WATT IN CORNWALL--INTRODUCTION OF HIS PUMPING-ENGINES.
The Cornish miners continued baffled by their attempts to get rid of the
water which hindered the working of their mines. The Newcomen engines
had been taxed to the utmost, but were unable to send them deeper into
the ground, and they were accordingly ready to welcome any invention
that promised to relieve them of their difficulty. Among the various new
contrivances for pumping water, that of Watt seemed to offer the greatest
advantages; and if what was alleged of it proved true--that it was of
greater power than the Newcomen engine, while its consumption of fuel was
much less,--then it could not fail to prove of the greatest advantage to
Cornish industry.
Long before Watt’s arrival in Birmingham, the Cornishmen had been in
correspondence with Boulton, making inquiries about the new Scotch
invention, of which they had heard; and Dr. Small, in his letters to
Watt, repeatedly urged him to perfect his engine, with a view to its being
employed in the drainage of the Cornish mines. Now that the engine was at
work in several places, Boulton invited his correspondents in Cornwall
to inquire as to its performances, at Soho, or Bedworth, or Bow, or any
other place where it had been erected. The result of the inquiry and
inspection was satisfactory, and several orders for engines for Cornwall
were received at Soho by the end of 1776. The two first that were ready
for erection were those ordered for Wheal Busy, near Chacewater, and for
Tingtang, near Redruth. The materials for the former were shipped by the
middle of 1777; and, as much would necessarily depend upon the successful
working of the first engines put up in Cornwall, Watt himself went to
superintend their erection in person.
[Illustration: MAP OF UNITED MINES DISTRICT.]
Watt reached his destination after a long and tedious journey over bad
roads. He rode by stage as far as Exeter, and posted the rest of the way.
At Chacewater he found himself in the midst of perhaps the richest mining
district in the world. From thence to Camborne, which lies to the west,
and Gwennap to the south, is a constant succession of mines. The earth
has been burrowed in all directions for many miles in search of ore,
principally copper--the surface presenting an unnaturally blasted and
scarified appearance by reason of the “deads” or refuse run out in heaps
from the mine-heads. Engine-houses and chimneys are the most prominent
features in the landscape, and dot the horizon as far as the eye can
reach.
When Watt arrived at Chacewater he found the materials for the Wheal Busy
engine had come to hand, and that some progress had been made with its
erection. The materials for the Tingtang engine, however, had not yet
been received from Soho, and the owners of the mine were becoming very
impatient for it. Watt wrote to his partner urging despatch, otherwise
the engine might be thrown on their hands, especially if the Chacewater
engine, now nearly ready for work, did not give satisfaction. From Watt’s
account, it would appear that the Cornish mines were in a very bad way.
“The Tingtang people,” he said, “are now fairly put out by water, and the
works are quite at a stand.” The other mines in the neighbourhood were
in no better plight. The pumping-engines could not keep down the water.
“Poldice has grown worse than Wheal Virgin was: they have sunk 400_l._ a
month for some months past, and 700_l._ the last month; they will probably
soon give up. North Downs seems to be our next card.”[157] The owners of
the Wheal Virgin mine, though drowned out, like many others, could not
bring their minds to try Watt’s engine. They had no faith in it, and stuck
by the old atmospheric of Newcomen. They accordingly erected an additional
engine of this kind to enable them to go about eight fathoms deeper, “and
they have bought,” wrote Watt, “an old boiler of monstrous size at the
Briggin, which they have offered 50_l._ to get carried to its place.”
[157] Watt to Boulton, 4th August, 1777.
At Chacewater Watt first met Jonathan Hornblower, son of the Joseph
Hornblower who had come into Cornwall from Staffordshire, some fifty years
before, to erect one of the early Newcomen engines. The son had followed
in his father’s steps, and become celebrated in the Chacewater district
as an engineer. It was natural that he should regard with jealousy the
patentees of the new engine; for if it proved a success, his vocation as
a maker of atmospheric engines would be at an end. Watt thus referred to
him in a letter to Boulton: “Hornblower seems a very pleasant sort of old
Presbyterian: he carries himself very fair, though I hear that he is an
unbelieving Thomas.” His unbelief strongly showed itself on the starting
of the Wheal Busy engine shortly after, when he exclaimed, “Pshaw! it’s
but a bauble: I wouldn’t give twopence halfpenny for her.” There were
others beside Hornblower who disliked and resented what they regarded as
the intrusion of Boulton and Watt in their district, and indeed never
became wholly reconciled to the new engine, though they were compelled
to admit the inefficiency of the old one. Among these was old Bonze, the
engineer, a very clever mechanic, who positively refused to undertake the
erection of the proposed new engine at Wheal Union if Boulton and Watt
were to be in any way concerned with it. But the mine-owners had to study
their own interest rather than the humour of their former engineers, and
Watt secured the order for the Wheal Union engine. Several other orders
were promised, conditional on the performances of the Wheal Busy engine
proving satisfactory. “Ale and Cakes,”[158] wrote Watt, “must wait the
result of Chacewater: several new engines will be erected next year, for
almost all the old mines are exhausted, or have got to the full power of
the present engines, which are clumsy and nasty, the houses cracked, and
everything dropping with water from their cisterns.”[159]
[158] A mine so-called. Many of the Cornish mines have very odd
names. “Cook’s Kitchen,” near Camborne, is one of the oldest
and richest. Another is called “Cupboard.” There are also Wheal
Fannys and Wheal Abrahams; and Wheal Fortunes and Wheal Virgins
in great numbers.
[159] Watt to Boulton, 14th August, 1777.
Watt liked the people as little as he did their engines. He thought them
ungenerous, jealous, and treacherous. “Certainly,” said he, “they have
the most ungracious manners of any people I have ever yet been amongst.”
At the first monthly meeting of the Wheal Virgin adventurers, which he
attended, he found a few gentlemen, but “the bulk of them would not be
disgraced by being classed with Wednesbury colliers.” What annoyed him
most was, that the miners invented and propagated all sorts of rumours
to his prejudice. “We have been accused,” said he, “of working without
leather upon our buckets, and making holes in the clacks in order to
deceive strangers.... I choose to keep out of their company, as every word
spoken by me would be bandied about and misrepresented. I have already
been accused of making several speeches at Wheal Virgin, where, to the
best of my memory, I have only talked about eating, drinking, and the
weather. The greater part of the adventurers at Wheal Virgin are a mean
dirty pack, preying upon one another, and striving who shall impose most
upon the mine.”[160] Watt was of too sensitive and shrinking a nature
to feel himself at home amongst such people. Besides, he was disposed
to be peevish and irritable, easily cast down, and ready to anticipate
the worst. It had been the same with him when employed amongst the rough
labourers on the Monkland Canal, where he had declared himself as ready to
face a loaded cannon as to encounter the altercations of bargain-making.
