12 THE DELAMATER IRON WORKS— 



Propositions even from the Government are not orders, and it was over a year 

 before the first one for another vessel of the monitor type materiahzed. This was 

 for the Dictator, a much larger vessel than the Monitor, and it was built complete, 

 hull, engines and all . equipment, at the DeLamater Iron Works. 



In contracting for the Dictator, the department conferred upon Ericsson the ex- 

 traordinary privilege of constructing the ship and her machinery after his own plans. 

 As an evidence of Ericsson's mastery of his work, one fact will serve. It is embodied 

 in the statement by the government inspector regarding the Puritan, her sister ship, 

 the order for which followed shortly after that of the Dictator: — "I have to re- 

 port that the draught of the ship at the midship section, through centre of forward 

 turret, proved to be eleven feet, ten and three-quarters inches, while the launching 

 plan called for eleven feet, eleven inches. Difference, one-fourth inch less draught 

 than calculated.'' 



The engines for the two vessels were duplicates and were built together at the 

 DeLamater Iron Works. The hull of the Puritan was constructed at the Conti- 

 nental Iron Works at Greenpoint, Long Island. At the launching of the Dictator 

 it was found that its tremendous weight had so settled the ways in the fiUed-in land 

 that great difficulty was encountered, and it was only in the third attempt that the 

 launching was successfully achieved. 



The propeller of the Dictator was 20 feet in diameter and weighed 44,000 

 pounds, which was quite a casting for those days, and Fred Sibley, who cast it 

 from the foundry cupola, was justly proud of the accomplishment. The steam cylin- 

 ders were 100 inches in diameter, the largest made up to that time. These vessels 

 were not finished till after the war was ended and their use was not availed of until 



later. 



Several composite wood and iron monitors were built at the Brooklyn Navy 

 Yard and had their boilers and engines made at the DeLamater Iron Works so that 

 the latter had to expand through to 14th Street on one side and to 12th Street on 

 the other to take care of all the work that fairly poured in upon them. 



Mr. DeLamater never held himself aloof from his men, and anyone doAvn to the 

 most lowly of his employees could approach him without ceremony, and yet he was 

 always dignified and commanded respect. On this account he was very popular 

 with the men, and this was generally known among the masses throughout the city. 

 During the war, the great services which he was able to render to his country em- 

 phasized his loyalty to the cause and endeared him more than ever to the people of 



the city. 



During the Draft Riots in 1863, when the mob was burning right and left and 

 more than one large industrial plant was destroyed, a cry was raised by some one 

 in the crowd to "burn the DeLamater Iron Works," but the mob shouted "No," 

 and someone proposed three cheers for Mr. DeLamater, which were given with such 

 a good will that it was evident there was no reason for anxiety on their account. 



In 1864, to take care of all the outside work, which had become as voluminous 

 as the shop work, Jerry Mulford was made outside superintendent and George H. 



