chinery in connection with power printing-presses. The first machine that was ever constructed and successfully operated was built at his expense, and worked under his direction, in the office of the " Republican." He then sold his interest, and en- tered the Lawrence scientific school of Harvard, where he became a special pupil of Louis Agassiz, and was graduated in 1851. Mr. Wells continued at Harvard as assistant, and was lecturer on phys- ics and chemistry at Groton academy, Mass. In Cambridge he began, with George Bliss, in 1849, the publication of the "Annual of Scientific Dis- covery," which he continued until 186(5. He in- vented in 1856 improvements in preparing tex- tile fabrics. During 1857-'8 he was a member of the publishing-firm of G. P. Putnam and Co., New York. He compiled " Science of Common Things " (New York, 1857) ; " Elements of Natural Philoso- phy " (1857) : " Principles and Applications of Chemistry " (1858) ; and " First Principles of Ge- ology " (1861), of which works two were translated into Chinese, and that on chemistry was adopted as a text-book at the U. S. military academy. In 1864 he issued an essay on " Our Burden and our Strength," which was considered " one of the most original and startling brochures of political litera- ture." The Loyal publication society of New York reprinted it, and it was published" in England. French and German translations were issued abroad, and its entire circulation probably ex- ceeded 200,000 copies. In 1865 he was called to Washington, and made chairman of a commission to' consider the subject of raising by taxation the necessary revenue to supply the wants of the gov- ernment. On the completion of his report in Janu- ary, 1866, he was appointed special commissioner of the revenue, which office was created for him, and later under his direction the bureau of statis- tics was. formed. He visited Europe in 1867, under a government commission, and investigated indus- tries competitive with those of the United States. Although he was originally a believer in the eco- nomic system of protection, his experience resulted in his acceptance of free-trade doctrines. His term of office expired in 1870, and he was appointed chairman of a commission to examine the laws re- lating to local taxation in the state of New York. In 1872 he was invited to lecture on political science in Yale. He was a delegate to the Demo- cratic national conventions of 1872 and 1880, and in 1876 was a candidate for congress from Con- necticut. He was appointed by the U. S. court in 1876 one of the trustees and receivers of the Alabama and Chattanooga railroad, and in four- teen months rescued the corporation from bank- ruptcy, and expended a considerable sum for im- provements and repairs, without incurring an ad- ditional dollar of indebtedness. In 1877 he was ap- pointed by the state board of canal commissioners chairman of a commission to consider the subject of tolls on the New York canals, and in 1878 made an exhaustive report. He was one of the trustees of the bondholders that bought, under foreclosure and sale, and reorganized the Erie railway. In 1879 he was elected by the associated railways of the United States a member of the board of arbi- tration, to which they agreed to refer all disputes and arrangements for " pooling " or apportioning their respective earnings. Mr. Wells was invited to deliver the annual address before the Cobden club in 1873, and in 1874 was elected a foreign as- sociate of the French academy of political science, also in 1877 a foreign associate of the Accademia dei Lincei of Italy, receiving its medal of honor in 1863. The degree of M. D. was given him by Berkshire medical college in 1863, that of LL. D. by Will- iams in 1871, and that of D. C. L. by Oxford in 1874. He was president of the American social science association in 1875-9, president of the New London county (Conn.) historical society in 1880, and of the American free-trade league in 1881. He has been a prolific writer of pamphlets on eco- nomic subjects ; some of the best known of which are " The Creed of the Free-Trade " (1875) ; " Pro- duction and Distribution of Wealth " (1875) ; " Why we Trade and How we Trade " (1878) ; " The Silver Question, o,r the Dollar of the Fathers vs. the Dollar of the Sons " (1878) and " Principles of Taxation " (1886). In book-form he has published "Year- Book of Agriculture " (Philadelphia, 1856); " Wells's Science of Common Things" (New York, 1856); " Report of U. S. Revenue Commission " (Wash- ington, 1866), " Reports U. S. Special Commis- sioners of Revenue (4 vols., 1866-'9); "Robinson Crusoe's Money" (New York, 1876); "Our Mer- chant Marine: how it Rose, Increased, became Great, Declined, and Decayed" (1882); "A Primer of Tariff Reform " (1884) ; " Practical Economics, a Collection of Essavs " (1885) ; " A Study of Mexi- co" (1887); "A Short and Simple Catechism" (1888) and " Relation of the Tariff to Wages " (1888). He has edited Charles Knight's "Knowledge is Power "(Boston, 1856); Richard F. Burton's " Pil- grimage to El-Medinah and Meccah " (New York, 1857) ; " Things not Generally Known " (1857) ; and Sir Benjamin C. Brodie's "Psychological Inqui- ries," with notes (1857).
WELLS, Erastus, congressman, b. in Jefferson
county, N. Y., 2 Dec, 1823. He received a common-
school education, and at the age of nineteen, being
thrown on his own resources, removed to St. Louis,
Mo. He established the first omnibus line in that
city, and subsequently the first street railroad, was
for fifteen years a member of the city council,
served as president of the Missouri railroad com-
pany, and was a director of several corporations.
He was afterward chosen to congress as a Demo-
crat, and served through four successive terms,
from 4 March, 1869, till 3 March, 1877.
WELLS, Henry, expressman, b. in New Hampshire, 12 Dec, 1805 ; d. in Glasgow, Scotland, 10 Dec, 1878. He early entered the express business, becoming an agent for Henry F. Harnden, and in 1841 suggested to George Pomeroy the desirability of establishing an express from Albany to Buffalo. Subsequently Crawford Livingston acted on the proposition, and weekly trips were made between the two points. Beginning in 1843, railroad communication having been established between the two cities, trips were made daily. The firm-name was at first Pomeroy and Co., but was altered to Livingston, Wells and Pomeroy, and, on the retirement of the latter, became Livingston and Wells. In 1845 the business was extended westward from Buffalo to Chicago, with William G. Fargo in charge of that division, under the name of Wells and Co. Meanwhile they established a letter express to carry communications from New York to Buffalo for six cents, while the government charge for the same distance was twenty-five cents. Every means was taken by the National authorities to destroy the practice, but without success. In 1846 a European express was established, with offices in London and Paris. Competition by various companies resulted in the consolidation of the different organizations in 1850, and the formation of the American express company, of which Mr. Wells was elected president. In 1832 he was associated with William G. Fargo and others in forming the firm of Wells, Fargo and Co., for conduct-
