CHAPTER XV

Preparations for Returning to America. Bright Prospects.

Having but little practical work to occupy me that winter, I devoted myself to getting out for Elliott Bros. a second edition of my instruction book to accompany the Richards indicator, and my paper for the Institution of Mechanical Engineers and the illustrations and material for Mr. Colburn’s articles on the Allen engine published inEngineering.

I found in the library of the Manchester Philosophical Society a copy of the twentieth volume of the “Memoirs of the French Academy of Sciences,” containing the report of the experiments of M. Regnault to determine the properties of steam, with the leaves uncut, of which I was then able to make some use. I was anxious to obtain a copy of this volume for myself, and also of Volume 21, containing other memoirs by M. Regnault. This object I succeeded in accomplishing when in Paris that winter through the kind interest of M. Tresca, the well-known Sous-Directeur of the Ecole des Arts et Métiers. This was a matter of so much difficulty, that a letter from M. Tresca to the publisher was found not to be sufficient. It was necessary that M. Tresca should personally identify me as the “savant” to whom he had given the letter. I was then able to obtain both the volumes, which I brought home with me on my return to America.

Now was the winter of my discontent made glorious summer, and all the clouds that lowered about my enterprise in the deep bosom of the ocean buried, by the receipt of a letter from Mr. Hope, telling me that Mr. Allen’s report after his visit of inspection was of so entirely satisfactory a character that, after fullconsideration, it had been concluded to write me to leave everything in England in whatever condition I might be obliged to, and return home and join with Mr. Allen in the manufacture of the engines, for which ample capital would be furnished. So in my ecstasy I went about quoting to myself Shakespeare’s lines and applying them to my reviving fortunes. Mr. Hoyle congratulated me warmly on this favorable turn in my affairs, seeing clearly that I would never do anything with Mr. Whitworth, unless on his own inadmissible terms.

After I had sobered down from my excitement, I began to consider the matter carefully, and to determine upon the preparations that ought to be made as a foundation for what, by judicious management, should grow to be a great and profitable business. I fully realized the responsibility that was devolved upon me, and determined that both in foresight and prudence I would prove myself equal to its requirements.

I wrote a glad acceptance of the proposition and expatiated on the advantage we should enjoy from what I had learned in England. I told them that the selection of a suitable location was of the first importance, and suggested that a plot of twenty or thirty acres should be purchased in the environs of a large manufacturing town, affording a good labor market and having good railway facilities, and where the land could be got at farm prices. I would plan shops on a scale large enough for a great business and of a form adapted for enlargement from time to time, and build at first a small part, which as the business grew could be added to without alteration. I asked them to look about for the best place, but do nothing further until I got home, when I would have carefully studied plans, embodying the most recent improvements in building and tools to lay before them.

I then entered with enthusiasm into the preparation of my plans. The model shop, now in common use, had then lately been designed by the firm of Smith & Coventry, tool makers of Salford, which is a suburb of Manchester, separated from it only by a narrow stream, the river Irwell, and their plan had been at once followed by the firm of Craven Brothers of Manchester, also tool makers. It was, of course, still unknown in the United States.

The general idea of this shop was taken from the nave and sideaisles of Gothic cathedrals. The central and wider portion, which we may call the nave, was one story in height and was commanded by the travelers, and its floor was occupied by the largest tools only, and for erection. The side aisles were two stories in height. The smallest work, of course, was on the upper story, and tools and work of medium size on the floors below, the latter being transported by carriages suspended from the floor above. No rails were laid or gangways kept open on any floor. All transportation of heavy objects was through the air. The great value of this improvement, made by this firm in shop design, and which has brought this design into general use, lay in its natural classification of the work. Travelers were already quite common in England, but under them large and small tools, often very small ones, were found mingled quite promiscuously. Their shop had an entire glass roof, made on the ridge and furrow plan, first used in the Crystal Palace in Hyde Park for the International Exhibition of 1851. That roof would not answer, however, in this climate, on account of our snow in winter, so I had to plan a different one. But in every other respect their plan was perfect. The columns, of course, at that time were of cast iron. These were cast in pairs connected by a web, the longer columns in each pair supporting the roof, the short ones the rails for the travelers.

