USA > Pennsylvania > A biographical album of prominent Pennsylvanians, v. 3 > Part 26
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WILLIAM W. GRISCOM.
In 1887 he produced his manufacturing motor, an original form, and in the same year he patented the automatic make and break switch, which enabled an unskilled engineer to manage the charging of accumulators.
His street-car system, involving the use of the storage batteries and motors, is at once the most simple, economical and complete. His improvements in storage batteries have been the result of prolonged and difficult investigation, study and experiment largely carried on at his own house. One of the early difficulties connected with the use of the storage battery was the fact that if too much energy was taken out of it, or if it was taken out at too high a rate, destruction of the battery would ensue. To prevent this catastrophe, and to give notice of the danger, was the object of the over-discharge and the over-load switch invented by Mr. Griscom in 1888. As an example of the thorough nature of his work, and the complete mastery of the subject, it may be remarked that in the early history of storage battery traction he dictated the first specifications of a complete storage battery car, including switch, gearing motors, batteries and wiring, in one day, and left it with his workmen in the machine shops while he went to Europe on other business. The car was completed from the specifications by the time of his return home, and proved absolutely successful, requiring neither changes nor repairs. After many months it was thought wise to test new inven- tions upon it. Even then the parts which were taken out, as well as those which remained, were in perfect working order. This car, which weighed twelve thousand pounds, was tried on one of the most difficult roads in the country, that on Woodland avenue from Market street to Darby in Philadelphia, sur- mounting difficult grades and rounding abrupt curves with ease, and occasionally running itself back along the cobble-stones to the track when a defect in the road caused it to be derailed. On one occasion during a cloud burst the car ran along through several small lakes of water, and returned without injury. The motors were of the square type, patented in 1880, and developed twelve horse- power each, with a weight of six hundred pounds and an efficiency of over eighty per cent.
Mr. Griscom has also perfected a system of train lighting, largely in use in this country, and has taken out a large number of patents in storage batteries and switches, too numerous and of too technical a nature for description here.
Mr. Griscom's habit of mind is chiefly remarkable for quickness and fertility of resource in emergency, and for ingenuity in solving difficult problems of a scientific nature involving cautious and laborious investigation. He is well equipped for two widely different functions, viz .: executive and investigative work. These qualities have enabled him successfully to introduce the reign of two new eras in electricity-the motor and the storage battery-which, in their inception, involved the solution of exceedingly difficult problems in science as well as in the education of the community to their use. He was the first in the motor field to point out the relations between efficiency and induction, which were formerly considered incompatible. He was the first to use counter-electro-
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motive force and resistance in the motor circuit for regulation of speed. He was the first to make the highest output of the more intense primary batteries con- stant by the forcing of the electrolyte between the plates continuously under pressure. This last invention was patented in 1879, and continues to be the lightest and most compact method of producing electricity in large quantities for motor work; but it has been superseded by the storage battery, which, despite its disadvantages of weight and bulk, produces the same amount of electricity more cheaply since it obtains the energy by the consumption of coal instead of zinc. These investigations gave Mr. Griscom an opportunity of uniting with the storage battery interests of which he availed himself in 1886, since which time he has devoted himself to the improvement and introduction of the system; taking out numerous patents, improving the storage battery in its details, increasing its efficiency, and broadening its scope of usefulness. His original formula of wiring and of the amount of horse-power required for traction purposes, as well as other formula for electric magnets, dynamos, motors, storage batteries, etc., are accurate within the range of practical use, and are of great value to electrical engineers dealing with these subjects.
In 1877 Mr. Griscom married Miss Dora Ingham Hale, the daughter of Rev. George Hale, D. D., by whom he has had three children-Galbraith Stuart Griscom, Arthur Acton Griscom and Gladys Hale Griscom. Mr. Griscom resides throughout the year at Haverford College, one of the most attractive suburbs of Philadelphia.
C. R. D.
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WARNER H. JENKINS.
WARNER HADDON JENKINS.
