An endeavor has often been made to construct a canoe that a person can
easily carry overland and put into the water without aid, and convert
into a sailboat. The system that we now call attention to is very well
contrived, very light, easily taken apart, and for some years past has
met with much favor.
[Illustration: FIG. 1.--BERTHON COLLAPSIBLE CANOE AFLOAT.]
Mr. Berthon's canoes are made of impervious oil-skin. Form is given them
by two stiff wooden gunwales which are held in position by struts that
can be easily put in and taken out. The model shown in the figure is
covered with oiled canvas, and is provided with a double paddle and a
small sail. Fig. 2 represents it collapsed and being carried overland.
[Illustration: FIG. 2.--THE SAME BEING CARRIED OVERLAND.]
Mr. Berthon is manufacturing a still simpler style, which is provided
with two oars, as in an ordinary canoe. This model, which is much used
in England by fishermen and hunters, has for several years past been
employed in the French navy, in connection with movable defenses. At
present, every torpedo boat carries one or two of these canoes, each
composed of two independent halves that may be put into the water
separately or be joined together by an iron rod.
These boats ride the water very well, and are very valuable for
exploring quarters whither torpedo boats could not adventure without
danger.[1]--_La Nature_.
[Footnote 1: For detailed description see SUPPLEMENT, No. 84.]
* * * * *
THE FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF THE OPENING OF THE FIRST GERMAN STEAM
RAILROAD.
There was great excitement in Nürnberg on the 7th of December, 1835, on
which day the first German railroad was opened. The great square on
which the buildings of the Nürnberg and Furth "Ludwig's Road" stood, the
neighboring streets, and, in fact, the whole road between the two
cities, was filled with a crowd of people who flocked from far and near
to see the wonderful spectacle. For the first time, a railroad train
filled with passengers was to be drawn from Nürnberg to Furth by the
invisible power of the steam horse. At eight o'clock in the morning, the
civil and military authorities, etc., who took part in the celebration
were assembled on the square, and the gayly decorated train started off
to an accompaniment of music, cannonading, cheering, etc. Everything
passed off without an accident; the work was a success. The engraving in
the lower right-hand corner represents the engine and cars of this road.
It will be plainly seen that such a revolution could not be accomplished
easily, and that much sacrifice and energy were required of the leaders
in the enterprise, prominent among whom was the merchant Johannes
Scharrer, who is known as the founder of the "Ludwig's Road."
One would naturally suppose that such an undertaking would have met with
encouragement from the Bavarian Government, but this was not the case.
The starters of the enterprise met with opposition on every side; much
was written against it, and many comic pictures were drawn showing
accidents which would probably occur on the much talked of road. Two of
these pictures are shown in the accompanying large engraving, taken from
the _Illustrirte Zeitung_. As shown in the center picture, right hand,
it was expected by the railway opponents that trains running on tracks
at right angles must necessarily come in collision. If anything happened
to the engine, the passengers would have to get out and push the cars,
as shown at the left.
[Illustration: JUBILEE CELEBRATION OF THE FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF THE
OPENING OF THE FIRST STEAM RAILWAY IN GERMANY--AT NURNBERG]
Much difficulty was experienced in finding an engineer capable of
attending to the construction of the road; and at first it was thought
that it would be best to engage an Englishman, but finally Engineer
Denis, of Munich, was appointed. He had spent much time in England and
America studying the roads there, and carried on this work to the entire
satisfaction of the company.
All materials for the road were, as far as possible, procured in
Germany; but the idea of building the engines and cars there had to be
given up, and, six weeks before the opening of the road, Geo.
Stephenson, of London, whose engine, Rocket, had won the first prize in
the competitive trials at Rainhill in 1829, delivered an engine of ten
horse power, which is still known in Nürnberg as "Der Englander."
Fifty years have passed, and, as Johannes Scharrer predicted, the
Ludwig's Road has become a permanent institution, though it now forms
only a very small part of the network of railroads which covers every
portion of Germany. What changes have been made in railroads during
these fifty years! Compare the present locomotives with the one made by
Cugnot in 1770, shown in the upper left-hand cut, and with the work of
the pioneer Geo. Stephenson, who in 1825 constructed the first passenger
railroad in England, and who established a locomotive factory in
Newcastle in 1824. Geo. Stephenson was to his time what Mr. Borsig,
whose great works at Moabit now turn out from 200 to 250 locomotives a
year, is to our time.
Truly, in this time there can be no better occasion for a celebration of
this kind than the fiftieth anniversary of the opening of the first
German railroad, which has lately been celebrated by Nürnberg and Furth.
The lower left-hand view shows the locomotive De Witt Clinton, the third
one built in the United States for actual service, and the coaches. The
engine was built at the West Point Foundry, and was successfully tested
on the Mohawk and Hudson Railroad between Albany and Schenectady on Aug.
9, 1831.
* * * * *