﻿512 
  

  

  ANNUAL 
  REPORT 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  192 
  9 
  

  

  yields 
  good 
  copper, 
  and 
  has 
  turned 
  out 
  vast 
  wealth 
  to 
  the 
  owners. 
  

   I 
  was 
  at 
  it 
  last 
  fall, 
  but 
  they 
  were 
  not 
  then 
  at 
  work. 
  The 
  water 
  has 
  

   grown 
  too 
  hard 
  for 
  them, 
  and 
  they 
  waited 
  for 
  a 
  fire 
  engine 
  from 
  Eng- 
  

   land 
  to 
  drain 
  their 
  pits. 
  I 
  suppose 
  they 
  will 
  have 
  that 
  at 
  work 
  next; 
  

   it 
  costs 
  them 
  £1,000." 
  As 
  a 
  matter 
  of 
  fact 
  the 
  engine 
  cost 
  three 
  

   times 
  this 
  amount 
  by 
  the 
  time 
  it 
  was 
  erected. 
  

  

  Four 
  years 
  or 
  more 
  passed 
  before 
  the 
  completion 
  of 
  the 
  engine. 
  

   When 
  it 
  was 
  shipped 
  Josiah 
  Hornblower, 
  then 
  about 
  25 
  years 
  old, 
  went 
  

  

  

  Figure 
  3. 
  — 
  Newcomen 
  atmospheric 
  engine. 
  Introduced 
  about 
  1712 
  and 
  the 
  first 
  to 
  embody 
  on 
  a 
  

   practical 
  scale 
  some 
  important 
  features 
  of 
  the 
  reciprocating 
  steam 
  engine. 
  The 
  original 
  of 
  this 
  illus- 
  

   tration 
  was 
  discovered 
  in 
  1925 
  and 
  indicates 
  that 
  as 
  early 
  as 
  1717 
  the 
  engine 
  had 
  been 
  improved 
  by 
  

   adding 
  the 
  automatic 
  valve 
  gearing 
  perfected 
  by 
  Henry 
  Beighton. 
  (Courtesy 
  of 
  the 
  Newcomen 
  

   Society) 
  

  

  with 
  it. 
  America's 
  first 
  steam 
  engine 
  and 
  power 
  engineer 
  landed 
  in 
  

   New 
  York 
  about 
  September 
  9, 
  1753. 
  "To 
  cash 
  pd. 
  for 
  7 
  days, 
  cart- 
  

   ing 
  ye 
  engine 
  & 
  boards 
  to 
  ye 
  mine" 
  is 
  an 
  item 
  in 
  the 
  account 
  books 
  

   under 
  the 
  date 
  of 
  September 
  25, 
  1753. 
  Then, 
  with 
  the 
  engine 
  in 
  

   pieces 
  at 
  the 
  mine, 
  Josiah 
  had 
  his 
  first 
  opportunity 
  to 
  consider 
  the 
  

  

  