|
|
|
Reviews
| Canal History and Technology Proceedings, vol. XXII. Ed. by Lance E. Metz. Easton Penn.: Canal History and Technology Press, 2003. 224 pp., illus., tables, maps, notes. $19.50 pb (ISSN 0892-3515).
|
This volume of Canal History contains seven papers presented at the 2003 symposium. As with other issues of the Proceedings, this issue gets right to the point: the articles take 217 pages, including notes and a few illustrations; only seven pages are used for biographies, introduction, and similar front materials.
|
1
|
"Construction of the St. Lawrence Seaway" by Robert W. Passfield (50 pp.) is a well-written and nicely detailed review of the entire project. It covers the background and initial planning; the four-way political coordination (involving the United States and Canada, as well as the Power Authority of the State of New York and the Ontario Hydroelectric Power Commission); and a detailed treatment of the engineering, construction, and relocation aspects of the project, area by area. The editing and proofreading are first rate, which is no small achievement in any modern publication, but the section on Engineering Significance gets a little repetitive and tends to lapse into sensationalism. Still, there is plenty of information here on canals, locks, channel improvements, and big time engineering. Other interesting tidbits include the origins of Upper Canada Village, made by relocating buildings about to be inundated by the project, and the pioneering use of the critical path method for project management.
|
2
|
"John Jervis and the Hydraulic Design of the Old Croton Aqueduct" by Emory L. Kemp and Edward Winant (23 pp.) is well written and serves as a reminder of what engineering really is—mathematics! All you social historians need not worry: the paper has nothing worse than a few square-root signs and a little algebra. The article provides an excellent overview of early engineering education and the development of engineering as a profession. It is a case study of a carefully done government project that was completed within the original cost estimate. How often has that happened in the last 160 years?
|
3
|
"The Pennsylvania Coal Company: New Insights from the James Archbald Papers, 1850–1851" by Michael Knies (40 pp.), based on papers only recently made available to researchers, is a follow-up to a 2001 article. It provides detailed information on the operations of the company and the Delaware & Hudson canal (D&H) in their formative years. Archbald worked for both the Pennsylvania Coal Company and D&H during the construction of one of the gravity railroads. His story illustrates the problems of trying to serve two masters. The essay includes a wealth of technical details. The railroad used Roebling wire rope, but it did not last as well as Swedish or English imports. An attempt to fix another problem led to the substitution of hard wooden rollers for iron wheels. Knies also provides many insights on labor and management, including cuts in the workforce during slack periods, constant review of staffing, and problems with competitors paying wages partially in depreciated "store pay." He looks at the needs of particular customers for particular sizes of coal and the factors influencing the location of coal breakers. This is an excellent piece of research in primary sources, nicely presented and well written, and of great use from many perspectives.
|
4
|
"The Charcoal Furnaces of the Hanging Rock Iron Region of Southern Ohio: 1818–1916" by Neal Hitch (18 pp.) is a brief survey of the subject. The region contained 69 charcoal furnaces and 16 coke furnaces. Hitch briefly discusses the remains of three furnaces: one in ruins, one where the stack remains, and one that has been partially restored by the Ohio Historical Society. He cites several examples of ironmaking communities, showing that the details varied a little but had general similarities. He mentions the influx of ironmasters and workers from the East and the various combinations of owners involved with individual furnaces or multiple furnaces. Hitch briefly mentions the changing technologies (cold blast, hot blast ...) and the factors resulting in iron suitable for particular purposes. This piece is well written (except for repeatedly referring to "lumbermen" going into the woods to cut "lumber" for making into charcoal). It is a good overview of rural 19th-century ironmaking (what would be called "iron plantations" in other areas) and, as far as it goes, a useful survey of an ironmaking region, showing relations between facilities and the wider economic scene.
|
5
|
"Sickness and Health on the South Side" by Joan Campion (18 pp.) is part of a work in progress but already provides a delightful history of all aspects of health care in the communities on the south side of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Campion starts with a discussion of the diseases prevalent in the area in the mid- to late-19th century, beginning with the cholera epidemic that stopped work on Asa Packer's Lehigh Valley Railroad in 1855. She then moves on to other health issues, from the 1918 Spanish Flu, to DPT shots at public schools in the 1950s, to VD (including political action to suppress red light districts). She also covers early "water cure" spas, the establishment and growth of St. Luke's (the first modern hospital in the community) and the nursing education program there, and reminiscences of local doctors and druggists. Campion concludes with a brief section on such alternatives as "Brinker the Healer" and Mammy Morgan. The article is well organized and well written, with only a couple of minor typos.
|
6
|
"Unraveling the Myth" by Stephen A. Marder (25 pp.) is a follow-up to his article in Proceedings XXI where he investigated the first locomotives imported for the Delaware & Hudson, including the Stourbridge Lion and the America. This pieces is a more in-depth account of the historical detective work involved and more focused than the previous article since it concentrates on the locomotives (where the previous article also reviewed the canal and aqueducts). It is very interesting and well written, touching on engineering, public relations, and "office politics."
|
7
|
"St. Nicholas Central Breaker" by Lance E. Metz and Michael Workman (43 pp.) is a much more comprehensive article than the title suggests. The breaker is the last intact example remaining and was the subject of a HAER survey in 2000. The breaker was completed in 1932 and ceased operation in 1964. The first half of the article provides the historical background by relating the development of the anthracite fields and the activities of the corporation that erected the St. Nicholas breaker. It also reviews labor issues (from the Molly Maguires to the UMW) and market economics, production, and transportation. Metz then provides a detailed history of the development of breaker technology, so important to the anthracite coal industry. This section does a very good job of explaining the technical needs of the industry, the various processes developed to address them, and the social, economic, and political context. For example, the article points out that Progressive Era compulsory education laws ended the employment of breaker boys, resulting in new technological developments that made central breakers preferable to mine-head processors. Metz turns to the construction and operation of the St. Nicholas breaker in detail in the last 10 pages, providing a good full page schematic of breaker operations and a site plan showing railroad trackage and auxiliary structures.
|
8
|
| All seven essays in Proceedings XXII are interesting and well done. The volume provides a good value for the price. |
9
|
|
|
Content in the History Cooperative database is intended for personal, noncommercial use only. You may not reproduce, publish, distribute, transmit, participate in the transfer or sale of, modify, create derivative works from, display, or in any way exploit the History Cooperative database in whole or in part without the written permission of the copyright holder.
|