6 THE DELAMATER IRON WORKS— 



Ericsson had invented a hot air engine which, on account of its simplicity and 

 safety of operation, could be run by anyone, and the manufacture of these was 

 taken up and developed into a considerable business of itself, especially for pumping 

 water to the upper stories of houses. "Ericsson Pumpers" they were called. 



The success of this type of power emboldened the firm to endorse a proposal of 

 Ericsson's to build a side-wheel vessel to be operated by it, and the Ericsson was built, 

 having four hot air engines with cylinders 14 feet in diameter. It would be quite a 

 piece of work to bore cylinders of that diameter even now and have them true 

 enough to hold hot air under pressure, but they did it, and the vessel made one 

 trip under her own power to Washington, D. C, and back. It did not prove to be 

 satisfactory, however, and the engines were removed and replaced by inclined steam 

 engines working on the same shaft. 



There was plenty of work of all kinds crowding into the foundry, so much 

 so that an extension to the corner of Vestry Street was made in 1849 ^^d 1850, but 

 as the amount of land available in that locality was extremely limited it was evident 

 that this would be only a temporary expedient, and so they began to cast about for 

 a larger site, one if possible located on the water front. 



Such a site was found finally at the foot of West 13th Street, extending from 

 Tenth Avenue to the river. Much of this site was under water and it required a 

 great deal of fill to make land and have it solid enough to carry the weight of the 

 heavy tools which the firm then possessed, many of which had been imported from 

 England, as the machine tool industry in this country had not yet advanced suffi- 

 ciently to produce as large or substantial ones as were needed. It was a gradual 

 shift which took place, therefore, and for a couple of years, while the transfer was 

 being made, work was done at both sites. In 1851 the office was moved uptown 

 and Mr. DeLamater changed his residence to 302 West 14th Street, next to the 

 corner of Eighth Avenue. The following year Mr. Hogg moved to 244 West 13th 

 Street, between Seventh and Eighth Avenues. 



As long as some of the plant remained at the old site it was known sometimes 

 as the Phoenix Foundry and sometimes Hogg & DeLamater's Foundry, but after the 

 transfer it became known as the Hogg & DeLamater Iron Works. 



A story is told by Colonel Church in his "Life of Ericsson" of one of the lat- 

 ter's visits to the new shop. This was on Thanksgiving Day, 1854, which does not 

 seem to have been a holiday either for workmen or boss. While talking with an 

 engineer who was testing one of his engines, he noticed one of the workmen reach 

 out to feel if the brasses of a vibrating connecting rod were heating, and called to 

 him to be careful or he would lose his hand, but involuntarily his own hand went 

 out and his finger was cut ofif. Turning to DeLamater, he exclaimed, "See, Harry, 

 what I have done!" Picking the piece from the floor, he dropped it in his pocket 

 and tied a piece of tape around the stump to stop the hemorrhage. Then he drove 

 home, where, without taking ether, he had a doctor make a proper amputation. 



Ericsson was 5 feet 7^-^ inches high, broad-shouldered and long-bodied from his 

 waist up, so that when sitting he gave the impression that he was tall ; he weighed 



