Read Ebook: Søren Hjorth: Inventor of the Dynamo-electric Principle by Smith Sigurd Sodemann F Translator

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Hjorth was now compelled to find a new means of earning his livelihood, and to make new connections. In 1857, he became the representative of Cyclop's Steel Manufactory, Charles Cammell, of Sheffield, and in 1859, he applied for and obtained a licence as a translator of English in Copenhagen. Finally he had a kind of engineering and patent office, assisting strangers in obtaining monopolies, and doing work for new railroads, bridges etc. In the beginning of the sixties he caused a research to be made concerning the use of coals from Hornholm and Silkeborg, and the use of peat for briquettes. In April, 1860, he applied to the government for a position, enabling him to work for the building of new railroads in Denmark, and at the same time he referred to his previous merits in that direction. As he had not, within a year thereafter, received any position, he made a petition for a yearly pension, in case such a position could not be given to him. As >>the idea of building the Sealand railroad, as well as the general location of this road, is mainly due to Secretary Hjorth ... and further more, no small share in the completion of the undertaking is due to him<<, it was proposed, on the budget for 1861-62, to grant a pension to Hjorth. That year and the following ones, until his death, he received 500 rixdollars.

During these years, Hjorth lived at 10 N?rrebrogade. In 1845, he married Vilhelmine Ancker, n?e Hansen , the widow of the farmer Diderick Ancker, of >>Lille Egede<<, and thereby he became the step-father of two daughters. This marriage was childless.

This carefully dressed little man in top-hat and high-heeled shoes, was well known, and very well liked in many circles. He was always amiable and willing to help, and it is known that he has, at great personal sacrifice, assisted young artisans who were in hard luck. In society he attracted attention by his power of fascination and by his universal knowledge. On Sundays he was regularly seen directing his steps to St. John's church, where, for many years, he was a member of Rev. Frimodt's congregation.

During the period of depression above described, Hjorth could naturally not very well afford to occupy himself with experiments, nor had he much time. Still, in 1857, he secured permission to undertake, at the navy yard, some experiments concerning the carrying capacity of a magnet at varying distances between the pole and the armature, and at the same time he sketched out the construction of an electro-motor, especially well adapted to utilize the magnetic attraction. This electro-motor was built in Copenhagen with funds granted by the >>Classenske Fideicommis<<. When it was finished, Hjorth applied for the money needed to make it double acting.

In autumn 1860, Hjorth was in Paris, and there he worked for his electrical inventions.

In 1866, Wilde published his machine, in which the current needed to magnetize the electro-magnets was produced by a permanent magnet. This is exactly the principle, underlying the dynamos built by Hjorth in 1854 and 1855. Hjorth's good friend, Wm. Macredie, Melbourne, sent Hjorth a clipping from an English periodical mentioning Wilde's machine, and called his attention to the identity.

It is to be regretted that Hjorth's answer is not known, as his copy-book for 1866 has been lost.

Considering the data at hand when Hjorth's biography was published in 1907, one might be inclined to believe that Hjorth had invented the dynamo principle and then dropped it at once, going back to steel magnets. It is, however, clearly evidenced, by the papers left by Hjorth, that this has not been the case, but that Hjorth has used the dynamo principle, in various, more or less pure, forms, in practically all his projects from 1851 to 1870.

The machine was built into a casing, and was sent to the Paris exhibition of 1867. Hjorth was always very careful not to give any information about his inventions to anybody. At the end of April, he went to Paris himself. The machine had suffered some injury on the journey, and had to be repaired in Paris, and therefore it made its appearance rather late. Still he succeeded in having it submitted to the judgment of the jury, and a test of electrolytic deposition was made, which proved entirely successful.

In Paris he met a certain business-man who, later on, requested to enter into partnership with Hjorth. This man was an adventurer, whose ambition was to become a Knight of Danebrog. It is only to be regretted that this person obtained so great a power over Hjorth, and understood how to deceive him. The previously mentioned pamphlet, edited by the partner, and named >>Batterie magn?to-?lectrique de S?ren Hjorth<<, is a document of the poorest kind.

Through his partner, Hjorth was introduced to various electricians and men of science, among others the renowned Samuel B. Morse, who recommended Hjorth's machine, but took exception to his idea concerning the production of energy.

At the exposition, a great sensation was created by a dynamo exhibited by Ladd. This machine had two electro-magnets and two armatures, the current being directed from the smaller armature round the electro-magnets and taken from the larger armature to the exterior circuit, lights for instance. Thus the machine was evidently built according to the dynamo principle.

In order to claim his right of priority to this principle, Hjorth went to the prominent authority on physics, Count Th. du Moncel, who later on became the editor of >>La lumi?re ?lectrique<<. As Hjorth himself did not know French, the interview probably took place through his partner. About this, Moncel writes in the above mentioned periodical, in 1883, that Hjorth's representative was not very conversant with electrical matters; therefore he was unable to express himself clearly, and consequently Hjorth's rights of priority were not acknowledged.

