384 BRITISH WORKSHOPS IN NEW YORK. 



York Sun. I copy it from the Albany Mechanics 1 

 Journal : 



u The mechanical skill of the country appears to be 

 especially directed to the production of a rotary steam- 

 engine, which shall supersede the reciprocating. Without 

 going into an argument pro or con, upon the subject, we 

 will merely observe, that if ever the desired point is gained, 

 it will be by an American mechanic. Almost every im 

 provement and discovery in mechanics, in late years, is due 

 to the ingenuity of OUR artisans and to them we shall 

 look for the solution of this question, if soluble.&quot; 

 Mechanics Journal, Albany, June 19th, 1847. 



To appreciate the full force of what is said in regard 

 to American mechanics and American mechanical skill, 

 it is necessary to be aware of the kind of men with whom 

 their workshops are filled. I went into some of the 

 machine-shops where the materials for the new line of 

 steamers were in process of manufacture, and I heard 

 almost every workman talking with either an English or 

 a Scottish tongue. I remarked this to my New York 

 friend who accompanied me. &quot; Yes,&quot; he observed, 

 &quot; but the head-man is an American.&quot; In a machine- 

 shop the hands are at least as important as the head. 

 &quot; I have a clever Englishman in my workshop,&quot; said a 

 wholesale hardware merchant of Philadelphia to me, 

 &quot; and if any English article is wanted that we have 

 never made, I send for him, and ask him if he can have 

 it made for me, and he has never failed me yet.&quot; 



Workshops filled with British workmen are British 

 workshops, on whichever side of the Atlantic they may 

 be, and engines made in them are British engines ; so 

 that we, in reality, feel no jealousy at being beaten by 

 ourselves. The Hudson against the Clyde is nothing 

 more to us than the Mersey against the Clyde ; and at 

 present the home jealousy between these two rivers is 

 very great. The idea of a national jealousy in the 



