Calvin Wilson Mateer, forty-five years a missionary in Shantung, China : $b a biographyFisher, D. W. (Daniel Webster)
Religion
Calvin Wilson Mateer, forty-five years a missionary in Shantung, China : $b a biography
Fisher, D. W. (Daniel Webster)
Mateer, C. W. (Calvin Wilson), 1836-1908; Missionaries -- China -- Biography
construction of locomotives, so that he might be able to make a model of
one on his return to China. In connection with this he showed such an
acquaintance with the structure of these engines that he could scarcely
convince some of the skilled mechanics that he had not been trained to
the business. Dr. Corbett wrote concerning him, after his death: “It was
my privilege to meet him at the World’s Fair at Chicago in 1893. He had
spent nearly a month there examining minutely many things of special
interest to him. As my time was limited he kindly became my guide for
a while, and gave me the benefit of his observations. We first visited
the department of electricity, which he had carefully studied in all its
various applications. We next went to Machinery Hall, where he had spent
days making drawings, measurements, and so forth, of the most complex
machinery. He seemed to understand everything as though this had been
the work of his life.” Dr. Hayes says: “Dr. Mateer’s ability to meet
exigencies was well shown a few years ago in Wei Hsien, when suddenly the
large dynamo failed to produce a current. He unwound the machine until he
located the fault, reinsulated the wire and rewound the coil; after which
the machine furnished its current as usual.... Electrotyping was hardly
in general use in the west until he secured an outfit of tools and taught
a class of native artisans. When electric fans came in vogue he purchased
a small one as a model and proceeded to make another.”
The time came when Dr. Mateer had a shop equipped to do a great variety
of work; and though not on a large scale, yet big enough to meet his
needs. Already in 1886 in a letter to his brother William he said: “In
order to repair apparatus, and in order to make many simpler articles,
I have fitted up quite a complete workshop, entirely at my own expense.
I have invested in the shop, in tools and materials quite one thousand
dollars. I keep a workman at my own cost, whom I have trained so that he
can do most ordinary kinds of work. There are a great many small articles
we can make here more cheaply than we can buy them. There are, however,
many articles we cannot make, especially those that involve glass or the
use of special machinery, or special skill.” That shop continued to
grow, and the variety of its output increased. Writing of this, Mrs. Ada
Mateer says:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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