PREFACE
A word of explanation seems due to both the reader and myself.
The idea of writing these reminiscences did not originate with me. I was invited to write them by Mr. F. R. Low, the editor ofPower. This invitation I declined, saying that I felt averse to writing a story in which I must be the central figure. Mr. Low replied that I should regard it as a duty I owed to the profession. Engineers demanded to know the origin and early development of the high speed system of steam engineering. I was the only person who could meet this demand; no one else possessed the necessary information.
I felt obliged to yield to this view, and can only ask the reader to imagine that I am writing about somebody else.
C. T. P.
Montclair, N. J.,December, 1907.