Fayette County herald. [volume] (Washington [Washington Court House], Fayette County, O. [Ohio]) 1860-1???, 1874-01-22
A Steam Jackass.

From the St Louis Globe
A man living near Nashville, WASH
ington county, Illinois, has recently
invented an apparatus to take, the
place of whistles for railroad signals,
steamboats,, fire alarms, factory calls
and the like. He calls it the "Eele-
phoG." but the popular pane is. the
Steam Jackass." The inventor is q
stock farmer, and has devoted much
of his time to raising mules, whose
habits and anatomy he appears to have
studied carefully. On his farm there
was a mule of more than ordinary
vocal power, whose voice could
be heard a distance of four miles in
every direction, when be once got
warmed up to his work. Fhe 0WReF
computed that if he could set ia no
ton all the air in a circle Of eight
miles i'll diameter, or % miles in CIR
cumferenee, or an area of so square
miles or $4,000 acres, q 100 horse
power jackass could, all other things
being equal, rival any other Hoise yet
discovered. He established the fact
that the power of an ordinary ass is
about One-twelfth of an Indicated
steam power. A steam engine Qf L.
600 horse power would therefore be-
equal to the power of 1900 asses.
| Wherefore, if one ass can fill circle
eight miles in diameter, 1900 jack
asses or one 1 200 horse power jack
ass would fill circle of s5 600 nilessa
in diameter The inventor thoFvey
all this over carefully, arriving >
deduction that ifhe could take nsa~
vocal apparatus and apply
greater power, he could proc 80
larger and more satisfactory ~
of sound. Filled with this idea, stoIr1- I,rl0
the mule to death, and carefully i to
cred the head from the body. He tbsds
injected solutions of chloride Of zinc
and arsenic into the veins and arteries,
Of the head and neck, to prevent de-
cay of the flesh. India rubber Was dis
solved in sulphurio ether, and the solu
ton forced torough the tFaehea or
wind pipe and through ethe laryRx or
throat The ether eVaporsted, leaving
film of rubber on the meRbrane,
and the injection and eVaporation
were continued until the rubber film
was found of sufficient thickness
These organs were then subjected to
vapor of sulphur, heated to 500 de-
| SEGGS, Dy WlllSA PAOCSSS bAS AoO0G4
was vulcanized, its elasticity increased
and the membrane rendered impeFVious
to steam. These preparations sORR-
pleted, short piece OF rubber hose
was attached to the Wind-pipe and con-
: nected with a steam boiler.
In q moment of agony to the iaVent-
or, as he placed the ass-head in the
hands of an assistant, and slowly
pulled the valve open; . moment of
thrilling interest. As the steam Wss
, turned on it passed into the wind pipe,
expelling the air and producing q
sigh, followed by a groan. a snsrt, =
cackle, then a violent coughing and
i; sHeezing. AS full head of steam was
" turned on, the most fearful noise, the
most frightful guffaw, the most vo-
ciferous bray that ever assailed NOR
J tai ears, were produced: The lips
! contracted, disclosing a terrible array
of teeth, the features developed 8
l satanic grim; the jaws raised and fell
# as the steam crowded the passages,
$ and the ears participated IN the gen.
eral movement, giving to the head OF
the ass an animated and excited ap-
pearance. The man who was holding
CIS uSoO SdLSO upOh ~ q l3ONASHes "ANA
~ dilated eyes, colorless cheeks. knock
:. ing knees and protruding tongue
- then, suddenly losing all interest in
the performance, he emigrated. As
for the inventor, his SUCCESS exceeded
y his most sanguine ahticipations, FoI
NJ an instant he contemplated the head
Ibis countenance working with every
manifestation of intense delight; then
he too started, probably to learn th'
preatest distance to which that voice
would penetrate, leaving it still il
operation, with all steam on. Th'
head had now got fully warmed up t.
lie its work, and that bray went hurtlins
ly through the universe. 1t was al
d acoustic earthquake; 3 sky shake; |
in was a storm, hurricane of sound,
1t tornado, a cyclone of noise; it was
> donkey carnival, jackass Fourth o
IL July. 1t was the greatest sCccess tn
r. world has ever known.