But Watt must needs reconcile himself to his post as he best could; for
none but himself could see to the proper erection of the Wheal Busy engine
and get it set to work with any chance of success. Meanwhile, the native
engineers were stimulated by his presence, and by the reputed power of
the new engine, to exert themselves in improving the old one. Bonze was
especially active in contriving new boilers and new arrangements, by which
he promised to outstrip all that Watt could possibly accomplish.[161]
[160] Watt to Boulton, 25th August, 1777. Boulton MSS.
[161] “I have seen five of Bonze’s engines,” wrote Watt, “but was
far from seeing the wonders promised. They were 60, 63, and 70
inch cylinders. At Dalcoath and Wheal Chance they are said to
use each about 130 bushels of coals in the 24 hours, and to make
about 6 or 7 strokes per minute, the strokes being under 6 feet
each. They are burdened to 6, 6½, and 7 lbs. per inch. One of
the 60 inches threw out about two cubic feet of hot water per
stroke, heated from 60° to 165°. The 63 inches, with a 5 feet
stroke, threw out 1½ cubic foot, heated from 60° to 159°,” and
so on with the others.--Watt to Boulton, 25th August, 1777.
Boulton MSS.
A letter from Mrs. Watt to Mrs. Boulton, dated Chacewater, September 1st,
1777, throws a little light on Watt’s private life during his stay in
Cornwall. She describes the difficulty they had in obtaining accommodation
on their arrival, “no such thing as a house or lodging to be had for any
money within some miles of the place where the engine was to be erected;”
hence they had been glad to accept of the hospitality of Mr. Wilson, the
superintendent of the mine.
“I scarcely know what to say to you of the country. The spot we
are at is the most disagreeable in the whole county. The face of
the earth is broken up in ten thousand heaps of rubbish, and there
is scarce a tree to be seen. But don’t think that all Cornwall
is like Chacewater. I have been at some places that are very
pleasant, nay beautiful. The sea-coast to me is charming, but not
easy to be got at. In some cases my poor husband has been obliged
to mount me behind him to go to some of the places we have been
at. I assure you I was not a little perplexed at first to be set
on a great tall horse with a high pillion. At one of our jaunts we
were only charged twopence a piece for our dinner. You may guess
what our fare would be from the cost of it; but I assure you I
never ate a dinner with more relish in my life, nor was I ever
happier at a feast, than I was that day at Portreath.... One thing
I _must_ tell you of is, to take care Mr. Boulton’s principles
are well fixed before you trust him here. Poor Mr. Watt is turned
Anabaptist, and duly attends their meeting; he is, indeed, and
goes to chapel most devoutly.”
At last the Chacewater engine was finished and ready for work. Great
curiosity was felt about its performances, and mining men and engineers
came from all quarters to see it start. “All the world are agape,” said
Watt, “to see what it can do.” It would not have displeased some of the
spectators if it had failed. But to their astonishment it succeeded. At
starting, it made eleven eight-feet strokes per minute; and it worked
with greater power, went more steadily, and “forked” more water than
any of the ordinary engines, with only about one-third the consumption
of coal. “We have had many spectators,” wrote Watt, “and several have
already become converts. I understand all the west-country captains are
to be here to-morrow to see the prodigy.”[162] Even Bonze, his rival,
called to see it, and promised not only to read his recantation as soon
as convinced, but never to touch a common engine again. “The velocity,
violence, magnitude, and horrible noise of the engine,” Watt added, “give
universal satisfaction to all beholders, believers or not. I have once
or twice trimmed the engine to end its stroke gently, and to make less
noise; but Mr. Wilson cannot sleep without it seems quite furious, so I
have left it to the engine-men; and, by the by, the noise seems to convey
great ideas of its power to the ignorant, who seem to be no more taken
with modest merit in an engine than in a man.” In a later letter he wrote,
“The voice of the country seems to be at present in our favour; and I hope
will be much more so when the engine gets on its whole load, which will
be by Tuesday next. So soon as that is done, I shall set out for home.”
[Illustration: WATT’S SINGLE-ACTING PUMPING-ENGINE FOR MINES.]
[162] Watt to Boulton, 13th September, 1777.
A number of orders for engines had come in at Soho during Watt’s absence;
and it became necessary for him to return there as speedily as possible,
to prepare the plans and drawings, and put the work in hand. There was
no person yet attached to the concern who was capable of relieving him of
this part of his duties; while Boulton was fully occupied with conducting
the commercial part of the business. By the end of autumn he was again
at home; and for a week after his return he kept so close to his desk in
his house on Harper’s Hill, that he could not even find time enough to
go out to Soho and see what had been doing in his absence. At length he
felt so exhausted by the brain-work and confinement that he wrote to his
partner, “a very little more of this hurrying and vexation will knock me
up altogether.” To add to his troubles, letters arrived from Tingtang,
urging his return to Cornwall, to erect the engine, the materials for
which had at last arrived. “I fancy,” said Watt, “that I must be cut in
pieces, and a portion sent to every tribe in Israel.”
After four month’s labour of this sort, during which seven out of the
ten engines then in hand were finished and erected, and the others
well advanced, Watt again set out for Cornwall, which he reached by
the beginning of June, 1778. He took up his residence at Redruth, as
being more convenient for Tingtang than Chacewater, hiring a house at
Plengwarry, a hamlet on the outskirts of the town. Redruth is the capital
of the mining districts of Camborne, Redruth, and Gwennap. It is an
ancient town, consisting for the most part of a long street, which runs
down one hill and up another.
All round it the country seems to have been disembowelled; and heaps of
scoriæ, “deads,” rubbish, and granite blocks cover the surface. The view
from the lofty eminence of Carn Brea, a little to the south of Redruth,
strikingly shows the scarified and apparently blasted character of the
district, and affords a prospect the like of which is rarely to be seen.
[Illustration: REDRUTH HIGH STREET.
[By R. P. Leitch.]]
On making inquiry as to the materials which had arrived during his
absence, Watt was much mortified to find that the Soho workmen had made
many mistakes. “Forbes’s eduction-pipe,” he wrote, “is a most vile job,
and full of holes. The cylinder they have cast for Chacewater is still
worse, for it will hardly do at all. The Soho people have sent here
Chacewater eduction-pipe instead of Wheal Union; and the gudgeon pipe has
not arrived with the nozzles. These repeated disappointments,” said he,
“will undoubtedly ruin our credit in the country; and I cannot stay here
to bear the shame of such failures of promise.”
