PARIS, January 15, 1787.
DEAR SIR,--I see by the Journal of this morning, that they are robbing
us of another of our inventions to give it to the English. The writer,
indeed, only admits them to have revived what he thinks was known to
the Greeks, that is, the making the circumference of a wheel of one
single piece. The farmers in New Jersey were the first who practised
it, and they practised it commonly. Dr. Franklin, in one of his trips
to London, mentioned this practice to the man now in London, who has
the patent for making those wheels. The idea struck him. The Doctor
promised to go to his shop, and assist him in trying to make the wheel
of one piece. The Jersey farmers do it by cutting a young sapling, and
bending it, while green and juicy, into a circle; and leaving it so
until it becomes perfectly seasoned. But in London there are no
saplings. The difficulty was, then, to give to old wood the pliancy of
young. The Doctor and the workman labored together some weeks, and
succeeded; and the man obtained a patent for it, which has made his
fortune. I was in his shop in London, he told me the whole story
himself, and acknowledged, not only the origin of the idea, but how
much the assistance of Dr. Franklin had contributed to perform the
operation on dry wood. He spoke of him with love and gratitude. I think
I have had a similar account from Dr. Franklin, but cannot be quite
certain. I know, that being in Philadelphia when the first set of
patent wheels arrived from London, and were spoken of by the gentleman
(an Englishman) who brought them, as a wonderful discovery, the idea of
its being a new discovery was laughed at by the Philadelphians, who, in
their Sunday parties across the Delaware, had seen every farmer's cart
mounted on such wheels. The writer in the paper, supposes the English
workman got his idea from Homer. But it is more likely the Jersey
farmer got his idea from thence, because ours are the only farmers who
can read Homer; because, too, the Jersey practice is precisely that
stated by Homer: the English practice very different. Homer's words are
(comparing a young hero killed by Ajax to a poplar felled by a workman)
literally thus: "He fell on the ground, like a poplar, which has grown
smooth, in the west part of a great meadow; with its branches shooting
from its summit. But the chariot maker, with the sharp axe, has felled
it, that he may bend a wheel for a beautiful chariot. It lies drying on
the banks of the river." Observe the circumstances which coincide with
the Jersey practice. 1. It is a tree growing in a moist place, full of
juices and easily bent. 2. It is cut while green. 3. It is bent into
the circumference of a wheel. 4. It is left to dry in that form. You,
who write French well and readily, should write a line for the Journal,
to reclaim the honor of our farmers. Adieu. Yours affectionately.