If to these figures were added the number of steam vessels in the navies of the world, the grand total would be very largely increased. The British navy alone would increase the number of vessels by 700 at least, and the tonnage by more than 1,500,000 tons.
Conclusion.
Reliable statistics are not easily found and are often accounted dry reading. From a variety of causes, figures are peculiarly prone to err. But whatever may be thought of the merely numerical argument which has almost unavoidably been introduced in these pages, the indisputable fact remains, that of all the triumphs of mind over matter in this nineteenth century nothing has contributed more to the advancement of civilization and the spread of Christianity, to the wealth of nations and the convenience and comfort of the human race, than the marvellous development of steam navigation which will ever be identified with the history of the illustrious reign of Her Majesty Queen Victoria.
APPENDICES.
I. CAPTAIN JOHN ERICSSON.
The name and fame of the inventor of the screw propeller are less widely known in Britain than in America, and in neither country, perhaps, has full justice been done to his memory. As a mechanical genius, he was one of the most remarkable men of his time, and did much to promote the development of steam navigation.
Ericsson was born in the Province of Vermeland, in Sweden, in the year 1803. Coming to England in 1826, he entered into partnership with Braithwaite, a noted mechanician, in London, and there and then entered upon his remarkable career as an inventor. In 1836 he married Amelia, daughter of Mr. John Byam, second son of Sir John Byam. Accompanied by his wife, he came to the United States, arriving at New York, in the British Queen, November 2nd, 1839. His wife, however, soon afterwards returned to England, and during the rest of their lives, “by an amicable arrangement,” the Atlantic rolled between.
Before leaving England, Ericsson had already patented a number of his inventions. One of the first of these was a machine for compressing air, a discovery which has since proved valuable in the construction of long tunnels and in many other ways. The introduction of his system of artificial draught was the key-note of the principle on which rapid locomotion chiefly depends. He electrified London with his steam fire-engine, but the conservative authorities would not countenance “a machine that consumed so much water!” In 1829 he entered into competition with Robert Stephenson, when a prize of £500 was offered for the best locomotive. He came off second-best, but it was a feather in his cap that his locomotive, the Novelty, glided smoothly over the track at the amazing speed of thirty miles an hour! His experiments with hot air occupied much of his time, and not without valuable results. His forte, however, was in the construction of steam-engines, of which he designed a large number, introducing many new principles, some of which were destined to survive.