Watt had a hard time of it while in Cornwall, what with riding and walking
from mine to mine, listening to complaints of delay in the arrival of
the engines from Soho, and detecting and remedying the blunders and bad
workmanship of his mechanics. Added to which, everybody was low-spirited
and almost in despair at the bad times,--ores falling in price, mines
filled with water, engine-men standing idle, and adventurers bemoaning
their losses. Another source of anxiety was the serious pecuniary
embarrassments in which the Soho firm had become involved. Boulton had
so many concerns going that a vast capital was required for the purpose
of meeting current engagements; and the engine business, instead of
relieving him, had hitherto only proved a source of additional outlay, and
increased his difficulties at a time of general commercial depression. He
wrote Watt, urging him to send remittances for the Cornish engines; but
the materials, though partly delivered, were not erected; and the miners
demurred to paying on account until they were fixed complete and at work.
Boulton then suggested to Watt that he should try to obtain an advance
from the Truro bankers, on security of the engine materials. “No,” replied
Watt, “that cannot be done, as the knowledge of our difficulties would
damage our position in Cornwall, and hurt our credit. Besides,” said he,
“no one can be more cautious than a Cornish banker; and the principal of
the firm you name is himself exceedingly distressed for money.”[163] Nor
was there the least chance, in Watt’s opinion, even if they had the money
to advance, of their accepting any security that Boulton and Watt had to
offer. “Such is the nature of the people here,” said he, “and so little
faith have they in our engine, that very few of them believe it to be
materially better than the ordinary one, and so far as I can judge, no one
I have conversed with would advance us 500_l._ on a mortgage of it.”[164]
[163] Watt to Boulton, 2nd July, 1778. Boulton MSS.
[164] Watt to Boulton, 8th July, 1778, Boulton MSS.
All that Watt could do was to recommend that the evil day should be
staved off as long as possible, or at all events until the large engines
he was then erecting were at work, when he believed their performances
would effect a complete change in the views of the adventurers. The
only suggestion he could offer was to invite John Wilkinson, or some
other moneyed man, to join them as partner and relieve them of their
difficulties; for “rather than founder at sea,” said he, “we had better
run ashore.”[165] Meanwhile, he urged Boulton to apply the pruning-knife
and cut down expenses, assuring him that he himself was practising all the
frugality in his power. But as Watt’s personal expenses at the time did
not amount to 2_l._ a week, it is clear that any savings he could effect,
however justifiable and laudable, were but a drop in the ocean compared
with the liabilities to be met, and which must be provided without delay
to avoid insolvency and ruin.
[165] Watt to Boulton, 8th July, 1778. Boulton MSS.
Fothergill, Boulton’s other partner, was even more desponding than Watt.
When Boulton left Soho on his journeys to raise ways and means, Fothergill
pursued him with dolorous letters, telling him of mails that had arrived
without remittances, of bills that must be met, of wages that must be paid
on Saturday night, and of the impending bankruptcy of the firm, which
he again and again declared to be “inevitable.” “Better stop payment at
once,” said he, “call our creditors together, and face the worst, than
go on in this neck-and-neck race with ruin.” Boulton would hurry back to
Soho, to quiet Fothergill, and keep the concern going; on which another
series of letters would pour in upon him from Mr. Matthews, the London
financial agent, pressing for remittances, and reporting the increasingly
gloomy and desperate state of affairs.
Boulton himself was, as usual, equal to the occasion. His courage and
determination rose in proportion to the difficulties to be overcome. He
was borne up by his invincible hope, by his unswerving purpose, and above
all by his unshaken belief in the commercial value of the condensing
engine. If they could only weather the storm until its working powers
could be fully demonstrated, all would yet be well.
In illustration of his hopefulness, we may mention that in the midst
of his troubles a fire took place in the engine-room at Soho, which was
happily extinguished, but not before it had destroyed the roof and done
serious damage to the engine, which was brought to a standstill. Boulton
had long been desirous of rebuilding the engine-house in a proper manner,
but had been hindered by Watt, who was satisfied with alterations merely
sufficient to accommodate the place to the changes made from time to time
in the engine which he called “Beelzebub.”[166] On hearing of the damage
done by the fire, Boulton, instead of lamenting over it, exclaimed, “_Now_
I shall be able at last to have the engine-house built as it should be.”
[166] While in Cornwall in the previous year, Watt wrote long
letters to his partner as to certain experimental alterations
of “Beelzebub.” This was the original engine brought from
Kinneil, which continued to be the subject of constant changes.
“I send a drawing,” he wrote on the 4th August, 1777, “of the
best scheme I can at present devise for equalising the power
of Beelzebub, and obliging him to save part of his youthful
strength to help him forward in his old age.... As the head of
one of the levers will rise higher than the roof, a hole must
be cut for it, which may after trial be covered over. If the
new beam answer to be centred upon the end wall and to go out
at a window, it will make the execution easy.... I long (he
concluded) to have some particulars of Beelzebub’s doings, and
to learn whether he has got on his jockey coat yet [_i. e._ an
outer cylinder], for till that be done, you can form no idea
of his perfection.” The engine continued to be the subject of
repeated alterations, and was renewed, as Watt observed, like
the Highlandman’s gun, in stock, lock, and barrel. After the
occurrence of the above fire, we learn from Watt’s MS. Memoir of
Boulton, that “Beelzebub” was replaced by a larger engine, the
first on the expansive principle, afterwards known by the name
of “Old Bess.” This engine continued in its place long after
the career of Boulton and Watt had come to an end; and in the
year 1857, the present writer saw “Old Bess” working as steadily
as ever, though eighty years had passed over her head. The old
engine has since found an honourable asylum in the Museum of
Patents at South Kensington.
After many negotiations, Boulton at length succeeded in raising a sum of
7000_l._ by granting a Mr. Wiss security for the payment of an annuity,
while the London bankers, Lowe, Vere, and Williams, allowed an advance
of 14,000_l._ on security of a mortgage granted by Boulton and Watt on
the royalties derived from the engine patent, and of all their rights and
privileges therein. Though the credit of the house was thus saved, the
liabilities of Boulton and his partners continued to press heavily upon
them for a long time to come. Meanwhile, however, a gleam of light came
from Cornwall. Watt sent the good news to Soho that “both Chacewater and
Tingtang engines go on exceedingly well, and give great satisfaction.
