482 transactions of the american institute. 



Our Intercourse with Russia. 



The Chairman. — We are about to exhibit an improvement in stoves by- 

 Delano, and the subject reminds me that we have a confession to make, 

 and very properly, in the presence of our Russian friends. The Americans 

 claim to be in advance of Europe in all departments of mechanism, but 

 there is one article they have not succeeded in manufacturing-. In this, 

 hovi^ever, they are not singular, for to England, France, Germany, and in- 

 deed to all nations except one, the method is still a mystery. I allude to 

 Russia sheet iron, made only in the mines of Siberia; and the process 

 which has so long puzzled the technolog-ists of the world might appropri- 

 ately be called The JRussian Paddle. The importance of this material to 

 this country may be appreciated when we take into consideration the almost 

 universal use of stoves in the northern states; parts of the best stoves, 

 and the pipes attached, being made of this polished sheet iron. We must 

 acknowledge, therefore, that a large portion of the heat force, which cheers 

 and animates us during the coldest weather, is radiated from a Russian 

 metal for which this country has already paid many millions of dollars. 



There is another interesting subject to which 1 may now allude, because 

 it affects Russia and the United States alike — although it is of great im- 

 portance to every civilized community. I refer to the Pacific telegraph, 

 which is to unite the new world with the old. 



In 1859, when the public expectation was highest with regard to the 

 tele'Taph by the Atlantic route, I felt constrained to Citpress, before this 

 Association, some objections to its feasibility, and at the same time to pre- 

 sent a plan for reaching Europe by extending a telegraphic line across this 

 continent to San Francisco, from thence north to Bhering's Straits. As the 

 currents of the Pacific are always northward througjji these straits, there 

 would be no danger to the wire crossing it from iceberg^*.' It was remarked 

 that to carry the wire across Asia, would be a feat worthy of a Czar. 



I also sugf^ested the practicability of crossing the Pacific about one 

 th'ousand miles below Bhering's Straits, where nature has written upon the 

 ocean a beautiful sonnet; every line is a lovely island. The average dis- 

 tance between each of the Aleutian group is less than one hundred miles. 

 On these galvanic batteries could be established, and a series of permanent 

 submarine cables could be extended across the Pacific. I was therefore 

 prompted to predict that the grand thoughtway of the world would run 

 through both America and Russia. 



A few months after these statements were made before this Association, 

 we had the gratification of hearing that the Emperor of Russia had com- 

 menced the construction of a telegraph from St. Petersburgh to the Pacific. 

 Our part of the work has been completed as far as San Francisco, thus 

 brino-ing China and Eastern Russia twenty days nearer to us. The wires 

 are now being laid from California to Oregon. How far the work had pro- 

 gressed in Russia was not known to us, but I now learn, from one of our 

 distin^-uished guests, that the surveys are finished to the Amoor river. To 

 complete the line, we must obtain permission to cross the British posses- 

 sions bordering on the Pacific. When that is done, Russia and the Great 

 Republic will be united by hooks «>! steel, which, it is hoped, will be emble- 

 matical of eternal peace and friendship between them. 



