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Title: Letter from Baltimore [U.S.], to The Belfast Mercury
ID4001
CollectionIrish Emigration Database
File1871-80/17
Year1875
Senderunknown
Sender Genderunknown
Sender Occupationunknown
Sender Religionunknown
OriginBaltimore, Maryland, USA
DestinationBelfast, N.Ireland
RecipientThe Belfast Mercury
Recipient Genderunknown
Relationshipre a measuring instrument invented by a James Diam
SourceThe Belfast Mercury, no.96, vol.II, 1 July 1875, p.3, c.1.
ArchiveThe Linenhall Library, N. Ireland.
Doc. No.9406039
Date19/04/1875
Partial Date
Doc. TypeEMG
LogDocument added by LT, 13:05:1994.
Word Count286
Genre
Note
TranscriptExtract of a letter from Baltimore
April 19

"By a gentleman from Somerset county, we are informed that the ingenious,
Mr James Diamond, architect in the county afore said, has invented and
brought into practise, an instrument so curiously calculated, as to
determine the right line, distance, bearing and magnitude of any object
by sight only, whether accessible or inaccessible, without change of
place or station, by a method entirely new. The utility of such an
instrument, must be highly acceptable to those who are practitioners
in gunnery, navigation, surveying, etc., when it is considered, that
the application is adopted to the meanest capacity. What renders this
invention the more extraordinary is, that the most distant hint of the
principle on which it is calculated, is not to be met within Euclid,
or any other ancient or modern authors, which is no small honour to
the inventor, and to this country in general."

It is mentioned as an absolute fact, that the instrument of perspective,
so much the theme of conversation in America, and invented by Mr James
Diamond, which our correspondent saw; was shown to the Dublin Society
for their patronage and afterwards to that of London; but as this man
had no immediate friend to recommend him, his merit, which from the
nature of the machine is now universally allowed, sunk into obsscurity.
Mr Diamond is a native of this neighbourhood and was formerly in the
employment of the late Lord Dungannon, as principal carpenter, at
Belvoir; he afterwards stood as an unsuccessful candidate (in
conjunction with Mr John Rabb) for undertaking the building of our
poor-house, but English interest pervailed against native merit, and
Mr Ed. Foote was voted architect. The consequence was, that both those
valuable persons emigrated to America.