Figure 41. — John L. Whetstone, 

 1821-1902, chief designer of Niles 

 & Co., the most gifted and origi- 

 nal engineer employed by any 

 of the Cincinnati locomotive 

 builders. This photograph was 

 taken in 1868. {Photo courtesy 

 Historical and Philosophical Society 

 of Ohio.) 



production of locomotives from this time forward, until the great 

 Panic of 1857 made the final decision for them. 



Coleman apparently felt that since his employers were so skeptical 

 of the future of the locomotive business, and since he was superin- 

 tendent of that particular departinent, his prospects for advancement 

 were poor. He began to look for employment elsewhere. In 

 January 1856 he accepted a position as an engineer with his cousin, 

 William Sellers, who operated the well-known machinery company 

 of that name in Philadelphia. Within a few years he was a member 

 of the firm and had begun his steady rise to fame as a nationally 

 recognized engineer, first as president of the Franklin Institute, 

 then as president of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. 

 Undoubtedly, the high point of his career was his position as chief 

 engineer of the Niagara Falls Power Company. 



Many years later he wrote to Angus Sinclair of his earlier experi- 

 ences with Niles & Company. This sketch, printed in Sinclair's 

 Development of the Locomotive Engine, presents a brief but accurate 

 outline of that concern. i^- (A drawing of a small 4-2-0 named 

 Cincinnati, reproduced in Sinclair along with Sellers' narrative, is 

 labeled "Early Niles Locomotive," but it was actually a machine 



''- Pp. 360-362. 



99 



