Standing on an open plot in Manhattan near Madison Avenue and 59th Street in the early 1890s was a mechanical contraption that would have been an inspiration to Cartoonist Rube Goldberg. Snaked around the plot in a vast maze of loops, twists and double turns were several miles of pipe, through which was pumped a grimy mixture of water and pulverized coal. Purpose was to demonstrate the possibilities of pumping coal from the mines, an idea which was pronounced feasible in its day by men like Frick and Carnegie, and won an award...
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