USA > Pennsylvania > Encyclopedia of contemporary biography of Pennsylvania, Vol. I > Part 57
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from 1831 to 1854 had carried on the works alone, and from the latter date had been the head of the house, the firm was re-organized under the name of the Baldwin Locomotive Works, M. Baird & Co., Proprietors, our subject having associated with himself as partners, George Burnham and Charles T. Parry, both long connected with the establish- ment, the former in charge of the finances and the latter as General Superintendent. Three years later three other partners were admitted to the house, and in 1873, Mr. Baird retiring from active business, left it in the hands of Messrs, Burnham, Parry, Williams, Longstreth and Henszey. A biographer of Mr. Baird, writing of his career about this time, thus describes him :
"Mr. Baird is a man of a large round figure, with a head in massive proportions to suit his ample body. His features are regular, and expressive of a far-reaching mind and of agreeable qualities of character. His manners are quiet and self-pos- sessed. He is not inclined to show or boastfulness in any particular, but delights in the exhibition of honest virtues and noble purposes. Rising to his present position of business and social influence by industry and an honorable life, his sympathies are always with the toiling masses. In the midst of his vast interests and the irresistible tide of business, he shows himself constantly thoughtful of his army of workmen, and does much by counsel and benev- olence to encourage them in their station. He is esteemed and beloved by all who know him in per- sonal relations, and his mechanical labors and enter- prise make him worthy of an enduring fame."
Mr. Baird, after retiring from the Baldwin Locomo- tive Works, still retained his interest in many public and private enterprises of varied nature, however, and remained until the close of his life quite an active man of affairs, and one of the chief promoters of some very prominent projects. For a long term of years he was a member of the Board of Directors of the Central National Bank of Philadelphia, and lie held, at the time of his death, a similar position with the Texas and Pacific Railway Company, the Pennsylvania Steel Company, Andover Iron Com- pany, Philadelphia & West Chester Railroad Com- pany, while in former years he was one of the incor- porators and a director of the American Steamship Company and a heavy investor in tlie Pennsylvania Railroad. Mr. Baird was, in fact, a man of general business ability as well as a mechanical genius and inventor. Few enterprises for the commercial good of Philadelphia or the adjacent regions failed to secure his co-operation and support, and he was as prominent in the matter of advancing public benev- olent institutions as he was in building up business interests. He was one of the Managers of the Northern Home for Friendless Children, and con- tributed largely to other establishments conducted
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in the cause of humanity. The æsthetic side of his mentality was shown by his devotion to the Phila- delphia Academy of Fine Arts. It was, however, as a man of the business world that Mr. Baird was pre-eminent, and apropos of his capacity in this department of human activity we cannot do better than quote what an intimate acquaintance said of him when he was at the zenith of his career, as the head of the vast concern known throughout the world as the Baldwin Locomotive Works. "Mr. Baird," said this authority, " by reason of long and intimate connection with the trade, practical exper- ience as a manufacturer, wealth and social position, rightfully is the head of the establishment and is referred to in all matters of importance, both in the production and selling of engines. He began his efforts in these works in their infancy and his own early manhood, and they have literally grown with his own mental and bodily powers. He shared all the responsibilities and hopes of the illustrious Baldwin, whose mantle has with entire appropriate- ness fallen upon his shoulders." It is chiefly thus, as the conductor of a great concern, as the self- made man of practical science-the developer of the crude and cumbersome ideas of the pioneers in the application of steam power-that the memory of Matthew Baird will live, and not merely live, but grow, as time shall demonstrate still greater utility in the uses of steam and the locomotive than have yet been reached. Mr. Baird's useful, helpful, hon- orable life came to a close when he was about sixty years of age-May 19, 1877.
CLEMENT A. GRISCOM.
CLEMENT ACTON GRISCOM, President of the International Navigation Company, and a leading merchant of Philadelphia, was born in that city, March 15, 1841. His ancestors have been promi- nently identified with the development and interests of Philadelphia since its foundation in 1682. An- drew Griscom, the founder of the Griscom family in America, came from England in 1680. He was a friend and associate of William Penn, and as- sisted him in founding the colony. Hc was a mem- ber of the first grand jury of the Province, the same over which Willliam Penn presided, and of which Samuel Carpenter also was a member. On the ma- ternal side, Mr. Griscom is descended from Thomas Lloyd, Deputy Governor and President of the Council of the Province of Pennsylvania from 1684 to 1693. His father, Dr. John D. Griscom, is a physi- cian of prominence still living near Philadelphia.
