Sir,—I make no doubt but you have heard of my steamboat
and as often heard it laughed at. But in this I have only
shared the fate of all other projectors2, for it has
the greatest inventions until use has proved their utility.
My not reducing my scheme to practice has been a little
unfortunate for me, I confess, and perhaps for the people in
general, but until very lately I did not think that either
artists or material could be had in the place sufficient.
However, necessity, that grand science of invention, has
furnished me with an idea of perfecting my plans almost
be got here, and from a thorough confidence of its success,
Should it succeed agreeable to my expectations, I hope I
shall discover that source of duty which such favors always
merit, and should it not succeed, your reward must lay with
other unlucky adventurers.
For me to mention to you all the advantages arising from
such a machine would be tedious, and, indeed, quite
unnecessary, Therefore I have taken the liberty to state in
hope you will excuse, and I will remain, either with or
without approbation8,
Your Excellency's most obedient and very humble servant,
William Longstreet.
There are two features of this letter that ought to attract attention. One is that William Longstreet has the name of "steamboat" as pat as if the machine were in common use. The second is his allusion9 to the fact that his conception of a boat to be propelled by steam was so well known as to be noised abroad.
Credit is sometimes given to John Fitch, who, it is said, invented a boat propelled by steam, that carried passengers on the Delaware River in 1787. An Englishman named Symington is said to have run a steamboat in 1801, while Robert Fulton's success was delayed until 1806. All these men have received credit for their efforts to benefit humanity, but history is silent in regard to William Longstreet. In one book about Georgia the remark is made that "James Longstreet is said to have invented the steamboat in 1793," but in this instance neither the name nor the date is correct.
In old St. Paul's churchyard in Augusta there is a tombstone which bears the inscription10, "Sacred to the memory of William Longstreet, who departed this life September 1, 1814, aged11 54 years, 10 months, and 26 days." Below this runs the pleasant legend, "All the days of the afflicted12 are evil, but he that is of a merry heart hath a continual feast." We are thus left to infer that William Longstreet was a man of a merry heart; and that fact is certified13 to by the cleverness with which his son, the author of "Georgia Scenes," has preserved for us some of the quaint14 characters that lived and moved and had their being on the borders of Georgia society directly after the Revolution.
William Longstreet and his Steamboat 172
Being an inventor, a man of ingenious ideas, and somewhat ambitious of serving the public in that way, William Long-street certainly had need of a merry heart; for, as he himself says, the way of the projector3 is hard. The term itself is used in Georgia to this day to express a certain sort of good-natured contempt. Go into the country places and ask after some acquaintance who has not prospered15 in a worldly way, and the answer will be, "Oh, he's just a prodjikin around."
It is certain that William Longstreet knew that steam could be used as a motive16 power long before it was so applied17; and because he employed a good deal of his time in trying to discover the principle, he was ridiculed18 by his neighbors and friends, and the more thoughtless among them didn't know whether he was a crank, a half-wit, or a "luny." From all accounts, he was a modest, shy, retiring man, though a merry one. He had but little money to devote to the experiments he wished to make, and in this was not different from the great majority of inventors.
For a long time Longstreet's zeal19 and enthusiasm attracted the attention of a few of his wealthy friends, and these furnished him such money as he wanted; but no very long time was needed to convince those who were spending their money that the idea of propelling a boat by steam, instead of by sails or oars21, was ridiculous. Longstreet made many experiments, but he had not hit upon the method of applying the principle he had in mind: consequently his rich friends closed their purses, and left him entirely to his own resources. A newspaper publication, in giving some of the facts in regard to Longstreet's efforts, says that he and his steamboat were made the subject of a comic song:—
Billy boy, Billy boy?
Can you row the boat ashore,
Gentle Billy?
Can you row the boat ashore
Billy boy?"