A WRITER in a current periodical says : "Even a cursory examination of the history of events reveals the fact that there is a constant endeavor on the part of humanity to ameliorate its condition. Years after 'progress, man's dis- tinctive mark alone,' leaves its impress on civilization in a gradual improvement of man's environment, and the means by which he is able to accomplish certain results. This is noticeable in improved and more efficacious business methods, in the invention of labor-saving machinery, by which, without detriment to the general good, results have been obtained which would have been otherwise impossible, and in various other ways, easily discernible by every intelligent observer, is this progress marked." In no case is the improvement more notice- able than in what might be termed the department of practical science; in no other words, the application of scientifically obtained facts and laws in one or more departments to some practical end. In fact, almost every department of life and trade has felt, at one time or another, the impulse given it by some intel- ligent investigator who has patiently worked, thought and studied to bring some favorite idea to a practical and successful conclusion. Among the many inven- tions which have thus resulted to the benefit of mankind there are few which are of more vital importance to the community in large cities, and even to each individual, than those relating to artificial stone as a substitute for the materials once universally used for paving and building purposes of various kinds. As a resident and part of the municipality, each citizen is interested in having the city in which he lives properly paved with the material best calculated to with- stand the wear and tear of the ceaseless tide of traffic which ebbs and flows through the streets day after day. This interest is not only applicable to streets, but also to bridges, wharves, docks, and, in fact, to everything which contributes in any way to augment the volume of business of a great city. Again, as a householder, it is obvious that he should be desirous that the sidewalks about his home should be of the best kind, and that the cellar of his house should be paved with a material best calculated to keep his dwelling in a dry and healthy condition. In fact, of such importance is this subject in all its bearings, particu- larly in the matter of street paving, that in many large cities the law-making bodies have passed ordinances in favor of artificial pavements of tested and approved kind, and prohibited the use of cobble-stones for the roadways and bricks for the use of sidewalks, to which material the average Philadelphian clings with such tenacity. Stone of various kinds, while possessing many advantages that cannot be denied, is too expensive to be generally used. This arises from several causes, among which is the twofold expense of quarrying and transportation, two items which never appear in connection with artificial stone; and besides, while possessing all the good qualities to which stone may possibly lay claim, it
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is superior in having many advantages peculiar to itself, and it may safely be said that in no one thing has there been a greater improvement than in this substitute for stone. The truth of this assertion can be verified any day by a walk through Philadelphia over thousands of square feet of well-laid granolithic and other substitutes, not only in the new parts of the city, but in places where brick once reigned supreme.
Science, coupled with indefatigable energy, has brought this material to such perfection that it now enters into the construction of buildings, particularly those designed to be fire-proof, in a manner at one time deemed impossible, and where once wood and stone were used for sills, lintels, steps, floors and a host of other things, the composition is now used with the happiest results; and to no one is more credit due in this respect than to WARNER H. JENKINS, the inventor of "Metalithic," one of the most universally used and best known sub- stitutes for natural stone.
Mr. Jenkins was born in Philadelphia, February 27, 1864. He is of purely English descent, but his ancestors on both sides have resided for many genera- tions in this country, most of them being of Quaker stock, and remarkable for their longevity. His paternal grandmother, Patience Jenkins, was a well-known Quaker preacher in her day and generation. His father, Colonel Samuel Howell Jenkins, contrary to his Quaker teachings, was among the first to offer his ser- vices to the Government at the beginning of the war of the rebellion. Before attaining his majority he ran away from his home near Camden, Del., and, going to Washington, tendered his services to President Lincoln, offering to raise a company of soldiers in his own neighborhood. He still has in his possession the autograph letter written by Mr. Lincoln to Secretary of War Cameron direct- ing that official to commission him and authorize him to raise a company of scouts, which he did. The organization was known as the "Blue Hen's Chick- ens," and rendered valuable services in the war. Captain Jenkins participated in all the principal engagements of the Army of the Potomac, and rose to the rank of Colonel before the end of the struggle. Mr. Jenkins' mother was Emma Bush Haddon, daughter of John L. Haddon, of Philadelphia, who is still a resi- dent of that city, and, although twenty years beyond the allotted age of man, is in the full possession of all his faculties, and, in a green and active old age, is in the enjoyment of the fruits of a long and honorable business career. From him Mr. Jenkins evidently inherits a portion of his inventive talent, for he was the first to devise a successful refrigerator. He was the sole proprietor of the Haddon Manufacturing Company of Philadelphia, which supplied the greater portion of the canteens, tin platters, etc., used by the soldiers during the late war. Mr. Jenkins is descended from Elizabeth Haddon, of New Jersey, who was a well- known resident of that colony during the revolutionary period, and particularly noted for the part she took on behalf of the patriots. He is also related on his maternal side to the following well-known families of Delaware: the Bushs, Canbys, Raisins, McCombs and Floyds, and is a lineal descendant of Daniel
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Mifflin, of Camden, Del., the first American to manumit his slaves, which act he performed from principle, notwithstanding the fact that almost his entire wealth, which was large, consisted of that kind of personal property.