Having received the Emperor's refusal, Hjorth went home, broken down by illness and disappointments.

In 1868-69 Hjorth, due to the interest taken in his case by the manufacturer Mr. K?hler, succeeded in having a small machine built in this gentleman's shop in Kors?r. At the same time, a larger machine was made in Copenhagen, the necessary funds being contributed by several country gentlemen and merchants interested in the case. Finally, in December, 1868, a body of prominent men addressed the government, petitioning a subvention of 15,000 rixdollars to be given to Hjorth, in order to enable him to build a new and larger machine. As the Ministry was not inclined to grant a sum of this size, it proposed to grant 1000 rixdollars, in order to have the existing machines examined by Professor Hummel and other experts. This proposition was accepted by Hjorth, and a commission was formed, consisting of Professor Hummel, assisted by Professor Holten, Instructor Lorenz and Winstrup, a mechanic. As early as December, 1868, Professor Hummel, together with head-master Ibsen from Sor?, had visited dyer G?lich of Christianshavn, where one of the machines was located, and they made a few tests, which Hummel himself did not consider to be of any importance. The experiments were to be made in April, 1869, after an assistant had made a preliminary experiment, but then K?hler reported that he had taken the machine apart, in order to make an alteration therein, and that this would take a couple of months. It appears, from a letter from Hjorth to the Ministry of the Interior, that Hjorth had arrived at the conclusion that he must resort to the use of electro-magnets, to a certain extent, at least, on account of >>the steel, by continued use, losing part of its magnetic power, which necessitates its being re-magnetized<<, and partly because >>it appears that electro-magnets may be made to yield a considerably larger magnetic power than steel magnets, by means of the electrical current induced thereby<<. As this change to the dynamo principle was estimated to cost 400 rixdollars, Hjorth was informed, in April 1869, that this amount would be paid out of the sum, granted for the experiments, when the smaller machine had been re-built.

Hjorth's answer to this was a petition that the 400 rixdollars might be spent on any battery, which he might build. Hereafter the case died out. His petition was not answered until in April 1870, and the answer was a refusal.--At that time Hjorth was in delicate health, and his energy had been broken, and a few month's afterwards he died, on the 28th of August, 1870. He was survived by his wife, who died on the 30th of September 1885.

This indefatigable worker did not succeed in seeing or reaping the harvest of his work for the utilization of electricity,--perhaps his aim had been too high. At a period when in all countries stone was added to stone in the foundation now supporting electrical engineering, we Danes have also made our contribution. Hjorth did not possess the profound knowledge nor the sharper insight necessary in order to avoid errors, but his perseverance, his industry, and his sacrifices, ought to be acknowledged, and his name ought to be venerated on account of his contributions to the development of electric machinery.

FOOTNOTE:

Hjorth's English passport, from 1855, contains this information: Height: 5 feet 7 inches, Complexion: fresh, Eyes and Hair: grey.

SOURCES.

After Hjorth's death, few knew that he had discovered the dynamo principle. If Hjorth himself had understood the importance of this discovery, and the magnitude of the revolutions to be caused thereby, he would undoubtedly have endeavoured to propagate the knowledge thereof. It was not until 1879, when Colonel Bolton read a paper before the Society of Telegraph Engineers in London, that Hjorth's patent No. 2198, of 1854, was again brought out of oblivion, and accompanied by these words: >>This appears to involve the principle which was later on taken up by others<<. Count du Moncel, who had received Hjorth's representative in 1867, when reading these words, was reminded of the case. Thereafter he has given Hjorth a fair redress in the above-cited article in the valuable periodical >>La lumi?re ?lectrique<<, edited by him, the heading being >>The Actual Inventor of the Principle of the Dynamo-Electric Machine<<.

Among the few printed sources of information concerning S?ren Hjorth and his inventions, the following may also be mentioned:

The most important source is the papers, left by Hjorth, which comprise a considerable collection of drawings, letters, and rough copies of letters written by him. These documents furnish full information, not only of Hjorth's inventions, but also of his entire reasoning and manner of being. Probably the most interesting of all are his note-books and sketch-books, wherein he used to note down his ideas in English, and which are accompanied by neatly made, coloured sketches. These papers were not accessible to the public until the autumn of 1908, and they are now preserved in the archives and library of the Polytechnic Institute in Copenhagen.

Important contributions to Hjorth's history have also been obtained from the State Archives, the Archives of the Society of Science, the Archives of the Polytechnic Institute and from the papers left by H. C. ?rsted.

Transcriber's Notes:

Footnotes have been moved to the end of each chapter and relabeled consecutively through the document.

Punctuation has been made consistent.

Variations in spelling and hyphenation were retained as they appear in the original publication, except that obvious typographical errors have been corrected.

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