Engineering reminiscences contributed to "Power" and "American machinist"

by Charles T. Porter

I had been for four years carrying on the business of the manufacture of these engines in my own name as sole proprietor, but, as already stated, without a cent of capital. I had in this time built between forty and fifty engines of every size on my list, from the smallest to the largest, except two, the 44-inch diameter cylinder having been added after my time. Considering my business as an organization, I had been president, secretary, treasurer, general manager, chief engineer, inspector, and draftsman. At any rate, the duties belonging to all those positions had been performed by me with satisfactory results. I made every drawing, both general and detail, with my own hands, having only the help of a young man who made my tracings, and when he had time helped me with my section lining. At that time blue-printing had not come into use; drawings were made on white drawing-paper and were inked in, and the tracings were made for the shop; I began to use the blue-print system when I removed to Philadelphia.

Every one was loyal to me, I could always rely upon my instructions being faithfully followed, so the work ran as smoothly as the engines themselves; we were, however, much hindered by the poor tools we had to use. These were a fair average of American tools at that time, but Mr. Goodfellow and myself estimated their output to average only about one half that which we expected in our contemplated works. Besides this, I could not establish piece-work prices or introduce any systematic methods. I became gradually swamped with orders. These outgrew the capacity of the Hewes & Phillips Works, or of that portion which I could use. Before I left there, besides the four large orders already named, amounting altogether to $48,000 f.o.b., without fly-wheels, and which could not be handled in these works, I had accepted orders for smaller engines sufficient to bring the aggregate up to $125,000. These latter were more than I could manage alone, so I had arranged to have some of these also made, or partially made, in other shops.

From this point my path sloped steeply downward to the grave of all my hopes; in about two years and eight months the business had dwindled to practically nothing, and I, as the party held responsible for this result, was turned out of the Southwark Foundry into the street. At the bottom this was entirely my own fault. No one could ask to be associated with a better body of men than were those who united to sink their money in the manufacture of the Porter-Allen engines.

My aim had been to reach a point where I could command the capital necessary to establish my business according to the plan which I had cherished ever since my return from England, but on a much larger scale than I then contemplated. I had now reached that point. Parties who were finding themselves enriched by my engine were ready to pour out their money like water for my use; but there was something else that I needed even more than their money, without which indeed, as the event proved, their money was of no use at all. That was their respect for me and confidence in me as a strong business man; my record would have sufficiently justified that confidence, but of this they were ignorant. They had no means to form a judgment of me except what I did then and there. I never thought of this supreme requirement, and in response to their request made them an offer which, regarded from their point of view, appeared so unbusinesslike that they could form only one conclusion, that while unquestionably I could make engines all right, in matters of business I was a mere baby whose opinion on business matters was not to be regarded seriously.

How came I to do myself, and them also, as the victims of their mistaken judgment, this injustice? My whole life was bound up in the engine; I cared nothing for money except to develop its manufacture; I felt that every dollar paid to myself would leave so much less for this purpose. I asked nothing for the good-will of my business, for I was not selling it; they were putting money into my business, which, of course, I would continue to carry on as I had done. This was my mistaken view. I consulted fully with Mr. Hope, whose interest was equal with mine, and he viewed the matter precisely as I did. Although standing at the head of his profession as a fire underwriter, he had not the special business training or experience that would enable him to give me the advice I needed, so I told them that if a company should be formed to manufacture the engines with $800,000 capital, I would assign to it my patents for $100,000 of its stock, the value of which I assumed I would increase several fold in a few years. Beyond this I assumed everything and made sure of nothing, so our minds never came together. I did not assert myself because it never occurred to me that I needed to do so.

They could not understand my position. They could not appreciate my sentiment. They were business men, and did business on strictly business principles. What their position was I came to understand later. From the fact that I did not stipulate for it they concluded that I did not expect the presidency of the company, but had yielded it to them, which they accepted, of course, in accordance with the general usage that capital takes the direction of a business which it knows nothing about, relying upon skilled experts in its various departments.

Thus by my failure to realize their necessary position and to lay before them a thoroughly business-like proposition, demanding for myself the practical direction of the business and a proper sum for the patents and the good-will of the business, and assuring to them the safety and disposition of their money the enterprise was doomed from the start.

An excellent opportunity seemed to offer itself for going right on with my business without the delay which would be involved in the erection of new works. The Southwark Foundry was in the market for sale. These were the old engineering works of the firm of S. V. Merrick & Sons; they were famous works before the war, when they were largely devoted to the manufacture of municipal gas and water plants, having, I think, a monopoly of this class of work, for which they were especially equipped. During the war they had built engines for some government vessels. A few years after the war the elder Mr. Merrick died, and his two sons, J. Vaughan and William H. Merrick, retired from business, and these works were closed. In company with several of the gentlemen interested I was shown over the works by William H. Merrick and was very favorably impressed with them. They covered a large plot of ground, the front extending from Fourth to Fifth streets on the south side of Washington Avenue, in Philadelphia; they were favorably located with respect to transportation facilities, a branch of the Philadelphia and Baltimore Railroad ran through this avenue to the Delaware River, and two switches from these tracks entered the works, one going to the foundry and one to the erecting-floor. This floor was commanded by three cranes, operated by power, the largest I had ever seen, while an annex to the foundry was commanded by a steam-crane of equal size, and the main foundry floor was provided with an overhead traveler, the only one at that time in the country. The machine-shop was a large three-story building, the first and second floors of which, as well as the erecting-shop, were filled with tools, some of them of large size. I was particularly impressed by the great planer, the largest in the country, capable of passing objects twelve feet square. The office was provided with a large fire-proof vault which was carried up to the second story for the use of the drawing-office.

I expressed myself decidedly in favor of purchasing these works. I could form no judgment respecting the tools, all their working parts being coated with a composition of white lead and tallow; but I did not care much about them, because I should speedily fill the works with the latest improved tools, most of which I expected to import from England. A contract was immediately made for the purchase of these works, in part payment for which the Merrick brothers were to accept stock in the proposed company. Thus they became numbered among our stockholders.

I was next invited to attend a meeting of a few gentlemen held at the office of the Cambria Company to arrange a slate for the action of the subscribers at a meeting which had been called for organization. This first meeting was full of surprises to me. I went into it expecting the gentlemen to say to me: “Of course, Mr. Porter, you will accept the office of president?” quite unconscious that I had made it impossible for them to think of such a thing, but quite conscious that no amateur in that position could by any possibility make the business successful, unless he should commit the management entirely to my hands and content himself with being a mere figurehead.