USA > New Hampshire > Merrimack County > Boscawen > The history of Boscawen and Webster [N.H.] from 1733 to 1878 > Part 31
USA > New Hampshire > Merrimack County > Webster > The history of Boscawen and Webster [N.H.] from 1733 to 1878 > Part 31
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when it could be carried into operation, and he was constantly devising ways and means by which to accomplish it. This was of great help to him when he was called to the work in 1851.
Having conscientious seruples about the work required of him on the Lord's day by the New York Telegraph Co., he was re- leased from his engagement there. He removed to Salem, Mass., July, 1848, and took charge of the telegraph office in that city, also of temporary repairs on the line between Boston and New- buryport.
In the autumn of the same year he received an order from the city of Boston to construct two small machines for striking alarms of fire on church bells, the machines to be made according to the plans which he had previously submitted to Mr. Smith. The ma- chines were constructed at once by Messrs. Howard & Davis, the well known clock-makers of Roxbury, Mass., and were exhibited in Boston, December, 1848. One was placed on the top of the court-house, and the other in the office of Mr. Sadler, the superin- tendent of the New York line of telegraph. These machines were connected by a wire, and were operated by a circuit of the main New York line, and the bells to which they were attached were both struck simultaneously by an operator in New York city, two hundred and fifty miles away. The experiment was perfectly satisfactory to all who witnessed it, and accounts of the wonderful event were published in the newspapers at the time. Mayor Quincy's term of office expiring soon after, and the next mayor not feeling the necessity of further action on his part, the subject was not resumed that year, and Mr. Farmer continued his experiments in other directions.
Soon after this he devised an automatic circuit-closing appara- tus, in which the weight of the hand broke the switch branches of the main circuit, but this immediately closed itself upon the removal of the hand.
During the year 1849 he contrived an electro-magnetic clock, with dead-beat escapement, and with continuity-preserving circuit- breaker. This clock had only three wheels, each wheel sixty teeth ; -- the second hand moved each second, the minute hand each min- ute, the hour hand each five minutes. This was patented in 1852, and one was in use in the fire-alarm office in Boston for several years after the introduction of the system into that city.
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In 1849, Mr. Farmer left the telegraph office in Salem, Mass., to open some of the new offices on the Vermont and Boston tele- graph line, commencing with Manchester, N. H. While there he invented the open-circuit automatic repeater, as he found some such device needful. This line was worked on the Bain, or chem- ical system.
In May, 1850, he was appointed superintendent of the line from Boston to Burlington. During the year he applied automatic repeaters to six or seven intermediate stations, and the line was extended to Ogdensburgh, N. Y. Wires were also run south to Northampton, Mass.
In February, 1851, he received a note from Dr. Wm. F. Chan- ning, of Boston, of whom he had never heard before, requesting an interview, as he desired to use the machines which Mr. Farmer had devised and exhibited for giving an alarm of fire by electricity. Dr. Channing had published an article upon this subject in 1845, although Mr. Farmer had never heard of it, nor had he ever seen the writer until he met him in his (Mr. Farmer's) office on State street. Dr. Channing had constructed no machinery by which his idea could be demonstrated, and Mr. Farmer consented to the use of the machines which had been exhibited two years before, and also promised to assist Dr. Channing in the use of them.
The experimental trial satisfied the city government of Boston of the feasibility of the plan, and an appropriation of $10,000 was made to carry it into effect. Mr. Farmer was immediately ap- pointed superintendent of the construction, and entered upon his duties in July, 1851, resigning his position of superintendent of the Vermont line for this purpose. The work was no sooner un- dertaken, than he found himself at sea without chart or compass. The system, which had looked so beautiful on paper, was only a form, which must now be clothed before it could become an obedient servant. How to do it engrossed every thought. Theorizing and practical work were now found to be two very different things. Ma- chinery must be invented at every step. Each bell-tower required its peculiar adaptations. The position of the machinery, its size, and the weight to be attached to it, all had to be taken into ac- count. Difficulties met the young inventor at every turn. Means applicable to an ordinary telegraph line were of no help here, but his absolute faith in final success bridged over every one of
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the many difficulties, and the work of construction went steadily on, until every dollar of the first appropriation had been ex- pended. The fire-alarm committee, never doubting his ability to accomplish the work he had undertaken, made another ap- propriation, and the task before him was pursued with the same untiring energy and wonderful fertility of invention, until suc- cess was attained. Mr. C. C. Coffin had charge of the men em- ployed in its construction. The first trial took place April 28, 1852, and the first alarm was given by Mr. Coffin in the evening of the 29th.