In Smith & Coventry’s shop the traveler was operated from the floor by means of a loop hanging from a wheel on the crab. The arrangement was exceedingly convenient in every respect.

I obtained full detail drawings of Smith & Coventry’s shop. The accompanyingoutlinepresents a cross-section of this shop, and is figured to the dimensions I proposed to adopt. I proposed to build a length of only 75 feet, which by successive additions could be extended to 500 feet if required. Moreover, at first the office, drawing-office, pattern shop, and storeroom, besides the machine shop, in short everything, except only the engine and boiler, smith shop and foundry, were to be accommodated in this one building. I was greatly pleased with my plan, and felt sure that it would commend itself to my associates, as no shop possessing these conveniences then existed in the United States. I, however, introduced one modification of the English shops, or rather one addition. I had observed that reliance on the travelerfor local work involved a serious loss of time. I had seen in various shops men standing idle, sometimes from fifteen to thirty minutes, waiting for the traveler to be at liberty to come and give them a lift. It appeared evident to me that the province of the traveler was to fetch and carry; not to perform local work, unless of the heaviest class. So for the latter purpose I provided swing cranes, which could be operated by the workman himself without assistance. This also enabled one traveler to cover a much longer extent of floor.

Cross-section of Machine Shop Proposed by Mr. Porter in 1868, after the Design of Smith & Coventry.

Smith & Coventry had made numerous improvements on Mr. Whitworth’s tools. I have already mentioned their arrangement which made it possible to take up the wear of the lathe spindle bearings. In the radial drill, an invention of Mr. Whitworth’s, as made by him, in order to bring the drill to the right position longitudinally, the workman was obliged to go to the end of the arm and turn the screw. From this point he could not see his work, and had to guess at the proper adjustment. I have seen him in the Whitworth works go back and forth for this purpose three or four times, and have always doubted if he got it exactly right after all. Smith & Coventry introduced an elegant device by which the workman was able to make this adjustment without moving from his place. They also first made the arm of the radial drill adjustable vertically by power. By simply reversingthe curve of the brackets under Mr. Whitworth’s shaper tables, they made these unyielding under the pressure of the cut. This firm also first employed small cutting tools set in an arm which was secured in the tool-post, and put an end to tool-dressing by the blacksmith, which had caused a fearful waste of time, and also encouraged idle habits among the workmen. This improvement has since come into common use. Their system of grinding these small tools interested me very much. The workman never left his machine. He was provided with a number of tools, set in compartments in a box. When a tool became dull he took it out, set it in the box upside down, and substituted another. A boy went regularly through the shop, took up all the upside-down tools, ground them, and brought them back. The grindstones were provided with tool-holders and a compound screw feed, by which the tools were always presented to the stone at the same desired angle, and were prevented from wearing out the stone by running into grooves or following soft spots. The whole surface of the stone was used uniformly and kept in perfect condition.

I picked up in that shop the solid wrench made with the elegant improvement of inclining the handle at the angle of 15 degrees from the line of the jaws; enabling it, by turning the wrench over, to be worked within a radial angle of 30 degrees. This adapted it for use in tight places. I brought the idea home with me and always supplied my engines with wrenches made in that way. I offered the plan to Billings & Spencer for nothing, but they did not think it worth making the dies for. Mr. Williams was more appreciative. I believe it is now in quite common use.

At that time toolmaking in this country, which has since become so magnificently developed, was in many important respects in a primitive condition, and I proposed to introduce into my shop every best tool and method, adapted to my requirements, that I could find in England. For this purpose I visited and carefully studied all the tool works of good standing, and my final conclusion was that the best tools for design, strength, solidity, facility of operation and truth of work were those made by Smith & Coventry. This may be guessed from the few examples I have given of their fertile mindedness and advanced ideas. So I prepared a careful list of tools that I proposedto order from them in time to be ready for use as soon as my shop should be completed. I found also the remarkable fact that I could obtain these tools, duty and freight paid, decidedly cheaper than corresponding inferior tools could then be got from American makers.

