hunt1 of ,new ,york1 who is said to have constructed a sewing-machine with the lock-stitch movement4 ,some uncertainty surrounds this claim1 and ,elias ,howe is the person usually credited with this important1 indeed invaluable invention4 ,whether ,howe had ever seen ,hunt's machine1 we know not2 but ,hunt's machine was never patented1 seems never to have come into practical working1 and is1 indeed1 said to have been unworkable4 ,there is1 besides1 in the ,polytechnic at ,vienna1 the model of a machine1 dated #ahad1 constructed by one ,joseph ,madersberg1 a tailor of the ,tyrol1 which embodies the lock-stitch idea--working with two threads4 ,but this also was unworkable1 and ,elias ,howe has the credit of having produced the first really practical lock-stitch sewing-machine4 ,his was a life of vicissitude and of ultimate triumph1 both in fame and fortune4 ,he was born at a small place in ,massachusetts in #ahai1 and as a youth went to ,boston1 there to work as a mechanic4 ,while there1 and when about twenty-two years old1 the idea occurred to him at his work of passing a thread through cloth and securing it on the other side by another thread4 ,here we perceive the germ of the lock-stitch--the two threads4 ,howe began to experiment with a number of bent wires in lieu of needles1 but he lacked the means to put his great idea to a thorough practical test4 ,thus it slumbered for three years1 when he went to board and lodge with an old schoolfellow named ,fisher1 who1 after a while1 agreed to advance ,howe one hundred pounds in return for a half share in the invention should it prove a success4 ,thus aided1 in #ahde ,howe completed his first machine1 and actually made himself a suit of clothes with it2 and this would be just about the time of ,thimonnier's temporary prosperity in alliance with the capitalist1 ,mogrini4 ,feeling sure of his ground1 ,howe took bold steps to 'boom' his invention4 ,he challenged five of the most expert sewers in a great ,boston clothing factory to a sewing match4 ,each of them was to sew a certain strip of cloth1 and ,howe undertook to sew five strips1 torn in halves1 before each man had completed his one strip4 ,the arrangements completed1 the match began1 and to the wonder of everybody1 ,howe finished his five seams before the others were half done with one seam4 ,but murmurs instead of cheers succeeded the victory4 ,he was angrily reproached for trying to take the bread out of the mouth of the honest working-man1 and a cry was raised among the workers 7as it has been heard time and again in the history of industrial development7 to smash the machine4 ,howe1 indeed1 had much difficulty in escaping from the angry mob1 with his precious machine under his arm4 ,in ,howe's experience we thus see one parallel with ,thimonnier's2 but there was another4 ,the ,american was quite as poor and resourceless as the ,frenchman1 and the next step in ,howe's career was that he went on tour to the country fairs to exhibit his machine for a trifling fee1 in order to keep body and soul together4 ,people went in flocks to see the thing as a clever toy1 but no one would 'take hold' of it as a practical machine4 ,and so1 in despair of doing any good with it in ,america1 ,elias ,howe1 in #ahdf1 sent his brother to ,england to see if a market could not be found for the invention there4 ,the brother succeeded in making terms with one ,william ,thomas1 staymaker1 in ,cheapside1 ,london1 and he sent for ,elias to come over4 ,the price to be paid by ,thomas for the patent was two hundred and fifty pounds1 but ,howe was to make certain alterations in it so as to adapt it to the special requirements of the purchaser4 ,while engaged in perfecting the machine1 he was to receive wages at the rate of three pounds per week1 and this wage he seems to have received for nearly two years4 ,but he failed to achieve what ,thomas wanted1 and ,thomas1 after spending a good deal of money over the experiments1 abandoned the thing altogether4 ,howe was thus astrand again1 and he returned to ,america as poor as ever1 leaving his machine behind him in pawn for advances to pay his passage home4 ,and yet there were 'millions in it4' ,this was in the year #ahdi1 and just about the time when ,howe was returning to ,america1 another ,american1 named ,bostwich1 was sending over to ,england a machine which he had invented for imitating hand-stitching1 by means of cog-wheels and a bent needle4 ,and a year or two after ,howe's return1 one ,charles ,morey1 of ,manchester1 attempted to carry out the same stitch on a somewhat different plan1 but failed to find sufficient pecuniary support4 ,indeed1 poor ,morey had a tragic end1 for1 taking his machine to ,paris in the hope of finding a purchaser there1 he incurred some debt which he could not pay1 and was clapped into the ,mazas prison4 ,while there1 he inadvertently broke the rules1 and was shot by the guard for failing to reply to a challenge which he did not understand4 ,when ,howe got back to the ,united ,states1 he found a number of ingenious persons engaged in producing or experimenting in sewing-machines1 and some of them were trenching on his own patent rights4 ,he raised enough money1 somehow1 to redeem his pawned machine in ,england1 and then raised actions against all who were infringing it4 ,the litigation was tremendous both in duration and expense1 but it ended in the victory of ,elias ,howe1 to whom1 by the finding of the court1 the other patentees were found liable for royalty4 ,it is said that ,howe1 who as we have seen left ,london in debt1 received1 before his patent expired in #ahfg1 upwards of two million dollars in royalties alone4 ,but ingenious men were now busy in both hemispheres in perfecting what1 up till about fifty years ago1 was regarded as nothing better than a clever toy4 ,besides ,morey1 the ,manchester man we have mentioned1 a ,huddersfield machinist1 named ,drake1 brought out a machine to work with a shuttle4 ,about the same time1 or a little later1 a young ,nottingham man1 named ,john ,fisher1 constructed a machine with a sort of lock-stitch movement1 which he afterwards adapted to a double loop-stitch4 ,but ,fisher's machine was intended rather for embroidering than for plain sewing4 ,passing over some minor attempts1 the next great development was that of ,allen ,wilson1 who1 without having heard either of ,howe's or of any other machine1 constructed one in #ahdi1 the design of which1 he said1 he had been meditating for two years4 ,his first machine had original features1 however much it may have been anticipated in principle by ,howe's patent4 ,in ,wilson's second design1 a rotary hook was substituted for a two-pointed shuttle1 and by other improvements he achieved a greater speed than had been attained by other inventors4 ,later still1 he added the 'four-motion feed1' which is adopted on most of the machines now in general use4 ,this idea was an elaboration of a principle which seems to have first occurred to the unfortunate ,morey4 ,in ,morey's machine there was a horizontal bar with short teeth1 which caught the fabric and dragged it forward as the stitches were completed4 ,it took nearly thirty years1 however1 to evolve the perfect 'feed' motion out of ,morey's first crude germ4 ,while ,wilson was working away1 perfecting his now famous machine1 an observing and thoughtful young millwright was employed in a ,new ,york factory4 ,one day a sewing-machine was sent in for repairs1 and after examining its mechanism1 this young man1 whose name was ,isaac ,singer1 confidently expressed his belief that he could make a better one4 ,he did not propose either to appropriate or abandon the principle1 but to improve upon it4 ,instead of a curved needle1 as in ,howe's and ,wilson's machines1 he adopted a straight one1 and gave it a perpendicular instead of a curvular motion4 ,and for propelling the fabric he introduced a wheel1 instead of the toothed bar of the ,morey design4 ,it need hardly be said that the ,singer machine is now one of the most widely known1 and is turned out in countless numbers in enormous factories on both sides of the ,atlantic4 ,it is not so well known1 perhaps1 that ,singer1 who was a humble millwright in #ahej1 and who died in #ahge1 left an estate valued at three millions sterling--all amassed in less than twenty-five years6 ,the machines of ,howe1 ,wilson1 and ,singer were on the lock-stitch principle1 and the next novelty was the invention of ,grover and ,baker1 who brought out a machine working with two needles and two continuous threads4 ,after this came the ,gibbs machine1 the story of which may be briefly told4 ,about the year #ahee1 ,james ,g4 ,gibbs heard of the ,grover and ,baker machine1 and having a turn for mechanics1 began to ponder over how the action described was produced4 ,he got an illustration1 but could make nothing of it1 and not for a year did he obtain sight of a ,singer machine at work4 ,as in the case of ,singer with ,wilson's machine1 so ,gibbs thought he could improve on ,singer's1 and turn out one less ponderous and complicated4 ,he set to work1 and in a very short time took out a patent for a new lock-stitch machine4 ,but he was not satisfied with this1 and experimented away1 with an idea of making a chain-stitch by means of a revolving looper4 ,this idea he eventually put into practical form1 and took out a patent for the first chain-stitch sewing-machine4 ,since the days of ,elias ,howe1 the number of patents taken out for sewing-machines has been legion--certainly not less than one thousand--and probably no labour-saving appliance has received more attention at the hands both of inventors and of the general public4 ,there is scarcely a household in the land now1 however humble1 without a sewing-machine of some sort1 and in factories and warehouses they are to be numbered by the thousand4 ,some machinists have directed their ingenuity to the reduction of wear and tear1 others to the reduction of noise1 others to acceleration of speed1 others to appliances for supplying the machine in a variety of ways1 others for adapting it to various complicated processes of stitching and embroidering4 ,some users prefer the lock-stitch1 and some the chain-stitch principle1 and each system has its peculiar advantages according to the character of the work to be sewn4 ,a recent development is a combination of both principles in one machine4 ,mr ,edward ,kohler patented a machine which will produce either a lock-stitch or a chain-stitch1 as may be desired1 and an embroidery stitch as well4 ,by a very ingenious contrivance the machinery is altered by the simple movement of a button1 and 7when the chain-stitch is required7 the taking out of the bobbin from the shuttle4 ,if the embroidery stitch is wanted1 the button is turned without removing the bobbin1 and the lock-stitch and chain-stitch are combined in one new stitch1 with which very elaborate effects can be produced4 ,it is said that the ,kohler principle can be easily adapted to all1 or most1 existing machines4 ,illustration ,,chapter ,,iv4 ,,wool ,,and ,,cotton4 ,,wool4--,what is ,wool8--,chemical ,composition--,fibre--,antiquity of ,shepherd ,life--,varieties of ,sheep--,introduction into ,australia--,spanish ,merino--,wool ,wealth of ,australia--,imports and ,exports of ,wool and ,woollen ,produce--,woollen ,manufacture4 ,,cotton4--,cotton ,plant in the ,east--,mandeville's ,fables about ,cotton--,cotton in ,persia1 ,arabia1 and ,egypt--,columbus finds ,cotton-yarn and ,thread in #adib--;,in ,africa--,manufacture of ,cloth in ,england--,the ,american ,cotton ,plant4 ,,wool4 ,what is wool8 ',the covering of the sheep1 of course1' replies somebody4 ,yes2 but what is it8 ,let us ask ,professor ,owen4 ',wool1' he says1 'is a peculiar modification of hair1 characterised by fine transverse or oblique lines from two to four thousand in the extent of an inch1 indicative of a minutely imbricated scaly surface1 when viewed under the microscope1 on which and on its curved or twisted form depends its remarkable felting property4' ,at first sight this definition seems bewildering1 but it will bear examination1 and is really more tangible than1 for instance1 ,noah ,webster's definition of wool3 ',that soft curled or crisped species of hair which grows on sheep and some other animals1 and which in fineness sometimes approaches to fur4' ,it is usually that which grows on sheep1 however1 that we know as wool1 and the number of imbrications1 serratures1 or notches indicates the quality of the fibre4 ,thus1 in the wool of the ,leicester sheep there are #ahej--;in ,spanish merino1 #bdjj--;in ,saxon merino1 #bgjj1 to an inch1 and the fewer there are the nearer does wool approach to hair4 ,illustration3 ,wool-sorters at ,work4 ,here is a still more minute description by ,youatt1 a great authority on wool3 ',it consists of a central stem or stalk1 probably hollow1 or at least porous1 and possessing a semi-transparency1 found in the fibre of the hair4 ,from this central stalk there springs1 at different distances in different breeds of sheep1 a circlet of leaf-shaped projections4 ,in the finer species of wool these circles seemed at first to be composed of one indicated or serrated ring2 but when the eye was accustomed to them1 this ring was resolvable into leaves or scales4 ,in the larger kinds1 the ring was at once resolvable into these scales or leaves1 varying in number1 shape1 and size1 and projecting at different angles from the stalk1 and in the direction of the leaves of vegetables--that is1 from the root to the point4 ,they give to the wool the power of felting4' ,this is the estimate of the chemical composition of good wool3 ,carbon1 #ej4fe2 hydrogen1 #g4jc2 nitrogen1 #ag4ga2 oxygen and sulphur1 #bd4fa4 ,out of a hundred parts1 ninety-eight would be organic1 and two would be ash1 consisting of oxide of iron1 sulphate of lime1 phosphate of lime1 and magnesia4 ,what is called the 'yolk' of wool is a compound of oil1 lime1 and potash4 ,it makes the pile soft and pliable1 and is less apparent on ,english sheep than on those of warmer countries1 the merino sheep having the most 'yolk4' ,the fibre of wool varies in diameter1 the ,saxon merino measuring #a_/acgj of an inch1 and the ,southdown1 #a_/aajj4 ,lustrous wool1 it is said1 should be long and strong2 but if it is very fine it is not long4 ,strong wool may be as much as twenty inches in length4 ,the wool of the best sheep adheres closely1 and can only be removed by shearing2 but there are varieties of sheep which shed their wool1 as1 for instance1 the ,persian1 which drop the whole of their fleeces between ,january and ,may1 when feeding on the new grass4 ,this1 then1 is wool1 the first use of which for cloth-making is lost in antiquity4 ,there is no doubt that the pastoral industry is the oldest industry in the world2 for even when the fruits of the earth could be eaten without tillage and without labour1 the flocks and herds required care and attention4 ,the shepherd may be regarded as the earliest pioneer of industry1 as he has been for centuries the centre of fanciful romance1 and the personification of far from romantic fact4 ,the old legend of ,jason and the ,golden ,fleece is in itself evidence of the antiquity of the knowledge of the value of wool2 and much as the mythologists make out of the legend1 there are some who hold that it merely is meant to record how the ,greeks imported a superior kind of sheep from the ,caucasus and made money thereby4 ,australia is now the land of the ,golden ,fleece1 and millions of money have been made there out of the docile sheep4 ,it is not indigenous1 of course1 to the land of the ,southern ,cross1 where the only mammal known when ,europeans discovered it was the kangaroo4 ,mr ,james ,bonwick1 a gentleman well known in ,australian literature1 gathered together many records of the introduction of the sheep into ,australia1 and of the marvellous development of the pastoral industry there in his very interesting book1 ,the ,romance of the ,wool-trade4 ,but1 first1 as to the different kinds of sheep4 ,the ,bighorn is the wild-sheep of ,kamchatka1 and it may be taken for granted that all species of the domestic sheep were at one time wild1 or are descended from wild tribes4 ,when the ,aryan ,hindus invaded ,india1 it is recorded that they took their flocks with them2 but whether the wild-sheep still to be found on the hills of ,northern ,india are the descendants of wanderers from these flocks1 or descendants of the progenitors of them1 we do not pretend to say4 ,chief among the domesticated sheep of the ,british ,isles is the ,southdown1 whose characteristics used to be--although we are told they are changed somewhat now--thin chine1 low fore-end1 and rising backbone1 a small hornless head1 speckled face1 thin lips1 woolled ears1 and bright eyes4 ,the wool should 'be short1 close1 curled1 fine1 and free from spiry projecting fibres4' ,then there are the ,romney ,marsh1 the ,cotswold1 the ,lincoln1 the ,leicester1 and the ,hardwick sheep1 each with its distinctive marks and value4 ,the ,welsh sheep have long necks1 high shoulders1 narrow breasts1 long bushy tails1 and small bones2 the wool is not first class1 but the mutton is excellent4 ,the ,irish native sheep are of two kinds1 the short-woolled and long-woolled2 but ,southdowns and ,leicesters have been so long crossed with them that their idiosyncrasies are no longer marked4 ,the ,shetland sheep are supposed to have come from ,denmark1 but have also been crossed with ,english and ,scotch varieties4 ,in ,scotland1 the ,cheviot and the ,blackfaced are the two ruling types4 ,the ,cheviot is a very handsome animal1 with long body1 white face1 small projecting eyes1 and well-formed legs4 ,the wool is excellent1 as the 'tweed'-makers of the ,border know1 but is not so soft as that of the ,english ,southdowns4 ,the ,blackfaced is the familiar form we see in the ,highlands1 supposed to have come originally 'from abroad1' but now regarded as the native sheep of ,scotland4 ,it is a hardy animal1 accustomed to rough food and rough weather1 with a fine deep chest1 broad back1 slender legs1 attractive face1 and picturesque horns4 ,the wool is not so good as that of the ,cheviot variety1 but the mutton is better4 ,of course1 ,english varieties have been largely crossed with the two native ,scotch kinds2 yet these still remain distinct1 and are easily recognisable4 ,as long ago as the time of the ,emperor ,constantine1 the wool of ,english sheep had a high reputation1 and had even then found its way to ,rome4 ,of ,english monarchs1 ,edward ,,iii4 seems to have been the first to endeavour to stimulate the pastoral industry by the manufacture of woollen cloths and the export of raw wool4 ,but ,henry ,,viii4 thought that sheep-breeding had been carried too far1 and the farmers were making too much money out of it2 so he decreed that no one should keep more than two thousand four hundred sheep at one time1 and that no man should be allowed to occupy more than two farms4 ,in the time of ,charles ,,ii4 the export of both sheep and wool was strictly prohibited4 ,as late as #aghh1 there were curious prohibitory enactments with reference to sheep2 and the date is interesting1 because it was the date of the settlement of ,new ,south ,wales4 ,there was a fine of three pounds upon the carrying off of any sheep from the ,british ,isles1 except for use on board ship2 and even between the islands and the mainland of ,scotland1 or across a tidal river1 sheep could not be transported without a special permit and the execution of a bond that the animals were not for exportation4 ,indeed1 no sheep could be shorn within five miles of the sea-coast without the presence of a revenue officer1 to see that the law was not evaded4 ,it is not surprising1 then1 that the first sheep settled in ,australia--the only great pastoral country that has never had a native variety--did not go from ,england4 ,it is very curious that in ,australia1 ,new ,zealand1 and ,tasmania1 where now lies a great portion of the pastoral wealth of the world1 there never was any animal in the smallest degree resembling a sheep until some enterprising ,britons took it there4 ,the first sheep introduced into ,australia were from the ,cape and from ,india4 ,the ships which went out with the convicts of #aghh had a few sheep on board for the officers' mess1 which were presumably consumed before the ,cape of ,good ,hope was reached4 ,there1 some animals were procured for the new settlement4 ,the ,cape at the time was in the hands of the ,dutch1 who had large flocks of sheep and immense herds of cattle4 ,the sheep they had were not imported from ,europe1 but were the native breed they had found in the hands of the aborigines when the ,dutch colony was founded one hundred and thirty years previously4 ,the native ,african sheep is of the fat-tail kind4 ,wool was not then an item of wealth in the ,dutch colony2 but the fat tails were appreciated as an excellent substitute for butter4 ,all over ,africa and over a large part of ,asia1 varieties of the fat-tail species are still to be found4 ,in ,tibet they abound2 and the ,turcomans have vast flocks of them4 ,but ,tibet has also other varieties1 and notably one very like the llama of ,peru1 with a very soft and most useful fleece1 providing the famous ,tibetan wool4 ,in ,palestine and ,syria the fat-tail sheep is abundant2 and of the ,palestine breed it is recorded that they 'have a monstrous round of fat1 like a cushion1 in place of the tail1 which sometimes weighs thirty or forty pounds4 ,the wool of this sheep is coarse1 much tangled1 and felted1 and mixed with coarse dark-coloured hair4' ,although the first sheep taken to ,australia were from the ,cape1 the most important of the earlier consignments were from ,india1 the nearest ,british possession to the new colony4 ,indeed1 for over thirty years ,australia was ecclesiastically within the see of the ,bishop of ,calcutta1 and letters to ,england usually went by way of the ,indian capital4 ,the ,bengalee sheep are described as 'small1 lank1 and thin1 and the colour of three-fourths of each flock is black or dark gray4 ,the quality of the fleece is worse than the colour2 it is harsh1 thin1 and wiry to a very remarkable degree1 and ordinarily weighs but half a pound4' ,not a very promising subject1 one would think1 for the ,australian pastures1 but the flesh was excellent2 and climate and crossing of breeds work wonders4 ,that which gave value to the ,australian breed of sheep1 however1 was the introduction of the ,spanish merino1 which in time found its way to the ,cape1 and thence to ,australia4 ,there is an old tradition that the famous merino sheep of ,spain came originally from ,england2 but it appears from ,pliny and others that ,spain had a reputation for fine wool long before the ,roman occupation4 ,the ,spanish word merino originally meant an inspector of sheepwalks1 and is derived from the ,low ,latin majorinus1 a steward of the household4 ,some writers believe that the merino came originally from ,barbary1 probably among the flocks of the ,moors when they captured ,southern ,spain4 ,the merinos are considered very voracious1 and not very prolific2 they yield but little milk1 and are very subject to cutaneous diseases4 ,youatt describes two varieties of them in ,spain1 and the wool is of remarkable fineness4 ,about the year #agij1 the ,spanish merino began to be imported into the ,cape1 and a few years later a certain ,captain ,waterhouse was sent from ,sydney to ,capetown to buy stock for the colonial establishment4 ,he thought the service in which he was engaged 'almost a disgrace to an officer2' but when he left the ,cape again1 he brought with him 'forty-nine head of black-cattle1 three mares1 and one hundred and seven sheep'--arriving at ,port ,jackson with the loss of nine of the cattle and about one-third of the sheep4 ,three cows1 two mares1 and twenty-four of the sheep belonged to that officer1 and with this voyage he founded not only his own fortune1 but also the prosperity of the great ,australian colony4 ,further importations followed2 and a ,captain ,macarthur1 early in the present century1 went home to ,london to endeavour to form a company to carry on sheep-rearing on an extensive scale4 ,he did not succeed1 and returned to ,port ,jackson to pursue his enterprise himself4 ,eventually he obtained the concession of a few square miles of land1 and thus became the father of ,australian 'squatting4' ,he located himself on the ,nepean ,river1 to the south-west of ,sydney2 and to his industry and sagacity is attributed in great part the origin of the immense wool-trade which has developed between the colony and the mother-country4 ,and what is now the wool wealth of ,australasia8 ,in #ahbj there were not more than ten thousand sheep of 'a good sort' in ,new ,south ,wales2 and in the same year1 wool from the colony was sold in ,london at an average of three shillings and sevenpence the pound4 ,this led to the circulation of fabulous reports of the profits to be made out of sheep2 and there was quite a run for some years on the squatting lots4 ,in #ahdh some ,australians started sheep-running in ,new ,zealand2 and by #ahfj the sheep in these islands had increased to #b1djj1jjj4 ,in #ahfe the number there had grown to #e1gjj1jjj2 in #ahgj1 to #i1ejj1jjj2 and in #ahid1 to #ai1jjj1jjj4 ,in #ahhf the pastoral wealth of the whole of the ,australian colonies consisted of #hd1bbb1bgb sheep4 ,at only ten shillings per head1 this represents a capital of over forty-two millions sterling1 without counting the value of the land4 ,the number of sheep in #ahid was over #ii1jjj1jjj4 ,but now as to the yield of the flocks4 ,the value of the wool for #ahhd was ,l#bj1ecb1dbi4 ,the total importations of wool into ,england in #ahhe-hf were #a1hai1ahb bales1 of which no fewer than #a1aci1hdb bales1 or nearly three-fourths of the whole1 came from ,australasia4 ,the rest came from the ,cape and ,natal1 ,india1 the ,mediterranean1 ,russia1 other ,european countries1 ,china1 and the ,falkland ,islands4 ,the imports in #ahid1 from all quarters1 consisted of #gje million pounds1 of a value of ,l#be1jjj1jjj4 ,it would transcend the limits of our space to attempt to sketch the history and growth of the woollen industry in the manufacture of cloths4 ,it is an industry1 if not as old as the hills1 at least very nearly as old as the fig-leaves of ,eden2 for we may assume as a certainty that the next garments worn by our forefathers were constructed in some way from the fleecy coats of these bleating followers4 ,we exported woollen and worsted yarns of a value of over four million pounds sterling in #ahid1 and of woollen and worsted manufactures1 a value of #ad millions sterling4 ,in the middle ages all the best wool was produced in ,england1 and the woollen manufacture centred in ,norfolk1 although both the west of ,england and ,ireland had also factories4 ,there are in existence specimens of cloth made in these medieval days which show that the quality of the wool employed was not equal to that which we now use4 ,the art of weaving is supposed to have been brought from the ,netherlands2 at any rate there were strong political alliances between the ,english sovereigns and the weavers of ,bruges and of ,ghent4 ,in these old days1 when ,norwich1 ,aylsham1 and ,lynn had the lion's share of the woollen trade1 the great mart for ,english and foreign cloths was at ,stourbridge1 near ,cambridge1 where a fair was held which lasted a month every year4 ,there were #bedf woollen and worsted mills in the ,united ,kingdom in #ahij4 ,the chief seats of the wool manufacture in ,england in the #adth century were ,bristol1 ,london1 and ,norwich4 ,now ,wiltshire and ,gloucestershire are famous for broadcloths1 while the towns of ,leeds and ,huddersfield in ,yorkshire are important centres4 ,galashiels and ,hawick are noted for their tweeds4 ,,cotton4 ,the ,father of ,history1 in writing about ,india--'the last inhabited country towards the ,east'--where every species of birds and quadrupeds1 horses excepted1 are 'much larger than in any other part of the world1' and where they have also 'a great abundance of gold1' made the following remarkable statement4 ',they possess likewise1' he said1 'a kind of plant1 which1 instead of fruit1 produces wool of a finer and better quality than that of the sheep1 and of this the natives make their clothes4' ,this was the vegetable wool of the ancients1 which many learned authorities have identified with the byssus1 in bandages of cloth made from which the old ,egyptians wrapped their mummies4 ,but did ,egypt receive the cotton plant from ,india--or ,india from ,egypt--and when8 ,however that may be1 there is good reason to believe that cotton is the basis of one of the oldest industries in the world1 although we are accustomed to think of it as quite modern1 and at any rate as practically unknown in ,europe before the last century4 ,as a matter of fact1 nevertheless1 cotton was being cultivated in the south of ,europe in the #acth century1 although whether the fibre was then used for the making of cloth is not so certain4 ,its chief use then seems to have been in the manufacture of paper4 ,the beginning of the ,oriental fable of the ,vegetable ,lamb is lost in the dateless night of the centuries4 ,when and how it originated we know not2 but the story of a ,plant-,animal in ,western ,asia descended through the ages1 and passed from traveller to traveller1 from historian to historian1 until in our time the fable has received a practical verification4 ,many strange things were gravely recorded of this ,plant-,animal3 as1 that it was a tree bearing seed-pods1 which1 bursting when ripe1 disclosed within little lambs with soft white fleeces1 which ,scythians used for weaving into clothing4 ,or1 that it was a real flesh-and-blood lamb1 growing upon a short stem flexible enough to allow the lamb to feed upon the surrounding grass4 ,there were many versions of the marvellous tale as it reached ,europe2 and the compiler and concocter of the so-called ,sir ,john ,mandeville's travels1 as usual1 improved upon it4 ,he vouched for the flesh-and-blood lamb growing out of a plant1 and declared that he had both seen and eaten it--whereby the writer proved himself a somewhat greater romancer than usual4 ,nevertheless1 he has a germ of truth amid his lies1 for he relates of ',bucharia' that in the land are 'trees that bear wool1 as though it were of sheep1 whereof men make clothes and all things that are made of wool4' ,and again1 of ,abyssinia1 that mysterious kingdom of the renowned ,prester ,john1 he related3 ',in that country1 and in many others beyond1 and also in many on this side1 men sow the seeds of cotton1 and they sow it every year2 and then it grows into small trees which bear cotton4 ,and so do men every year1 so that there is plenty of cotton at all times4' ,this statement1 whencesoever it was borrowed1 may be true enough1 and if so1 is evidence that1 eighteen centuries after ,herodotus1 cotton was still being cultivated1 as the basis of a textile industry1 both in ,western ,asia and in ,africa4 ,it is said that in the ,sacred ,books of ,india there is evidence that cotton was in use for clothing purposes eight centuries before ,christ4 ,the expedition of ,alexander the ,great from ,persia into the ,punjab was a good deal later1 say1 three hundred and thirty years before ,christ4 ,on the retreat down the ,indus1 ,admiral ,nearchus remarked 'trees bearing as it were flocks or bunches of wool1' of which the natives made 'garments of surpassing whiteness1 or else their black complexions make the material whiter than any other4' ,the ,alexandrine general1 ,aristobulus1 is more precise3 he tells of a wool-bearing tree yielding a capsule that contains 'seeds which were taken out1 and that which remained was carded like wool4' ,and long before ,pliny referred to cotton in ,egypt--'a shrub which men call gossypium1 and others xylon1 from which stuffs are made which we call xylina'--,strabo had noted the cultivation of the plant on the ,persian ,gulf4 ,at the beginning of the ,christian era we find cotton in cultivation and in use in ,persia1 ,arabia1 and ,egypt--but whether indigenous to these countries1 or conveyed westward during the centuries from ,india1 we know not4 ,thereafter1 the westward spread was slow2 but the plant is to be traced along the north coast of ,africa to ,morocco1 which country it seems to have reached in the #ith century4 ,the ,moors took the plant1 or seeds1 to ,spain1 and it was being grown on the plains of ,valencia in the #ajth century2 and by the #acth century it was1 as we have said1 growing in various parts of ,southern ,europe4 ,yet1 although the ,indian cloths were known to the ,greeks and ,romans a century or two before the ,christian era1 and although in the early centuries ,arab traders brought to the ,red ,sea ports ,indian calicoes1 which were distributed in ,europe1 we find cotton known in ,england only as material for candle-wicks down to the #agth century4 ,at any rate1 ,m',culloch is our authority for believing that the first mention of cotton being manufactured in ,england is in #afda2 and that the ',english cottons1' of which earlier mention may be found1 were really woollens4 ,and now we come to a very curious thing in the ,romance of ,cotton4 ,columbus discovered--or1 as some say1 rediscovered--,america in #adib2 and when he reached the islands of the ,caribbean ,sea1 the natives who came off to barter with him brought1 among other things1 cotton yarn and thread4 ,vasco da ,gama1 a few years later than ,bartholomew ,diaz1 in #adig rounded the ,cape of ,good ,hope and reached the ,zanzibar coast4 ,there the natives were found to be clothed in cotton1 just as ,columbus found the natives of ,cuba to be1 as ,pizarro found the ,peruvians1 and as ,cortes found the ,mexicans4 ,these ,europeans1 proceeding from the ,iberian ,peninsula east and west1 found the peoples of the new worlds clothed with a material of which they knew nothing4 ,cotton was king in ,america1 as in ,asia1 before it began even to be known in ,western ,europe4 ,not only that1 but cotton must have been cultivated in ,africa at the time when the mariners of ,prince ,henry the ,navigator first made their way cautiously down the west coast4 ,it is1 at any rate1 upwards of four hundred years since cotton cloth was brought from the coast of ,guinea and sold in ,london as a strange barbaric product4 ,whether the plant travelled to the ,bight of ,benin from the land of ,prester ,john1 or from the land of the ,pharaohs1 or across from the ,mozambique coast1 where the ,arabians are supposed to have had settlements and trading stations in prehistoric days1 who can now say8 ,but it is curious enough that when ,africa was discovered by ,europeans1 the ,dark ,continent was actually producing both the fibre and the cloth for which ,african labour and ,english skill were afterwards to be needed4 ,the cotton plantations of ,southern ,america were worked by the negroes of ,africa in order that the cotton-mills of ,lancashire might be kept running4 ,and yet both ,africa and ,america made cotton cloth from the vegetable wool long before we knew of it otherwise than as a traveller's wonder4 ,even in ,asia1 the natural habitat of the cotton plant1 the story has been curious4 ,thus1 according to the records above named1 cotton has been in use for clothing for three thousand years in ,india1 and ,india borders upon the ancient and extensive ,empire of ,china4 ,yet cotton was not used in ,china for cloth-making until the coming of the ,tartars1 and has been cultivated and manufactured there for only about five hundred years4 ,this was because of the 'vested interests' in wool and silk1 which combined to keep out the vegetable wool from general use4 ,to understand aright the romance of cotton we must understand the nature of the plant in its relation to climate4 ,it has been called a child of the tropics1 and yet it grows well in other than tropical climes4 ,as ,mr ,richard ,marsden--an authority on cotton-spinning--says3 ',cotton is or can be grown 7along7 a broad zone extending forty-five degrees north to thirty-five degrees south of the equator4 ,reference to a map will show that this includes a space extending from the ,european shores of the ,mediterranean to the ,cape of ,good ,hope1 from ,japan to ,melbourne in ,australia1 and from ,washington in the ,united ,states to ,buenos ,ayres in ,south ,america1 with all the lands intermediate between these several points4 ,these include the ,southern ,states of the ,american ,union1 from ,washington to the ,gulf of ,mexico1 and three-fourths of ,south ,america1 the whole of the ,african ,continent1 and ,southern ,asia from the ,bosphorus to ,pekin in ,china4 ,the vast area of ,australia is also within the cotton zone1 and the islands lying between that country and ,asia4' ,the exact period at which the manufacture of cotton was begun in ,england is not known with absolute certainty4 ,but as we have said1 the first authentic mention of it occurs in #afda2 and it is in a book called ,treasure of ,traffic1 by ,lewis ,roberts4 ,the passage runs thus3 ',the town of ,manchester1 in ,lancashire1 must be also herein remembered1 and worthily for their encouragement commended1 who buy the yarne of the ,irish in great quantity1 and weaving it1 returne the same again into ,ireland to sell4 ,neither doth their industry rest here2 for they buy cotton-wool in ,london that comes first from ,cyprus and ,smyrna1 and at home worke the same1 and perfect it into fustians1 vermilions1 dimities1 and other such stuffs2 and then return it to ,london1 where the same is vended and sold1 and not seldom sent into foreign parts1 who have means1 at far easier terms1 to provide themselves of the said first materials4' ,but here it should be explained that from the first introduction of the cotton fibre into this country1 and until about the year #aggc1 in the manufacture of cloth it was only the weft that was of cotton4 ,down to about #aggc1 the warp was invariably of linen yarn1 brought from ,ireland and ,germany4 ,the ,manchester merchants began in #agfj to employ the hand-loom weavers in the surrounding villages to make cloth according to prescribed patterns1 and with the yarns supplied by the buyers4 ,thus they sent linen yarn for warp1 and raw cotton--which the weaver had first to card and spin on a common distaff--for weft4 ,such was the practice when1 in #agfg1 ,james ,hargreaves of ,blackburn inaugurated the textile revolution by inventing the spinning-jenny1 which1 from small beginnings1 was soon made to spin thirty threads as easily as one4 ,the thread thus spun1 however1 was still only available for weft1 as the jenny could not turn out the yarn hard and firm enough for warp4 ,the next stage1 therefore1 was the invention of a machine to give the requisite quality and tenuity to the threads spun from the raw cotton4 ,this was the spinning-frame of ,richard ,arkwright1 the story of which every schoolboy is supposed to know4 ,here1 then1 we reach another point in our romance4 ,the manufacture of cotton cloths in ,england from raw cotton is older than the cotton culture of ,north ,america4 ,it is1 in fact1 only about one hundred years since we began to draw supplies of raw cotton from the ,southern ,states1 which1 previous to #aghd1 did not export a single pound1 and produced only a small quantity for domestic consumption4 ,the story of the development of cotton-growing in ,america is quite as marvellous as the story of the expansion of cotton-manufacturing in ,england4 ,in both cases the most stupendous extension ever reached by any single industry in the history of the world has been reached in less than a hundred years4 ,and yet ,columbus found the ,cubans1 as ,pizarro found the ,peruvians1 and ,cortes found the ,mexicans1 clothed in cotton4 ,was it from the same plant as now supplies 'half the calico used by the entire human race' 7as an ,american writer has computed78 ,this estimate1 by the way1 was arrived at thus3 ,in #ahhi-ij the cotton crop of the world was #fjid millions of pounds1 and the population of the world was computed at #aejj millions4 ,this gave four pounds of raw cotton1 equal to twenty yards of calico1 per head2 and the proportion of raw cotton provided by the ,southern ,states was equal to eleven and a half yards per head4 ,the raw cotton imported by ,great ,britain in #ahid had a value of nearly #cc million pounds sterling2 the exports of cotton yarn and manufactured goods amounted to about #ff millions sterling4 ,there are several species of the cotton plant2 but those of commercial importance are four in number4 ,herbaceous ,cotton 7',gossypium herbaceum'7 is the plant which yields the ,east ,indian ',surat' and some varieties of the ,egyptian cotton4 ,its habitats are ,india1 ,china1 ,arabia1 ,egypt1 and ,asia ,minor4 ,it is an annual3 it grows to a height of five or six feet1 it has a yellow flower1 and it yields a short staple4 ,tree ,cotton 7',gossypium arboreum'71 on the other hand1 grows to a height of fifteen or twenty feet1 has a red flower1 and yields a fine silky wool4 ,its habitats are ,egypt1 ,arabia1 ,india1 and ,china4 ,hairy ,cotton 7',gossypium hirsutum'7 is a shrub of some six or seven feet high1 with a white or straw-coloured flower1 and hairy pods1 which yield the staple known as ,american ',upland' and ',orleans' cotton4 ,another variety1 called ',gossypium ,barbadense1' because it was first found in ,barbadoes1 grows to a height of about fifteen feet1 and has a yellow flower1 yielding a long staple1 and fine silky wool known as ',sea ,island' cotton4 ,this now grows most extensively on the coasts of ,georgia and ,florida2 but has been experimented with in various parts of the world1 notably in ,egypt1 where it has succeeded2 and in the ,polynesian islands1 where1 for some reason or another1 it has failed4 ,the cotton plant of the ,american cotton plantations is an annual1 which shoots above ground in about a fortnight after sowing1 and which1 as it grows1 throws out flower-stalks1 at the end of each of which develops a pod with fringed calyces4 ,from this pod emerges a flower which1 in some of the ,american varieties of the general species1 will change its colour from day to day4 ,the complete bloom flourishes for only twenty-four hours1 at the end of which time the flower twists itself off1 leaving a pod or boll1 which grows to the size of a large filbert1 browns and hardens like a nut1 and then bursts1 revealing the fibre or wool encased in three or four 7according to the variety7 cells within4 ,this fibre or wool is the covering of the seeds1 and in each cell will be as many separate fleeces as seeds1 yet apparently forming one fleece4 ,upon the characteristics of this fleece depends the commercial value of the fibre4 ,the essential qualities of good and mature cotton are thus enumerated by an expert3 ',length of fibre2 smallness or fineness in diameter2 evenness and smoothness2 elasticity2 tensile strength and colour2 hollowness or tube-like construction2 natural twist2 corrugated edges2 and moisture4' ,the fibre of ,indian cotton is only about five-eighths of an inch long2 that of ,sea ,island about two inches4 ,then ,sea ,island cotton is a sort of creamy-white colour2 and some kinds of ,american and ,egyptian cotton are not white at all1 but golden in hue2 while other kinds1 again1 are snow-white4 ,although the term ',american ,cotton' is applied to all the cotton produced in the ,united ,states of ,america1 it really applies to a number of different varieties--such as ,texas1 ,mobile1 ,upland1 ,orleans1 c4--each one known by its distinctive name4 ,the differences are too technical for explanation here2 but1 generally speaking1 the members of the 'hirsutum' species of the ',gossypium' tribe now rule the world of cotton4 ,they are the product of what is called the ',cotton-belt' of the ,united ,states1 an area stretching for about two thousand miles between its extreme points in the ,southern ,states1 which are ,north and ,south ,carolina1 ,georgia1 ,alabama1 ,mississippi1 ,florida1 ,louisiana1 ,arkansas1 and ,texas4 ,over this area1 soil and climate vary considerably4 ,the ',cotton-belt' lies1 roughly speaking1 between the thirtieth and fortieth parallels of north latitude4 ,as an ,american expert says3 ',cotton can be produced with various degrees of profit throughout the region bounded on the north by a line passing through ,philadelphia2 on the south by a line passing a little south of ,new ,orleans2 and on the west by a line passing through ,san ,antonio4 ,this is the limit of the possibilities4' ,the cotton plant likes a light sandy soil1 or a black alluvial soil like that of the ,mississippi margins4 ,it requires both heat and moisture in due proportions1 and is sensitive to cold1 to drought1 and to excessive moisture4 ,the ,american cotton-fields are still worked by negroes1 but no longer slaves1 as before the war2 and1 in fact1 the negroes are now not only free1 but some of them are considerable cotton-growers on their own account4 ,on the other hand1 one finds nowadays little of the old system of spacious plantations under one ownership4 ,instead1 the cultivation is carried on on small farms and allotments1 not owned but rented by the cultivators4 ,large numbers of these cotton farmers are 'financed' by dealers1 by landowners1 or even by local storekeepers4 ,the cotton factor is the go-between of the grower and the exporting agent in ,galveston or ,new ,orleans1 or other centre of business4 ,after the crop is picked by the negroes--men1 women1 and children--and the harvest is a long process--the seeds are separated from the fibre by means of a 'gin2' and then the cotton-wool is packed into loose bales for the factor1 while the seeds are sent to a mill to be crushed for cotton-seed oil and oil-cake for cattle-feeding4 ,the loose cotton bales are collected by the factors into some such central town as ,memphis1 where they are sorted1 sampled1 graded1 and then compressed by machinery into bales of about four hundred and forty pounds each1 for export4 ,in calculating crops1 c41 a bale is taken as four hundred pounds net4 ,the cotton then passes into the hands of the shipping agent1 who brands it1 and forwards it by river-steamer to one of the ,southern ports1 or by rail to ,new ,york or ,boston1 where it is put on board an ocean steamer for ,europe4 ,the beautiful ,american clippers with which some of us were familiar in the days of our youth are no longer to be seen2 they have been run off the face of the waters by the 'ocean liner' and the 'tramp4' ,arrived in ,liverpool1 cotton enters upon a new course of adventures altogether1 and engages the thoughts and energies of a wholly new set of people4 ,illustration3 ,cotton ,plant4 ,illustration ,,chapter ,v4 ,,gold ,,and ,,diamonds4 ,,gold4--,how widely distributed--,alluvial ,gold-mining--,vein ,gold-mining--,nuggets--,treatment of ,ore and ,gold in the ,transvaal--,story of ,south ,african ,gold-fields--,gold-production of the ,world--,johannesburg the ,golden ,city--,coolgardie ,gold-fields--,bayley's discovery of ,gold there4 ,,diamonds4--,composition--,diamond-cutt ing--,diamond-mining--,famous ,diamonds--,cecil ,j4 ,rhodes and the ,kimberley ,mines4 ,in the getting of gold--the metal--for the purpose of possessing gold--as money--there has always been an element of excitement and romance4 ',how quickly nature falls into revolt when gold becomes her object6' as ,shakespeare says3 ,for gold the merchant ploughs the main1 ,the farmer ploughs the manor4 ,there