Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume II.djvu/800

 780 BOGARDUS growth in 10 or 15 years ; but their expecta- tions were sometimes realized in seven years. Ehrenberg has detected in the ochreous mat- ters that form bog iron ore immense numbers of organic bodies, which indeed make up the substance of the ochre. They consist of slender articulated plates or threads, partly silicious and partly ferruginous, of what he considered an animalcule, but which are now commonly regarded by naturalists as belonging to the vegetable kingdom, and are referred to dia- tomacece and desmidieas. Bog ore contains phosphorus, arsenic, and other impurities, which greatly impair its qualities for pro- ducing strong iron. The pig metal obtained from it, called cold short, is so brittle that it breaks to pieces by falling upon the hard ground ; but the foreign matters which weaken it also give to the melted cast iron great fluid- ity, which causes it to be in demand for the manufacture of fine castings, the metal flowing into the minutest cavities of the mould, and retaining the sharp outlines desired. The iron made from the bog ores of Snowhill, on the eastern shore of Maryland, notwithstanding its great brittleness, brings a high price at the great stove founderies of Albany and Troy, to be mixed with other qualities of metal for pro- ducing the best material for their excellent castings. Bog ores are very easily converted into iron, and when they can be procured to mix with other kinds of ore, they produce a very beneficial effect, both in the running of the furnace and in the quality of the iron. For these reasons, as also for the cheapness with which they are obtained, it is an object to have them at hand, though they seldom yield more than 30 to 35 per cent, of cast iron. BOCARDUS, Everardns, a Dutch- American clergyman, born in Holland, died Sept. 27, 1647. In 1633 he came to New Amsterdam (New York), and became the second minister there, residing in what is now Broad street. In 1638 he married Annetje, widow of Koelof Jansen, who had obtained a grant of a farm of 62 acres in what is now the heart of the city of New York; this farm, long known as the "dominie's Bouwery," in time became vested in Trinity church, and forms the foundation of the wealth of that corporation. Dominie Bo- gardus had sharp disputes with the successive directors, Van Twiller, Kieft, and Stuyvesant, was complained of by his congregation, and in 1647 resigned his charge, and sailed for Europe to answer to his ecclesiastical superiors in Holland. The vessel ran by mistake into Bristol channel, struck on a rock, was wrecked, and 80 persons, among whom were Bogardus and Kieft, were drowned, only 20 escaping. BOGARDl'S, James, an American inventor, born at Catskill, N. Y., March 14, 1800. At the age of 14 he was apprenticed to a watch- maker, and soon became not only an expert in that art, but a good die-sinker and engraver. He invented an eight-day, three-wheeled chronom- eter clock, for which he received the highest premium at the first fair of the American in- stitute ; and another with three wheels and a segment of a wheel, which struck the hours, and, without dial wheels, marked the hours, minutes, and seconds. In 1828 he invented a " ring-flyer " for spinning cotton, now in gen- eral use, and known as the " ring-spinner." In 1829 he invented the eccentric mill, differ- ing from all other mills in having both the grinding surfaces running in the same direc- tion, with nearly equal speed. In 1831 he in- vented an engraving machine, with which he made gold watch dials, turning imitation fili- gree work, rays from the centre, and the figures in relief, all by one operation. With this same machine he made the steel die for the first gold medal of the American institute, and also many beautiful medallions. He invented the trans- fer machine for producing bank-note plates from separate dies, which is now in general use. In 1832 he patented the first dry gas me- ter, for which he was awarded a gold medal by the American institute ; and in 1833 the first pencil case without a slot. In 1836 he greatly improved his meter by giving a rotary motion to the machinery, and made it applica- ble to all current fluids. It is the parent of all diaphragm meters, this word having been first so used by Mr. Bogardus. At this time he went to England, where he made the celebrat- ed medallion-engraving machine, which, among other portraits, engraved that of the queen, dedicated to her at her request. He made a machine for engine-turning, which not only copied all known kinds of machine engraving, but engraved what it could not itself repro- duce. In 1839 a reward was offered for the best plan of carrying out the penny-postage system by the use of stamps, and from 2,600 competitors his plan was selected, and is still in use. After visiting France and Italy, he returned to New York in 1840. He then in- Tented a machine for pressing glass, now in common use ; also, a machine for shirring in- dia-rubber fabrics, and another for cutting in- dia-rubber into fine threads. He invented the " sun-and-planet horse power," and a dyna- mometer for measuring the speed and power of machinery in motion. In 1847 he put in execution his long-cherished idea of iron build- ings, by constructing his factory, of five sto- ries, 25 ft. by 90, entirely of cast iron. This was undoubtedly the first complete cast-iron building in the world, and was the first to be represented in the " Illustrated London News." Mr. Bogardus was the first to suggest the con- struction of wrought-iron beams ; and it was from a pattern designed by him that the first were made, both in this country and in Eng- land. He claims also to have introduced a new style of architecture, column over column, which he calls the Roman, from the fact that he had never seen it elsewhere than in Italy. After erecting many buildings in New York, in other states, and in the West India islands, he was compelled by ill health to relinquish