USA > Pennsylvania > Allegheny County > Allegheny in Allegheny County > Recollections of seventy years and historical gleanings of Allegheny, Pennsylvania > Part 14
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Beneath the dome is the principal instrument, the equato- rial, of thirteen inches aperture (with an excellent objective by Clarke, the mounting being by Fitz of New York), with hour-circle, reading to seconds of time, declination circle read- ing to ten seconds of arc, and clock-movement controlled by Bond's system. The instrument has also a position filar micrometer, polarizing solar eye-piece, star-spectroscope with two prisms of Huggins's pattern, a large and a small grating spectroscope, and accessories for attaching a reflecting tele- scope (employing no lenses whatever) for special heat re- searches, - for attaching an optically plane mirror to the polar axis (thus forming a Fahrenheit heliostat), and for convert- ing the inverted telescope into a great equatorially mounted spectroscope.
In the western wing is the transit-room, containing an instrument of four-inch aperture by Simms, a standard barom- eter by Green, the sidereal clock by Frodsham, and the prin- cipal mean-time clock by Howard. Both clocks, as well as the observer at the meridian instrument, or the equatorial, can be placed in electric connection with the rest of the building, and also with the lines of telegraph connecting the Observatory with the city, so that beats of the clocks can at a few moments' notice be transmitted to any part of the country, -those of the sidereal clock for the determination of longitude, and those of the mean-time clock for supplying time to near or distant cities, and to railroads.
In the small hall connecting this room with the dome is a
HISTORY OF THE ALLEGHENY OBSERVATORY. 181
stand for the galvanometer when this is used in connection with thermo-electric apparatus, attached to the equatorial in differential measurements of the heat from different parts of the sun. From this hall, access is also had to the self-register- ing and other thermometers. In the east wing is the room containing the chronograph, various pieces of electric appara- tus, a third clock, and chronometers. It is occupied by the assistant in charge of the time-service.
The north wing contains the private study of the director, the library (which has also been used as a workroom and study for one of the assistants), and, in an extension (con- structed in 1881, at the cost of Mr. William Thaw, with the exception of five hundred dollars contributed by Dr. C. G. Hussy), a sleeping-room, a small workshop, an alcove fitted up with a cabinet of shelves and drawers for instruments, and the "dark room," or physical laboratory. The latter is pro- vided with two stone tables, on which are mounted galvanome- ters of great delicacy, and three stone piers in line with each other, on which are placed various instruments for researches in solar physics, which do not form part of the equipment proper of the Observatory. The principal of these, the spectro- bolometer (constructed from designs of the director for the study of invisible radiations), stands in the centre of the room, and receives sunlight through an aperture in the north wall from the mirror of a large Foucault siderostat.
This last important instrument is placed upon a pier of masonry outside the building, but connected with it by a plat- form, and protected from the weather by a "rolling house." It carries a twelve-inch optically plane silvered glass mirror, by Clarke, and was made by Hilger of London. It is in constant use.
The equatorial is mainly used in the study of the sun's sur- face, of which daily drawings on a scale of eight inches to the solar diameter have been made for several years; but for lack of hands, these are at present (April, 1884) discontinued. Besides these drawings, others on a much larger scale have been made, on favorable occasions, by the aid of the polarizing eye-piece. The larger part have never been published, but
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some of them have furnished valuable information in regard to the minute structure of the solar photosphere.
Researches upon the relative thermal, luminous, and actinic intensities of different parts of the sun's disk, have been car- ried on with thermopiles and special optical devices ; and these are now being greatly extended by the use of the new bolomet- ric and spectroscopic apparatus.
In 1879 the director, finding himself unable to proceed farther in certain investigations without the aid of a more delicate heat-measuring apparatus than any then constructed, devised and perfected an instrument called the bolometer, for the measurement of feeble radiation. With this apparatus, an entirely new field of observation has been opened. By its aid, the first accurate determination of the wave-lengths of points in the extreme infra-red spectrum has been made, and the quantitative distribution of energy throughout the spectrum has been measured. The nature of atmospheric absorption, both for the solar and terrestrial envelope, has been partly elucidated, and definite measurements of the effect of certain atmospheric constituents have been made.
