﻿MECHANICAL 
  TEANSPOET 
  MITMAN 
  551 
  

  

  Office, 
  but 
  since 
  1908 
  it 
  has 
  formed 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  interesting 
  objects 
  

   of 
  the 
  electrical 
  collections 
  in 
  the 
  National 
  Museum. 
  Just 
  a 
  few 
  

   months 
  after 
  receiving 
  this 
  patent, 
  Davenport 
  and 
  Cook 
  were 
  hypno- 
  

   tized 
  by 
  the 
  soft 
  words 
  of 
  a 
  New 
  York 
  "promoter" 
  to 
  form 
  a 
  joint 
  

   stock 
  company 
  to 
  exploit 
  the 
  patent. 
  A 
  year 
  later 
  they 
  found 
  them- 
  

   selves 
  minus 
  $5,000 
  of 
  their 
  own 
  money 
  which 
  they 
  had 
  spent 
  in 
  

   experiments 
  and 
  in 
  the 
  construction 
  of 
  progressively 
  more 
  practical 
  

   motors, 
  and 
  the 
  promoter 
  gone. 
  

  

  Cook 
  gave 
  up 
  in 
  disgust, 
  and 
  Davenport, 
  again 
  alone, 
  tried 
  for 
  four 
  

   or 
  five 
  years 
  longer 
  to 
  maintain 
  public 
  interest, 
  in 
  the 
  hope 
  of 
  finding 
  

   capital 
  to 
  establish 
  an 
  electric-motor 
  factory. 
  He 
  sent 
  a 
  representa- 
  

   tive 
  to 
  England 
  and 
  France 
  to 
  obtain 
  patents, 
  and 
  also 
  to 
  exhibit 
  

   both 
  his 
  motor 
  and 
  railway; 
  he 
  undertook 
  to 
  publish 
  a 
  technical 
  

   journal 
  called 
  "The 
  Electro-magnet 
  and 
  Mechanic's 
  Intelligencer," 
  

   printing 
  the 
  paper 
  on 
  a 
  press 
  operated 
  by 
  one 
  of 
  his 
  motors. 
  After 
  

   two 
  or 
  three 
  issues 
  he 
  gave 
  that 
  up. 
  Finally, 
  early 
  in 
  1843, 
  his 
  nervous 
  

   system 
  enfeebled 
  by 
  so 
  many 
  years 
  of 
  incessant 
  toil 
  and 
  anxiety 
  and 
  

   lack 
  of 
  proper 
  nourishment 
  gave 
  way 
  under 
  the 
  strain 
  and 
  he 
  became 
  

   dangerously 
  ill. 
  He 
  recovered, 
  but 
  his 
  constitution 
  was 
  permanently 
  

   impaired, 
  and 
  after 
  residing 
  two 
  or 
  three 
  years 
  longer 
  at 
  Brandon, 
  

   he 
  retired 
  to 
  a 
  small 
  farm 
  in 
  Salisbury, 
  Vt., 
  where 
  he 
  passed 
  the 
  few 
  

   remaining 
  years 
  of 
  his 
  life, 
  dying 
  July 
  6, 
  1851, 
  just 
  49 
  years 
  old. 
  

  

  Like 
  Fitch 
  and 
  Kumsey, 
  Davenport 
  was 
  ahead 
  of 
  his 
  time. 
  The 
  

   steam 
  engine 
  and 
  locomotive 
  were 
  just 
  coming 
  into 
  their 
  own 
  in 
  the 
  

   public 
  regard 
  and 
  conditions 
  had 
  not 
  yet 
  arisen 
  demanding 
  other 
  

   forms 
  of 
  power. 
  As 
  a 
  matter 
  of 
  fact, 
  more 
  than 
  30 
  years 
  passed 
  after 
  

   Davenport's 
  death 
  before 
  either 
  the 
  electric 
  motor 
  or 
  the 
  electric 
  

   railway 
  became 
  actualities. 
  When 
  they 
  did 
  they 
  were 
  Davenport's 
  

   ideas 
  with 
  incidental 
  improvements. 
  

  

  VI. 
  THE 
  COMING 
  OF 
  THE 
  AUTOMOBILE 
  

  

  The 
  year 
  that 
  James 
  Watt 
  obtained 
  his 
  important 
  steam 
  engine 
  

   patent 
  (1769) 
  a 
  French 
  Army 
  engineer, 
  Nicholas 
  Joseph 
  Cugnot, 
  

   built 
  and 
  operated 
  his 
  third 
  steam 
  carriage. 
  It 
  was 
  really 
  a 
  tractor 
  

   and 
  was 
  used 
  for 
  a 
  short 
  time 
  to 
  pull 
  heavy 
  artillery. 
  This 
  was 
  the 
  

   world's 
  first 
  successful 
  self-propelled 
  vehicle 
  on 
  common 
  roads. 
  In 
  

   1784 
  one 
  of 
  Watt's 
  representatives, 
  Wilham 
  Murdock, 
  made 
  a 
  small 
  

   working 
  model 
  of 
  a 
  high-pressure 
  steam 
  carriage 
  which 
  performed 
  

   very 
  well. 
  As 
  a 
  result 
  he 
  tried 
  to 
  have 
  Boulton 
  & 
  Watt 
  go 
  into 
  the 
  

   manufacture 
  of 
  steam 
  carriages, 
  but 
  Watt 
  would 
  have 
  none 
  of 
  it. 
  

   In 
  a 
  letter 
  to 
  Boulton 
  in 
  1786 
  he 
  wrote: 
  "I 
  am 
  extremely 
  sorry 
  that 
  

   William 
  still 
  busies 
  himself 
  with 
  the 
  steam 
  carriage. 
  In 
  one 
  of 
  my 
  

   specifications 
  (patent) 
  I 
  have 
  secured 
  it 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  words 
  could 
  do 
  it 
  

   according 
  to 
  my 
  ideas 
  of 
  it; 
  * 
  * 
  * 
  I 
  have 
  still 
  the 
  same 
  opinions 
  

   concerning 
  it 
  that 
  I 
  had; 
  but 
  to 
  prevent 
  as 
  much 
  as 
  possible 
  more 
  fruit- 
  

  

  