Knoxville daily chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1882, 1879-10-09
The Greatest Invention of the Nine
feenah Century.

Mr. EDITOR A few days since you
published an article in which your
readers were informed of a new meth
cd of heating and lighting houses, the
invention of Charles Holland, Phi. ID.
A gentleman of your city met me Sat-
urday last, aud wished to know II wa
ter had really been decomposed 30 as
be converted into fuel and light. The
reply was that it is certainly 80, and
that now is used for those purposes In
Chicago, Philadelphia and elsewhere,
with satisfactory results. L wish 1t
we're in my power to convey to your
readers all the facts connected with
his wonderful invention. L have no
pecuniary interest whatever In this
invention. Mr.. Holland Is stran ger
to me, but, as a lover of science, my
whole nature. is thrilled as L
study this new method OF moving
forward the industries of the world.
The retort for generating the heat and
light is about the size of the top part
of small hat. 1t can be place1 In
any cooking stove or furnace, SO that
noLhiDg new need be puIcba ,ed 10 use
LIZ > IuS1 lis lctOLt mas SWO
compartments, into one of which The
crude petroleum is admitted through a
pipe coming from e eryOir placed in
sone Corner of the room. A lighted
paper thrown under the retort kludles
the oil, and the Woe apparatus Is eu-
closed Iu flame. In a minute the
tubes Connected with the retGTt are
hot, when The water FROM auOther
Lipe zaJ@s into the other compaIt-
ments of the retort, through stop
COCK. AS 1t can pa only in drops II
is converted al once into steam, which
Is Immediately super-heated. La this
state The oxygen OF the water has
greattr affinity for the Car I'd IN o. the
oil than Tor the by drogen, SO that the
latter is set Tree aud burns,
b ing supported by the oxy-
gen anu carbon. The entire
fire box of the sIove is filed Nth flame
not q particle Of dust or smoke or
0dOr. Water anu petroleum are all
consumed, the product being wafer in
q state of vapor, which passes off
through the draft Of the stove. Ia
twenty MINUTES from the time the
fire Is kIpdled the break fact Is ready
fDr the table. e
[ have before me the testimony of
several distinguished chemists, Que of
whom lives in Chicago, who have
made a careful examination OF Mr..
Hollands invention, and pronounce
il a wonderful triumph of inventive
genius. L presume it will Interest
your readers to learn what some of
these scholars says; and, with your
permission, | Will, at a future time,
give their written opinions OF this new
method OF utilizing water.
1t should be stated that the simple
and cheap apparatus, not as costly
| sh )uld say as low priced cooking
stove, manufactures the gas for light
ing the house, which is distributed
through ordinary gas pipes. This gas
makes the best light ever yet intro
duced into our houses, and if I were
a citizen of your town I would say to
all capitalists investing in any new
methods of lighting your city, that
Hollands method will supplant any
now introduced, for its cost, as com-
pared with anything else, is Dext to
nothing.
But some one will say: Is Hollands
method safe? VIII there Lot lie an
explosion through the explosive force
OF the cam? The answer is that an
explosion Is simply impossible, since
the water can pass in only in drops,
and is decomposed and burned as fast
as it is received into the re;ort y
large collection of steam is an i'm ijc.-
sioIlity.
Again, it is asked, "Is the ap paratus
easily managed?'' There is SO little
machinery, and so little to do to put II in
operation aud to regulate il, that au
M ly hn k,t
i'll five minutes how to manage the re-
tort.
Some of your citizens often go to
PhriadelphIa; If they will call al 927
Chestnut street, they can see the ap>
paratus in full operation.
One of the most distinguished judges
in Philadelphia, Hon. Amos Briggs,
says: II consider Hollands Hydraul.
ic Retort, next to steam, the greatest
invention of the present generation,
aud L find by using il in my dwelling
1t is certainly, " Paradise IN the
Kitchen"
VINO is this Charles Holland? He
is from N Massachusetts,, though now
living in Oh icago. His uncle, Luther
Holland, was one of the first inven-
tors of u fire engine, and enriched
himself by 1t. Another uncle, Har
rlson Holland, invented the silk
loom, also the first machine for turn
log follow boxes and other inxeu-
tiuUs. He was the father OF DR.. Ct
Holland, editor of Scrlbner's Maya
Ziue. The father of Charles Holland
was celebrated physician and man
of science. So the greatness of the n
ventiOu is easily accounted for
P M BARTLETT