THE CRADT.F. OF THE MODERN NAVY. ? 



178 pounds. People of that build are usually strong, and in this regard he was no 

 exception. One day when he was going through the foundry he saw a casting which 

 was intended for one of his engines and, looking it over, he concluded that it was 

 not sound and ordered one of the men to test it with a sledge. This the man did, but 

 Ericsson was not satisfied and told the men to carry it over to another part of the 

 foundry where he could rest it on two castings and then strike it. The men said it 

 was too heavy to lift, whereupon Ericsson picked it up and carried it over to the 

 place himself and, taking the sledge, broke it with one blow, disclosing the flaw 

 which he suspected was there. After he had gone, the men placed the pieces on 

 the scales and found them to weigh 592 pounds. He was fifty years old at the time. 



In the transfer of the plant uptown, more changes took place than were appar- 

 ent in the mere change of site. The phenomenal success and growth of the plant in- 

 duced some of the younger, more ambitious and venturesome mechanics connected 

 with it to strike out in a similar direction for themselves. 



Alexander K. Rider, who had charge of the foundry, secured a partner and 

 started a small plant at the foot of West 59th Street under the name of Rider & 

 Ward. They were successful for several years till an accident occurred in which 

 Rider was so seriously injured that he was rendered helpless for over a year and 

 remained an invalid for the remainder of his life. 



John McCurdy, who had charge of the boiler shop, took Jacob S. Warden, the 

 chief draughtsman, and started business at 276 West Street under the name of Mur- 

 phy, McCurdy & Warden, where they became a well-known fixture for many years. 



Men already in the plant, whose qualifications for advancement had been recog- 

 nized, were promoted. Jerry Mulford was made superintendent. Wm. Sibley was 

 placed in charged of the foundry. He died soon afterwards, however, and his 

 brother Fred took his place and remained there permanently. Frank Ramsey was 

 made foreman of the boiler shop. He was one of four brothers — John and Philip 

 in the pattern shop and William in the machine shop. Charles Van Wagenen be- 

 came foreman of the pattern shop. 



All these men lived in the neighborhood, as means of transportation were very 

 poor. Thirteenth Street was pretty far uptown in the early fifties. Few horse car 

 lines ran that far and, as there were no cross town cars, if work was required on a 

 vessel in the East River the men had to walk there. It was not until 1855 that a 

 line of horse cars was run up Hudson Street and Eighth Avenue as far as 30th 

 Street, and later to 53rd Street, with occasionally a car to 59th Street. 



The new site covered land on both sides of 13th Street. Between 13th and 14th 

 Streets a shipyard was located and many wooden and iron steamers were built there 

 and launched from it, and the boilers and engines were made in the shops behind 

 it and across the street. 



They built the iron steamer Matanzas for Mora & Nevarro in the West Indian 

 trade, and many others, and steam outfits for the Mallorys, shipping merchants, who 

 built wooden ships at Mystic, Connecticut, running to Fernandina and Key West, 

 Florida, New Orleans, Louisiana and Galveston, Texas. 



