Pedrail
The Pedrail, as it has been named, signifies a rail moving on feet. Mr. Diplock, observing that a horse has for its weight a tractive force much in excess of the traction-engine, took a hint from nature, and conceived the idea of copying the horse's foot action. The reader must not imagine that here is a return to the abortive and rather ludicrous attempts at a walking locomotive made many years ago, when some engineers considered it proper that a railway engine should be propelled by legs. Mr. Diplock's device not merely propels, but also steps, i.e. selects the spot on the ground which shall be the momentary point at which propulsive force shall be exerted.
Pedrail cimbing stairs
An extreme instance of the pedrail's capacity would be afforded by the ascent of a flight of steps . In such a case the three "peds" carrying the weight of an axle would not be on the same level. That makes no difference, because the frame merely tilts on its top and bottom pivots, the front of the rail rising to a higher level than the back end, and the back spokes being projected by the rail much further than those in front, so that the engine is simply levered over its rollers up an inclined plane. Similarly, in descending, the front spokes are thrust out the furthest, and the reverse action takes place.
Cash Register 2
The trouble was that the knuckles, being necessarily oiled, held dust and dirt which interfered with their free movement. And again, a "five-cent" or "ten-cent" key would be used more than others, and hence would become more worn. As a practical result the tablets did not drop when wanted, and the whole operation was thrown into confusion. When one tablet went up the other tablet stayed up, leaving a false indication. The most valuable modification now made by these Dayton inventors was to cease to rely on the knuckle to move back the supporting bar, and to supply the place of this function by what became known as "connecting mechanism," especially designed for this purpose. This was placed at the other, or say the left, side of the machine as you faced it. Cut No. 2 shows this new connecting mechanism. The keys, when pressed, performed the functions as before, on the right side of the machine, viz. to ring an alarm-bell, etc.; but on the other, or left, side the key, when pressed, operated the connecting mechanism marked M, N, O, P, and Q. The key pressed down by its leverage pushed back a little lever (Q), the further end of which pressed back the supporting bar F, and released the previously exposed indicator G, without relying on the knuckle to perform this function.
Cash Register
The origin of the cash register is rather nebulous, because twenty-five years ago several men were working on the same idea. It first appeared as a practical machine in the offices of John and James Ritty, who owned stores and coalmines at Dayton, Ohio. James Ritty helped and largely paid for the first experiments. He needed a mechanical cashier for his own business, and says that, while on an ocean steamer en route to London the revolving machinery gave him the suggestion worked out, on his return to Dayton, in the first dial-machine. This gave way to the key-machine with its display tablet, or indicator, held up by a supporting bar moved back by knuckles on the vertical tablet rod. The cut shows the right side of this key register, the action of which is thus described by the National Cash Register Company. The key A, when pressed with the finger at its ordinary position—marked 1—went down to the point marked 2. Being a lever and pivoted to its centre, pressing down a key elevated its extreme point B. This pushed up the tablet-rod C, having on its upper part the knuckle D. This knuckle D, pushed up, took the position at E; that is, the knuckle pushed back the supporting-bar F, and was pushed past it and held above it. If the same operation were performed on another key, the knuckle on its vertical rod, going up, would again push the supporting bar back, which would release the first knuckled rod, and leave the last one in its place. This knuckled rod had on its upper end the display tablet, or indicator G
Fire Engine
Tomb of Edward III. in Westminster Abbey
Bear-baiting
(From the Luttrell Psalter.)
A Sea-Fight
(From the 'Life of Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick'; drawn by John Rous about 1485.)
Chepe in the Fifteenth Century
The streets and lanes of London within the walls were very nearly the same as they are at present, except for the great thoroughfares constructed within the last thirty years. That is to say, when one entered at Lud Gate and passed through Paul's Churchyard, he found himself in the broad street, the market place of the City, known as Chepe.
Christ's Hospital
Old St. Paul's on Fire
Old St. Paul's, from the East
London before the Spire of St. Paul's was burned; showing the Bridge, Tower, Shipping, &c
A Bed in the Reign of Henry III
The Lepers Begging
Leprosy is supposed to have had its origin in Egypt: the laws laid down in the Book of Leviticus for the separation of lepers are stringent and precise: it was believed, partly, no doubt, on account of these statutes in the Book of the Jewish Law, that the disease was brought into Western Europe by the Crusaders; but this was erroneous, because it was in this country before the Crusaders. Thus the Palace of St. James stands upon the site of a lazar house founded before the Conquest for fourteen leprous maidens.
The Tower of London
Of all the prisoners who suffered death at the termination of their captivity in the Tower, there is none whose fate was so cruel as that of Lady Jane Grey. Her story belongs to English history. Recall, when next you visit the Tower, the short and tragic life of this young Queen of a nine days' reign.
Old London Bridge
Houses were erected in course of time along the Bridge on either side like a street, but with intervals; and along the roadway in the middle were chain posts to protect the passengers. As the Bridge was only 40 feet wide the houses must have been small. But they were built out at the back overhanging the river, and the roadway itself was not intended for carts or wheeled vehicles. Remember that everything was brought to the City on pack horse or pack ass. The table of Tolls sanctioned by King Edward I. makes no mention of cart or waggon at all. Men on horseback and loaded horses can get along with a very narrow road. Perhaps we may allow twelve feet for the road which gives for the houses on either side a depth of 14 feet each.