Daily use of the system brought to light its many defects, and for the next three or four years it required on Mr. Farmer's part almost sleepless vigilance to overcome the obstacles to its complete and triumphant success. During the first fif- teen months after it went into operation, he spent forty-three nights in the fire-alarm office in Boston, considering it unsafe to leave it long enough to return to his home in Salem. Twice he was sent for to return by carriage in the night. Once, in a ter- rific storm, he found it almost impossible to obtain a horse or driver. Being told that the storm was too terrible for man or beast to be out in, he simply replied,-" If I am willing to risk my life, you certainly ought to be willing to risk one of your horses." The request was granted, and he reached his office in Boston past midnight to find his worst fears more than realized. Every line connected with the main office had been broken by the storm. The operators were at their posts of duty, but almost despair- ing what to do. If a fire had broken out that night the whole city of Boston would have been at the mercy of the flames.
Strange as it may seem at the present day, the firemen were then the bitterest enemies of the system, and they lost no oppor- tunity to find fault with it, or to prevent its successful introduc- tion. At that time the fire department was a voluntary organiza- tion ; fire companies were clubs, in some instances political organ- izations. False alarms were frequent, as it was very easy to start the cry of "Fire." The telegraphic system proposed to do away with all this, prevent false alarms, and consequently much of the excitement : hence the opposition of the firemen. With Mr. Farmer, however, there was no such word as fail; and the labor went steadily on. He never laid down his care of it until 1859.
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Then he felt that it was old enough to be wholly committed to the care of others. He generously gave the system to the city, waiv- ing all his rights under the patent law. He resigned his position of superintendent in August, 1855, but was still in daily com- munication with those having charge of it for the next four years, and they had the benefit of his skill and experience upon which to rely in every emergency.
This was the fire-alarm telegraph of the past. To-day it is in use in almost every large town in the United States and Can- ada. If this had been his life work, it would have been worth living for; but it was only the beginning.
In 1855 he successfully deposited aluminum from its chlo- ride solution, which never had been accomplished before. He also succeeded in depositing copper in a condition both hard and brittle-a great achievement in electro-metallurgy. In 1856 he commenced the business of electrotyping, and produced the first undercut electrotype in this country from a gutta percha mold. He also made a sheet of copper one eighth of an inch thick, brittle as glass ! This was another wonder in electro-metallurgy. In this year he also devoted much attention to electric repeat- ers, electric clocks, and printing telegraphs, and constructed for the Dudley observatory, at Albany, N. Y., a chronograph and sys- tem of electric clocks. He invented, in conjunction with A. F. Woodman, a closed circuit-repeater, which proved to be very useful. In 1856 he constructed and sold a great many gyroscopes, to one of which he applied an electro-magnetic engine, by which he kept it in continual rotation. As early as the year 1852, Mr. Farmer's attention was directed to the subject of multiplex teleg- raphy. Between this time and 1855, he devised and constructed an apparatus by which he was enabled to transmit four messa- ges simultaneously over a single wire. In November, 1855, he showed to Joseph B. Stearns the apparatus he had then con- structed, and explained to him his theory of the manner in which this could be accomplished. This was twelve years before Mr. Stearns brought out his apparatus known as the "Stearns du- plex." About this time Mr. Farmer devised a printing telegraph, and was probably the first to make use of what is known as the " unison stop." He was also undoubtedly the first to suggest the use of the continuity-preserving key in the duplex telegraph.
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.
This was the earliest form of a duplex which made use of inde- pendent current reversals in sending messages. He perfected double transmitters with reversed currents and constant resist- ance ; worked double transmission on a telegraph line between Boston and Worcester in 1856, both instruments being in the Boston office, and two messages were sent simultaneously in op- posite directions.
