thomas jefferson sometimes figured as an inventor himself，and there is an anecdote which vividly portrays the character ofhis mind.
not far from monticello，and within the bounds of hisestate，was a solitary and lofty hill，so situated as to be ex-posed to the blast of two currents of wind，coming up throughvalleys on different sides of it.
mr.jefferson thought this would be an admirable positionfor a wind-mill；and having recently invented a model for asaw-mill to be moved by vertical sails，he sent for an engineerand submitted it to his judgment.the man of professionalscience examined his plan，and listened with profound attentionand deference to mr.jefferson's explanations of it，and to hiseloquent illustration of the advantages it would secure.hevery attentively heard him through，but made no comment uponthe plan.
“what do you think of my idea？”asked mr.jefferson.
“i think it is the most ingenious one，”was the reply，“anddecidedly the best plan for a saw-mill i have ever seen.”
jefferson was delighted，and forthwith entered into a writ-ten agreement for the erection of such a mill on the neighboringheight.
托马斯·杰斐逊有时把自己扮演成一个发明家。有一个轶事可以生动地描述他这种思想特征。
离蒙蒂塞罗不远，在他的庄园范围之内，有一座荒凉而高耸的山峰，它的位置正好处于两股从它的不同侧面穿过山谷而来的气流之中。杰斐逊先生想这可能是风车的一个极好的位置，而且他最近已经为锯木厂发明了一种由垂直翼板推动的模型，他派人请来一位工程师，将模型交给他请他作出判断。这位具有专业科学知识的人检查了他的计划，以极大的专心与尊敬听取了杰斐逊先生对该计划的解释，以及他对它将带来的好处所做的雄辩的说明。
“你认为我的计划怎么样？”杰斐逊说。
“我认为这是一个最富有独创性的计划，”他回答说，“而且显然是我曾经见过的最好的锯木厂计划。”
杰斐逊非常高兴，并立即签订了一个在临近的高地上建立这样一个工厂的书面协议。