[Entered at the Post-Offlce of New York, N.Y., as Second-Class Matter.] 



A WEEKLY NEWSPAPER OF ALL THE ARTS AND SCIENCES. 



Sevknth Year. 

 Vol. XIII. No. 319. 



NEW YORK, March 15, li 



Single Copies, Ten Cents. 

 53.50 Per Year, in Advance. 



JOHN ERICSSON. 



Capt. John Ericsson died in New York at twenty-one min- 

 utes before one, Friday morning, March 8. He was cared for in 

 his last moments by his 

 attending physician. Dr. 

 Joshua C. Boullee ; his 

 superintending engineer, 

 V. F. Lassoe ; and his sec- 

 retary, S. W. Taylor. His 

 last words were, " Give 

 me rest," which followed 

 an inquiry if he must die. 

 Up to the last he retained 

 his wonderful mental en- 

 ergy, his mind being con- 

 centrated on the work he 

 had in hand. 



The world has lost in 

 this death one of its hard- 

 est workers, and one who 

 has done his full share in 

 advancing human welfare. 

 So earnestly was he a 

 worker, that he had not 

 for years allowed any one 

 to see him except on 

 matters pertaining to his 

 experiments. He would 

 receive a tinsmith bringing 

 a can for his laboratory ; 

 but he declined to meet 

 Gen. McClellan, who ex- 

 pressed a wish to call on 

 the great engineer. Even 

 his associates could not 

 induce him to break, in 

 any case, this rule that he 

 had made for his life. 



His whole life was given 

 to his work, and his only desire in living was to complete a task 

 that he had set himself. For this reason he retained his residence 



JOHN ERICSSON 



by the gloomy walls of the freight-depot of the New York Central 

 Railroad. Its form, however, is the same as when Beach Street 

 was one of the most aristocratic neighborhoods in the city. 



His workshop was in the basement of his residence, and the 

 whole building bore evi- 

 dence of his vocation. The 

 only ornaments in his par- 

 lor were models of his in- 

 ventions, and a set of en- 

 graved resolutions passed 

 by the New York Legis- 

 lature in acknowledgment-, 

 of his public services. 



The first symptoms of 

 the final illness appeared 

 about three weeks ago, 

 and, on account of his age, 

 little hope was entertained 1 

 from the first. But even, 

 on his death-bed his work- 

 was the one thing con^ 

 stantly before him ; and 

 among the last things he 

 did was to leave special 

 instructions to Mr. Lassoe, 

 his assistant, for the com- 

 pletion of the work he was 

 engaged in, the develop- 

 ment of his sun-motor. He 

 also left to Mr. Lassoe 

 certain plans which he had 

 originated for American 

 coast defences. 



Capt. Ericsson was born, 

 July 31, 1803. in the prov- 

 ince of Wermland, Sweden. 

 His father, Olof Ericsson, 

 was proprietor of mines ;. 

 his mother, Sophie, the 

 daughter of an iron-master. 

 He was married in England about fifty years ago, but his wife 

 has been dead a quarter of a century ; and he leaves no children. 



THE "MONITOR" OF 1862. 



in Beach Street so long after the locality had been encroached 

 upon by business structures and tenement-houses. This resi- 

 dence originally faced on St. John's Park, but is now shadowed 



His special talent showed itself at the age of ten, when he con- 

 structed a miniature saw-mill and a pumping-machine that at- 

 tracted notice. At twelve he was made a cadet of mechanical en- 