The library of the Observatory now contains about fifteen hundred volumes ; but this is still very insufficient, as this num- ber must take the place, to this Observatory, of all the great public libraries, belonging to cities elsewhere, to which other observatories have access.
A mention of the Observatory's work would be incomplete without some account of its system of time-distribution intro- duced by its present director in 1869. Previous to that date, time had been sent in occasional instances from American observatories for public use, but in a temporary or casual man- ner. The Allegheny system, inaugurated in that year, is believed to be the parent of the present ones used in this country, in that it was, so far as is known, the first regular and systematic system of time-distribution to railroads and cities adopting it as an official standard. Two especially constructed lines of telegraph connect with the municipal offices in Pittsburg and Allegheny, with the telegraph-lines of the Western Union Telegraph Company, and with the private lines of the railroads.
HISTORY OF THE ALLEGHENY OBSERVATORY. 183
A turret-clock in the city-hall of Pittsburg has been pro- vided with electric mechanism, which enables it to be regulated from the Observatory, so that its movement may be made syn- chronous with that of the principal mean-time standard there, which is itself corrected by nightly observations.
The electric mechanism of the distant turret-clock causes a stroke upon a heavy bell above the summit of the tower to be given with exact precision at the first second of every third hour, so that it is audible throughout the city. The mechanism of the same turret-clock is arranged so that the pendulums of clocks in any distant police, fire-alarm, or other municipal offices, can be controlled by it, and compelled to move synchronously with its own ; and at the same time it can, if desired, automati- cally report its own time upon the electric recording-apparatus at the Observatory. The automatic signals of the Observatory clock are rendered audible in these offices, and in the still more distant stations along the lines of the railways, by simple pieces of telegraphic apparatus known as " sounders," which are placed beside their own regulating-clocks, and enable them to give these latter an astronomical precision. The private lines of the railroads carry these beats over the country from New York upon the east to Chicago upon the west, and from Erie upon the northern lakes to Baltimore in the south. Over forty asso- ciated railroad companies are thus not only in permanent elec- tric connection with the Observatory, but, their managers having adopted its time as the official standard, their employees are instructed to make regular comparisons with it ; and for this purpose, during a certain time every day the ordinary transmis- sion of time ceases, while the wires are engaged in transmitting the beats of the Observatory clock.
To enumerate all the different railroads thus adopting the Observatory time, would be too long ; but to give an idea of the early extent and use which has been made of it, it may be men- tioned that in 1872 these were grouped into three systems, - the Southern, including originally seven railroad companies, and extending 1,150 miles ; the Eastern, including seventeen associated companies, 2,000 miles ; and the Northern, including eighteen companies, 1,563 miles. This aggregate of 4,713 Eng-
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lish miles did not even at that time represent the whole use of the Observatory by railroad companies, since only those which have officially instructed their employees to adopt its time as their standard were included in this estimate.
Over the network of railroad lines uniting the Atlantic, through the Middle States, with the Western lakes, all trains are moved, and all business carried on, by time primarily derived from a single clock, whose beats, by the repeating instruments of the telegraph lines, are virtually made audible at least once a day over a considerable part of the country. The advantages of so simple and accessible means of regulating the traffic through a large portion of the continent, are obvious ; and as it is not only of important advantage in other respects to the companies employing it, but by diminishing the chances of accident in travelling to contribute largely to the public safety, the Observatory has seen with pleasure the use made of it in this interesting application of the processes of an exact science to the general welfare, the more as it is in no way incompatible with the steady pursuit of other and purely scientific duties.
For the benefit of any future writer of the history of the subject, it may be stated, that in 1870 the Observatory had already in extended operation the system of time-distribution above described ; that about 1873 the director at Cambridge, after conference with the writer, introduced substantially the same provisions for connecting Harvard College Observatory with the New-England roads ; and that about the same time the Washington Observatory, which had previously sent signals in a limited and desultory manner, commenced to do so in emula- tion of the new system.
More recently, observatories all over the country have intro- duced like connections, in many instances directly seeking information as to the system first introduced here.