Though he had failed many times, Longstreet was not disheartened. He continued his experiments, and at last succeeded in making a toy boat, which he exhibited to a few friends. His idea at this time, it seems, was not to construct a steamboat, but merely to convince some of his friends that steam could be used as a motive power. But in this he was not very successful. His toy boat did all that he wanted it to do; but his friends declared, that while steam might be used to move a small boat, it could never be used to move a large one. The experience of a new generation showed that there was one wise man in Augusta and a great many fools. Nevertheless William Longstreet determined23 to show that a large boat could be moved by a large amount of steam as easily as a small boat could be moved by a small volume.
Now, while he was making his experiments; and trying to overcome the difficulties that presented themselves, Robert Fulton was living in Paris with Joel Barlow. He was in Paris when Napoleon became first consul24. At that time he was experimenting with his diving boat and submarine torpedo25. Napoleon was so much interested in this work that he gave Fulton ten thousand francs to carry it on. The inventor was in France in 1803 when Napoleon organized his army for the invasion of England. He was surrounded by influential26 friends, and he had money at his command.
Compared with William Longstreet, Robert Fulton was "in clover." Longstreet was compelled to work without money, and in the midst of a community whose curiosity had developed into criticism and ridicule. Thus it was not until 1806 that he succeeded in completing a steamboat that would accommodate twenty or twenty-five persons. He went on board, accompanied by such of his friends as he could persuade, and in the presence of a curious and doubting crowd the first real steamboat was launched on the Savannah River. Some of the friends of those on board, feeling anxious for their safety if the "contraption" should explode, secured a skiff, and followed the steamboat at a safe distance, ready to pick up such of the passengers as might survive when the affair had blown to pieces. Longstreet headed the boat down the river, and went in that direction for several miles. Then he turned the head of the little boat upstream; and, although the current was swift, he carried his passengers back to the wharf27, and several miles above.
From that hour William Longstreet became a man of some consequence in the community. Those who had ridiculed him now sang his praises, and those who had doubted that steam could be used as a motive power were now convinced. His friends tried hard to get him to go to Washington and secure the benefits of a patent for his invention; but he persistently28 refused to take any steps to profit by the results of his genius, or indeed to make his invention known. His constant reply to all those who tried to persuade him to go to Washington was, that he had carried on his experiments simply to prove the truth of his theory to his own satisfaction, and to convince those whose respect he coveted29 that he was neither a fool nor a crank.
Some of his friends and admirers were themselves preparing to go to Washington in behalf of the inventor, but they had put off their journey until the year after the exhibition was made in Augusta, and at that time they heard that Robert Fulton had exhibited his steamboat "Clermont" on the Hudson River. They then gave up their design, and William Longstreet continued to remain in the seclusion30 that was so pleasant to him.
It is a noteworthy fact, that twelve years after William Longstreet made his successful experiments on the Savannah River, Georgia enterprise built, launched, and managed the first steamship31 that ever crossed the ocean. This great enterprise was organized in Savannah in 1818. The Georgia Company contracted to have the ship built in New York; and when completed, it was named the "Savannah." The vessel32 was finished and brought to Savannah in April, 1819. In May the steamship left Savannah bound for Liverpool. From Liverpool it went to St. Petersburg, and then returned to Savannah, having made the voyage in fifty days.
The first sewing machine was invented by Rev1. Frank R. Goulding, a Georgian who has won fame among the children of the land as the author of "The Young Marooners." He invented the sewing machine for the purpose of lightening the labors33 of his wife; and she used it for some years before some other genius invented it, or some traveler stole the idea and improved on it.
Dr. Crawford W. Long, in 1842, when twenty-seven years of age, performed the first painless surgical34 operation that is known to history. In 1839, Velpeau of Paris declared that the attempts to find some agent by which to prevent pain in surgical operations was nothing less than chimerical35; and as late as 1846 Sir Benjamin Brodie said, "Physicians and surgeons have been looking in vain, from the days of Hippocrates down to the present time, for the means of allaying36 or preventing bodily pain." And yet three years after the declaration of Velpeau, and four years before the statement of Sir Benjamin Brodie, the young Georgia physician had removed a tumor37 from the neck of a patient, and that patient had felt no pain.
