MEN OF INVENTION AND INDUSTRY
by Samuel Smiles
"Men there have been, ignorant of letters; without art, without
eloquence; who yet had the wisdom to devise and the courage to
perform that which they lacked language to explain. Such men
have worked the deliverance of nations and their own greatness.
Their hearts are their books; events are their tutors; great
actions are their eloquence."--MACAULAY.
Contents.
Preface
CHAPTER I Phineas Pett:
Beginings of English Shipbuilding
CHAPTER II Francis Pettit Smith:
Practical introducer of the Screw Propeller
CHAPTER III John Harrison:
Inventor of the Marine Chronometer
CHAPTER IV John Lombe:
Introducer of the Silk Industry into England
CHAPTER V William Murdock:
His Life and Inventions
CHAPTER VI Frederick Koenig:
Inventor of the Steam-printing Machine
CHAPTER VII The Walters of 'The Times':
Inventor of the Walter Press
CHAPTER VIII William Clowes:
Book-printing by Steam
CHAPTER IX Charles Bianconi:
A lession of Self-Help in Ireland
CHAPTER X Industry in Ireland:
Through Connaught and Ulster to Belfast
CHAPTER XI Shipbuilding in Belfast:
By Sir E. J. Harland, Engineer and Shipbuilder
CHAPTER XII Astronomers and students in humble life:
A new Chapter in the 'Pursuit of Knowledge under Difficulties'
PREFACE
I offer this book as a continuation of the memoirs of men of
invention and industry published some years ago in the 'Lives of
Engineers,' 'Industrial Biography,' and 'Self-Help.'
The early chapters relate to the history of a very important
branch of British industry--that of Shipbuilding. A later
relates to the origin and progress of shipbuilding in Ireland.
Many of the facts set forth in the Life and Inventions of William
Murdock have already been published in my 'Lives of Boulton and
Watt;" but these are now placed in a continuous narrative, and
supplemented by other information, more particularly the
correspondence between Watt and Murdock, communicated to me by
the present representative of the family, Mr. Murdock, C.E, of
Gilwern, near Abergavenny.
I have also endeavoured to give as accurate an account as
possible of the Invention of the Steam-printing Press, and its
application to the production of Newspapers and Books,--an
invention certainly of great importance to the spread of
knowledge, science, and literature, throughout the world.
The chapter on the "Industry of Ireland" will speak for itself.
It occurred to me, on passing through Ireland last year, that
much remained to be said on that subject; and, looking to the
increasing means of the country, and the well-known industry of
its people, it seems reasonable to expect, that with peace,
security, energy, and diligent labour of head and hand, there is
really a great future before Ireland.
The last chapter, on "Astronomers in Humble Life," consists for
the most part of a series of Autobiographies. It may seem, at
first sight, to have little to do with the leading object of the
book; but it serves to show what a number of active, earnest, and
able men are comparatively hidden throughout society, ready to
turn their hands and heads to the improvement of their own
characters, if not to the advancement of the general community
of which they form a part.
In conclusion, I say to the reader, as Quarles said in the
preface to his 'Emblems,' "I wish thee as much pleasure in the
reading as I had in the writing." In fact, the last three
chapters were in some measure the cause of the book being
published in its present form.
London, November, 1884.
CHAPTER I.
PHINEAS PETT: BEGINNINGS OF ENGLISH SHIP-BUILDING.
"A speck in the Northern Ocean, with a rocky coast, an ungenial
climate, and a soil scarcely fruitful,--this was the material
patrimony which descended to the English race--an inheritance
that would have been little worth but for the inestimable moral
gift that accompanied it. Yes; from Celts, Saxons, Danes,
Normans--from some or all of them--have come down with English
nationality a talisman that could command sunshine, and plenty,
and empire, and fame. The 'go' which they transmitted to us--the
national vis--this it is which made the old Angle-land a glorious
heritage. Of this we have had a portion above our brethren--good
measure, running over. Through this our island-mother has
stretched out her arms till they enriched the globe of the
earth....Britain, without her energy and enterprise, what would
she be in Europe?"--Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine (1870).
In one of the few records of Sir Isaac Newton's life which he
left for the benefit of others, the following comprehensive
thought occurs:
"It is certainly apparent that the inhabitants of this world are
of a short date, seeing that all arts, as letters, ships,
printing, the needle, &c., were discovered within the memory of
history."
If this were true in Newton's time, how much truer is it now.
Most of the inventions which are so greatly influencing, as well
as advancing, the civilization of the world at the present time,
have been discovered within the last hundred or hundred and fifty
years. We do not say that man has become so much wiser during
that period; for, though he has grown in Knowledge, the most
fruitful of all things were said by "the heirs of all the ages"
thousands of years ago.
But as regards Physical Science, the progress made during the
last hundred years has been very great. Its most recent triumphs
have been in connection with the discovery of electric power and
electric light. Perhaps the most important invention, however,
was that of the working steam engine, made by Watt only about a
hundred years ago. The most recent application of this form of
energy has been in the propulsion of ships, which has already
produced so great an effect upon commerce, navigation, and the
spread of population over the world.
Equally important has been the influence of the Railway--now the
principal means of communication in all civilized countries.
This invention has started into full life within our own time.
The locomotive engine had for some years been employed in the
haulage of coals; but it was not until the opening of the
Liverpool and Manchester Railway in 1830, that the importance of
the invention came to be acknowledged. The locomotive railway
has since been everywhere adopted throughout Europe. In America,
Canada, and the Colonies, it has opened up the boundless
resources of the soil, bringing the country nearer to the towns,
and the towns to the country. It has enhanced the celerity of
time, and imparted a new series of conditions to every rank of
life.
The importance of steam navigation has been still more recently
ascertained. When it was first proposed, Sir Joseph Banks,
President of the Royal Society, said: "It is a pretty plan, but
there is just one point overlooked: that the steam-engine
requires a firm basis on which to work." Symington, the
practical mechanic, put this theory to the test by his successful
experiments, first on Dalswinton Lake, and then on the Forth and
Clyde Canal. Fulton and Bell afterwards showed the power of
steamboats in navigating the rivers of America and Britain.
After various experiments, it was proposed to unite England and
America by steam. Dr. Lardner, however, delivered a lecture
before the Royal Institution in 1838, "proving" that steamers
could never cross the Atlantic, because they could not carry
sufficient coal to raise steam enough during the voyage. But
this theory was also tested by experience in the same year, when
the Sirius, of London, left Cork for New York, and made the
passage in nineteen days. Four days after the departure of the
Sirius, the Great Western left Bristol for New York, and made the
passage in thirteen days five hours.[1] The problem was solved;
and great ocean steamers have ever since passed in continuous
streams between the shores of England and America.
In an age of progress, one invention merely paves the way for
another. The first steamers were impelled by means of paddle
wheels; but these are now almost entirely superseded by the
screw. And this, too, is an invention almost of yesterday. It
was only in 1840 that the Archimedes was fitted as a screw yacht.
A few years later, in 1845, the Great Britain, propelled by the
screw, left Liverpool for New York, and made the voyage in
fourteen days. The screw is now invariably adopted in all long
ocean voyages.
It is curious to look back, and observe the small beginnings of
maritime navigation. As regards this country, though its
institutions are old, modern England is still young. As respects
its mechanical and scientific achievements, it is the youngest of
all countries. Watt's steam engine was the beginning of our
manufacturing supremacy; and since its adoption, inventions and