Sharp, whose hack was towards me. I at once 

 advanced and addressed him. 



He introduced me to Brougham as an American, 

 and I was soon plied with questions faster than I 

 could reply. I do not think his lordship had con- 

 ceived a clear idea of the vast extent of our country 

 and its resources. He thought it strange that any 

 American of my age should not have seen the Falls of 

 Niagara. On my stating that from Philadelphia it 

 was a stage-coach ride of some 400 miles or more, or 

 a long and tedious journey by the New York canal, 

 to this he replied, "I understand that you have fre- 

 quently been to New York, and I am surprised that 

 when there you did not visit the falls." He evidently 

 confounded the State and city. 



When I afterwards related this to John Isaac Haw- 

 kins, he said there was much confusion in the minds of 

 some of the most intelligent English as to the United 

 States, and he related a circumstance that occurred 

 in the office of Barclay, Perkins & Co., the great 

 brewers. During the War of 181 2 news of some 

 reverse of the British forces had been received that 

 greatly excited both Barclay and Perkins, and the 

 latter exclaimed: "If I were Prime Minister I would 

 soon end this war; I would enforce a strict blockade, 

 surround the country, cut them off from all outside 

 communication, and starve them out." 



Mr. Hawkins replied that it was no easy matter to 

 enforce blockade on over 3,000 miles of sea coast. 



Then Mr. Perkins unrolled on his table a very large 

 map of England, and a very small one of the United 

 States, exclaiming: "Hawkins, you were so long in the 

 States that you have become almost an American, and 

 have caught their brag. Just look and you will see 

 for yourself, that all the country this fuss is over is no 

 larger than Yorkshire. To talk about 3,000 miles of 

 sea coast is all nonsense." I do not relate this as it 

 was told me in disparagement of Lord Henry Broug- 

 ham, for a more interesting and generally intelligent 

 man it has never been my good fortune to meet, but 

 I tell it to show how much ignorance existed as to our 

 country before the advent of ocean steamers and tele- 

 graphs. It is a well-known fact, that in the same War 

 of 181 2 in the armament and outfits for their fleets on 

 the fresh water lakes, water casks were included. 



I was disappointed that Mr. Donkin did not come, 

 but I had the satisfaction of an introduction to Mr. 

 Barton, that resulted in a cordial invitation to visit 

 the Royal Mint on Tower Hill. I was also introduced 

 to some prominent mechanical engineers. Several 

 artists came in, but their stav was brief. On Mr. 



Reese, Mr. Sharp's associate commissioner from 

 Barbadoes, coming in, he being the owner of several 

 sugar plantations, getting his machinery from England, 

 Mr. Field invited him to go through the works, and I 

 was asked to accompany them. It was on this second 

 round that I more particularly noticed the amount 

 of labor and useless cost of work done on lathes not 

 calculated for the work they were doing, and that 

 could bear no comparison with those in the sugar mill 

 and steam engine works of Fawcet, Preston & Co., 

 of Liverpool; for heavy work the hanging heavy 

 gearing on square or hexagonal shafts seemed to be 

 almost the universal practice in England at that time. 

 This required the work of hammer, cold chisel and 

 file to cut two key seats to every flat, and the same in 

 the flats of eyes or hubs of the wheels to be hung. 

 It seems almost incredible to us of the present time 

 that only 54 years ago England, that was looked on 

 as the furthest advanced in mechanical engineering, 

 still adhered to this practice, when we in America 

 had long practiced turning shafts, boring wheels and 

 simple keying, except by a few old-fashioned mill- 

 wrights who hung onto the square ends to water 

 wheel journals, or the wing gudgeons of wooden 

 shafts on which the wheels were hung with wooden 

 wedges with iron ones driven in to tighten them. 

 I believe the universal change the world over to 

 turned shafts or axles with bored hubs and simple 

 keys, is mainly due to the advent of railroads .... [43] 



As we were leaving the Maudslay works, Mr. 

 Brunei, of Thames tunnel fame, came in. After an 

 introduction, I told him it was my intention to call 

 on him, as I had a letter of introduction from his 

 friend and brother engineer, Mr. Hartley, of Liver- 

 pool, 1 " but had not the letter with me. This resulted 

 in an appointment at 9:30 the next morning, at the 

 tunnel. He said if I had not been an American he 

 should not have named so early an hour. This I 

 took as a compliment to our countrymen. 



I was promptly at the tunnel at the appointed time 

 and found Mr. Brunei already at his ollice, but not by 

 any means in a state of mind to be envied. Work on 

 the tunnel had for a long time been suspended. The 

 pumps were at work, but the state of the air and water 

 prohibited going into the tunnel at that time. Mr. 

 Brunei showed me the plans and drawings, explaining 

 evervthing clearlv. He had encountered unforeseen 



»' Jesse Hartley (1 780-1860), civil engineer of Liverpool, 

 surveyor (constructor) of clocks. 



114 