Mr. Jenkins' preliminary education was obtained at the Friends' Select School at Fifteenth and Race streets, Philadelphia, which he attended for about three years. For a short time thereafter he had private tuition, and later attended Lauderbach's Academy, where he took a business course and studied stenog- raphy, etc. He then entered the senior class of the Newton Grammar School, and from there was admitted to the preparatory class of the University of Penn- sylvania. This educational régime he supplemented by a private course of mathematics and the sciences, under the tuition of Professor Yerger, instead of regularly entering as a student of the University, and his progress was both rapid and gratifying.
While still but a youth Mr. Jenkins entered the employment of the Cambria Iron Company as a clerk, remaining with that concern for over a year, when he was prostrated by an attack of typhoid fever and gave up his position. Upon his recovery he devoted two years to practical surveying, and then went with the Columbia Paving Company as a solicitor of contracts. Although the company was not successful, the experience which he gained was of value to him, and was the means of determining him to engage in the business which he has since adopted, and in which he has achieved success. Shortly afterwards he engaged in business on his own account, entering into partnership with George W. Bush, in the manufacture of artificial stone, under the name of the Portland Paving Company. This partnership continued until 1886, when it was dissolved, and a stock company under the same title was formed, both partners retaining a large interest. Of this company Mr. Jenkins is Superintending Engineer and General Manager, and is one of the largest shareholders. The business of the company in Philadelphia is very extensive, being second only to that of the Vulcanite Paving Company, and in the matter of paving alone it is doing as much as any other concern in the same line in that city.
Mr. Jenkins is a competent hydraulic engineer, and is an authority in matters relating to patent paving, cements, etc., having made these a special study, and is frequently called into court to give expert testimony in relation thereto. As before stated he is the inventor of " Metalithic," which derives its name from the use of an iron chain introduced into the blocks of granite and cement compound as a binder. It is extensively used, not only for paving, but for various building purposes, curbing, etc. Its tensile strength, which is very great, is largely in its favor for such uses, it being guaranteed at one hundred and fifty tons per cubic foot. Mr. Jenkins assigned part of his interest in the patent to H. Victor Gause, of Wilmington, Del., who is connected with the Harlan & Hollingsworth Com- pany, of that city, and formed with him a partnership, under the firm-name of Gause & Jenkins, with their offices in the Drexel Building, Philadelphia. They are introducing the use of " Metalithic" throughout the United States by form-
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ing companies, to whom State rights are sold. The firm always take a consid- erable amount of stock themselves, and frequently furnish a portion of the capital necessary to carry on the business. Mr. Jenkins is also Consulting Engineer of the Empire Paving Company of New York, and goes over to that city one day each week in order to attend to his duties in connection therewith.
Mr. Jenkins was married on May 28, 1883, to Miss Mary Laws Rowland, daughter of Joseph Galloway Rowland, whose wife, Caroline Gratz Rowland, was a daughter of the late Theodore Gratz, of the well-known Philadelphia family of that name. Mr. and Mrs. Jenkins have three children, two sons and a daughter. Mr. Jenkins is very domestic in his tastes, and is nothing of a club man, preferring to devote his leisure to his family. He has a genial, pleasant temperament, but, being quick to decide matters, is impatient of slowness in others. Being rather reserved, he does not attempt to make friends with strangers, but following the advice of Polonius regarding the friends he has, and their adoption tried, he grapples them to his heart with hooks of steel.
C. R. D.
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F. GUTEKUNST.
PHILA.
