Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 5).djvu/547

Rh 1850-'!. He was promoted to chief engineer, 11 March, 1851, superintended the construction of the machinery of the steamer "Princeton" at I'.nMon in 1851-'2, and. after a year's -crvice as engineer inspector of U. S. mail steamers, made a cruise as chief engineer of the "Princeton" and superintended the construction of marine-engines at West Point, N. Y.. in 1854-'o. He was president of the examining board of engineers in 18liO-'2. after which he superintended the building of river monitors at St. Louis. Mo., in 1862-'3. He was fleet - engineer under Admiral Farragut during the operations at Mobile, where he rendered valu- able services, as also under Admiral Thatcher in 18t>3-'5. In the summer of 1870 he was tempo- rarily appointed chief of the bureau of steam engineering, which post he filled again in 1871, and received the written thanks of the department for the efficient manner in which he had dis- charged the duties. In 1873 he went to Europe to inspect foreign dock-yards and to represent the bureau of steam engineering at the Vienna exhibi- tion, and was appointed one of the American judges of award by the president. He was ap- pointed engineer-in-chief of the navy, 3 March. 1877. in which capacity he served until 15 June, 1888, when he was retired. He has been for many years an active member of the Franklin institute of Philadelphia and a contributor to the journal of that institution. In 1868 he designed and construct- ed projectiles to have a rotary motion when fired from smooth - bore guns, the experi- ments with which resulted satisfactori- ly. He has also in- vented and patented a relieving cushion for wire rigging for ships, which has been adopted in the navy (1869), a projectile for small arras, im- proving the efficien- cy of muskets (1870), and steam radiators and attachments for heating purposes (1874). He is the author of " Steam Boilers : their De- sign, Construction, and Management " (New York, 1881). This became the text-book of the U. S. naval academy on the subject and is a standard work.

SHOEMAKER, George Washington, inventor, b. near Williamsport, Pa., 14 Dec., 1861. He received his education at Keystone academy. Factoryville. Pa., and then entered his father's woollen- mill. Having mechanical ability, he made various improvements in the plant, and in 1886 invented a ring-machine, by which wool-spinning may be car- ried on continuously. With the Crompton mule, now in general use, an output of 150 pounds is ob- tained in ten hours with 250 spindles, while the new system, with an equal number of spindles, has given during the same time 640 pounds of yarn. It is estimated that, under favorable conditions, from 800 to 1,000 pounds of yarn can be produced in ten hours. The cost of a machine of the Shoe- maker type is much less than that of the other.

SHOEMAKER, William Lukens, poet, b. in Georgetown. D. C.. 19 July, 1822. He is of Quaker descent. After graduation at Jefferson college in 1841 he entered the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania, where he took his de- gree ill 1*4(1. liut has never practised. lie lias writ- ten many poems, sonnets, and translations of Ger- man ballads and lyrics, but they have never been published in book-form. The best known of them are " The Sweetheart Bird-Song." which was set to niu-ic by Michael Balfe, "The Sabbath of i he Year." and "'Twill Soon be Dark." Some of his verses are included in John J. Piatt's I'nion of American I'ortry and Art" (Cincinnati, 1880-'!).

SHOLES, Charles Clark, journalist, b. in Norwich. Conn., 8 Jan., 1816; d. in Kenosha. Wis., 5 Oct., 1867. He was brought np in Danville, Pa., and there learned the trade of printing, after which he went to Harrisburg and engaged .-is a. journeyman in the newspaper - office of Simon Cameron. In 1836 he went to Wis< -onsin and conducted in Green Bay the first journal in that part of the west. Mr. Sholes was soon appointed clerk of the territorial district court, and in 183? was elected to the territorial legislature from Brown county. In 1838 he purchased in Madison the " Wisconsin Inquirer," and early in 1840 the " Kenosha Telegraph," but subsequent busim engagements compelled him to relinquish these journals. He fixed his residence in Kenosha in 1847, of which place he was several times mayor, frequently represented Kenosha county both in the assembly and senate of the state, and in one session was chosen speaker of the former body. In 1856 he was the Republican candidate for lieutenant-governor, but failed of election. Mr. Sholes was one of the early organizers of what afterward grew into the Northwestern telegraph company, with which corporation he was connected at the time of his death. He was an active Abolitionist and zealous promoter of the cause of popular education. His brother, Christopher Latham, inventor, b. in Mooresburg. Pa., 14 Feb., 1819 : d. in Milwaukee, IT Feb., 1890, was educated in private schools in his native state, and then followed the printer's trade. In 1819 he went to Wisconsin and was postmaster of Kenosha during Folk's administration. He was a member from Racine county, of the first state senate in 1848, and was elected I" the assembly in 1851-"3. and again to the senate in 1856-'8. During the administrations of Lincoln and Johnson he held the office of collector of customs of the port of Milwaukee and he was commissioner of public works for Milwaukee in 1869-'T3, and again in 1876-'8. Mr. Sholes was a member of the school board of Milwaukee in 1870-'!, part of which time he was its president. In addition to his work as a journalist, which had been his profession when not holding office, he had interested himself in inventions, the most important of which was the typewriting machine that was introduced through the firm of E. Remington and Sons. It was begun in 1866, and when patented in 1868 was about the size of a sewing-machine. It is worked with lettered keys arranged in four rows, each type-carrier being thrown up as its key is struck. The type letters are engraved on the ends of steel bars, which are pivoted in the circumference of a circle, so that the end of each bar will strike at the same point in the centre of the circle. An inked ribbon passes over the centre of the circle, and over the whole a cylinder carries the paper to receive the impression. The cylinder, by a spring and ratchet movement, revolves the width of a letter, and when a line is completed it is also given a lateral movement. In 1873 this invention passed into the hands of the Remingtons for manufacture, since which time many minor improvements have been added to it, increasing its usefulness.