is a vast difference between the way in which the precious metal is now extracted and the primitive methods which were considered perfect in the earlier part of the century4 ,the miner of fifty years ago never dreamt of machinery1 costly and magnificent1 capable of crushing thousands of tons of quartz per week4 ,he 'dollied1' or ground1 his little bits of rock by means of a contrivance resembling a pestle and mortar1 and it was only the very richest stone that repaid him for his labour4 ,in fact1 there was very little crushing in those days1 quartz not being easily found sufficiently rich to make such work a paying concern1 and it was therefore alluvial gold which was chiefly sought for4 ,the gold-seeker having decided on the place where he was to make his first venture1 provided himself with a shovel and pick and started for the 'diggings4' ,gold-mining was then carried on all over ,california1 and he had his choice of many camps4 ,illustration3 ,the ,hand-cradle ,method of extracting ,gold4 ,but what a wild and lawless place was ,california in those days6 ,here in these gold-fields were gathered together thousands of the greatest desperadoes that the earth could boast of1 and thousands of needy1 if harmless1 adventurers from every country in the world4 ,fortunately with them were mixed thousands of honest hard-working men1 of every condition in life1 from the peer to the peasant1 men who had been doing well1 or fairly well1 at their professions1 or in their business offices at home1 but for whom the attractions of this ,el ,dorado had proved too powerful4 ,gold is perhaps the most widely and universally sought product of the earth's crust4 ,in the very earliest writings which have come down to us gold is mentioned as an object of men's search1 and as a commodity of extreme value for purposes of adornment and as a medium of exchange4 ,the importance which it possessed in ancient times has certainly not lessened in our day4 ,without the enormous supplies of gold produced at about the time when the steam-engine was being brought into practical use it is difficult to imagine how our commerce could have attained its present proportions2 and but for the rush of immigrants to the gold-fields in the beginning of the second half of this century ,australia might have remained a mere convict settlement1 ,california have become but a granary and vineyard1 and the ,transvaal an asylum of the ,boers who were discontented with the ,cape government4 ,on the score of geographical distribution1 gold must be deemed a common metal1 as common as copper1 lead1 or silver1 and far more common than nickel1 cobalt1 platinum1 and many others4 ,theorists have propounded curious rules for the occurrence of gold on certain lines and belts1 which have no existence but in their own fancy4 ,scarcely a country but has rewarded a systematic search for gold1 though some are more richly endowed than others1 and discoveries are not always made with the same facility4 ,the old prejudices1 which made men associate gold only with certain localities hindered the development of a most promising industry even within the ,british shores4 ,despite the abundant traces of ancient ,roman and other workings1 the gold-mines of ,wales were long regarded as mythical2 but recent extended exploitation has proved them to be rich4 ,this is notably the case in the ,dolgelly district1 where considerable gold occurs1 both in alluvial gravels and in well-formed quartz veins traversing the ,lower ,silurian ,lingula beds and the intruded diabasic rocks called 'greenstone' in the ,geological ,survey4 ,a peculiarity of the veins is the common association of magnesian minerals4 ,the gold is about #bj or #ba carats fine1 and often shows traces of iron sesquioxide4 ,so long ago as #ahfa some ,l#aj1jjj worth of gold per annum was taken out of the ,clogan mine by imperfect methods4 ,some samples have afforded #dj to #fj ounces per ton--a most remarkable yield4 ,there are probably many veins still waiting discovery4 ,a calculation was made in #ahha that the total gold extracted from all sources up to that date from the creation had been over #aj1jjj tons1 with a value of about #aejj millions sterling4 ,california1 to the end of #ahhh1 was reckoned to have afforded over #bjj million pounds' worth1 and this figure is exceeded by the ,australian colony of ,victoria4 ,the origin of gold-bearing mineral veins is inseparably connected with that vexed question1 the origin of mineral veins generally4 ,by far the most common matrix of vein-gold is quartz or silica1 but it is not the only one4 ,to pass by the metals and metallic ores with which gold is found1 there are several other minerals which serve as an envelope for the precious metal4 ,chief among them is lime4 ,some of the best mines of ,new ,south ,wales are in calcareous veins4 ,sundry gold-reefs in ,queensland1 ,new ,south ,wales1 ,victoria1 and ,bohemia are full of calcite4 ,dolomite occurs in ,californian and ,manitoban mines2 and apatite1 aragonite1 gypsum1 selenite1 and crystalline limestone have all proved auriferous1 while in some cases neighbouring quartz has been barren4 ,felspar in ,colorado and felsite magnesian slate in ,newfoundland carry gold4 ,,nuggets4 ,illustration3 ,welcome ,nugget4 ,the physical conditions under which gold occurs are extremely variable4 ,popularly speaking1 the most familiar form is the 'nugget1' or shapeless mass of appreciable size4 ,these1 however1 constitute in the aggregate but a small proportion of the gold yielded by any field1 and were much more common in the early days of placer-mining in ,california and ,australia than they are now4 ,one of the largest ever found1 the ',welcome' nugget1 discovered in #aheh at ,bakery ,hill1 ,ballarat1 weighed #bbag ounces #af dwt41 and sold for ,l#aj1ejj1 whilst not a few have exceeded #ajjj ounces4 ,one found at ,casson ,hill1 ,calaveras county1 ,california1 in #ahed1 weighed #ahj pounds4 ,the ',water ,moon' nugget1 found in ,australia in #aheb1 weighed #bbc pounds4 ,the origin of these large nuggets has been a subject for discussion4 ,like all placer or alluvial gold1 they have been in part at least derived from the auriferous veins traversing the rocks whose disintegration furnished the material forming the gravel beds in which the nuggets are found4 ,the famous nugget known as the ',welcome ,stranger' was discovered under singular circumstances in the ,dunolly district of ,victoria1 which is one hundred and ten miles north-west of the capital1 ,melbourne1 by two ,cornish miners named ,deeson and ,oates4 ,their career is remarkable1 as showing how fortune1 after frowning for years1 will suddenly smile on the objects of her apparent aversion4 ,these two ,cornishmen emigrated from ,england to ,australia by the same vessel in #ahed4 ,they betook themselves to the far-famed ,sandhurst ,gold-field in ,victoria2 they worked together industriously for years1 and yet only contrived to make a bare livelihood by their exertions4 ,thinking that change of place might possibly mean change of luck1 they moved to the ,dunolly ,gold-field1 and their spirits were considerably raised by the discovery of some small nuggets4 ,but this was only a momentary gleam of sunshine1 for their former ill-luck pursued them again1 and pursued them even more relentlessly than before4 ,the time at last came1 on the morning of ,friday1 ,february #e1 #ahfi1 when the storekeeper with whom they were accustomed to deal refused to supply them any longer with the necessaries of life until they liquidated the debt they had already incurred4 ,for the first time in their lives they went hungry to work1 and the spectacle of these two brave fellows fighting on an empty stomach against continued ill-luck must have moved the fickle goddess to pity and repentance4 ,gloomy and depressed as they naturally were1 they plied their picks with indomitable perseverance1 and while ,deeson was breaking up the earth around the roots of a tree1 his pick suddenly and sharply rebounded by reason of its having struck some very hard substance4 ',come and see what this is1' he called out to his mate4 ,to their astonishment1 'this' turned out to be the ',welcome ,stranger' nugget2 and thus two poverty-stricken ,cornish miners became in a moment the possessors of the largest mass of gold that mortal eyes ever saw1 or are likely to see again4 ,such a revolution of fortune is probably unique in the annals of the human race4 ,almost bewildered by the unexpected treasure they had found at their feet1 ,deeson and ,oates removed the superincumbent clay1 and there revealed to their wondering eyes was a lump of gold1 a foot long and a foot broad1 and so heavy that their joint strength could scarcely move it4 ,a dray having been procured1 the monster nugget was escorted by an admiring procession into the town of ,dunolly1 and carried into the local branch of the ,london ,chartered ,bank1 where it was weighed1 and found to contain #bbfh-a_/b ounces of gold4 ,the ,bank purchased the nugget for ,l#iecd1 which the erstwhile so unlucky1 but now so fortunate1 pair of ,cornish miners divided equally between them4 ,whether the storekeeper who refused them the materials for a breakfast that morning apologised for his harsh behaviour1 history relates not1 but the probability is that he was paid the precise amount of his debt and no more2 whereas1 had he acted in a more generous spirit towards two brothers in distress1 he might have come in for a handsome present out of the proceeds of the ',welcome ,stranger4' ,the ',welcome' nugget above mentioned1 found at ,bakery ,hill1 ,ballarat1 in ,victoria1 on ,june #ae1 #aheh1 was nearly as large as the one just described1 its weight being #bbag ounces #af dwts4 ,it was found at a depth of one hundred and eighty feet in a claim belonging to a party of twenty-four men1 who disposed of it for ,l#aj1ejj4 ,a smaller nugget1 weighing #ega ounces1 was found in close proximity to it4 ,after being exhibited in ,melbourne1 the ',welcome' nugget was brought to ,london and smelted in ,november #ahei4 ,the assay showed that it contained #ii4bj per cent4 of gold4 ,another valuable nugget1 which was brought to ,london and exhibited at the ,crystal ,palace1 ,sydenham1 was the ',blanche ,barkly1' found by a party of four diggers on ,august #bg1 #aheg1 at ,kingower1 ,victoria1 just thirteen feet beneath the surface4 ,it was twenty-eight inches long1 ten inches broad in its widest part1 and weighed #agdc ounces #ac dwts4 ,it realised ,l#fije1 #abs4 #f;d4 ,a peculiarity about this nugget was the manner in which it had eluded the efforts of previous parties to capture it4 ,three years before its discovery1 a number of miners1 judging the place to be a 'likely' locality1 had sunk holes within a few feet of the spot where this golden mass was reposing1 and yet they were not lucky enough to strike it4 ,what a tantalising thought it must have been in after-years1 when they reflected on the fact that they were once within an arm's length of ,l#gjjj without being fortunate enough to grasp the golden treasure6 ,kingower1 like ,dunolly1 from which it is only a few miles distant1 is a locality famous for its nuggets4 ,one weighing #bcj ounces was actually found on the surface covered with green moss2 and pieces of gold have frequently been picked up there after heavy rains1 the water washing away the thin coating of earth that had previously concealed them4 ,two men working in the ,kingower district in #ahfj found a very fine nugget1 weighing #hje ounces1 within a foot of the surface2 and one of #gae ounces was unearthed at ,daisy ,hill at a depth of only three and a half feet4 ,a notable instance of rapid fortune was that of a party of four1 who1 having been but a few months in the colony of ,victoria1 were lucky enough to alight on a nugget weighing #afae ounces4 ,they immediately returned to ,england with their prize and sold it for ,l#eecb1 #gs4 #d;d4 ,the place where they thus quickly made their 'pile1' to use an expressive colonialism1 was ,canadian ,gully1 at ,ballarat1 a very prolific nugget-ground4 ,there was also found the ',lady ,hotham' nugget1 called after the wife of ,sir ,charles ,hotham1 one of the early governors of ,victoria4 ,it was discovered on ,september #h1 #ahed1 at a depth of #ace feet4 ,its weight was #aagg ounces2 and near it were found a number of smaller nuggets of the aggregate weight of #bfjj ounces1 so that the total value of the gold extracted from this one claim was no less than ,l#ac1jjj4 ,as showing the phenomenal richness of this locality1 it may be added that on ,january #bj1 #ahec1 a party of three brought to the surface a solid mass of gold weighing #aaag ounces2 and two days afterwards1 in the same tunnel1 a splendid pyramidal-shaped nugget weighing #ajaa ounces was discovered2 the conjoint value of the two being ,l#gejj4 ,a case somewhat similar to one already described was that of the ',heron' nugget1 a solid mass of gold to the amount of #ajjh ounces1 which was found at ,fryer's ,creek1 ,victoria1 by two young men who had only been three months in the colony4 ,they were offered ,l#djjj for it in ,victoria2 but they preferred to bring it to ,england as a trophy1 and there they sold it for ,l#djhj4 ,the ',victoria' nugget1 as its name suggests1 was purchased by the ,victorian government for presentation to ,her ,majesty4 ,it was a very pretty specimen of #cdj ounces1 worth ,l#afej1 and was discovered at ,white ,horse ,gully1 ,sandhurst4 ,quite close to it1 and within a foot of the surface1 was found the ',dascombe' nugget1 weighing #ccj ounces1 which was also brought to ,london1 and sold for ,l#aejj4 ,just as a book should never be judged by its cover1 so mineral substances should not be estimated by superficial indications4 ,a neglect of this salutary precept was once very nearly resulting in the loss of a valuable ,victorian nugget4 ,a big lump of quartz was brought to the surface1 and1 as its exterior aspect presented only slight indications of the existence of gold1 it was at first believed to be valueless2 but as soon as the mass was broken up1 there1 embedded in the quartz1 was a beautiful nugget of an oval shape4 ,new ,south ,wales1 the parent colony of the ,australian group1 has produced a considerable quantity of gold1 but not many notable nuggets4 ,its most famous nugget was discovered by a native boy in ,june #ahea at ,meroo ,creek1 near the present town of ,bathurst4 ,this black boy was in the employ of ,dr ,kerr as a shepherd1 and one day1 whilst minding his sheep1 he casually came across three detached pieces of quartz4 ,he tried to turn over the largest of the pieces with his stick2 but he was astonished to find that the lump was much heavier than the ordinary quartz with which he was familiar4 ,bending down and looking closer1 he saw a shining yellow mass lying near2 and when he at last succeeded in lifting up the piece of quartz1 his eyes expanded on observing that the whole of its under surface was of the same shining complexion4 ,he probably did not realise the full value of his discovery2 but he had sufficient sense to break off a few specimens and hasten to show them to his master4 ,dr ,kerr set off at once to verify the discovery2 and when he arrived at the spot1 his most sanguine anticipations were fulfilled by the event4 ,he found himself the possessor of #abgb ounces of gold2 and he rewarded the author of his wealth1 the little black boy1 with a flock of sheep and as much land as was needed for their pasture4 ,,methods ,,of ,,mining4 ,the more common form of alluvial gold is as grains1 or scales1 or dust1 varying in size from that of ordinary gunpowder to a minuteness that is invisible to the naked eye4 ,sometimes indeed the particles are so small that they are known as 'paint' gold1 forming a scarcely perceptible coating on fragments of rock4 ,when the gold is very fine or in very thin scales1 much of it is lost in the ordinary processes for treating gravels1 by reason of the fact that it will actually float on water for a considerable distance4 ,from what has been already said it will be evident that gold-mining must be an industry presenting several distinct phases4 ,these may be classed as alluvial mining1 vein-mining1 and the treatment of auriferous ores4 ,in alluvial mining natural agencies1 such as frost1 rain1 c41 have1 in the course of centuries1 performed the arduous tasks of breaking up the matrix which held the gold1 and washing away much of the valueless material1 leaving the gold concentrated into a limited area by virtue of its great specific gravity4 ,hence it is never safe to assume that the portion of the veins remaining as such will yield anything like so great an equivalent of gold as the alluvials formed from the portion which has been disintegrated4 ,as water has been the chief 7but not the only7 agent in distributing the gold and gravel constituting alluvial diggings or placers1 the banks and beds of running streams in the neighbourhood of auriferous veins are likely spots for the prospector1 who finds in the flowing water of the stream the means of separating the heavy grains of gold from the much lighter particles of rock1 sand1 and mud4 ,often the brook is made to yield the gold it transports by the simple expedient of placing in it obstacles which will arrest the gold without obstructing the lighter matters4 ,jason's golden fleece was probably a sheepskin which had been pegged down in the current of the ,phasis till a quantity of gold grains had become entangled among the wool4 ,to this day the same practice is followed with ox-hides in ,brazil1 and with sheepskins in ,ladakh1 ,savoy1 and ,hungary4 ,this may be deemed the simplest form of 'alluvial mining4' ,if the gold deposited in holes and behind bars in the bed of the stream is to be recovered1 greater preparations are needed4 ,either the river-bed must be dredged by floating dredgers1 worked by the stream or otherwise2 or the gravel must be dug out for washing while the bed is left dry in hot weather2 or the river must be diverted into another channel 7natural or artificial7 whilst its bed is being stripped4 ,the first-named method is best adapted to large volumes of water1 but probably is least productive of gold1 passing over much that is buried in crevices in the solid bed-rock4 ,the second plan is applicable only to small streams1 and entails much labour4 ,the third is most efficient1 but very liable to serious interference by floods1 which entail a heavy loss of plant4 ,in searching for placers it is necessary to bear in mind that the watercourses of the country have not always flowed in the channels they now occupy4 ,during the long periods of geological time many and vast changes have taken place in the contour of the earth's surface4 ,hence it is not an uncommon circumstance to find beds of auriferous gravel occupying the summits of hills1 which must1 at the time the deposit was made1 have represented the course of a stream4 ,in the same way the remains of riverine accumulations are found forming 'terraces' or 'benches' on the flanks of hills4 ,lacustrine beds may similarly occur at altitudes far above the reach of any existing stream1 having been the work of rivers long since passed away4 ,another form of alluvial digging occurs in ,western ,america and ,new ,zealand1 where the sea washes up auriferous sands4 ,these are known as 'ocean placers' or 'beach diggings1' and are of minor importance4 ,whilst most placers have been formed by flowing water1 some owe their origin to the action of ice1 and are really glacial moraines4 ,others are attributed to the effects of repeated frost and thaw in decomposing the rocks and causing rearrangement of the component parts4 ,yet another class of deposits is supposed to have been accumulated by an outpouring of volcanic mud4 ,and1 finally1 experts declare that some of the rich banket beds of the ,transvaal became auriferous by the infiltration of water containing a minute proportion of gold in solution4 ,in all cases the recovery of alluvial gold is in principle remarkably simple4 ,it depends on the fact that the gold is about seven times as heavy1 bulk for bulk1 as the material forming the mass of the deposit4 ,the medium for effecting the separation is water in motion4 ,the apparatus in which it is applied may be a 'pan1' a 'cradle1' or a 'tom1' for operations on a very small scale1 or a 'sluice1' which may be a paved ditch or a wooden 'flume' of great length1 for large operations4 ,the method is the same in all3 flowing water removes the earthy matters1 while obstructions of various kinds arrest the metal4 ,as a rule1 it is more advantageous to conduct the water to the material than to carry the material to water4 ,in many cases a stream of water1 conveyed by means of pipes1 and acting under the influence of considerable pressure1 is utilised for removing as well as washing the deposit4 ,this method is known as 'piping' or 'hydraulicing' in ,america1 where it has been chiefly developed1 but is now forbidden in many localities1 because the enormous masses of earth washed through the sluices have silted up rivers and harbours1 and caused immense loss to the agricultural interest by burying the rich riverside lands under a deposit that will be sterile for many years to come4 ,the plan permits of very economical working in large quantities1 but is extremely wasteful of gold4 ,the water-supply is of paramount importance1 and has led to the construction of reservoirs and conduits1 at very heavy cost1 which in many places will have a permanent value long after gold-sluicing has ceased4 ,these large water-supply works are often in the hands of distinct parties from the miners1 the latter purchasing the water they use4 ,to give an example of the results attained in alluvial mining1 it may be mentioned that in a three-months' working in one ,victorian district in #ahhh1 over #cc1ejj tons of wash-dirt were treated for an average yield of #ah-a_/b grains of gold per ton1 or1 say1 one part in #gjj1jjj4 ,where water cannot be obtained recourse is had to a fanning or winnowing process for separating the gold from the sand1 which1 however1 is less efficacious4 ,illustration3 ,hydraulic ,gold-mining4 ,vein-mining for gold differs but little from working any other kind of metalliferous lode4 ,when the vein-stuff has been raised it is reduced to a pulverulent condition1 to liberate the gold from the gangue4 ,in some cases roasting is first resorted to4 ,this causes friability1 and facilitates the subsequent comminution4 ,when the gold is in a very fine state1 too1 it helps it to agglomerate4 ,but if any pyrites are present the effect is most detrimental1 the gold becoming coated with a film of sulphur or a glazing of iron oxide4 ,the powdering of the vein-stuff is usually performed in stamp batteries1 which consist of a number of falling hammers4 ,while simple in principle1 the apparatus is complicated in its working parts1 and is probably destined to give way to the improved forms of crushing-rolls and centrifugal roller mills1 which are less costly1 simpler1 more efficient1 and do not flatten the gold particles so much4 ,one of the most effective is that by ,jordan4 ,when the vein-stuff has been reduced to powder1 it is akin to alluvial wash-dirt1 and demands the same or similar contrivances for arresting the liberated gold and releasing the tailings--that is1 mercury troughs1 amalgamated plates1 blanket strakes1 c42 but1 in addition1 provision is made for catching the other metalliferous constituents1 such as pyrites1 which almost always carry a valuable percentage of gold4 ,these pyrites or 'sulphurets' are cleansed by concentration in various kinds of apparatus1 all depending on the greater specific gravity of the portion sought to be saved4 ,of the metals and minerals with which gold is found intimately associated in nature are the following3 ,antimony1 arsenic1 bismuth1 cobalt1 copper1 iridium1 iron1 lead1 manganese1 nickel1 osmium1 palladium1 platinum1 selenium1 silver1 tellurium1 tungsten1 vanadium1 and zinc1 often as an alloy in the case of palladium1 platinum1 selenium1 silver 7always71 and tellurium4 ,the methods of separation vary with the nature of the ore and the conditions of the locality4 ,,treatment ,,of ,,ore ,,and ,,gold ,,in ,,the ,,transvaal4 ,the method of treatment of ore and gold in the ,transvaal1 the most perfect and effective known at the present time1 has thus been described by ,arthur ,stenhouse3 ,the rock when hoisted out of the mine is first assorted1 the waste rock being thrown on one side and the gold-bearing ore broken into lumps by a stone-breaker4 ,the lumps of ore now pass by gravitation and feeders through a battery 7or stamp mill71 each stamp of which weighs about #aaej pounds1 every stamp being lifted and dropped separately by the cam shaft at a speed of about #ie drops a minute4 ,a stream of water is introduced1 the ore is crushed into fine sand1 and is carried by the water over a series of inclined copper plates1 which are coated with quicksilver4 ,the free gold in the sand at once amalgamates with the quicksilver on the plates1 and the sand-laden stream continues on its course4 ,the sand1 having now passed over the plates1 is carried by launders on to the concentrators1 or frue vanners4 ,these concentrators separate and retain the heavy sand 7or concentrates71 whilst the lighter sand is carried by gravitation through a trough 7or launder7 to the cyanide vats4 ,the stream of water carrying the lighter sand empties itself into the cyanide vats1 and as each successive vat is filled up1 the water is allowed to drain through the sand4 ,a solution of cyanide of potassium is then pumped up and evenly distributed 7by distributors7 over the sand1 and dissolves the gold in its progress1 leaving pure sand alone in the vat4 ,the gold-containing liquid 7or solution7 having left the vat1 is led into a series of boxes filled with zinc shavings1 the gold separates from the liquid1 and settles on the zinc shavings in the shape of a small black powder4 ,the cyanide solution now freed from the gold runs into the solution vats1 and is restrengthened and ready for further use4 ,gold ,recovery4--,in the mill or battery the copper plates are scraped daily1 and the amalgams 7that is1 quicksilver and gold7 are weighed and placed in the safe in charge of the battery manager4 ,this amalgam is generally retorted once a week1 that is to say1 the quicksilver is evaporated 7but not lost7 and the gold is left in the retort4 ,this retorted gold is then smelted into bars4 ,the concentrates recovered by the frue vanners are generally treated by chlorination 7roasted74 ,this process is gone through so that the iron can be separated from the gold4 ,concentrates are sometimes treated by cyanide1 but the process1 if cheaper1 is slow and less effective4 ,chlorinated gold is also smelted into bars4 ,cyanide4--,the gold from the zinc shavings is recovered by retorting4 ,it is afterwards melted into bars and called 'cyanide gold4' ,slimes 7or float gold7 are generally conserved in a dam1 and when the quantity is sufficient they are treated by chlorination1 or by a solution of cyanide of potassium4 ,after treatment all sand is still retained1 and is really a small unbooked asset of the various gold-mining companies4 ,the ,rand undoubtedly is the best field to-day for students who wish to acquire the details of gold recovery4 ,in no other country has science produced such excellent results4 ,at least #ie per cent4 of the gold in the ore can now be recovered1 and scientific men from all countries are resident on the fields1 and advantageous discoveries in the treatment of various ores are of almost daily occurrence4 ,,story ,,of ,,the ,,south ,,african ,,gold-,,fields4 ,there is material for the philosopher in the fact of gold-finding having occurred in connection with a part of the world to which ,king ,solomon the ,wise sent for supplies of gold and 'almug-trees1' for the mysterious ,ophir has been located in ,mashonaland1 and the ,queen of ,sheba identified with the ,sabia districts1 which1 though not in 'the ,randt1' are curiously connected with the rise and progress of the mania4 ,let us briefly trace that romantic history1 merely mentioning by the way that1 even in ,european history1 ,african gold is no novelty1 for the ,portuguese brought back gold-dust 7and negro slaves7 from ,cape ,bojador four hundred and fifty years ago4 ,the ruins of ,mashonaland were discovered in #ahfd by ,karl ,mauch1 who also discovered the gold-field of ,tate on the ,zambesi1 of which ,livingstone had reported that the natives got gold there by washing1 being too lazy to dig for it4 ,when ,karl ,mauch came back to civilisation1 people laughed at his stories of ruined cities in the centre of ,africa as travellers' fables1 but a number of ,australian gold-diggers thought his report of the ,tate gold-field good enough to follow up4 ,so about #ahfg1 a band of them went out and set up a small battery on the ,tate ,river for crushing the quartz4 ,this may be called the first serious attempt at gold-mining in ,south ,africa since the days of the lost races who built the cities whose ruins ,karl ,mauch discovered and which ,mr ,theodore ,bent has described4 ,a ,natal company assisted the ,tate diggers with supplies1 and enough gold was found to justify the floating of the ,limpopo ,mining ,company in ,london4 ,this was in #ahfh1 and was practically the foundation of the ',kaffir ,circus1' though its founders knew it not4 ,sir ,john ,swinburne was the moving spirit of this enterprise1 and went out with a lot of expensive machinery1 only to meet with a good deal of disappointment4 ,the diamond discoveries in ,griqualand soon drew away the gold-seekers1 who found the working expenses too heavy to leave gold-mining profitable1 and for a time the ,tate fields were deserted4 ,they were taken up again1 however1 twenty years later by a ,kimberley enterprise1 out of which developed the ,tate ,concession and ,exploration ,company1 to whom the unfortunate potentate ,lobengula granted a mining concession over no less than eight hundred thousand square miles of ,matabeleland4 ,just as the ,australians were breaking ground on the ,tate1 ,thomas ,baines1 the traveller1 was making up his mind to test the truth of tales of gold in the far interior1 which the ,portuguese from ,da ,gama onwards had received from natives4 ,in #ahfi he set forth from ,natal with a small expedition1 and in #ahgj received from ,lobengula permission to dig for gold anywhere between the rivers ,gwailo and ,ganyona4 ,some seventeen years later this same concession was repeated to ,mr ,rudd1 and became the basis from which sprang the great ,chartered ,company of ,british ,south ,africa4 ,in the course of his journey1 ,baines encamped on the site of the present city of ,johannesburg1 without having the least idea of the wealth beneath him1 and intent only upon that he hoped to find farther inland4 ,on the map which he prepared of this journey is marked the 'farm of ,h4 ,hartley1 pioneer of the gold-fields1' in the ,witwatersrandt district4 ,hartley was known to the ,boers as ',oude ,baas1' and was a famous elephant-hunter1 but as ignorant as ,baines himself that he was dwelling on the top of a gold-reef4 ,and it was not in the ,witwatersrandt1 foremost as it now is1 that the ,african gold boom began4 ,while the ,tate diggers were pursuing their work and ,baines his explorations1 a ,natalian named ,button went1 with an experienced ,californian miner named ,sutherland1 to prospect for gold in the north-east of the ,transvaal4 ,they found it near ,lydenburg1 and companies were rapidly formed in ,natal to work it4 ,such big nuggets were sent down that men hurried up1 until soon there were some fifteen hundred actively at work on the ,lydenburg field4 ,the operations were fairly profitable1 but the outbreak of the ,zulu war1 and then the ,boer war1 put an end to them for some years4 ,and now we come to one of the most romantic chapters in the golden history of ,south ,africa1 a history which was marked by hard and disheartening days what time the lucky diamond-seekers at ,kimberley were swilling champagne1 as if it were water1 out of pewter beer-pots4 ,there is more attraction for adventurers1 however1 in gold-seeking than in diamond-mining1 for gold can be valued and realised at once1 whereas diamonds may not be diamonds after all1 and may be spoilt1 lost1 or stolen1 before they can find a purchaser4 ,it is to be noted that much as the ,transvaal ,republic has benefited from gold-mining1 the ,boers were at first much averse to it1 and threw all the obstacles they could in the way of the miners4 ,and it was this attitude of the ,boers1 especially towards the ,lydenburg pioneers1 that led to the next development4 ,one of the tributaries of the ,crocodile ,river 7which flows into ,delagoa ,bay7 is the ,kaap ,river1 called also the ,river of the ,little ,crocodile1 which waters a wide deep valley into which projects the spur of a hill which the ,dutch pioneers called ,de ,kaap 7the cape74 ,beyond this cape-like spur the hills rise to a height of three thousand feet1 and carry a wide plateau covered with innumerable boulders of fantastic shape--the ,duivel's ,kantoor4 ,the mists gather in the valley and dash themselves against ,de ,kaap like surf upon a headland2 and the face of the hills is broken with caves and galleries as if by the action of the sea1 but really by the action of the weather4 ,upon the high-lying plateau of the ,duivel's ,kantoor were a number of farms1 the chief of which was held by one ,g4 ,p4 ,moodie4 ,one day a ,natal trader named ,tom ,m',laughlin had occasion to cross this plateau in the course of a long trek1 and he picked up with curiosity some of the bits of quartz he passed1 or kicked aside1 on the way4 ,on reaching ,natal he showed these to an old ,australian miner1 who instantly started up-country and found more4 ,the place was rich in gold1 and machinery was as quickly as possible got up from ,natal1 on to ,moodie's farm4 ,on this farm was found the famous ,pioneer ,reef1 and ,moodie1 who at one time would gladly have parted with his farm for a few hundreds1 sold his holding to a ,natal company for something like a quarter of a million4 ,then there was a rush of diggers and prospectors back from the ,lydenburg district1 and the ,de ,kaap 'boom' set in4 ,the beginning was in #ahhc1 and two years later the whole ,kaap valley and ,kantoor plateau was declared a public gold-field4 ,two brothers called ,barber came up and formed the centre of a settlement1 now the town of ,barberton4 ,every new reef sighted or vein discovered was the signal for launching a new company--not now in ,natal only1 but also in ,london1 to which the gold-fever began to spread 7but was checked again by the ,de ,kaap reverses74 ,some fifteen ,natalians formed a syndicate to 'exploit' this country on their own account4 ,some were storekeepers in the colony1 some wagon-traders1 and some merely waiters on fortune4 ,only eleven of them had any money1 and they supplied the wherewithal for the other four1 who were sent up to prospect and dig4 ,after six months of fruitless toil1 the money was all done1 and word was sent to the four that no more aid could be sent to them4 ,they were 'down on their luck1' when as they returned to camp on what was intended to be their last evening there1 one ,edwin ,bray savagely dug his pick into the rock as they walked gloomily along4 ,but with one swing which he made came a turn in the fortunes of the band1 and of the land1 for he knocked off a bit of quartz so richly veined with gold as to betoken the existence of something superexcellent in the way of a 'reef4' ,all now turned on the rock with passionate eagerness1 and in a very short time pegged out what was destined to be known as ',bray's ,golden ,hole4' ,but the syndicate were by this time pretty well cleaned out1 and capital was needed to work the reef1 and provide machinery1 c4 ,so a small company was formed in ,natal under the name of the ,sheba ,reef ,gold-mining ,company1 divided into #ae1jjj shares of ,l#a each1 the capital of ,l#ae1jjj being equitably allotted among the fifteen members of the syndicate4 ,upon these shares they raised enough money on loan to pay for the crushing of #bjj tons of quartz1 which yielded eight ounces of gold to the ton1 and at once provided them with working capital4 ,within a very few months the mine yielded #aj1jjj ounces of gold1 and the original shares of ,l#a each ran up by leaps and bounds until they were eagerly competed for at ,l#ajj each4 ,within a year1 the small share-capital 7,l#ae1jjj7 of the original syndicate was worth in the market a million and a half sterling4 ,this wonderful success led to the floating of a vast number of hopeless or bogus enterprises1 and worthless properties were landed on the shoulders of the ,british public at fabulous prices4 ,yet1 surrounded as it was by a crowd of fraudulent imitators1 the great ,sheba ,mine has continued as one of the most wonderfully productive mines in ,south ,africa4 ,millions have been lost in swindling and impossible undertakings in ,de ,kaap1 but the ,sheba ,mountain1 in which was ,bray's ,golden ,hole1 has really proved a mountain of gold4 ,the ,de ,kaap gold-field had sunk again under a cloud of suspicion1 by reason of the company-swindling and share-gambling which followed upon the ,sheba success1 when another startling incident gave a fresh impetus to the golden madness4 ,among the settlers in the ,transvaal in the later seventies were two brothers called ,struben1 who had had some experience1 though not much success1 with the gold-seekers at ,lydenburg1 and who took up in #ahhd the farm of ,sterkfontein in the ,witwatersrandt district4 ,while attending to the farm they kept their eyes open for gold1 and one day one of the brothers came upon gold-bearing conglomerates1 which they followed up until they struck the famous ',confidence ,reef4' ,this remarkable reef at one time yielded as much as a thousand ounces of gold and silver to the ton of ore1 and then suddenly gave out1 being in reality not a 'reef' but a 'shoot4' ,there were other prospectors in the district1 but none had struck it so rich as the ,strubens1 who purchased the adjacent farm to their own1 and set up a battery to crush quartz1 both for themselves and for the other gold-hunters4 ,the farms were worth little in those days1 being only suitable for grazing2 but when prospectors and company promoters began to appear1 first by units1 then by tens1 and then by hundreds1 the ,boers put up their prices1 and speedily realised for their holdings ten and twenty times what they would have thought fabulous a year or two previously4 ,and it was on one of these farms that the city of ,johannesburg was destined to arise as if under a magician's wand1 from a collection of huts1 in eight years1 to a city covering an area three miles by one and a half1 with suburbs stretching many miles beyond1 with handsome streets and luxurious houses1 in the very heart of the desert4 ,illustration3 ,prospecting for ,gold4 ,it was one ,sunday evening in #ahhf that the great 'find' was made which laid the base of the prosperity of the ,johannesburg-to-be4 ,a farm-servant of the brothers ,struben went over to visit a friend at a neighbouring farm1 and as he trekked homeward in the evening1 knocked off a bit of rock1 the appearance of which led him to take it home to his employer4 ,it corresponded with what ,struben had himself found in another part1 and following up both leads1 revealed what became famous as the ,main ,reef1 which was traced for miles east and west4 ,a lot of the 'conglomerate' was sent on to ,kimberley to be analysed1 and a thoughtful observer of the analysis there came to the conclusion that there must be more good stuff where that came from4 ,so he mounted his horse and rode over to ,barberton1 where he caught a 'coach' which dropped him on the ,rand1 as it is now called4 ,there he quietly acquired the ,langlaagte farm for a few thousands1 which the people on the spot thought was sheer madness on his part4 ,but his name was ,j4 ,b4 ,robinson1 and he is now known in the ',kaffir ,circus' and elsewhere as one of the ',gold ,kings' of ,africa4 ,he gradually purchased other farms1 and in a year or two floated the well-known ,langlaagte ,company with a capital of ,l#dej1jjj1 to acquire what had cost him in all about ,l#bj1jjj4 ,in five years this company turned out gold to the value of a million1 and paid dividends to the amount of ,l#ccj1jjj4 ,the ,robinson ,company1 formed a little later to acquire and work some other lots1 in five years produced gold to the value of one and a half million1 and paid to its shareholders some ,l#egj1jjj in dividends4 ,with these discoveries and successful enterprises the name and fame of 'the ,rand' were established1 and for years the district became the happy hunting-ground of the financiers and company promoters4 ,the ,rand1 or ,witwatersrandt1 is the topmost plateau of the ,high ,veldt of the ,transvaal1 at the watershed of the ,limpopo and the ,vaal2 and on the summit of the plateau is the gold-city of ,johannesburg1 some five thousand seven hundred feet above the sea4 ,soon the principal feature in ,johannesburg was the ,stock ,exchange1 and the main occupation of the inhabitants was the buying and selling of shares in mining companies1 many of them bogus1 at fabulous prices4 ,the inevitable reaction came1 until once resplendent 'brokers' could hardly raise the price of a 'drink2' though1 to be sure1 drinks and everything else cost a small fortune4 ,to-day the city is the centre of a great mining industry1 and the roar of the 'stamps' is heard all round it1 night and day4 ,from a haunt of gamblers and 'wild-catters1' it has grown into a comparatively sedate town of industry1 commerce1 and finance1 and the gold-fever which maddened its populace has been transferred 7not wholly1 perhaps7 to ,london and ,paris4 ,the ,stock ,exchange of ,johannesburg sprang into existence in #ahhg1 and before the end of that year some sixty-eight mining companies were on its list1 with an aggregate nominal capital of ,l#c1jjj1jjj4 ,during the #ahie 'boom' in the market for mining shares in ,london and ,paris1 the market value of the shares of the group of ,south ,african companies was in the aggregate over ,l#cjj1jjj1jjj6 ,it is true that these are not all gold-mining shares1 but the great majority are of companies either for or in connection with gold-mining4 ,in #ahhg the ,transvaal produced only about #be1jjj ounces of gold2 in #ahid the output was #b1jbd1aei ounces2 in #ahie it was #b1bgg1fcc ounces4 ,just before the ,californian discoveries--namely1 in #ahdi1 the world's annual output of gold was only about ,l#f1jjj1jjj4 ,then came the ,american and ,australian booms1 raising the quantity produced in #ahec to the value of ,l#cj1jjj1jjj4 ,after #ahec there was a gradual decline to less than ,l#bj1jjj1jjj in #ahhc4 ,this was the lowest period1 and then the ,de ,kaap and other discoveries in ,africa began to raise the total slowly again4 ,between #ahhc and #ahhg the ,el ,callao mine in ,south ,america and the ,mount ,morgan in ,australia helped greatly to enlarge the output1 and then in #ahjg the ',randt' began to yield of its riches4 ,the following are the estimates of a mining-expert of the world's gold production during #ahij1 ,l#bc1gjj1jjj2 #ahia1 ,l#bf1acj1jjj2 #ahib1 ,l#bi1bfj1jjj2 #ahic1 ,l#ca1aaj1jjj2 #ahid1 ,l#cf1jjj1jjj2 #ahie1 ,l#dj1jjj1jjj4 ,as to the future of the ,south ,african sources of supply1 it is estimated by ,messrs ,hatch and ,chalmers1 mining engineers1 who have published an exhaustive work on the subject1 that before the end of the present century the ,witwatersrandt mines alone will be yielding gold to the value of ,l#bj1jjj1jjj annually2 that early next century they will turn out ,l#bf1jjj1jjj annually2 and that the known resources of the district are equal to a total production within the next half century of ,l#gjj1jjj1jjj1 of which1 probably1 ,l#bjj1jjj1jjj will be clear profit over the cost of mining4 ,these estimates are considered excessive by some authorities2 nevertheless it is to be remembered that the productivity of deep level mining has not yet been properly tested1 that even the ,transvaal itself has not yet been thoroughly exploited1 and that there is every reason to believe that ,matabeleland and ,mashonaland are also rich in gold4 ,but we have not to look to ,africa alone4 ,in ,australia1 besides the regular sources of supply which are being industriously developed1 new deposits are being opened up in ,western ,australia at such a rate that some people predict that the ',cinderella of the ,colonies' will soon become the richest1 or one of the richest1 members of the family4 ,the following shows the contributions towards the world's gold supply on the basis of #ahid3 ,united ,states ,l#g1iej1jjj ,australasia #h1ceb1jjj ,south ,africa #h1jed1jjj ,british ,columbia and ,south ,america #b1jjj1jjj ,russia #d1hbg1jjj ,other ,countries #d1hjg1jjj ----------- ,l#ce1iij1jjj ,,johannesburg--,,the ,,golden4 ,the railway journey from ,capetown to ,johannesburg of about three days is through a seemingly endless sandy country1 with range succeeding range of distant mountains1 all alike1 and strikes a greater sense of vastness and desolation than an expanse of naked ocean itself4 ,first and second class have sleeping accommodation1 the third being kept for blacks and the lowest class ,dutch4 ,well1 we reach ,johannesburg1 which has not even yet1 with all its wealth1 a covered-in railway station2 whilst by way of contrast in the progress of the place1 just across the road is a huge club1 with tennis1 cricket1 football1 and cycling grounds1 gymnasium1 military band1 halls for dancing1 operas1 and oratorios1 c41 which will bear comparison with any you please4 ,its members are millionaires and clerks1 lodgers and their lodging-house keepers1 all equal there2 for we have left behind caste1 cliques1 and cathedral cities1 and are cosmopolitan1 or1 in a word1 colonial4 ,an institution like this gives us the state of society there in a nutshell1 for1 as wages are very high1 any one in anything like lucrative employment can belong to it2 and the grades in society are determined by money1 and money only4 ,johannesburg1 the ,london of ,south ,africa1 which was a barren veldt previous to #ahhf1 is now the centre of some one hundred thousand inhabitants1 and increasing about as fast as bricks and mortar can be obtained4 ,it is situated directly on top of the gold1 and on looking down from the high ground above1 it looks to an ,english eye like a huge1 long-drawn-out mass of tin sheds1 with its painted iron mine-chimneys running in a straight line all along the quartz gold-reef as far as you can see in either direction4 ,the largest or main reef runs for thirty miles uninterruptedly1 gold-bearing and honeycombed with mines throughout4 ,this1 even were it alone1 could speak for the stability and continued prosperity of the ,transvaal gold trade4 ,in a mail-steamer arriving from the ,cape there is sometimes as much as between ,l#cjj1jjj and ,l#djj1jjj worth of gold1 and the newspapers show that usually about ,l#ajj1jjj worth is consigned by each mail-boat4 ,as we enter the town we find fine and well-planned streets1 crossed at places with deep gutters--gullies rather--to carry off the water1 which is often in the heavy summer rains deeper than your knees4 ,crossing these at fast trot1 the driver never drawing rein1 the novice is shot about1 in his white-covered two-wheeled cab with its large springs1 