Wilmington daily commercial., 1875-10-02


| over the keeley Motor in that mine ID operated
| by piece Of common brown SOAP while keeley
is obliged to blow tor some seconds into his from
which fact am confident that he thus impreg-
mates the clements within with the fumes OF
| beer, from which he obtains his power. It has
| been reported to me that Keeley, on hearing
| that obtained my pressure from soap and water
| became abusive and applied to me the epithet
| of old suds and called my apparatus an AR
| tight wash tub. But all he can say or do will
not prevent my machine from etfectually dis
placing his when the merits of the two shall
have been compared. One notable feature of
my apparatus is this THAT when the generator
bursts, Ms it has several times under pressure
that no gauges that have used will indicate,
there is neither report nor scattering frag-
| ments to 'endanger life. This bursting l now
prevent by the addition of valve called the
regulator by which the pressure of ono million
tons per square inch may instantly be reduced
to zero, it being self acting when the pressure
attains the slightest increase beyond that re-
quired and to which the regulator is set"
While he WIS speaking, we heard within the
generator kind OF simmering noise, and the
gauge which he had attached now indicated one
thousand pounds per square nch Incredible
But there it was plainly pointed out and the
pressure rapidly increasing. Mr.. s. now de-
tached the guage and excnsed himself saying
he would return presently with au engine he bad
invented for utilizing this tremendous power
As soon as he left the room we commenced q
closer examination of the machine, and imagin-
ing such an enormous pressure must be accom-
panied by corresponding heat, We cautiously
placed our hand on the container but it was
the coolest head We over touched
considering the irasoibility the. machine
seemed subsequently to manifest.
Curiosity, that unfortunate characteristic of
our maternal parent, led us to press gently upon
the spring handle Of the proboecs- like 'starter'
before mentioned. Better had it been for ue to
have seized r hot-tempered old gentleman BY
the nose, for knowing his resentment we would
to our utter dismay, our leg was embraced with
lightning rapidlty BY the two arm-ke pipes
(the 'respirator" and "pulsator,'D of the ina-
chine and huggel painfully tight against its
body. The movement WAS accompanied by Il
strange, angry, grumbliDg noise within the gen
orator, and now it vibrated from ono foot to the
other In the manner OF wrestler who would
make sure of his advantage before attempting
to throw his opponent. For an instant we were
paralyzed with fright, it occurred to us that n
twirl of those long arms might crush every bone
in our body.
We looked down and observed those two pol
ished plugs in ts head ike upturned eyes light
ed with malicious CLEAN. Recovering our pres
ence OF mind, and struggling to escape from it's
clutch our knee pressed The "starter" further in.
Instantly the arms released our leg and whrling
once round, struck the floor a tremendous dou-
BILE blow, turning the machine a complete
sonersault backward against the Joor, which was
closed with slam and we were locked in alone
with this monster OF animated metal.
In this, its first essay at gymnastics. We were
jerked violently to the floor by the "pulsator"
catching in coat pocket, tearing the skirt half
Off, while the respirator pipe slit the leg of our
pants quite up to the wastband. This ,cas Il
plight FOR tho editor OF a religious newspaper
Before escaping from that room we resolved to
change our paper to a semi-religious sheet, re-
serving One half Of its pages on which we might
print our anathemas against Kelley motors,
% force generators " and all such internal ma
chimes But we had not long to contemplate the
tattered state OF our wardrobe. vicious NUT
tering near the door Informed us that it behoov
ed US to look for place of safety. We even
offered, mentally, a laage sum for convenient
lodging place, but our offer was not
accepted. We must move with dis
patch, for the muttering is growing
louder andlnow the ends of the arms OF the APP
paratus are indulging in an inpatient drumming
on the floor. Some new movement now turns
the generator face about and there 1t stands, or
rather rocks, as though settling for spring |
and just we step toward the work bench to
mount to the top of a closet, the machine gives |
an angry snort and hiss and rushes toward the |
bench positively cutting us Off. Until now we
had not fully realized the extent Of our danger |
in being confined with this hideous " jack in the
box" whose rapid movement, even i'll their ap- |
parent uncertainty seemed to be guided by some |
soru of fiendsh instinct having no other object |
than our destruction There the thing stood, |
or rather danced like an imp OF dark |
ness, now balanced on one foot, then
on the other. with an occasional turn |
with waltzing motion as one or other OF the |
arms touched the floor in their uneasy flourishes. |
After each of these pirouotts it would always |
face us with that grinning physiognomy in
most irrtatingimanner, while in the buzzing and
clacking its valves kept up we could imagine 1t
said :" Haven't got you? Can't get away-can't
Ina Look out J. Aud We had
to look out, for it commenced the very devils
tattoo with the ends Of its arms upon the
loor, ending with that famous double
,a,,1t Nfhd t..-l
towards us We were astonshed at the agility
with which We avoided 1T as it passed us and was
arrested by the wall from which it peeled al
east a square yard Of plaster. For
moment it seemed istaggered,, and taking
of this We jumped upon the work
bench aud viewed the situation. What the pres
sure now equaled there was no telling. We were
afraid to attempt to reach the door, for we now
regarded the machine as a creature OF Intelli-
,ence-but woefully misdirected Intelligence
ind felt that those eyes (plngs m they were)
n the top Of it's bald head were continually
Watching us. What were We to do 7 Nothiug5
We would assume the aggressive
And with this decision we took up a hammer
rom the bench and threw it with all our
striking the machine fairly on the
lead which it seemed to shake with indignation.
The shock must. have communicated some
notion to the "starter" for the machine wadded
quickly from the wall aided by its long arms, and
Yhlrling like dancing Dervish made directly
'or the work bench where we STOOD We had
barely time to ascend to the top Of the closet
when the bench received a most murderous blow
which would have crushed our feet had we re-
NAMED below. As soon as we could crawl from
lnder our battered silk hat, which contact with
he ceiling had converted into an extinguisher of
,ur daylight by crowding it down to our chin,we
ooked down upon the now frightfully agitated
,nemy, whose gymnastics We're laugh-provoking
hough at the same time terrifying. We had in
niger given our hat furious hurl and landed it
,idewise upon the head Of the perambulatihg
apparatus which presented the .most ludicrous
igure wearing 6orroteed hat and charging like
drunken Punchinello at every thing in the
'oom. We became sarcastic, and generously
,ffered our tattered pants and coat to the me-
alic promenader. Our thoughts then entered
mother channel. We asked ourselves how long
We were to remain treed up in that turkey -roost
.mong the cob-webs2 Humiliating in the eA-
remel We had suffered all this from that mis-
,rable little secondhand tea-kette. But re-
,enge is sweet il its object is even nothing more
han that wheel-barrow load of old brass and
ron which was then cutting capers about the
ioor like crippled dwarf.
Our revenge was at hand. The shelves OF the
,loset we're laden with variously shaped pieces
If iron, light and heavy, bolts, tools, etc. and
We made an earnest business engagement of