On March 13, 1948, Colonel E. A. Deeds turned the control wheel which shut down the Corliss for the last time. It was an act which brought with it many memories for him because 46 years before he had turned that same wheel in the reverse direction for the first time and brought the Corliss to life.
Now maybe before I go any further, I should tell you what I did for almost fifty years at NCR. I really had two jobs: one to turn out electric power and the other to heat the factory with my exhaust steam, which you might say I did with my left hand. That’s one reason they always liked me. I used a lot of coal—guess I’ve burned up about 175,000 tons in my day—but I never wasted it. I got just about as much out of a ton of coal as I possibly could and then I did that extra job of heating the factory with my exhaust steam for practically nothing.
The Corliss moves again but this time one powerful motor truck with heavy-duty trailer is sufficient to do the job.
I could tell you a lot about some of the things that happened during my almost half century on the job. Of course I saw NCR grow up. When I went to work in the power house there were just 5 buildings in the whole plant. When they took me out I was amazed at how the place had changed. I had seen some of the new buildings out the window but by no means all of them. There are over 30 now. And what a lot more people there are! I think there were about 2,000 in 1902 and now there are 15,000. Well, I like to think I did my share in helping things along.
About eleven years after I started to work, a terrible thing happened to Dayton. I am talking about the flood of 1913, and while I didn’t get wet, I knew the situation was bad. You see, the water knocked out the power houses downtown and my friends and I in the NCR power house had to step in and take over. Of course we were glad to do it and those days remain one of the great experiences of my life, but I wouldn’t want to go through that again. Or see the fine people of Dayton go through it either. Fortunately nobody needs to worry any more, for I understand they have fixed up that flood business for good.
I know people don’t like too many figures, but I’d like to give you just a few about myself. As you see me today, I weigh 210 tons. My flywheel is twenty feet in diameter and weighs 38 tons. When I was working full speed I turned out 800 kilowatts. According to people who should know and who looked me over just before I moved over here, I was in just about as good shape when I went out as when I went in. Give me a little steam and my two old friends, Tom Monks and Ross Morgan, to look after me and I’d be right back in business.
You know, there is an interesting point of difference between Grasshopper’s experience and mine. He went onto the side track because bigger and more powerful engines took his job away from him. Well up to a point my experience was the same; the fellow who’s doing my job now is certainly more powerful—about six times as strong—much as I hate to admit it. But the funny part of it is, he’s a midget compared to me. Naturally, I haven’t been back to the power house since I left, but they tell me this fellow, whose name is Turbine, something or other, is hardly more than a good-sized bump on the power house floor. He weighs only one-fifth of what I do. Doesn’t seem possible that he can get more done than I did, but I know times change, and I guess engines, like everything else, change with them. Don’t think I’m critical; more power to him. If things keep on growing around there, he’s going to need it. But I just have a little hope way down deep, that once in a while someone is going to look over that way and think back to the days when they could see my old flywheel whirling around day and night, trying to keep things going.
You know, when you have spent your life trying to do the right thing, you like to feel that you have done a good job. Do you know the last thing they said about me, just before I moved? This is part of the Company’s records so it’s official and it’s something I’ll always remember. Here it is: “This engine has given excellent service and no power interruptions were ever experienced due to failure of this unit.” That makes a fellow feel pretty good and being over here in Carillon Park, looking shinier even than when I was on the job, makes me feel good, too. I know I am going to meet a lot of fine people and I hope they’ll enjoy coming in and looking me over. You know, I think that even for a Corliss ... I’m a very lucky fellow.