His mother, born Margaret Acton, is a daughter of the late Clement Acton of Salem, New Jersey. Clement A. Griscom was educated in his native city. Under paternal supervision, his early train- ing was acquired in both public and private schools. His later training comprehended two years in the Central High School, and was concluded at a Friends' Academy. He closed the course at tlie age of sixteen, and engaged in business with the old established house of "Peter Wright & Sons," of Philadelphia. Intelligent and energetic, and conscientiously discharging every duty that fell to him, he made rapid progress in the confidence and esteem of his employers, and, in 1863, was admitted to membership in the firm. His position soon be- came one of weight and responsibility. Although young, he proved equal to every demand made upon him, and gradually assumed almost entire control of the shipping and steamship enterprises which constituted so large a proportion of the business of the house. Other departments called for no incon- siderable attention at his hands, but in this particu- lar sphere he seemed to find his most congenial field of operation. To qualify himself as completely as possible for his duties in connection with this de- partment, he constantly studied Marine Architec- ture as applied to the Commercial Marine, and, as the results show, has attained a widely conceded knowledge of the subject. His incessant labors and research have enabled him to keep the steam- ship interests entrusted to his management, and that of his firm, fully abreast of the times, and in some respects in advance of them, in all that per- tains to the economy and safety of ocean steam tran- sit. Ever since 1873 he has largely been the guid- ing and controlling influence in his firm, and in the steamship companies managed by them, and, not- withstanding the fact that he has been interested during all that time in a number of important out- side business projects, the firm's affairs have never suffered or been slighted in the least degree. Hav- ing the faculty of quickly grasping details, and re- markable power in concentrating both mind and efforts upon the task in hand, he finds little diffi- culty in disposing of business, however weighty or intricate. His associates say of him that "he can get through in a day what it would take many men a week to accomplish." Mr. Griscom was one of the founders of the International Navigation Com- pany, organized May 10, 1871, under a charter granted by the State of Pennsylvania. The first Board of Directors of the company was composed of James A. Wright, H. H. Houston, Joseph D. Potts, W. G. Warden and Mr. Griscom, all promi- nent business men of Philadelphia. Mr. Wright
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was elected President, and Mr. Griscom Vice- President. With the exception of Mr. Wright, who resigned the Presidency and membership in the Board January 4, 1888, all the gentlemen named still continue actively connected with it. To fill the vacancy in the directory caused by Mr. Wright's retirement, Mr. William Thaw, of Pittsburgh, who was one of the large stockholders in the enterprise at its inception, was chosen. Mr. Griscom was elected President of the company upon Mr. Wright's resig- nation, and by vote of the Board of Directors the office of Vice-President was abolished. Messrs. Peter Wright & Sons of Philadelphia and New York, have been the General Agents of the com- pany since its organization. The International Navigation Company has steadily grown in wealth and importance from its moderate beginning in 1871, and now controls and operates more tonnage in the transatlantic trade than any of its competi- tors, and is still adding to its facilities. It owns practically all the capital stock of the Belgian cor- poration known as "The Red Star Line," and it owns also the majority of the capital stock of " The Inman and International Steamship Company, [Limited,] " an English corporation, and, in addi- tion, the four steamers constituting the "American Line." These last named steamers were bought by the International Navigation Company from the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, in 1884, and were paid for in its capital stock, a very moderate share of the entire issue; and with this exception the lat- ter company has no interest whatever in the for- mer. The Inman and International Steamship Company was organized October 23, 1886; and its original Board of Directors consisted of Benjamin Brewster, of New York, A. J. Cassatt, C. A. Gris- com, H. H. Houston, Joseph D. Potts, all of Phila- delphia, and James Spence aud Edmund Taylor, both of Liverpool, England. These gentlemen have been re-elected annually, and are still mem- bers of the Board. The International Navigation Company is, through its ownership and control of these companies, practically the owner of three great transatlantic lines, embracing twenty-one iron and steel steamships. The bulk of the capital stock of the company is owned by residents of Philadelphia, in which city the enterprise has its headquarters. The fleet of the company consists of the four Amer- ican steamers, "Pennsylvania," "Ohio," "In- diana," and " Illinois," constituting the American Line, [the only transatlantic line under the Ameri- can flag] which run between Philadelphia, Queens- town and Liverpool; of the eleven steamers, "Noord- land," "Westernland," "Waesland," "Rhyn- land," "Belgenland," "Pennland," "Switzerland,"
