The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1844-09-24 00:00:00

SAILING MACHINE OR LAND CUTTER.

At the monthly meeting of the Polytechnic Society of
this town, Mr. Grantham, the president, exhibited a heau-
tiful model of a machine constructed with four wheels,
and propelled by sails similar to rn ordinary cutter. He
stated that thie e.nehine was iny, eted by the late Sir James
Oxenden, of Su-.ee, end tie ,;:del had lately been pre-
sented to him (Mr. G.) :i.e baronet's son. Having
made some remarks es lee advantage to mechanical
men of being able to exeedne machines, even should they
not be of general utility, provided the means adopted were
of a scientific character, and well adapted to perform the
office for which they were intended, Mr. Grantham pro-
ceeded to describe the contrivance then before the meet-
ing—he thought it might be considered under this class;
but, although not of general application, there were situa-
tions in which it could be rendered available. Many sail-
ing machines had been made, but he could not hear of
any that had been attended with the same success as that
in the possession of Mr. Oxenden. The original ma-
chine was of large dimensions, and had been used on
various occasions during the last ten years. Like the
model before them it had a triangular body—its width
over the front wheels was 12 feet, end at the hind wheels
about 5 feet. It was about 20 feet long, not including the
bowsprit, which was about 12 feet. It was steered by a
tiller attached to the hind wheels, which swiveled simi-
larly to the front wheels of a four-% heeled carriage, and
was very manageable. It had attained a speed of nearly
35 miles per hour on Ascot Heath. It would beat to
windward like a sailing vessel, but much more rapidly—
running within 34 points of the wind. Mr. Grantham
explained his opinion of the causes of this superiority.
The limit of power that a sail possessed, when on a wind,
was to be found in the proportion of force which it ex-
erted in the direction of keel, compared with the amount
of resistance in the vessel itself. Now, with a floating
body the resistance increases as the square of the velocity,
but with a carriage on lend the resistance is nearly the
same at all velocities ; therefore to maintain sufficient
speed to perform the necessary evolutions in beating to
windward requires much less force in the latter case than
in the former. The same reasoning applies even when
running before the wind.
Mr. GRANTHAM stated that. he tried the model on the
Bootle Sands, and it seemed in every respect to confirm
all that he had heard of its qualifications from Mr. Oxen-
den: indeed be considered it a highly scientific and inter-
esting machine, refl,cting great credit on the inventer.
The model may be seen at the office of this paper dur-
ing the day ; and may be afterwards inspected at Mr.
Grantham's office, in Orange. court, Castle-street,—that
' gentleman having kindly offered to show and explain it to
any one desirous of knowing its principle and mode of
construction. The principle of propelling carriages by
sails is, as we have stated, by no means new, but we have
seen no machine so well contrived, to avert the danger of
upsetting, and to beat to windward, and, with a fresh.
breeze, to attain a high speed, as this. There is a wind-
carriage at Southport, of a plaine‘ and less scientific kind,
which frequently, in the summer season, conveys pleasure
parties along the sands from that place to the boat-house
at Formby, and occasionally at a good speed.

[The following, which appeared last week in our
Town Edition, is re-inserted for the perusal of
distant Subscribers.]

MANCHESTER.-MONDAY EVENING, SEPT. 16.