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The James A. Whipple papers contain correspondence, documents, and drawings related to Whipple's career as an engineer during the mid-19th century. Whipple's interests in submarines and naval engineering are documented throughout the collection, which includes correspondence, documents, drawings, and patents.

The James A. Whipple papers contain correspondence, documents, and drawings related to Whipple's career as an engineer during the mid-19th century. Whipple's interests in submarines and naval engineering are documented throughout the collection, which includes correspondence, documents, drawings, and patents.

The Correspondence series contains incoming items to Whipple. Most pertain to business affairs and to Whipple's family and acquaintances. Letters often pertain to submarines, Whipple's salvage business, and Whipple's trips abroad. A few items originally belonged to George L. P. Taylor, a United States consular agent.

The Financial Records series consists of receipts, accounts, and other documents concerning Whipple's business dealings, which reflect his interest in submarines and naval affairs. Many documents relate to his schooner Arcade. The series includes a pocket diary of financial notes and figures for 1855.

The Documents series contains a variety of items related to Whipple's business affairs, personal life, and interests in submarines and naval engineering.

• An explanation of an illustration (not present) showing improvements in submarine armor (March 2, 1848)
• A document from the council of Charleston, South Carolina, thanking Whipple and his associates for salvaging a statue of John C. Calhoun (November 19, 1850)
• A passport from the Republic of Venezuela (13 December 1852)
• Documents authorizing several journeys of James A. Whipple and his associates
• A receipt from the United States Patent Office for Whipple's application for "pumps for forcing water" (January 18, 1854)
• "Result of experiments on dissolving Scale in Boilers made at Beyrout" (March 31, 1855)
• A patent application for a submarine trumpet, made jointly by William H. James and James A. Whipple (April 30, 1855)
• "Report on the efficiency of the [submarine] armour for the U. S. Navy"
• Documents regarding "Whipple's patent double acting momentum pump," including advertisements, diagrams, and Whipple's patent application (October 21, 1859)
• Diagrams for a "process for driving Piles Posts or Timbers in Earth or other yielding Material" (May 25, 1859)
• 22 contracts made between James A. Whipple and other parties
• Several drawings of mid-19th-century underwater diving suits
• James A. Whipple's United States passport (May 30, 1849)

Two Journals include an "Extract from the Journal of J[eremiah] Murphy whilst working in the Liberty Banks" (April 21-May 24, [1857]) and a journal kept by William A. Dodge, J. R. Wheeler, and James A. Whipple during their time salvaging wrecks off Santo Domingo.

The Essays series contains 2 unattributed items: "Sub Marine Work" and "My Brother Capt. James A. Whipple…"

The Drawings and Sketches series has schematic figures for various inventions, such as a device consisting of a large wheel powered by a horse and a device for making cigars. Several other drawings show views of unlabeled inventions.

Printed Material includes 8 Newspaper Clippings and 6 Other Printed Materials. Newspapers include a full issue of Boston's Evening Gazette (July 2, 1859), as well as several short articles regarding trials for steam-driven fire engines. Other items include Whipple's business card, a "Circular of James A. Whipple. Submarine Engineer, Boston, Mass" (1857), printed descriptions of naval-related inventions, and printed drawings of mechanical inventions.

This manuscript contains Midshipman James O. Gawne's reports on machinery and activities aboard the USS Olympia and USS Cleveland between 1905 and 1906. The reports are made up of 22 pages of text, 4 diagrams, and 1 map. They include descriptions and illustrations of the ships' machinery; details about target practice exercises off Pensacola; and an account of temporary camp near Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.

This manuscript contains Midshipman James O. Gawne's reports on machinery and activities aboard the USS Olympia and USS Cleveland between 1905 and 1906. The reports are made up of 22 pages of text, 4 diagrams, and 1 map. Most reports were approved by Gawne's commanding officers: H. G. O. Colby, J. D. Adams, or Edward Francis Qualtrough. Gawne composed the dated sections between June 30, 1905, and May 15, 1906.

J.O. Gawne wrote his reports on odd numbered pages, and added some diagrams and labels on even numbered pages. The first 2 pages consist of a "General Description of U.S.S. Olympia," which provides information on the ship's physical specifications, cost and construction, and engines and other machinery (pp. 1-3). The next 3 pages (pp. 5-9) concern target practice, with instructions for calculating corrections when firing artillery in rough water. This section is accompanied by an example and a diagram (p. 6), as well as a description and diagram of the layout of a rifle range near Guantánamo, Cuba (p. 8). Gawne then reported on target practice near Pensacola, Florida (written from Monte Cristi, Dominican Republic, pp. 11-19). Gawne described several aspects of the exercise, including the performance of individual guns and the methods of firing them. He provided a labeled diagram of the sights used in the Olympia's two-gun turrets (p. 19). Gawne next provided a technical overview of the Olympia's evaporation system, with a labeled diagram (pp. 21-23).

On August 24, 1905, the crew of the Olympia arrived at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, where they set up the temporary Camp Bradford. Gawne reported on the surrounding area, campsite, and life at the camp until it was dismantled on August 26 (pp. 25-31). He included a map of the camp, for which he provided a key (pp. 26-27). Pages 33-37 hold information on the Olympia's ice machines, including mechanical details and a list of their constituent parts. Page 39 recapitulates the process of repairing the ship's condensers. The final report is a general description of the USS Cleveland, including its specifications, layout, guns, engines, and other operating machinery (pp. 41-49).

• Page 6: Diagram of a method for finding correction, USS Olympia target practice
• Page 8: Diagram of a United States Navy target range, Guantánamo Bay, Cuba
• Page 19: Diagram of gun sights/turrets, USS Olympia
• Page 23: Diagram of evaporation system, USS Olympia
• Pages 26-27: Map of Camp Bradford, Guantánamo Bay, Cuba

This collection contains documents, circular letters, essays, and newspaper clippings related to efforts to construct a suspended elevated railway in New York City. The collection details the technical aspects of the proposed system and provides contemporary perspectives on mass transit.

This collection contains 20 documents, circular letters, essays, and newspaper clippings related to efforts to construct a suspended elevated railway in New York City.

One document is a three-page printed report, with 4 copies and 1 extra page, entitled "Synopsis of Project for an Elevated Railway," which M. D. Moore presented to a New York State Senate committee headed by James F. Ruggles on December 8, 1866. The report provides details of the proposed railway, including its route and its mode of construction, and proposes the advantages of such a system, which was anticipated to cost about $1,500,000. The 4 copies contain additional manuscript notes pertaining to engineering and constructing the railway. On one copy, Moore's name is crossed out and replaced by that of Joseph W. Morse.

Another document is a manuscript copy of an unsigned affirmation in which Morse claimed to have invented an elevated railway system and pledged half of the railway's profits to his partners, George F. H. Youngs, Samuel Bromberg, and James E. Beers (August 25, 1870). Bromberg wrote a brief note to Youngs on April 26, 1872; its envelope bears a logo for Morse's Elevated Rail Road, which depicts a steam-driven rail car suspended from an elevated track, passing over a man driving a horse-drawn carriage loaded with hay. The letterhead of a printed circular letter requesting opinions on the feasibility of the railway proposal (1870s) and a broadside advertising a model railroad exhibited at a local fair (undated) also contain this logo.

The collection contains 2 essays on mass transit in New York City and Brooklyn; newspaper clippings on the New York Railroad Company and underground transportation systems, including statistics related to New York ferries and railroads for the year 1870; and a lithograph of T. W. H. Moseley's "Improvements in Metallic Screw Piles."