MOST HONORABLE, WELL-BORN, NOBLE AND HIGHLY ESTEEMED GENTLEMEN.
§ 1. (See John Harris's Lexicon Technicum, Vol. I.)
The fire- and air- machine had its first origin in happy England, where already 36 years ago a man of high repute, Captain Thomas Savery, made it his study for many years to draw water by means of fire. When fourteen years had elapsed and his privilege had expired the parliament not only conceded him a new privilege for 25 years through a special act but also encouraged him to go on with his invention by granting him a large subsidy of 2000 pounds sterling in spite of there being little hope, judging by the tests then made, that he would ever reach his goal. Now it happened that a man from Dartmouth, named Thomas Newcomen, without any knowledge whatever of the speculations of Captain Savery, had at the same time also made up his mind, in conjunction with his assistant, a plumber by the name of Calley, to invent a fire-machine for drawing water from the mines. He was induced to undertake this by considering the heavy costs of lifting water by means of horses which Mr. Newcomen found existing in the English tin-mines. These mines Mr. Newcomen often visited in the capacity of a dealer in iron tools, with which he used to furnish many of the tin-mines.
§ 2. For ten consecutive years Mr. Newcomen worked at this fire-machine which never would have exhibited the desired effect, unless Almighty God had caused a lucky incident to take place. It happened at the last attempt to make the model work that a more than wished-for effect was suddenly caused by the following strange event. The cold water, which was allowed to flow into a lead-case embracing the cylinder, pierced through an imperfection which had been mended with tin-solder. The heat of the steam caused the tin-solder to melt and thus opened a way for the cold water, which rushed into the cylinder and immediately condensed the steam, creating such a vacuum that the weight, attached to the little beam, which was supposed to represent the weight of the water in the pumps, proved to be so insufficient that the air, which pressed with a tremendous power on the piston, caused its chain to break and the piston to crush the bottom of the cylinder as well as the lid of the small boiler. The hot water which flowed everywhere thus convinced even the very senses of the onlookers that they had discovered an incomparably powerful force which had hitherto been entirely unknown in nature,-at least no-one had ever suspected that it could originate in this way.
§ 3. Though somebody might think that this was an accident, I for my part find it impossible to believe other-wise than that what happened was caused by a special act of providence. To this conclusion I-who knew personally the first inventors-have been brought more than ever when considering the Almighty then presented mankind with one of the most wonderful inventions which has ever been brought into the light of day, and this by means of ignorant folk who had never acquired a certificate at any University or Academy.
§ 4. Although the invention was thus completed, the inventors, however, could not obtain any privilege, because Captain Savery already possessed a privilege-as has already been explained- for constructing a fire-machine. In spite of all the differences between the inventions, Mr. Newcomen and Calley did not see any other way out of the difficulties but to join Captain Savery and form a Company; (It is noteworthy that Parliament in England has never dared to overthrow or annul a Royal Privilege. On the contrary, the Chancellor and Attorney-General, or the Solicitor of the King to whom all the petitions concerning privileges are remitted, is most careful that no privilege is granted which may in any way prejudice any other privilege already granted, or that two privileges should not be issued for the same thing or invention, but everyone is upheld in the possession of his privileges, which are thus regarded as unalterable or sacred as Magna Charta or the English constitution.) later on Mr. Newcomen erected the first fire-machine in England in the year 1712, which erection took place at Dudley Castle in Staffordshire.
§ 5. The cylinder of this machine measured 21 inches in diameter, and was 7 feet 10 inches high. The boiler was 5 feet 6 inches in diameter and 6 feet 1 inches high. The water in the boiler stood 4 feet 4 inches high and contained 13 hogsheads; besides, the machine delivered at every rise or lift (12 lifts) in a minute 10 English gallons of water, and the mine was 51 yards or 25 I/2 fathoms deep.
§ 6. As the rumour of this magnificent art soon spread all over England, many, who were anxious to make use of this invention at their mines, in the country and abroad, and who exerted themselves to acquire the necessary knowledge for the purpose of constructing a similar wonderful machine, came from all parts of England and abroad to Dudley Castle. But the inventors Newcomen and Calley were very jealous and keen in preserving for themselves and their children the knowledge of how to fabricate and apply their contrivance, which had cost them such unparalleled painstaking and toil, so that the Spanish Ambassador at the English Court, who came from London with a numerous suite of foreigners in his train, to get a look at this new invention, was not even allowed to enter the engine-house in spite of the big rewards offered, but had to return to London in a bad temper, without having had a chance of seeing more than the wonderful effect, which this small (in comparison to the Dannemora) machine was able to produce.