WILLIAM R. JONES.
WILLIAM RICHARD JONES.
C APT. WILLIAM R. JONES, late Manager of the Edgar Thomson Steel Works, whose tragic death on September 28, 1889, was caused by the explosion of a furnace at that establishment, was born in Luzerne county, Pa., February 23, 1839. He was of Welsh descent, his father, Rev. John G. Jones, having, with his wife and two children, emigrated from Wales to America in 1832, and first settled in Pittsburgh, Pa. The family removed from Pittsburgh to Scranton, and later to Hazelton and Wilkesbarre, and finally to Catasauqua, in this State.
Owing to his father's ill-health he was compelled to commence work when quite young, and hence was deprived of any but the most limited early educa- tional advantages. When only at the age of ten he was apprenticed to the Crane Iron Company, of Catasauqua, Pa., in the foundry department, and later was placed in the machine-shop, then under the supervision of Mr. Hopkin Thomas, whom Captain Jones considered one of the brightest mechanics of his day. By the time he had arrived at the age of sixteen he had made such progress that he was receiving the full wages of a regular journeyman machinist.
The times, however, were not favorable for manufacturing enterprises, and the panic of 1857 sent him forth to various places in search of employment. Turn- ing his hand to whatever he found to do he served for a time as lumber- man, farm-hand and engineer in Clearfield county, and in the spring of 1859 removed to Johnstown, and worked as machinist for the Cambria Iron Company, under Mr. John Fritz, then General Superintendent of that company. After working there three months he was offered the position of Master Mechanic by Mr. Giles Edwards, who was engaged to build a blast furnace at Chattanooga, Tenn. He accepted the offer and removed to Chattanooga, where he remained until the breaking out of the war, when he was compelled to fly North with his young bride, leaving Chattanooga the night that Lieutenant Jones burned and destroyed the Government works at Harper's Ferry.
Returning to Johnstown in 1861 he was again employed by the Cambria Iron Company as a machinist. In the following year, July 31st, he, in response to President Lincoln's call for nine months' men, enlisted as a private in Company A, One Hundred and Thirty-third Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers, and was soon promoted to be Corporal. The regiment was hurried forward to the seat of war, and was placed in the defences of Washington during the second · Bull Run campaign, after which it was incorporated into the Fifth Army Corps and served with the Army of the Potomac until it was mustered out of service, a few weeks before the Gettysburg campaign. At the battle of Fredericksburg the One Hundred and Thirty-third and One Hundred and Fifty-fifth Regiments, Penn- sylvania Volunteers, formed the first assaulting column of General A. A. Hum- phries' Third Division, Fifth Army Corps, and the famous assault on Marye's Heights was made about 4.30 P. M. The regiments were formed in front of the
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canal, the One Hundred and Thirty-third having the right, and after slinging knapsacks, the column moved forward with great determination and loud cheers ; as they approached the stone wall under a perfect storm of shell and bullets the officer of the Second Army Corps ordered them to stop and lie down. What had been a compact column had by the enemy's terrific fire been badly broken, and although a desultory fire was maintained for some time, the charge had been bloodily repulsed. Company F of the One Hundred and Thirty-third Regiment was almost annihilated. This company for a time refused to listen to the order to cease firing and lie down, but continued to fight with great gallantry, and kept pouring a galling fire at the Confederate forces protected by the stone wall, and there is no doubt that the heavy and steady fire. of this brave body of men resulted in the death of the rebel, General Cobb, who was in command of the rebel forces defending the position. Company F started with the assaulting column with fifty-two men, rank and file, and lost fifty-five per cent. of its num- bers, having thirteen men killed outright and sixteen wounded.