Chacewater goes 14 strokes of 9 foot long per minute, and burns about 128
bushels per 24 hours. The water has sunk 12 fathoms in the mine, and the
engine will fork [_i. e._ pump out] the first lift this night. No cross
nor accident of any note has happened, except the bursting of a pump
at Tingtang, which was soon repaired.” Four days later Watt wrote, “The
engines are both going very well, and Chacewater has got the water down
18½ fathoms; but after this depth it must make slower progress, as a very
large house of water begins there, and the feeders grow stronger as we go
deeper.”[167]
[167] Watt to Boulton, 8th August, 1778. Boulton MSS.
Watt looked upon the Chacewater trial as the _experimentum crucis_,
and continued to keep his partner duly informed of every circumstance
connected with it. “They say,” he wrote, “that if the new engine can fork
the water from Chacewater, it can fork anything, as that is the heaviest
to fork in the whole county.” On the 15th of August he wrote, “Chacewater
is now down to 10 fathoms of the second lift, and works steady and well;
it sinks 9 feet per day. Chacewater people in high spirits: Captain
Mayor furiously in love with the engine.” On the 29th he wrote again,
“Chacewater engine is our capital card, for should it succeed in forking
this mine all doubts will then be removed.” The adventurers of the great
Poldice mine watched the operations at Chacewater with much interest. Two
common engines, pumping night and day for months, had failed to clear
their mine of water; and now they thought of ordering one of the new
engines to take their place; “but all this,” said Watt, “depends on the
success of Chacewater, which God protect: it is now down 31½ fathoms, and
will be in fork of this lift to-morrow, when it is to be put down three
fathoms lower, and fixed there.” On the 17th he wrote, “I have been at
Chacewater to-day, where they are in fork of the second lift 34½ fathoms.
The great connexion-rod still unbalanced. The engine went yesterday 14
strokes per minute. To-morrow I go to Wheal Union, and on Saturday to
Truro, to meet Poldice adventurers.... By attending to the business of
this county alone,” said he, “we may at least live comfortably; for I
cannot suppose that less than twelve engines will be wanted in two or
three years, but after that very few more, as these will be sufficient
to get ore enough; though you cannot reckon the average profits to us at
above 200_l._ per engine.”
When Boulton and Watt first started the manufacture of steam-engines,
they were mainly concerned to get orders, and were not very particular as
to the terms on which they were obtained. But when the orders increased,
and the merits of the invention gradually became recognised, they found
it necessary to require preliminary agreements to be entered into as to
the terms on which the patent was to be used. It occurred to them, that
as one of its principal merits consisted in the saving of fuel, it would
be a fair arrangement to take one-third of the value of such saving by
way of royalty, leaving the owners of the engines to take the benefit
of the remaining two-thirds. Nothing could be fairer than the spirit of
this arrangement, which, it will be seen, was of even more advantage to
the owners of the engines than to the patentees themselves. The first
Cornish engines were, however, erected without any condition as to terms;
and it was only after they had proved their power by “forking” the water,
and sending the miners twenty fathoms deeper into the ground, that the
question of terms was raised. Watt proposed that agreements should be
entered into on the basis above indicated. But the Cornish men did not see
the use of agreements. They had paid for the engines, which were theirs,
and Boulton and Watt could not take them away. Here was the beginning of
a long series of altercations, which ended only with the patent right
itself. The miners could not do without the engine. It was admitted to
be of immense value to them, rendering many of their mines workable that
would otherwise have been valueless. But why should they have to pay
for the use of such an invention? This was what they never could clearly
understand.
To prevent misunderstandings in future, Watt wrote to Boulton,
recommending that no further orders for engines should be taken unless the
terms for using them were definitely settled beforehand. “You must excuse
me,” he added, “when I tell you that, for my part, I will not put pen to
paper [_i. e._ make the requisite drawings] on a new subject until that is
done. Until an engine is ordered, our power is greater than that of the
Lord Chancellor; as I believe even he cannot compel us to make it unless
we choose. Let our terms be moderate, and, if possible, consolidated into
money _à priori_, and it is certain we shall get _some_ money, enough
to keep us out of jail, in continual apprehension of which I live at
present.”[168]
[168] Watt to Boulton, 29th August, 1778. Later, Watt wrote from
Redruth, “Captain Paul desires me to attend at Wheal Virgin
meeting on Thursday, where several Tingtang people will be;
but I shall only write, as I know they will be just in the
worst of humours about Wheal Virgin affairs, and they are
very disagreeable at the best. Every article must be settled
and sealed with Cornish adventures before we begin, otherwise
never.... Do not let Chelsea begin until signed and sealed. I
hope you will not take amiss my writing so positively on this
subject of agreements; but really my faith in mankind will carry
me no further, and if I can’t get money, I’m resolved to save
my bacon and to live in hunger and ease. As it is, we don’t get
such a share of reputation as our works deserve, for every man
who cheats us defames us in order to justify himself.”--Watt to
Boulton, 6th September, 1778. Boulton MSS.
To meet the case, a form of agreement was drawn up and required to be
executed before any future engine was commenced. It usually provided that
an engine of certain given dimensions and power was to be erected at the
expense of the owners of the mine; and that the patentees were to take as
their recompense for the use of their invention, one-third of the value of
the fuel saved by it compared with the consumption of the ordinary engine.
It came to be understood that the saving of fuel was to be estimated
according to the number of strokes made. To ascertain this, Watt contrived
an ingenious piece of clockwork, termed the Counter, which, being attached
to the main beam, accurately marked and registered, under lock and key,
the number of its vibrations. Thus the work done was calculated, and the
comparative saving of fuel was ascertained.
Though the Cornish miners had been full of doubts as to the successful
working of Watt’s engine, they could not dispute the evidence of their
senses after it had been erected and was fairly at work. There it was,
“forking water” as never engine before had been known to “fork.” It had
completely mastered the water at Wheal Busy; and if it could send the
workmen down that mine, it could in like manner send them down elsewhere.
