Printing by steam had long attracted the attention of persons engaged in the art, and many essays had been made in this direction by different inventors, both in this country and in Europe.  The most successful results were the Adams press, the invention of Mr. Isaac Adams, of Boston, Mass., and the Napier press, that of a British artisan.  It was the latter which was the means of identifying Mr. Hoe with the steam press.

The Napier press was introduced into this country in 1830, by the proprietors of the National Intelligencer, but when it arrived, these gentlemen were not able to release it from the Custom-house.  Major Noah, himself the proprietor of a newspaper, was at that time Collector of the port of New York, and he, being anxious to see the press in operation, requested Mr. Hoe to put it together.  Mr. Hoe performed this task successfully, although the press was a novelty to him, and was permitted to take models of its various parts before it was reshipped to England.  It was found to be a better press than any that had ever been seen in this country, and the Commercial Advertiser, of New York, and the Chronicle, of Philadelphia, at once ordered duplicates of it from England.

Mr. Hoe was very much pleased with this press, but believed that he could construct a much better one.  “To this end he despatched his new partner, Mr. Sereno Newton, to England to examine all the improvements in machinery there, and bring home samples of such as he thought might be advantageously adopted in this country.  Mr. Newton, besides being an ingenious mechanic, was well-read in books, and was considered one of the first mathematicians in New York.  Returning from his mission, he constructed a new two-cylinder press, which soon superseded all others then in use.”  Mr. Hoe’s health failed, compelling him, in 1832, to retire from the business.

Young Richard M. Hoe had been brought up in his father’s business, after receiving a fair education.  He inherited his father’s inventive genius, combined with a rare business capacity, and from the first was regarded as the future hope of the establishment.  Upon the withdrawal of his father, a partnership was established between himself, his brother Robert, Mr. Newton, and his cousin Matthew Smith, but the style of the firm remained unchanged.

Richard Hoe’s first invention was conceived in 1837, and consisted of a valuable improvement in the manufacture of grinding saws.  Having obtained a patent for it in the United States, he visited England in that year for the same purpose.  By his process circular saws may be ground with accuracy to any desired thickness.  He readily obtained a patent in England, as the excellence of his invention commended it to every one.  While there he gave especial attention to the improvements which had been made in the printing press, in the manufacture of which his firm was still largely engaged.  Returning to New York, he devoted