like a pea in a bladder4 ,indeed1 one marvels at the daintily dressed habitue of the place being swung through similarly1 quite unconcerned1 and without rumpling a frill4 ,we pass fine public buildings1 very high houses and shops--somewhat jerry-built1 it is true--but now being added to1 or replaced by larger and more solid buildings4 ,indeed1 bricks cannot be made fast enough for the demand1 both there and in some of the outlying ,transvaal towns where the 'gold boom' is on4 ,there are lofty and handsome shops1 with most costly contents1 which can vie with ,london or ,paris4 ,let us watch from the high-raised stoep outside the ,post-office1 looking down over the huge market-square4 ,what strikes us first are the two-wheeled two-horse cabs with white hoods1 recklessly driven by ,malays in the inseparable red fez1 and these with the fast-trotting mule or horse wagons show the pace at which business or pleasure is followed4 ,as a contrast comes the lumbering ox-wagon with ten or twelve span of oxen1 a little ,kaffir boy dragging and directing the leading couple by a thong round the horns1 and the unamiable ,dutch farmer revolving around1 swearing1 and using his fifteen-foot whip to keep the concern in motion at all4 ,then passes a body of some two hundred prisoners1 ,kaffirs1 and a few whites leading1 marched in fours by some dozen white-helmeted police and four or five mounted men1 all paraded through the main streets1 innocent and guilty alike1 to the court-house1 and many escaping en route as occasion offers4 ,well-dressed ,english men of business1 and professional men1 women in handsome and dainty costumes1 hustle ,jews of all degrees of wealth2 carelessly dressed miners1 and chaps in rags come in from prospecting or up-country1 with the ,dutchman everywhere in his greasy soft felt and blue tattered puggaree1 ,chinese shopkeepers1 ,italians1 ,poles1 ,germans2 whilst outside in the roadways flows a continual stream of ,kaffirs in hats and cast-off clothing of every sort imagination can picture1 who are not allowed by law to walk upon the pavement4 ,,gold-,,fields ,,of ,,coolgardie4 ,it was at one time generally believed that the unexplored regions of the vast ,eastern ,division of ,western ,australia consisted merely of sandy desert or arid plains1 producing at most scrub and spinifex or 'poison plants4' ,in recent years1 however1 a faith that the interior would prove rich in various mineral resources began to dawn1 and rose in proportion as each report of a new 'find' was made to the government4 ,but only a few ventured to cherish a hope that tracts of fertile country were lying beyond their ken1 awaiting the advent of the explorer whose verdict upon the nature of the soil1 or possibilities of obtaining water1 would result in settlement1 and prosperity1 and civilisation4 ,by the opening up of the country surrounding ,coolgardie--situated at a distance of three hundred and sixty-eight miles inland from ,fremantle1 the port of ,perth--it has been proved that not only thousands of square miles of auriferous country are contained in these once despised 'back blocks1' but also large areas of rich pasturage and forest-lands4 ,at ,coolgardie the country is undulating2 and in the distance ,mount ,burgess makes a bold and striking feature in the landscape1 isolated from the neighbouring low hills4 ,a few miles to the south lies the vigorous little town1 surrounded by a halo of tents4 ,it is situated thirty-one degrees south1 one hundred and twenty-one degrees east2 the climate is therefore temperate1 though very hot during the dry season4 ,it has been judiciously laid out1 and promises to be one of the prettiest inland towns in the colony4 ,in the principal street all is bustle and activity3 teams arriving from ,southern ,cross2 camels unloading or being driven out by picturesque ,afghans2 diggers and prospectors setting out for distant 'rushes2' black piccaninnies rolling in the dust1 or playing with their faithful kangaroo dogs--their dusky parents lolling near with characteristic indolence--and men of every nation and colour under heaven combine to give the scene a character all its own4 ,in ,march #ahif ,coolgardie was connected by rail with ,perth4 ,there are good stores1 numerous thriving hotels2 and a hospital has lately been started in charge of two trained nurses4 ,the spiritual needs of the population are supplied by ,wesleyan services and ,salvation ,army meetings1 and other agencies4 ,as yet the public buildings are not architecturally imposing2 the principal one is a galvanised-iron shed which does duty for a post-office4 ,when the mail arrives1 the two officials1 with the aid of an obliging trooper1 vainly endeavour to sort the letters and newspapers quickly enough to satisfy the crowd1 all eager for news from home4 ,during the hot dry months1 ,coolgardie has been almost cut off from the outside world4 ,it was found necessary to limit the traffic between it and ,southern ,cross1 owing to the great scarcity in the 'soaks' and wells along the road4 ,condensers have been erected at various stations close to the salt lakes1 and the water is retailed by the gallon2 by this means the road can be kept open till the wet season sets in4 ,prospectors are energetically exploring the country in every direction around ,coolgardie1 and from all sides come glowing accounts of the quality of the land1 which1 besides being auriferous1 is undoubtedly suitable for agricultural and pastoral purposes4 ,to the eastward lie many thousands of acres of undulating pasture-land1 wooded like a park with morrell1 sandalwood1 wild peach1 zimlet-wood1 salmon-gum1 and other valuable timbers4 ,the soil is a rich red loam1 which with cultivation should equal the best wheat-growing districts of ,victoria4 ,so green and abundant is the grass that it has been described as looking like an immense wheat-field before the grain has formed4 ,several kinds of grass are to be found3 the fine kangaroo variety2 a species of wild oats2 and a coarse jointed grass1 all of which stock eat with relish1 and thrive1 it is said4 ,a ,water-supply ,department has been formed by the ,western ,australian government1 and measures are being taken to obtain supplies of artesian water1 as well as to construct a system of reservoirs and dams on a large scale4 ,mr ,bayley's discovery of ,coolgardie might serve as an apt illustration of the 'early-bird' theory4 ,while on a prospecting expedition in ,september #ahib1 he went one auspicious morning to look after his horse before breakfast4 ,a gleaming object lying on the ground caught his eye4 ,it was a nugget1 weighing half an ounce4 ,by noon1 he1 with his mate1 had picked up twenty ounces of alluvial gold4 ,in a couple of weeks they had a store of two hundred ounces4 ,it was on a ,sunday afternoon that they struck the now world-famed ,reward ,claim1 and in a few hours they had picked off fifty ounces4 ,next morning they pegged out their prospecting area4 ,but whilst thus profitably employed1 they were unpleasantly surprised by the arrival of three miners who had followed up their tracks from ,southern ,cross4 ,the discoverers worked on during the day at the cap of the reef1 and by such primitive methods as the 'dolly-pot1' or pestle and mortar1 easily obtained three hundred ounces of the precious metal4 ,the unwelcome visitors stole two hundred ounces of the gold1 a circumstance which obliged them to report their 'find' sooner than they would otherwise have done1 fearing that1 if they delayed1 the thieves would do so instead1 and claim the reward from the government4 ,on condition that they would not molest his mate during his absence1 ,mr ,bayley agreed to say nothing about their having robbed him1 and set out on his long ride to ,southern ,cross4 ,he took with him five hundred and fifty-four ounces of gold with which to convince the ,warden that his discovery was a genuine one4 ,the field was declared open after his interview with the authorities4 ,,diamonds4 ,the diamond is a natural form of crystallised carbon1 highly valued as a precious stone1 but of much less value than the ruby4 ,the lustre of the diamond is peculiar to itself1 and hence termed 'adamantine4' ,in a natural condition1 however1 the surface often presents a dull1 lead-gray1 semi-metallic lustre4 ,the high refractive and dispersive powers of the diamond produce1 when the stone is judiciously cut1 a brilliancy and 'fire' unequalled by any other stone4 ,a large proportion of the incident light is in a well-cut diamond reflected from the inner surface of the stone4 ,the diamond1 especially when coloured1 is highly phosphorescent1 that is to say1 after exposure to brilliant illumination it emits the rays which it has absorbed1 and thus becomes self-luminous in the dark4 ,its excessive hardness serves to distinguish the diamond from other gem-stones3 any stone which readily scratches ruby and sapphire must be a diamond4 ,notwithstanding its hardness the diamond is brittle1 and hence the absurdity of the ancient test which professed to distinguish the diamond by its withstanding a heavy blow struck by a hammer when placed on an anvil4 ,in recent years1 highly refined researches on this subject have been made by ,dumas1 ,stas1 ,roscoe1 and ,friedel1 all tending to prove that the diamond is practically pure carbon4 ,chemists have generally experimented1 for the sake of economy1 with impure specimens1 and have thus obtained on combustion a considerable amount of ash1 the nature of which has not been well ascertained4 ,it has been shown1 however1 that the purer the diamond the smaller is the proportion of ash left on its combustion4 ,illustration3 ,square-cut ,brilliant4 ,illustration3 ,round-cut ,brilliant4 ,illustration3 ,rose-cut ,diamond4 ,the art of cutting and polishing the diamond is said to have been discovered in #adef by ,louis de ,berguem of ,bruges4 ,as now practised1 the stone is first1 if necessary1 cleaved or split1 and then 'bruted' or rubbed into shape4 ,the faces of the stone thus 'cut' are ground and polished on flat metal discs1 fed with diamond dust and oil1 and revolving with great rapidity by steam-power4 ,antwerp comes first1 then ,amsterdam as the chief home of this industry1 and the trade is chiefly in the hands of ,jews2 but diamond cutting and polishing are also now extensively carried on in ,london1 ,antwerp1 c4 ,the common form of the diamond is either the brilliant or the rose cut4 ,the brilliant resembles two truncated cones1 base to base1 the edge of the junction being called the girdle1 the large plane on the top is the table1 and the small face at the base the culet2 the sides are covered with symmetrical facets4 ,the rose has a flat base1 with sides formed of rows of triangular facets rising as a low pyramid or hemisphere2 but this form of diamond is daily becoming less fashionable1 and is therefore of comparatively little value4 ,although the term 'carat' is applied to diamonds as well as to gold1 it does not mean the same thing4 ,used with regard to the metal1 it expresses quality or fineness--#bd-;carat being pure gold2 and #bb-;carat equal to coined gold4 ,but applied to the diamond1 carat means actual weight1 and #aea-a_/b carats are equal to one ounce troy4 ,india was formerly the only country which yielded diamonds in quantity1 and thence were obtained all the great historical stones of antiquity4 ,the chief diamond-producing districts are those in the ,madras ,presidency1 on the ,kistna and ,godavari rivers1 commonly though improperly termed the ,golconda region2 in the ,central ,provinces1 including the mines of ,sumbulpur2 and in ,bundelkhand1 where the ,panna mines are situated4 ,at present the diamond production of ,india is insignificant4 ,it is notable1 however1 that in #ahha a fine diamond1 weighing #fg-c_/h carats1 was found near ,wajra ,karur1 in the ,bellary district1 ,madras4 ,the stone was cut into a brilliant weighing #bd-e_/h carats1 and is known as the ',gor-do-,norr4' ,brazil was not regarded as a diamond-yielding country until #agbg1 when the true nature of certain crystals found in the gold washings of the province of ,minas ,geraes was first detected4 ,diamonds occur not only in this province1 but in ,bahia1 ,goyaz1 ,matto ,grosso1 and ,parana4 ,the geological conditions under which the mineral occurs have of late years been carefully studied by ,professors ,derby1 ,gorceix1 and ,chatrian4 ,the diamonds are found in the sands and gravels of river-beds1 associated with alluvial gold1 specular iron ore1 rutile1 anatase1 topaz1 and tourmaline4 ,in #ahec an extraordinary diamond was found by a negress in the river ,bogagem1 in ,minas ,geraes4 ,it weighed #bed-a_/b carats1 and was cut into a brilliant of perfect water1 weighing #abe carats4 ,this brilliant1 known as the ',star of the ,south1' was sold to the ,gaikwar of ,baroda for ,l#hj1jjj4 ,both the ,indian and the ,brazilian diamond-fields have of late years been eclipsed by the remarkable discoveries of ,south ,africa4 ,although it was known in the last century that diamonds occurred in certain parts of ,south ,africa1 the fact was forgotten1 and when in #ahfg they were found near ,hopetown1 the discovery came upon the world as a surprise4 ,a traveller named ,o',reilly had rested himself at a farm in the ,hopetown district1 when his host1 a man named ,niekerk1 brought him some nice-looking stones which he had got from the river4 ,o',reilly1 when examining the pebbles1 saw a diamond1 which afterwards realised ,l#ejj4 ,niekerk afterwards bought a diamond from a native for ,l#djj which realised ,l#aj1jjj4 ,the principal mines are situated in ,griqualand ,west1 but diamonds are also worked in the ,orange ,river ,free ,state1 as at ,jagersfontein4 ,the stones were first procured from the 'river diggings' in the ,vaal and ,orange rivers4 ,these sources have occasionally yielded large stones2 one found in #ahgb at ,waldeck's ,plant on the ,vaal weighed #bhh-c_/h carats1 and yielded a fine pale yellow brilliant1 known as the ',stewart4' ,illustration3 ,kimberley ,diamond-mine4 ,it was soon found that the diamonds of ,south ,africa were not confined to the river gravels1 and 'dry diggings' came to be established in the so-called 'pans4' ,the principal mines are those of ,kimberley1 ,de ,beer's1 ,du ,toit's ,pan1 and ,bultfontein4 ,the land here1 previously worth only a few pence per acre1 soon rose to a fabulous price4 ,at these localities the diamonds occur in a serpentinous breccia1 filling pipes or 'chimneys1' generally regarded as volcanic ducts1 which rise from unknown depths and burst through the surrounding shales4 ,the 'blue ground1' or volcanic breccia containing fragments of various rocks cemented by a serpentinous paste1 becomes altered by meteoric agents as it approaches the surface1 and is converted into 'yellow earth4' ,at ,kimberley the neighbouring schists1 or 'reefs1' are associated with sheets of a basaltic rock1 which are pierced by the pipes4 ,about #bjjj white men are employed in the industry1 and about #djjj blacks1 who earn1 on an average1 about ,l#c a week4 ,in the year #ahhg the production of the principal mines was over ,l#d1jjj1jjj4 ,the production for #ahid was somewhat less1 while the total value of diamonds exported from #ahfg to #ahid was about ,l#gj1jjj1jjj4 ,the great number of large stones found in the mines of ,south ,africa1 as compared with those of ,india and ,brazil1 is a striking peculiarity4 ,in the earliest days of ,african mining a diamond of about #hc carats was obtained from a ,boer4 ,this stone1 when cut1 yielded a splendid colourless brilliant of #df-a_/b carats1 known as the ',star of ,south ,africa1' or as the ',dudley1' since it afterwards became the property of the ,countess of ,dudley1 at a cost of ,l#be1jjj4 ,some of the ,african stones are 'off coloured'--that is1 of pale yellow or brown tints2 but a large gem of singular purity was found at ,kimberley in #ahhj4 ,this is the famous 'blue-white' diamond of #aej carats1 known from the name of its possessor as the ',porter ,rhodes4' ,at the ,de ,beer's ,mine was found1 in #ahhi1 the famous stone which was shown at the ,paris ,exposition4 ,it weighed #dbh-a_/b carats in the rough1 and #bbh-a_/b carats when cut4 ,it measured one inch and seven-eighths in greatest length1 and was about an inch and a half square4 ,even larger than this remarkable stone is a diamond found in the ,jagersfontein ,mine in #ahic1 and named the ',jagersfontein ,excelsior4' ,this is now the largest and most valuable diamond in the world4 ,it is of blue-white colour1 very fine quality1 and measures three inches at the thickest part4 ,the gross weight of this unique stone was no less than #ifi-a_/b carats 7or about #f-a_/b oz471 and the following are its recorded dimensions3 ,length1 #b-a_/b inches2 greatest width1 #b inches2 smallest width1 #a-a_/b inches2 extreme girth in width1 #e-c_/h inches2 extreme girth in length1 #f-c_/d inches4 ,it is impossible to say what is the value of so phenomenal a gem4 ,we do not know that an estimate has been even attempted2 but it may easily be half a million if the cutting is successful4 ,the diamond has1 however1 a black flaw in the centre4 ,it is the property of a syndicate of ,london diamond merchants4 ,the native who found it evaded the overseer1 and ran to headquarters to secure the reward1 which took the form of ,l#ajj in gold and a horse and cart4 ,previous to this discovery1 the most famous of the ,african diamonds was1 perhaps1 the ',pam' or ',jagersfontein' stone1 not so much from its size1 as because the ,queen had ordered it to be sent to ,osborne for her inspection with a view to purchase1 when the untimely death of the ,duke of ,clarence put an end to the negotiations4 ,the ',pam' is only of #ee carats now2 but it weighed #aab carats before being cut1 and is a stone of remarkable purity and beauty4 ,its present value is computed at about twenty-five thousand pounds sterling4 ,the most valuable diamond in the world is 7if it is a diamond7 the famous ',braganza' gem belonging to ,portugal4 ,it weighed in the rough state #afhj carats1 and was valued at upwards of #e-a_/b millions sterling4 ,it has long been known that diamonds occur in ,australia1 but hitherto the ,australian stones have been all of small size1 and it is notable that these are much more difficult to cut1 being harder than other diamonds4 ,although ,victoria and ,south ,australia have occasionally yielded diamonds1 it is ,new ,south ,wales that has been the principal producer4 ,the chief diamond localities have been near ,mudgee1 on the ,cudjegong ,river1 and near ,bingera1 on the river ,horton4 ,borneo also yields diamonds4 ,the stone known as the ',matan' is said to have been found in #aghg in the ,landak mines1 near the west coast of ,borneo4 ,it is described as being an egg-shaped stone1 indented on one side1 and weighing1 in its uncut state1 #cfg carats4 ,great doubt1 however1 exists as to the genuineness of this stone1 and the ,dutch experts who examined it a few years ago pronounced it to be simply rock-crystal4 ,among other diamond localities may be mentioned the ,ural ,mountains and several of the ,united ,states4 ,the largest diamond yet recorded from ,north ,america was found at ,manchester1 ,chesterfield county1 ,virginia4 ,it weighed #bc-c_/d carats1 and yielded1 when cut1 a brilliant known as the ',ou-i-nur1' which weighed1 however1 only #aa-c_/d carats4 ,a few special diamonds1 from their exceptional size or from the circumstances of their history1 deserve notice4 ,of all the great diamonds1 the ',koh-i-nur' is perhaps the most interesting4 ,while tradition carries it back to legendary times1 it is known from history that the ,sultan ,ala-ed-din in #acjd acquired this gem on the defeat of the ,rajah of ,malwa1 whose family had possessed it for many generations4 ,in #aebf it passed by conquest to ,humaiun1 the son of ,sultan ,baber4 ,when ,aurungzebe subsequently possessed this stone1 he used it as one of the eyes of the peacock adorning his famous peacock throne4 ,on the conquest of ,mohammed ,shah by ,nadir ,shah in #agci1 the great diamond was not found among the ,delhi treasures1 but learning that ,mohammed carried it concealed in his turban1 ,nadir1 on the grand ceremony of reinstating the ,mogul emperor on the throne at the conclusion of peace1 offered to exchange turbans1 in token of reconciliation1 and by this ruse obtained possession of the gem4 ,it was when ,nadir first saw the diamond on unfolding the turban1 that he exclaimed ',koh-i-nur1' or ',mountain of ,light1' the name by which the gem has ever since been known4 ,at ,nadir's death it passed to his unfortunate son1 ,shah ,rokh1 by whom it was ultimately given to ,ahmed ,shah1 the founder of the ,durani ,afghan empire4 ,by ,ahmed it was bequeathed to his son1 ,taimur ,shah2 and from his descendants it passed1 after a series of romantic incidents1 to ,runjit-,singh4 ,on the death of ,runjit1 in #ahci1 the diamond was preserved in the treasury of ,lahore1 and on the annexation of the ,punjab by the ,british in #ahdi1 when the property of the state was confiscated to the ,east ,india ,company1 it was stipulated that the ,koh-i-nur should be presented to the ,queen of ,england4 ,it was consequently taken in charge by ,lord ,dalhousie1 who sent it to ,england in #ahej4 ,after the ,great ,exhibition of #ahea1 where it had been exhibited1 it was injudiciously re-cut in ,london by ,voorsanger1 a skilful workman from ,messrs ,coster's factory at ,amsterdam4 ,the re-cutting occupied #ch days of #ab hours each1 and the weight of the stone was reduced from #ahf-a_/af to #ajf-a_/af carats4 ,the form is that of a shallow brilliant1 too thin to display much fire4 ,according to ,lady ,burton1 it is believed to bring ill-luck to its possessor4 ,the ',nizam' is the name of a stone said to have been found in the once famous diamond-mines of ,golconda4 ,sir ,william ,hunter1 however1 gives us to understand that there were really no diamond-mines at ,golconda1 and that the place won its name by cutting the stones found on the eastern borders of the ,nizam's territory1 and on a ridge of sandstone running down to the rivers ,kistna and ,godavery1 in the ,madras ,presidency4 ,however that may have been1 both regions are now unproductive of valuable stones4 ,the ',nizam' diamond is said to weigh #cdj carats1 and to be worth ,l#bjj1jjj2 but we are unable to verify the figures4 ,the ',great ,table' is another ,indian diamond1 the present whereabouts of which is not known4 ,it is said to weigh #bdb-a_/b carats1 and that #ejj1jjj rupees 7or at par1 ,l#ej1jjj7 was once refused for it4 ,the ',great ,table' is sometimes known as ',tavernier's' diamond4 ,it was the first blue diamond ever seen in ,europe1 and was brought1 in #afdb1 from ,india by ,tavernier4 ,it was sold to ,louis ,,xiv4 in #affh1 and was described then as of a beautiful violet colour2 but it was flat and badly cut4 ,at what date it was re-cut we know not1 but1 as possessed by ,louis ,le ,grand1 it weighed only #fg-a_/b carats4 ,it was seized during the ,revolution1 and was placed in the ,garde ,meuble2 but it disappeared1 and has not been traced since4 ,some fifty years later1 ,mr ,henry ,hope purchased a blue diamond weighing some #dd-a_/b carats 7now known as the ',hope' diamond71 which it was conjectured may have been part of the ',great ,table4' ,it is preserved in the ,green ,vaults1 ,dresden1 and is regarded as one of the most superb coloured diamonds known4 ,another famous ,indian diamond is the ',great ,mogul1' which appears to have been found about #afej1 in the ,kollur mine1 on the ,kistna4 ,it was seen by the ,french jeweller ,tavernier at the court of ,aurungzebe in #affe1 and is described as a round white rose-cut stone of #bhj carats4 ,its subsequent history is unknown1 and it is probable that at the sacking of ,delhi by ,nadir ,shah in #agci it was stolen and broken up4 ,some authorities have sought to identify the ,great ,mogul with the ,koh-i-nur1 and others with the ,orloff4 ,illustration3 ,,some ,,of ,,the ,,principal ,,diamonds ,,of ,,the ,,world3 a1 ,great ,mogul2 b1 ,star of the ,south2 c1 ,koh-i-nur2 d1 ,regent2 e1 ,orloff4 ,all actual size4 ,the ',orloff' is an ,indian stone which was purchased at ,amsterdam in #aggf by ,prince ,orloff for ,catharine ,,ii4 of ,russia4 ,the stone at one time formed the eye of an idol in a temple in the island of ,seringham1 in ,mysore1 whence it is said to have been stolen by a ,french soldier1 who sold it to an ,english trader for ,l#bjjj4 ,the ,englishman brought it home1 and sold it for ,l#ab1jjj to a ,jew1 who passed it on at a profit to an ,armenian merchant4 ,from the ,armenian it was acquired1 either by ,catharine of ,russia1 or1 for her1 by one of her admirers1 for ,l#ij1jjj and a pension4 ,it is now valued at ,l#ajj1jjj4 ,it weighs #aic carats1 is about the size of a pigeon's egg1 and is mounted in the imperial sceptre of the ,czar4 ,other famous stones are3 ,the ',austrian ,yellow1' belonging to the crown of ,austria1 weighing #gf-a_/b carats1 and valued at ,l#ej1jjj2 the ',cumberland1' belonging to the crown of ,hanover1 weighing #cb carats1 and worth at least ,l#aj1jjj2 the ',english ,dresden1' belonging to the ,gaikwar of ,baroda1 weighing #gf-a_/b carats1 and valued at ,l#dj1jjj2 the ',nassak'--which the ,marquis of ,westminster wore on the hilt of his sword at the birthday ceremonial immediately after the ,queen's accession--which weighs #gh-a_/b carats1 and is valued at ,l#cj1jjj4 ,the ',regent' is a famous diamond preserved among the national jewels in ,paris4 ,it was found in #agja1 at the ,parteal mines1 on the ,kistna1 by a slave1 who escaped with it to the coast1 where he sold it to an ,english skipper1 by whom he was afterwards treacherously killed4 ,thomas ,pitt1 grandfather of the first ,earl of ,chatham1 at that time governor of ,fort ,st ,george1 purchased the stone1 and had it re-cut in ,london1 whence it is often known as the ',pitt4' ,its original weight was #daj carats1 but it was reduced in cutting to #acf-c_/d2 the result1 however1 was a brilliant of fine water and excellent proportions4 ,pitt sold it in #agag1 through the financier ,john ,law1 to the ,duke of ,orleans1 then ,regent of ,france during the minority of ,louis ,,xv4 ,the price paid was ,l#ace1jjj1 and its value has since been estimated at ,l#dhj1jjj4 ,the stone is now among the ,french jewels in the ,museum of ,paris4 ,the large ',sancy' is an historical diamond1 about which many contradictory stories have been told4 ,it appears that the ,sancy was an ,indian stone1 purchased about #aegj by ,m4 de ,sancy1 ,french ambassador at ,constantinople4 ,it passed temporarily into the possession of ,henry ,,iii4 and ,henry ,,iv4 of ,france1 and was eventually sold by ,sancy to ,queen ,elizabeth of ,england4 ,by ,james ,,ii4 it was disposed of to ,louis ,,xiv41 about #afie1 for ,l#be1jjj4 ,at the beginning of the #aith century it passed to the ,demidoff family in ,russia1 and by them it was sold in #ahfe to ,sir ,jamsetjee ,jeejeebhoy4 ,in #ahhi it was again in the market1 the price asked being ,l#bj1jjj4 ,the ,russian diamond1 ',moon of ,mountains1' is set in the imperial sceptre1 weighs #abj carats1 and is valued at #dej1jjj roubles1 or1 say1 about ,l#ge1jjj4 ,the ',mountain of ,splendour1' belonging to the ,shah of ,persia1 weighs #ace carats1 and is valued at ,l#ade1jjj4 ,in the ,persian regalia there is said to be another diamond1 called the ',abbas ,mirza1' weighing #acj carats1 and worth ,l#ij1jjj4 ,,the ,,hon4 ,,cecil ,j4 ,,rhodes1 ,,the ,,diamond ,,king4 ,we get a good insight into the character of ,mr ,rhodes from all his utterances and public acts2 and an anecdote about him when busy with the work that made him famous as the ',diamond ,king1' the amalgamation of the diamond-mines1 shows up the man4 ,he was looking at a map of ,africa hung in the office of a ,kimberley merchant4 ,after looking at it closely for some time1 he placed his hand over a large part of ,southern and ,central ,africa1 right across the continent1 and turning to a friend at his side1 said1 ',there1 all that ,british6 ,that is my dream4' ',i give you ten years1' said his friend4 ,when he was in power at the ,cape1 and the times were ripe1 his dream was realised1 and the shield of the great ,white ,queen was thrown over ,north and ,south ,zambesia1 and railway and telegraphic communication was being pushed on towards the equator4 ,the ,right ,hon4 ,cecil ,john ,rhodes is the fourth son of a clergyman1 of ,bishop ,stortford1 where he was born in #ahec4 ,he was educated at the local school1 but his health being far from good1 he was sent to ,natal to join his elder brother1 a planter there4 ,both brothers made for ,kimberley at the first diamond rush1 ,cecil going into partnership as a diamond digger with ,mr ,c4 ,d4 ,rudd1 who had also gone out to ,south ,africa for his health4 ,while at ,kimberley1 young ,rhodes read sufficiently to enable him to pass at ,oxford4 ,his crowning achievement of the union of the ,de ,beers ,company and the ,kimberley ,central ,company was not the work of a day1 but it was accomplished largely through ,mr ,rhodes's financial skill1 and became known as the ,de ,beers ,consolidated ,mines1 of which he was elected chairman and one of the life governors4 ,the capital valuation of the company now stands at about twenty-five millions4 ,regular dividends of twenty-five per cent4 have been paid for some years4 ,it was natural that an influential man like ,mr ,rhodes should be sent to the ,cape ,parliament1 and in #ahhi he rose to be a member of the ,cabinet4 ,another successful attempt at company promoting was his association with ,mr ,rudd in the ,transvaal gold-fields4 ,at first their mines on the ,witwatersrandt did not turn out well2 but it is long since they began to pay enormously1 the net profits of #ahid being over two millions1 while the market value of the concern is ten millions sterling4 ,several gold prospectors had dealings with and concessions from ,lobengula1 in ,matabeleland1 before ,mr ,rudd and ,mr ,rhodes joined forces in #ahhh and secured mineral concessions covering the whole of his kingdom4 ,then came the launching of the ,chartered ,company1 incorporated in ,october #ahhi1 with a capital of one million1 which has since been raised to two and a half millions4 ,then ,mashonaland was prospected1 and forts built and roads were made1 and the telegraph was carried on to ,salisbury1 giving connection with the ,cape4 ,when it was found that the settlers could not live in peace with ,lobengula1 a force under ,dr ,jameson1 the administrator1 broke the power of the ,matabele in the autumn of #ahic4 ,the only serious affair was the deaths of forty-nine men of ,wilson's column4 ,since that time the country has been slowly settled1 and the railway is being pushed on to ,buluwayo4 ,mr ,rhodes has interested himself also in pushing on the telegraph system towards the ,great ,central ,african lakes1 by way of ,zumbo1 in the ,central ,african ,protectorate1 under the capable rule of ,sir ,h4 ,h4 ,johnston4 ,matabeleland is an excellent pastoral country1 and if a sufficient number of agricultural emigrants could be got to remain and develop the territory1 its future would be secured4 ,unfortunately1 this class of emigrant has hitherto been lacking in ,south ,africa--the gold and diamond fields have been too tempting--but in time1 doubtless1 the slow and sure sort of emigrant will find it to his interest to develop the land4 ,the residence of ,mr ,rhodes is at ,groote ,schnur1 ,rondebosch1 near ,cape ,town4 ,in the twelve hundred acres which surround the house there are charming views1 and a natural ,zoo1 upon which he is said to have spent at least one hundred thousand pounds4 ,he has thrown this place open to pleasure-seekers from the ,cape for all time coming4 ,he enjoys riding over his estate1 and watching the visitors enjoying themselves4 ,lord ,salisbury once termed him a 'remarkable man4' ,this is well borne out by all who have come in contact with him4 ',he presents1' says the ,african ,review1 'a character that is well worthy of analysis--that is a curious compound of generosity and almost repellent cynicism1 of disinterestedness and ambition1 of large aims that are dependent on things that are essentially trivial2 the keen1 hard-tempered character of a self-made man who has carved a career out of ,kimberley finance and ,cape ,colonial politics4444 ,of giant force of mind and will1 with practised judgment that nearly amounts to intuitive perception1 with a grasp of cause and effect that is founded upon a microscopic observation of the laws of nature1 he is decidedly a big man4 ,he is a rarely accurate critic of his fellow-mortals4' ,dr ,jameson prophesied1 when in this country in #ahie1 that the annexation and occupation of ,matabeleland and ,mashonaland meant more than mere annexation of territory1 but would lead to a commercial union1 amalgamation1 or federation of ,south ,african states4 ,in ,rhodesia1 a country nearly as large as ,europe1 white men and women could live1 and white children could be reared in health and vigour4 ,gold was to be found there1 and coal and iron4 ,the country has been settled since the power of ,lobengula was broken1 and the road and railway are doing their beneficent work4 ,the revenue for #ahid nearly balanced the expenditure4 ,when ,mashonaland and ,matabeleland needed the railway1 ,mr ,rhodes was still the key of the position4 ',krueger will not let us take the ,kimberley line into his country8 ,very well1' in effect said ,mr ,rhodes1 'we will take it round him1 and beyond1 on the way to the ,transvaal of the ,zambesi4' ,and so the matter was arranged between the ,imperial and ,colonial government and the ,chartered ,company4 ,so much land was to be given for taking the line to ,vryburg1 so much to ,mafeking1 in connection with the main trunk line from the ,cape4 ,dr ,jameson's raid into ,transvaal territory1 early in #ahif1 ostensibly taken for the purpose of helping the people of ,johannesburg1 who complained of their treatment by the ,boer government1 and the complications which ensued1 led to the resignation of ,mr ,rhodes as a member of the ,cape government1 when he turned his attention to the development of ,rhodesia1 the new and promising territory1 which has been so named after him4 ,illustration3 ,african ,village4 ,illustration ,,chapter ,,vi4 ,,big ,,guns1 ,,small-,,arms1 ,,and ,,ammunition4 ,woolwich ,arsenal--,enfield ,small-arms ,factory--,lord ,armstrong and the ,elswick ,works--,testing ,guns at ,shoeburyness--,hiram ,s4 ,maxim and the ,maxim ,machine ,gun--,the ,colt ,automatic ,gun--,ironclads--,submarine ,boats4 ,,woolwich ,,arsenal4 ,since early days1 ,woolwich has been an important centre for warships and war-material4 ,here ships were built and launched when ,england first began to have a navy of specially constructed men-of-war1 for ,henry ,,viii4 established the ,woolwich dockyard1 and also appointed ,commissioners of the navy1 and formed the ,navy ,office4 ,some of the earliest three-deckers1 or1 as we may almost call them1 five-deckers1 were built at this dockyard2 and of these the most famous was the ,great ,harry1 so named after the king1 which was launched here in #aead4 ,for the period1 the ship was a large one1 being of a thousand tons burden2 though we should not think much of her size now1 when we have ironclads of over eleven thousand tons4 ,there are models of her in the ,greenwich ,naval ,museum1 which is not far from ,woolwich2 and a curious lofty wooden castle she is1 rising far up above the water-line1 and offering a fair target1 if the cannon of those days had any accuracy4 ,illustration3 ,the ,great ,harry4 ,on ,june #c1 #aeei1 ,queen ,elizabeth came down to ,woolwich to witness the launch of a large ship called after her name4 ,in #afcg a ship half as large again as the ,great ,harry was launched at ,woolwich4 ,she was the marvel of her days1 and though named the ,royal ,sovereign1 was more often called the ,golden ,devil1 from the amount of mischief she wrought in the ,dutch fleet4 ,her guns were probably of small size2 but she carried enough of them on her three flush-decks1 her forecastle1 her half-deck1 her quarter-deck1 and in her round-house2 for in her lower tier were sixty ports2 in the middle1 thirty2 in the third1 twenty-six2 in her forecastle were twelve2 in her half-deck were fourteen4 ,she was decorated in the emblematical style of the time with gilding and carvings2 and these designs were the work of one ,thomas ,haywood1 an actor1 who has left us an account of the ship which he adorned1 in a quarto volume published the same year in which she was launched4 ,we can imagine what she looked like1 with her lofty forecastle and poop1 the latter provided with five lanterns1 one of which1 we are told1 was large enough to contain ten persons4 ,old ,samuel ,pepys gives us many references to ,woolwich in his famous ,diary4 ,he paid frequent visits to the dockyard on his duties as ,secretary to the ,admiralty1 and seems to have looked after his business well4 ,for instance1 on ,june #c1 #affb1 he writes3 ',povy and ,sir ,w4 ,batten and ,i by water to ,woolwich2 and there saw an experiment made of ,sir ,r4 ,ford's ,holland yarn1 about which we have lately had so much stir2 and ,i have much concerned myself for our rope-maker1 ,mr ,hughes1 who represented it so bad2 and we found it to be very bad1 and broke sooner than1 upon a fair trial1 five threads of that against four of ,riga yarn2 and also that some of it had old stuff that had been tarred1 covered over with new hemp1 which is such a cheat as hath not been heard of4' ,the next month he is looking after the hemp again1 and writes3 ',to ,woolwich to the rope-yard1 and there looked over several sorts of hemp1 and did fall upon my great survey of seeing the working and experiments of the strength and charge in the dressing of every sort2 and ,i do think have brought it to so great a certainty1 as ,i have done the king some service in it1 and do purpose to get it ready against the ,duke's coming to town to present to him4' ,he adds pathetically3 ',i see it is impossible for the king to have things done as cheap as other men4' ,of as early date probably as the dockyard1 was the ',warren1' the name by which the ,arsenal was formerly called4 ,this establishment seems to have begun as a cannon-foundry1 and such1 indeed1 it chiefly continues to be4 ,moreover1 in other days when the dockyard flourished1 stores of ships' cannon were kept here1 ready to be placed on ships as soon as commissioned4 ,but now that the dockyard is a thing of the past1 and now that the large building-slips1 workshops1 and ropewalk are empty1 the cannon at the ,arsenal are chiefly those for the royal artillery and for forts4 ,the dockyard has been closed since #ahfi2 its broad roads are deserted1 its workshops are silent1 and its large sheds are only used for stores2 but the ,arsenal has increased in magnitude2 and the ',warren1' in which1 before the establishment of the ,plumstead magazines1 powder was proved 7'before the principal engineers and officers of the ,board of ,ordnance1 to which many of the nobility and gentry were often invited1 and afterwards sumptuously entertained by them'71 has now become an enormous establishment1 covering acres of ground1 and containing workshops provided with the most complicated machinery1 and foundries of enormous size4 ,it is round this ,arsenal that we propose to take the reader4 ,having gained admittance1 the visitor is put in charge of a guide4 ,the tapping of the great furnace is a remarkable sight4 ,a stream of molten steel runs into a huge tank which can contain four or five tons of metal1 and this tank is dragged off by some score of men to fill the various moulds4 ,it is remarkable1 also1 to see a huge steam-hammer of some forty tons' force welding a mass of metal at white-heat4 ,the ,arsenal is divided into four departments--the ,laboratory1 the ,gun ,factory1 the ,gun-carriage ,department1 and the ,stores2 and of these four divisions1 the first two contain the chief things not to be found in very many other places4 ,the ,gun-carriage ,department has workshops both for metal and wood work1 and each branch contains many subdivisions4 ,there is nothing1 however1 in this department which is peculiar to the ,arsenal1 with the exception1 of course1 of the special articles which are manufactured2 that is to say1 forging1 steam-carpentering1 wheel-making1 and so on1 are carried out as they would be executed elsewhere4 ,the guides always make a point of showing the wheel-shoeing pit1 as it is called1 in which the tyre is put on a gun-wheel4 ,the machinery in this department is very complete1 especially in the carpenters' shops1 where the lathes which work automatically1 and turn wheel-spokes and such things according to a given pattern1 and the steam-saws for cutting dovetails for sides of boxes1 and other machinery1 are all constructed on highly ingenious principles4 ,with regard to the articles constructed1 the trail of a gun may be followed in all stages of its construction until it appears complete with its wheels1 and ready for the gun to be placed on it4 ,here1 too1 may be seen the ingenious ,moncrieff gun-carriage1 by which the gun is only raised above a fortification at the moment when it is fired1 the 'sighting' being done from below by an arrangement of mirrors4 ,the ,stores1 again1 are remarkable only for the quantity of material stowed away ready for use4 ,for instance1 there are ten thousand complete sets of harness for guns and baggage wagons always kept in stock4 ,but when the visitor has just walked once through these storehouses1 he will probably have seen all that he cares to see there4 ,it is1 however1 when we come to the ,gun ,factory that the special interest of the ,arsenal begins4 ,imagine a huge mass of steel welded--for casting would not give sufficient strength--into the form of the trunk of a large fir-tree1 and you have the first stage of a gun's existence4 ,this solid mass is to form the tube of a cannon1 and the solid core has to be removed by ingenious and powerful machinery4 ,it takes a week or two to bore the interior of some of the larger guns4 ,some of the machines are constructed to bore a hole which is continually enlarged by successive tools2 while others actually cut out a round solid mass from the interior4 ,the tube has also to be subjected to the process of being turned both within and without1 and it is then fit for the next process1 which is that of cutting the grooves within it which give the required spin to the projectile1 commonly called rifling4 ,this is a delicate and intricate process1 for the utility of the gun of course depends largely on the accuracy with which the grooves are made4 ,the actual cutting is performed by a machine which travels up the tube at the required spiral2 but as the work proceeds1 the man in charge carefully examines the grooves along their whole length with the aid of a candle fixed at the end of a long rod which he pushes up the tube4 ,but when the tube has been bored1 turned1 and rifled1 the gun is by no means finished4 ,the tube by itself would be far too delicate for the large charges of powder employed2 and1 consequently1 it has to be fitted at the breech end with two or three outer cases or jackets1 the outside one of which bears the trunnions on which the gun rests4 ,at last the gun is completed2 and the next thing is to subject it to a severe test by firing from it a charge of powder proportioned to its size4 ,for this purpose1 it has to be taken to ,plumstead ,marshes1 a portion of which forms the testing-ground and powder-magazines connected with the ,arsenal4 ,lines of railway run down to the marshes1 and the gun is mounted on a truck and dragged off by a locomotive to the place appointed for its trial4 ,it may be mentioned that lines of railway run in all directions through the ,arsenal1 one of narrow gauge being introduced into most of the workshops1 so that the visitor has to keep a lookout lest a tiny locomotive with a train of what may almost be called toy trucks should bear down upon him as he is walking along4--,but to return to the gun4 ,when it has been finally tested1 cleaned1 polished1 and stamped1 it is coated with a particular varnish1 and is fit for service4 ,the next most interesting place to the ,gun ,factory is the ,laboratory1 where shells and bullets are manufactured4 ,shells are cast rough1 and then finished off in a lathe4 ,a band of copper now usually takes the place of the copper studs which were formerly inserted to enable the shell to fit into the rifled grooves4 ,this band is expanded by the force of the explosion when the gun is fired1 and fills up the grooves1 so as to give the necessary spin to the shells4 ,shells are charged with their interior bullets at the ,laboratory2 but the powder is added down at the marshes4 ,a shell when completed has become a very expensive article1 especially if it is a large one4 ,some of those projectiles are so heavy that the guns from which they have to be fired are provided with small cranes for lifting them up to the breech4 ,the shells are1 like the guns1 beautifully finished off and varnished1 and then sent off to the stores4 ,perhaps the most interesting place in the ,laboratory department is the ,pattern ,room1 which is a sort of museum where shot and shells of all sorts are to be seen1 from the old-fashioned chain-shot1 made of round balls fastened together1 to the most perfect specimens of modern shells4 ,here1 also1 are to be seen those strange weapons of modern warfare called torpedoes1 amongst them the famous 'fish torpedo1' which with its complicated mechanism may be almost described as an under-water ship4 ,it is so constructed that it finds its way unseen and unheard1 with its terrible charge of dynamite1 to the side of a hostile vessel4 ,,the ,,enfield ,,small-,,arms ,,factory4 ,it is at ,enfield1 on the river ,lea1 some twelve miles down the ,great ,eastern ,railway1 that small-arms are manufactured1 almost entirely1 as required by our army4 ,enfield ,factory has not1 like ,woolwich ,arsenal1 an ancient history of its own4 ,in the days of ,henry ,,viii4 and of ,elizabeth1 of the ,duke of ,york and his faithful secretary1 ,samuel ,pepys1 ,woolwich was famous for the production both of ships and of guns2 but the small-arms factory on the borders of ,essex dates only from the early part of this century4 ,its site seems to have been chosen regardless of any peculiar advantages for manufacturing purposes4 ,it is simply a collection of workshops built in the flat meadows through which run the various branches1 natural and artificial1 of the lazy ,lea2 and the nearest town1 about a mile and a half distant1 is quiet and remote little ,waltham1 chiefly known for its ,abbey ,church1 the burial-place of ,king ,harold1 which rises in its midst4 ,the situation of the ,enfield ,factory is1 however1 advantageous in this way3 the canals form a safe means of water transit for the gunpowder which is manufactured in the adjacent mills at ,waltham1 and which is required at ,enfield for use in the proving of the barrels of firearms2 while the far-stretching marshes provide an apparently interminable range for carrying out the necessary experiments and trials with regard to the accuracy of the weapons manufactured4 ,where one of the canals has been conducted into a square-shaped basin1 the older and principal buildings of the manufactory have been located4 ,they form a quadrangle of some extent2 and here1 too1 are situated the offices and the quarters of the executive staff1 