Mr. Frederick E. Sickels made an extensive exhibit of his various inventions, the models of which had been loaned to him for that purpose by the Patent Office. Only two of these inventions came within our province: the first was what is known as the celebrated trip cut-off, patented by him in the year 1842; the latter an arrangement patented in 1848. The former invention was an improvement on the Stevens cut-off, already in general use in steamboats on our Eastern waters. The Stevens invention was applied to equilibrium valves, rising and falling in a direction vertical to their seats. It enlarged the opening movement of the valve in a degree increasing as the speed of the piston increased, by means of the device known as the wiper cam; but the closing motion of the valve, being the reverse of the opening movement, grew slower and slower, until the valve was gently brought to its seat. It was found that during the closing of the port a great deal of steam blew into the cylinder through the contracting openings, with very little addition to the useful effect. Mr. Sickels conceived the idea of liberating the valve just before the opening movement was completed and letting it fall instantly to its seat, which would effect a sharp cut-off and a great economy in the consumption of steam. This action involved the difficulty that the valves would strike their seats with a violent blow, which would soon destroy both. This difficulty Mr. Sickels met by the invention of the dash-pot. This apparatus performed two functions: when its piston was lifted above the water it left a vacuum under it, so the pressure of the atmosphere on this piston was added to the weight of the valve and the pressure of the steam on it to accelerate its fall. This was arrested by the piston striking the surface of the water just in time to prevent the valve from striking its seat, but not soon enough to prevent the complete closure of the port. This nice point was determined by the ear. The engineer first let water out of the dash-pot gradually, until he heard the valve strike its seat faintly; then he admitted water drop by drop, until the sound had died away. For these inventions and for his steam steering gears the judges made an award. Our foreign judges were enthusiastic about them; Horatio Allen had fought Mr. Sickels during his whole business life and would never allow a Sickels cut-off to be applied in the Novelty Iron Works. For example, the directors of the Collins steamship line adopted the Sickels cut-off, but it was put on only two of their ships, the “Arctic” and the “Baltic,” the engines of which were built at the Allaire works. The “Atlantic” and “Pacific,” which were engined at the Novelty Works, did not have it, Mr. Allen absolutely refusing to allow it. To my surprise Mr. Allen signed this award with a cordial expression of admiration of Mr. Sickels’ genius; he had softened in his old age. The following is a copy of this award.