Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1876-06-22
The Thomas Motor.

The Thomas Motor.
|. yesterday afternoon procession OF
carriages might have been seen making
its way toward the Northwestern Railroad
car-shops. The carriages contained David
A. Gage, Messrs. Prindiville, Thompson
and Sullivan, Of the Board of Public
Works, and Messrs P. A. Hall, G.. NJ.
Mason Samuel Johnson and others. 1t
might have been taken for funeral pro-
ceSSlon, but it wasn't. The party had
been invited to witness the working of a
machine which bids fair, when further
perfected, to astonish the world no less
than did Morse with his telegraph, or
Fulton with his steamboat. 1t was moth
ing more nor less than the Thomas motor
engine, which already eclipses what is
claimed for the Keely motor. They found
It at the Columbia iron-works of John
FeatherStOne, where it had been made, in
place and ready for operation. 1t is a
machine the object of which is to generate
power by the use only of water. 1t con-
slsts, so far as could be seen, Of cast
IRON retOrt, fourteen and half inches high
by twelve inches in diameter, surrounded
by cast iron reservoir, where the pres
sure is obtained, six and quarter by six
inches, on the inside. Within this PLAYS
half-inch rod, about six inches long,
which supports lever about four feet
long, on the extreme end of which is an
iron weight Of over 200 pounds, requiring
to raise it pressure Of $500 pounds, as
computed by Mr.. Thomas, the inventor
The theory is, that water is elastic, and
that this elasticity, combined with the
pressure Of the air will furnish a greater
power than any. other known. This IS
also the principle of the Keely motor In
the bottom of the retort is a valve to
which is attached small rubber hose,
connected with the hydrant, and the ma
chine is ready to go off.
In few seconds after the water
was turned on, the immense weight
began to rise, and soon was up
to an angle Of near y fOrty-five degrees
Thus far it was a success, and this is
about all that the Keely motor will do
Mr.. Thomas says that with this machine
he has generated a pressure of 10000
pounds. Attached to the generator by a
Oue-sixteenth inch brass tube is an engine
Of about one horse power which was kept
running for about an hour with a steady
motion. This is partial realization of
the aims Of both inventors, Keely and
Thomas, but which the former has not
reached, as he has been able only to gen
crate the pressure, run the engine till it is
exhausted, then stop and regenerate and
start up again, while Thomas machine
generates as it eXhausts, and it has run a
whole day at time, or until Mr.. Thomas
shut it off, and there is no reason why it
should not run perpetually, as long as the
flow of water is supplied. The thing now
to be accomplished is to make it available
for large engines, and to so perfect it that
it will not easily get out of repair. Thus
far Mr.. Thomas is unQuestionably correct
in his theory. While he does not claim,
as keely does to generate 5000 pounds
pressure with three thimblefulls of water
in ten seconds, he has generated 10000
pounds pressure in ten seconds with not
over two gallons Of water, as this is all the
water used at time. If the hopes of Mr.
Thomas and his many friends should be
realized, which they seemingly bid fair to
Go, he will soon be raised from the posi-
ton of an obscure mechanic working at a
moderate salary as he now is, to be one of
the worlds greatest benetactors Steam
power would be superseded, danger of fire
and explosions where steam is used would
be obviated, while an immense amount of
expense would be saved.
The inventor of this motor engine, Mr..
Nicholas Thomas, is by birth an English
man, but he has been twenty five years in
this country, and nine years in the employ
of the Northwestern Railroad Company
as master mechanic in its car-shops. He
has devoted but little money and only his
spare hours to the development of his
theory, while his Philadelphia rival has
| spent thousands Of dollars, and an i'm
mense amount of gas, in putting his inven
ton while yet in its incipiency. While
KeelY has been blowing about what he
expected to do, Thomas has been quietly
at work, and without letting the world
know until now, has beaten his rival in
many respects, and even now he is reluc.
tant TO have anything said about it. Nc
capital has been invested, no company
formed, but many of our leading capital
lists are ready to invest in stock company
as soon as Mr.. Thomas will declare his
readiness. He recently sent a challenge
to Kelly to test the relative merits OF
their inventions Chicago Times, June IL
The large model intended to repre-