steel castings. Mr. Durfee is a member of numer- ous scientific bodies, to whose proceedings he has contributed papers of technical interest.
DURFEE, Zoheth Shearman, manufacturer,
b. in Fall River, iiass.. 22 April, 1881 : d. in Provi-
dence, R. I., 8 June, 1880. He was graduated at
the New Bedford high school, and finished at the
Friends' academy in that city. On the completion
of his studies he learned the blacksmith's trade,
after which he was associated with his father and
uncle in the same business. In 1858 he was re-
quested by a number of New Bedford capitalists
to report on a new process for the making of steel
direct from pig-iron, invented by Joseph Dixon.
This led to a careful study of the entire subject of
the manufacture of steel, and especially of the
Bessemer process, then recently invented in Eng-
land. He discovered that a patent substantially
the same as Henry Bessemer's, but claiming pri-
ority over it, had been granted in the United
States to William Kelly. After satisfying himself
of the validity of this patent, he obtained control
of it, and visited England for the purpose of buy-
ing Bessemer's rights in the United States, but
failed. Meanwhile he accumulated much informa-
tion relative to the practical details of the manu-
facture of steel, and became convinced that the in-
vention of Robert Mushet was an essential feature
in both processes. On his return to the United
States he organized a company of prominent iron-
makers for protecting and introducing into prac-
tical use the Kelly patent. In 1863 he again visited
England, secured the control of the Mushet patent
for the United States, and subsequently experi-
mental steel-works were erected by the Kelly-pro-
cess company in Wyandotte, Mich., where the in-
gots from which the first steel rails ever made in
the United States were produced. During the fol-
lowing year Mr. Durfee, after a course of experi-
ments, indicated the desirability of melting the
charge in the cupola instead of in the reverberatory
furnace. That feature prevails exclusively to-day
and demonstrates the correctness of Mr. Durfee's
views. In 1866 the conflicting interests of the rival
patentees were united in the Pneumatic steel asso-
ciation, of which he became secretary and treasurer,
holding that office tiil his death. Later he was
called to superintend the steel-works in Troy, N. Y.,
but relinquished that appointment in 1868 and re-
turned to New York, henceforth devoting his ex-
clusive attention to the steel association, whose
business he managed until a short time before his
death. He patented various improvements in ma-
chinery for the manufacture of iron and steel, and
made the first movement and probably did more
than any other single person toward introducing
cheapened steel into the United States.
DURHAM, John George Lambton, Earl of,
English statesman, b. in Lambton castle, county
Durham, 12 April, 1792 ; d. in Cowes, Isle of Wight,
28 July, 1840. He was educated at Eton and
Cambridge, served a short time in a regiment of
hussars, and in 1813 was returned to parliament,
where he distinguished himself by his liberal views.
During the reform excitement of 1819 he advocated
the popular cause, both in parliament and at public
meetings. He was one of the defenders of Queen
Caroline, and in 1821 brought forward a scheme of
parliamentary reform which, though at that time
unsuccessful, was embodied in the reform act of
ten years later. In 1828 he was raised to the peer-
age as Baron Durham ; in 1830 he was lord privy
seal in Earl Grey's ministry, and in 1833, on his
retirement from the cabinet, was made an earl. In
1836-'7 he became ambassador to Russia, and in
1838 was sent, with extraordinary powers, to Can-
ada, as governor-general. When he arrived there
he found the disturbed state of public feeling, con-
sequent upon the rebellion of 1837, still in exist-
ence, the constitution practically suspended, and
the efficient administration of the law no longer
possible. In order to remedy these evils he issued
different ordinances which declared, among other
things, an amnesty to all the rebels, save their
leaders, who were declared banished to Bermuda.
His administration of the duties of his office failed
to give satisfaction, either in Canada or Great
Britain, and he was in consequence recalled in
December, 1839. Soon after his return to Em;land
an elaborate report by him on Canadian affairs was
published. In it he proposed the scheme of the
union of the British Noi-th American provinces for
legislative purposes, and insisted upon the fullest
constitutional freedom for the people. It is sup-
posed that the disgrace of his recall preyed upon
his mind and hastened his death.
DURHAM, Milton Jamison, lawyer, b. in
Mercer county, Ky., 16 May, 1824. He was gradu-
ated at Asbury university in 1844, after which he
studied law with Joshua P. Bell and was gradu-
ated at the Louisville law-school in 1850. For
several years he followed his profession with great
success, and in 1861-'2 was one of the circuit
judges of Kentucky. He then returned to his law
practice in Danville, which he continued till 1873,
when he was elected as a Democrat to congress,
serving from 1 Dec, 1873, till 3 March, 1879. Mr.
Durham resumed his profession, but in March,
1885, was appointed first comptroller of the national treasury. Mr. Durham lives in Lexington.
DURIER, Antoine, R. C. bishop, b. in Rouen,
France, in 1833. He was preparing himself for
the priesthood in the seminary of Lyons when, in
response to an appeal from Archbishop Blanc, of
New Orleans, he volunteered for the mission of
Louisiana. He arrived in the United States in
1855, and was sent to the College of Mount St.
Mary's of the West, whei'e he completed his theo-
logical course and studied English. He was
ordained in 1856, and stationed at Chillicothe,
Ohio. In 1857 he was appointed assistant pastor
of the cathedral of New Orleans, and afterward
became pastor of the Church of the Annunciation
in the same city. In 1885 he was consecrated
bishop of Natchitoches.
DURIVAGE, Francis Alexander, author, b.
in Boston, Mass., in 1814; d. in 1881. He was a
contributor of poems, humorous articles, short
stories, and sketches to the magazines, under the
pen-name of " Old Un." In connection with W. S.
Chase he translated Lamartine's " History of the
Revolution of 1848." At a later date he issued,
with George P. Burnham, who wrote under the
pseudonym of " Young Un," " Stray Subjects ar-
rested and bound over, being the Fugitive Off-
spring of the Old Un and the Young Un that
have been lying around loose, and are now tied
up for Fast Keeping " (Boston, 1848). He was the
author of several plays, and was for a time co-
editor of " Ballou's Pictorial." In addition to the
works previously mentioned, he published a " Cy-
clopaedia of History" (Hartford. 1836). and "Life
Scenes from the World around Us " (Boston, 1853).
DURKEE, Charles, senator, b. in Royalton, Vt., 5 Dec, 1807 : d. in Omaha, Neb.. 14 Jan., 1870. He was educated in his native town and in the Burlington academy, after which he engaged in business, and later emigrated to the territory of Wisconsin, where he was one of the founders of
Southport, now Kenosha. He was a member of