At the battle of Chancellorsville these regiments performed gallant service under the command of that efficient and brave officer, Colonel Peter Allabach, who was ordered to send two regiments to cover the withdrawal of the army to the new line being formed near Bullock's Clearing, which duty they performed in the face of a superior and exultant enemy. In both of these engagements Corporal Jones distinguished himself by personal bravery. Prior to the battle he was badly injured at the crossing of the Rapidan, but refused to leave the regiment, and maintained his place in line, although suffering severely. Upon the expiration of his term of service he returned to Johnstown, and as skilled workmen were becoming very scarce, was induced by Mr. George Fritz, the General Superintendent of the works, to again enter the employ of the Cambria Iron Company. Becoming dissatisfied with remaining at home, and impelled by his patriotic impulses, he organized Company F, of the One Hundred and Ninety- fourth Pennsylvania Volunteers, and was mustered in as Captain of this company July 20, 1864. In accordance with Circular Order No. 58, Adjutant-General's Office, he was mustered out as Captain of that organization and remustered as Captain of an independent company, which was formed of members of the One Hundred and Ninety-third and One Hundred and Ninety-fourth Regiments, Pennsylvania Volunteers. Captain Jones' company was assigned to provost duty in Baltimore, Md., under Colonel J. Wooley, Provost Marshal, that city being in the middle department commanded by Major-General Lew Wallace, whose head-quarters were in Baltimore.
While acting as Commander of the Provost Guard of Baltimore Captain Jones was called upon to perform many duties requiring both tact and personal courage, as well as to exert the qualities of a strict disciplinarian. So well did he and his command acquit themselves that they not only possessed the confidence of their superior officers, but were publicly complimented by General Wallace. Captain Jones was honorably mustered out June 17, 1865, following the close of
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the war, when he returned to Johnstown, Pa., and again entered the employ of the Cambria Iron Company as assistant to George Fritz, the Chief Engineer ; and as such assisted in the construction of the Cambria Iron Company's Bessemer steel-converting and blooming mill plants.
Upon the death of George Fritz, in August, 1873, he resigned his position, and was soon afterwards engaged as Master Mechanic by the Edgar Thomson Steel Company of Pittsburgh, to help erect their steel works and rail mill, then building at Bessemer, Allegheny county, and which were designed from plans by A. L. Holley, an eminent American engineer.
Upon the completion of the works Captain Jones was made the General Super- intendent, and afterwards given full charge of the engineering department, as well as the general management of the establishment. Although this plant when erected was, perhaps, the most perfect one in the United States, the rapid advance in the art of steel-making soon made it desirable to completely remodel it, which was done under his direction. A new blooming mill was built in 1881 and the converting works rebuilt in 1882. The blooming mill is one of the most perfect mills yet designed, and after eight years constant service it remained a perfect mill, and, as Captain Jones said, "I can't improve it." Herbert Spencer, who visited the works a few years ago, was astounded when he saw the mill working, and expressed himself as being greatly pleased. This style of mill was adopted, and is now used, by the Roane Iron Company, Chattanooga, Tenn .; Lackawanna Iron & Steel Company, Scranton, Pa .; Union Iron & Steel Company, Chicago, Ill .; and the Joliet Steel Company, Joliet, Ill. The main features of the mill embody the inventions of the late George Fritz, perfected by Captain Jones.
In 1885 he attached automatic tables to the rail mill, thereby doing away with a large number of skilled workmen, and effecting a large saving in the operating expenses. These tables were covered by his own and Robert W. Hunt's pat- ents. The works were so successful that in 1887 Captain Jones received per- mission to build an entirely new rail mill, in the construction of which he departed from all precedent, following ideas of his own, and the result more than fulfilled his most sanguine anticipation, and it is generally conceded by those competent to judge to be the most complete rail mill in the world.
Captain Jones was an industrious inventor, and protected many of his improve- ments by patents. The first of them was "A Device for Operating Ladles in Bessemer Process," and the second, "Improvements in Hose Couplings," pat- ented December 12, 1876. These were followed by "Fastenings for Bessemer Converters," patented December 26, 1876; " Improvements in Washers for Ingot Moulds," June 12, 1876; " Hot-Bed for Bending Rails," April 10, 1877 ; " Pro- cess and Apparatus for Compressing Ingots while Casting," September, 1878; "Ingot Moulds," October 1, 1878; "Cooling Roll Journals and Shafts," July 5, 1881 ; "Feeding Appliance for Rolling Mills," April 27, 1886; "Art of Manufac- turing Railroad Bars," October 12, 1886; "Appliance for Rolls," May 15, 1888; " Housing Caps for Rolls," May 15, 1888; "Apparatus for Removing and Setting
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