WELD. 415 WELLES. nesscs (1839), a book composed of extracts from Southern papers, which luid a {,'reat iiillucncc ; and iilavcrij and the Internal Slave Trade in the United States (1841). WELBE, WELD, or WELLS, Thomas (C.15LI0- KKi'J) . A I'uiitan divine. Ho was born in England, and graduated at Cambridge in IGl.'i. He was minister at Terliu'j;, Essex, in l(i24-:!l, when he was deprived for nonconformity and went to America. He was the first pastor of the church at Ro.xbury, and opjiosed the religious views of Anne Hutchinson (q.v.) at her trial, 1(137; he aided John Eliot and Richard Mather in the preparation of the tlai/ I'srilm Hook (q.v.). He went to England with Hugh Peters as agent for the colony (1041), bnt did not return; was pastor of a church at Gateshead (1(;49), but was ejected for non-conformity, lflG2, He published A Short Story of the Ifise, Rcir/n, and Ruin of tile Antinomians, Familists, and Libertines that Infected the Churches of Neic England (1644) ; and A Further Dineovery of That Generation . . . Called Quakers (1654). WELDING (from tceld, variant of icell, in- lluenced by Dan. vwlde. to boil, from AS. toeal- lan, OllG. icallan, to boil, well np). The process by which certain substances, such as iron and platinum, horn and tortoise-shell, are united when in a softened state due to being heated. The welding of iron consists in heating the two pieces until they attain a plastic and slightly viscous condition, placing them in contact with each other, and hammering or pressing the soft parts together. The process with other sub- stances is essentially the same. In recent years use has been made of the electric arc for welding iron, and more particularly for welding street railway rails after they are laid in the track. For this latter purjiose the electric welding equipment, consisting usually of four cars, is run out on the track to be welded. The first car carries an air compressor and sand blast, by which the rails at the joints are thoroughly cleaned after removing the splice plates. The second ear carries the 'welder,' which is simply a large transformer with jaws that can be clamped ujion the rail. By means of these jaws a bar of steel is clamped to the rail on each side with a pressure of about 1400 pounds. Current is then turned on and continued about two minutes. This heats the splice bars and rails sufficiently to cause the metals to flow and the bars and rails to unite firmly. Current is then turned off and the clamping pressure is increased to about 35 tons and continued until the joint cools. This process is repeated twice for each joint. The third and fourtli cars contain ap- paratus for steadying the voltage of the current taken from the trolley wire and for transform- ing it from about 500 volts direct to the welder transformer, which in turn transforms it to from two to four volts and 30,000 to 50,000 amperes. WEL'DON", Walter (1832-85). An English chemist, celebrated for his discoveries and im- provements in the commercial branch of the science. He was born at Loughborough. He was for a time engaged in liis father's manufacturing business. In 1860 he founded a monthly entitled Weldon's Register of -Facts and Occurrences Re- lating to Literature, the Sciences, and the Arts, which lived four years. From that time dated a scientific career the more remarkable as the inventor had never performed an experiment when he took out the first patents for his man- ganese regeneration process. By the time man- ganese process (patented in 1807, after the mag- nesia-manganese process, l)ut not applied com- mercially till 1809) the price of bleaching ))owiicr was reduced £0 a ton, while paper, calico, and the like became much cheaper in consequence. A third, the magnesia-chlorine or IVchiney-Wel- don process, was patented in 1870, but did not prove couMuercially successful. WELHAVEN, vel'hil'ven, Joiiax Sebastiax CAMMEitMK.JER (I.S07-73). A Norwegian poet, born at Bergen, and educated at the Cnivcrsity of Christiania. In 1825, while yet a student, he opposed himself to the patriotic but wild and tasteless first attempts of Wergeland to form a national literature. In 1832 he attacked the lat- tcr's poetry in a bitter pamphlet which raised a. great storm and made W'elhaven the champion of the cultivated and conservative classes. He followed this up by the publication of a cycle of satirical sonnets and ultimately won over erge- land as well as Norwegian writers generally to his literary standard. In 1840 he became lec- turer and in 184(i professcu' of philosophy in the University of Christiania. Welhaven's poetry by its perfection of form and delicate feeling for nature holds a permanent place in Norwegian literature. He published volumes of poems in 1839, 1845, 1848, 1851, and 1860, as well as two literary studies, Tlolberg (1854), and Erald and 'Noricegian Poetry (1803). His collected works were published in 1807-69. Consult: Halvorsen, Norsk Forfatterlesikon (Christiania, 1885-90) ; and Jaeger, Illusferet Norsk Literaturhistorie, vol. ii. (Christiania, 1890). WEL'LAND CANAL. An important Cana- dian ship canal. 27 miles long, between Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, begun in 1824 and com- pleted in 1833. Its original dimensions have been greatly enlarged and there is now a depth of 14 feet. WEL'LEK, Sam. A witty and faithful cock- ney engaged by Mr. Pickwick, at the opening of Dickens's Pickwick Papers, as a body servant. He is the son of a portly and rubicund London coachman whose reverence for his offspring is second only to his fear of 'widders.' The char- acter is modeled on a comic actor, Sam Vale, who was well known in London for his wit and repartee, and whose sayings were familiar quo- tations in the mouths of the people. The por- trait was soon recognized and saved the book. WELLES, welz, Gideon ( 1802-78) . An Ameri- can statesman. He was born in Glastonbury. Conn., and was a student for a time, without graduating, at Norwich L^niversity. He early entered politics and, as editor. and part ow-ner of the Hartford Times from 1826 to 1836, he ex- erted a powerful influence in his State in favor of the Democratic Party. He was an enthusiastic adherent of Andrew .Jackson, and w'as said to have been the first to advocate his election to the Presidency. From 1827 to 1835 he was a member of the State Legislature, where he advo- cated the abolition of imprisonment for debt and opposed a proposed measure for excluding from the courts such witnesses as did not believe in 'a future state of rewards and punishments.' He
