Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume V.djvu/117

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.

COLTON 113 ted improvements suggested by the experience of officers. He manufactured these pistols in an armory at Whitneyville, near New Haven, Conn.; but other orders following, he pro- cured more commodious workshops in Hart- ford, and began business on his own account. In 1852, finding that his means for manufac- turing were insufficient to supply the great de- mand which had arisen for revolvers, in conse- quence of the emigration to California and Aus- tralia, he purchased 250 acres of low meadow land in the S. part of the city of Hartford, sur- rounded it with an immense dike to prevent its annual overflow by the river, and began the erec- tion within it of the armory, which has since become one of the most extensive hi the world. The original building, which is of Portland freestone, consists of two parallel structures, 500 ft. in length and 60 and 40 ft. respectively in breadth, connected by a central one 250 ft. by 50, the whole being in the form of the letter H. In 1861 a second building, similar in most respects, was erected ; and in connection with these are offices, warerpoms, and other out- buildings. "Within the dike were subsequently built numerous dwellings for workmen and other structures, the whole involving an ex- penditure of more than $2,500,000. This armo- ry is capable of manufacturing over 1,000 fire- arms a day. A part of the establishment is devoted to the construction of machinery for making the revolving weapons, and from it were supplied the machines used for that pur- pose in the armory of the British government at Enfield and in that of the Russian govern- ment at Tula. All the accessories of the wea- pons, balls, cartridges, bullet moulds, powder flasks, lubricators, &c., are made at the armo- ry, from models of Mr. Colt's or developed from his ideas by his workmen. Besides the revol- ver, Mr. Colt invented a submarine battery for the defence of harbors, which has met with the approval of distinguished naval officers. He devised also a method of insulating submarine telegraphic cables, and in 1843 laid a cable from Coney and Fire islands to the city of New York, which was operated with success. He received from almost all the European govern- ments, and from several Asiatic sovereigns, decorations, medals, diplomas, and other tokens of their appreciation of his merits. COLTOX, Calvin, an American clergyman and political writer, born at Longmeadow, Mass., in 1789, died in Savannah, Ga., March 13, 1857. He graduated at Yale college in 1812, studied theology at Andover, and was ordained and settled in the Presbyterian church at Batavia, N. Y., in 1815. On account of the failure of his voice, he relinquished preaching in 1826, began writing for periodicals, and went to Eng- land in 1831 as a newspaper correspondent. On his return in 1835 he published a work en- titled "Four Years in Great Britain." About this time he became a member of the Episcopal church, took orders, and wrote a book entitled "Thoughts on the Religious State of the Coun- try, and Reasons for preferring Episcopacy." But soon returning to his former occupation, he distinguished himself as a writer of political pamphlets and fugitive pieces, in which he de- fended the views of the whig party. Those which had the widest circulation were a series called the " Junius Papers," published original- ly in 1840, republished hi 1844 with additions. He edited a newspaper hi Washington from 1842 to 1844 ; in 1846 published the " Life and Times of Henry Clay;" in 1848, "Public Economy for the United States," containing an elaborate argument in favor of a protective policy; and in 1853, " The Genius and Mission of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States." In 1852 he was appointed professor of public economy in Trinity college, Hartford. He also published "Private Cor- respondence of Henry Clay" (1855), "Last Seven Years of the Life of Henry Clay " (1856) and " Speeches of Henry Clay " (2 vols., 1857). COLTOff, Caleb Charles, an English writer, born in 1780, died by his own hand at Fontaine- bleau, France, April 28, 1832. He graduated at Cambridge in 1801, was chosen fellow of King's college, and hi 1818 obtained the vicar- age of Kew and Petersham. But he contracted habits of life which destroyed all the hopes formed from his brilliant abilities. He became a gambler, and was involved in so much em- barrassment that he was obliged to flee to America. He afterward went to Paris, where he acted for a time as correspondent of the London " Morning Chronicle." He is said to have won in Paris 25,000 at play within two years; but he committed suicide through ap- prehension of a surgical operation that had become necessary. His principal works are : "Hypocrisy, a Satirical Poem" (1812); "Na- poleon, a Poem" (1812); "Lines on the Con- flagration of Moscow " (1816) ; and " Lacon, or Many Things in Few Words" (1820). The last named is a collection of ethical aphorisms, and is the most popular of his works. COLTOff, Walter, an American clergyman and writer, born in Rutland, Vt., May 9, 1797, died in Philadelphia, Jan. 22, 1851. He gradua- ted at Yale college in 1822, at Andover theolo- gical seminary in 1825, and became professor of moral philosophy and belles-lettres in the scientific and military academy at Middletown, Conn. In 1830 he edited a journal in Wash- ington, and in the following year was appoint- ed chaplain in the navy, and ordered to the Mediterranean. While on that station he gathered the materials for his " Ship and Shore in Madeira, Lisbon, and the Mediterranean" (New York, 1835), "Visit to Athens and Constantinople" (1836), "Land and Lee in the Bosporus and^Egean" (1851), and "Notes on France and Italy" (1851). In 1835 he was assigned to the naval station at Charles- town, Mass. ; in 1837 he edited the " Coloniza- tion Herald," and in 1838 was assigned to the chaplaincy of the naval station at Philadelphia. In 1845 he was ordered to the Pacific coast,