The story is very interesting. Dr. Crawford W. Long was born in Danielsville, Madison County, Ga., on the 1st of November, 1815. He graduated at the University of Georgia, studied medicine, and graduated at the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania. He then went to Jefferson, Jackson County, where he opened an office, and practiced medicine for many years.
Laughing Gas 177
In those days the young men living in the country districts, for want of something better to amuse them, were in the habit of inhaling38 nitrous-oxide gas, or, as it was then popularly known, "laughing gas." The young people would gather together, and some of them would inhale39 the gas until they came under its influence. The result was in most cases very amusing. Some would laugh, some would cry, and all in various ways would carry out the peculiarities40 of their characters and dispositions41. Thus, if a young man had an inward inclination42 to preach, he would, under the influence of "laughing gas," proceed to deliver a sermon. As these "laughing-gas" parties were exhilarating to the young people who inhaled43 the gas, and amusing to those who were spectators, they became very popular.
But it was not always easy to secure the gas. On one occasion a company of young men went to Dr. Long's office and asked him to make them a supply of "laughing gas." There was no apparatus44 in the office suitable for making it, but Dr. Long told the young men that the inhalation of sulphuric ether would have the same effect. He had become acquainted with this property of ether while studying medicine in Philadelphia. The young men and their friends were so well pleased with the effects of ether inhalation, that "ether parties" became fashionable in that section, as well as in other parts of the State. At these ether parties, Dr. Long noticed that persons who received injuries while under its influence felt no pain. On one occasion a young man received an injury to his ankle joint45 that disabled him for several days, and he told Dr. Long that he did not feel the slightest pain until the effects of the ether had passed off. Observing these facts, Dr. Long was led to believe that surgical operations might be performed without pain.
Dr. Long's theory was formed in 1841, but he waited for some time before testing it, in the hope that a case of surgery of some importance—the amputation46 of an arm or a leg—might fall in his practice. On the 30th of March, 1842, Dr. Long removed a tumor from the neck of Mr. James M. Venable. On the 6th of June, the same year, another small tumor was removed from the neck of the same patient, and both operations were painless. Mr. Venable inhaled sulphuric ether, and the effect of it was to render him insensible to the pain of cutting out the tumors.
Dr. Long had told Mr. Venable that he would charge little or nothing for removing the tumors under the influence of ether. The bill rendered for both operations amounted to $4.50; but, small as the bill was, it represented the discovery and application of ether in surgical practice,—one of the greatest boons47 to mankind. Up to that time no patient under the surgeon's knife had ever been able to escape the horror and pain of an operation.
Dr. Long did not at once print the facts about his discovery. He wanted to make assurance doubly sure. He waited in the hope of having an important case of surgery under his charge, such as the amputation of a leg or an arm. But these cases, rare at any time, were still rarer at that time, especially in the region where Dr. Long practiced. He finally satisfied himself, however, of the importance of his discovery, but, having waited until 1846, found that at least three persons—Wells, Jackson, and Morton—had hit on the same discovery, and had made publication of it. Morton patented ether under the name of "Letheon," and in October, 1846, administered it to a patient in the Massachusetts General Hospital.
In 1844, Horace Wells, a native of Vermont, discovered that the inhalation of nitrous-oxide gas produces anaesthesia. He was a dentist. He gave it to his patients, and was able to perform dental operations without causing pain. Thus we may see how the case stands. Long produced anaesthesia in 1842; that is to say, he caused his patients to inhale sulphuric ether in that year, whenever he had a painful operation to perform, and in each case the operation was painless.
In 1846, when the surgeons of the Massachusetts General Hospital performed painless operations on patients, after administering to them Morton's patented "Letheon," which was his name for sulphuric ether, there came about a great war of pamphlets, and it ended tragically48. Long had never made any secret of the substance which he used. He gave information of it to all the surgeons and doctors with whom he came in contact; and he was not in any way concerned in the conflict that was carried on by Jackson, Morton, and Wells. He simply gathered together the facts of his discovery, proved that he was the first physician to perform painless operations in surgery, and that was the end of it so far as he was concerned.