In 1852-3, permission was granted to Capt. Charles Wilkes, U. S. Navy, to use the circuits of the fire-alarm system, to deter- mine, experimentally, the velocity of sound. Stations at Charles- town Navy Yard, Watertown Arsenal, Salem, Cambridge, South Boston, and at Fort Independence were connected with the central office in Boston. Mr. Farmer constructed an especial chronograph for this purpose, and many experiments were made, the results of which were duly published by Capt. Wilkes. Previous to this time, at the request of Prof. Bache, of the U. S. Coast Survey, Mr. Farmer had constructed a short line of telegraph, connecting the observatory at Cambridge with the New York and Boston line of telegraph.
In 1852 he devised one or more closed circuit-repeaters ; also commenced the construction of apparatus for the simultaneous transmission of four messages upon one wire, in the same or op- posite directions. In 1852-3 he made many experiments upon rheostats, voltometers, and magnetometers. In 1853 he received a patent on an improved porous cell for galvanic batteries. In 1854 he experimented largely on magneto-electric machines, and deposited copper on several cells in series, and endeavored to ascertain the mechanical power required to accomplish it. He also employed magneto-electric machines instead of a galvanic battery, for the purpose of striking the bells of the fire-alarm tel- egraph, and also applied water-power apparatus instead of weights to raise the bell-hammers. He contrived and constructed a resist- ance coil, with electro-static capacity, produced by winding sheets of tin-foil between each layer of wire. In the same year he made improvements in diaphragm water-meters. In 1855 he invented improvements in fire-alarm signal apparatus, making use of a cur- rent in one direction to give one signal, and in the reverse direc- tion to give another and different one. The same year he ex- perimented on dial telegraphs ; also on telegraphs for double
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transmission in the same direction; made experiments on elec- tric signals for railroads ; invented a printing telegraph ; made experiments looking to the construction of apparatus whereby two operators could send simultaneously, over one wire, from Wash- ington to New York, reports in short-hand of congressional speeches. In the winter of 1855-6 he made successful experi- ments on the electro-deposition of aluminum.
In the summer of the same year he read a paper on Multiplex Telegraphy before the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and was elected a member at their annual meeting.
During the winter of 1855-6 he continued his experiments in duplex and printing telegraphs. In 1857-8 he made a great many experiments with double transmitters. At that time he applied for an English patent on a combination of the duplex and printer. He also constructed a duplex printing telegraph, driven by an electro-magnetic motor. In 1858 Mr. Farmer devised electro-magnetic apparatus, to show the height of water in steam boilers, tanks, reservoirs, &c. He also in- vented an automatic regulator, for controlling the distribution of electricity to numerous electric lamps. During the year 1858 he began a series of investigations upon the production of light by electricity, and invented an automatic regulator, by which the light can be kept at a uniform intensity for any length of time. During the month of July, 1859, he had one of the rooms of his house, in Salem, Mass., lighted every even- ing by this subtle agent. The light was very beautiful, and attracted a great deal of attention from the many visitors who came to see it. The cost of the light was the only hindrance to its coming into general use.
During the years 1860, '61, '62, and '63, he bestowed much at- tention upon the manufacture of alloys of aluminum, with copper and other metals. One of the alloys produced by him so closely resembled 18-karat gold, as to deceive any one but an expert. Between the years 1864 and 1868 he devoted a good deal of time to perfecting a thermo-electric battery, and in 1868 con- structed the largest one ever built. This was used for the deposi- tion of copper upon steel, in the production of what is known as the American compound telegraph wire. This wire was a joint invention of himself and Mr. G. F. Millikin, of Boston, Mass.
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Improvements in the manufacture of this wire have now reached such a stage, that it can be furnished more cheaply than an iron wire of equal conductivity. The invention is thus de- scribed : "A copper telegraph wire, with a case or covering of iron or steel, steel being used for its great tensile strength, and copper for its great conductivity."
During the latter part of 1869, Mr. Farmer was employed to .examine and report upon the electric condition of the land lines and of the cables of the New York, Newfoundland & London Tel- egraph Co .; and, as a result of these investigations, he invented a new insulator, of which he furnished over thirty thousand to that company, and they have given the highest satisfaction.
Early in the year 1871, his attention was again turned to the improvement of electro-magnetic machines ; and during that and the following years he manufactured a large number for depositing copper and other purposes. He has made many valuable improve- ments in the construction of these machines, especially in the one contrived for the firing of torpedoes. This invention has been adopted by the United States government, and the machines are now supplied to every ship in our navy. Some have been sold to foreign governments, and doubtless they will soon find their way into all navies. They are also used quite extensively for blasting, in the mines of Colorado and Nevada.