Wheal Virgin was on the point of stopping work, in which case some two
thousand persons would be thrown out of bread. Bonze’s new atmospheric
engine had proved a failure, and the mine continued flooded. It had also
failed at Poldice, which was drowned out. “Notwithstanding the violence
and prejudice against us,” wrote Watt, “nothing can save the mines but our
engines.... _Even the infidels of Dalcoath_ are now obliquely inquiring
after our terms! Cook’s Kitchen, which communicates with it, has been
drowned out some time.” Watt, accordingly, had many applications about
engines; and on that account he entreated his partner to come to his
help. He continued to hate all negotiating about terms, and it did not
seem as if he would ever learn to like it. He had neither the patience
to endure, nor the business tact to conduct a negotiation. He wanted
confidence in himself, and did not feel equal to make a bargain. He would
almost as soon have wrestled with the Cornish miners as higgled with
them. They were shrewd, practical men, rough in manner and speech, yet
honest withal;[169] but Watt would not encounter them when he could avoid
it. Hence his repeated calls to Boulton to come and help him. Writing
to him about the proposed Wheal Virgin engine, he said, “Before I make
any bargain with these people, I must have you here.” A few days after,
when communicating the probability of obtaining an order for the Poldice
engine, he wrote,--“I wish you would dispose yourself for a journey here,
and strike while this iron is hot.” A fortnight later he said, “Poldice
people are now welding hot, and must not be suffered to cool. They are
exceedingly impatient, as they lose 150_l._ a month until our engine
is going.... I hope this will find you ready to come away. At Redruth,
inquire for Plengwarry Green, where you will find me.”
[169] “With all the faults of the Cornish people, I think we have
a better chance for tolerable honesty here than elsewhere, as,
their meetings being public, they will not choose to expose
themselves any further than strict dealing may justify; and
besides, there are generally too many to cabal.”--Watt to
Boulton, 29th August, 1778. Boulton MSS.
Boulton must have been greatly harassed by the woes of his partners.
Fothergill was still uttering lamentable prophecies of impending ruin;
his only prospect of relief being in the success of the engine. He urged
Boulton to endeavour to raise money by the sale of engine contracts or
annuities, in order to avert a crash. Matthews, the London agent, also
continued to represent the still urgent danger of the house, and pressed
Boulton to go to Cornwall and try to raise money there upon his engine
contracts. Indeed, it was clear that the firm of Boulton and Fothergill
had been losing money by their business for several years past; and
that, unless the engine succeeded, they must, ere long, go to the wall.
But when Boulton turned to Cornwall, he found little comfort. Though the
engines there were successful, Watt could not raise money upon them. The
adventurers were poor,--were for the most part losing by their ventures,
in consequence of the low price of the ore; and they almost invariably put
off payment by excuses. Thus, while Boulton was in London trying to obtain
accommodation from his bankers, the groans of his partner in Birmingham
were more than re-echoed by the lamentations of his other partner in
Cornwall, who rang the changes of misery through all the notes of the
gamut.
At length, about the beginning of October, 1778, Boulton contrived to
make his long-promised journey into Cornwall.[170] He went round among
the mines, and had many friendly conferences with the managers. He found
the engine had grown in public favour, and that the impression prevailed
throughout the mining districts that it would before long become generally
adopted. Encouraged by his London financial agent, he took steps to turn
this favourable impression to account.[171] Before he left Cornwall, where
he remained until the end of the year, he succeeded in borrowing a sum
of 2000_l._ from Elliot and Praed, the Truro bankers, on security of the
engines erected in the county; and the money was at once forwarded to the
London agents for the relief of the Birmingham firm. He also succeeded
in getting the terms definitely arranged for the use of several of the
more important engines erected and at work. It was agreed that 700_l._ a
year should be paid as royalty in respect of the Chacewater engine,--an
arrangement even more advantageous to the owners of the mine than to
the patentees, as it was understood that the saving of coals amounted to
upwards of 2400_l._ a year. Other agreements were entered into for the
use of the engines erected at Wheal Union and Tingtang, which brought in
about 400_l._ per annum more, so that the harvest of profits seemed at
length fairly begun.
[170] During his absence Mr. Keir took charge of the works at
Soho. It had been intended to introduce him as a partner, and
he left the glass-making concern at Stourbridge, into which he
had entered, for the purpose; but when he came to look into the
books of the Soho firm, he was so appalled by their liabilities
that he eventually declined the connexion.
[171] Matthews wrote him on the 8th October, 1778, that he had met
a Mr. Boldero at the Goldsmiths’ Hall, who had much influence in
Cornwall, and that he expressed the opinion that, if the engines
could do what Boulton and Watt promised, they might soon get
from 40,000_l._ to 80,000_l._ for them in Cornwall. Matthews
accordingly recommended Boulton to apply to Elliot and Praed,
the Cornish bankers, for an advance on security of the engine
contracts.--It would appear from a letter written to Boulton a
few days later, by Mr. Barton, Matthews’s partner, that Boulton
was, amidst his many speculations, engaged in a privateering
adventure during the war of the American Revolution:--“It may
give you some pleasure,” wrote Barton, “to hear we are likely
to receive some produce from our adventure to New York. One
of the vessels our little brig took last year was fitted out
at New York, and in a cruise of 13 weeks has taken 13 prizes,
12 of which are carried safe in, and we have advice of 200
hogsheads of tobacco being shipped as part of the prizes, which,
if now here, would fetch us 10,000_l._ But while the embargo on
shipping at New York continues, they cannot stir out of port.
However, _I think we shall see them before you raise that sum
from your engine concern, and yet I hope that is not very far
off_.”
Watt remained at Cornwall for another month, plodding at Poldice and
Wheal Virgin engines, and returned to Birmingham early in January, 1779.
Though the pumping-engine had thus far proved remarkably successful, and
accomplished all that Watt had promised, he was in no better spirits than
before. “Though we have, in general, succeeded in our undertakings,”
he wrote Dr. Black, “yet that success has, from various unavoidable
circumstances, produced small profits to us; the struggles we have
had with natural difficulties, and with the ignorance, prejudices, and
villanies of mankind, have been very great, but I hope are now nearly
come to an end, or vanquished.”[172] His difficulties were not, however,
nearly at an end, as the heavy liabilities of the firm had still to be
met. More money had to be borrowed; and Watt continued to groan under his
intolerable burden. “The thought of the debt to Lowe, Vere, and Co.,” he
wrote to his partner, “lies too heavy on my mind to leave me the proper
employment of my faculties in the prosecution of our business; and,
besides, common honesty will prevent me from loading the scheme with debts
which might be more than it could pay.”[173]
[172] Watt to Black, 12th December, 1778.
[173] Watt to Boulton, 15th Jan., 1779.