Wells became insane, and committed suicide in New York in 1848. Morton died in New York City of congestion49 of the brain. Jackson ended his days in an insane asylum50.
In Boston a monument has been erected51 to the discoverer of anaesthesia. The name of Crawford W. Long should stand first upon it, and should be followed by the names of Wells, Morton, and Jackson.
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1
rev
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| v.发动机旋转，加快速度 | |
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projectors
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| 电影放映机，幻灯机( projector的名词复数 ) | |
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projector
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| n.投影机，放映机，幻灯机 | |
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4
ridicule
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| v.讥讽，挖苦；n.嘲弄 | |
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5
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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6
patronage
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| n.赞助，支援，援助；光顾，捧场 | |
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7
humble
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| adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低 | |
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8
approbation
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| n.称赞；认可 | |
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9
allusion
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| n.暗示，间接提示 | |
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10
inscription
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| n.（尤指石块上的）刻印文字，铭文，碑文 | |
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11
aged
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| adj.年老的，陈年的 | |
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12
afflicted
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| 使受痛苦，折磨( afflict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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13
certified
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| a.经证明合格的；具有证明文件的 | |
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14
quaint
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| adj.古雅的，离奇有趣的，奇怪的 | |
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15
prospered
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| 成功，兴旺( prosper的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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16
motive
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| n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的 | |
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17
applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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18
ridiculed
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| v.嘲笑，嘲弄，奚落( ridicule的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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19
zeal
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| n.热心，热情，热忱 | |
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20
oar
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| n.桨，橹，划手；v.划行 | |
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21
oars
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| n.桨，橹( oar的名词复数 )；划手v.划（行）( oar的第三人称单数 ) | |
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22
ashore
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| adv.在(向)岸上，上岸 | |
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23
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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24
consul
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| n.领事；执政官 | |
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25
torpedo
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| n.水雷，地雷；v.用鱼雷破坏 | |
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influential
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| adj.有影响的，有权势的 | |
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wharf
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| n.码头，停泊处 | |
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persistently
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| ad.坚持地；固执地 | |
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29
coveted
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| adj.令人垂涎的；垂涎的，梦寐以求的v.贪求，觊觎(covet的过去分词)；垂涎；贪图 | |
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seclusion
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| n.隐遁，隔离 | |
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31
steamship
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| n.汽船，轮船 | |
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32
vessel
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| n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管 | |
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33
labors
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| v.努力争取(for)( labor的第三人称单数 )；苦干；详细分析；（指引擎）缓慢而困难地运转 | |
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surgical
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| adj.外科的，外科医生的，手术上的 | |
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chimerical
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| adj.荒诞不经的，梦幻的 | |
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allaying
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| v.减轻，缓和( allay的现在分词 ) | |
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tumor
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| n.（肿）瘤，肿块(英)tumour | |
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38
inhaling
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| v.吸入( inhale的现在分词 ) | |
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inhale
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| v.吸入(气体等)，吸(烟) | |
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peculiarities
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| n. 特质, 特性, 怪癖, 古怪 | |
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dispositions
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| 安排( disposition的名词复数 )； 倾向； （财产、金钱的）处置； 气质 | |
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42
inclination
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| n.倾斜；点头；弯腰；斜坡；倾度；倾向；爱好 | |
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inhaled
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| v.吸入( inhale的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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apparatus
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| n.装置，器械；器具，设备 | |
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45
joint
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| adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合 | |
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amputation
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| n.截肢 | |
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47
boons
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| n.恩惠( boon的名词复数 )；福利；非常有用的东西；益处 | |
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48
tragically
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| adv. 悲剧地，悲惨地 | |
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49
congestion
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| n.阻塞，消化不良 | |
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50
asylum
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| n.避难所，庇护所，避难 | |
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51
ERECTED
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| adj. 直立的，竖立的，笔直的 vt. 使 ... 直立，建立 | |
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