In October, 1872, Mr. Farmer accepted the professorship of electrical science at the U. S. Naval Torpedo Station, established in 1869, at Newport, R. I., for the instruction of the officers of the navy in electricity and chemistry, as applied to the arts of war ; and since his connection with the department, the station has been supplied with the best known magneto-electric machines and appliances to be found in this or any other country.
Doubtless, ere long, an electric light will be furnished to the steam marine of the country ; and, without question, there is no man in the country, if in the world, who has devoted so many years of almost continuous thought to the subject, or who has conducted so many experiments, which are now on record, as Prof. Farmer.
The investigations begun in 1858 have never been wholly relin- quished. While he has so long and patiently contributed time, strength, and brains to this work, he has always taken especial 24
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pains to say that his life-long friends, Messrs. Smith and Bates of Boston, Mass., have, with the utmost generosity, supplied him with most of the means with which to carry on his experiments in this direction.
In all of Prof. Farmer's experiments and investigations, the out- side world has always been allowed to look on and note what he was doing ; but the eyes of the curious have failed to follow him since his engagement at the torpedo station, as much of the work done there is purposely kept secret; but enough is seen at the annual exhibition of the class under instruction to show that he is giving the result of his life-work for the good of his country.
His highest ambition has been to bring out and develop all the inventive talent and genius there is in the officers who are sent there from year to year, either as instructors or students, and his pride has been to show what they can do, rather than what he can do himself. The keenest observer would not discover a spirit of jealousy or self-seeking in Prof. Farmer ; and this abnegation of self has been one of the charms which have drawn all hearts to him during the many eventful years of his life, since it has been his privilege to be a benefit to the world through his rare and wonderful mechanical gifts, which have always been at the com- mand of friend or foe. To the highest and lowest he is alike accessible, and the advice and information, so constantly asked on all subjects, is never withheld. His profession requires deep re- search and profound thought, and he finds his reward in search- ing after hidden things in science, that he may utilize them for the good of the human race.
He stands in the foremost rank of scientific men ; and it may, perhaps, be truthfully said, that as an electrician he is without a peer on this side of the Atlantic, while among the scientists of Great Britain, France, and Germany his opinions are quoted as authority. His reputation is world-wide, and his inventions everywhere known. He is often called as an electrical expert in the United States courts, where his statements are never questioned. He has taken out a great many different patents, of which the world has now the ben- efit. An eminent electrician said of him recently,-"Mr. Farmer has undoubtedly done more real and lasting good to the world through his abandoned inventions, than through those which he has per- fected ; for the former are seed-thoughts scattered over the world,
Early Home of Prof. M. G. Farmer.
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which many will gather up, and from them reap a harvest after his life-work is over." As a man and citizen, Prof. Farmer's in- fluence has ever been on the side of right. To the poor he has been ever a friend; to the weak, a helper.
Unlike many scientists of the day, whose speculations lead them to doubt the existence of a Deity, and of a divine revelation, Prof. Farmer sees in all the works and laws of nature a divine mind. Each new discovery, to him, is one of God's thoughts, and with him religion and science go hand in hand. Hence his is a Christian household, and there are few happier homes than his. Not many men have done more for the present and future genera- tions than Moses Gerrish Farmer.
FESSENDEN, WILLIAM PITT.
He was son of Gen. Samuel Fessenden of Portland, Maine, and Ruth Greene, of Boscawen, and was born 16 Oct., 1806, in the house subsequently owned by Dea. Thomas Gerrish. The child was christened after the Episcopal service, Daniel Webster being godfather. He graduated from Bowdoin college in 1823, with distinguished honors, receiving his degree of A. B. before he had attained his seventeenth year. Such precocity has had few parallels : one is that of Edward Everett; another, the great com- moner of England for whom he was named-William Pitt.
During his college days he taught school in Lewiston, Me., then a small village, where he employed his winter evenings in reading the books in the village library, consisting of about fifty volumes, such as Bigland's History of the World, Rollin's Ancient History, and Plutarch's Lives.
Mr. Fessenden studied law with his father and Hon. Charles S. Davis, of Portland, and was admitted to the bar at the age of twenty-one, opening an office in 1827 at Bridgeton, an insignifi- cant town, remaining there two years, and then moving to Port- land, into his father's office. From thence he went to Bangor, but returned to Portland and settled permanently in 1832, asso- ciating himself with Hon. William Willis.