which is composed partly of civilians and partly of military officers4 ,behind these1 on the east side of the enclosure1 and on the banks of one of the canals1 are rows of workmen's cottages4 ,near the entrance gates are situated schools for the workmen's children2 and at the other end of this street1 as we may call it1 is a church1 which is served by the clergy of the parish of ,enfield4 ,on the west side extend north and south the flat meadows or marshes which form so convenient a spot for the testing and proving of the rifles4 ,all sorts of personal weapons required for the arming of a soldier in the ,english army are made here1 not only firearms1 such as rifles and revolvers1 but lances1 swords1 and bayonets1 the last having now become a sort of short sword4 ,there is also one class of weapons which occupies a sort of intermediate position between those carried by the soldier himself and those drawn by horses--that of machine guns1 as they are called1 which1 though not carried by men on their shoulders or in their hands1 are drawn about by them on small carriages4 ,these machine guns are classed with personal arms1 because they are usually employed in connection with infantry2 and also because--which is a far more important reason--the ammunition required for them is similar to that used in rifles4 ,in fact1 they are in principle only a collection of infantry rifles fastened together1 or1 as we shall see1 a single rifle barrel with machinery attached which enables it to discharge with great rapidity4 ,there is one more general principle which we shall do well to bear in mind before we enter the factory4 ,it is this1 that of course the manufacture of small-arms is in as much a condition of uncertainty as that of larger warlike weapons in these days4 ,what we see now may become obsolete in a very short time1 and we shall be shown specimens of firearms which formed the universal weapons of the ,british army only a very few years ago1 but are now as much out of date for practical purposes as cross-bows4 ,remembering this1 let us go first when we enter to one of the offices1 where we shall see arranged in a rack against the wall1 amongst others1 specimens of the old ,enfield muzzle-loader1 of the same weapon converted into a breech-loader1 of the ,martini-,henry rifle1 and of the latest pattern of all1 the magazine rifle4 ,while1 stored away in some out-of-the-way corner1 it is just possible we might come across a specimen of the old smooth-bore or ',brown ,bess1' which formed the weapon of certain ,english linesmen so late as the beginning of the ,crimean ,war4 ,the ,enfield workshops are of course in appearance much like other workshops4 ,there are the same processes of forging and casting1 and the same machinery for hammering and turning and boring and drilling which we see elsewhere4 ,a rifle1 as every one knows1 consists of three portions--the wooden stock1 the barrel1 and the lock4 ,the stock is usually made of walnut wood1 and is manufactured in what we should perhaps describe as a carpenter's shop4 ,formerly1 the stock of a rifle was formed out of one long piece of timber2 but now the complicated machinery of the breech and lock cannot be contained in a hollow in the wood1 as was formerly the case1 but has to be enclosed in a steel case1 to which the wooden butt and barrel support are screwed4 ,to the rifles of the newest pattern there hangs1 just below the lock1 the magazine1 in which are carried five or1 in some cases1 ten cartridges1 which spring up into place in turn1 ready to be discharged4 ,in short1 the rifle has become1 as regards its rapidity of action1 something similar to a revolver pistol4 ,we shall find that a lock has in its manufacture to pass through an almost infinite number of processes1 each part having to be forged or beaten out till the whole can be fitted together4 ,let us pass on to the barrel-making shop4 ,rifle barrels are made from a solid round bar of steel1 which is at first considerably shorter and stouter than the finished barrel will be4 ,this steel bar is heated red-hot1 and is passed between several pairs of rollers1 which convert it outwardly into the required form4 ,it has1 however1 afterwards to be bored and then rifled--that is1 furnished with the spiral grooves within1 which gives the bullet the necessary spin4 ,of course the barrel is by far the most important portion of a firearm1 and the barrels of rifles are1 at ,enfield1 tested and proved in the most ingenious and searching manner4 ,the first proof takes place after the barrel has been bored1 but before it is rifled4 ,the barrels are loaded with cartridges of considerably greater weight both in powder and bullet than those which will be used in them when they are ready for service1 and are enclosed in a sort of strong box which has one side open4 ,they are then discharged through the open side into a heap of sand1 and examined2 but it is a rare event to find a barrel that has not been able to bear this test4 ,the second proof1 which takes place after the rifling1 is of a similar character4 ,but these proofs are only to test the strength of a barrel2 the test of its accuracy is a much more delicate operation4 ,of course the machinery by which it is bored and rifled works with the most admirable precision2 but yet it is necessary to put this machine-work to trial4 ,there are1 amongst others1 two highly ingenious methods for doing this4 ,in the one case it is placed on a stand which is so constructed that on it the barrel can be made to revolve rapidly4 ,the barrel is pointed towards a window1 and in front of it is a fixed sight4 ,the workman looks through it while it is revolving2 and if the sight remains steady to his eye1 that is a proof that the barrel may be said to be straight4 ,but there is yet another method4 ,the mechanism of this testing apparatus is rather difficult to describe1 but is something of this fashion4 ,the barrel is made to revolve as before2 but this time there is inserted in it a spindle1 on which is fixed a short arm with a point which touches very lightly the interior of the barrel4 ,if there is any inequality1 or if the barrel is not perfectly straight1 this short arm is of course shaken1 and when this is the case1 the motion is further communicated to a long arm at the end of which is an indicator1 which is looked at by the workman through a magnifying glass4 ,illustration3 ,gatling ,gun on ,field ,carriage4 ,barrel1 stock1 and lock being at last completed and tested1 the rifle is put together2 but even then it is subjected to one more trial4 ,this is carried out on the proof-ground in the marshes1 and takes the form of an actual discharge of the weapon at a target4 ,the rifle is screwed to a fixed and firm support1 and then a certain number of rounds are fired at ranges of five hundred and one thousand yards respectively4 ,in this test the hitting of the centre of the target1 or 'bull's-eye1' is not the end in view1 as it is in ordinary target practice4 ,that sort of shooting depends of course on the steadiness with which the marksman holds the rifle4 ,in this case1 however1 the fixed rest may be directed on any portion of the target1 and the grip will always be the same4 ,the only object of the test is to see whether the rifle throws the bullet at each round on or near the same spot4 ,a marker at the butt examines the position of each shot1 and the smaller the space on which they strike1 the better the weapon4 ,we have not yet spoken of the machine guns4 ,these weapons are1 as part of the regular equipment of armies1 quite modern1 though the idea of binding together a quantity of barrels and then discharging them at once1 or with great rapidity one after another1 is not altogether novel4 ,sometimes1 instead of a number of barrels1 one only is required1 and the cartridges are discharged from short barrels or chambers which are brought in turn into position with the longer one4 ,this is the ordinary revolver system2 but modern machine guns are a great improvement on this method1 and entirely dispense with the necessity of loading separate chambers4 ,machine guns have succeeded one another with extraordinary rapidity1 and a gun seems only to be adopted in order to be superseded4 ,thus we have had during the last few years a series of these weapons bearing the names of ,gatling1 ,gardner1 ,nordenfelt1 and ,maxim1 described on a later page4 ,illustration3 ,nordenfelt-,palmcrantz ,gun mounted on ,ship's ,bulwark4 ,as we walk about the factory we see1 besides the workmen1 here and there groups of men in military uniform4 ,these are armourer sergeants1 who attend classes at which they are taught the mysterious mechanism of the breech-loaders and machine guns4 ,in former days1 ,tommy ,atkins could be instructed how to keep his weapon in order1 lock and all2 but now its complications are beyond the power of his understanding or of his fingers1 perhaps of both1 and he has to hand over his rifle to a more skilled superior when it is out of order4 ,truly1 military matters1 from the movement of the vast army corps of the present day down to the mechanism of the soldier's weapons1 have become a highly technical matter4 ,,lord ,,armstrong ,,and ,,the ,,elswick ,,works4 ,sir ,w4 ,g4 ,armstrong1 the chairman and founder of this great firm of warship builders and makers of big guns at ,elswick1 ,newcastle-on-,tyne1 is the son of a ,cumberland yeoman1 and born at ,newcastle in #ahaj4 ,he early showed a turn for mechanical contrivances1 and delicate youth as he was1 when confined to the house he was quite happy making toys of old spinning-wheels and such-like things4 ,he would also spend hours in a joiner's shop1 copying the joiner's work1 and making miniature engines4 ,he had ample opportunity in his father's house of making himself acquainted with chemistry1 electricity1 and mechanics4 ,in spite of his turn for mechanics1 he was articled to a solicitor1 who1 at the finish of his apprenticeship1 made him his partner4 ,in his leisure hours he conducted his experiments4 ,fishing was also a favourite pastime with him1 and in #ahcf1 while rambling through ,dent ,dale1 he saw a stream descending from a great height and driving only one single mill4 ,this led him to think that there might be a more economical use of this water hydraulically1 with the result that he produced a hydraulic engine1 which was followed by the invention of a hydraulic crane for raising weights at harbours and in warehouses4 ,it was soon adopted at the ,albert ,dock1 ,liverpool1 and elsewhere4 ,illustration3 ,,lord ,,armstrong4 ,next he invented an apparatus for extracting electricity from steam1 afterwards introduced into the ,polytechnic ,institution1 ,london4 ,napoleon ,,iii4 heard of this famous machine1 and sent experts to examine it4 ,armstrong began to receive recognition2 he was elected a member of the ,royal ,society in #ahdf1 and a year later1 aided by some friends1 he began on a small scale the ,elswick ,engine-works in the suburbs of ,newcastle1 which have grown to be the largest concern of the kind in the country4 ,at first the enterprise chiefly consisted in the manufacture of hydraulic cranes1 engines1 accumulators1 and bridges4 ,the addition of ordnance and shipping1 for which ,armstrong became chiefly known1 came later4 ,previous to the year #ahec1 the weapon used by the infantry portion of the ,british army was a clumsy smooth-bore musket1 which was only effective up to three hundred yards at the farthest2 the usual distance at which practice was made by the soldier seldom exceeding one hundred yards4 ,in the above-named year1 an arm was brought into use1 termed1 from the locality of its manufacture1 the ,enfield rifle4 ,this weapon being lighter1 and possessing a much greater range than the old small-arm1 ,brown ,bess1 as it was called1 threatened very seriously to diminish the effect of field-artillery1 if not to abolish that arm entirely1 as1 indeed1 many infantry officers were sanguine enough to predict4 ,nor were they without good reason for their boasting1 the only field-artillery consisting of #f-pounder brass guns for horse-artillery1 #i-pounder guns for field-batteries1 and sometimes #ab-pounder and #ah-pounder guns as batteries of position--that is to say1 batteries used when the general of a force meant to make any stand in a suitable position2 on these occasions1 the guns were taken to the requisite places1 and there left4 ,now1 all these guns were smooth-bored2 and as the range of the #f and #i pounders was limited in practice to about one thousand yards1 it was a fair enough supposition that a company of concealed riflemen with their ,enfield rifles could pick off the gunners and remain themselves comparatively secure1 especially as their muskets being sighted up to1 and effective at1 eleven hundred yards1 the guns also would be a good mark to aim at1 and the riflemen hard to see1 even if exposed4 ,such was the state of affairs when ,armstrong stepped in to the rescue of the artillery1 and provided the ,british government with the rifled cannon now in use1 and about which so much has been written4 ,armstrong1 during the ,crimean ,war1 made an explosive apparatus for blowing up ships sunk at ,sebastopol4 ,this led him to turn his attention to improvements in ordnance4 ,he invented a kind of breech-loading cannon1 and soon had an order for several field-pieces after the same pattern4 ,he began with guns throwing #f lb4 and #ah lb4 shot and shells1 and afterwards #cb lb4 shells2 and the results at the time were deemed almost incredible4 ,he had both reduced the weight of the gun by one-half1 reduced the charge of powder1 and his gun sent the shell about three times farther4 ,his success led to his offering to government all his past inventions1 and any that he might in the future discover4 ,a post was created for him1 that of ,chief ,engineer of ,rifled ,ordnance for seven years provisionally4 ,the founder of this great firm was knighted by the ,queen in #aheh1 and made ,c4,b4 ,in #ahhg he was raised to the peerage as ,baron ,armstrong of ,cragside4 ,his mansion and estate of ,cragside is at ,rothbury1 and it is fitted up with the electric light and every convenience of wealth and taste4 ,armstrong's peculiar partnership between government and the ,elswick ,works was brought to a close in #ahfc1 since which time the progress of the firm has been continuous4 ,in #ahhb an amalgamation took place between the ,elswick ,works and the firm of ,charles ,mitchell ,co41 shipbuilders at ,low ,walker4 ,dr ,mitchell1 who was a native of ,aberdeen1 and a munificent donor to ,newcastle and ,aberdeen1 was one of the directors of ,armstrong1 ,mitchell1 ,co4 till his death in #ahie4 ,this firm are now the leading warship builders in the world4 ,krupp's works at ,essen 7described in the earlier part of this book7 are the only parallel to them in ,europe4 ,the engineering works1 begun1 as we have seen1 in #ahdg1 now occupy about nine acres2 the ordnance works1 founded ten years later1 occupy about forty acres2 while about five thousand men are employed4 ,the shipbuilding yards are at ,low ,walker1 nearer the sea4 ,the hydraulic machinery for the ,tower ,bridge and the ,manchester ,ship ,canal were both produced by this great firm4 ,some years ago one of his biographers wrote3 ',he entertains the great institutes of ,england when they visit his native city on royal lines1 in regal splendour4 ,his works at ,elswick enjoy all modern improvements4 ,his home at ,jesmond is the abode of art1 literature1 and luxury4 ,when his health complained under its heavy load1 he cultivated agriculture1 botany1 and forestry for recreation2 bought an estate at ,rothbury1 where the kindly invigorating air had healed him in days gone by2 converted the barren hills into an earthly paradise2 lighted his ,cragside mansion with ,swan's lamp and his own hydraulic power2 applied water-power to his conservatory1 that his plants might secure the sun4 ,but amid all the luxuries which surround him1 his life is as simple as nature2 and now1 at the ripe age of seventy-three1 he maintains the freshness and elasticity of youth4 ,he was wont to run like a deer along the moors of ,allenheads to examine the target fired at by the original ,armstrong gun4' ,lord ,armstrong has been honoured both at home and abroad1 and has done much for the amenity of ,newcastle2 and ,jesmond ,dene1 part of his ,jesmond estate1 was thrown open to the public by the ,prince of ,wales while his guest at ,cragside4 ,the high-level bridge1 giving easy access to the park for the town1 cost ,l#bj1jjj4 ,other benefactions have been ,l#ab1ejj towards a museum2 a hall for the literary society1 a mechanics' institute1 schools at ,elswick1 c4 ,a recent purchase was at ,bamborough1 the ancient capital of the ,northumbrian kings1 where1 nearer our own time1 ,grace ,darling was born and died4 ,already great improvements are in progress there in the shape of workmen's houses2 and the parish church is being restored4 ,bamborough ,castle1 which is also included in the purchase1 is an imposing mass of masonry1 standing on a pile of columnar basalt1 which is mentioned early in history2 there was a castle here as early as the fifth century4 ,by the will of ,lord ,crewe it had been devoted as far back as #agba to charitable purposes4 ,in the autumn of #ahic1 ,lord ,armstrong told the ,elswick shareholders that he believed the time was coming when armoured ships would be as obsolete as mail-clad men4 ',do what we will1' he said1 ',i believe that the means of attack will always overtake the means of defence1 and that sooner or later armour will be abandoned4' ,his reason for this statement was the use of high explosives and quick-firing guns4 ,in the future1 light vessels of great speed1 armed with quick-firing guns1 are likely to be the order of the day4 ,the life of a battleship1 he also said1 was far too valuable to be staked on the use of its ram2 special ships should therefore be built for ramming4 ,on another occasion he discussed the improvements in the manufacture of cordite which had made it possible to secure enormous power even with moderate-sized guns4 ,with a #f-;inch gun of #de calibre1 and a #ajj lb4 projectile1 a velocity of nearly #cjjj feet per second has been reached1 giving an energy of #ehhd tons1 as against the #ebed tons of the #h-;inch gun of ten years ago4 ,this last gun could only fire four rounds in five minutes2 now we hear of ten and eighteen rounds in three minutes4 ,as to speed1 some warships built for the ,argentine ,republic and for ,japan had reached a speed of #bf-a_/d miles an hour1 and were at the time the fastest war-vessels afloat4 ,at the annual meeting of shareholders in #ahie1 ,lord ,armstrong said that the war-material which they supplied for the great naval war in the ,east thoroughly stood the test1 and the quick-firing guns of the ,japanese navy had greatly helped their victory4 ,the heavily-armed high-speed cruisers also deserve a share of the credit1 and these had been built by their firm4 ,in connection with an official inquiry it was found that in #ahif there were #ah1jjj men employed in the arsenal at ,elswick alone1 and that #ac ironclads and cruisers1 and #adjj guns were being built4 ,,testing ,,guns ,,at ,,shoeburyness4 ,it is at ,shoeburyness1 in the county of ,essex1 that experiments are carried out with the guns1 large and small1 manufactured at ,woolwich and ,enfield4 ,shoeburyness has become a military centre1 not because of any advantages afforded by its position on the sea1 but because it consists of a large tract of dreary marshes flanked to the south and east by the far-stretching ,maplin sands1 which are almost entirely uncovered at low-water4 ,these sands form the attraction from a scientific point of view4 ,the first connection of ,shoeburyness with modern military matters appears to have been made so lately as the time of the ,crimean ,war1 when the flat rough marshland was employed as a camping ground for men and horses with the view of accustoming both to the hard work which lay before them in the ,east4 ,this tract of country has thus become the property of the ,war ,department1 and that administrative body soon found another use for it1 in which the half-submerged sands were to bear an important part4 ,the idea was conceived that targets might be erected on these sands1 and that the projectiles which were fired at them might be recovered at low-water4 ,hence the first connection of ,shoeburyness with the artillery of the present day4 ,a safe range can be found across the sands to almost any distance1 and these marshes have therefore become the stage on which our great guns1 such as ,armstrongs and ,whitworths1 have made1 so to speak1 their first debut4 ,to reach ,shoeburyness we take the railway which runs along the south coast of ,essex and the northern bank of the ,thames4 ,as we near the mouth of the estuary we pass ,southend1 beloved of trippers1 with its pier stretching out in its length of over a mile1 and then cross the base of the ness itself1 when we reach the sea again4 ,on the south-eastern face of the ness we are at our journey's end1 and the railway also1 so far as the general public is concerned1 has come to a full stop4 ,we walk through the little town or village1 and on the farther side find what we may call the original settlement of gunnery experiments1 now for the most part a group of barracks and quarters such as we might find at any military station4 ,a few differences we notice1 however1 for1 as we pass through the barrack-yard1 we observe that one building is labelled ',lecture-room1' and other evidences there are here and there that the artillerymen who are quartered here are not altogether engaged in their ordinary duties4 ,we shall probably not linger long at the barracks1 but we shall not fail to observe that the officers' quarters and mess-room occupy an extremely pleasant position on a wooded bank above the sea1 and that at high-water the waves come rippling up to the very trees themselves4 ,farther on are the houses appropriated to married officers1 all alike situated on the pleasant sea-bank4 ,we see in front of us huge wooden erections standing on the edge of the shore4 ,these are conning-towers from which1 when practice is going on1 a view is obtained of the direction of the shot4 ,beneath them are the batteries from which the guns are fired1 and here go on the courses of instruction in practical artillery work1 which are necessary for newly joined officers4 ,but we have by no means seen the most important part of ,shoeburyness when we have visited the barracks and the batteries4 ,we notice that a line of rails winds its way in and out amongst guns and storehouses1 and if we have timed our visit right we shall find a little miniature train just about to start for what is called ,the ,new ,range4 ,taking our places in this train we shall be carried first through the village and past the terminus of the public line1 and then along a private railway which winds along amongst the corn-fields1 until we reach a retired spot on the sea-shore hemmed in by lofty trees4 ,in this private place are carried on all the experiments for which ,shoeburyness is famous1 and here both guns and explosives are tested to their utmost capability4 ,it is not altogether an unpicturesque spot at which we have arrived4 ,grouped together in this immediate neighbourhood are certain nice old farmhouses and other buildings which have been taken possession of by the military4 ,the space in front would no doubt be an admirable rabbit-warren1 only the whole ground is now covered by guns of various sizes1 targets1 shields1 breastworks1 and models of portions of ironclad and other vessels4 ,amongst these run lines of rails by which guns and materials can be moved to any part of the ground2 and in places there are overhead travelling cranes by which heavy cannon may be hoisted on to or off from their carriages or into trucks1 as need may require2 and we again see lofty conning-towers1 though target practice at a distance is not carried on here to the same extent as it is in that portion of the establishment which we first visited4 ,the work at ,the ,new ,range is connected rather with experiments as to the force of explosives and the penetrating power of projectiles than with accuracy of aim and the direction of the shot4 ,we ought first to say a few words about modern explosives4 ,old-fashioned gunpowder1 or black powder as it is now usually called1 is composed1 as everybody knows1 of saltpetre1 charcoal1 and sulphur mixed together in the proportion usually of seventy-five1 fifteen1 and ten parts respectively4 ,two chief varieties of the new brown powders are now made1 and are known as 'slow-burning cocoa'--from the fact that cocoa-nut fibres were first employed in the experiments--and ',prism brown ,i4' ,the former contains about four per cent4 of sulphur1 and burns rather more rapidly than the latter1 which contains only two per cent4 ,baked straw is the material now used to supplant the charcoal1 as it provides a form of cellulose which may be readily reduced to a fine state of division4 ,the shape is still the perforated hexagonal prism introduced in ,america4 ,the burning of these powders is steady and the increase of pressure gradual1 attaining a maximum when the bullet is about half-way down the barrel of the gun4 ,the damage inflicted on the firing-chamber is very slight2 perhaps as slight as ever will be obtained with such large charges of powder4 ,uniformity of velocity is secured by ensuring that in the making the proportions employed shall be accurate and the mixing complete4 ,the prisms of any given class of powder are made exactly the same in weight and composition1 and in consequence1 a charge composed of a given number of prisms will give in every case almost exactly the same propelling force4 ,it is thus that fine aiming adjustments are made possible1 as two consecutive bullets of the same weight may be propelled almost exactly the same distance--varying only a few yards in a range of several miles--by equal weights of powder of uniform composition4 ,but explosives of the present day are composed of other substances4 ,cordite1 of which we now hear so much1 is made of nitro-glycerine1 gun-cotton1 and mineral jelly in the proportion of fifty-seven1 thirty-eight1 and five parts4 ,it is also steeped in a preparation of acetone4 ,gun-cotton itself is dipped in a mixture of three parts of sulphuric to one of nitric acid4 ,the force of cordite over gunpowder may be judged from the following facts4 ,a cartridge containing seventy grains of black powder fired in the ordinary rifle of the army will give what is called a muzzle velocity of one thousand three hundred and fifty feet a second1 while thirty grains only of cordite will give a velocity of two thousand feet4 ,in larger arms1 a little less than a pound of cordite fired in a twelve-pounder gun will give more velocity than four pounds of black powder fired in the same weapon4 ,it need hardly be said that in the experiments at ,shoeburyness it is the new-fashioned explosive which is chiefly used4 ,let us examine one of the guns1 a breech-loader1 and see what improvements have been made which may conduce to rapidity of fire4 ,we see that in the older pattern three motions were necessary to open the breech4 ,first the bar which is fixed across the base of the block had to be removed1 then a half turn had to be given to the block to free it in its bed1 and then it had to be pulled forward4 ,firstly1 it had to be thrown back on its hinge so as to open the gun from end to end4 ,we are shown that in later patterns the cavity or bed into which the block fits is made in the form of a cone1 so that the breech-block itself can be turned back without any preliminary motion forward4 ,in artillery work1 time is everything1 and any one motion of the gunner's hands and arms saved is a point gained4 ,now let us look at the mechanism by which the recoil or backward movement of the gun is checked at the moment of firing4 ,the gun slides in its cradle1 and its recoil is counteracted by buffers which work in oil1 something in the fashion of the oil springs which we see on doors4 ,iron spiral springs push the gun back again into place4 ,another interesting piece of mechanism is the electric machinery by which the gun is fired4 ,when the recoil has taken place1 the wire1 along which runs the electric current1 is pushed out of place1 so that it is impossible to fire the gun1 even though it be loaded1 until it has been again fixed in its proper position on the cradle4 ,truly a modern cannon is a wonderful machine1 and yet it is only a development from the sort of iron gas-pipe which was used in the middle ages4 ,hard by is a gun which has come to grief4 ,in experiments which are carried on at ,shoeburyness1 guns are charged to their full1 or1 as in this case1 more than their full strength4 ,there is an ugly gash running down the outer case or jacket1 as it is called1 of the gun1 and the latter has broken1 and nearly jumped out of its cradle4 ,nursery phraseology certainly comes in strongly in the technical slang of gunnery when we have to do with ,woolwich ,infants4 ,after looking at the guns we naturally go on to look at the targets at which they are fired4 ,targets at ,the ,new ,range are not so much marks as specimens of armour-plates and other protections4 ,some of these are built up with a strength which to the uninitiated appears to be proof against any attack4 ,here1 for instance1 we find a steel plate of eighteen inches in thickness1 and behind this six inches of iron1 the whole backed up by huge balks of timber4 ,but notwithstanding its depth1 the enormous mass has been dented and cracked1 and in places pierced4 ,when we look at plates which are not quite so thick1 we see that the shells have formed what are pretty and regular patterns1 for small triangles of metal have been splintered off and turned back1 so that the aperture is decorated with a circle of leaves1 and resembles a rose with the centre cut out4 ,where the shell has entered the plate before it bursts1 the pattern remains very perfect2 but when it explodes as it touches the surface1 some of the encircling leaves are entirely cut off4 ,one target is pointed out to us which represents the iron casing of the vulnerable portions of a torpedo boat1 consisting of engine-room1 boilers1 and coal-bunkers4 ,these compartments have been riddled again and again4 ,even a service-rifle bullet can penetrate one side1 and a shell of the smallest size will go through both1 for torpedo boats are not very heavily built4 ,,hiram ,s4 ,,maxim ,,and ,,the ,,maxim ,,machine ,,gun4 ,statisticians inform us that the entire loss of life in wars between so-called civilised countries from the year #agic down to #ahgg had reached the enormous amount of four million four hundred and seventy thousand4 ,to many persons these figures convey a sad and salutary lesson4 ,but1 leaving the sentimental part of the subject aside1 all will readily unite in admiring the wonderful mechanism which makes the ,maxim ,machine ,gun an engine of terrible destructiveness4 ,stanley provided himself with this formidable weapon1 to be used defensively in the expedition on which he started for the relief of ,emin ,bey4 ,it obtained a gold medal at the ,inventions ,exhibition1 and has been approved of1 if not actually adopted1 by many governments4 ,illustration3 ,rifle-calibre ,maxim ,gun4 ,its rate of firing--#ggj shots a minute--is at least three times as rapid as that of any other machine gun4 ,it has only a single barrel1 which1 when the shot is fired1 recoils a distance of three-quarters of an inch on the other parts of the gun4 ,this recoil sets moving the machinery which automatically keeps up a continuous fire at the extraordinary rate of #ab rounds a second4 ,each recoil of the barrel has therefore to perform the necessary functions of extracting and ejecting the empty cartridge1 or bringing up the next full one and placing it in its proper position in the barrel1 of cocking the hammer1 and pulling the trigger4 ,as long as the firing continues1 these functions are repeated round after round in succession4 ,the barrel is provided with a water jacket1 to prevent excessive heating2 and is so mounted that it can be raised or lowered or set at any angle1 or turned horizontally to the left or to the right4 ,the bore is adapted to the present size of cartridges2 and the maximum range is eighteen hundred yards4 ,the gun can therefore be made to sweep a circle upwards of a mile in radius4 ,nor is the gun excessively heavy1 its total weight being only one hundred and six pounds1 made up thus3 ,tripod1 fifty pounds2 pivot 7on which the gun turns and by which it is attached to the tripod71 sixteen pounds2 gun and firing mechanism1 forty pounds4 ,the parts can be easily detached and conveniently folded for carriage1 and may be put together again so quickly that1 if the belt containing the cartridges is in position1 the first shot can be delivered within ten seconds4 ,it would therefore be extremely serviceable in preventing disaster through a body of troops being surprised4 ,reconnoitring parties1 too1 would deem it prudent to pay greater deference to an enemy's lonely sentry on advanced outpost duty if the latter were provided with this new ,machine ,gun1 instead of the ordinary rifle4 ,immediately below the barrel of the gun1 a box is placed1 containing the belt which carries the cartridges4 ,the belts vary in length4 ,those commonly used are seven feet long1 and capable of holding three hundred and thirty-three cartridges2 shorter ones hold one hundred and twenty cartridges2 but the several pieces can be joined together for continuous firing4 ,single shots can be fired at any time whether the belt is in position or not--in the former case by pressing a button1 which prevents the recoil2 in the latter1 by hand-loading in the ordinary way4 ,to start firing1 one end of the belt is inserted in the gun1 the trigger is pulled by the hand once1 after which the movement becomes continuous and automatic as long as the supply of cartridges lasts4 ,at each recoil of the barrel1 the belt is pushed sufficiently onward to bring the next cartridge into position2 the mechanism grasps this cartridge1 draws it from the belt1 and passes it on to the barrel4 ,should a faulty or an empty cartridge find its way in1 and the gun does not go off in consequence1 there is of course no recoil to keep up the repeating action1 and the mechanism ceases to work until the obstruction is removed4 ,to devise and adjust the necessary parts of the machine with such precision that each part performs its proper function at the exact moment pre-arranged for it--to do all this while the gun fires at the enormous rate of six hundred rounds a minute1 must have cost an immensity of thought1 of labour1 and of time4 ,the ',colt ,automatic ,gun1' a new machine gun manufactured by the ,colt ,firearms ,company1 of ,hartford1 ,connecticut1 promised in #ahif to be a rival to the ,maxim1 as it fired #djj shots a minute4 ,hiram ,s4 ,maxim was born in the state of ,maine in #ahdj1 and in his fourteenth year was apprenticed to a carriage-builder4 ,from his father1 who had a wood-working factory and mill1 he learned the use of tools and derived his inventive turn of mind4 ,after some experience in metal-working in his uncle's works at ,fitchburg1 he was in turn a philosophical instrument maker1 and on the staff of some ironworkers and shipbuilders4 ,about #ahgg he became a consulting electrical engineer1 a branch of science which he studied and became master of in a short time4 ,some of the earliest electric lights in the ,states were devised and erected by him4 ,he was in ,england and ,europe in #ahhj in order to investigate electrical methods there4 ,he was back in ,london in #ahhc1 and after that visit1 like ,siemens1 he made it his headquarters4 ,what leisure he now had 7#ahhc-d7 on hand he devoted to inventing his automatic machine gun1 which should load and fire itself1 and the ,british government was the first to recognise its merits and adopt it4 ,the making of it has been taken over by the ,maxim-,nordenfelt ,gun ,company1 which has a capital of about two millions sterling4 ,like ,edison he has taken out about a hundred different patents1 some of which are connected with oil motors and smokeless gunpowder4 ,his flying-machine1 as described in his paper at the ,british ,association in #ahid1 burns oil fuel1 which developed three hundred and sixty horse-power4 ,it was driven at sixty miles an hour horizontally1 and the machine contained an aeroplane sloping six degrees to the horizon4 ,the weight to be lifted was eight thousand pounds4 ,after running nine hundred feet1 the machine exerted an upward thrust of two thousand pounds greater than its own weight4 ,the machine1 after one thousand feet1 broke loose2 the steam was shut off1 and it fell4 ,the experiments have been conducted at ,bexley1 in ,kent1 where ,mr ,maxim had a light track of railway laid down1 sixteen hundred feet long1 on which the machine moved4 ,the back part of the machine having been liberated from the check-rail too soon caused the accident at the experiment1 and sent the whole machine off the track4 ,there is sufficient evidence that it did rise from the ground1 and ,lords ,rayleigh and ,kelvin have become believers in its possibilities4 ,this machine1 as described at the time1 with its four side sails and aeroplanes set1 is over one hundred feet wide1 and looks like a huge white bird with four wings instead of two4 ,it is propelled by two large two-bladed screws1 resembling the screw-propellers of a ship1 driven by two powerful compound engines4 ,,ironclads4 ,a modern ironclad is an enormous piece of complicated mechanism4 ,in order to protect this mechanism from hostile shot1 the greater part of it is placed under water and covered by a thick steel deck2 the remainder above water being protected by vast armour-plates varying from eight to twenty-four inches in thickness4 ,from the exterior1 an ironclad is by no means a thing of beauty2 one writer has described it as 'a cross between a cooking apparatus and a railway station2' but in place of this ingenious parallel1 imagine a low flat-looking mass on the water2 from the centre rises a huge funnel1 on either side of which are a turret and a superstructure running to the bow and stern2 two short pole masts1 with platforms on the top for machine guns1 complete an object calculated to bring tears to the eyes of the veteran sailor who remembers the days of the grand old line-of-battle ship1 with its tall tapering masts and white sails glistening in the sun4 ,a stranger going on board one of our newest types of ironclads would lose himself amid the intricacies and apparent confusion of the numerous engines1 passages1 and compartments2 it is a long time1 in fact1 before even the sailors find their way about these new ships2 and the ,admiralty allow a new ironclad to remain three months in harbour on first commissioning before going to sea1 in order that the men may become acquainted with the uses of the several fittings on board1 each ironclad that is built now being in many ways an improvement on its predecessor4 ,those who have not been on board a modern ironclad can form no idea of the massiveness and solidity of the various fittings2 the enormous guns1 the rows of shot and shell1 the huge bolts1 bars1 and beams seem to be meant for the use of giants1 not men4 ,although crowded together in a comparatively small space1 everything is in perfect order1 and ready at any moment to be used for offensive or defensive purposes4 ,it is not1 perhaps1 generally known that the captain of a man-of-war is ordered to keep his ship properly prepared for battle as well in time of peace as of war4 ,every evening before dark the quarters are cleared and every arrangement made for night-battle1 to prevent surprise by a better prepared enemy4 ,when at anchor in a harbour1 especially at night1 the ship is always prepared to repel any attempts of an enemy to board or attack with torpedoes or fireships4 ,in addition to the daily and weekly drills and exercises1 once every three months the crew are exercised at night-quarters1 the time of course being kept secret by the captain1 so that no preparations can be made beforehand1 the exercise being intended to represent a surprise4 ,in the dead of night1 when only the officers of the watch and the sentries posted in the various parts of the ship are awake1 the notes of a bugle vibrate between the decks2 immediately1 as if by magic1 everything becomes alive2 men are seen scrambling out of their hammocks1 and lights flash in all directions2 the huge shells are lifted by hydraulic power from the magazines1 placed on trucks1 and wheeled by means of railways to the turrets2 men run here and there with rifles1 boarding-pikes1 axes1 cases of powder and ammunition2 others are engaged laying fire-hose along the decks1 others closing the water-tight doors2 while far down below1 the engineers1 stokers1 and firemen are busy getting up steam for working the electric-light engines1 turrets1 c4 ,at the torpedo ports1 the trained torpedo-men are placing the ,whiteheads in their tubes2 others are preparing cases of gun-cotton for boom-torpedoes4 ,in ten minutes1 however1 all is again silent and each man stands at his station ready for action4 ,the captain1 followed by his principal officers1 now walks round the quarters and inspects all the arrangements for battle1 after which various exercises are gone through4 ,a bugle sounds1 and numbers of men rush away to certain parts of the ship to repel imaginary boarders2 another bugle1 and a large party immediately commence to work the pumps2 another low1 long blast is a warning that the ship is about to ram an enemy1 and every man on board stretches himself flat on the decks until the shock of the 7supposed7 collision takes place4 ,after a number of exercises have been gone through1 the guns are secured1 arms and stores returned to their places1 the men tumble into their hammocks again1 and are soon fast asleep4 ,illustration3 ,one of the ',wooden ,walls of ,old ,england4' ,the ,duke of ,wellington ,screw ,line-of-,battle ,ship4 ,one hundred and thirty-one ,guns4 ,it would be interesting to glance at some of the principal offensive and defensive capabilities of a modern ironclad4 ,the first-class line-of-battle ship of fifty years ago carried as many as a hundred and thirty1 what would be called in the present day1 very light guns2 in contrast to this1 her ,majesty's armour-plated barbette ram ,benbow carries two guns weighing a hundred and ten tons each4 ,these enormous weapons are forty-three feet eight inches long1 and are capable of sending a shot weighing three quarters of a ton to a distance of seven miles4 ,the effect of a shell from one of these guns piercing the armour of a ship and bursting would be very disastrous1 and there are few1 if any1 ships whose armour1 when fairly hit at a moderate distance1 could withstand such a blow4 ,guns1 however1 although terrible in effect1 are now supplemented by other and more deadly means of offence4 ,foremost amongst these stands the ,whitehead or ,fish ,torpedo4 ,this infernal machine can be discharged from tubes in the side of a ship to a distance of a thousand yards under water at a speed of twenty-five miles per hour4 ,armed with its charge of gun-cotton it rushes forth on its mission2 and1 if successful in striking the ship against which it is aimed1 explodes1 and rends a large hole in her side1 through which the water pours in huge quantities4 ,in order to protect a man-of-war from this danger1 she can be surrounded at short notice with thick wire-nettings1 hanging from projecting side-spars1 against which the torpedo explodes with harmless effect4 ,these nettings are1 however1 principally intended for use when ships are at anchor in harbour at night2 they could not well be employed in action with an enemy1 as they offer such resistance to the water as to reduce the speed of the ship by four or five knots1 and so encumber her as to render her liable to be rammed by a more active opponent4 ,all large ironclads now have two or three torpedo boats4 ,these craft are constructed of steel one-sixteenth of an inch thick1 and steam at a speed of sixteen knots1 some of the larger kind reaching twenty or twenty-one knots an hour4 ,carrying two ,whiteheads1 they are valuable auxiliaries to the parent ship2 their rapid movements1 together with their dangerous freight1 distracting the attention of an enemy4 ,illustration3 ,the ,majestic4 ,machine-guns1 however1 form a very effective remedy for them2 a single torpedo boat attacking an ironclad would1 directly she got within range1 be riddled with ,gardner and ,nordenfelt shot1 and sunk in about fifteen seconds4 ,it is only when three or four approach in various directions1 or during night attacks1 that they become really dangerous4 ,the electric search-lights1 with which most large men-of-war are now provided1 will show a torpedo boat at the distance of a mile on the darkest night2 but there is of course always a chance of their getting close enough to a ship to discharge a torpedo before they are discovered4 ,the bow of many of our ironclads is constructed for the purpose of ramming 7running down and sinking7 an antagonist4 ,to use a ram requires great speed and facilities for turning and manoeuvring quickly2 for the latter purposes1 short ships are better than long ones4 ,it would be a comparatively easy thing for a ship steaming fourteen knots to ram another that could only steam ten2 a small ship might also outmanoeuvre and ram a long one2 but it would be extremely difficult1 in fact almost impossible1 for a ship to ram another vessel of equal speed and length4 ,to secure facilities in turning and manoeuvring1 all our modern ships are built as short as possible1 and have two screws1 each worked by entirely separate sets of engines1 so that one can go ahead whilst the other goes astern4 ,if one set of engines is disabled1 the other can still work independently1 and a fair speed be maintained4 ,we always think that two ships at close quarters trying to ram one another1 must be like a game at chess1 requiring the closest observation of your opponent's movements and the nicest judgment for your own1 a wrong move being fatal to either4 ,it is the opinion of many naval men of authority that a modern naval battle would only occupy about half the time of a fight in the old ,trafalgar days2 that half the ships employed would be sunk1 and that most of the remainder would be so battered as to be unfit for further service for months to come4 ,in connection with the ,navy ,estimates for #ahif-g it was announced in the ,house of ,commons that the following vessels would be constructed3 #ac first-class battleships1 #aj first-class cruisers1 #af second-class cruisers1 #g third-class cruisers1 and #dh torpedo-boat destroyers4 ,,submarine ,,boats4 ,in #ahfd1 during the ,american civil war1 a submarine boat succeeded in sinking the ,federal frigate ,housatonic4 ,this boat1 however1 was hardly an unqualified success1 as1 running into the hole made by its torpedo1 it went down with the ship2 and three crews had previously been lost while carrying out its initial experiments4 ,since then1 many methods of submersion have been tried2 but it is only within recent years that naval powers have awakened to the fact that a submersible boat1 though by no means so formidable for offensive purposes as its name at first leads one to believe1 is a factor