A more hopeful man would have borne up under these difficulties; for the
reputation of the engine was increasing, and orders were coming in from
various quarters. Soho was full of work; and, provided their credit could
be maintained, it was clear that the undertaking on which the firm had
entered could not fail to prove remunerative. Watt could not see this,
but his partner did; and Boulton accordingly strained every nerve to
keep up the character of the concern. While Watt was urging upon him to
curtail the business, Boulton sought in all ways to extend it. He sent
accounts of his marvellous engines abroad, and orders for them came in
from France[174] and Holland. Watt was more alarmed than gratified by the
foreign orders, fearing that the engine would be copied and extensively
manufactured abroad, where patents had not yet been secured. He did not
see that the best protection of all was in the superiority of his tools
and mechanics, enabling first-class work to be turned out,--important
advantages, in which the Soho firm had the start of the world. It
is true his mechanics were liable to be bribed, and foreigners were
constantly haunting Soho for the purpose of worming out the secrets of the
manufacture, and decoying away the best men. Against this every precaution
was taken, though sometimes in vain. Two Prussian engineers came over from
Berlin in 1779, to whom Watt showed every attention; after which, in his
absence, they got into the engine-room, and carefully examined all the
details of “Old Bess,” making notes. When Watt returned, he was in high
dudgeon, and wrote to his partner that he “could not help it unless by
discountenancing every foreigner who does not come avowedly to have an
engine.”[175]
[174] M. Perrier, of Paris, ordered an engine early in 1779, and
the materials were despatched to Nantes by the end of May in
the same year. The engine was erected by M. Jary at a colliery
near Nantes, but the fitting was so bad--the steam-case having
been forgotten--that it went only four strokes per minute. As
Boulton and Watt sought a patent for France, it was necessary
in the first place that Commissioners should certify that the
new engine was superior to the common engine. This they could
not do, and the patent was not secured. Watt feared that there
was “a plot” against him; as Perrier immediately proceeded with
a manufacture of steam-engines after the alleged invention of
M. Betancourt, though this “invention” turned out to be a close
copy of the engine M. Betancourt himself had imported from Soho.
Their principal reliance, however, was necessarily on home orders, and
these came in satisfactorily. Eight more engines were wanted for Cornwall,
those already at work continuing to give satisfaction. Inquiries were
also made about pumping engines for collieries in different parts of
England. But where coals were cheap, and the saving of fuel was of less
consequence, the patentees were not solicitous for orders unless the
purchasers would fix a fair sum for the patent right, or rate the coals
used at a price that would be remunerative in proportion to the savings
effected. The orders were, indeed, becoming so numerous, that the firm,
beginning to feel their power, themselves fixed the annual royalty, though
it was not always so easy to get it paid.
[175] Watt to Boulton, 27th January, 1779. Boulton MSS.
The working power of Watt himself was but limited. He still continued to
suffer from intense headaches; and, as all the drawings of new engines
were made by his own hands, it was necessary in some measure to limit
the amount of work undertaken. “I beg,” he wrote to his partner in May,
1779, relative to proposals made for two new engines, “that you will
not undertake to do anything for them before Christmas. It is, in fact,
impossible, at least on my part; I am quite crushed.” But he was not
always so dispirited, for in the following month we find him writing
Boulton an exultant letter, announcing orders for three new engines from
Cornwall.[176]
[176] The following is Watt’s letter, written in a very unusual
style:--
“Birmingham, June 30th, 1779.
“Hallelujah! Hallelujee!
We have concluded with Hawkesbury,
217_l._ per annum from Lady-day last;
275_l._ 5_s._ for time past; 157_l._ on account.
We make them a present of 100 guineas--
Peace and good-fellowship on earth--
Perrins and Evans to be dismissed--
3 more engines wanted in Cornwall--
Dudley repentant and amendant--
Yours rejoicing,
JAMES WATT.”
Watt continued for some time longer to suffer great annoyance from the
shortcomings of his workmen. He was himself most particular in giving
his instructions, verbally, in writing, and in drawings. When he sent
a workman to erect an engine, he sent with him a carefully drawn up
detail of the step by step proceedings he was to adopt in fitting the
parts together. Where there was a difficulty, and likely to be a hitch,
he added a pen and ink drawing, rapid but graphic, and pointed out how
the difficulty was to be avoided. It was not so easy, however, to find
workmen capable of intelligently fitting together the parts of a machine
so complicated and of so novel a construction. Moreover, the first engines
were in a great measure experimental, and to have erected them perfectly,
and provided by anticipation for their various defects, would have argued
a knowledge of the principles of their construction almost as complete as
that of Watt himself. He was not sufficiently disposed to make allowances
for the workmen’s want of knowledge and want of experience, and his
letters were accordingly full of complaints of their shortcomings. He was
especially annoyed with the mistakes of a foreman, named Hall, who had
sent the wrong articles to Cornwall, and he urged Boulton to dismiss him
at once. But Boulton knew better. Though Watt understood engines, he did
not so well understand men. Had Boulton dismissed such as Hall because
they made mistakes, the shop would soon have been empty. The men were as
yet but at school, learning experience, and Boulton knew that in course
of time they would acquire dexterity. He was ready to make allowance
for their imperfections, but at the same time he did not abate in his
endeavours to find out and engage the best hands, wherever they were to be
found--in Wales, in Cornwall, or in Scotland. He therefore kept on Hall,
notwithstanding Watt’s protest, and the latter submitted.[177]
[177] Watt wrote Boulton, 2nd July, 1778,--“On the subject of Mr.
Hall I should not have been so earnest had I not been urged on
by the prospect of impending ruin, which may be much accelerated
by a wicked or careless servant in his place.” Later, on the 6th
August, Watt wrote, “I look upon Hall as a very great blunderer,
and very inattentive to everything that has hitherto been
committed to his care; but I think that our present necessities
will oblige us to employ him.”--Boulton MSS.
Watt was equally wroth with the enginemen at Bedworth. “I beg and expect,”
he wrote Boulton, “that so soon as everything is done to that engine,
you will instantly proceed to trial before creditable witnesses, and if
possible have the whole brood of these enginemen displaced, if any others
can be procured; for nothing but slovenliness, if not malice, is to be
expected of them.” It must, however, be acknowledged that the Bedworth
engine was at first very imperfect, having been made of bad iron, in
consequence of which it frequently broke down. In Cornwall the men were
no better. Dudley, Watt’s erector at Wheal Chance and Hallamanin, was
pronounced incapable and a blunderer. “If something be not very bad in
London, I wish you would employ Hadley to finish those engines, and send
Joseph here to receive his instructions and proceed to Cornwall, otherwise
Dudley will ruin us.”[178]
The trusty “Joseph” was accordingly despatched to Cornwall to look after
Dudley, and remedy the defects in Wheal Chance and Hallamanin engines; but
when Watt arrived at Chacewater shortly after, he found that Joseph, too,
had proved faithless. He wrote to Boulton, “Joseph has pursued his old
practice of drinking in the neighbourhood in a scandalous manner, until
the very enginemen turned him into ridicule.... I have not heard how he
behaved in the west; but that he gave the ale there a bad character.”[179]
Notwithstanding, however, his love of strong potations, Joseph was
a first-rate workman. Two days later, Watt wrote, “Though Joseph has
attended to his drinking, he has done much good at his leisure hours,
and has certainly prevented much mischief at Hallamanin and some at Wheal
Union. He has had some hard and long jobs, and consequently merits some
indulgence for his foibles.” By the end of the month “Joseph had conquered
Hallamanin engine, all but the boiler,” but Watt added, “His indulgence
has brought on a slight fit of the jaundice, and as soon as the engine is
finished, he must be sent home.”[180]
[178] Watt to Boulton, 11th August, 1779.
