One hundred years ago in May, 1876, President Ulysses S. Grant
and Emperor Dom Pedro of Brazil turned the emerald studded
throttles to start the huge Corliss engine marking the opening of
the Centennial Fair in Philadelphia. These two heads of state were
supported by a choir of 1,000 voices singing Handel’s
Hallelujah chorus, Theodore Thomas’ band of 150 pieces playing
Wagner, a 100 gun salute, blasts on steam whistles and the company
of everyone of importance in America.
In the center of the entire ceremony was the mighty engine of
George H. Corliss which drove the entire exhibit since there was no
electric power available in those days. This giant stood forty feet
high. Its flywheel was 30 feet in diameter and each of its two
cylinders had a bore of 40 inches and a stroke of ten feet. It
drove two sets of line shafting each 600 feet long. These shafts in
turn drove over 8,000 assorted machines exhibiting in Machinery
Hall.
This engine had been designed and built in Providence by Corliss
and erected in Philadelphia in record time. The supervising
engineer was none other than the young Nathanial G. Herreshoff
later known as the wizard of Bristol.
One hundred years ago Rhode Island was the center of the steam
engine business in America, if not the world. It is fitting that
during the Centennial year of the great Corliss engine that we do
it and its builder honor by reenacting the starting ceremony in
East Greenwich, R. I. at the New England Wireless and Steam
Museum.
A recently restored Corliss engine with a mere 12-foot flywheel
will be started to mark this event. The tentative program of the
celebration is, Sunday, May 9, 1976, 1 p.m. Raising of flags with
cannon salute. Band – National Anthem. Brief biographical sketch of
George H. Corliss. Brief technical description of the principle of
the Corliss engine. Band – Wagner’s Centennial March. Greetings
– American Society of Mechanical Engineers, National Association of
Power Engineers, Providence Engineering Society, Rhode Island
Historical Society. Introduction of dignitaries to start engine.
Start and run engine. Whistle blowing. Open house at museum.
Display of Corlissiana. Refreshments.