which might have to be taken into consideration in the next naval war4 ,modern types of these boats are the ,holland1 ,nordenfelt1 ,tuck1 and ,goubet4 ,the ,holland boat comes to us from over the ,atlantic1 and is peculiar in its weapon of offence4 ,it is fifty feet long1 eight feet in diameter1 and is driven by a petroleum engine carrying sufficient fuel for two days' run4 ,the diving is effected by means of two horizontal rudders1 one on each side of the stern4 ,this only allows of submersion when the boat is in motion2 and the boat cannot be horizontal while submerged4 ,it carries ten-inch gelatine blasting shells1 fired from a pneumatic gun twenty feet long1 whose radius of action is two hundred yards under water and one thousand yards above4 ,the use of gelatine is also objectionable1 as the confined space and the vibration of the boat prevent such explosives being carried without some risk of premature explosion4 ,it is for this reason that gun-cotton is adopted in torpedo work1 as it will not explode on concussion1 and is little affected by change of temperature4 ,the principal features of the ,nordenfelt boat are its method of submersion and its propulsion by steam4 ,the boat is one hundred and twenty-five feet long1 twelve feet beam1 and displaces two hundred and fifty tons when entirely submerged1 one hundred and sixty tons when running on the surface4 ,her propelling machinery consists of two double cylinder compound engines1 with a horse-power of one thousand1 and propelling the boat at fifteen knots on the surface4 ,the submersion of the boat is effected by means of two horizontal propellers working in wells at each end4 ,two conning-towers project about two feet above the deck1 of one-inch steel1 surmounted by glass domes1 protected with steel bars1 for purposes of observation4 ,the boat usually runs on the surface with these towers showing1 unless the buoyancy1 which is never less than half a ton1 is overcome by the horizontal propellers1 when the boat becomes partially or totally submerged according to their speed4 ,to ascend to the surface it is only necessary to stop the horizontal propellers1 which also stop automatically on reaching a set depth4 ,in the forward tower are the firing keys1 machinery and valves necessary for driving or steering the vessel1 for controlling the horizontal propellers1 and for discharging the ,whitehead torpedoes4 ,four of these are carried1 and they are discharged with powder from two tubes in the bows4 ,in the conning-tower are also placed the instruments indicating the depth1 level1 and course4 ,when the boat is awash1 the funnels have to be unshipped and the boat closed up before submersion4 ,the length of time1 twenty-five minutes1 required for this operation is an objection to this boat1 though when submerged it does not get unpleasantly hot4 ,the temperature after a three hours' submerged run was only ninety degrees ,fahrenheit4 ,the crew consists of a captain and eight men4 ,the ,tuck also comes from ,america4 ,it is of iron1 cigar-shaped1 thirty feet long and six feet in diameter4 ,it is submerged by means of a horizontal rudder in the stern and a horizontal propeller acting vertically amidships beneath the boat4 ,it is driven by electricity1 supplied from storage batteries packed closely in the bows4 ,compressed air is carried in reservoirs1 but a supply is usually obtained when the boat is not far from the surface1 by means of an iron pipe twenty feet long1 which usually lies on deck1 but which can be raised to an upright position by gearing from within4 ,the top then rises above the surface of the water1 and by opening a valve in the foot and attaching a pump1 fresh air is drawn into the interior4 ,the crew need not exceed three men4 ,illustration3 ,section of the ,goubet ,submarine ,boat4 ,the ,goubet class are of iron1 sixteen feet long1 three feet wide1 and about six feet deep4 ,the motive power is a ,siemens motor driven by storage batteries4 ,fifty of these boats were purchased by the ,russian government4 ,they have no rudder1 but a universal joint in the screw shaft permits of the screw being moved through an arc of ninety degrees4 ,the torpedo is carried outside the boat1 secured by a catch worked from inside4 ,on arriving under the enemy1 the torpedo is released1 and striking the ship's bottom1 is held there by spikes4 ,the boat then withdraws1 unreeling a connecting wire2 and when at a safe distance1 fires4 ,the absence of a rudder1 however1 causes erratic steering1 and the spikes with which the torpedo is fitted might fail to stick in steel-bottomed ships4 ,submarine boats cannot be driven under water at a speed exceeding six knots4 ,if driven beyond1 they are inclined to dive1 and in deep water1 before the corrective forces against a dive have had time to act1 might reach a depth where the pressure would drive in the sides or compress them to a sufficient extent to seriously reduce the displacement4 ,in shallow water1 the boat might be driven on to the bottom1 and if it be clay1 held there1 an accident attended with fatal consequences in the case of one boat4 ,it is also difficult to direct the course of a submarine boat2 and it is doubtful whether the advantage of not being seen counteracts the disadvantage of not being able to see4 ,according to ,mr ,nordenfelt in a lecture on ,submarine ,boats1 ',the mirror of the surface throws a strong light into the boat2 you cannot see forward at all1 and you cannot see far astern2 it is as black as ink outside2 you can only see a sort of segment4' ,this means that you cannot safely advance at a great speed under water4 ,it is impossible to think of a submarine boat as a boat that actually manoeuvres and does its work under water4 ,the boat should run awash1 and you can then see where you are4 ,when we consider1 then1 that a boat totally submerged cannot be driven over six knots1 and cannot be properly directed2 when we consider the speeds of seventeen and eighteen knots attained by modern battleships1 we arrive at the conclusion that boats totally submerged are useless against modern battleships in motion4 ,running awash1 they could be tackled by torpedo catchers and torpedo boats4 ,illustration ,,chapter ,,vii4 ,,evolution ,,of ,,the ,,cycle4 ,in praise of ,cycling--,number of ,cycles in ,use--,medical ,opinions-- ,pioneers in the ,invention--,james ,starley--,cycling ,tours4 ,sir ,walter ,scott once told a friend that if he did not see the heather once a year he would die4 ,he saw it much oftener than once a year4 ,when the building and planting of ,abbotsford had become a passion with him1 and when the vacation came round in connection with his duties in the ,court of ,session1 he would not stay ten minutes longer in ,edinburgh than he could help4 ,sometimes his carriage would be waiting in ,parliament ,square to bear him off as swiftly as possible to ,abbotsford4 ,john ,locke says there is a good vein of poetry buried in the breast of most business men2 there is at least in the breast of most men1 strong or latent1 a longing1 a passion for freedom1 for change4 ,when the buds swell and burst2 when the ,may-blossom breaks forth on the hawthorn1 and makes a spring snowstorm in the valley2 when the cuckoo is heard1 and the lark rains down his drops of melody above the springing clods2 when the lambs gambol in the green fields1 and the hives are murmurous with their drowsy insect hum--the awakening comes in man1 too1 for freedom1 freshness1 change4 ,they are happy who can enjoy such1 and be rested and refreshed2 for millions are chained to the oar1 and know not what they miss1 and millions more have not had their eyes or their desires awakened to what they miss4 ,lowell expresses the feeling3 ,what man would live coffined with brick and stone1 ,imprisoned from the healing touch of air1 ,and cramped with selfish landmarks everywhere1 ,when all before him stretches1 furrowless and lone1 ,the unmapped prairie none can fence or own8 ,what man would read and read the self-same faces1 ,and like the marbles which the windmill grinds1 ,rub smooth for ever with the same smooth minds1 ,this year retracing last year's1 every year's1 dull traces1 ,when there are woods and unpenfolded spaces8 99 99 99 99 99 ,to change and change is life1 to move and never rest3 ,not what we are1 but what we hope1 is best4 ,the wild1 free woods make no man halt or blind2 ,cities rob men of eyes and hands and feet4 ,we want1 then1 to recover our eyes1 and hands1 and feet1 remembering the story of eyes and no eyes4 ,for this end1 few things are better than a day now and then in the open air1 in order to bring a man to himself4 ,the best stimulant in the world is mountain air1 and the grandest restorative music the rhythmic beat of the waves along the shore4 ,the cyclist covers a wonderful stretch of country1 going and returning1 and comes back refreshed too1 though tired1 thinking that nobody in the universe can have had a better or pleasanter holiday than he has enjoyed4 ,he has whizzed along leafy lanes1 with glimpses of running streams to right and left2 he has heard the musical monotony of the hill burns as he rested on the bridge2 he has awakened sleepy villages1 and enjoyed his repasts at country inns4 ,and so the cyclist has a ready power to give himself the requisite and healthful change of scene4 ,,cycling4 ,the pastime of cycling1 at first only patronised by athletic youth1 has now spread to every class of the community4 ,the vast improvement in machines1 and the health and exhilaration to be gained by the exercise1 have had much to do with its popularity alike with aristocracy and democracy4 ,like golf1 it has come to stay1 although many who take cycling up for amusement will drop it again as they would do anything else4 ,but there will always remain a strong and increasing contingent1 fully aware1 by practical experience1 of its health and pleasure giving powers1 who will place it second to no existing recreation4 ,and so the cyclist gets gleams and glances of beauty from many a nook and corner of the land1 where railway1 coach1 or his unaided pedestrian powers would never carry him4 ,it has widened a twenty-mile radius to a forty-mile radius1 and increased man's locomotive powers threefold4 ,let no one imagine that there is not a considerable amount of exertion and fatigue1 and sometimes hardship4 ,but it is of a wholesome kind1 when kept within limits1 and physically1 morally1 and socially1 the benefits that cycling confers on the men of the present day are almost unbounded4 ,truly1 we have here a great leveller2 as one says3 ',it puts the poor man on a level with the rich1 enabling him to sing the song of the open road as freely as the millionaire1 and to widen his knowledge by visiting the regions near to or far from his home1 observing how other men live4 ,he could not afford a railway journey and sojourn in these places1 and he could not walk through them without tiring sufficiently to destroy in a measure the pleasure which he sought4 ,but he can ride through twenty1 thirty1 fifty1 even seventy miles of country in a day1 without serious fatigue1 and with no expense save his board and lodging4' ,this is very well put4 ,another enthusiast has said3 ',if you want to come as near flying as we are likely to get in this generation1 learn to ride on a pneumatic bicycle4' ',sum up1' says another1 'when summer is done1 all the glorious days you have had1 the splendid bits of scenery which have become a possession for ever1 your adventures worth telling1 and see how you have been gladdened and enriched4' ,an enthusiastic journalist who had been burning the candle at both ends betook himself to the wheel1 and found it of so much service to body and mind that he straightway1 in the columns of his newspaper1 began to advise the whole world to learn the bicycle4 ,he could hardly tell the difference it had made to his feelings and general health1 and he knew of no exercise which brought so easily such a universal return in good health1 good spirits1 and amusement4 ,mr ,g4 ,lacy ,hillier1 of the ,badminton volume on ,cycling1 confirms this4 ,the cyclist seems to enter into the spirit of ,emerson's saying as thoroughly as ,thoreau might have done3 ',give me health and a day1 and ,i will make the pomp of empires ridiculous4' ,many overdo the exercise1 then renounce it1 or give it a bad name2 others1 by over-rapid riding in towns1 make themselves public nuisances1 and vastly increase the dangers of overcrowded streets4 ,the sensible cyclist rides for health1 increase of knowledge1 and amusement4 ,though at one time ,mr ,ruskin was prepared to spend all his best bad language in abusing the wheel1 the world has gone its own way1 and the careering multitudes in ,battersea ,park and elsewhere1 on country and suburban roads1 in crowded towns1 have been the means of creating new manufactures1 which have vastly benefited our home industries4 ,mr ,h4 ,j4 ,lawson1 inventor of the rear-driving safety1 lately estimated the annual output of cycles at over a million1 and the money spent at over ten millions4 ,but in the absence of statistics this is only guesswork4 ,the periodical called ,invention has stated that in #ahhd there were #h bicycle factories1 which turned out #fjjj machines4 ,in #ahie there were about #djj factories1 with an estimated output of #fej1jjj bicycles4 ,the bicycle tax in ,france is said to yield not less than ,l#hj1jjj a year4 ,in the ,united ,states1 where cycling has become a greater craze than with us1 two hundred and fifty thousand cycles at least were purchased in #ahid2 in #ahie more than four hundred thousand changed hands4 ,when the proposal was made some time ago to impose a tax on cycles1 it was calculated that there were at least eight hundred thousand riders in the ,united ,kingdom4 ,now the number is estimated at over a million4 ,the past few seasons have witnessed quite a 'boom' in cycling and a great increase in the number of riders4 ,ladies have taken more rapidly to the pastime in ,america and ,france than in ,england4 ,the rubber and then the pneumatic or inflated tyre have wrought a marvellous revolution2 the high 'ordinary1' the tricycle1 and the heavy 'solid1' and even the 'cushion1' have in most cases been relegated to the home of old iron4 ,the ,pneumatic ,tyre ,company1 with a capital of four millions sterling1 when in full swing1 turns out twenty-five thousand tyres per week4 ,the profits of this concern in #ahif were at the rate of ,l#dcb1jjj a year4 ,coventry1 ,birmingham1 ,wolverhampton1 ,london1 and other towns1 have largely benefited by the cycle trade4 ,sir ,b4 ,w4 ,richardson has often called attention to the benefit of cycling in the case of dwellers in towns4 ,dr ,turner finds that nothing neutralises better the poison introduced into the blood through faulty digestion than gentle and continued exercise on the wheel4 ,mr ,a4 ,j4 ,watson1 the ,english amateur one-mile and five-mile champion in #ahie1 declared that he never suffered from any ill effects1 save perhaps during the hard days in winter1 when prevented from riding4 ,dr ,andrew ,wilson once quoted a budget of correspondence from ladies who had tried the wheel1 all of which was in the same direction1 provided that overstrain was avoided4 ,where the heart is weak1 cycling should be left alone4 ,the muscles of the legs are developed and the circumference of the chest increased in the case of healthy riders4 ,here are a few hints by a medical man3 ',never ride within half an hour of a meal1 either before or after4 ,wheel the machine up any hill the mounting of which on the wheel causes any real effort4 ,see that the clothing round the stomach1 neck1 and chest is loose4 ,have the handle-bar sufficiently raised to prevent stooping4 ,be as sparing as possible of taking fluids during a long ride4 ,unless the wind1 road1 c41 be favourable1 never ride more than ten miles an hour1 save for very short distances1 and never smoke while riding4' ,the cycle as we know it did not burst upon the world in all its present completeness1 but has been a gradual evolution1 the work of many a busy hand and brain1 guided by experience4 ,as far back as #agfg we find that ,richard ,lovell ,edgeworth had something of the nature of a velocipede2 and about the same date1 ,william ,murdoch1 inventor of gas for illuminating purposes1 had a wooden horse of his own invention upon which he rode to school at ,cumnock4 ,the ,french appear to be entitled to whatever of credit attaches to the original invention of the hobby-horse1 a miserable steed at best1 which wore out the toes of a pair of boots at every journey4 ,m4 ,blanchard1 the celebrated aeronaut1 and ,m4 ,masurier conjointly manufactured the first of these machines in #aggi1 which was then described as 'a wonder which drove all ,paris mad4' ,the ,dandy-horse of #ahah1 the two wheels on which the rider sat astride1 tipping the ground with his feet in order to propel the machine1 was laughed out of existence4 ,in #ahdj1 a blacksmith named ,kirkpatrick ,macmillan1 of ,courthill1 parish of ,keir1 ,dumfriesshire1 made a cycle on which he rode to ,glasgow1 and caused a big sensation on the way4 ,this worthy man died in #ahgh1 aged #fh4 ,the notable fact regarding ,macmillan's cycle is1 that he had adapted cranks and levers to the old dandy or hobby-horse4 ,gavin ,dalziel1 of ,lesmahagow1 ,lanarkshire1 had a bicycle of his own invention in daily use in #ahdf4 ,the ,french are probably justified1 moreover1 in claiming as their own the development of the crude invention into the present velocipede1 for1 in #ahfb1 a ,m4 ,riviere1 a ,french subject residing in ,england1 deposited in the ,british ,patent ,office a minute specification of a bicycle4 ,his description was1 however1 unaccompanied by any drawing or sketch1 and he seems to have taken no further steps in the matter than to register a theory which he never carried into practice4 ,subsequently1 the bicycle was re-invented by the ,french and by the ,americans almost simultaneously1 and indeed1 both nations claim priority in introducing it4 ,it came into public notoriety at the ,french ,international ,exhibition of #ahfg1 from which time the rage for them gradually developed itself1 until in #ahfi ,paris became enthusiastic over velocipedes4 ,extensive foundries were soon established in ,paris for the sole purpose of supplying the ironwork1 while some scores of large manufactories taxed their utmost resources to meet the daily increasing demand for these vehicles4 ,there was a revival of cycling between #ahfg-fi4 ,an ingenious ,frenchman1 ,m4 ,michaux1 had some years before fitted pedals and a transverse handle to the front wheel of what came to be irreverently known as the 'bone-shaker4' ,this embryo bicycle had a considerable vogue1 and was introduced to ,mr ,charles ,spencer's gymnasium in ,london in #ahfh4 ,spencer was in ,paris in #ahfh1 in company with ,mr ,r4 ,turner1 representative of the ,coventry ,machinists' ,company1 and they were each admiring the graceful evolutions of ,henri ,tascard on his velocipede over the broad asphalt paths of the ,luxemburg ,gardens4 ',charlie1 do you think you could do that8' said ,turner4 ,spencer said he thought he would have a trial1 and would take home a machine that very night4 ,he accordingly brought over a machine to ,london1 practised riding stealthily in some of the most out-of-the-way ,london streets1 and soon gained sufficient confidence to appear in public4 ,mr ,john ,mayall1 jun41 photographer1 ,regent ,street1 witnessed the arrival of one of the first bicycles at ,spencer's gymnasium1 in ,old ,street1 ,st ,luke's4 ',it produced but little impression upon me1' he says1 'and certainly did not strike me as being a new means of locomotion4 ,a slender young man1 whom ,i soon came to know as ,mr ,turner of ,paris1 followed the packing-case and superintended its opening4 ,the gymnasium was cleared1 ,mr ,turner took off his coat1 grasped the handles of the machine1 and1 with a short run1 to my intense surprise1 vaulted on to it1 and putting his feet on the treadle made the circuit of the room4 ,we were some half-a-dozen spectators1 and ,i shall never forget our astonishment at the sight of ,mr ,turner whirling himself round the room--sitting on a bar above a pair of wheels in a line1 that ought1 as we inadvertently supposed1 to fall down as soon as he jumped off the ground4' ,it is almost laughable1 now1 to read how ,spencer at first always rode on the pavement1 and how politely everybody cleared out of his way4 ,even ,policeman ,x helped to make a passage for him4 ,some wiseacre1 on being quizzed as to the uses of this strange new machine1 would reply1 ',why1 it is a machine for measuring roads1 of course2' and a street arab would shout1 ',oh1 crikey1 ,bill1 'ere's a lark4 ,a swell a ridin' on two wheels4 ,mind how you fall1 sir1' c4 ,spencer's speed at first was but five miles an hour4 ,soon there were many inquiries for this wonderful new aid to locomotion4 ,spencer and ,turner entered heartily into the business4 ,an order for #ejj machines was given to the ,coventry ,machinists' ,company in the end of #ahfh4 ,this was the firm with which ,mr ,james ,starley1 inventor of the ',coventry ,tricycle1' was connected1 and this order helped the start of what has grown to be an enormous and beneficial industry to the town of ,coventry4 ,the account of feats of long-distance riding1 of forty and fifty miles a day1 got abroad--the feat by ,turner1 ,spencer1 and ,mayall particularly1 in riding to ,brighton and back in a day1 in ,february #ahfi1 further popularised cycling4 ,charles ,dickens and ,james ,payn were amongst those who were bitten by the velocipede 'mania4' ,yet the bone-shaker craze might have died a natural death but for the introduction of the rubber tyre and other improvements4 ,mr ,james ,starley1 of ,coventry1 through whose inventive genius the tricycle was evolved from the bicycle1 was also an improver and pioneer4 ,starley says of his improvements3 ',i regarded the rider as the motive force2 and believing it absolutely necessary that he should be so placed that he could exert the greatest amount of power on his pedals1 with the least amount of fatigue to himself--believing1 also1 that the machine of the future must be so made that such essentials as the crank-shaft1 pedals1 seat1 and handles could easily be made adjustable--,i decided to change my shape1 make my wheels of a good rolling size1 place my crank-shaft as near the ground as safety would permit1 connect my back wheel with my crank by means of a chain1 so that the gear might be adjusted and varied at pleasure1 and a short1 strong man could ride with a fifty1 a sixty1 a seventy1 or even a higher gear1 while a tall1 weak man could ride with a lower gear than the short1 strong one2 to give my saddle a vertical adjustment so that it could be raised or lowered at will2 so to place my handles that they could be set forward or backward1 raised or lowered1 as might be desired2 and finally1 to make it impossible for the pedalling to interfere with the steering4' ,in the ',rover' bicycle he gave an impetus to the early history of the machine1 which has been crowned in the pneumatic tyre1 the invention of ,john ,boyd ,dunlop1 born at ,dreghorn1 ,ayrshire1 in #ahdj4 ,mr ,dunlop was engaged as a veterinary surgeon near ,belfast1 where he built himself an air-wheel from ordinary thin rubber sheets1 with rubber valve and plug4 ,mr ,c4 ,k4 ,welch followed with the detachable tyre4 ,the big1 ungainly looking wheels were at first laughed at1 but when pneumatic tyred machines won race after race1 they became the rage4 ,and when the company formed to make the ,dunlop tyre sold their interest in the concern1 in #ahif it was worth about ,l#c1jjj1jjj4 ,the capital originally subscribed was ,l#bfj1jjj1 and ,l#feh1jjj had been paid in dividends4 ,a cycling tour is health-giving and enjoyable when gone about rationally and prudently4 ,it is pleasant to plan1 and no less so to carry out1 as it is always the unexpected which happens4 ,there are halts by the wayside1 conversations with rustics1 fine views2 and every part of the brain and blood is oxygenated1 giving that kind of wholesome intoxication which ,thoreau said he gained by living in the open air4 ,one's own country is explored as it has never been explored before4 ,some wheelmen have been credited with seven and eight thousand miles in a single season4 ,others1 more ambitious1 have made a track round the globe4 ,mr ,thomas ,stevens1 starting from ,san ,francisco in ,april #ahhd1 occupied three years in going round the world4 ,mr ,t4 ,allen and ,mr ,l4 ,sachtleben1 two ,american students1 as a practical finish to a theoretical education1 occupied three years in riding round the world--#ae1djd miles on the wheel4 ,they climbed ,mount ,ararat by the way1 and interviewed ,li ,hung ,chang1 the ,chinese viceroy4 ,the wheel ridden by these 'foreign devils' was described by one ,chinaman as 'a little mule that you drive by the ears1 and kick in the sides to make him go4' ,mr ,frank ,g4 ,lenz1 who started from ,america in ,june #ahib to ride round the world1 was unfortunately killed by six ,kurds1 sixty-five miles from ,erzeroum1 between the villages of ,kurtali and ,dahar1 on ,may #aj1 #ahid4 ,there have been many interesting shorter rides4 ,mr ,walter ,goddard of ,leeds1 and ,mr ,james ,edmund of ,brixton1 started from ,london and rode entirely round ,europe on wheels2 ,mr ,hugh ,callan rode from ,glasgow to the river ,jordan2 ,mr ,r4 ,l4 ,jefferson1 in #ahid1 rode from ,london to ,constantinople1 between ,march #aj and ,may #ai4 ,in #ahie the same gentleman rode from ,london to ,moscow1 #dbha miles1 and had nothing good to say of ,russian inns or roads4 ,a lady of sixty has done seventy miles in one day2 while an ,english lady tourist did twelve hundred miles in her various ups and downs between ,london and ,glasgow during one holiday4 ,the lighter the machine1 the more expensive it is4 ,racing-machines are built as light as twenty pounds in weight4 ,some of the swiftest road-riders patronise machines of twenty-six or twenty-seven pounds2 but for all-round work1 one of thirty-three pounds1 without lamp or bell1 is a good average machine4 ,as to speed1 we have had #dfj miles in the twenty-four hours on the racing-track1 and #cgg miles on the road4 ,huret1 a ,french rider1 has done #eae miles between one midnight and another2 the ,swiss cyclist ,lesna has done #bh miles an hour2 while ,mr ,mills and ,mr ,t4 ,a4 ,edge1 in a ride from ,land's ,end to ,john o' ,groat's on a tandem1 beat all previous records1 doing the journey in three days four hours and forty-six minutes4 ,a very sensible ,american rider1 when on tour1 starts shortly after breakfast1 and with a brief rest for lunch1 has his day's work of about fifty miles over by four ,p4,m4 ,then he changes underclothing--a most important and never-to-be-forgotten matter--has dinner1 and an enjoyable ramble over the town or village where he stays over-night4 ,but he is a luxurious dog1 and not many will carry such an abundant kit in the triangular bag below the handle bar4 ,imagine three light outing shirts1 three suits1 gauze underclothing1 a dark flannel bicycle suit1 laced tanned gaiters1 light-weight rubber coat1 comb2 clothes1 hair1 and tooth brushes2 soap and towel1 writing-pad and pencil1 map and matches1 and tool bag6 ,many a cyclist carries a hand camera1 and brings home a permanent record of his journeys4 ,it has been well said that many a boy will start in life with a more vigorous constitution because of the bicycle1 and many a man who is growing old too fast by neglect of active exercise will find himself rejuvenated by the same agency4 ,only let the getting over a certain distance within a certain time not be the main object4 ,and winter riding1 when the roads permit1 need not be neglected1 for nothing is more invigorating than a winter ride4 ,the doctors tell us that as long as one can ride with the mouth shut1 the heart is all right4 ,a fillip should be given to the appetite2 whenever this is destroyed1 and sleeplessness ensues1 cycling is being overdone4 ,cycling1 of course1 as we have already said1 is not all pleasure or romance4 ,there is a considerable amount of hard work1 with head-winds1 rain1 mud1 hills1 and misadventures through punctures of the tyre4 ,this last may happen at the most inopportune time2 but the cyclist is generally a philosopher1 and sets about his repairs with a cool and easy mind4 ,a word in closing about accidents1 which are often due to carelessness and recklessness4 ,a cyclist has no right to ride at ten or fourteen miles an hour in a crowded thoroughfare4 ,he takes his life--and other people's6--in his hands if he does so4 ,no less is caution needed on hills1 the twists and turns in which are unseen or unfamiliar1 and where the bottom of the incline cannot be seen4 ,as the saying goes1 ',better be a coward for half an hour than a corpse for the rest of your lifetime4' ,but experience is the best guide1 and no hard-and-fast rules can be laid down for exceptional circumstances4 ,illustration3 ,the ,dandy-horse4 ,illustration ,,chapter ,,viii4 ,,steamers ,,and ,,sailing-,,ships4 ,early ,shipping--,mediterranean ,trade--,rise of the ,p4 and ,o4 and other ,lines--,transatlantic ,lines--,india and the ,east--,early ,steamships--,first ,steamer to cross the ,atlantic--,rise of ,atlantic ,shipping ,lines--,the ,great ,eastern and the ,new ,cunarders ,campania and ,lucania compared--,sailing-ships4 ,,the ,,carrying-,,trade ,,of ,,the ,,world4 ,of all the industries of the world1 that which is concerned with the interchange of the products of nations is suffused with the most interest for the largest number of people4 ,not only is the number of those who go down into the sea in ships1 and who do business on the great waters1 legion1 but three-fourths of the population of the globe are more or less dependent on their enterprise4 ,the ocean-carrying trade we are accustomed to date from the time of the ,phoenicians2 and certainly the ,phoenicians were daring mariners1 if not exactly scientific navigators1 and their ships were pretty well acquainted with the waters of ,europe and the coasts of ,africa4 ,but the ,phoenicians were rather merchant-adventurers on their own account than ocean-carriers1 as1 for instance1 the ,arabians were on the other side of ,africa1 acting as the intermediaries of the trade between ,egypt and ,east ,africa and ,india4 ,in the early days1 too1 there is reason to believe that the ,chinese were extensive ocean-carriers1 sending their junks both to the ,arabian ,gulf and to the ports of ,hindustan1 long before ,alexander the ,great invaded ,india4 ,but there is nothing more remarkable in the history of maritime commerce than the manner in which it has changed hands4 ,even down to the beginning of the present century1 almost the whole of the carrying-trade of the ,baltic and the ,mediterranean was in the hands of the ,danes1 ,norwegians1 and ,germans1 while our own harbours were crowded with foreign ships4 ,this was one of the effects of our peculiar ,navigation ,laws1 under which foreigners were so protected that there was hardly a trade open to ,british vessels4 ,it is1 indeed1 just ninety years since ,british ship-owners made a formal and earnest appeal to the government to remove the existing shackles on the foreign trade of the country1 and to promote the development of commerce with the ,american and ,west ,indian colonies4 ,one argument of the time was the necessity for recovering and developing the ,mediterranean trade1 as affording one of the best avenues for the employment of shipping and the promotion of international commerce4 ,it was a trade of which ,england had a very considerable share in the time of ,henry ,,vii41 who may very fairly be regarded as the founder of ,british merchant shipping4 ,he not only built ships for himself for trading purposes1 but encouraged others to do so1 and even lent them money for the purpose4 ,and it was to the ,mediterranean that he chiefly directed his attention1 in eager competition with the argosies of ,venice and ,genoa4 ,there resulted a perfect fleet of what were called 'tall ships' engaged in carrying woollen fabrics and other ,british products to ,italy1 ,sicily1 ,syria1 and the ,levant1 and in bringing home cargoes of silk1 cotton1 wool1 carpets1 oil1 spices1 and wine4 ,steam has worked a change in favour of this country nowhere more remarkable than in the ,mediterranean trade4 ,when the trade began to revive for sailing-vessels1 by a removal of some of the irksome restrictions1 ,lisbon was the most important port on the ,iberian ,peninsula for ,british shipping4 ,there was a weekly mail service by sailing-packets between ,falmouth and ,lisbon1 until the ,admiralty put on a steamer4 ,some time in the 'thirties1' two young ,scotchmen named ,brodie ,wilcox and ,arthur ,anderson had a small fleet of sailing-vessels engaged in the ,peninsular trade1 and in the year #ahcd they chartered the steamer ,royal ,tar from the ,dublin and ,london ,steam-packet ,company4 ,this was the beginning of the great ,peninsular and ,oriental ,steam ,navigation ,company1 destined to revolutionise the carrying-trade both of the ,mediterranean and the ,east4 ,when the ,spanish government negotiated for a line of steamers to be established between ,england and ,spain1 ,wilcox and ,anderson took up the project1 organised a small company1 and acquired some steamers1 which at first did not pay4 ,they persevered1 however1 until shippers saw the superiority of the new vessels to the old sailers1 and at last the ,peninsular ,company obtained the first mail-contract ever entered into by the ,english government4 ,this was in #ahcg2 the ,cunard and ,royal ,mail 7,west ,indian7 lines were not established until #ahdj4 ,in a couple of years the ,peninsular ,company extended their line through the ,straits to ,malta and ,alexandria1 and again to ,corfu and the ,levant4 ,in #ahdj they applied for and obtained a charter as the ,peninsular and ,oriental ,steam-navigation ,company1 with the object of establishing a line of steamers on the other side of the ,isthmus of ,suez1 from which have developed the great ramifications to ,india1 ,china1 ,japan1 the ,straits ,settlements1 and ,australia4 ,it was1 indeed1 through the ,mediterranean that we obtained our first hold on the ,eastern carrying-trade4 ,in considering the development of maritime commerce1 it is always to be remembered that the design of ,columbus and the early navigators in sailing westwards was not to find ,america1 but to find a new way to ,india and ,far ,cathay4 ,mighty as ,america has become in the world's economy1 its first occupation was only an incident in the struggle for the trade of the ,far ,east4 ,but with the occupation of ,america came two new developments in this carrying-trade--namely1 one across the ,atlantic1 and one upon and across the ,pacific4 ,to the eventful year in which so many great enterprises were founded--namely1 #ahdj--we trace the beginning of steam-carrying on the ,pacific1 for in that year ,william ,wheelwright took or sent the first steamer round ,cape ,horn1 as the pioneer of the great ,pacific ,steam-navigation ,company4 ,within about a dozen years thereafter1 the ,americans had some fifty steamers constantly engaged on the ,pacific coast of the two ,continents1 besides those of the ,english company4 ,out of one of those ,pacific lines grew ,commodore ,vanderbilt's ,nicaragua ,transit ,company1 a double service of two lines of steamers1 one on each side of the ,continent1 with an overland connection through ,nicaragua4 ,out of another grew the ,new ,york and ,san ,francisco line1 connecting overland across the ,isthmus of ,panama--where ,m4 de ,lesseps did not succeed in cutting a ,canal4 ,and out of yet another of those ,pacific enterprises1 all stimulated by ,wheelwright's success1 grew in the course of years a line between ,san ,francisco and ,hawaii1 and another between ,san ,francisco and ,australia4 ,some forty years ago the boats of this last-named line used to run down to ,panama to pick up passengers and traffic from ,europe1 and it is interesting to recall that at that period the design was greatly favoured of a regular steam service between ,england and ,australia via ,panama4 ,a company was projected for the purpose2 but it came to nothing1 for various reasons not necessary to enter upon here4 ,but as long ago as the early fifties1 when the ,panama ,railway was in course of construction1 there were eight separate lines of steamers on the ,atlantic meeting at ,aspinwall1 and five on the ,pacific meeting at ,panama4 ,later on1 when the ,americans had completed their iron-roads from ocean to ocean across their own dominions1 they started lines of steamers from ,san ,francisco to ,china and ,japan4 ,and later still1 when the ,canadian ,pacific ,railway was completed across ,canada1 a ,british line of ships was started across the ,pacific to ,far ,cathay1 and afterwards to ,australia and ,new ,zealand4 ,so that the dream of the old navigators has1 after all1 been practically realised4 ,the repeal of the corn laws gave an immense impetus to ,british shipping1 by opening up new lines of traffic in grain with the ports of the ,baltic1 the ,black ,sea1 and ,egypt2 and the extension of steamer communication created another new carrying-business in the transport of coals abroad to innumerable coaling stations4 ,thus demand goes on creating supply1 and supply in turn creating new demand4 ,from the old fruit and grain sailers of the ,mediterranean trade have developed such extensive concerns as the ,cunard line 7one of whose beginnings was a service of steamers between ,liverpool and ,havre71 which now covers the whole ,mediterranean1 and extends across the ,atlantic to ,new ,york and ,boston2 the ,anchor line1 which began with a couple of boats running between the ,clyde and the ,peninsula1 and now covers all the ,mediterranean and ,adriatic1 and extends from ,india to ,america2 the ,bibby line1 which began with a steamer between ,liverpool and ,marseilles1 and now covers every part of the ,mediterranean 7,leyland line71 and spreads out to ,burma and the ,straits4 ,these are but a few of many examples of how the great carrying-lines of the world1 east and west1 have developed from modest enterprises in mid-,europe4 ,and even now the goods traffic between the ,mediterranean and the ,united ,kingdom1 ,north ,europe and ,america1 is less in the hands of these great lines than in that of the vast fleets of ocean tramps1 both sail and steam4 ,one of the most wonderful developments in the carrying-trade of the world is the concern known as the ,messageries ,maritimes of ,france--now probably the largest steamer-owning copartnery in the world4 ,prior to the ,crimean ,war1 there was an enterprise called the ,messageries ,imperiales1 which was engaged in the land-carriage of mails through ,france4 ,in #ahea this company entered into a contract with the ,french government for the conveyance of mails to ,italy1 ,egypt1 ,greece1 and the ,levant2 and as years went on1 the mail subsidies became so heavy that the enterprise was practically a national one4 ,during the war1 the ,messageries ,company's vessels were in such demand as transports1 c41 that the company had to rapidly create a new fleet for mail purposes4 ,with peace came the difficulty of employing the enormously augmented fleet4 ,new lines of mail and cargo boats were therefore successively established between ,france and the ,danube and ,black ,sea2 ,bordeaux and ,brazil and the ,river ,plate2 ,marseilles and ,india and ,china1 c4 ,in fact1 the ,messageries ,company's ramifications now extend from ,france to ,great ,britain1 ,south ,america1 the whole of the ,mediterranean1 the ,levant1 the ,black ,sea1 the ,red ,sea1 the ,indian ,ocean and the ,china ,seas1 and the ,south ,pacific4 ,few people1 perhaps1 have any conception of the numbers of regular and highly organised lines of steamers now connecting ,europe and ,america4 ,besides the ,messageries1 the ,austro-,hungarian ,lloyd's and the ,italian mail lines run between the ,mediterranean and the ,river ,plate4 ,argentina and ,brazil are connected with different parts of ,europe by about a dozen lines4 ,between the ,united ,states and ,europe there are now about thirty distinct regular lines of steamers carrying goods and passengers2 and about a dozen more carrying goods only4 ,four of these lines are direct with ,germany1 two with ,france1 two with ,holland1 two with ,belgium1 one with ,denmark1 and two with ,italy1 one of which is under the ,british flag4 ,all the rest of the passenger lines and most of the cargo lines run between the ,united ,kingdom and the ,united ,states4 ,as for the 'tramps' steaming and sailing between ,north ,america and ,europe1 they are of all nations2 but again the majority fly the ,british flag1 though once upon a time the ,american-built clippers1 of graceful lines and 'sky-scraping' masts1 used to monopolise the ,american carrying-trade under the stars and stripes4 ,once upon a time1 too1 these beautiful ,american clippers had the bulk of the ,china tea-trade1 and of the ,anglo-,australian general trade4 ,but they were run off the face of the waters by the ,navigation ,laws of ,america and the shipping enterprise of ,britain4 ,the great and growing trade between the ,united ,states and ,india1 too1 is now nearly all carried in ,british vessels2 and a large part of the regular steam service between ,new ,york and the ,west ,indies is under the ,british flag4 ,that a change will take place when ,america repeals the laws which forbid ,americans to own vessels built abroad or manned by foreigners is pretty certain4 ,with regard to ,india1 the growth in the carrying-trade has been enormous since ,vasco da ,gama1 four hundred years ago1 found his way round the ,cape of ,good ,hope to ,calicut4 ,for an entire century1 down to #afjj1 the ,portuguese monopolised the trade of the ,east1 and as many as two and three hundred of their ships would often be gathered together in the port of ,goa1 taking in cargo for different ,eastern and ,european ports4 ,to-day1 ,goa is a deserted port1 and the ,portuguese flag is rarely seen--a ship or two per annum now being sufficient for all the trade between ,portugal and ,india4 ,in the century of ,portuguese prosperity the ,english flag was hardly known in ,eastern waters4 ,it was the ,dutch who drove out the ,portuguese2 and the reason why the ,dutch were tempted out to ,india was because the rich cargoes brought home by the ,portuguese could not be disposed of in ,portugal1 and had to be taken to ,amsterdam1 or ,rotterdam1 or ,antwerp1 where the opulent ,dutch merchants purchased them for redistribution throughout ,europe4 ,this is how the ,dutch came into direct relations with the ,indian trade before the ,english1 and why ,barentz and others tried to find a near way to ,india for the ,dutch vessels by way of the north of ,europe and ,asia4 ,failing in the north1 the ,dutch followed the ,portuguese round the ,cape1 and reaching ,sumatra1 founded the wide domain of ,netherlands-,india4 ,this occupation was effected before #afjj2 and between that year and #afgj they expelled the ,portuguese from every part of the ,eastern ,archipelago1 from ,malacca1 from ,ceylon1 from the ,malabar ,coast1 and from ,macassar4 ,the ,dutch in turn enjoyed a monopoly of the ,indian trade for about a hundred years4 ,then with the rise of ,clive came the downfall of the ,dutch1 and by #ahaa they were stripped of every possession they had in the ,east4 ,later1 we gave them back ,java and ,sumatra1 with which ,holland now does a large trade1 reserved exclusively to ,dutch vessels4 ,but in ,india proper the ,dutch have not a single possession1 and it is doubtful if in all the ,indian ,peninsula there are now a hundred ,dutchmen resident4 ,two immense streams of trade are constantly setting to and from ,india and ,europe through the ,suez ,canal and round the ,cape4 ,not only is the bulk of that trade conducted by the well-known ,peninsular and ,oriental1 ,british ,india1 ,city1 ,clan1 ,anchor1 and other lines 7though the ,messageries ,maritimes1 ,north ,german ,lloyd's1 and other foreign lines have no mean share71 but the whole coast-line of ,india is served by the steamers of the ,british-,india and ,asiatic lines2 and ,british vessels conduct the most of the carrying-trade between ,india and ,australia1 ,china1 ,japan1 the ,straits1 ,mauritius1 c4 ,a new carrying-trade was created when the ,australasian colonies were founded one after the other--in the taking out of home manufactures1 implements1 machinery1 c41 and bringing back wool and tallow2 and then gold1 wheat1 fruit1 and frozen meat4 ,this colonial trade is now divided between sailers and steamers1 and in the steamer traffic some of the foreign lines are eagerly bidding for a share4 ,similarly1 a new carrying-trade has been of quite recent years developed by the opening up of ,south ,africa1 and this is practically all in ,british hands4 ,an important item of international carriage of recent development is the mineral oil of ,america and ,russia4 ,the carriage of these oils is a trade of itself4 ,another special branch of the world's carrying-trade is connected with the sea-fisheries4 ,all the fishing-grounds of the ,atlantic and ,north ,sea may be said to be now connected with the consuming markets by services of steamers4 ,the cod-fishers off the ,banks of ,newfoundland transfer their dried and salted fish to vessels which speed them to the good ,catholics of ,spain and ,france and ,italy1 just as the steam auxiliaries bring to ,london the harvests gathered by the boats on the ,dogger ,bank4 ,of late years not unsuccessful efforts have been made1 especially by ,captain ,wiggins1 to establish direct communication between ,great ,britain and the arctic coasts of ,russia once every summer4 ,and hopes are entertained that on the completion of the railway from ,winnipeg to ,fort ,churchill1 the greatly shorter sea-route via ,hudson ,strait and ,hudson ,bay may greatly facilitate communication with ,manitoba and the ,canadian ,north-west4 ,it is computed that on the great ocean highways there are not fewer than ten thousand large and highly-powered steamers constantly employed4 ,if it be wondered how sailing-vessels can maintain a place at all in the race of competition in the world's carrying-trade1 a word of explanation may be offered4 ,do not suppose that only rough and low-valued cargo is left for the sailers4 ,they still have the bulk of the cotton and wheat and other valuable products1 not only because they can carry more cheaply1 but because transport by sailing-vessels gives the merchant a wider choice of market4 ,cargoes of staple products can always be sold 'to arrive' at some given port1 and it is cheaper to put them afloat than to warehouse them ashore and wait for an order4 ,what1 then1 are the proportions borne by the several maritime nations in this great international carrying-trade8 ,the question is not one which can be answered with absolute precision1 but the tables of the ,marine ,department of the ,board of ,trade enable one to find an approximate answer4 ,in #ahic the tonnage of steam and sailing vessels of all nationalities in the foreign trade entering and clearing at ports in the ,united ,kingdom was #gd1fcb1hdg1 of which #ed1adh1ffd tons were ,british1 and #bj1dhd1ahc tons were foreign4 ,in the foreign total1 the largest proportions were ,norwegian1 ,german1 ,dutch1 ,swedish1 ,danish1 and ,french4 ,the ,teutonic races have thus the most of the