[179] Watt to Boulton, 4th October, 1779.
[180] Watt to Boulton, 28th October, 1779.
By this time Watt had called to his aid two other skilled workmen, Law and
Murdock, who arrived in Cornwall in the beginning of September, 1779. In
Watt’s letters we find frequent allusions to Murdock. Wherever any work
had to be done requiring more than ordinary attention, Watt specially
directed that “William” should be put to it. “Let William be sent for
from Bedworth,” he wrote from Cornwall in 1778, “to set the patterns for
nozzles quite right for Poldice.” Boulton wished to send him into Scotland
to erect the engine at Wenlockhead, but Watt would not hear of it.
“William” was the only man he could trust with the nozzles. Then William
was sent to London to take the charge of Chelsea engine; next to Bedworth,
to see to the completion of the repairs previous to the final trial; then
to Birmingham again to attend to some further special instructions of
Watt; and now we find him in Cornwall, to take charge of the principal
engines erecting there.
William Murdock was not only a most excellent and steady workman, but
a man of eminent mechanical genius. He was the first maker of a model
locomotive in this country; he was the introducer of lighting by gas, and
the inventor of many valuable parts of the working steam-engine, hereafter
to be described. His father was a millwright and miller, at Bellow Mill,
near Old Cumnock, in Ayrshire, and was much esteemed for his probity and
industry, as well as for his mechanical skill. He was the inventor of
bevelled cast-iron gear for mills, and his son was proud to exhibit, on
the lawn in front of his house at Sycamore Hill, Handsworth, a piece of
the first work of the kind executed in Britain. It was cast for him at
Carron Ironworks, after the pattern furnished by him, in 1766. William
was born in 1754, and brought up to his father’s trade. On arriving at
manhood, he became desirous of obtaining a larger experience of mill-work
and mechanics than he could acquire in his father’s little mill. Hearing
of the fame of Boulton and Watt, and the success of their new engine, he
determined to travel south, and seek for a job at Soho. Many Scotchmen
were accustomed to call there on the same errand, probably relying on the
known clanship of their countrymen, and thinking that they would find
a friend and advocate in Watt. But strange to say, Watt did not think
Scotchmen capable of becoming first-class mechanics.[181]
[181] Watt told Sir Walter Scott that though hundreds probably
of his northern countrymen had sought employment at his
establishment, he never could get one of them to become a
first-rate mechanic. “Many of them,” said he, “were too good
for that, and rose to be valuable clerks and bookkeepers;
but those incapable of this sort of advancement had always
the same insuperable aversion to toiling so long at any one
point of mechanism as to gain the highest wages among the
workmen.”--Note to Lockhart’s ‘Life of Scott.’ The fact, we
suppose was, that the Scotch mechanics were only as yet in
course of training,--the English having had a long start of
them. Though Watt’s statement that Scotchmen were incapable of
being first-class mechanics may have been true in his day, it
is so no longer, as the workshops of the Clyde can prove; some
of the most highly finished steam-engines of modern times having
been turned out of Glasgow workshops.
When Murdock called at Soho, in the year 1777, to ask for a job, Watt was
from home, but he saw Boulton, who was usually accessible to callers of
every rank. In answer to Murdock’s inquiry whether he could have a job,
Boulton replied that work was rather slack with them then, and that every
place was filled up. During the brief conversation that ensued, the blate
young Scotchman, like most country lads in the presence of strangers, had
some difficulty in knowing what to do with his hands, and unconsciously
kept twirling his hat with them. Boulton’s attention was directed to the
twirling hat, which seemed to be of a peculiar make. It was not a felt
hat, nor a cloth hat, nor a glazed hat; but it seemed to be painted, and
composed of some unusual material. “That seems to be a curious sort of
hat,” said Boulton, looking at it more closely; “why, what is it made
of?” “Timmer, sir,” said Murdock, modestly. “Timmer! Do you mean to say
that it is made of wood?” “Yes, sir.” “Pray, _how_ was it made?” “I turned
it mysel’, sir, in a bit lathey of my own making.” Boulton looked at the
young man again. He had risen a hundred degrees in his estimation. He was
tall, good-looking, and of open and ingenuous countenance; and that he had
been able to turn a wooden hat for himself in a lathe of his own making
was proof enough that he was a mechanic of no mean skill. “You may call
again, my man,” said Boulton. “Thank you, sir,” said Murdock, giving his
hat a final twirl.
When Murdock called again, he was at once put upon a trial job,
after which he was entered as a regular hand. We learn from Boulton’s
memorandum-book that he was engaged for two years, at 15_s._ a week when
at home, 17_s._ when from home, and 18_s._ when in London. Boulton’s
engagement of Murdock was amply justified by the result. Beginning as a
common mechanic, he applied himself diligently and conscientiously to his
work, and became trusted. More responsible duties were confided to him,
and he strove to perform them to the best of his power. His industry and
his skilfulness soon marked him for promotion, and he rose from grade
to grade until he became Boulton and Watt’s most trusted co-worker and
adviser in all their mechanical undertakings of importance.
When Murdock went into Cornwall to take charge of the engines, he gave
himself no rest until he had conquered their defects and put them in
thorough working order. He devoted himself to his duties with a zeal and
ability that completely won Watt’s heart. He was so filled with his work,
that when he had an important job in hand, he could scarcely sleep at
nights for thinking of it. When the engine at Wheal Union was ready for
starting, the people of the house at Redruth, in which Murdock lodged,
were greatly disturbed one night by a strange noise in his room. Several
heavy blows on the floor made them start from their beds, thinking the
house was coming down. They rushed to Murdock’s room, and there was he
in his shirt, heaving away at the bedpost in his sleep, calling out, “Now
she goes, lads! now she goes.”
Murdock was not less successful in making his way with the Cornishmen
with whom he was brought into daily contact; indeed, he fought his way
to their affections. One day at Chacewater, some half-dozen of the mining
captains came into the engine-room and began bullying him. This he could
not stand, and adopted a bold expedient. He locked the door, and said,
“Now, then, you shall not leave this place until I have it fairly out with
you.” He selected the biggest, and put himself in a fighting attitude.