He was elected the same year to represent the city in the state legislature. He was also offered the Whig nomination to con- gress, but declined being a candidate. He was chosen delegate to the national convention which nominated Henry Clay. De-
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clining a reelection to the legislature, he devoted himself wholly. to his profession from 1832 to 1839, when he was again elected to the legislature. He was a Whig, but the majority of the legislature were Democrats; yet so highly was he esteemed that he was made chairman of the judiciary committee. In 1840 he was nominated to congress by the Whigs, and was elected, outrun- ning the strength of his party. Although he was then but thirty- five years of age, he made a very favorable impression by his speeches. He declined a renomination in 1843, and returned to his profession, receiving the votes of his party for U. S. senator. From 1845 to 1852 he gave himself wholly to his profession, with a constantly extending practice and reputation. During this period he attracted great attention by his argument before the supreme court at Washington, by which he succeeded in reversing a decision by Judge Story.
In 1840 he was a member of the national convention that nom- inated Gen. Harrison for the presidency; in 1848, a member of the convention that nominated Gen. Taylor, in which he support- ed the claims of Mr. Webster ; in 1850 he was a candidate for congress, but unwillingly. He was believed to be elected, but the seat being given to his competitor, he declined to contest it. In 1852 he was a member of the convention that nominated Gen. Scott; in 1853 elected to the U. S. senate by one branch of the legislature, but a concurrent vote was required, and there was no choice. In 1854 he was again elected to the legislature, which was Democratic in both branches. The Kan- sas-Nebraska question operating as a disturbing element, he was elected U. S. senator on the first ballot, by a union of the Whigs and Free Soil Democrats. This signalized the formation of the Republican party in Maine, in which Mr. Fessenden remained ever after a leading exponent.
He took his seat in the senate on the 23d of February, and on the night of March 3d made one of the most eloquent and effective speeches delivered against the Kansas-Nebraska bill. This effort at once made him a leading member of the senate, and his voice was heard whenever any important question was in order. He introduced the French spoliation bill, opposed a bill for increasing the army, discussed the bill for protecting United States officers, spoke on our relations with England, Kansas affairs, on the Iowa
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senatorial election, etc., etc. He reviewed President Buchanan's message on the Kansas question in the most severe manner. During this time he was a leading member on the finance com- mittee. In 1859 he was elected to the senate for six years, and was made chairman of the finance and library committees, and regent of the Smithsonian Institute. The year before, Bowdoin college conferred on him the degree of LL. D., and Harvard paid him the same compliment in 1864. In 1861 he was appointed a member of the peace congress which met in February.
Throughout the war Mr. Fessenden, in his character as senator, was a firm friend and ally of the Union cause, giving it the assistance of his logie, eloquence, and counsel, and as chairman of the finance committee aiding the secretary of the treasury in maintaining the national credit. In 1864, on the 30th of June, Mr. Chase resigned the secretaryship of the treasury. An instant panic ensued, and gold, that subtle index of public feeling, rose from 90 premium on June 30th, to 185 premium July 11th. The new secretary would be expected to quiet this storm, and Mr. Fessenden was chosen by Mr. Lincoln as the new secretary. He hesitated to accept, his health was so delicate, and the responsibil- ity difficult and overwhelming. Senators and cabinet officers urged, however, and he entered on his duties the 5th of July. The whole country looked to him for aid. The paper dollar was worth only thirty-four cents. The sale of new loans had been provided for, but they found comparatively few purchasers. Ger- many, Holland, and Switzerland were our foreign markets, and political bankruptcy seemed at least possible. Mr. Fessenden then found it his duty, and a duty as imperative as it was arduous, to raise at once the large sums necessary for carrying on the war, and at the same time to enhance the value of the securities already afloat. He appealed to the people, and, by withholding any fur- ther immediate issue of greenbacks, he induced the banks of the country to adopt the national banking system. So successful was he, that, on his resigning the secretaryship to take his seat again in the senate, to which he had been reelected, on the 4th of March, 1865, gold had receded to 99, and on the 11th of May fol- lowing it was qnoted at 30. While secretary he urged upon con- gress a more effective system of taxation.
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