ocean-carrying2 the ,united ,states proportion of the above total was small4 ,so far the ,united ,kingdom4 ,now let us see what part ,british shipping plays in the foreign trade of other countries4 ,we find that the total tonnage of the ,british ,empire was #aj1cfe1efg4 ,the other principal maritime countries owned #ab1jjj1jjj tons4 ,therefore1 roughly speaking1 the ,british ,empire owns about five-elevenths of the entire shipping of the world4 ,even so recently as thirty years ago1 about two-thirds of the ocean-carrying trade was performed by sailing-vessels2 to-day1 about four-fifths of it is performed by steamers4 ,,the ,,first ,,steamer ,,to ,,cross ,,the ,,atlantic4 ,the earliest steamers the world ever saw1 not reckoning the experimental craft constructed by such men as ,fulton1 ,bell1 ,symington1 and ,watt1 were those employed in the transatlantic trade4 ,as far back as the year #ahai1 the ,yankee paddle-steamer ,savannah1 of three hundred tons burden1 crossed from the port of that name1 in ,georgia1 to ,liverpool4 ,she occupied twenty-five days upon the passage2 but1 as she was fully rigged1 and under all sail during at least two-thirds of the voyage1 the merit of her performance1 as an illustration of the superiority of the engine over canvas1 is somewhat doubtful4 ,yet she was beyond dispute the first steamer to accomplish a long sea-voyage1 and to the ,americans belong the credit of her exploit4 ,indeed1 from the time of their last war with us1 down to within a quarter of a century ago1 our ,yankee neighbours generally seemed to be a little ahead of this country in maritime matters4 ,they taught us a lesson in shipbuilding by their famous ,baltimore clippers1 and they were the first to demonstrate in a practical manner1 and to the complete capsizal of the learned ,dr ,lardner's theories1 the possibility of employing steam for the purposes of ocean navigation4 ,although in #ahch the ,sirius and the ,great ,western successfully made the journey from ,england to ,america1 yet five years before that date1 ,canadian enterprise accomplished the feat of bridging the ,atlantic ,ocean with a little vessel propelled wholly by steam4 ,this was the ,royal ,william1 whose beautiful model was exhibited at the ,british ,naval ,exhibition in ,london1 where she attracted the attention and curiosity of the first seamen in the empire4 ,the ,royal ,william--named in honour of the reigning sovereign--was built in the city of ,quebec by a ,scotchman1 ,james ,goudie1 who had served his time and learned his art at ,greenock4 ,the keel was laid in the autumn of #ahcj2 and her builder1 then in his twenty-second year1 writes3 ',as ,i had the drawings and the form of the ship1 at the time a novelty in construction1 it devolved upon me to lay off and expand the draft to its full dimensions on the floor of the loft1 where ,i made several alterations in the lines as improvements4 ,the steamship being duly commenced1 the work progressed rapidly2 and in ,may following was duly launched1 and before a large concourse of people was christened the ,royal ,william4 ,she was then taken to ,montreal to have her engines1 where ,i continued to superintend the finishing of the cabins and deck-work4 ,when completed1 she had her trial trip1 which proved quite satisfactory4 ,being late in the season before being completed1 she only made a few trips to ,halifax4' ,the launching of this steamer was a great event in ,quebec4 ,the ,governor-general1 ,lord ,aylmer1 and his wife were present1 the latter giving the vessel her name4 ,military bands supplied the music1 and the shipping in the harbour was gay with bunting4 ,the city itself wore a holiday look4 ,the ,royal ,william1 propelled by steam alone1 traded between ,quebec and ,halifax4 ,while at the last-named place1 she attracted the notice of ,mr ,samuel ,cunard1 afterwards ,sir ,samuel1 the founder of the great trans-continental line which bears his name4 ,it is said that the ,royal ,william convinced him that steam was the coming force for ocean navigation4 ,he asked many questions about her1 took down the answers in his note-book1 and subsequently became a large stockholder in the craft4 ,the cholera of #ahcb paralysed business in ,canada1 and trade was at a standstill for a time4 ,like other enterprises at this date1 the ,royal ,william experienced reverses1 and she was doomed to be sold at sheriff's sale4 ,some ,quebec gentlemen bought her in1 and resolved to send her to ,england to be sold4 ,in #ahcc the eventful voyage to ,britain was made successfully1 and without mishap of any kind4 ,the ,royal ,william's proportions were as follows3 ,builder's measurement1 #acgj tons2 steamboat measurement1 as per ,act of ,parliament1 #hcj tons2 length of keel1 #adf feet2 length of deck from head to taffrail1 #agf feet2 breadth of beam inside the paddle-boxes1 #bi feet #d inches2 outside1 #dc feet #aj inches2 depth of hold1 #ag feet #i inches4 ,on the #dth of ,august #ahcc1 commanded by ,captain ,john ,m',dougall1 she left ,quebec1 via ,pictou1 ,nova ,scotia1 for ,london1 under steam1 at five o'clock in the morning4 ,she made the passage in twenty-five days4 ,her supply of coal was #bed chaldrons1 or over #ccj tons4 ,her captain wrote3 ',she is justly entitled to be considered the first steamer that crossed the ,atlantic by steam1 having steamed the whole way across4' ,about the end of ,september #ahcc1 the ,royal ,william was disposed of for ten thousand pounds sterling1 and chartered to the ,portuguese government to take out troops for ,dom ,pedro's service4 ,portugal was asked to purchase her for the navy2 but the admiral of the fleet1 not thinking well of the scheme1 declined to entertain the proposition4 ,captain ,m',dougall was master of the steamer all this time4 ,he returned with her to ,london with invalids and disbanded ,portuguese soldiers1 and laid her up off ,deptford ,victualling ,office4 ,in ,july1 orders came to fit out the ,royal ,william to run between ,oporto and ,lisbon4 ,one trip was made between these ports1 and also a trip to ,cadiz for specie for the ,portuguese government4 ,on his return to ,lisbon1 ,captain ,m',dougall was ordered to sell the steamer to the ,spanish government1 through ,don ,evanston ,castor da ,perez1 then the ,spanish ambassador to the court of ,lisbon4 ,the transaction was completed on the #ajth of ,september #ahcd1 when the ,royal ,william became the ,ysabel ,segunda1 and the first war-steamer the ,spaniards ever possessed4 ,she was ordered to the north coast of ,spain against ,don ,carlos4 ,captain ,m',dougall accepted the rank and pay of a ,commander1 and1 by special proviso1 was guaranteed six hundred pounds per annum1 and the contract to supply the squadron with provisions from ,lisbon4 ,the ,ysabel ,segunda proceeded to the north coast2 and about the latter part of #ahcd she returned to ,gravesend1 to be delivered up to the ,british government1 to be converted into a war-steamer at the ,imperial ,dockyard4 ,the crew and officers were transferred to the ,royal ,tar1 chartered and armed as a war-steamer1 with six long thirty-two pounders1 and named the ,reyna ,governadoza1 the name intended for the ,city of ,edinburgh steamer1 which was chartered to form part of the squadron4 ,when completed1 she relieved the ,royal ,tar and took her name4 ,in his interesting letter1 from which these facts are drawn1 to ,robert ,christie1 the ,canadian historian1 ,captain ,m',dougall thus completes the story of the pioneer ,atlantic steamer3 ',the ,ysabel ,segunda1 when completed at ,sheerness ,dockyard1 took out ,general ,alava1 the ,spanish ambassador1 and ,general ,evans and most of his staff officers1 to ,saint ,andero1 and afterwards to ,st ,sebastian1 having hoisted the ,commodore's broad pennant again at ,saint ,andero2 and was afterwards employed in cruising between that port and ,fuente ,arabia1 and acting in concert with the ,legion against ,don ,carlos until the time of their service expired in #ahcg4 ,she was then sent to ,portsmouth with a part of those discharged from the service1 and from thence she was taken to ,london1 and detained in the ,city ,canal by ,commodore ,henry until the claims of the officers and crew on the ,spanish government were settled1 which was ultimately accomplished by bills1 and the officers and crew discharged from the ,spanish service about the latter end of #ahcg1 and ,ysabel ,segunda delivered up to the ,spanish ambassador1 and after having her engines repaired1 returned to ,spain1 and was soon afterwards sent to ,bordeaux1 in ,france1 to have the hull repaired4 ,but on being surveyed1 it was found that the timbers were so much decayed that it was decided to build a new vessel to receive the engines1 which was built there1 and called by the same name1 and now #ahec forms one of the royal steam-navy of ,spain1 while her predecessor was converted into a hulk at ,bordeaux4' ,this1 in brief1 is the history of the steamer which played so important a role in the maritime annals of ,canada1 ,england1 and ,spain4 ,her model is safely stored in the rooms of the ,literary and ,historical ,society of ,quebec1 where it is an object of profound veneration4 ,at the request of the government1 a copy of the model was made1 and formed part of the ,canadian exhibit to the ,world's ,fair at ,chicago in #ahic4 ,it was not1 however1 until five years later that the successful passages of two memorable vessels from ,england to ,america fairly established the era of what has been called the ,atlantic steam-ferry4 ,these ships were respectively the ,sirius and the ,great ,western4 ,the former was a craft of about #gjj tons burden1 with engines of three hundred and twenty horse-power3 she sailed from ,cork on the #dth of ,april #ahch1 under the command of ,lieutenant ,roberts1 ,r4,n41 bound for ,new ,york4 ,the latter vessel was a steamer of #acdj tons1 builders' measurement1 with engines of four hundred and forty horse-power3 she was commanded by ,captain ,hoskins1 ,r4,n41 and sailed from ,bristol on the #hth of ,april in the same year1 bound likewise for ,new ,york4 ,the ,sirius1 it was calculated1 had a start of her competitor by about seven hundred nautical miles2 but it was known that her utmost capabilities of speed scarcely exceeded eight knots an hour2 whilst the ,great ,western1 on her trial trip from ,blackwall to ,gravesend1 ran eleven knots an hour without difficulty4 ,the issue of the race was therefore awaited with the utmost curiosity on both sides of the ,atlantic4 ,contemporary records usually afford good evidence of the significance of past events1 and the interest in this novel ocean match was prodigious1 to judge from the accounts with which the ,liverpool and ,new ,york papers of the day teemed4 ,the following is in brief the narrative of the voyage of these two famous ships across the ,western ,ocean4 ,the ,sirius1 after leaving ,cork on the #dth of ,april1 encountered very heavy weather1 which greatly retarded her progress4 ,she arrived1 however1 off ,sandy ,hook on the evening of ,sunday1 the #bb;d of ,april2 but going aground1 she did not get into the ,north ,river until the following morning4 ,when it was known that she had arrived1 ,new ,york grew instantly agitated with excitement4 ',the news1' ran the account published by the ,journal of ,commerce in the ,united ,states1 'spread like wildfire through the city1 and the river became literally dotted all over with boats conveying the curious to and from the stranger4 ,there seemed to be a universal voice in congratulation1 and every visage was illuminated with delight4 ,a tacit conviction seemed to pervade every bosom that a most doubtful problem had been satisfactorily solved2 visions of future advantage to science1 to commerce1 to moral philosophy1 began to float before the mind's eye2 curiosity to travel through the old country1 and to inspect ancient institutions1 began to stimulate the inquiring4 ',whilst all this was going on1 suddenly there was seen over ,governor's ,island a dense black cloud of smoke spreading itself upward1 and betokening another arrival4 ,on it came with great rapidity1 and about three o'clock in the afternoon its cause was made fully manifest to the accumulated multitudes at the ,battery4 ,it was the steamship ,great ,western1 of about #afjj tons burden 7sic7 the difference probably lies between the net and the gross tonnage1 under the command of ,lieutenant ,hoskins1 ,r4,n4 ,she had left ,bristol on the #hth inst41 and on the #bc;d was making her triumphant entry into the port of ,new ,york4 ,this immense moving mass was propelled at a rapid rate through the waters of the ,bay2 she passed swiftly and gracefully round the ,sirius1 exchanging salutes with her1 and then proceeded to her destined anchorage in the ,east ,river4 ,if the public mind was stimulated by the arrival of the ,sirius1 it became almost intoxicated with delight upon view of the superb ,great ,western4 ,the latter vessel was only fourteen clear days out2 and neither vessel had sustained a damage worth mentioning1 notwithstanding that both had to encounter very heavy weather4 ,the ,sirius was spoken with on the #adth of ,april in latitude #de deg4 north1 longitude #cg deg4 west4 ,the ,great ,western was spoken on the #aeth of ,april in latitude #df deg4 #bf' north1 longitude #cg deg4 west4 ,at these respective dates the ,great ,western had run #acje miles in seven days from ,king ,road2 and the ,sirius #acje miles in ten days from ,cork4 ,the ,great ,western averaged #ahf-a_/b miles per day1 and the ,sirius #acj-a_/b miles2 ,great ,western gained on the ,sirius fifty-six miles per day4 ,the ,great ,western averaged seven and three-quarter miles per hour2 the ,sirius barely averaged five and a half miles per hour4' ,such was the first voyage made across the ,atlantic by these two early steamships1 and there is something of the true philosophy of history to be found in the interest which their advent created4 ,it is worthy of passing note to learn what ultimately became of these celebrated vessels4 ,the ,sirius1 not proving staunch enough for the ,atlantic surges1 was sent to open steam-communication between ,london and ,st ,petersburg1 in which trade she was for several years successfully employed4 ,the ,great ,western plied regularly from ,bristol to ,new ,york until the year #ahdg1 when she was sold to the ,royal ,mail ,company1 and ran as one of their crack ships until #aheg1 in which year she was broken up at ,vauxhall as being obsolete and unable profitably to compete with the new class of steamers being built4 ,the success of these two vessels may be said to have completely established steam as a condition of the transatlantic navigation of the future4 ',in ,october #ahch1' says ,lindsay1 in his ,history of ,merchant ,shipping1 ',sir ,john ,tobin1 a well-known merchant of ,liverpool1 seeing the importance of the intercourse now rapidly increasing between the ,old and ,new ,worlds1 despatched on his own account a steamer to ,new ,york4 ,she was built at ,liverpool1 after which place she was named1 and made the passage outwards in sixteen and a half days4 ,it was now clearly proved that the service could be performed1 not merely with profit to those who engaged in it1 but with a regularity and speed which the finest description of sailing-vessels could not be expected to accomplish4 ,if any doubts still existed on these important points1 the second voyage of the ,great ,western set them at rest1 she having on this occasion accomplished the outward passage in fourteen days sixteen hours1 bringing with her the advices of the fastest ,american sailing-ships which had sailed from ,new ,york long before her1 and thus proving the necessity of having the mails in future conveyed by steamers4' ,in fact1 as early as ,october #ahch1 the ,british government1 being satisfied of the superiority of steam-packets over sailing-ships1 issued advertisements inviting tenders for the conveyance of the ,american mails by the former class of vessels4 ,the owners of the ,great ,western1 big with confidence in the reputation of that ship1 applied for the contract2 but1 not a little to their chagrin1 it was awarded to ,mr 7afterwards ,sir ,samuel7 ,cunard1 who as far back as #ahcj had proposed the establishment of a steam mail service across the ,atlantic4 ,the terms of the original contract were1 that for the sum of fifty-five thousand pounds per annum1 ,messrs ,cunard1 ,burns1 and ,mac,iver should supply three ships suitable for the purpose1 and accomplish two voyages each month between ,liverpool and the ,united ,states1 leaving ,england at certain periods2 but shortly afterwards it was deemed more expedient to name fixed dates of departure on both sides of the ,western ,ocean4 ,subsequently1 another ship was required to be added to the service1 and the amount of the subsidy was raised to eighty-one thousand pounds a year4 ,the steam mail service between ,liverpool1 ,halifax1 and ,boston was regularly established in #ahdj1 the first vessel engaged in it being the ,britannia1 the pioneer ship of the present ,cunard line4 ,we get an admirable idea of what these early steamships were from ,dickens's account of this same ,britannia1 which was the vessel he crossed to ,america in on his first visit to that country in #ahdb4 ,in one of his letters to ,john ,forster1 describing a storm they were overtaken by1 he unconsciously reflects the wondering regard with which the world still viewed the triumphant achievements of the marine engine4 ',for two or three hours1' he writes1 'we gave it up as a lost thing4 ,this was not the exaggerated apprehension of a landsman merely4 ,the head-engineer1 who had been in one or the other of the ,cunard vessels since they began running1 had never seen such stress of weather2 and ,i afterwards heard ,captain ,hewitt say that nothing but a steamer1 and one of that strength1 could have kept her course and stood it out4 ,a sailing-vessel must have beaten off and driven where she would2 while through all the fury of that gale they actually made fifty-four miles headlong through the tempest1 straight on end1 not varying their track in the least4' ,what would the skipper of one of the modern ',atlantic greyhounds' think of such a feat8 ,and1 more interesting speculation still1 what must ,dickens himself have thought of the performances he lived to witness as against this astonishing accomplishment on the part of the old ,britannia8 ,there exists a tendency to ridicule the early steamers as they appear in portraits1 with their huge paddle-boxes2 tall1 thin1 dog-eared funnels2 and heavily-rigged masts1 as though their engines were regarded as quite auxiliary to their sail-power1 and by no means to be relied upon4 ,contrasted with some of the leviathans of the present day1 the steamers of half a century ago are no longer calculated to strike an awe into the beholder2 but1 in truth1 some very fine vessels were built whilst the marine engine was still quite in its infancy4 ,in a volume of the ,railway ,magazine for #ahci is an account of what are termed colossal steamers4 ',an immense steamer1' runs the description1 'upwards of two hundred feet long1 was lately launched at ,bristol1 for plying between ,england and ,america2 but the one now building at ,carling ,co4's1 ,limehouse1 for the ,american ,steam-navigation ,company1 surpasses anything of the kind hitherto made4 ,she is to be named after our ,queen1 the ,victoria2 will cost from eighty to one hundred thousand pounds1 has about one hundred and fifty men now employed daily upon her1 and is expected to be finished in ,november next4 ,the extreme length is about #bec feet2 but she is #bcg feet between the perpendiculars1 #dj-a_/d feet beam between the paddle-boxes1 and twenty-seven feet one inch deep from the floor to the inner side of the spar-deck4 ,the engines are two1 of #bej horse-power each1 with six feet four inch cylinders1 and seven feet stroke4 ,they are to be fitted with ,hall's patent condensers1 in addition to the common ones4 ,she displaces at sixteen feet #bgdj tons of water2 her computed tonnage is #ahjj tons4 ,at the water-line every additional inch displaces eighteen and a half tons4 ,the average speed is expected to be about two hundred nautical miles a day1 and consumption of coal about thirty tons4 ,the best ,welsh coal is to be used4 ,it is calculated she will make the outward passage to ,new ,york in eighteen days1 and the homeward in twelve1 consuming #edj tons of coal out1 and #cfj home4 ,expectation is on tiptoe for the first voyage of this gigantic steamer1 alongside of which other steamers look like little fishing-boats4' ,the next route on which steam-navigation was opened1 following upon that of the ,north ,atlantic passage1 was between ,great ,britain and ,india4 ,the steamers of the ,honourable ,company had indeed doubled the ,cape nearly two years before the ,sirius and ,great ,western sailed upon their first trip4 ,the ,nautical ,magazine for #ahcf contains the original prospectus issued by a syndicate of ,london merchants upon the subject of steam-communication with the ,east ,indies4 ,as an illustration of the almost incredible strides that have been made in ocean travelling since that period1 this piece of literature is most instructive4 ,the circular opens by announcing that it is proposed to establish steam traffic with ,india1 extending1 perhaps1 even to ,australia6 ,it points out in sanguine terms how those distant parts of the earth1 by the contemplated arrangement1 'will be reached at the outset in the short period of seventy-three days2 and1 when experience is obtained1 this time will in all probability be reduced by one-third2 shortening the distance by the route in question1 from ,england to ,australia1 in forty days' steaming1 at ten miles an hour4 ,if two days be allowed for stoppages at stations1 not averaging more than a thousand miles apart throughout the line1 the whole time for passing between the extreme points would only be sixty days1 but a relay of vessels will follow1 if the undertaking be matured1 in which case twenty-four hours will be ample time at the depots1 and a communication may be expected to be established1 and kept up throughout the year1 between ,england and ,australia1 in fifty days4 ,it is reasonably expected that ,bombay will be reached in forty-eight days1 ,madras in fifty-five1 ,calcutta in fifty-nine1 ,penang in fifty-seven1 ,singapore in sixty1 ,batavia in sixty-two1 ,canton in sixty-eight1 and ,mauritius in fifty-four days4' ,the ,nautical ,magazine writer gravely comments upon this scheme as quite plausible4 ,he is indeed inclined to be anticipatory4 ,instead of seventy-three days to ,australia1 he is of opinion that the voyage may ultimately be accomplished in fifty1 and that the table of time generally may be reduced by about one-third throughout2 although1 to qualify his somewhat daring speculations1 he admits that it is well to base the calculations on the safe side4 ,but the ,honourable ,east ,india ,company asserted their prerogatives1 and put a stop to the scheme of the ,new ,bengal ,steam ,company1 as the undertaking was to have been called4 ,this raised a strong feeling of dissatisfaction1 and the ,court of ,directors was obliged to provide a substitute in lieu of the new line they had refused to sanction4 ,their own homely1 lubberly craft were quite unequal to the requirements of 'prompt despatch' which even then was beginning to agitate the public mind4 ,the possibility of establishing steam-communication between ,england and ,india had been clearly demonstrated as early as the year #ahbe1 when the ,enterprise1 of #dhj tons and #abj horse-power1 sailed from ,london on the #afth of ,august1 and arrived in ,calcutta on the seventh of ,december4 ,she was the first steamer to make the passage from this country to our great ,eastern ,empire2 the first1 indeed1 ever to double the stormy headland of the ,cape4 ,but it was not until the people of ,india began to petition and the merchants of ,london to clamour for the adoption of steam-power in the ,indian navigation that the conservative old magnates of ,john ,company were stimulated into action4 ,lieutenant ,waghorn's ,overland ,route had almost entirely superseded the sea-voyage by way of the ,cape2 but the want of an efficient packet service between ,london and ,alexandria1 and ,suez and ,bombay1 was greatly felt4 ,accordingly1 in ,december #ahcf1 the steamship ,atalanta was despatched from ,falmouth to ply on the ,indian side of the route4 ,she was a vessel of #fcj tons burden1 with engines of #baj horse-power1 and was built at ,blackwall by the once famous firm of ,wigram ,green4 ,the orders of ,captain ,campbell1 who commanded her1 were that he was to steam the whole distance1 only resorting to sail-power in case of a failure of machinery1 in order fully to test the superiority of the marine engine over canvas4 ,she sustained an average speed of about eight knots an hour during the entire passage1 and but for her repeated stoppages would undoubtedly have accomplished the quickest voyage yet made to ,india4 ,she was followed1 in ,march #ahcg1 by the ,bernice1 of #fhj tons and #bcj horse-power4 ,this vessel1 which likewise made the run without the assistance of her sails1 left ,falmouth on ,march #ag1 and arrived at ,bombay on the #acth of ,june4 ,as the race between the ,sirius and the ,great ,western may be said to have inaugurated the steam-navigation of the ,atlantic1 so did the voyages of the ,atalanta and ,bernice first establish regular communication by steamers between ,great ,britain and ,india4 ,true1 there had been desultory efforts of enterprise prior to this time1 and the pioneer of the ,peninsular and ,oriental steamers1 the ,royal ,tar1 had sailed some three years before2 but there was no continual service4 ,the ,times of ,november #aa1 #ahch1 pointed out the approaching change4 ',scarcely1' it says1 'has the wonder created in the world by the appearance of the ,great ,western and ,british ,queen begun to subside1 when we are again called upon to admire the rapid strides of enterprise by the notice of an iron steamship1 the first of a line of steamers to ply between ,england and ,calcutta1 to be called the ,queen of the ,east1 #bfah tons1 and #fjj horse-power4 ,this magnificent vessel is designed by ,mr ,w4 ,d4 ,holmes1 engineer to the ,bengal ,steam ,committee1 for a communication between ,england and ,india4 ,great praise is due to ,captain ,barber1 late of the ,honourable ,east ,india ,company's service1 the agent in ,london for the ,steam ,committee in ,bengal1 who has given every encouragement to ,mr ,holmes in carrying forward his splendid undertaking4 ,when these vessels are ready1 we understand the voyage between ,falmouth and ,calcutta will be made in thirty days4' ,from this time ocean steamers multiplied rapidly4 ,one after another of the now famous shipping firms sprang up1 beginning with the ,cunard and the ,peninsular and ,oriental lines4 ,the first ,british steamship was registered at ,london in the year #ahad3 in #ahdb there were #idj steamers registered2 and already was the decay of the sailing-ship so largely anticipated1 that ,mr ,sydney ,herbert1 in a ,committee of the ,house of ,commons1 had this same year pointed out 'that the introduction of steamers1 and the consequent displacement of the ,leith smacks1 ,margate hoys1 c41 would diminish the nursery for seamen by lessening the number of sailing-vessels4' ,,the ,,new ,,cunarders4 ,less than fifty years ago the ,eastern ,steam-navigation ,company having failed to obtain the contract to carry the mails from ,plymouth to ,india and ,australia--in vessels of from twelve hundred to two thousand tons1 with engines of from four to six hundred horse-power1 which were never built--began to consider a new enterprise1 suggested by the late ,isambard ,k4 ,brunei4 ,this was to build the largest steamer ever yet constructed1 to trade with ,india round the ,cape of ,good ,hope4 ,the general commercial idea was1 that this leviathan vessel was to carry leviathan cargoes at large freights and great speed1 to ,ceylon1 where the goods and passengers would be rapidly trans-shipped to smaller swift steamers for conveyance to various destinations in ,india1 ,china1 and ,australia4 ,the general mechanical idea was1 that in order to obtain great velocity in steamers it was only necessary to make them large--that1 in fact1 there need be no limit to the size of a vessel beyond what might be imposed by the tenacity of material4 ,on what was called the tubular principle1 ,brunei argued--and proved to the satisfaction of numerous experts and capitalists--that it was possible to construct a vessel of six times the capacity of the largest vessel then afloat that would steam at a speed unattainable by smaller vessels1 while carrying1 besides cargo1 all the coal she would require for the longest voyage4 ,thus originated the ,great ,eastern1 which never went to ,india1 which ruined two or three companies in succession1 which cost ,l#abj1jjj to launch1 which probably earned more as a show than ever she did as an ocean-carrier--except in the matter of telegraph cables--and which ignobly ended a disastrous career by being sold for ,l#af1jjj1 and broken up at ,new ,ferry1 on the ,mersey4 ,we are now entering upon a new era of big ships1 in which such a monster as the ,great ,eastern would be no longer a wonder4 ,two additions to the ,cunard fleet1 the ,campania 7#ahib7 and ,lucania 7#ahic71 are within a trifle as large as she1 but with infinitely more powerful engines and incomparably greater speed4 ,we need not suppose1 however1 that the idea of big ocean steamers has been the monopoly of this country4 ,so long ago as #ahej or thereabouts1 ,mr ,randall1 a famous ,american shipbuilder1 designed1 drafted1 and constructed the model of a steamer for transatlantic service1 #ejj feet long by #eh feet beam1 to measure #hjjj tons4 ,a company was formed in ,philadelphia in #ahfj to carry out the project2 but the civil war broke out soon after1 and she was never built4 ,the ,great ,eastern was launched in ,january #aheh1 and her principal dimensions were these3 ,length between perpendiculars1 #fhj feet2 breadth of beam1 #hc feet2 length of principal saloons1 #djj feet2 tonnage capacity for cargo and coals1 #ah1jjj tons2 weight of ship as launched1 #ab1jjj tons2 accommodation for passengers1 7#a7 #hjj1 7#b7 #bjjj1 7#c7 #abjj #djjj2 total horse-power1 #gfej4 ,she had both screw and paddles for propulsion1 and her displacement was #cb1afj tons4 ,by this time the ,cunard ,company had been eighteen years in existence4 ,they started in #ahdj with the ,britannia--quickly followed by the ,acadia1 ,columbia1 and ,caledonia1 all more or less alike--which was a paddle-steamer of wood1 #bjg feet long1 #cd feet broad1 #bb feet deep1 and of #aaef tons1 with side-lever engines developing #gdj indicated horse-power1 which propelled the vessel at the average speed of nine knots an hour4 ,there was accommodation for #bbe tons of cargo and #aae cabin passengers--no steerage in those days--who paid thirty-four guineas to ,halifax and thirty-eight guineas to ,boston1 for passage1 including provisions and wine4 ,at the time of the ,great ,eastern the latest type of ,cunarder was the ,persia1 and it is interesting to note the development in the interim4 ,this vessel was #chj feet long1 #de feet broad1 #ca feet deep1 of #chgj tons1 with engines developing #djjj indicated horse-power1 propelling at the rate of thirteen and a half knots an hour4 ,the ,persia and the ,scotia1 sister-ships1 were the last of the ,atlantic side-wheelers4 ,in #ahfb the first screw-steamer was added to the ,cunard fleet4 ,this was the ,china1 built by the ,napiers of ,glasgow1 #cbf feet long by #dj-a_/b feet broad1 and #bg-a_/b feet deep1 of #bfjj tons1 and with an average speed of about twelve knots4 ,such was the type of ,cunarder in the early days of the ,great ,eastern1 whose dimensions have now been nearly reached4 ,the ,campania1 however1 was not built with a view to outshine that huge failure1 but is the outcome of a wholly different competition4 ,the ,campania and the ,lucania represent the highest development of marine architecture and engineering skill1 and are the product of long years of rivalry for the possession of the 'blue ribbon' of the transatlantic race4 ,illustration3 ,the ,great ,eastern and the ,persia4 ,the competition is of ancient date1 if we go back to the days when the ,american ',collins' ,company tried to run the ,cunard ,company off the waters2 and during the half-century since the inauguration of steam service the ,cunard ,company have sometimes held and sometimes lost the highest place for speed4 ,the period of steam-racing--the age of ',atlantic greyhounds'--may be said to have begun in the year #ahgi1 when the ,cunard ,gallia1 the ,guion ,arizona1 and the ,white ,star ,britannic and ,germanic had all entered upon their famous careers4 ,it is matter of history now how the ,arizona--called the ',fairfield ,flyer1' because she was built by ,messrs ,john ,elder ,company1 of ,fairfield1 ,glasgow--beat the record in an eastward run of seven days twelve and a half hours1 and a westward run of seven days ten and three-quarter hours4 ,to beat the ,arizona1 the ,cunard ,company built the ,servia1 of #hejj tons and #aj1cjj horse-power2 but she in turn was beaten by another ,fairfield ,flyer1 the ,alaska1 under the ,guion flag4 ,the race continued year by year1 as vessels of increasing size and power were entered by the competing companies4 ,while all the lines compete in swiftness1 luxury1 and efficiency1 the keenest rivalry is now between the ,cunard and the ,white ,star companies4 ,and just as the ,campania and ,lucania were built to eclipse the renowned ,teutonic and ,majestic1 so the owners of these boats prepared to surpass even the two ,cunarders we describe4 ,let us now see something of these marvels of marine architecture4 ,they are sister-ships1 both built on the ,clyde by the ,fairfield ,shipbuilding and ,engineering ,company1 and both laid down almost simultaneously4 ,they are almost identical in dimensions and appointments1 and therefore we may confine our description to the ,campania1 which was the first of the twins to be ready for sea4 ,this largest vessel afloat does not mark any new departure in general type1 as the ,great ,eastern did in differing from all types of construction then familiar4 ,in outward appearance1 the ,campania1 as she lies upon the water1 and as seen at a sufficient distance1 is just like numbers of other vessels we have all seen4 ,nor does her immense size at first impress the observer1 because of the beautiful proportions on which she is planned4 ,her lines are eminently what the nautical enthusiast calls 'sweet2' and in her own class of naval art she is as perfect a specimen of architectural beauty as the finest of the grand old clippers which used to 'walk the waters as a thing of life4' ,the colossal size of ,st ,peter's at ,rome does not strike you as you enter1 because of the exquisite proportions4 ,and so with the ,campania--you need to see an ordinary merchant-ship1 or even a full-blown liner1 alongside before you can realise how vast she is4 ,yet she is only #fj feet shorter than the mammoth ,great ,eastern1 and measures #fbj feet in length1 #fe feet #c inches in breadth1 and #dc feet in depth from the upper deck4 ,her tonnage is #ab1jjj1 while that of the ,great ,eastern was #ah1jjj2 but then her horse-power is #cj1jjj as against the ,great ,eastern's #gfej6 ,this enormous development of engine-power is perhaps the most remarkable feature about these two new vessels4 ,each of them is fitted with two sets of the most powerful triple-expansion engines ever put together4 ,a visit to the engine-room is a liberal education in the mechanical arts1 and even to the eye of the uninitiated there is the predominant impression of perfect order in the bewildering arrangement of pipes1 rods1 cranks1 levers1 wheels1 and cylinders4 ,the two sets of engines are placed in two separate rooms on each side of a centre-line bulkhead fitted with water-tight doors for intercommunication4 ,each set has five inverted cylinders which have exactly the same stroke1 and work on three cranks4 ,two of the cylinders are high-pressure1 one is intermediate1 and two are low-pressure4 ,besides the main engines1 there are engines for reversing1 for driving the centrifugal pumps for the condensers1 for the electric light1 for the refrigerating chambers1 and for a number of other purposes--all perfect in appointment and finish4 ,in fact1 in these vast engine-rooms one is best able to realise not only the immense size and power of the vessel1 but also the perfection to which human ingenuity has attained after generations of ceaseless toil--and yet it is only half a century since the ,britannia began the transatlantic race4 ,each of the various engines has its own steam-supplier4 ,the main engines are fed by twelve double-ended boilers1 arranged in rows of six on each side of a water-tight bulkhead4 ,the boilers are heated by ninety-six furnaces1 and each set of six boilers has a funnel with the diameter of an ordinary railway tunnel4 ,in the construction of these boilers some eight hundred tons of steel were required1 the plates weighing four tons each1 with a thickness of an inch and a half4 ,from these mighty machines will be developed a power equal to that of #cj1jjj horses6 ,compare this with the ,great ,eastern's #gfej horse-power1 or even with the later 'greyhounds4' ,the greatest power developed by the two previous additions to the ,cunard fleet1 the ,etruria and ,umbria1 is about #ad1jjj horses1 which is the utmost recorded by any single-screw engines4 ,the ,city of ,paris has a power of #ah1ejj1 and the ,teutonic a power of #ah1jjj by twin-screw engines4 ,the ,campania1 therefore1 is upwards of half as much again more powerful than the largest1 swiftest1 and most powerful of her predecessors4 ,these engines of the ,campania work two long propeller-shafts1 each carried through an aperture in the stern close to the centre-line1 and fitted to a screw4 ,unlike other twin-screw vessels1 the propellers and shafts are1 as it were1 carried within the hull1 and not in separate structures4 ,abaft of the screws1 the rudder is completely submerged1 and is a great mass of steel-plating weighing about twenty-four tons4 ,with a straight stem1 an elliptic stern1 two huge funnels1 and a couple of pole-masts--intended more for signalling purposes than for canvas--the ,campania looks thoroughly business-like1 and has none of the over-elaborated get-up of the ,great ,eastern1 with her double system of propulsion and small forest of masts4 ,the bulwarks are close fore and aft2 and from the upper deck rise two tiers of houses1 the roofs of which form the promenade deck and the shade deck4 ,in the structure of the hull and decks enormous strength has been given1 with special protection at vital parts1 as the vessel is built in compliance with the ,admiralty requirements for armed cruisers4 ,below the line of vision are four other complete tiers of beams1 plated with steel sheathed in wood1 on which rest upper1 main1 lower1 and orlop decks4 ,the last is for cargo1 refrigerating-chambers1 stores1 c4--all the others are devoted to the accommodation of passengers4 ,the ,campania is fitted to carry #dfj first-class passengers1 #bhj second-class1 and #gjj steerage passengers--in all1 #addj1 besides a crew of #djj4 ,she has cargo-space for #afjj tons1 which seems a trifle in comparison with her size1 but then it is to be remembered that the fuel consumption of those #if furnaces is enormous1 and requires the carrying of a very heavy cargo of coals for internal consumption4 ,illustration3 ,the ,campania4 ,the accommodation for passengers is probably the most perfect that has yet been provided on an ocean steamer1 for here the experience of all previous developments has been utilised4 ,the dining-room is an apartment #ajj feet long and #fd feet broad1 furnished in handsome dark old mahogany1 to seat #dcj persons4 ,the upholstery is tastefully designed1 and the fittings generally are elegant2 but the peculiar feature is a splendid dome rising to a height of thirty-three feet from the floor to the upper deck1 and designed to light both the dining-room and the drawing-room on the deck above it4 ,the grand staircase which conducts to these apartments is of teak-wood2 the drawing-room is in satin-wood relieved with cedar and painted frieze panels4 ,the smoking-room on the promenade deck is as unlike a ship's cabin as can be imagined2 it is1 in fact1 a reproduction of an old baronial hall of the ,elizabethan age1 with oaken furniture and carvings4 ,the other public apartments1 library1 boudoir1 c41 are all more remarkable for quiet taste and artistic effect than for the gorgeousness of gilded saloons affected on some lines1 but the prevailing feeling is one of luxurious comfort4 ,the staterooms for first-class passengers occupy the main1 upper1 and promenade decks1 and they are as much like real bedrooms as the old type of 'berths' are not4 ,besides the single bedrooms1 there are suites of rooms for families or parties1 finely appointed with ornamental woods1 rich carpets1 and with brass bedsteads instead of the old wooden bunks4 ,all the sleeping-rooms are as light1 lofty1 and well ventilated as the sleeping-rooms on the old liners were the reverse4 ,the first-class passengers are placed amidships2 the second-class are placed aft2 and the steerage1 forward4 ,the steerage accommodation is superior to anything yet provided in that class2 while the second-class accommodation is quite up to the usual first-class1 with spacious1 beautifully furnished staterooms1 a handsome dining-room in oak1 an elegant drawing-room in satin-wood1 and a cosy smoking-room4 ,indeed1 some of the second-class apartments look as if they were intended to be utilised for first-class passengers in times of extra pressure4 ,these are details of interest to possible passengers and to those who have already experienced the comforts and discomforts of the ,atlantic voyage4 ,but the great interest of the ship1 of course1 is in her immense size and enormous power4 ,the navigating-bridge from which the officer in charge will direct operations1 is no less than sixty feet above the water-level1 and from there one obtains a survey unique of its kind4 ,the towering height1 the vast expanse of deck1 the huge circumference of the funnels1 the forest of ventilators indicative of the hives of industry below1 the great lighthouse structures which take the place of the old angle-bedded side-lights--everything beneath you speaks of power and speed1 of strength and security4 ,the following table shows at a glance how the ,campania compares with her largest predecessors in point of size and power3 ,tonnage4 ,length ,breadth ,horsepower4 in feet4 in feet4 ,great ,eastern #ah1ijj #fhb #hb #g1fej ,britannic #e1jjj #dee #df #e1ejj ,arizona #e1aej #dej #de #f1cjj ,servia #h1ejj #eae #eb #aj1cjj ,alaska #f1djj #ejj #ej #aj1ejj ,city of ,rome #h1jjj #ede #eb #aa1hij ,aurania #g1bgj #dgj #eg #h1ejj ,oregon #g1cge #ejj #ed #g1cge ,america #e1ebh #dcb #ea #g1ced ,umbria #g1gjj #eja #eg #ad1cbj ,etruria #g1hjj #ebj #eg #ad1ejj ,city of ,paris #aj1ejj #efj #fc #ah1ejj ,teutonic #i1hfj #ehb #eg-a_/b #ah1jjj ,normannia ---- #ebj #eg-a_/d #af1cej ,campania ,lucania #ab1iej #fbj #fe #cj1jjj ,as to speed1 the record of course has been broken4 ,in #ahej the average passage of a ,cunarder westward was thirteen days1 and eastward twelve days sixteen hours2 in #ahij1 the average was reduced to seven days fifteen hours twenty-three minutes1 and seven days four hours and fifty-two minutes1 respectively4 ,the fastest individual passages down to #ahia were made by the ,etruria1 westwards in six days one hour and forty-seven minutes2 and by the ,umbria1 eastwards in six days three hours and seventeen minutes4 ,but these were beaten by the ,teutonic1 which reduced the homeward record to five days and twenty-one hours2 and by the ,city of ,paris1 which reduced the outward passage to five days and sixteen hours4 ,roughly speaking1 these new ,cunarders are about ten times the size and forty times the power of the pioneers of the fleet1 and the ,campania will run every twenty minutes almost as many miles as the ,britannia could laboriously make in an hour4 ,is it possible that within the next fifty years we shall be able to make the voyage to ,new ,york in three days8 ,the old ,britannia took fourteen days to ,boston1 and it was not until #aheb that the ten days' record to ,new ,york was broken by the ',collins' ,company4 ,if1 then1 in forty years we reduced the record from ten to five1 who can say that the limit of speed has yet been reached8 ,,sailing-,,ships4 ,a modern sailing-ship replete with labour-saving appliances is a veritable triumph of the naval architect's art1 and an excellent object lesson on man's power over the forces of nature4 ,if ,christopher ,columbus could revisit our planet from the shades1 he would doubtless be astonished by a critical comparison between the tiny wooden caravel with which he discovered a ,new ,world1 and a leviathan four-masted steel sailing-ship1 now navigated in comparative comfort to every possible port where freight is obtainable4 ,wooden cargo-carrying craft impelled by the unbought wind are surely diminishing in numbers2 and in the near future it is not improbable that a stately sailing-ship will be as seldom seen on the waste of waters as a screw steamship was half a century ago4 ,even looking leisurely backward down the imposing vista of the last thirty years of the ,victorian era1 it will be readily perceived with what marvellous mastery iron and steel have supplanted1 not only wood in the hulls1 masts1 and yards of sailing-ships1 but also hemp in their rigging4 ,illustration3 ,clipper ,sailing-ship of #ahej-fj4 ,a radical revolution has been effected in the form1 size1 and construction of these cargo-carriers during such a relatively insignificant interval1 and the end is not yet4 ,the old-fashioned type of wooden merchantman remained practically invariable for more than a hundred years2 but change is all-powerful at present1 so that a vessel is almost of a bygone age before she shall have completed her maiden voyage4 ,it would appear1 however1 that the limit of size has been reached4 ,ship-owning firms and shipbuilders will probably soon be compelled to keep the modern steel sailing-ship within more moderate dimensions4 ,vessels of exceptionally large carrying capacity are in demand owing to the fact that experience proves them to be the best kind for affording a fair return to the capital invested4 ,salvage appliances and docks do not keep pace with the requirements of such leviathans2 so that underwriters evince an increasing dislike to big ships1 and the premium for insurance rises accordingly1 to compensate for extra risk4 ,many mariners and some shipbuilders were at one time quick to express a pronounced opinion that it was quite unnatural for an iron ship to remain afloat4 ,wood was made to swim1 but iron to sink1 said these sincere but mistaken admirers of the good old days4 ,their misgivings have proved to be without foundation in fact1 for iron ships have ousted wooden craft almost utterly from the ocean-carrying traffic4 ,iron has also reached its meridian altitude1 and steel is rapidly rising above the horizon of progress4 ,the shipbuilding yards of ,nova ,scotia1 ,canada1 the ,united ,states of ,america1 and ,british ,columbia1 however1 still launch wooden sailing-vessels1 