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The Life And Influence of Frank Shuman
By Louis M. Iatarola
Our fourth installment profiling a significant person or place
in Tacony's history focuses on a man who was likely Tacony's
most famous resident. Of course Henry Disston and Sons were
the leading saw makers in the world and brought much recognition
to Tacony; however, most Disstons did not live in the Tacony
area. This is the story of the grandson of a German immigrant
who made his contemporary world more efficient and paved the
way for modern scientific advances - truly a man ahead of
his time.
Frank Shuman was born on January 23,
1862 in Brooklyn, New York. His father was the brother of
Francis Shumann, President of Tacony Iron & Metal Company
who oversaw the construction of the mammoth statue of William
Penn situated atop Philadelphia's City Hall. Frank Shuman,
although possessing a strong desire to learn and practice
science, left public school after only three years. His desire
to accumulate scientific knowledge eventually led to a position
as chemist for the Victor G. Bloede Company of West Virginia
at the age of eighteen. The Bloede Company. situated in the
Parkersburg area of West Virginia, specialized in making aniline
dye.
During his twenties, Frank Shuman had
performed private experimentation on ways to melt wire into
glass. The primary reason for this experimentation was that
skylights were a significant part of Victorian Architecture,
especially in religious facilities, train terminals, and government
buildings. When a sky light would break, anyone standing underneath
would be seriously injured or even killed. In many cases,
aesthetically unappealing nets would be suspended below skylights
to prevent any tragic occurrences. By the age of twenty-eight,
Shuman had patented a process for the manufacture of wire
glass using a regenerative furnace to melt the glass, annealing
ovens and sets of specially designed rollers to roll the glass
into sheets. Shuman's invention would not only make the unattractive
netting unnecessary, but would be strong enough to resist
hail, heavy snow, and the rumbling of trains.
Although Shuman possessed the patent
for his wire glass invention, he lacked the capital to begin
its manufacture. In 1891, he was summoned to Tacony from West
Virginia by his uncle Francis Schumann, President of the Tacony
Iron & Metal Company. During the construction of the City
Hall Tower, Shuman's uncle sought the advice of his inventive
nephew in attempting to provide a maintenance free exterior
to this 547 foot stone and iron support structure for the
statue of William Penn. It was his work in Tacony which enabled
Shuman to establish relationships with the people possessing
the resources to make his wire glass project a success.
Frank Shuman
After much experimentation, and the assistance
of architect John Orb and plating manager John D. Darling
of New York, a process was invented whereby the ironwork could
be dipped sequentially into three electrically charged tanks,
"plating" the iron with coats of copper, wax, and
finally aluminum. The tanks and conductors which were constructed
for this process were at the time the largest electroplating
facility ever built in America. On October 22, 1892, the national
publication, Scientific American, published a report on the
new electroplating process, nothing that "for a protective
coat, say for copper...it answers very well." This article
brought much attention to Tacony from the industrial scientific
world and the neighborhood was being recognized as a center
for creativity and innovation.
During his tenure at the Tacony Iron
& Metal Works, Frank Shuman established friendships with
Jacob Disston and W.L. Elkins, Sr. two of the wealthiest power
brokers in the City. Both were the first financial supporters
of Shuman's wire glass invention and stood to gain great profits
from the project. With their financial support, Shuman opened
the American Wire Glass Manufacturing Company in Tacony with
Elkins serving as President. Within two weeks of its electroplating
article, Scientific American focused on Tacony again, this
time to report on Frank Shuman's wire glass invention. An
article published on November 5, 1892 praised the newly found
process and strengthened Tacony's reputation as a place for
industrial inventiveness.
The wire glass invention was an instant
success, finally providing for durable and safe skylights
at a lower long-term cost in both lives and money. Shuman,
Disston, and Elkins reaped significant financial gains from
the project, enough so that Shuman could leave the employ
of the Tacony Iron & Metal Company to begin his livelihood
as an independent inventor. He eventually purchased a lot
at the southeast corner of Disston and Ditman Streets (now
4600 Disston Street) upon which was built a large brick residence
including a private laboratory at the rear (most recently
home of Werko Machine Company until 1996).