§ 7. In the year 1717, when similar machines had already been constructed at three different places in England, it happened that Messrs Ridley from New-Castle also had made an agreement to the effect that they should be permitted to use fire-machines against a yearly payment of 400 ponds sterling, in order to be able to utilise and work a big and rich coal-mine, close to the town of New-Castle and its river Tyne, which mine in all times had been much coveted but found to be so wet, that it had already within the memory of man ruined two wealthy families who did not know of any other way of drawing water from a mine that by means of artifices, actuated by horses. As however the inventors themselves were simultaneously erecting fire-machines at other places, Messrs Ridley had to content themselves with the son of one of the inventors, named Samuel Calley, a quick youth, 16 years of age. This Calley, though he was-one might almost say reared in the fire-machine, was however rather young and did not with all his practice possess the very least of theory.
§ 8. Mr. Nich Ridley, who was then staying in London, was not only very much perturbed because of the youthfulness of his engineer, but also feared that his competitors and other owners of coal mine in the neighbourhood would get an opportunity to corrupt this youth, so that he would not serve him faithfully. In these precarious circumstances Mr, Ridley, who had known me from early childhood, and moreover was aware with what diligence and zest I had been studying natural science and mechanics in London, was led by the wonderful foresight of God to the idea of persuading me to assist his young engineer, and to watch him in case he did not serve his master with all the faithfulness and honesty required in such a delicate position. Thus he persuaded me to go with him to New-Castle, promising to promote me to the knowledge of how to construct fire-machines, and I for my part promised to serve him loyally against a fair reward.
§ 9. A few days later we arrived in New-Castle where the construction of the first fire-machine in this district was in full swing, I for my part, according to our agreement, did not allow anybody within the space of a year and a day to discover in the slightest way that i understood anything whatsoever about such a machine, though I, however, as soon as I saw the machine at work, conceived a more complete theory of it than the inventors themselves possessed down to the very moment of their death. Even the great Newton testified in the presence of the Commission-Secretary Herr Skutenhielm that such was the case when he admitted that he never had been able to get a correct idea of the fire-machine from the inventors, because they always ascribed the power to the steam, which, however, only constitutes the agent by means of which the power is obtained.
§ 10. Thus it happened that when Messrs Ridley found it necessary to demand a more powerful machine than the biggest one which had been until then constructed, which had a cylinder 28 inches diameter, the inventors refused to undertake the construction of a bigger one or one of 33 inches diameter according to the demand of Mr. Nich Ridley, thinking that a machine with such a big cylinder would be totally impracticable, especially as it had been already found that the boiler of the machine with the 28 inches cylinder was scarcely able to furnish sufficient steam. The cause of this conclusion was the false principles concerning the steam which the inventors harboured in their minds, thinking that the steam rises from or is generated by the boiling water in proportion to the quantities of water. In consequence of these false principles they made their boilers very high, as can be easily seen from the Stafford machine, the boiler of which they made of greater height than width, thus not knowing that they should give the boiler a suitable shape. Neither did they then possess the knowledge of the great importance of letting the fire play all around the sides as well as at the bottom of the boiler- not to mention many other improvements which a sound theory concerning the fire-machine seems to suggest and demand. As I know offered to construct a machine with a cylinder 33 inches diameter and 9 feet long, Mr. Ridley induced the inventors to concede me a grant to construct fire-machines, and as the young Mr. Calley was subsequently initiated by me into the theory, we both formed a company together and signed a contract to the effect that we should divide equally between us all the income we might derive from the construction and supervision of fire-machines, which contract still holds good whenever I like to return to England.
§ 11. I hope, however, to be excused for having spoken somewhat about the first inventors of the fire-machine and how I arrived at the theory and practice of the same, before entering upon a description of the Dannemora fire- and air-machine and of the appended copper-plate.
§ 12. I have thought an account of these happenings to be of ever so much greater importance because nobody yet, to my knowledge, has allowed anything on this matter to appear in print in England, I am thus the only foreigner who has not only had the good fortune to build fire-machines in England, but who also-as I hope, to the honour of our nation-has had the privilege to contribute one or two things which have now made this machine so complete that scarcely any further improvement could be expected in the future.
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