The Cornishmen love fair play, and while the two engaged in battle, the
others, without interfering, looked on. The contest was soon over; for
Murdock was a tall, powerful fellow, and speedily vanquished his opponent.
The others, seeing the kind of man they had to deal with, made overtures
of reconciliation; and they shook hands all round, and parted the best of
friends.[182]
[182] The above anecdotes, of Murdock’s introduction to Soho,
and the fight with the captains, were communicated by his
son, the late Mr. Murdock of Sycamore Hill near Birmingham.
He also informed us that Murdock fought a duel with Captain
Trevithick (father of the Trevithick of Locomotive celebrity),
in consequence of a quarrel between him and Watt, in which
Murdock conceived his master to have been unfairly and harshly
treated.
Watt continued to have his differences and altercations with the
Cornishmen, but he had no such way of settling them. Indeed, he was
almost helpless when he came in contact with rough men of business. Most
of the mines were then paying very badly, and the adventurers raised all
sorts of objections to making the stipulated payment of the engine dues.
Under such circumstances, altercations with them took place for which
Watt was altogether unprepared. He was under the apprehension that they
were constantly laying their heads together for the purpose of taking
advantage of him and his partner. He never looked on the bright side
of things, but always on the darkest. “The rascality of mankind,” said
he to Dr. Black, “is almost beyond belief.” Though his views of science
were large, his views of men were narrow. Much of this may have been the
result of his recluse habits and closet life, as well as of his constant
ill-health. With his racking headaches, it was indeed difficult for him
to be cheerful. But no one could be more conscious of his own defects--of
his want of tact, his want of business qualities, and his want of
temper--than he was himself. He knew his besetting infirmities, from which
even the best and wisest are not exempt. His greatness was mingled with
imperfections, and his strength with weakness, else had he been more than
human. It is not in the order of Providence that the gifts and graces of
life should be concentrated in any one perfectly adjusted character. Even
when we inquire into the “Admirable Crichton” of biography, and seek to
trace his life, it vanishes almost into a myth.
In the midst of his many troubles and difficulties, Watt’s invariable
practice was to call upon Boulton for help. Boulton was satisfied to take
men as he found them, and try to make the best of them. Watt was a man of
the study; Boulton a man of the world. Watt was a master of machines; but
Boulton, of men. Though Watt might be the brain, Boulton was the heart
of the concern. “If you had been here,” wrote Watt to Boulton, after one
of his disagreeable meetings with the adventurers, “If you had been here,
and gone to that meeting with your cheerful countenance and brave heart,
perhaps they would not have been so obstinate.” The scene referred to by
Watt occurred at a meeting of the Wheal Union Adventurers, at which the
savings effected by the new engine were to be calculated and settled. Here
is Watt’s own description of the affair, and his feelings on the occasion,
which will give a good idea of the irksomeness of his position, and the
disagreeable people he had occasionally to encounter:--
“At Wheal Union account our savings were ordered to be charged to
the interest of Messrs. Edwards and Phillips; but when to be paid,
God knows! Bevan said in a month. After all this was settled, in
came Capt. Trevithick, I believe on purpose, as he came late and
might have heard that I was gone there. He immediately fell foul
of our account, in a manner peculiar to himself ... laboured to
demonstrate that Dalcoath engines not only surpassed the table,
but even did more work with the coals than Wheal Union did, and
concluded with saying that we had taken or got the advantage
of the adventurers. I think he first said the former and then
hedged off by the latter statement. Mr. Phillips defended, and
Mr. Edwards, I thought, seemed staggered, though candid. Mr.
Phillips desired the data that he might calculate it over in his
way. Mr. Edwards slipped away, but I found afterwards that he was
in another room with Capt. Gundry (who, and Hodge also, behaved
exceedingly well--I believe Gundry to be a very sincere, honest
man). I went out to speak to Joseph, and on my return found only
Trevithick, Bevan, Hodge, and some others. Soon after, Mr. Edwards
called out Trevithick to him and Gundry. I heard them very loud,
and waited their return for an hour; but they not seeming ready to
return, night coming on, and feeling myself very uncomfortable, I
came away--so know not what passed further. During all this time,
I was so confounded with the impudence, ignorance, and overbearing
manner of the man that I could make no adequate defence, and
indeed could scarcely keep my temper; which however I did, perhaps
to a fault; for nothing can be more grievous to an ingenuous mind
than the being suspected or accused of deceit. To mend the matter,
it had been an exceedingly rainy morning, and I had got a little
wet going thither, which had rather hurt my spirits. Yesterday I
had a violent headache and could do nothing.... Some means must
be taken to satisfy the country, otherwise this malicious man
will hurt us exceedingly. The point on which Mr. Edwards seemed
to lay the most stress was the comparing with a 77-1/10 cylinder,
as he alleged they would not have put in so large an engine; and
in this there is some reason, as I do not think they believed
that the engine would be so powerful as it is. Add to this, that
the mine barely pays its way. Trevithick made a great noise about
short strokes at setting on, &c. The Captains seemed to laugh at
that; and I can demonstrate that, were it allowed for, it would
not come to 2_s._ 6_d._ per month. I believe they can be brought
to allow that they would have put in a 70-inch. Now, query if we
ought to allow this to be calculated from a 70 (at which it will
come to near 400_l._ a year), and on making this concession insist
on our having a good paymaster to pay regularly once a month,
and not be obliged to go like beggars to their accounts to seek
our due and be insulted by such scoundrels into the bargain. As
to Hallamanin, they have not met yet, and when they do meet, I
shall not go to them. I cannot bear such treatment, but it is not
prudent to resent it too warmly just now. I believe you _must_
come here. I think fourteen days would settle matters. Besides my
inability to battle such people, I really have not time to bestow
on them.”[183]
In subsequent letters Watt continued to urge Boulton to come to him.
His headaches were constant, unfitting him for work. Besides, he could
scarcely stir out of doors for the rain. “It rains here,” said he,
“prodigiously. When you come, bring with you a waxed linen cloak for
yourself, and another for me, as there is no going out now for a few miles
without getting wet to the skin. When it rains in Cornwall, and it rains
often, it rains solid.”
[Illustration: CARDOZOS PUMPING-ENGINE, UNITED MINES.]
[183] Watt to Boulton, from Chacewater, 16th October, 1779.
Boulton MSS.
[Illustration: UNITED MINES DISTRICT--ST. DAY IN THE MIDDLE DISTANCE.
[By R. P. Leitch]]