﻿THE 
  BEGINNING 
  OF 
  THE 
  MECHANICAL 
  TRANSPORT 
  

   ERA 
  IN 
  AMERICA 
  

  

  By 
  Carl 
  W. 
  Mitman 
  

  

  Curator, 
  Divisions 
  of 
  Mineral 
  and 
  Mechanical 
  Technology, 
  United 
  States 
  

  

  National 
  Museum 
  

  

  [With 
  24 
  plates] 
  

   I. 
  HOW 
  MAN 
  CAME 
  TO 
  KNOW 
  STEAM 
  

  

  Many 
  centuries 
  before 
  the 
  word 
  steam 
  was 
  ever 
  used, 
  learned 
  

   Egyptians 
  knew 
  that 
  heat, 
  whether 
  from 
  the 
  sun 
  or 
  a 
  man-made 
  

   fire, 
  could 
  produce 
  motion 
  of 
  fluids 
  or 
  vapors 
  contained 
  in 
  closed 
  ves- 
  

   sels. 
  Before 
  the 
  Israelites 
  escaped 
  from 
  Egypt 
  there 
  was 
  at 
  least 
  

   one 
  Egyptian 
  statue 
  of 
  a 
  god, 
  that 
  of 
  Memnon, 
  which 
  on 
  sunny 
  

   days, 
  so 
  report 
  says, 
  uttered 
  sounds 
  like 
  the 
  notes 
  of 
  a 
  harp. 
  This 
  

   mystified 
  the 
  worshipers 
  and 
  drew 
  members 
  from 
  other 
  sects 
  until 
  

   the 
  priests 
  of 
  a 
  rival 
  belief 
  succeeded 
  in 
  exposing 
  the 
  trick. 
  Extend- 
  

   ing 
  vertically 
  from 
  a 
  water 
  filled 
  cavity 
  within 
  the 
  statue 
  was 
  a 
  

   small 
  pipe 
  with 
  a 
  tiny 
  opening 
  at 
  the 
  top 
  near 
  the 
  mouth, 
  fashioned 
  

   like 
  an 
  organ 
  pipe. 
  When 
  the 
  sun 
  shone 
  it 
  heated 
  the 
  water 
  and 
  the 
  

   resulting 
  movement 
  of 
  air 
  up 
  the 
  pipe 
  and 
  out 
  of 
  the 
  mouth 
  produced 
  

   the 
  sounds 
  heard. 
  The 
  spealdng 
  god 
  was 
  a 
  mere 
  hot-air 
  calliope. 
  

  

  The 
  science 
  of 
  those 
  times 
  was 
  in 
  the 
  hands 
  of 
  the 
  priests 
  but 
  as 
  

   the 
  secret 
  of 
  their 
  grip 
  over 
  the 
  people 
  lay 
  in 
  mystery, 
  they 
  were 
  

   careful 
  to 
  keep 
  their 
  discoveries 
  to 
  themselves. 
  Consequently, 
  if 
  

   they 
  knew 
  anything 
  about 
  steam 
  we 
  have 
  no 
  record 
  of 
  it. 
  Alex- 
  

   ander's 
  conquest 
  of 
  Egypt, 
  however, 
  brought 
  in 
  a 
  new 
  attitude 
  toward 
  

   knowledge. 
  Her 
  kings 
  became 
  patrons 
  of 
  the 
  arts 
  and 
  sciences; 
  

   the 
  court 
  of 
  Alexandria 
  became 
  a 
  school 
  of 
  philosophy 
  where 
  the 
  

   learned 
  of 
  many 
  countries 
  gathered. 
  In 
  the 
  hope 
  of 
  obtaining 
  

   royal 
  favor 
  the 
  philosophers 
  put 
  their 
  knowledge 
  into 
  books. 
  It 
  

   is 
  in 
  the 
  publications 
  of 
  one 
  of 
  them. 
  Hero 
  by 
  name, 
  that 
  the 
  oldest 
  

   printed 
  record 
  of 
  man's 
  knowledge 
  of 
  steam 
  is 
  found. 
  Hero, 
  who 
  

   lived 
  sometime 
  between 
  150 
  B. 
  C. 
  and 
  50 
  A. 
  D., 
  wrote 
  a 
  volume 
  on 
  

   pneumatics 
  in 
  which 
  for 
  the 
  first 
  time 
  he 
  discussed 
  the 
  several 
  proper- 
  

   ties 
  of 
  steam 
  and 
  described 
  a 
  number 
  of 
  mechanical 
  contrivances, 
  some 
  

  

  507 
  

  

  