" Nederland," " Vaderland," " Zeeland," and a new boat of seven thousand tons burthen, now building but not yet named, constituting "The Red Star Line," sailing between New York, Philadelphia and Antwerp, and flying the Belgian flag; and of the six steamers, "City of Berlin," "City of Chicago," "City of Chester," "City of Richmond," "City of New York," and "City of Paris," sailing between New York, Queenstown and Liverpool, under the English flag. Of this large flect all the vessels are maintained in the very highest state of excellence and efficiency. Mr. Griscom years ago reached the conviction that transatlantic steamship travel was only in its infancy, and that it would greatly in- crease if passengers could be assured that they were to be carried in an unsinkable steamship, which should be propelled by twin engines and twin screws, thus reducing the liability of a breakdown to a minimum. Mr. Griscom also expressed the opinion that the comforts of the sea voyage should be greatly increased by liberal arrangements of cabins and deck houses, wherein elegant accom- modations could be obtained by those who were willing to pay for them, and that, coupled with these essential improvements, there should be a high rate of speed procured from such ample ma- chinery power ; that such speed should be regularly maintained, and not only on occasional voyages. The " City of New York " and "City of Paris " are the realization of these views advocated for several . years by Mr. Griscom, and are the boldest concep- tions of sea-going accommodations ever designed, requiring a faith and confidence in the appreciative- ness of the traveling public that, previous to the planning of these steamships, had never been recog- nized by the managements of any of the other prom- inent steamship lines. There are rumors now, however, that other companies are following these ideas, from which the public, who desire to cross the Atlantic, will no doubt be greatly benefited from this time forward. It has always been Mr. Gris- com's theory that the American public would pay liberally for a good thing, especially for whatever contributed to their safety and comfort, and it was this firm conviction that gave Mr. Griscom courage to enlist to a large extent the capital of himself and friends in this new era of transatlantic travel. The "City of New York " and "City of Paris " are sister steamships, and have been fully described in the current literature of the past few months. The "City of New York" was built at Clydebank by Messrs. James & George Thomson, and was launched March 15, 1888. Her dimensions are 560 feet long on the promenade deck, 63} feet wide, and 59} feet depth from top of upper deck cabin to
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bottom of keel; her tonnage is 10,500 tons. She sailed from Liverpool for New York on her first voyage, August 1, 1888. The sister steamship, "City of Paris," was built at Clydebank by Messrs. James & George Thomson, and was launched 23rd of October, 1888. Her dimensions are the same as those of the " City of New York." These magnificent vessels are the highest triumph the art of naval archi- tecture has yet achieved, their dimensions exceed- ing that of any other floating structure, excepting the "Great Eastern," now in cxistence. Their pro- pelling machinery is the most perfect known, and their fittings and furnishings, besides being unique, have no parallel in point of richness. They are commonly described as ocean palaces, and the name is appropriate enough except that there are few pal- aces in the world that can compare in point of lux- ury and extent with the saloons and numberless apartments of these steamships. The London Times, under date of December 21, 1887, contains the fol- lowing account of the "City of New York " and "City of Paris " :
"Among the ships building on the Clyde at the present time are two passenger steamers for the North Atlantic trade, about which a great deal of interest has been felt, but also about which a great deal of reticence has been preserved as to what they are like, and what they are likely to do. These two vessels are the "City of New York " and the "City of Paris," building for the Inman and International Company of Liverpool, by Messrs. Thomson, of Clydebank. These vessels were contracted for about the middle of the year, and we are now in a position to give a description of them. It will be remembered that last year the old Inman Company was reconstituted under the name of the Inman and International Company, and a considerable amount of new blood imported into it. The vessels of this company had for many years held a prominent place in the Atlantic trade, but recently the "Cun- ard " and some other ships had managed to distance them in the matter of speed, and as the traveling public go to the fastest ships, it became necessary that the new company, if they wished to maintain their old reputation, should lay down some new ships able to compete on equal terms with the best ships now running. The two fastest ships on the Atlantic at present are the "Umbria " and "Etru- ria," the latter ship having crossed from Sandy Hook to Queenstown in six days five hours, at a mean speed of over 18} knots. These vessels are over 500ft long, and 57ft beam, and have first class accommodations for about 500 passengers. They are almost exclusively passenger-carrying vessels, the quantity of cargo which they can carry in relation to their size being inconsiderable.