While ordinary observations of precision are not neglected, the present director, considering the advantage of giving partic- ular attention to some one portion of astronomical science, has aimed to make the Observatory principally useful in physical astronomy, and particularly in solar researches. To this fruit- ful field of labor, its work is likely to be given chiefly, in the
HISTORY OF THE ALLEGHENY OBSERVATORY. 185
future as in the past ; but it is growing increasingly difficult to carry on such investigations in a site now more than half ringed about with manufactories, and the removal of the Observatory to a purer air will soon become a necessity. Already, in 1881, the prosecution of the most important research became impos- sible from this cause; and a special expedition was undertaken from the Observatory to the summit of Mount Whitney in the Sierra Nevada, to complete it. The principal means for the instrumental outfit were furnished by Mr. William Thaw of Pittsburg; but very essential aid in transportation was ob- tained from the War Department through Gen. W. B. Hazen, chief signal-officer of the United-States Army, under whose official direction it proceeded in the writer's charge. A full account of the means and results of this expedition will appear this year (1884), in a volume printed at the Government Press.
As no publication fund has ever been created, the Observa- tory has never published any annals, and the results of its most important original researches or discoveries are to be chiefly found in communications to scientific journals. Of these the principal are, -
1873. "The Solar Photosphere." - Proceedings of the American Associa- tion for the Advancement of Science, August, 1873.
1874. " On the Minute Structure of the Solar Photosphere." - American Journal of Science, February, 1874.
1875. "On the Comparison of Certain Theories of Solar Structure with Observation." - American Journal of Science, vol. ix., March, 1875.
1875. "On the Comparison of Certain Theories of Solar Structure with Observation." - Estratto dalle Memorie degli spettroscopisti Italiani, vol. iv.
1875. " Sur la température relative des diverses régions du soleil. Pre- mière partie : Les noyaux noirs des taches." - Comptes Rendus de l'Académie des Sciences, vol. 80, 1875.
1875. " Sur la température relative des diverses régions du soleil. Deuxième partie : Région équatoriale et régions polaires." - Comptes Ren- dus de l'Académie des Sciences, vol. 80, 1875.
1875. " Étude des radiations superficielles du soleil." - Comptes Rendus de l'Académie des Sciences, September, 1875.
1875. "The Solar Atmosphere, an Introduction to an Account of Re- searches made at the Allegheny Observatory." - American Four- nal of Science, vol. x., Supplement No. - , 1875.
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HISTORICAL GLEANINGS OF ALLEGHENY.
1876, " Measurement of the Direct Effect of Sun-spots on Terrestrial Climates." - Astronomical Society's Monthly Notices, Novem- ber, 1876.
1877. " Nouvelle Méthode spectroscopique." - Comptes Rendus de l'Aca- démie des Sciences, May, 1877.
1877. " On the Possibility of Transit Observation without Personal Error."- American Journal of Science, vol. xiv., July, 1877.
1878. "On the Janssen Solar Photograph and Optical Studies." - Ameri- can Journal of Science, vol. xv., April, 1878.
1878. " Transit of Mercury of May 6, 1878." - American Journal of Science, vol. xv., Fune, 1878.
1878. "On Certain Remarkable Groups in the Lower Spectrum." - Pro- ceedings American Academy of Arts and Sciences, October, 1878.
1878. " On the Temperature of the Sun."- Proceedings American Academy of Arts and Sciences, October, 1878.
1880. " Observations on Mount Etna." - American Journal of Science, vol. - , Fuly, 1880.
I880. " The Bolometer." - American Metrological Society, December, 1880. 188I. "The Bolometer and Radiant Energy."- Proceedings American Academy of Arts and Sciences, January, 1881.
1881. "The Actinic Balance."- American Journal of Science, vol. xxi., March, 1881.
188I. " Sur la distribution de l'énergie dans le spectre solaire normal." - Comptes Rendus de l'Académie des Sciences, Mars, 1881.
I88I. " Distribution de l'énergie dans le spectre normal." - Comptes Ren- dus de l'Académie des Sciences, Juillet, 1881.
1882. " The Mount Whitney Expedition." - Nature, Aug. 3, 1882.
1882. " La distribution de l'énergie dans le spectre normal."- Ann. de Chimie et de Physique, February, 1882.
1882. " Observations du spectre solaire." - Comptes Rendus de l' Académie des Sciences, September, 1882.