Over the next quarter century or so,
Frank Shuman astounded and delighted the Tacony community
and beyond with most of his innovations being perfected at
his inventor's compound and residence. In 1903, he invented
and patented a process for concrete building foundations making
concrete piles with a hollow metal pole in the center which
was plunged deep into the earth. This process eliminated the
need for performing massive excavation for foundations. In
1908, he assisted the local Erben-Harding Textile Company
by inventing a machine which effectively removed oil from
wool. This machine was patented jointly by Shuman and Erben-Harding.
In 1914, Shuman invented the most durable safety glass to
date, experimenting with and improving upon gas masks of his
day. After the invention, Shuman became President of the Safetee
Glass Company of Philadelphia, making products such as windshields,
goggles, lenses, and gas masks. Two John Scott medals from
the Franklin Institute were awarded to Shuman for his wire
glass and concrete pile inventions.
Of all Shuman's valued contributions
to society, none was recognized more so than his experimentation
with solar energy. Around 1906, he began investigating the
potential for energy produced by the sun. He studied solar
energy models proposed previously by three different scientists,
each of whose basic concept was to reflect the sun's rays
in order to heat water which would produce steam. Shuman's
visionary ideals, most of which were not publicly accepted
until sixty years later, were evident when he made the statement,
"One thing I feel sure of... is that the human race must
finally utilize direct sun power or revert to barbarism."
Shuman improved upon his predecessor's
designs by reflecting the sun's rays upon one foot square
boxes filled with ether, which has a lower boiling point that
water, and containing black pipes on the inside. This invention
instantly powered a toy steam engine. Shuman posted handbills
throughout Tacony inviting the public to a solar energy demonstration
at Ditman and Disston Streets anytime between noon and 3:00
p.m. on any afternoon after August 20, 1907. It turned out
that the tiny steam engine operated continuously for over
two years on sunny days next to a pond at the Shuman compound.
It was reported by his contemporaries that Shuman took great
delight in fascinating his community and frequently took visitors
from around the world on walks through Tacony.
Although it was but a minor improvement
over previous solar energy models, Shuman was successful at
attracting investors to his project due to his past inventive
successes. By 1908, the Sun Power Company was formed with
the intent to someday build a power plant which would serve
an entire community, or more. This quality of horsepower generation
would require many times the quantity of sun collector boxes
used for the toy engine. Again, Shuman's inventiveness led
his to two major changes which would make a larger scale operation
more efficient. He used mirrors to reflect rays upon the collector
boxes, increasing heating capacity so much that water could
now be used instead of ether. He also developed a low pressure
steam turbine since most 1910 vintage steam engines were built
for steam and not sun-heated water. Shuman's turbine processed
energy four times faster than any engine of his day.
Shuman began to seek international financial
support for his power plant concept. By 1910, Shuman had assembled
a team of investors from Philadelphia and Great Britain and
formed the Sun Power Company-Eastern Hemisphere as well as
Shuman Engine Syndication, Ltd., which was incorporated in
England. On the site which is now Vogt Playground, Shuman
constructed 2/3 or an acre of reflectors around the collector
boxes with the ability to be adjusted according to the optimum
angle of the sun's rays. Shuman then constructed a full scale
steam engine which was powered by low pressure water, enabling
him to patent the entire solar engine system by 1912. The
international attention brought to Tacony by the constant
evolution of science within it was a thrill for residents
of the day. Scientific American again featured Shuman and
Tacony in its issues of February 4, 1911 and September 30,
1911.
Frank Shuman was undoubtedly influenced
and his work enhanced by the wide availability of cultural
and scientific resources within the Tacony community. He was
an active member of the Keystone Scientific and Literary Association
and supported many local organizations. His outgoing nature
and visionary character gave many in Tacony a special feeling
of pride. It was said that he worked sixteen hour days and
walked ten miles a day. It was also said that he predicted
the advent of rockets, television, and the atom as an energy
source. His greatest obsession,though, was the depletion of
fossil fuels as sources of energy. He also sought laws to
fine those who littered the streets. Whether these stories
handed down are truth or folly, it is undeniable that Shuman
was, at the time, having a tremendous impact on Tacony and
the world.
