JOHN ERICSSON 317 to be carried below, but I was not disabled at all, and the others recovered before the battle was over. Captain Worden (afterward admiral) stationed himself at the pilot-house. Greene fired the guns, and I turned the turret until the captain was disabled and was relieved by Greene, when I managed the turret myself, Master Stoddard having been one of the two stunned men. " Captain Ericsson, I congratulate you upon your great success ; thousands here this day bless you. I have heard whole crews cheer you ; every man feels that you have saved the nation by furnishing us with the means to whip an iron- clad frigate that was, until our arrival, having it all her own way with our most powerful vessels." If space permitted, it would be interesting to trace the career of Ericsson in detail after the success of the Monitor. There was an imperative demand for armor-clads, and ere long several were built by the inventor and his associates. Ericsson was never idle. In connection with his labors upon war vessels he ex< pended no small amount of ingenuity on the improvement of heavy guns, his efforts m this field being directed by a most exhaustive study into the strength of materials, the operation of explosive forces, and the laws governing the flight of projectiles. In 1869 he constructed for the Spanish Government a fleet of thirty steam gunboats, intended to guard Cuba against filibustering parties. In 1 88 1 he devised his latest war vessel, the Destroyer, the object of which he said was " simply to demonstrate the practicability of submarine artillery, unques- tionably the most effective, as well as the cheapest, device for protecting the sea- ports of the Union against iron-clad ships. I do not," he continued, "seek emoluments, as I am financially independent ; but I am anxious to benefit the great and liberal country which has enabled me to carry out important works which I should not have carried out on a monarchical soil." His investigations included computations of the influences which retard the earth's rotary motion ; he erected a "sun motor" in 1883, to develop the power obtained from the sup- ply of mechanical energy in the sun, and he contributed numerous valuable pa- pers to various journals in America and Europe on scientific, naval, and mechani- cal themes. The year in which John Ericsson reached the culmination of his fame, 1862, was the same in which his brother Nils retired from active life in Sweden. The latter had retained his position on the Gota Canal when his brother left it in 1820, and gradually won his way to fame and fortune. " He was a man of industry and energy, of sterling integrity and public spirit, and an excellent organizer ; while his conservative and cautious temperament and his skill in bending others to his purposes enabled him to make the most of his opportunities." After he received his title he altered the spelling of his name and became Baron Ericson, This change gave great offence to John, who wrote to Nils : " I can never for, get the unpleasantness caused me by this annulling of relationship. Possibly your wife has had her share in it. If so, she will find some day that the blotted- out letter will cost her children half a million." Some of the most interesting chapters in the work of Mr. Church relate to