1882. "Sunlight and Skylight at High Altitudes."- Nature, Oct. 12, 1882. 1882. " Sunlight and Skylight at High Altitudes." - Proceedings British Association at Southampton.
1882. " Sunlight and Skylight at High Altitudes." - American Journal of Science, vol. xxiv., November, 1882.
1882. "Observation of the Transit of Venus, 1882, Dec. 6, made at the Allegheny Observatory." - Monthly Notices Royal Astronomical Society, vol. xliii., No. 3.
1882. " Observation of the Transit of Venus, 1882, Dec. 6, made at the Allegheny Observatory." - Astronomische Nachrichten, No. 2481, January, 1883.
1883. "The Selective Absorption of Solar Energy." - American Journal of Science, vol. xxv., March, 1883, and London, Edinburgh Phil. Magazine.
HISTORY OF THE ALLEGHENY OBSERVATORY. 187
1883. " Die auswählende Absorption der Energie der Sonne." (Same in German.) - Wiedemann Annalen, April, 1883.
1883. " Sur l'absorption sélective de l'énergie solaire." (Same in French.) - Ann. de Chim. et de Phys., September, 1883.
1883. 1884.
" The Spectrum of an Argand Burner." - Science, June 1, 1883.
" On the Determination of Wave-lengths in the Infra-red Spectrum." - American Journal of Science, vol. xxvi., March, 1884, and London, Edinburgh, and Dublin Philos. Magazine for March.
It will appear from all that has preceded, that, in the fifteen years since the first equipment, the Observatory has not been inactive ; and it may perhaps be felt that the results it has reached, and the work it has accomplished, have been such as the citizens of the great industrial centres in which it is placed have cause to regard as not discreditable to them.
I must recall in this connection the regrettable fact, that, in these wealthy cities, there are not only no museums of art, no libraries of reference, no collections of scientific material, but in general, none of those aids to the investigator which are to be found in so many younger and smaller places ; so that an observatory (which lives among such things as its natural medium, and depends upon their association) has here to furnish out of its own means almost every thing outside of its actual apparatus that the ordinary resources of American civilization would provide for it in any large American city but Pittsburg.
This Observatory is an exotic in this community ; and that it has been maintained at all during the time I have mentioned, might be, perhaps, supposed to be due to the fact that it represents the sole local channel for contribution to science, in return for those practical results of science on which the prosperity of an industrial community is founded.
But during these fifteen years it should be better known than it is, not only that its existence has been a constant struggle with poverty (its income has at no time till within the past year reached one-fifth that of other American observato- ries whose reputation abroad is similar) but that this long struggle, during which it has been forced to earn the means to carry on its researches, has never brought it (always with
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exceptions already gratefully noted) the contribution of a single dollar from an individual in the community in which it exists.
It may perhaps be said that this fact is not publicly known ; and that it need only be known, to be a fact no longer.
As I now remain in charge of the Observatory from affec- tion to the place, and my pursuits there, rather than from interest, I can speak freely, and yet the more so, that I remem- ber such constant personal kindness as I have experienced in this community.
I could wish, then, to see better evidence of the community's liberality in the future toward this Observatory, for the com- munity will continue, I hope, to have cause to think it a subject of just local pride ; and I can hardly be wrong in speaking with this frankness to respected citizens of Pittsburg and Allegheny, who are interested, not only in its past, but in its future.
S. C. LANGLEY, Director of the Observatory.
ALLEGHENY, April 1, 1884.
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19I 1
GLOBE PLOW WORKS.
GLOBE PLOW WORKS.
THE history of the plough is interesting as well as instruc- tive. Ancient writers, both sacred and profane, speak of it as a well-known implement of agriculture, and frequently illustrate their meaning by reference to its use. Job, in his writings, 1520 B.C., says, "They that plow iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap the same."
In Prov. xxi. 4, Solomon the Wise also says, "The plowing of the wicked is sin."
The ancient plough was a crotched limb of a tree, and fre- quently fashioned out of the body and root of a sapling. To this, the beam was firmly bound with leather thongs or tough wooden withs.
These primitive implements were made of three pieces, - the beam, handle, and a naturally crooked piece of wood set in the beam, the lower end forming the share, a brace connect- ing the whole. Iron ploughs, however, were evidently made, and in use, at a very early day.