Before bidding good-by to England, I must tell the luck I had in endeavoring to introduce Mr. Allen’s double-opening slide valve, shown in the general view of my London exhibit, now in common use the world over. No locomotive engineer would even look at it. Finally I got an order from Mr. Thomas Aveling for one of these valves with single eccentric valve-gear, to be tried on one of his road locomotives or traction engines. Mr. Aveling is known to fame as the inventor of the road locomotive and steam road roller. He once told me how he came to make this invention. He was a maker of portable engines in Rochester, which was the center of a wheat-growing district. These engines were employed universally to drive threshing machines. Horses were used to draw both the machine and the engine from farm to farm. The idea occurred to him that this was almost as foolish as was the practice of the Spanish muleteers, in putting the goods they transported on one side of the animal and employing a bag of stones on the other side to balance them. Why not make the engine capable of moving itself and drawing the threshing machine, and dispense with the horses altogether? So he applied himself to the job and did it. Then it was found that the self-propelling threshing-machine engines could draw a great many other things besides threshing machines, and the business grew to large proportions.

Mr. Aveling made an engine with valve and valve-gear from my drawings, and I took a ride with him on it from Rochester to London, the engine drawing two trucks loaded with the two halves of a fly-wheel. The performance was entirely satisfactory. He said the engine was handled more easily than any other he ever made, and it maintained its speed in going up hill in a manner to astonish him, which was accounted for by the double valve opening. The little engine ran very rapidly, about 300 revolutions per minute, being geared down to a slow motion of the machine, about 4 miles travel per hour. With a single opening for admission it hadadmitted only a partial pressure of the steam, but the double opening valve admitted very nearly the whole pressure and made a sharp cut-off, all which I showed by the indicator. He told me that he was then filling a large order for traction engines for Australia, and this valve and valve-gear were the very thing for them. I went back to Manchester happy in the satisfaction of having accomplished one thing in the engine line at any rate.

A few weeks after, being in London, I went to Rochester to see how the new valve-gear was progressing. The first thing I saw was my valve and valve-gear hanging up in the storeroom. Mr. Aveling explained to me that he had been advised by engineers, whose advice by his contract with his financial partner he was obliged to follow, that the narrow faces on my valve would wear away faster than the wider faces, and the valve would come to leak, and if he put it on his engine it would ruin his business. He did not believe it; it seemed to him absurd, but he was powerless.

This was the nearest approach I ever made myself towards the introduction of this valve. In 1875 I seemed to have a promising opening. I received a note from Mr. M. N. Forney, then editor of theRailway Gazette, calling my attention to this valve and its description in his “Catechism of the Locomotive,” just published, and stating that this was the only patented invention in the book.

He added that he had had conferences with Mr. Buchanan, foreman of the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad repair shops in New York City, about trying this valve on their locomotives, and Mr. Buchanan would like to see me.

On my calling, Mr. Buchanan asked me what arrangement I was willing to make. I replied that they might put the valve on six locomotives free of royalty. If these valves worked well I would give them a license on liberal terms. He said he had an express locomotive then in the shop for which he was making new cylinders; these were already bored and the valve seats planed, but not yet trimmed, and in this state there was room to put in these valves, which he would do; they would be ready in about a fortnight, when he would send me word, and would be glad to have me go up to Albany and back on the locomotive and indicatethe engines. I have been waiting for that “word” ever since.

A few days after I met in the street an acquaintance, who asked me if Mr. Buchanan had agreed to put the Allen valve on an engine. I replied that he had. Why, said he, Buchanan will no more dare put that valve on unless Commodore Vanderbilt orders him to, than he would to cut his head off. He will never persuade the old man to give that order, and you will never hear of it again; and I never did.

The recollection of another experience with Mr. Aveling has often amused me. He had an order from the Chatham Dock Yard for a stationary engine of perhaps 100 horse-power. It was to be inspected in operation before its acceptance by the government. He wrote me to come down and bring my indicator and assist him in exhibiting it running under a friction brake in his shop.

At the hour appointed the inspector appeared, accompanied by half-a-dozen young officers. He spoke to no one, observed the engine in operation, took the diagrams from my hand, asked no question, but proceeded to discourse to his followers on the engine. I could hardly believe my senses as I listened to the absurdities that he gravely got off; not a sentence was intelligible. I can see Mr. Aveling now quietly winking at me, as we stood with respectful gravity till he had finished, when he turned and marched off without noticing anybody. This was my only personal encounter with the English official mind.

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