﻿532 
  ANNUAL 
  REPORT 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  19 
  2 
  9 
  

  

  "Millwright 
  and 
  Miller's 
  Guide," 
  but 
  its 
  sales 
  did 
  not 
  cover 
  the 
  cost 
  

   of 
  publication. 
  All 
  this 
  time, 
  too, 
  he 
  tried, 
  but 
  without 
  success, 
  to 
  

   induce 
  someone 
  to 
  advance 
  him 
  the 
  necessary 
  capital 
  to 
  build 
  an 
  

   experimental 
  traction 
  engine. 
  In 
  1801, 
  poor 
  as 
  he 
  was, 
  he 
  began 
  

   work 
  using 
  his 
  own 
  limited 
  funds. 
  

  

  Before 
  the 
  engine 
  was 
  completed 
  Evans 
  concluded 
  that 
  as 
  its 
  

   principle 
  (a 
  high-pressure 
  type) 
  differed 
  from 
  any 
  of 
  those 
  then 
  in 
  

   use, 
  it 
  might 
  be 
  worth 
  while 
  to 
  make 
  some 
  other 
  application 
  of 
  it 
  

   than 
  to 
  a 
  tractor. 
  So 
  he 
  began 
  on 
  a 
  small 
  stationary 
  steam 
  engine, 
  

   and 
  had 
  it 
  running 
  in 
  the 
  winter 
  of 
  1801. 
  With 
  it 
  he 
  ground 
  plaster 
  

   of 
  Paris, 
  then 
  used 
  as 
  a 
  fertilizer, 
  grinding 
  12 
  tons 
  in 
  24 
  hours. 
  He 
  

   also 
  used 
  it 
  to 
  saw 
  marble. 
  To 
  build 
  it 
  had 
  cost 
  him 
  13,700 
  but 
  he 
  

   got 
  the 
  money 
  back 
  very 
  shortly 
  when 
  he 
  received 
  an 
  order 
  for 
  an 
  

   engine 
  to 
  be 
  used 
  to 
  drive 
  a 
  steamboat 
  on 
  the 
  Mississippi 
  River 
  at 
  

   New 
  Orleans. 
  Evans 
  delivered 
  the 
  engine 
  in 
  due 
  time. 
  While 
  

   awaiting 
  installation 
  in 
  the 
  boat 
  it 
  was 
  used 
  to 
  saw 
  lumber. 
  It 
  ran 
  

   thus 
  for 
  a 
  year 
  mthout 
  failure, 
  when 
  an 
  incendiary 
  fire, 
  believed 
  to 
  

   have 
  been 
  the 
  work 
  of 
  hand 
  sawyers 
  whose 
  business 
  had 
  been 
  injured 
  

   by 
  the 
  engine, 
  destroyed 
  the 
  lumber 
  mill. 
  Ten 
  years 
  later, 
  however, 
  

   the 
  engine 
  was 
  reconditioned 
  and 
  used 
  to 
  drive 
  a 
  cotton 
  press. 
  It 
  

   never 
  served 
  the 
  original 
  purpose 
  for 
  which 
  it 
  was 
  purchased. 
  

  

  As 
  things 
  were 
  now 
  looking 
  brighter 
  for 
  Evans, 
  he 
  opened 
  up 
  a 
  

   shop 
  in 
  Philadelphia, 
  as 
  a 
  regular 
  engine 
  builder, 
  and 
  was 
  probably 
  

   the 
  first 
  in 
  the 
  United 
  States 
  to 
  make 
  a 
  specialty 
  of 
  this 
  work. 
  One 
  

   of 
  his 
  first 
  big 
  jobs 
  was 
  an 
  order 
  from 
  the 
  Philadelphia 
  Board 
  of 
  

   Health 
  for 
  the 
  building 
  of 
  a 
  steam 
  dredge 
  to 
  clean 
  the 
  docks 
  of 
  the 
  

   city. 
  He 
  completed 
  it 
  about 
  July, 
  1805, 
  and 
  as 
  his 
  shop 
  was 
  a 
  mile 
  

   and 
  a 
  half 
  from 
  the 
  Schu3dkill 
  River 
  where 
  the 
  dredge 
  was 
  to 
  be 
  

   launched, 
  Evans 
  put 
  wheels 
  under 
  the 
  scow, 
  and 
  by 
  means 
  of 
  a 
  series 
  

   of 
  belts 
  between 
  the 
  engine 
  and 
  wheels, 
  transported 
  it 
  under 
  its 
  own 
  

   power 
  to 
  the 
  river. 
  Evans 
  called 
  the 
  dredge 
  Oruktor 
  Amphibolos, 
  

   or 
  amphibious 
  digger. 
  Before 
  launching 
  it 
  he 
  drove 
  the 
  machine 
  

   around 
  Center 
  Square 
  during 
  several 
  days, 
  and, 
  through 
  advertise- 
  

   ments 
  in 
  the 
  daily 
  papers, 
  invited 
  anyone 
  to 
  visit 
  the 
  square 
  and 
  

   inspect 
  the 
  machine. 
  He 
  charged 
  each 
  visitor 
  25 
  cents, 
  one-half 
  

   of 
  which 
  he 
  applied 
  to 
  his 
  inventive 
  work 
  and 
  the 
  other 
  half 
  gave 
  to 
  

   his 
  men. 
  This 
  was 
  the 
  first 
  steam-operated 
  vehicle 
  in 
  the 
  United 
  

   States. 
  

  

  Two 
  years 
  later 
  Evans 
  established 
  the 
  Mars 
  Works, 
  announcing 
  

   himself 
  as 
  an 
  iron 
  founder 
  and 
  steam 
  engineer, 
  and 
  directed 
  it 
  until 
  

   his 
  sudden 
  death 
  in 
  1819, 
  at 
  which 
  time 
  at 
  least 
  50 
  of 
  his 
  engines 
  

   were 
  in 
  use 
  in 
  many 
  eastern 
  States. 
  Death, 
  however, 
  robbed 
  him 
  

   of 
  the 
  realization 
  of 
  his 
  most 
  cherished 
  ambition. 
  

  

  The 
  most 
  logical 
  field 
  for 
  a 
  road 
  locomotive 
  in 
  Evans's 
  day 
  was 
  in 
  

   hauling 
  freight 
  to 
  Pittsburgh. 
  To 
  haul 
  100 
  barrels 
  of 
  flour 
  from 
  

  

  