The Huge Hunter; Or, The Steam Man of the PrairiesEllis, Edward Sylvester
Science
The Huge Hunter; Or, The Steam Man of the Prairies
Ellis, Edward Sylvester
Dime novels; Robots -- Fiction
Perhaps at this point a description of the singular mechanism should
be given. It was about ten feet in hight, measuring to the top of the
'stove-pipe hat,' which was fashioned after the common order of felt
coverings, with a broad brim, all painted a shiny black. The face was
made of iron, painted a black color, with a pair of fearful eves, and
a tremendous grinning mouth. A whistle-like contrivance was trade to
answer for the nose. The steam chest proper and boiler, were where the
chest in a human being is generally supposed to be, extending also
into a large knapsack arrangement over the shoulders and back. A pair
of arms, like projections, held the shafts, and the broad flat feet
were covered with sharp spikes, as though he were the monarch of
base-ball players. The legs were quite long, and the step was natural,
except when running, at which time, the bolt uprightness in the figure
showed different from a human being.
In the knapsack were the valves, by which the steam or water was
examined. In front was a painted imitation of a vest, in which a door
opened to receive the fuel, which, together with the water, was
carried in the wagon, a pipe running along the shaft and connecting
with the boiler.
The lines which the driver held controlled the course of the steam
man; thus, by pulling the strap on the right, a deflection was caused
which turned it in that direction, and the same acted on the other
side. A small rod, which ran along the right shaft, let out or shut
off the steam, as was desired, while a cord, running along the left,
controlled the whistle at the nose.
The legs of this extraordinary mechanism were fully a yard apart, so
as to avoid the danger of its upsetting, and at the same time, there
was given more room for the play of the delicate machinery within.
Long, sharp, spike-like projections adorned those toes of the immense
feet, so that there was little danger of its slipping, while the
length of the legs showed that, under favorable circumstances, the
steam man must be capable of very great speed.
After Ethan Hopkins had some what familiarized himself with the
external appearance of this piece of mechanism, he ventured upon a
more critical examination.
The door being opened in front, showed a mass of glowing coals lying
in the capacious abdomen of the giant; the hissing valves in the
knapsack made themselves apparent, and the top of the hat or
smoke-stack had a sieve-like arrangement, such as is frequently seen
on the locomotive.
There were other little conveniences in the way of creating a draft,
and of shutting it off when too great, which could scarcely be
understood without a scrutiny of the figure itself.
The steam man was a frightful looking object, being painted of a
glossy black, with a pair of white stripes down its legs, and with a
face which was intended to be of a flesh color, but, which was really
a fearful red.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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