PS 161M - Page 2

THE GREENPOINT MONITOR MUSEUM
"ROAD SHOW"
April 26, 2002

Presented At:

P.S. 161M

Page - 2

George, introduces the class to the Instructors and explains
that The Greenpoint Monitor Museum is a State Museum
chartered under the University of the State of New York.
He adds that the Museum does not have a home at present
but is visiting New York City school children through its
"Road Show". The Museum's goal is to establish its home in
Greenpoint, Brooklyn, on the East River, where the USS Monitor,
the famous Union ironclad of the Civil War, was built.
Greenpoint is located at the northern end of Brooklyn.
It is separated from Manhattan by the East River and
separated from Queens by the Newtown Creek. Its neighbor to
the North is Long Island City, Queens. Its neighbor to the South
is Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Its neighbor to the West is Manhattan.

Mr. Angelo Vargas, the teacher of Class 6-225, looks on proudly as
his class shows how much they already know and how eager
they are to learn more.
Janice speaks about John Ericsson's boyhood during which
time he learned from his father and the engineers working
with his father on the Gota Canal project in Sweden.
As a boy John Ericsson learned Engineering Drawing,
Mathematics, English and Chemistry. His love for engineering
as a boy prepared him for his future work.
John Ericsson invented a steam fire pump engine in 1829
while he was working for the London firm Braithwaite.
He called the fire engine the "Conqueror". The Conqueror was
pulled by horses and the steam from its boiler worked the water pump.
Previously the water pumps were hand operated, requiring two men to
work a horizontal pole.

The water in the fire engine's boiler came to a boil, the
steam was just right, the fire engine was ready to go.

"Old Abe" the eagle mascot of the 8th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry
looks on as George demonstrates the power of steam using
the steam fire engine. The boiler of the "Road Show" fire engine
not only activates the fire pump to pump water but also makes the fire engine
move. Over the years the steam fire engines improved, no longer requiring
horses to pull them. Steam fire engines were used in many countries
including the USA. The class "Road Show" fire engine is a
model of a German fire engine built in 1903.

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THE GREENPOINT MONITOR MUSEUM
P.O. Box 220378
Brooklyn, New York 11222-0378
718-383-2637