although in decreasing numbers1 and1 as a rule1 of inconsiderable tonnage4 ,it seems scarcely credible that only as recently as #ahgj there were not more than ten sailing-ships afloat of two thousand tons register and upwards under the red ensign of the ,british mercantile marine4 ,to-day we have more than that number of splendid steel sailing-ships1 each having a register tonnage in excess of three thousand4 ,during the twelve months of #ahib there were turned out from one yard alone on the ,clyde1 that of ,messrs ,russell ,co41 no fewer than thirteen huge sailing-vessels1 varying in register tonnage from two thousand three hundred to three thousand five hundred6 ,one of the largest wooden sailing-ships afloat in #ahgj was the ,british ,empire1 of two thousand seven hundred tons register1 which1 under the command of ,captain ,a4 ,pearson1 was an ark of safety to the families of ,european residents in ,bombay during the ,indian ,mutiny4 ,she had been originally intended for a steamship1 and this will account for her exceptional dimensions4 ,the shipbuilding firm of ,a4 ,sewall ,co41 of ,bath1 ,maine1 ,u4,s4,a41 in #ahhi built the ,rappahannock1 of #cjed tons register2 in #ahij1 the ,shenandoah1 #cbeh tons2 in #ahia1 the ,susquehanna1 #bfbi tons2 and in #ahib1 the ,roanoke1 of #cdjj tons register4 ,several cities claim to be the birthplace of ,homer1 and there exists similar rivalry with respect to the first iron ship4 ,this at least is certain1 that the first iron vessel classed by ,lloyd's was the ,british barque ,ironsides1 in #ahch4 ,she was but #bga tons register4 ,the ,clyde stands facile princeps in this most important branch of industry4 ,vessels built on the banks of that river have rendered a praiseworthy account of themselves on every sea and under every flag4 ,no other country1 save ourselves1 launched any iron or steel ships of #bjjj tons register or above1 but preferred to obtain them from our shipbuilding yards4 ,the so-called protection of native industry principle prevailing in ,america precludes ship-owners over there from taking advantage directly of the cheapest market4 ,several of the large sailers1 however1 built on the ,clyde for citizens of the ,united ,states are therefore necessarily sailed under the ,british1 ,hawaiian1 or some flag other than that of the country to which they actually belong4 ,the number of seamen carried per one hundred tons in the modern four-masted sailing-ship is cut down to the uttermost limit consistent with safety2 and1 as a consequence1 dismasting and tedious passages are not infrequent4 ,the ,hawaiian ,isles1 #bjig tons register1 a ,united ,states ship under a foreign flag1 bound to ,california with a cargo of coal1 found it impossible to weather ,cape ,horn by reason of violent westerly gales4 ,she was turned round1 ran along the lone ,southern ,ocean1 before the 'brave west winds' so admirably described by ,maury1 and eventually reached her destination by the route leading south of ,australia4 ,she was one hundred and eighty-nine days on the passage1 and no fewer than sixty guineas per cent4 had been freely paid for her re-insurance4 ,a similar ship1 the ,john ,ena1 carrying a substantial cargo of #dbbb tons of coal from ,barry to ,san ,francisco1 also encountered bad weather1 made a long passage1 and twenty guineas per cent4 was paid on her for re-insurance4 ,another new ship1 the ,achnashie1 #bdgf tons register1 got into still more serious difficulty under like circumstances4 ,she had to put back to ,cape ,town1 damaged and leaky1 after attempting in vain to contend against the bitter blast off ,cape ,horn4 ,there1 her cargo was discharged1 and she went into dry-dock for the absolutely necessary repairs4 ,the ,austrasia1 #bgah tons register1 was almost totally dismasted near the island of ,tristan da ,cunha1 in the ,south ,atlantic1 on her maiden passage1 while bound from ,liverpool to ,calcutta with a cargo of salt4 ,by dint of sterling seamanship she was brought to ,rio ,janeiro in safety1 returned to ,liverpool under improvised masts1 discharged her cargo1 refitted1 took in quite a different cargo at ,london1 and sailed for ,california4 ,the ,somali1 #cecg tons register1 the largest sailing-ship launched in #ahib1 was dismasted in the ,china ,sea4 ,everything above the lower masts had to be made for her on the ,clyde2 yet1 within fifteen days of the order being received by ,messrs ,russell ,co41 the spars and gear were completed and shipped for passage to the ,somali at ,hong-kong4 ,underwriters suffer severely with such ships4 ,one of the largest sailing-ships afloat is the ,french five-master1 ,la ,france1 launched in #ahij on the ,clyde1 and owned by ,messrs ,a4 ,d4 ,bordes et ,fils1 who possess a large fleet of sailing-vessels4 ,in #ahia she came from ,iquique to ,dunkirk in one hundred and five days with #fjjj tons of nitrate2 yet she was stopped on the ,tyne when proceeding to sea with #eejj tons of coal1 and compelled to take out #ejj tons on the ground that she was overladen4 ,there is not a single five-masted sailing-ship under the ,british flag4 ,the ,united ,states has two five-masters1 the ,louis of #hcj tons1 and the ,gov4 ,ames of #aggh tons1 both fore-and-aft schooners1 a rig peculiar to the ,american coast4 ,ships having five masts can be counted on the fingers of one hand2 but1 strange to say1 the steamship ,coptic1 of the ,shaw1 ,savill1 ,albion ,co41 on her way to ,new ,zealand1 in ,december #ahij1 passed the ,gov4 ,ames in fourteen degrees south1 thirty-four degrees west1 bound for ,california2 and two days later1 in six degrees south1 thirty-one degrees west1 the ,french five-master1 ,la ,france1 bound south4 ,passengers and crew of the ,coptic might travel over many a weary league of sea1 and never again be afforded two such excellent object lessons in the growth of sailing-ships in quick succession4 ,some large sailing-ships experience a decided difficulty in obtaining freights that will repay expenses1 even ignoring a margin for profit1 and we are reluctantly compelled to confess that the days of sailing-ships are almost numbered4 ,the cry for huge sailers is an evidence that steam is determining the dimensions of the most modern cargo-carriers under sail4 ,illustration3 ,la ,france4 ,illustration ,,chapter ,,ix4 ,,post-,,office--,,telegraph--,,telephon e--,,phonograph4 ,rowland ,hill and ,penny ,postage--,a ,visit to the ,post-office--,the ,post-office on ,wheels--,early ,telegraphs--,wheatstone and ,morse--,the ,state and the ,telegraphs--,atlantic ,cables--,telephones--,edison and the ,phonograph4 ,,the ,,story ,,of ,,rowland ,,hill ,,and ,,penny ,,postage4 ,the story of ,penny ,postage and its inception by ,sir ,rowland ,hill is full of romantic interest1 and that great social reform1 introduced more than fifty years ago1 has unquestionably spread its beneficial influence over every country in which a postal system of any kind exists4 ,the ,hill family were1 we know1 in those bygone days far from being well off1 and were often hard put to to find the money to pay the high postage on letters which they received4 ,born in #agie1 ,rowland ,hill was considerably past middle life before he entertained any idea of practising his reforming hand on the ,post-office1 and had passed a busy existence chiefly as a schoolmaster1 in which capacity he had indulged in many schemes1 scholastic and otherwise1 with more or less success4 ,at the time that his attention was first directed to ,post-office matters1 he was employed as ,secretary of the ,commissioners for the ,colonisation of ,south ,australia4 ,he was no doubt attracted to the subject of postal reform by the frequent discussions which were then taking place in parliament in regard to the matter4 ,mr ,wallace of ,kelly1 the member for ,greenock1 who was the champion of the cause in the ,house of ,commons1 was fierce in his denunciation of the existing abuses and irregularities of the post1 and subsequently proved a strong and able advocate of the scheme for postage reform4 ,once arrested by the subject which has since made his life famous1 ,rowland ,hill went to work in a very systematic manner4 ,firstly1 he read very carefully all the ,reports relative to the ,post-office2 then he placed himself in communication with ,mr ,wallace and the ,postmaster-general1 both of whom readily supplied him with all necessary information4 ,in this manner he made himself acquainted with his subject1 with the result that1 in #ahcg1 he published his famous pamphlet on ,post-office ,reform3 its ,importance and ,practicability1 the first edition being circulated privately amongst the members of parliament and official people2 while some months later a second edition was published which was given to the public4 ,we have to remember that at this time the postage charges were enormously high1 that they depended not upon weight alone1 but also upon the number of enclosures1 and that they varied according to distance4 ,thus1 for example1 a letter under one ounce in weight and with one enclosure 7that is1 sheet or scrap of paper7 posted in ,london for delivery within the metropolitan area1 or even1 we believe1 fifteen miles out1 cost #b;d42 if for delivery thirty miles out1 #c;d42 eighty miles out1 #d;d42 and so on4 ,again1 as showing how the charges according to enclosure operated1 a letter with a single enclosure from ,london to ,edinburgh was charged #as4 #a-a_/b;d42 if double1 #bs4 #c;d42 and if treble1 #cs4 #d-a_/b;d4 ,moreover1 the charges were not consistently made1 for whereas an ,edinburgh letter 7posted in ,london7 was charged #as4 #a-a_/b;d41 a letter for ,louth1 which cost the ,post-office fifty times as much as the former letter1 was only charged #aj;d4 ,the public1 however1 found means of their own of remedying the evil1 which1 if not wholly legitimate1 were under the circumstances to be regarded with some degree of leniency4 ,letter-smuggling was a not unnatural result of the high and disproportionate charges referred to1 and was almost openly adopted to an extent that is hardly credible4 ,thus1 many ,manchester merchants--,mr ,cobden amongst the number--stated before the ,post-office ,inquiry ,committee appointed in #ahch1 their belief that four-fifths of the letters written in that town did not pass through the ,post-office4 ,a carrier in ,scotland confessed to having carried sixty letters daily for a number of years1 and knew of others who carried five hundred daily4 ,a ,glasgow publisher and bookseller said he sent and received fifty letters or circulars daily1 and added that he was not caught until he had sent twenty thousand letters otherwise than through the post6 ,there were also other methods of evading the postage rates at work4 ,letters were smuggled in newspapers1 which in these days passed free within a stated period through the post1 the postage being covered by the stamp-duty impressed on the papers4 ,invisible ink1 too1 was used for inditing messages on the newspapers themselves2 while the use of certain pre-arranged codes on the covers of letters was likewise systematically adopted1 the addressees1 after turning the letters over and learning from the covers all they desired to know1 declining to take in the letters on the ground that they could not afford to pay the postage4 ,the system of 'franking' letters in the high-postage days led to an appalling abuse of that privilege1 which belonged to peers and members of the ,house of ,commons4 ,it was no doubt originally allowed to enable members to correspond with their constituents2 but under the circumstances it is perhaps not surprising that the plan soon became abused1 and was ultimately used to cover all kinds of correspondence1 not only members' but other people's as well4 ,at one time1 indeed1 all sorts of curious packages passed free under the franking privilege1 such as dogs1 a cow1 parcels of lace1 bales of stockings1 boxes of medicine1 flitches of bacon1 c4 ,sometimes1 indeed1 franked covers were actually sold2 and they have even been known to be given in lieu of wages to servants1 who speedily converted them into ready money4 ,this abuse1 taken together with the illicit traffic in letters1 so openly and widely carried on1 formed of course a most important argument in favour of the proposals for cheap postage formulated by ,rowland ,hill1 and no doubt did much to damage the cause of his opponents4 ,but there is one other abuse to which ,londoners were subject which may just be mentioned4 ,at that time the ,twopenny ,post was in operation in the ,english metropolis1 and would have fairly served the inhabitants in postal matters if it had not been for the practice which existed of allowing commercial houses and other firms who were willing to pay for the privilege to have their letters picked out from the general heap and delivered by special postmen1 and so enable them to get their correspondence an hour earlier than those who did not pay the 'quarterage1' as it was called1 of five shillings 7per quarter71 and which1 it appears1 went into the pockets of the postmen concerned1 many of whom1 we are told1 and it can easily be understood1 thus made incomes of from three to four hundred pounds a year4 ,however beneficial such a system was to commerce and trade in ,london1 it operated most unfairly on ordinary correspondents1 and it was certainly not the least of the evils which the introduction of ,penny ,postage swept away4 ,it is not necessary to enter at any length into all the arguments that weighed with ,rowland ,hill in propounding his great scheme4 ,it need only be very briefly stated that the great point to which he applied himself was the cost to the ,post-office of receiving1 transmitting1 and delivering a letter4 ,having roughly and1 as subsequently proved1 not inaccurately calculated the average postage at sixpence farthing per letter1 he then went to work to ascertain the expenses of management2 and the result of his investigations showed that1 no matter what distance had to be traversed1 the average cost of each letter to the government was less than one-tenth of a penny6 ,from this there was only one conclusion that could well be forced on his mind1 and that was a uniform rate of postage4 ,having solved this great problem1 there were many other matters of adjustment and improvement to which his attention had to be given4 ,he was1 for example1 not long in deciding that the charge according to enclosures was an iniquitous one1 and that a just and fair tax could only be made according to weight4 ,then1 again1 he clearly saw that the principle of throwing the postage on the recipients of letters was an improper one1 while it was also a burden on the ,post-office employees4 ,the prepayment of postage became necessarily a feature of his plan2 but he experienced some difficulty in arriving at a feasible method of adopting it4 ,at first he considered that this might be carried out by payment of money over the counter2 but he subsequently came to the conclusion that the purposes of the public and the ,post-office would be better served by the use of some kind of stamp or stamped covers for letters1 and this arrangement he brought forward and fully explained before the ,commissioners of ,post-office ,inquiry1 referring to it as ',mr ,knight's excellent suggestion4' ,charles ,knight had suggested the idea of stamps for prepayment in #ahcc-cd4 ,the following extract from the ,commissioners' ,report1 which gives a brief description of the proposed arrangement1 may perhaps be read with interest at the present time3 ',that stamped covers1 or sheets of paper1 or small vignette stamps--the latter1 if used1 to be gummed on the face of the letter--be supplied to the public from the ,stamp-office1 and sold at such a price as to include the postage4 ,letters so stamped to be treated in all respects as franks4 ,that each should have the weight it is entitled to carry legibly printed upon the stamp4 ,that the stamp of the receiving-house should be struck upon the superscription or duty stamp1 to prevent the latter being used a second time4 ,the vignette stamps being portable1 persons could carry them in their pocket-books4' ,the proposed arrangement met with approval from the ,commissioners1 and also from the ,committee on ,postage in #ahcg and #ahch2 and1 in consequence1 the ,penny ,postage ,act of #ahdj contained a clause providing for the use of such stamps and stamped covers4 ,such were the main points of ,rowland ,hill's plan1 which was so logical and reasonable in all its features1 and so intelligible to the popular mind1 that it can be readily understood how heartily it was embraced by the general public4 ,but popular as his scheme was with the mass of the people1 it encountered the bitterest opposition from many quarters2 and in successfully carrying it through1 ,rowland ,hill had1 like most other great reformers1 to overcome huge difficulties and obstacles4 ,it is very amusing at this distance of time1 when we have become so accustomed to the immense advantages of ,penny ,postage as to view them almost as part of the ordinary conditions of life1 to recall some of the arguments used fifty years ago against the measure4 ,lord ,lichfield1 as ,postmaster-general1 in adverting to the scheme in the ,house of ,lords1 described it thus3 ',of all the wild visionary schemes which ,i have ever heard of1 it is the most extravagant2' and endorsed this statement six months later when he had given more attention to the subject1 being 'even still more firmly of the same opinion4' ,on a subsequent occasion he contended that the mails would have to carry twelve times as much in weight as before1 and therefore the charge would be twelve times the amount then paid4 ',the walls of the ,post-office1' he exclaimed1 'would burst2 the whole area in which the building stands would not be large enough to receive the clerks and letters4' ,outside the ,post-office1 too1 as well as by both the government and opposition1 much animosity was exhibited against the proposal4 ,if1 however1 the opposition against the introduction of ,penny ,postage was strong1 the advocacy of the plan was no less powerful1 while1 moreover1 it was thoroughly backed by popular opinion4 ,complaints as to the high rates of postage flowed in1 and parliament was nearly inundated with petitions in favour of the scheme1 which also received much literary support4 ,the ,mercantile ,committee during all the time of agitation actively spread information of the progress of the measure1 with a view to rouse the public to a sense of its importance4 ,the ,post circular kept circulating2 and handbills1 fly-sheets1 and pictorial illustrations were freely distributed4 ,one print took a dramatic form1 representing ',a ,scene at ,windsor ,castle1' in which the ,queen1 being in the ,council ,chamber1 is made to say3 ',mothers pawning their clothes to pay the postage of a child's letter6 ,every subject studying how to evade the postage without caring for the law6'--7,to ,lord ,melbourne73 ',i trust1 my lord1 you have commanded the attendance of the ,postmaster-general and ,mr ,rowland ,hill1 as ,i directed1 in order that ,i may hear the reasons of both about this universal ,penny ,postage plan1 which appears to me likely to remove all these great evils4' ,after the interview takes place1 the ,queen is made to record the opinion that the plan 'would confer a great boon on the poorer classes of my subjects1 and would be the greatest benefit to religion1 morals1 to general knowledge1 and to trade4' ,this jeu d'esprit1 which was published by the ,london ,committee1 was circulated by thousands1 and proved extremely useful in bringing the burning question home in an attractive form to the masses of the nation4 ,the agitation as to ,rowland ,hill's scheme lasted for two years1 and with such vehemence that the period has become an epoch in the history of this country4 ,the end of the story of this memorable reform is soon told2 for an agitation which may be said to have shaken the nation to its core and was felt from end to end of the kingdom could have but one conclusion1 and that a successful one4 ,a ,parliamentary ,committee was appointed to inquire into the whole matter2 and after a session of sixty-three days1 reported in favour of ,penny ,postage4 ,that was in ,august #ahch4 ,next year a ,bill for ,cheap ,postage passed through parliament with slight opposition2 and on the #abth of ,november #ahci the ,treasury issued a ,minute authorising a uniform rate of fourpence for inland letters4 ,this was1 however1 merely a temporary measure1 in which ,rowland ,hill concurred1 and was resorted to chiefly to accustom the ,post-office clerks to a uniform rate and the system of charging by weight4 ,the full measure of the ,penny ,postage scheme was accomplished a few months later on1 when1 on the #ajth of ,january #ahdj1 the uniform rate of ,one ,penny for letters not exceeding half an ounce in weight was officially introduced4 ,such in brief is the story of ,penny ,postage1 which has caused such a revolution not only in the postal arrangements of this country1 but in the conditions of all sections and grades of society4 ,in the first year of its operation the number of letters posted was more than doubled1 the number sent in #ahdj being #afi1jjj1jjj1 as against #hb1jjj1jjj posted in #ahci1 including #f1ejj1jjj letters sent under the franking privilege1 which was abolished with the introduction of the ,penny ,postage system4 ,in #ahea the number of letters posted in ,great ,britain and ,ireland had risen to #fgj1jjj1jjj2 while in #ahie the quantity sent reached the fabulous number of #agga millions1 or about forty-five letters per head of the population4 ,this refers to letters pure and simple4 ,if we take into account post-cards1 newspapers1 book-packets1 c41 the aggregate number of postal packets posted in #ahie will be found to fall not far short of #aacd millions4 ,truly may it be said that the results of ,penny ,postage have been stupendous4 ,but more than this2 the net revenue derived from postage has long1 long since exceeded that which accrued under the old system4 ,the story of ,penny ,postage would be incomplete if we did not add a word as to how the great reformer fared at the hands of his country4 ,with the introduction of his scheme he of course became associated with the ,post-office1 although at first he held a ,treasury appointment1 from which1 however1 after about three years' service1 he was dismissed on the ground that his work was finished4 ,public indignation was aroused at this treatment of one who had already done so much for his country2 and the nation seemed to think that the right place for ,rowland ,hill was at the ,post-office1 where further useful reforms might well be expected to follow from one who had begun so well4 ,at all events1 in #ahdf he was restored to office1 being appointed ,secretary to the ,postmaster-general1 and eight years later he became ,chief ,secretary of the ,post-office1 an appointment which he held for ten years1 when1 from failing health1 he retired with full pay into private life1 full of years and honours4 ,soon after his dismissal from the ,treasury1 a grateful country subscribed and presented him with the sum of fifteen thousand pounds2 and on his retirement1 parliament voted him the sum of twenty thousand pounds4 ,in #ahfj he received at ,her ,majesty's hands the dignity of ,knight ,commander of the ,bath2 and both before and after his retirement he was the recipient of many minor honours4 ,in #ahgi ,sir ,rowland ,hill was presented with the freedom of the ,city of ,london2 but he was an old man then1 and only lived a few months to enjoy this civic honour4 ,he had a public funeral1 and was accorded a niche in the temple of fame at ,westminster4 ,a ,,visit ,,to ,,the ,,post-,,office4 ,without a personal visit to the ,post-office1 it is perhaps difficult to gain any correct impression of its immensity1 or of the perfect discipline and order which prevade the buildings devoted to postal and telegraphic work4 ,it is a visit which should be made by every one interested1 if possible4 ,they would then marvel that we get our letters and papers in the short time we do1 if they were to see the thousands upon thousands that are poured into ,st ,martin's-le-,grand day by day4 ,the ,general ,post-office never sleeps save on ,sunday between twelve and half-past one4 ,the work is never at a standstill4 ,we began our visit to ,st ,martin's-le-,grand by inspecting what is known as the 'blind' department1 where letters with indistinct1 incomplete1 and wrongly spelt addresses are puzzled out by those specially trained in solving such mysteries4 ,scrap-books are kept in this department1 into which the curious and amusing addresses originally inscribed on the face of letters transmitted through the ,post-office are copied and preserved4 ,whilst we were looking at these a post-card was handed in to one of the officials merely addressed ,jackson4 ,whether the sender thought it would go around to the various ,jacksons in ,london1 we know not1 but anyway it was decided to take the trouble to return it to the sender1 advising him that it was insufficiently addressed4 ,the trouble careless persons give the ,post-office is inconceivable1 and the way some try to cheat in the manner of registering letters needs to be seen to be believed4 ,from the 'blind' department we were conducted to the 'hospital1' where badly done up letters and parcels which have come to grief are doctored and made sufficiently secure to reach their destination4 ,when it is recollected that postage is so cheap1 the outside public might at least take the trouble to do up letters and parcels properly without putting the ,post-office to the enormous trouble thus caused--needless trouble sustained without a murmur and without extra charge4 ,some are put into fresh envelopes1 others are sealing-waxed where slits have occurred1 and others are properly tied up with string4 ,all this trouble might be saved by a little forethought on the part of the senders4 ,the number of samples that different firms send through the post each day is astonishing4 ,it is said that #a1ejd1jjj pattern and sample packets are posted annually in the metropolis4 ,in addition to those just mentioned1 alpaca1 corduroy1 gloves1 ribbons1 plush1 whalebone1 muslin1 linen1 biscuits1 oilcakes1 pepper1 yeast1 toilet soap1 sperm candles1 mustard1 raisins1 c1 are sent by sample post4 ,one firm alone posted #abe1dah packets containing spice4 ,the time to visit the sorting process at the ,post-office is between half-past five and eight o'clock in the evening4 ,at closing time the letters are simply poured by thousands into the baskets waiting to receive them1 and each one as soon as full is wheeled off in an instant to the sorters and other officials waiting to deal with them4 ,when they have been deposited on the innumerable tables1 the first process is to face the letters--not so easy a task when the shapes and sizes of the letters are so varied4 ,as soon as the facing process is over1 they are passed as quick as lightning on to the stampers1 who proceed to deface the ,queen's head4 ,the noise whilst this process is being gone through is deafening4 ,some stampers have a hand-machine1 whilst others are making a trial of a treadle stamping-machine which stamps some four hundred letters per minute4 ,from the stampers the letters pass on to the sorters4 ,whilst all this is proceeding1 the visitor should step up into the gallery for a minute or two and look down on the busy scene below4 ,it is a sight well worth seeing and not likely to be forgotten--the thousands of letters heaped on the tables1 and the hundreds of workers as hard at work as it is possible for them to be4 ,the envelopes are separated and placed in the several pigeon-holes which indicate the various directions they are to travel4 ,liverpool1 ,manchester1 ,birmingham1 ,edinburgh1 and ,glasgow have special receptacles for themselves1 as the first three cities have on an average fifteen thousand letters a day despatched to each2 and further1 there are eight despatches a day to these places1 eleven thousand per day go to ,glasgow1 and between eight and nine thousand to ,edinburgh4 ,all official letters--that is1 ',on ,her ,majesty's ,service'--have a special table to themselves4 ,some eighty-nine thousand ,savings-bank books pass through ,st ,martin's-le-,grand daily4 ,some sorters get through between forty and fifty letters a minute1 whilst a new-comer will not be able to manage more than twenty or thirty4 ,the nights on which various mails go out are extra busy ones1 especially ,friday evening1 when the ,indian1 ,chinese1 and ,australian mails are sent4 ,the reduction of the postage has made an enormous difference in the contents of the mail-bags to these parts of the world4 ,it may be interesting here to note how the mails are dealt with at ,brindisi4 ,van after van conveys the mail-bags from the train to the ship1 where two gangways are put off from the shore to the ship's side4 ,lascars run up one and down the other with the bags4 ,each lascar has a smooth flat stick like a ruler1 and as he deposits his mail-bag on a long bench over the hold1 he gives up his stick to a man standing by4 ,when five lascars have arrived1 the sticks go into one compartment of a small wooden box2 and when the box is full--that is1 when a hundred have been put in--the box is carried off and another brought forward4 ,three hundred and ninety-two bags is a good average1 and they take just under forty minutes to put on board4 ,the ,french and ,italian mails are included in these2 but no other ,european mails go by the ,peninsular and ,oriental ,company4 ,at ,aden1 two sorters come on board and spend their days in some postal cabins sorting the mails for the different parts of ,india1 c4 ,the bags in which these mails are enclosed are only used once4 ,they are made in one of our convict prisons1 and fresh ones are distributed each week both outward and homeward4 ,turning from the ,general ,post-office ,south1 which is now exclusively utilised for letters and papers1 we proceed to the ,general ,post-office ,north1 which is devoted solely to the telegraph department4 ,the ,savings-bank department was originally in the same building as the telegraph2 but owing to the rapid increase in both departments1 the ,savings-bank has been removed to ,queen ,victoria ,street4 ,coldbath-,fields ,prison was converted into a home for the ,parcel ,post4 ,some three thousand male and female clerks are employed in the telegraph department alone4 ,the top floor of the building is devoted to the metropolitan districts4 ,a telegram sent from one suburb of ,london to another is bound to pass through ,st ,martin's-le-,grand2 it cannot be sent direct4 ,the second floor deals with the provinces4 ,the pneumatic tube is now used a great deal2 and by means of it some fifty telegrams can be sent on at once1 and not singly1 as would be the case if the telegraphic instrument was the only instrument in use4 ,the tube is mostly used at the branch offices4 ,the press is a great user both of the postal and telegraphic department4 ,in the postal department the representatives can call for letters at any hour1 provided their letters are enclosed in a distinctive-coloured envelope1 such as bright red or orange4 ,of course this privilege has to be paid for4 ,in the telegraph department the press can obtain their 'private wires' after six in the evening1 as the wires are no longer required for commercial purposes4 ,the plan adopted in sending the same message to every provincial town which has a daily journal is the following3 all along the route the operators are advised of the fact1 and whilst the message is only actually delivered at its final destination1 the words are caught as they pass each town by means of the 'sounder4' ,by this ingenious arrangement1 dozens of towns are placed in direct communication with the central office whence the message is despatched4 ,to carry on our telegraphic arrangements three miles of shelves are needed1 on which are deposited forty thousand batteries4 ,,the ,,post-,,office ,,on ,,wheels4 ,the particular portion of the ',post-office on ,wheels' which we purpose describing is the ,special ,mail which leaves ,london from ,euston ,station daily4 ,we have selected this mail1 not only because all the duties appertaining to the ,travelling ,post-office are performed therein1 but also because it is the most important mail in the ,united ,kingdom1 probably in the whole world4 ,in the ,special ,mail1 the post-office vehicles are forty-two feet in length1 and one of thirty-two feet4 ,there is a gangway communication between all the carriages1 so that the officers on duty can pass from one to another throughout the entire length without going outside4 ,all the carriages are lighted with gas4 ,the pair-horse vans which convey the ,london bags for provincial towns come dashing into the station in rapid succession1 and as there are only fifteen minutes before the train starts1 no time is to be lost4 ,the bags are quickly removed from the vans1 the name of each being called out in the process1 thus enabling an officer who stands near to tick them off on a printed list with which he is provided4 ,they are then stowed away in the respective carriages in appointed places4 ,having proceeded to the principal sorting carriage1 we see that there are some thousands of the letters which have come from the ,london offices still to be disposed of4 ,they lie on the desks in large bundles2 but every minute there is a perceptible diminution of their numbers by means of the vigorous attacks of the men engaged4 ,from end to end of one side of the carriage--that farthest from the platform--rows of sorting-boxes1 or 'pigeon-holes1' are fixed nearly up to the roof1 starting from the sorting-table1 which is about three feet from the floor4 ,the boxes into which the ordinary letters are sorted are divided into sets1 numbered consecutively from #a to #de1 and one sorter works at each set4 ,the numbers on the boxes are in accordance with a prescribed plan1 each number representing the names of certain towns1 and into such boxes the letters for those towns are sorted4 ,the plan mentioned is carried out as follows3 ,suppose we say that ,no4 #aj represents ,rugby1 of course when the mail-bag for that town is despatched the box is empty4 ,it is then used1 say1 for ,crewe1 and when the bag for that place is gone the box again becomes empty4 ,it is then used for some other town farther down the line1 and so on to the end of the journey4 ,the set of boxes nearest the fore-end of the carriage is used by the officer who deals with the registered letters4 ,this set can be closed by means of a revolving shutter1 which is fitted with a lock and key2 so that1 should the registered-letter officer have to quit his post for any purpose1 he can secure the contents of his boxes1 and so feel satisfied that they are in a safe place4 ,this officer also disposes of all the letter-bills on which the addresses of the registered letters are advised4 ,the set of boxes into which the newspapers and book packets are sorted is about twice the size of an ordinary letter set1 and occupies the centre part of the whole box arrangement4 ,this space is assigned to the newspaper boxes for two reasons3 the set is exactly opposite the doorway through which the bags are taken in at the stopping station1 so that they lie on the floor behind the sorter who opens them2 he has therefore simply to turn round and pick them up one by one as he requires them1 thereby saving both time and labour4 ,again1 as the bags are opened1 the bundles of letters which are labelled ,no4 #a and ,no4 #b respectively1 in accordance with the list supplied to postmasters for their guidance1 have to be distributed to the letter-sorters--,no4 #a bundles to the left1 ,no4 #b to the right2 and this distribution could not be so conveniently performed with the newspaper or bag-opening table placed in a different position4 ,most of the newspaper boxes1 as we have said1 are about twice the size of a letter box2 some1 however1 such as those used for large towns like ,liverpool1 ,manchester1 ,birmingham1 c41 are four times the size2 and the necessity for this can be readily understood4 ,we will now look at the other side of the carriage--or that nearest the platform4 ,along the whole length of that side1 strong iron pegs are fixed about an inch apart1 and on these pegs the bags to be made up and despatched on the way are hung4 ,most of the bags used in the ,travelling ,post-office are of one size--three feet six inches long1 and two feet four inches wide2 but for the large towns1 bags of greater dimensions are required4 ,each bag is distinctly marked on both sides with the name of the town to which it is to be forwarded1 the letters forming the name being an inch and a quarter in length4 ,the name is also stencilled inside the mouth of the bag1 so that the sorter has it immediately before his eyes when putting the letters1 c41 away4 ,on reaching its destination the bag is emptied of its contents1 is turned inside out1 and then the name of the ,travelling ,post-office from which it was received appears in view4 ,the bag is then folded up and kept ready for the return despatch on the following night4 ,in this way it passes and repasses until it is worn out1 when it is withdrawn1 and a new one takes its place4 ,we will now assume the train is fairly on its way1 and that we are approaching ,harrow1 the first station at which the mail-bags are received by means of the apparatus4 ,as the machinery constituting the apparatus is of great importance in the system of working1 we shall here endeavour to describe it4 ,we may say that the apparatus in the ,special ,mail is worked in a separate carriage which runs immediately behind the one to which we have referred in the preceding details4 ,a large and very strong net is firmly fixed on the side of the carriage on the near end1 and the woodwork being cut away1 an aperture is formed through which the pouches containing the bags are taken into the carriage4 ,the net is raised or lowered by pressing down a lever very similar in structure and appearance to the levers which are seen in a signalman's cabin4 ,when the net is lowered1 a strong rope is seen to stretch across from the fore-part1 and this rope1 being held in position by a chain attached to the back-part of the net1 forms what is called a detaching line in the shape of the letter ,v placed thus1 2 and as the carriage travels along1 the rope at the point forming the angle strikes the suspended pouch1 and detaches it from the standard1 when it falls into the net1 and is removed by the officer attending to the apparatus4 ,the machinery is also arranged so that a bag can be despatched as well as received4 ,a man doing this work should possess keen eyes1 steady nerves1 and a full average amount of strength4 ,on a dark or foggy night it is difficult to see the objects which serve as guides to the whereabouts of the train1 and which are technically known in the office as 'marks4' ,the net is now lowered for the receipt at ,harrow4 ,in a second or two1 a tremendous thud is heard1 and a large pouch comes crashing into the carriage through the aperture1 the men meanwhile keeping a respectful distance4 ,i should perhaps explain that in the ,special ,mail a new form of net is used4 ,the bottom of it is flush with the carriage floor1 and as the lower portion is constructed with an angle of about forty-five degrees1 the pouches roll into the carriage by their own weight4 ,we will now see what the pouch from ,harrow contains4 ,it is quickly unstrapped2 the bags are taken out2 and it is then laid aside1 to be used for despatch at a subsequent station4 ,there are three bags for the ,travelling ,post-office received in this pouch--two containing correspondence for ,england and ,scotland1 and one for ,ireland4 ,the bags are immediately opened by the proper officers4 ,the first duty is to find the letter-bill2 and if there are any registered letters1 to compare them with the entries on the bill1 when1 if correct1 the bill is signed and passed over1 together with the registered letters1 to the officer who disposes of that class of correspondence1 and by whom an acknowledgment of the receipt of the letters is at once given to the bag-opener4 ,it is in this way that a hand-to-hand check is established which ensures the practical safety of such letters4 ,the bag-opener then proceeds to pick out from amongst the mass of correspondence the bundles of ordinary letters1 and to pass them to the right or left according as they are labelled ,no4 #a or ,no4 #b4 ,these bundles are cut open by the respective sorters who work at the several sets of boxes1 the letters being laid in a row on the desk1 and the men then proceed to sort them in accordance with the addresses they bear4 ,as the boxes 7each of which will hold about one hundred and fifty7 become full1 the letters are tied up securely in bundles1 and the sorters1 turning round1 drop them into the bags which hang along the other side of the carriage4 ,and so the work goes on in the same way throughout the entire journey4 ,let us now try to show to how great an extent the ,travelling ,post-office has contributed to the acceleration of correspondence from place to place4 ,on an examination of the letters received from ,harrow1 it is found that there are three for ,aberdeen2 and a similar number for that city will be received from the several towns between ,london and ,rugby1 and so on4 ,of course1 the number of letters mentioned would not be sufficient for a direct bag between each of these places and ,aberdeen2 but the small numbers referred to being brought together in the ,travelling ,post-office1 it is found that when the train arrives at ,carlisle a sufficient amount of correspondence for the northern city has been received to fill a large bag4 ,this bag is therefore closed at that point1 and a fresh one hung up1 to contain the correspondence for that city received northwards of ,carlisle4 ,the same may be said of the other large towns in ,scotland4 ,now1 if there were no ,travelling ,post-office1 how would the few letters for ,aberdeen emanating from the various towns in ,england be dealt with8 ,in the first place1 they would have to be picked up by a stopping train1 and even if this train ran direct to ,aberdeen1 there would be a difference in the time of arrival of at least eight hours4 ,but the letters could not go direct in such a case1 as that would mean the making-up of separate bags at each place2 and we have already shown that the letters are too few in number to justify such an arrangement4 ,they would have to be collected at some central office1 say at ,birmingham1 where they would of necessity be detained some time2 so that altogether it is probable they would not arrive at their destination early enough to be delivered on the day following that of posting4 ,what1 however1 is the case now8 ,thanks to the ,travelling ,post-office with its mail-bag apparatus1 the letters are whirled along at close upon fifty miles an hour without intermission1 thus admitting of the delivery of letters from ,london at so remote a place as ,aberdeen long before noon on the following day4 ,we will now assume that the train has arrived at ,rugby--the distance eighty-four miles4 ,at this station mails for ,coventry1 ,birmingham1 c41 are left to be forwarded by a branch train4 ,after a stop of four minutes1 the train again speeds on its way1 the next stopping-place being ,tamworth4 ,here a large number of mail-bags are despatched1 including those for the ,midland ,travelling ,post-office1 going north to ,newcastle-on-,tyne1 which serves ,derbyshire1 ,yorkshire1 and the whole country-side bordering on the north-east coast2 for the ,shrewsbury mail-train1 which serves the whole of ,mid-,wales2 and for the ,lincoln mail-train1 which serves ,nottinghamshire and ,lincolnshire4 ,the next halt is at ,crewe1 where formerly a large exchange of bags took place1 having been passed without stopping4 ,crewe is1 for ,travelling ,post-office purposes1 by far the most important junction in the kingdom4 ,within three hours--that is1 between half-past eleven at night and half-past two in the morning--over a dozen mail-trains1 each with sorting-carriages attached1 arrive and depart2 whilst the weight of mails exchanged here within the hours mentioned is not less than twenty tons4 ,a great amount of labour is involved in receiving and delivering such an immense weight of bags1 the work being all done by hand1 and the mail-porters have to exercise great care in keeping them in proper course for the respective trains4 ,nevertheless1 these responsible duties are remarkably well performed1 mistakes very rarely occurring4 ,the ,irish mail which runs from ,london to ,holyhead1 and in which correspondence for ,ireland is almost exclusively dealt with1 branches off at ,crewe1 the remainder of the journey being run by way of ,chester and ,north ,wales4 ,leaving ,warrington1 the next stoppage is at ,wigan4 ,here the mails for ,liverpool are despatched1 and the receipt includes bags which have been brought through a long line of country1 stretching from ,newcastle-on-,tyne through ,york1 ,normanton1 and ,stalybridge1 and thence to ,wigan4 ,the mails for ,preston and ,east ,lancashire are left at ,preston1 and1 running through ,lancaster1 ,carnforth is soon reached4 ,at this station the mails for ,north-west ,lancashire and ,west ,cumberland are despatched1 and this is the last stopping-place before arriving at ,carlisle1 which is the terminal point of the ,north-,western ,railway4 ,mention should be made of the noteworthy despatch of mails by apparatus at ,oxenholme1 the junction for ,kendal1 ,windermere1 and the ,lake ,district4 ,it is the largest despatch by that method in the kingdom1 as many as nine pouches being delivered into two nets4 ,each pouch at this station weighs on an average fifty pounds1 so that altogether four hundred and fifty pounds of mail-matter is despatched at this one station--no inconsiderable feat4 ,at ,carlisle the mails for the ,waverley route country and for the whole of the south-west of ,scotland1 including ,ayrshire1 are left4 ,there is another long run over the ,caledonian ,railway--about seventy-eight miles--without a stop1 the apparatus being worked seven times in that distance until ,carstairs is reached4 ,here1 one of the sorting-carriages is detached1 and proceeds to ,edinburgh2 and a few miles farther on three more are detached1 and proceed to ,glasgow from ,holytown ,junction4 ,from that point1 therefore1 only two sorting-carriages remain in the train1 and these go on to ,aberdeen4 ,the next stop is at ,stirling1 where the bags for the ,western ,highlands are left2 and we then run on to ,perth4 ,at ,perth1 the mails for ,dundee and the northern ,highlands are despatched1 the latter being forwarded by a mail-train which runs on the ,highland ,railway via ,inverness4 ,again the ,special ,mail starts on its way1 there being only one stop--at ,forfar--before arriving at ,aberdeen1 where the journey ends4 ,here the last bags are despatched4 ,the carriage is clear4 ,the sorting-boxes are carefully searched1 to see that no letters have been left in them2 and the carriage is then taken charge of by the railway officials1 to be thoroughly cleansed and made ready for the return journey on the following day4 ,the duties on the way to ,london are performed in a precisely similar manner to those on the journey northwards4 ,,early ,,telegraphs4 ,the ancient ,greeks and ,romans