"It will thus be seen that to place themselves abreast of the times, it was necessary for the Inman and International Company to lay down a ship which should be as great a favorite with passengers as the "Umbria " and "Etruria." While speed is a great consideration for the traveling public, it is necessarily not the only consideration, and a pru-
dent shipowner will naturally look to the safety and comfort of his passengers before he looks to the speed of his ship. Our large Atlantic liners have been, in recent years, remarkably free from acci- dent, but not totally, and the loss of the "Oregon" was a forcible reminder that even the best equipped ships are liable to founder, even in smooth water, and when within sight of land. These vessels now building for the Inman and International Company have been designed primarily with the view of avoiding the risk of such an accident as happened to the "Oregon," and, in order to do this, the owners and builders have, in addition to minutely subdividing the vessel, arranged that no bulkhead in the ship shall have a door below the level of the upper deck. In this way, and in this way only, can the benefits of minute sub-divisions be insured, because if, in any emergency such as happened to the "Oregon," the safety of the ship depends upon the shutting of water-tight doors, the safety may vanish just at the time it is required. In this re- spect these vessels mark a new departure in the question of safety of ships at sea, and many changes in the internal arrangements are necessitated by the adoption of this principle. These vessels are 525 feet long on the water line, or 560 feet over all, 634 feet beam, and 42 feet moulded depth. Their gross tonnage will be 10,500 tons each. They will have four complete decks, promenade, saloon, upper and main, with partial deck above promenade deck and partial deck below the lower deck. The number of com- plete transverse water-tight bulkheads, all of which are without doors, is 14, so that the average length of each compartment will be 35 feet, or a little more than one-half the breadth of the vessel. But the large dimensions of these ships render even such a compartment one of considerable size, so that there will be no possibility of cramped spaces.
"It may be remembered that one source of dan- ger to iron ships in the event of collision is that they may be struck upon a bulkhead, and the two compartments adjacent to the bulkhead be thus at the same time completely flooded. Many ships have been divided by bulkheads in such a way that if one compartment were flooded the ship would be perfectly seaworthy, but in the case of an accident where the ship was struck on the bulkhead and the two compartments adjacent flooded she would inevitably sink. In the case of these new Inman boats, however, the subdivision is such that the ship would remain perfectly seaworthy, with any two, or even three, compartments flooded. This unbroken subdivision of the ships has an incidental advantage in making them fire-proof, as the spread of the fire is confined to one compartment. And though these precautions greatly reduce the chance of its ever being necessary to remove everybody from the ships, yet it would be ill-advised not to provide complete boat accommodation for every soul on board, and this has been very fully provided for in these ships. The means of rapidly lowering every boat have also received special attention. In these ways has the safety, which should always be the first consideration in a passenger ship, been pro- vided for. But accidents of particular kinds occur to ships which place them in positions of danger, such as a breakdown of machinery, which would necessarily render the vessel almost unmanageable. To greatly reduce the risk of accidents of this kind,
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these vessels arc being fitted with two sets of engines, each set driving a separate screw. The engines are in two separate compartments, subdi- vided by a water-tight bulkhead, and the boilers are in three separate compartments, completely cut off from each other, so that these vessels might be in collision by being struck on any bulkhead, and could have a breakdown in their machinery such as may occur in any ordinary ship, and still be quite navigable and thoroughly safe and seaworthy. While, therefore, the vessels are well provided against the effects of collision, they are also very much better able to avoid collision by having two sets of machinery, one of which could be readily reversed while the other was going ahead, thus turning the vessel. But in addition to this turning power, her rudder power has been very largely increased compared with ships of similar size and type, and the improved rudder of her builders, which has given such remarkable results in the Spanish cruiser lately finished on the Clyde, has been adopted in these vessels with the view of still further increasing their chance of avoiding col- lision.