The quotations above referred to would have had equal force, even if there had been no ploughs other than those made en- tirely of wood ; but the prophet Joel, 800 B.C., would hardly have used the words, "Beat your plowshares into swords," if the people of that early day would not understand the meaning, and certainly could not have done so if metal ploughs had not been in general use. A complete history of the plough can never be written ; its use ante-dates all records ; nor is it prac- ticable, within the limited space at our disposal, to describe the various improvements in form or mode of manufacture, that have from time to time been made during the present century.
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HISTORICAL GLEANINGS OF ALLEGHENY.
It is but fair to say, that the most valuable improvements in this direction have been made in the United States.
It is said that Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States, effected an important improvement in the plough. In his correspondence with the French Institute, he laid down scientific and intelligible rules for shaping the same ; and his theory he practically tested by having several ploughs made in accordance with his patterns, and using them profi- tably on his farms in Virginia as early as 1793.
Charles Newbold, a farmer of New Jersey, made the first cast-iron plough, for which he took out letters-patent : he was, however, in advance of the times; and after spending large sums of money in fruitless attempts to bring his improvement into notoriety and popular favor, he abandoned it in despair. Others followed closely in his wake with like sad results.
Improvements were made in form, but the wooden mould- boards were in common use until the beginning of the present century. The cast-iron share succeeded these : then came the substitution of steel for those parts which came in contact with the soil, and were liable to wear out. Eventually a light, strong, durable, and cheap implement was furnished to the farmer. In no country in the world are so large a number, or so great a variety, manufactured as in the United States, for the simple reason, that in no other land is there so great a variety of soil, or so large an agricultural area, and in no other country has the manufacture of agricultural implements attained such perfection. An exemplification of this is the fact that Ameri- can ploughs were awarded the highest premiums at the inter- national exhibition, where they were practically tested.
The Globe Plow Works were established on the south-east corner of Penn Street and Cecil's Alley by Samuel Hall in 1828 : they were subsequently removed in 1836 to the south- west corner of Ferry Lane (now Beaver Avenue) and Walnut Street (now Greenwood Street), Manchester, now the Fifth Ward of the city of Allegheny.
In 1845 Alexander Speer became a partner in the business, under the name of Hall & Speer. Mr. Speer, being a practi- cal worker at the trade, added much to the credit and success
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GLOBE PLOW WORKS.
of the business. Mr. Hall died in the year 1852 ; and the busi- ness was continued without any change of proprietors, title, or interest until 1858, when John S. Hall, son of the founder of the works, became associated with Mr. Speer in carrying on the enterprise. During these years the business rapidly increased, and the products of the works were greatly in demand through- out the entire south and west, and large shipments made to South America and the island of Cuba.
John S. Hall died in 1873. Previous to his death, he had disposed of his entire interest to Mr. Speer, who subsequently sold an interest in the business to each of his two sons, W. W. Speer and Joseph T. Speer, the style of the firm being Alex- ander Speer & Sons. These latter gentlemen, like their father, had acquired a thorough knowledge of the business.
In 1870 the works were removed to Pittsburg, to the prop- erty bounded by Duquesne Way, Fifth Street, Cecil's Alley, and the property fronting on Penn Street. The works were com- pleted, and ready for occupancy, the same year, and are consid- ered a model in the completeness of machinery, and general arrangement, unsurpassed by any thing of the kind in the country.
The success of the Globe Plow Works may be attributed in some measure to the harmony and good feeling that have always characterized the relations between the proprietors and their employees. Many of the latter have been continuously em- ployed for over forty-seven years.
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THE FIRST ROPE-WALK.
THE first rope-walk erected west of the Allegheny Mountains, was established in Pittsburg in 1794, and was located on the ground now occupied by the Monongahela House. The busi- ness was carried on by Col. John Irwin and wife.
Col. Irwin having been severely wounded in one of the bat- tles of the Revolutionary war (Paoli), and rendered incapable of attending to the details of the business, Mrs. Irwin, -a lady of indomitable courage and perseverance, endowed with rare business qualifications, - with the assistance of her son, then a mere lad, carried on the works successfully.
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