Royal Arms of England from Richard I. to Edward III
(From the wall arcade, south aisle of nave, Westminster Abbey.)
Ecclesiastical Costume in the Twelfth Century
Costume of Shepherds in the Twelfth Century
Lay Costumes in the Twelfth Century
Building a Church in the later Style
(From a drawing belonging to the Society of Antiquaries.)
A Norman Ship
(From the Bayeux Tapestry.)
Tower in the Earlier Style. Church at Earl's Barton
Part of the Roman Wall at Leicester
City Gates
Let us examine into the history and the course of the Wall of London, if only for the very remarkable facts that the boundary of the City was determined for fifteen hundred years by the erection of this Wall; that for some purposes the course of the Wall still affects the government of London; and that it was only pulled down bit by bit in the course of the last century. You will see by reference to the map what was the course of the Wall. It began, starting from the east where the White Tower now stands. Part of the foundation of the Tower consists of a bastion of the Roman wall. It followed a line nearly north as far as Aldgate. Then it turned in a N.W. direction just north of Camomile Street and Bevis Marks to Bishopsgate. Thence it ran nearly due W., north of the street called London Wall, turning S. at Monkwell Street. At Aldersgate it turned W. until it reached Newgate, where it turned nearly S. again and so to the river, a little east of the present Blackfriars Bridge. It ran, lastly, along the river bank to join its eastern extremity. The river wall had openings or gates at Dowgate and Bishopsgate,{39} and probably at Queen Hithe. The length of the Wall, without counting the river side, was 2 miles and 608 feet. This formidable Wall was originally about 12 feet thick made of rubble and mortar, the latter very hard, and faced with stone. You may know Roman work by the courses of tiles or bricks. They are arranged in double layers about 2 feet apart. The so-called bricks are not in the least like our bricks, being 6 inches long, 12 inches wide and 1½ inch thick. The Wall was 20 feet high, with towers and bastions at intervals about 50 feet high. At first there was no moat or ditch, and it will be understood that in order to protect the City from an attack of barbarians—Picts or Scots—it was enough to close the gates and to man the towers. The invaders had no ladders.
Remains of the Wall
The City was thus protected by a great wall pierced by a few gates, with bastions and towers. At the East End after the Norman Conquest rose the Great White Tower still standing. At the West End was a tower called Montfichet's Tower.
Saxon Church at Bradford-on-Avon, Wilts
Saxon Horsemen
(Harl. MS. 603.)
Martyrdom of St. Edmund by the Danes
(From a drawing belonging to the Society of Antiquaries.)
Roman London
A Coach of the Middle of the Seventeenth Century
(From an engraving by John Dunstall.)
Early British Pottery
Temple Bar, London
(Built by Sir Christopher Wren in 1670; taken down in 1878 and since rebuilt at Waltham Cross.)
Ordinary Attire of Women of the Lower Classes
(From Sandford's 'Coronation Procession of James II.')
Dress of Ladies of Quality
(From Sandford's 'Coronation Procession of James II.')
Ordinary Dress of Gentlemen in 1675
(From Loggan's 'Oxonia Illustrata.')
Waggon of the second half of the Seventeenth Century
(From Loggan's 'Oxonia Illustrata.')
Coach of the latter half of the Seventeenth Century
(From Loggan's 'Oxonia Illustrata.')
Paul Pindar's House
A Gentleman and gentlewoman
Ordinary Civil Costume ; temp Charles I (From Speed's map of 'The Kingdom of England,' 1646.)
A Citizen and his wife
Ordinary Civil Costume ; temp Charles I (From Speed's map of 'The Kingdom of England,' 1646.)
A Countryman and Countrywoman
Ordinary Civil Costume ; temp Charles I (From Speed's map of 'The Kingdom of England,' 1646.)
Costume of a Lawyer
(From a broadside, dated 1623.)
Civil Costume about 1620
(From a contemporary broadside.)
The Globe Theatre
The first theatre was built in 1570. Thirty years after there were seven. The Queen had companies of children to play before her. They were the boys of the choirs of St. Paul's, Westminster, Whitehall, and Windsor. The actors called themselves the servants of some great lord. Lord Leicester, Lord Warwick, Lord Pembroke, Lord Howard, the Earl of Essex, and others all had their company of actors—not all at the same time. The principal Houses were those at Southwark, and especially at Bank Side, where there were three, including the famous Globe
Sir Francis Drake, in his Forty-third Year
Shipping in the Thames, circa 1660
(From Pricke's 'South Prospect of London.')
Coaches in the Reign of Elizabeth
Coaches in the Reign of Elizabeth I (From 'Archcæologia.')
South-east Part of London in the Fifteenth Century, showing the Tower and Wall
The Embarkation of Henry VIII. from Dover, 1520
(From the original painting at Hampton Court.)
border-round-corners
border-square-corners
A Solemn Fast and Repentance of the People
Neh. 9:1,2
Aaron and Hur Holding Up the Hands of Moses
Ex. 17:11
Aaron's Rod Changed to a Serpent
Ex. 7:10
Aaron's Rod that Budded
Num. 17:8, 9
Abraham Entertains Three Angels
Gen. 18:10
Abraham Offering Isaac as a Sacrifice
Gen. 22:11, 12
Abraham's Servant Meeting Rebekah at the Well
Gen. 24:17