"These are the most striking features in these vessels, but they have necessitated and have been accompanied by many other smaller novelties which will add to the comfort and convenience of the pas- sengers and to the general fulfilment of the purposes of such a vessel. One point of great importance has received more attention in this vessel than it has in many of the fast Atlantic liners-that is, the question of draught of water. It is not an uncom- mon thing for some of our fastest vessels to make a quick passage across the Atlantic, and then to have to throw away several hours by waiting outside the harbor bar either at New York or Liverpool. With the view of avoiding such a contingency in these vessels they have been designed to a light draught, but as it is necessary to have proper immersion for their screws, the lightness of draught necessary for crossing the bar will be obtained by the use of water ballast in the double bottom which has been fitted throughout their length.
"These double bottoms are built upon a new principle specially designed by their constructors, and are believed to be stronger and lighter than anything of the kind which has preceded them. These boats have each a capacity for 1,500 tons of water in their double bottoms, which weight is available for purposes of immersion or stability at the wish of their commanders. These double bot- toms, it is hardly necessary to say, are a double pre- caution against injury by grounding. It is antici- pated, that by the adoption of the precautions of light draught and ample trimming power, these vessels will never have to wait outside the bar at New York. A departure in the machinery depart- ment of these vessels is made in the adoption of forced draught on the closed stokehole system, sim- ilar to that which has been applied to so many war ships. By the adoption of this system the space and weight occupied by machinery has been con- siderably reduced, and necessarily accompanied by a considerable increase in cargo and passenger-car- rying space.
" It will be seen from the gross tonnage of the vessels that they are considerably larger than any- thing now running in the world, but the improve-
ments in machinery, which have been made since the time our fastest liners were built, will enable their owners to run these vessels with less coal con- sumption than the very much smaller vessels now running, while the space available for cargo is very much increased. In order to be made of as much service to the traveling public as possible, it is in- tended to keep these vessels a very short time in port after finishing their voyage, and in order to facilitate the necessarily rapid despatch and ship- ment of cargo and coals, the vessels will be fitted throughout with hydraulic appliances by Messrs. Brown, of Edinburgh. This hydraulic gear is worked by two independent sets of engines, one in each engine-room, so that in the cvent of accident to one the other will be at once automatically set in motion. There will be in all thirteen hydraulic lifts for cargoes, four for engineers' and firemen's use, and two for steward's use. The steering gear will be worked by hydraulics, and also the cable. The great advantage of this system, so far as the comfort of the passengers is concerned, consists in its com- plete noiselessness ; and any one who has slept, or tried to sleep, on board a steamer when landing cargo by an ordinary steam winch will thoroughly appreciate this advantage.
" The vessels will have three masts and three fun- nels ; but excepting in the remote contingency of a complete breakdown of their machinery, it is not at all likely that sails will ever be set on these vessels. Some of the largest of our transatlantic liners, on account of the dimensions which the necessities of the case have forced upon them, are very bad roll- ers. The dimensions of these vessels fortunately are not likely to involve them in defect of this kind, but to provide for the possibility of occasionally meet- ing seas which may make them roll badly, they will be provided with a rolling chamber similar in char- acter, though much improved in form, to that which has been fitted in some of our large warships to re- duce their excessive rolling. This rolling chamber is really a tank inside the vessel, extending from side to side and partially filled with water. The partial filling enables the water to move about free- ly, and when the dimensions of this chamber and its form are properly selected, the motion of the water can be made to counteract the motion of the ship when rolling. The constructors of these vessels have, after a long series of experiments both on models and in actual Atlantic work, arrived at a form of chamber, which will, it is calculated, re- duce the rolling by at least one-half. This in itself will add materially to the comfort of the passengers. Arrangements are made in each of the vessels for carrying first and second class passengers and emi- grants, which, together with the crew and stewards, will make up a total of nearly 2,000 souls on board. The first-class passengers will occupy the centre part of the vessel; the second-class will be between the stern and the centre, and the emigrants will occupy the two ends of the vessel. The main saloon will be on the upper deck forward, and will be arranged on the patent system of her builders, similar, though much larger, to that fitted in the "America." It consists of a dome with a spring of 20 feet, and with side alcoves leading off from this dome, about 10 feet in height. The top of the dome will be formed of ornamental stained glass, so that the appearance of the interior of the saloon will be that of an im-
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