[Public Garden, Boston, Mass./Hoop skirts & sunshades.]

Deloss Barnum was an American inventor and businessman who lived from 1825 to 1873. He is best known for inventing the Barnum's Improved Steam Engine, a more efficient and powerful engine for use in steamboats and other machinery. Barnum was born in New York and raised on a farm. He showed an early aptitude for mechanics and engineering and began working in a machine shop at the age of 14. He later moved to St. Louis, Missouri, where he worked as a machinist and inventor. In the 1850s, Barnum began working on his steam engine design. He realised that existing engines were inefficient and could be improved. His design used a more efficient system of valves and pistons, allowing for greater power and fuel efficiency. Barnum's Improved Steam Engine was a success and he began manufacturing and selling them to steamboat operators and other businesses. He also patented several other inventions, including a steam-powered fire engine and a machine for making paper bags. Barnum died in 1873 at the age of 48, but his legacy lived on through his inventions. His steam engine design was widely used in the late 19th century and he is remembered as an important figure in American industrial history.

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