All About Engines

42 All About Engines able to do so ; and it had to be hammered out of sheet metal! Moreover, not only tools, but money was needed. His business, which had prospered for a time, had now fallen away, and in 1766 he had to relinquish his experiments for a time and take to surveying for a living. Meantime, Watt looked about for someone to help him, and thought himself fortunate in securing the interest of Dr. Roebuck, who had established the Carron iron works a few years before. The Doctor paid his debts, amounting to about £1,000, in return for a two-thirds share in the invention. It was patented in 1769 ; but the engine, with a cylinder 18 inches in diameter, constructed for Dr. Roebuck in that year, did not answer expectations, and shortly afterwards Dr. Roebuck failed. Watt’s fortunes were now at their lowest ebb. His wife had died, he had a young family, he was hard worked and ill paid, his health was bad—all his life he had suffered from severe headaches—and it seemed as though his invention would come to nothing. His letters at that period revealed the deep despondency into which he had fallen. But he was encouraged by his friends, and his own indomitable spirit brought him through. Through his friends he got into communication with Matthew Boulton, a Birmingham manufac- turer and a man of wealth, enterprise, and per- sonality. He was interested in the steam engine, but had many things on his hands. Finally, how- ever, he was persuaded to take Roebuck’s place,