Because many of his investors were British
businessmen with land holdings in Egypt, it was suggested
that a new solar power plant be built in Egypt, where the
climate would significantly increase the effectiveness of
Shuman's solar engine. In 1912, Shuman oversaw the construction
of the world's first solar energy plant in Meadi, Egypt, which
at the time was an agricultural village. By July, 1913 the
plant was operating at full capacity, producing over 55 horsepower
with approximately 6000 gallons of irrigation water pumping
through per minute. The effectiveness and production of this
facility exceeded his Tacony model by twenty-five percent.
In 1914, Scientific American praised Shuman's power plant
as being practical and efficient.
Prior to the outbreak of World War I,
Shuman had been offered a contract from the German government
for another power plant in its African Territory. Had it not
been for the Great War, the worldwide environmental benefits,
not to mention Shuman's financial gains, would have been tremendous.
Unfortunately, the engineers operating the Egyptian plant
departed to perform war related tasks in their countries of
origin. Plans with the German Reichstag were permanently put
on hold and Shuman was fortunate to return to Tacony just
before the war broke out in Europe.
Disappointed yet still hopeful, Frank
Shuman returned to Tacony in 1914 and gave the community a
glimpse of the Egyptian solar plant in the form of a film
which was presented at the Liberty Theater, originally situated
on the south side of Longshore Avenue between Hegerman and
Vandike Streets. It was said that this film was the "talk
of the town" for months. Most thrilling to Taconyites
at the time was the fact that they had a world renowned inventor
living in their midst. The fact that he was a cheerful, down
to earth personality who enjoyed the camaraderie of his mostly
factory working neighbors only added to his legacy.
In 1917, the last innovation made public
to Shuman prior to his death was a land battleship he called
a "Superdreadnought" which would reportedly destroy
entire towns and villages in a matter of minutes. Shuman got
as far as drawing sketches of a tank like structure with wheels
hat were 200 feet in diameter before the idea was rejected
by the War Department. Earlier in 1917, the War Department
adopted the patent rights to a submarine designed by Shuman
which was powered by liquid oxygen.
Although many of Frank Shuman's dreams
and visions were never realized, his contributions to modern
society are undeniable. His effect upon Tacony through his
innovative public work and his kind, lovable personal nature
left fond memories for many of Tacony's residents even decades
after his death. His down to earth personality and modesty
were qualities emulated by his contemporaries, exemplified
when Shuman declined an Honorary Masters of Science Degree
from Cornell University for his pioneering solar energy work
citing that he could not accept such an honor because he never
completed any educational degree.
Tacony was a center for technological
revolution during the period between 1890 and 1920. It is
no irony that this is the same period in which Frank Shuman
spent his time in Tacony, breathing more life into an already
thriving community. In addition to Shuman's inventions, Taconyites
witnessed the construction of William Penn's statue, the construction
of the Lardner's Point pumping station and modern advances
by Henry Disston & Sons, Tacony Iron Works, Gillinder
Glass Company, and the Dodge Steel Company. Scientific and
cultural resources were plentiful, thanks to the Tacony New
Era newspaper and the Keystone Scientific & Literary Association,
later the Tacony Library.
It is for the same type of enlightenment
and cultural enrichment that groups such as the Historical
Society of Tacony, Tacony Civic Association, and Disston Neighbors
Association exist. The Tacony Library, tracing its roots back
to 1876 near Unruh Avenue and State Road and now entering
the 21st Century in a newly renovated, state of the art facility,
and working in conjunction with the aforementioned groups,
has contributed invaluably to the culture of the youth and
adults in and near Tacony. As long as these resources are
utilized and these Associations supported Tacony's future
will again be as bright as it was one hundred years ago.
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