practised telegraphy with the help of pots filled with straw and twigs saturated in oil1 which1 being placed in rows1 expressed certain letters according to the order in which they were lighted2 but the only one of their contrivances that merits a detailed description was that invented by a ,grecian general named ,aeneas1 who flourished in the time of ,aristotle1 intended for communication between the generals of an army4 ,it consisted of two exactly similar earthen vessels1 filled with water1 each provided with a cock that would discharge an equal quantity of water in a given time1 so that the whole or any part of the contents would escape in precisely the same period from both vessels4 ,on the surface of each floated a piece of cork supporting an upright1 marked off into divisions1 each division having a certain sentence inscribed upon it4 ,one of the vessels was placed at each station2 and when either party desired to communicate1 he lighted a torch1 which he held aloft until the other did the same1 as a sign that he was all attention4 ,on the sender of the message lowering or extinguishing his torch1 each party immediately opened the cock of his vessel1 and so left it until the sender relighted his torch1 when it was at once closed4 ,the receiver then read the sentence on the division of the upright that was level with the mouth of the vessel1 and which1 if everything had been executed with exactness1 corresponded with that of the sender1 and so conveyed the desired intimation4 ,we must here pause a moment to point out one great advantage that this contrivance1 simple as it undoubtedly was1 will be seen to possess over the more scientific ones that follow1 and that was1 its equal efficacy in any sort of country and in any position1 whether on a plain1 on the summit of a hill1 or in a sequestered valley4 ,to descend to more modern times4 ,kessler in his ,concealed ,arts advised the cutting out of characters in the bottom of casks1 which would appear luminous when a light was placed inside4 ,in the ,spectator of ,december #f1 #agaa1 there is an extract from ,strada1 an ,italian historian1 who published his ,prolusiones ,academicae in #afag4 ,in the passage referred to1 the modern system of telegraphy is curiously indicated4 ,it is as follows3 ',strada1 in one of his ,prolusions1 gives an account of a chimerical correspondence between two friends by the help of a certain loadstone1 which had such virtue in it1 that if it touched two several needles1 when one of the needles so touched began to move1 the other1 though at never so great a distance1 moved at the same time and in the same manner4 ,he tells us that the two friends1 being each of them possessed of one of these needles1 made a kind of dial-plate1 inscribing it with the four-and-twenty letters1 in the same manner as the hours of the day are marked upon the ordinary dial-plate4 ,they then fixed one of the needles on each of these plates in such a manner that it could move round without impediment so as to touch any of the four-and-twenty letters4 ,upon their separating from one another into distant countries1 they agreed to withdraw themselves punctually into their closets at a certain hour of the day1 and to converse with one another by means of this their invention4 ,accordingly1 when they were some hundred miles asunder1 each of them shut himself up in his closet at the time appointed1 and immediately cast his eye upon his dial-plate4 ,if he had a mind to write anything to his friend1 he directed his needle to every letter that formed the words which he had occasion for1 making a little pause at the end of every word or sentence1 to avoid confusion4 ,the friend1 in the meanwhile1 saw his own sympathetic needle moving of itself to every letter which that of his correspondent pointed at4 ,by this means they talked together across a whole continent1 and conveyed their thoughts to one another in an instant over cities or mountains1 seas or deserts4 ,it was not till near the close of the seventeenth century that a really practical system of visual signalling from hill to hill was introduced by ,dr ,hooke1 whose attention had been turned to the subject at the siege of ,vienna by the ,turks4 ,he erected on the top of several hills having a sky-line background three high poles or masts1 connected at their upper ends by a cross-piece4 ,the space between two of these poles was filled in with timbers to form a screen1 behind which the various letters were hung in order on lines1 and1 by means of pulleys1 run out into the clear space between the other two1 when they stood out clear against the sky-line4 ,the letters were thus run out and back again in the required order of spelling1 and were divided into day and night letters--the former being made of deals1 the latter with the addition of links or lights2 besides which there were certain conventional characters to represent such sentences as1 ',i am ready to communicate1' ',i am ready to receive4' ,in his description of the device1 read before the ,royal ,society on the #bast of ,may #afhd1 ,dr ,hooke1 after claiming for it the power of transmitting messages to a station thirty or forty miles distant1 said3 ',for the performance of this we must be beholden to a late invention1 which we do not find any of the ancients knew2 that is1 the eye must be assisted with telescopes1 that whatever characters are exposed at one station may be made plain and distinguishable at the other4' ,a cipher code was subsequently added by an ingenious ,frenchman named ,amontons4 ,in #agfg we find ,mr ,richard ,l4 ,edgeworth1 the father of ,maria ,edgeworth1 employing the sails of a common windmill for communicating intelligence1 by an arranged system of signals according to the different positions of the arms4 ,the signals were made to denote numbers1 the corresponding parties being each provided with a dictionary in which the words were numbered--the system in vogue for our army-signalling till #ahga1 when the ,morse alphabet was substituted for it4 ,a great stride was made in #agic by ,m4 ,chappe1 a citizen of ,paris1 when the ,french ,revolution directed all the energies of that nation to the improvement of the art of war2 reporting on whose machine to the ,french ,convention in ,august of the following year1 ,barere remarked3 ',by this invention1 remoteness and distance almost disappear1 and all the communications of correspondence are effected with the rapidity of the twinkling of an eye4' ,it consisted of a strong wooden mast some twenty-five feet high1 with a cross-beam twelve feet by nine inches jointed on to its top1 so as to be movable about its centre like a scale-beam1 and could thus be placed horizontally1 vertically1 or anyhow inclined by means of cords4 ,to each end of this cross-beam was affixed a short vertical indicator about four feet long1 which likewise turned on pivots by means of cords1 and to the end of each was attached a counterweight1 almost invisible at a distance1 to balance the weight of it4 ,this machine could be made to assume certain positions which represented or were symbolical of letters of the alphabet4 ,in working1 nothing depended on the operator's manual skill1 as the movements were regulated mechanically4 ,the time taken up for each movement was twenty seconds1 of which the actual motion occupied four2 during the other sixteen1 the telegraph was kept stationary1 to allow of its being distinctly observed and the letter written down by those at the next station4 ,all the parts were painted dark brown1 that they might stand out well against the sky2 and three persons were required at each station1 one to manipulate the machine1 another to read the messages through a telescope1 and the third to transfer them to paper1 or repeat them to ,no4 #a to send on4 ,the first machine of this kind was erected on the roof of the ,paris ,louvre1 to communicate with the army which was then stationed near ,lille1 between which places intermediate ones from nine to twelve miles apart were erected1 the second being at ,montmartre4 ,the different limbs were furnished with argand lamps for night-work4 ,shortly after this1 our own government set up lines of communication from the ,admiralty to ,deal1 ,portsmouth1 and other points on the coast1 which we find thus reported in the ,annual ,register for #agif3 ,march #bhth4 ',a telegraph was this day erected over the ,admiralty1 which is to be the point of communication with all the different sea-ports in the kingdom4 ,the nearest telegraph to ,london has hitherto been in ,st ,george's ,fields2 and to such perfection has this ingenious and useful contrivance been already brought1 that one day last week information was conveyed from ,dover to ,london in the space of only seven minutes4 ,the plan proposed to be adopted in respect to telegraphs is yet only carried into effect between ,london and ,dover2 but it is intended to extend all over the kingdom4 ,the importance of this speedy communication must be evident to every one2 and it has this advantage1 that the information conveyed is known only to the person who sends and to him who receives it4 ,the intermediate posts have only to answer and convey the signals4' ,the machines used consisted of three masts connected by a top-piece4 ,the spaces between the masts were divided into three horizontally1 and in each partition a large wooden octagon was fixed1 poised upon a horizontal axis across its centre1 so that it could be made to present either its surface or its edge to the observer4 ,the octagons were turned by means of cranks upon the ends of the axles1 from which cords descended into a cabin below4 ,by the changes in the position of these six octagonal boards1 thirty-six changes were easily exhibited1 and the signal to represent any letter or number made3 thus1 one board being turned into a horizontal position so as to expose its edge1 while the other five remained shut or in a vertical position1 might stand for ,a1 two of them only in a horizontal position for ,b1 three for ,c1 and so on4 ,it was1 however1 found that the octagons were less evident to the eye at a distance than the indicators of ,chappe's machine1 requiring the stations to be closer together2 nor could this telegraph be made to change its direction1 so that it could only be seen from one particular point1 which necessitated having a separate machine at the ,admiralty for each line1 as well as an additional one at every branch-point4 ,it was1 moreover1 too bulky and of a form unsuitable for illumination at night4 ,here we may notice that in #ahja ,mr ,john ,boaz of ,glasgow obtained a patent for a telegraph which effected the signal by means of twenty-five lamps arranged in five rows of five each1 so as to form a square4 ,each lamp was provided with a blind1 with which its light could be obscured1 so that they could be made to exhibit letters and figures by leaving such lamps only visible as were necessary to form the character4 ,the next improvement again came from ,france1 in #ahjf1 when an entirely new set of telegraphs on the following principle was established along the whole extent of the coast of the ,french empire4 ,a single upright pole was provided with three arms1 each movable about an axis at one end--one near the head1 the other two at points lower down1 all painted black1 with their counterpoises white1 so as to be invisible a short way off4 ,each arm could assume six different positions--one straight out on either side of the pole1 two at an angle of forty-five degrees above this line1 and two at forty-five degrees below it4 ,the arm near the head could be made to exhibit seven positions1 the seventh being the vertical2 but as this might have been mistaken for part of the pole1 it was not employed4 ,the number of combinations or different signals that could be rendered by this machine1 employing only three objects1 was consequently three hundred and forty-two against sixty-three by that of our ,admiralty just described1 and which employed six objects4 ,it was not long1 however1 before we copied the advancement of our neighbours across the ,channel1 and in some respects improved upon it1 the main differences being that only two arms were employed--one at the top1 the other half-way down1 and that the mast was made to revolve on a vertical axis1 so that the arms could be rendered visible from any desired quarter4 ,its mechanism1 the invention of ,sir ,home ,popham1 enabled the arms to be moved by means of endless screws worked by iron spindles from below1 a vast improvement on the old cords1 the more so as they worked inside the mast1 which was hollow1 hexagonal in section1 and framed of six boards bound together by iron hoops1 and were thus protected from the weather4 ,inside the cabin he erected two dials1 one for each arm1 each having an index finger that worked simultaneously with its corresponding arm above1 on the same principle as the little semaphore models to be seen nowadays in our railway signal cabins4 ,we have now described the most prominent of the numerous contrivances which1 prior to the application of electricity to that end1 were devised and made use of for telegraphic communication1 all of which1 unlike that subtle power that is not afraid of the dark and can travel in all weathers1 possessed a common weakness in their liability to failure through atmospheric causes1 fog1 mist1 and haze4 ,to us who live in this age of electrical marvels1 when that particular science more than all others progresses by leaps and bounds1 it appears passing strange and almost incredible that so many years were allowed to elapse before the parents of the electric telegraph1 the electrical machine and magnetic compass1 were joined in wedlock to produce their amazing progeny1 which now enables all mankind1 however distant1 to hold rapid1 soft1 and easy converse4 ,,the ,,telegraph ,,of ,,to-,,day4 ,a veil of mystery still hangs around the first plan for an electric telegraph1 communicated to the ,scots ,magazine for #agec by one ',c4 ,m4' of ,renfrew4 ,even the name of this obscure and modest genius is doubtful2 but it is probable that he was ,charles ,morrison1 a native of ,greenock1 who was trained as a surgeon4 ,at this period only the electricity developed by friction was available for the purpose1 and being of a refractory nature1 there was no practical result4 ,but after ,volta had invented the chemical generator or voltaic pile in the first year of our century1 and ,oersted1 in #ahbj1 had discovered the influence of the electric current on a magnetic needle1 the illustrious ,laplace suggested to ,ampere1 the famous electrician1 that a working telegraph might be produced if currents were conveyed to a distance by wires1 and made to deflect magnetic needles1 one for every letter of the alphabet4 ,this was in the year #ahbj2 but it was not until sixteen years later that the idea was put in practice4 ,in #ahcf ,mr ,william ,fothergill ,cooke1 an officer of the ,madras army1 at home on furlough1 was travelling in ,germany1 and chanced to see at the university of ,heidelberg1 in the early part of ,march1 an experimental telegraph1 fitted up between the study and the lecture theatre of the ,professor of ,natural ,philosophy4 ,it was based on the principle of ,laplace and ,ampere1 and consisted of two electric circuits and a pair of magnetic needles which responded to the interruptions of the current4 ,mr ,cooke was struck with this device2 but it was only during his journey from ,heidelberg to ,frankfort on the #agth of the month1 while reading ,mrs ,mary ,somerville's book on the ,correlation of the ,physical ,sciences1 that the notion of his practical telegraph flashed upon his mind4 ,sanguine of success1 he abandoned his earlier pursuits and devoted all his energies to realise his invention4 ,the following year he associated himself with ,professor ,wheatstone2 a joint patent was procured2 and the ,cooke and ,wheatstone needle telegraph was erected between the ,euston ,square and ,camden ,town stations of the ,london and ,birmingham ,railway4 ,to test the working of the instruments through a longer distance1 several miles of wire were suspended in the carriage-shed at ,euston1 and included in the circuit4 ,all being ready1 the trial was made on the evening of the #beth of ,july #ahcg1 a memorable date4 ,some friends of the inventors were present1 including ,mr ,george ,stephenson and ,mr ,isambard ,brunel1 the celebrated engineers4 ,mr ,cooke1 with these1 was stationed at ,camden ,town1 and ,mr ,wheatstone at ,euston ,square4 ,the latter struck the key and signalled the first message4 ,instantly the answer came on the vibrating needles1 and their hopes were realised4 ',never1' said ,professor ,wheatstone--'never did ,i feel such a tumultuous sensation before1 as when1 all alone in the still room1 ,i heard the needles click2 and as ,i spelled the words ,i felt all the magnitude of the invention1 now proved to be practical beyond cavil or dispute4' ,it was in #ahcb1 during a voyage from ,havre to ,new ,york in the packet ,sully1 that ,mr ,s4 ,f4 ,b4 ,morse1 then an artist1 conceived the idea of the electro-magnetic marking telegraph1 and drew a design for it in his sketch-book4 ,but it was not until the beginning of #ahch that he and his colleague1 ,mr ,alfred ,vail1 succeeded in getting the apparatus to work4 ,judge ,vail1 the father of ,alfred1 and proprietor of the ,speedwell ironworks1 had found the money for the experiments2 but as time went on and no result was achieved1 he became disheartened1 and perhaps annoyed at the sarcasms of his neighbours1 so that the inventors were afraid to meet him4 ',i recall vividly1' says ,mr ,baxter1 'even after the lapse of so many years1 the proud moment when ,alfred said to me1 ,william1 go up to the house and invite father to come down and see the telegraph-machine work4 ,i did not stop to don my coat1 although it was the #fth of ,january1 but ran in my shop-clothes as fast as ,i possibly could4 ,it was just after dinner when ,i knocked at the door of the house1 and was ushered into the sitting-room4 ,the judge had on his broad-brimmed hat and surtout1 as if prepared to go out2 but he sat before the fireplace1 leaning his head on his cane1 apparently in deep meditation4 ,as ,i entered his room he looked up and said1 ,well1 ,william8 and ,i answered3 ,mr ,alfred and ,mr ,morse sent me to invite you to come down to the room and see the telegraph-machine work4 ,he started up1 as if the importance of the message impressed him deeply2 and in a few minutes we were standing in the experimental room4 ,after a short explanation1 he called for a piece of paper1 and writing upon it the words1 ,a patient waiter is no loser1 he handed it to ,alfred1 saying1 ,if you can send this1 and ,mr ,morse can read it at the other end1 ,i shall be convinced4 ,the message was received by ,morse at the other end1 and handed to the judge1 who1 at this unexpected triumph1 was overcome by his emotions4' ,the practical value of the invention was soon realised2 by #ahdj telegraph lines were being made in civilised countries1 and ere long extended into the network of lines which now encircle the globe and bring the remotest ends of the earth into direct and immediate communication4 ,,atlantic ,,cables4 ,a year or two before the first attempt to lay an ,atlantic cable1 there were only eighty-seven nautical miles of submarine cables laid2 now1 the total length of these wonderful message-carriers under the waves is over #afj1ejj ,english statute miles4 ,there are now fourteen cables crossing the ,atlantic1 which are owned by six different companies4 ,the charter which ,mr ,cyrus ,w4 ,field obtained for the ,new ,york1 ,newfoundland1 and ,london ,telegraph ,company was granted in the year #ahed4 ,it constructed the land-line telegraph in ,newfoundland1 and laid a cable across the ,gulf of ,st ,lawrence2 but this was only the commencement of the work4 ,soundings of the sea were needed2 electricians had to devise forms of cable most suitable2 engineers to consider the methods of carrying and of laying the cable2 and capitalists had to be convinced that the scheme was practicable1 and likely to be remunerative2 whilst governments were appealed to for aid4 ,great ,britain readily promised aid2 but the ,united ,states ,senate passed the needful ,bill by a majority of one4 ,but when the first ,atlantic cable expedition left the coast of ,kerry1 it was a stately squadron of ,british and ,american ships of war1 such as the ,niagara and the ,agamemnon1 and of merchant steamships4 ,the ,lord-lieutenant of ,ireland1 ,directors of the ,atlantic ,telegraph ,company1 and of ,british railways1 were there1 with representatives of several nations2 and when the shore-end had been landed at ,valentia1 the expedition left the ,irish coast in ,august #aheg4 ,when #cce miles of the cable had been laid1 it parted1 and high hopes were buried many fathoms below the surface4 ,the first expedition of #aheh also failed2 the second one was successful2 and on the #afth of ,august in that year1 ,queen ,victoria congratulated the ,president of the ,united ,states 'upon the successful completion of this great international work2' and ,president ,buchanan replied1 trusting that the telegraph might 'prove to be a bond of perpetual peace and friendship between the kindred nations4' ,but after a few weeks' work1 the cable gave its last throb1 and was silent4 ,not until #ahfe was another attempt made1 and then the cable was broken after #abjj miles had been successfully laid4 ,then1 at the suggestion of ,mr 7afterwards ,sir7 ,daniel ,gooch1 the ,anglo-,american ,telegraph ,company was formed2 and on #acth ,july #ahff another expedition left ,ireland2 and towards the end of the month1 the ,great ,eastern glided calmly into ,heart's ,content1 'dropping her anchor in front of the telegraph house1 having trailed behind her a chain of two thousand miles1 to bind the ,old ,world to the ,new4' ,but the success of the year was more than the mere laying of a cable3 the ,great ,eastern was able1 in the words of the late ,lord ,iddesleigh1 to complete the 'laying of the cable of #ahff1 and the recovering that of #ahfe4' ,the ,queen conferred the honour of knighthood on ,captain ,anderson1 on ,professor ,thomson1 and on ,messrs ,glass and ,channing2 whilst ,mr ,gooch1 ,m4,p41 was made a baronet4 ,the charge for a limited message was then twenty pounds2 and it was not long before a rival company was begun1 to share in the rich harvest looked for2 and thus another cable was laid1 leading ultimately to an amalgamation between its ordinary company and the original ,anglo-,american ,telegraph ,company4 ,illustration3 ,the ,great ,eastern paying out the ,atlantic ,cable4 ,then1 shortly afterwards1 the ,direct ,united ,states ,cable ,company came into being1 and laid a cable2 a ,french company followed suit2 the great ,western ,union ,telegraph ,company of ,america entered into the ,atlantic trade1 and had two cables constructed and laid4 ,the commencement of ocean telegraphy by each of these companies led to competition1 and reduced rates for a time with the original company1 ending in what is known as a pool or joint purse agreement1 under which the total receipts were divided in allotted proportions to the companies4 ,these companies have now eight cables usually operative2 and it was stated by ,sir ,j4 ,pender that these eight cables 'are capable of carrying over forty million words per annum4' ,in addition to the cables of the associated companies1 the ,commercial ,cable ,company own two modern cables2 and one of the two additional ones was laid by this company--the other by the original--the ,anglo-,american ,company4 ,but the work is simple now to what it was thirty years ago4 ,then1 there were only one or two cable-ships2 now1 ,mr ,preece enumerates thirty-seven1 of which five belong to the greatest of our telegraph companies1 the ,eastern4 ,the authority we have just named says that 'the form of cable has practically remained unaltered since the original ,calais cable was laid in #ahea2' its weight has been increased2 and there have been additions to it to enable it to resist insidious submarine enemies4 ,the gear of the steamships used in the service has been improved2 whilst the 'picking-up gear' of one of the best known of these cable-ships is 'capable of lifting thirty tons at a speed of one knot per hour4' ,and there has been a wide knowledge gained of the ocean1 its depth1 its mountains1 and its valleys1 so that the task of cable-laying is much more of an exact science than it was4 ,when the first attempt was made to lay an ,atlantic cable1 'the manufacture of sea-cables' had been only recently begun2 now1 #adj1jjj knots are at work in the sea1 and yearly the area is being enlarged4 ,when1 in #ahef1 ,mr ,thackeray subscribed to the ,atlantic ,telegraph ,company1 its share capital was ,l#cej1jjj--that being the estimated cost of the cable between ,newfoundland and ,ireland2 now1 five companies have a capital of over ,l#ab1ejj1jjj invested in the ,atlantic telegraph trade4 ,the largest portion of the capital is that of the ,anglo-,american ,telegraph ,company1 which has a capital of ,l#g1jjj1jjj1 and which represents the ,atlantic ,telegraph ,company1 the ,new ,york1 and ,newfoundland1 and the ,french ,atlantic ,companies of old4 ,though the traffic fluctuates greatly1 in some degree according to the charge per word 7for in one year of lowest charges the number of words carried by the associated companies increased by #acc per cent41 whilst the receipts decreased about #di per cent471 yet it does not occupy fully the carrying capacity of the cables4 ,but their 'life' and service is finite1 and thus it becomes needful from time to time to renew these great and costly carriers under the ,atlantic4 ,,the ,,state ,,and ,,the ,,telegraphs4 ,since the telegraphs of the ,united ,kingdom passed into the hands of the ,state1 the changes which have taken place during that period in the volume of the business transacted1 the rapidity in the transit of messages1 and the charges made for sending telegrams1 are little short of marvellous4 ,it was in the year #aheb that the acquisition of the telegraph system by the ,state was first suggested1 but not until late in the year #ahfg1 when ,mr ,disraeli was ,chancellor of the ,exchequer1 did the government definitely determine to take the matter up4 ,at that time1 as ,mr ,baines1 ,c4,b41 tells us in his book1 ,forty ,years at the ,post-office3 ',five powerful telegraph companies were in existence--,the ,electric and ,international1 the ,british and ,irish ,magnetic1 the ,united ,kingdom1 the ,universal ,private1 and the ,london and ,provincial ,companies4 ,there were others of less importance4 ,terms had to be made with all of them4 ,the railway interest had to be considered1 and the submarine companies to be thought of1 though not bought4' ,with strong and well-organised interests like these fighting hard to secure for themselves the very best possible terms1 the government had not unnaturally to submit to a hard bargain before they could obtain from ,parliament the powers which they required4 ,however1 after a severe struggle1 the necessary ,bill was successfully passed1 and the consequent ,money ,bill became law in the following session4 ,as the result of this action1 the telegraphs became the property of the ,state upon the #bith of ,january #ahgj1 and upon the #eth of the following month the actual transfer took place4 ,the step seems to have been taken none too soon1 for under the companies the telegraphs had been worked in a manner far from satisfactory to the public4 ,many districts had been completely neglected1 and even between important centres the service had been quite inadequate4 ,moreover1 charges had been high1 and exasperating delays of frequent occurrence4 ,six million pounds was the sum first voted by ,parliament for the purchase of the telegraphs1 and this was practically all swallowed up in compensation4 ,the ,electric and ,international ,company received ,l#b1ich1hbf2 the ,magnetic ,company1 ,l#a1bdc1ecf2 ,reuter's ,telegram ,company1 ,l#gbf1jjj2 the ,united ,kingdom ,company1 ,l#efb1bfd2 the ,universal ,private ,company1 ,l#ahd1dba2 and the ,london and ,provincial ,company1 ,l#fj1jjj4 ,but large as these amounts were1 they only made up about one-half of the expenditure which the government had to incur1 and the total cost ultimately reached the enormous sum of eleven millions4 ,some idea of the manner in which the extra five millions was expended may be gathered from the fact that between ,october #ahfi and ,october #ahgj1 about #ae1jjj miles of iron wire1 nearly #bjjj miles of gutta-percha-covered copper wire1 about #ajj1jjj poles1 and #a1jjj1jjj other fittings were purchased and fixed in position1 #cejj telegraph instruments and #ae1jjj batteries were acquired1 and about #bdjj new telegraphists and temporary assistants were trained4 ,the total expenditure was so vast that the ,treasury eventually took fright1 and in #ahge a committee was appointed 'to investigate the causes of the increased cost of the telegraph service since the acquisition of the telegraphs by the ,state4' ,this committee found that the following were the three main causes of the increase3 ,the salaries of all the officials of the telegraph companies had been largely increased after their entry into the government service2 the supervising staff maintained by the ,state was much more costly than that formerly employed by the companies2 and a large additional outlay had been forced upon the government in connection with the maintenance of the telegraph lines4 ',it would not1' they say in their report1 'be possible1 in our opinion1 for various reasons1 for the government to work at so cheap a rate as the telegraph companies1 but 444 a reasonable expectation might be entertained that the working expenses could be kept within seventy or seventy-five per cent4 of the gross revenue1 and the responsible officers of the ,post-office telegraph service should be urged to work up to that standard4 ,such a result would cover the cost of working1 and the sum necessary for payment of interest on the debt incurred in the purchase of the telegraphs4' ,in regard to this question of cost1 ,mr ,baines most truly remarks that the real stumbling-block of the ,department was1 and still is1 'the interest payable on ,l#aa1jjj1jjj capital outlay1 equal at1 say1 three per cent1 to a charge of ,l#ccj1jjj a year4' ,the transfer of the telegraphs to the ,state was immediately followed by a startling increase in the number of messages sent4 ,in fact1 the public1 attracted by the shilling rate1 poured in telegrams so fast1 and were so well supported by the news-agencies1 who took full advantage of the reduced scale1 that there was at first some danger of a collapse4 ,fortunately1 however1 the staff was equal to the emergency1 and after the first rush was over1 everything worked with perfect smoothness4 ,during the next four years the enlargement of business was simply extraordinary4 ,in #ahge the rate of increase was not maintained at quite so high a level1 but nevertheless nearly #a1fej1jjj more messages were dealt with than during the previous year4 ,the quantity of matter transmitted for ,press purposes was also much greater than it had ever been before1 and amounted to more than #bbj1jjj1jjj words4 ,in #ahie the number of telegraph offices at post-offices was #gdji1 in addition to #bbeb at railway stations1 or a grand total of #iffa4 ,the number of ordinary inland messages sent during the year was #ga1ehi1jfd4 ,in regard to the great increase of pace in the transmission of telegraphic messages1 ,mr ,baines tells us that1 'looking back fifty years1 we see wires working at the rate of eight words a minute1 or an average of four words per wire per minute1 over relatively short distances4 ,now1 there is a potentiality of #djj words--nay1 even #fjj or #gjj words--per wire per minute1 over very long distances4 ,as the invention of duplex working has been supplemented by the contrivances for multiplex working 7one line sufficing to connect several different offices in one part of the country with one or more offices in another part71 it is almost impossible to put a limit to the carrying capacity of a single wire4' ,in #ahff the time occupied in sending a telegram between ,london and ,bournemouth was two hours1 and between ,manchester and ,bolton1 two hours and a quarter2 while in #ahic the times occupied were ten minutes and five minutes respectively4 ,press telegrams have enormously increased in number and length since the purchase of the telegraph system by the ,state4 ,when the companies owned the wires1 the news service from ,london to the provinces was ordinarily not more than a column of print a night4 ,at the present time the news service of the ,press ,association alone over the ,post-office wires to papers outside the metropolis averages fully #ejj columns nightly4 ,since #ahgj this ,association has paid the ,post-office ,l#gej1jjj for telegraphic charges1 and in addition to this1 very large sums have been paid by the ,london and provincial daily papers for the independent transmission of news1 and by the principal journals in the country for the exclusive use1 during certain hours1 of 'special wires4' ,some of the leading papers in the provinces receive ten or more columns of specially telegraphed news on nights when important matters are under discussion in ,parliament2 and from this some idea may be formed of the amount of business now transacted between the ,press and the ,telegraph ,department4 ,,the ,,telephone4 ,so much have times altered in the last fifty years1 that the electric telegraph itself1 which now reaches its thin arms into more than six thousand offices1 is threatened in its turn with serious rivalry at the hands of a youthful but vigorous competitor1 the telephone4 ,its advantages are such that its ultimate popularity cannot be a matter of doubt4 ,it is no small benefit to be able to recognise voices1 to transact business with promptitude by word of mouth1 to get a reply1 ',yes' or ',no1' on the spot1 instead of having to rush to the nearest telegraph office4 ,great inventions are often conceived a long time before they are realised in practice4 ,sometimes the original idea occurs to the man who subsequently works it out2 and sometimes it comes as a happy thought to one who is either in advance of his age1 or who is prevented by adverse circumstances from following it up1 and who yet lives to see the day when some more fortunate individual gives it a material shape1 and so achieves the fame which was denied to him4 ,such is the case of ,m4 ,charles ,bourselle1 who in #ahed proposed a form of speaking-telephone1 which1 although not practicable in its first crude condition1 might have led its originator to a more successful instrument if he had pursued the subject further4 ,the telephone is an instrument designed to reproduce sounds at a distance by means of electricity4 ,it was believed by most people1 and even by eminent electricians1 that the speaking-telephone had never been dreamed of by any one before ,professor ,graham ,bell introduced his marvellous little apparatus to the scientific world4 ,but that was a mistake4 ,more than one person had thought of such a thing1 ,bourselle among the number4 ,philip ,reis1 a ,german electrician1 had even constructed an electric telephone in #ahfd1 which transmitted words with some degree of perfection2 and the assistant of ,reis asserts that it was designed to carry music as well as words4 ,professor ,bell1 in devising his telephone1 copied the human ear with its vibrating drum4 ,the first iron plate he used as a vibrator was a little piece of clock-spring glued to a parchment diaphragm1 and on saying to the spring on the telephone at one end of the line3 ',do you understand what ,i say8' the answer from his assistant at the other end came back immediately3 ',yes2 ,i understand you perfectly4' ,the sounds were feeble1 and he had to hold his ear close to the little piece of iron on the parchment1 but they were distinct2 and though ,reis had transmitted certain single words some ten years before1 ,bell was the first to make a piece of matter utter sentences4 ,reis gave the electric wire a tongue so that it could mumble like an infant2 but ,bell taught it to speak4 ,the next step is attributed to ,mr ,elisha ,gray of ,chicago1 who sent successions of electrical current of varying strength as well as of varying frequency into the circuit1 and thus enabled the relative loudness as well as the pitch of sounds to be transmitted2 and who afterwards took the important step of using the variations of a steady current4 ,these variations1 positive and negative1 are capable of representing all the back-and-fore variations of position of a particle of air1 however irregular these may be3 and he secured them by making the sound-waves set a diaphragm in vibration4 ,this diaphragm carried a metallic point which dipped in dilute sulphuric acid2 the deeper it dipped the less was the resistance to a current passing through the acid1 and vice versa3 so that every variation in the position of the diaphragm produced a corresponding variation in the intensity of the current3 and the varying current acted upon a distant electro-magnet1 which accordingly fluctuated in strength1 and in its attraction for a piece of soft iron suspended on a flexible diaphragm3 this piece of soft iron accordingly oscillated1 pulling the flexible diaphragm with it2 and the variations of pressure in the air acted upon by the diaphragm produced waves1 reproducing the characteristics of the original sound-waves1 and perceived by the ear as reproducing the original sound or voice4 ,mr ,gray lodged a caveat for this contrivance in the ,united ,states ,patent ,office on #adth ,february #ahgf2 but on the same day ,professor ,alexander ,graham ,bell filed a specification and drawings of the original ,bell telephone4 ,bell's telephone was first exhibited in ,america at the ,centennial ,exhibition in ,philadelphia in #ahgf2 and in ,england1 at the ,glasgow meeting of the ,british ,association in ,september of that year4 ,on that occasion1 ,sir ,william ,thomson 7now ,lord ,kelvin7 pronounced it1 with enthusiasm1 to be the 'greatest of all the marvels of the electric telegraph4' ,the surprise created by its first appearance was1 however1 nothing to the astonishment and delight which it aroused in this country when ,professor ,bell1 the following year1 himself exhibited it in ,london to the ,society of ,telegraph ,engineers4 ,since then1 its introduction as a valuable aid to social life has been very rapid1 and the telephone is now to be found in use from ,china to ,peru4 ,,thomas ,,alva ,,edison ,,and ,,the ,,phonograph4 ,the ,phonograph is an instrument for mechanically recording and reproducing articulate human speech1 song1 c4 ,it was invented by ,mr ,t4 ,a4 ,edison in the spring of #ahgg1 at his ,menlo ,park ,laboratory1 ,new ,jersey1 and came into existence as the result of one of the many lines of experiment he was then engaged upon4 ,thomas ,alva ,edison1 this notable ,american inventor1 was born at ,milan1 ,ohio1 #aath ,february #ahdg1 but his early years were spent at ,port ,huron1 ,michigan4 ,his father was of ,dutch1 and his mother of ,scotch descent2 the latter1 having been a teacher1 gave him what schooling he received4 ,edison was a great reader in his youth1 and at the age of twelve he became a newsboy on the ,grand ,trunk ,line running into ,detroit1 and began to experiment in chemistry4 ,gaining the exclusive right of selling newspapers on this line1 and purchasing some old type1 with the aid of four assistants he printed and issued the ,grand ,trunk ,herald1 the first newspaper printed in a railway train4 ,a station-master1 in gratitude for his having saved his child from the front of an advancing train1 taught him telegraphy1 in which he had previously been greatly interested2 and thenceforward he concentrated the energies of a very versatile mind chiefly upon electrical studies4 ,illustration3 ,edison with his ,phonograph4 ,edison invented an automatic repeater1 by means of which messages could be sent from one wire to another without the intervention of the operator4 ,his system of duplex telegraphy was perfected while a telegraph operator in ,boston1 but was not entirely successful until #ahgb4 ,in #ahga he became superintendent of the ,new ,york ,gold and ,stock ,company1 and here invented the printing-telegraph for gold and stock quotations1 for the manufacture of which he established a workshop at ,newark1 ,n4,j41 continuing there till his removal to ,menlo ,park1 ,n4,j41 in #ahgf4 ,ten years later he settled at ,orange1 at the foot of the ,orange ,mountains1 his large premises at ,menlo ,park having grown too small for him4 ,his inventive faculties now getting full play1 he took out over fifty patents in connection with improvements in telegraphy1 including the duplex1 quadruplex1 and sextuplex system2 the carbon telephone transmitter2 microtasimeter2 aerophone1 for amplifying sound2 the megaphone1 for magnifying sound4 ,thence also emanated his phonograph1 a form of telephone1 and various practical adaptations of the electric light4 ,his kinetoscope 7#ahid7 is a development of the ,zoetrope1 in which the continuous picture is obtained from a swift succession of instantaneous photographs 7taken #df or more in a second71 and printed on a strip of celluloid4 ,of late he has devoted himself to improving metallurgic methods4 ,he has taken out some #ejj patents1 and founded many companies at home and in ,europe4 ,following up some of his telegraphic inventions1 he had developed a machine which1 by reason of the indentations made on paper1 would transfer a message in ,morse characters from one circuit to another automatically1 through the agency of a tracing-point connected with a circuit-closing device4 ,upon revolving with rapidity the cylinder that carried the indented or embossed paper ,mr ,edison found that the indentations could be reproduced with immense rapidity through the vibration of the tracing-point4 ,he at once saw that he could vibrate a diaphragm by the sound-waves of the voice1 and1 by means of a stylus attached to the diaphragm1 make them record themselves upon an impressible substance placed on the revolving cylinder4 ,the record being made thus1 the diaphragm would1 when the stylus again traversed the cylinder1 be thrown into the same vibrations as before1 and the actual reproduction of human speech1 or any other sound1 would be the result4 ,the invention thought out in this manner was at once tried1 with paraffined paper as the receiving material1 and afterwards with tinfoil1 the experiment proving a remarkable success1 despite the crudity of the apparatus4 ,in #ahgh ,mr ,edison made a number of phonographs1 which were exhibited in ,america and ,europe1 and attracted universal attention4 ,the records were made in these on soft tinfoil sheets fastened around metal cylinders4 ,for a while ,mr ,edison was compelled to suspend work on this invention1 but soon returned to it and worked out the machine as it exists practically to-day4 ,it occupies about the same space as a hand sewing-machine4 ,a light tube of wax to slide on and off the cylinder is substituted for the tinfoil1 which had been wrapped round it1 and the indenting stylus is replaced by a minute engraving point4 ,under the varying pressure of the sound-waves1 this point or knife cuts into the tube almost imperceptibly1 the wax chiselled away wreathing off in very fine spirals before the edge of the little blade1 as the cylinder travels under it4 ,each cylinder will receive about a thousand words4 ,in the improved machine ,mr ,edison at first employed two diaphragms in 'spectacle' form1 one to receive and the other to reproduce2 but he has since combined these in a single efficient attachment4 ,the wax cylinders can be used several hundred times1 the machine being fitted with a small paring tool which will shave off the record previously made1 leaving a smooth new surface4 ,the machine has also been supplemented by the inventor with an ingenious little electric motor with delicate governing mechanism1 so that the phonograph can be operated at any chosen rate of speed1 uniformly4 ,this motor derives its energising current either from an ,edison-,lalande primary battery1 a storage battery1 or an electric-light circuit4 ,the new and perfected ,edison phonograph has already gone into very general use1 and many thousands are distributed in ,american business offices1 where they facilitate correspondence in a variety of ways4 ,they are also employed by stenographers as a help in the transcription of their shorthand notes4 ,heretofore these notes have been slowly dictated to amanuenses1 but they are now frequently read off to a phonograph1 and then written out at leisure4 ,the phonograph is1 however1 being used for direct stenograph work1 and it reported verbatim #dj1jjj words of discussion at one convention held in #ahij1 the words being quietly repeated into the machine by the reporter as quickly as they were uttered by the various speakers4 ,a large number of machines are in use by actors1 clergymen1 musicians1 reciters1 and others1 to improve their elocution and singing4 ,automatic phonographs are also to be found in many places of public resort1 equipped with musical or elocutionary cylinders1 which can be heard upon the insertion of a small coin2 and miniature phonographs have been applied to dolls and toys4 ,the value of the phonograph in the preservation of dying languages has been perceived too1 and records have already been secured of the speech1 songs1 war-cries1 and folklore of ,american tribes now becoming extinct4 ,it is also worthy of note that several voice records remain of distinguished men1 who 'being dead yet speak4' ,their tones can now be renewed at will1 and their very utterances1 faithful in accent and individuality1 can be heard again and again through all time4 ,improvements are being made in the wholesale reproduction of phonographic cylinders1 by electrotyping and other processes2 and the machine1 in a more or less modified form1 is being introduced as a means of furnishing a record of communications through the telephone4 ,phonographic clocks1 books1 and other devices have also been invented by ,mr ,edison1 whose discovery is evidently of a generic nature1 opening up a large and entirely new field in the arts and sciences4 ,,the ,,end4 ,edinburgh3 ,printed by ,w4 ,r4 ,chambers1 ,limited4 ,,books ,,compiled ,,by ,,robert ,,cochrane ,,published ,,by ,w4 ,r4 ,,chambers1 ,,limited4 ,,adventure ,,and ,,adventurers4 ,being ,true ,tales of ,daring1 ,peril1 and ,heroism4 ,illustrated4 #b_/f ,,good ,,and ,,great ,,women4 ,lives of ,queen ,victoria1 ,florence ,nightingale1 ,jenny ,lind1 c4 ,illustrated4 #b_/f ,,beneficent ,,and ,,useful ,,lives4 ,lives of ,lord ,shaftesbury1 ,george ,peabody1 ,sir ,w4 ,besant1 ,samuel ,morley1 ,sir ,j4 ,y4 ,simpson1 c4 ,illustrated4 #b_/f ,,great ,,thinkers ,,and ,,workers4 ,lives of ,thomas ,carlyle1 ,lord ,armstrong1 ,lord ,tennyson1 ,charles ,dickens1 ,w4 ,m4 ,thackeray1 ,sir ,h4 ,bessemer1 ,james ,nasmyth1 c4 ,illustrated4 #b_/f ,,recent ,,travel ,,and ,,adventure4 ,travels of ,h4 ,m4 ,stanley1 ,lieutenant ,greely1 ,joseph ,thomson1 ,dr ,livingstone1 ,lady ,brassey1 ,arminius ,vambery1 ,sir ,richard ,burton1 c4 ,illustrated4 #b_/f ,,great ,,historic ,,events4 ,indian ,mutiny1 ,french ,revolution1 the ,crusades1 ,conquest of ,mexico1 c4 ,illustrated4 #b_/f ,,london ,,and ,,edinburgh4