Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1881-05-02
THE KELLY MOTOR.
An Astonishing Account of Recent
Exper1ments-The Invention, or
the HumbuR, Ofthe CenGury-Some
OF the Men Who Have Ratrh in II.

~. Y. Correspondence Netcs and Courier
1t will probably amaze most of nv read
ers to know that the Keelv motor matter {,
just now booming. Some exhibitions re
Gently given before prominent New Workers
have been described in one or two newsna,
pers, and the old story to the effect thai
keelY Will soon send an ocean steamer Ia
England at the expense of a bucket OF
water has been reyamped with additions,
Went To-Day 10 see Frank G. Green,
well known business man. who was
for years at the head of an irnor.
tant iron business in this CITY. Four
years ago Green failed In business. the fail
ure being attributed by many persons to
the time and attention he had given to the
Keely motor, besides which he offered 500.
900 worth of the stock among his assets
Strange to say, although the creditors ain.
ly attributed his misfortune to the KeeIy
motor, Green so argued the matter and so
Impressed them with the valne of the mo-
tor, that they allowed him SO 900 out of the
available assets, with which to continue
MS motor experiments with KeelY.
Since then he has done nothing but
work for the motor. He is the President of
the company, and has an office in which
hangs large drawings and photographs of
the different contrivances out Of which
Keely produces his power. He is an intelIi-
gent man, In the prime of life, not over. en-
thustastic, and inclined to discourage any,
thing like an interview. He received me
courteously, however, and plunged at once
into the heart OF the matter by saying:
"Of what practical use Is Mr.. Keely's
motor?'
Until two months ago, answered Green.
"we never have been able to get a steady.
reliable motion out of our force. That is
the reason why we objected to taking out
patents and telling the secrets of the matter
Once our secrets are known dozen invent
Ors will go to work devisiDg machines with
which to put our force under control: this
would take it out of our hands to a certain
extent, and before publishing our discovery
OF vapor generating we wanted to find an
economical and practical means of apply
ing 1t to all machinery. We made five
costly and complicated machines, each one
requiring years hard labor, and only
succeeded with the fifth. Was not Elias
Howe ten years at the sewing machine be-
fore 1t would work, and was not Morse
looked upon as lunatic even long after
his first line was up? Now we have got a
motor, the fly wheel of which makes one
hundred revolutions minute, with a power
equal to twenty-five horsepower engine.
We have rugged up a saw, and with our
little apparatus, all of which, generator
square, we are running saw requiring a
fifteen horse power engine. The struggle
has been hard one, but 1t is over. In
July we shall apply for patents, and then
begin to sell rights to manufacture engines.
Within year steam will be doomed, and,
OF course, power and light and heat will be
as cheap as fresh air. Electric light and
heat will cost next to nothing as ground
out by our machines"
From the talks that had with Green and
with other gentlemen not directly connected
with the company, | am pretty certain that
the following experiments took place IN cir
cumstances which rendered the possibility
OF fraud extremely slight. At the begin
ming OF the evenings show last Friday all
the valves and cocks were taken Oft the ma
chine and everyone was allowed to see that
1t was empty; then everything was screwed
on again and pint of water was poured
into the apparatus. Keeley's theory is that
cold water can be vaporized without the use
of heat, and that the cold vapor is far more
than hot steam. In half minute
after pouring the water in it was announced
that sufficient pressure had been obtained to
experiment with. In order to test the power
with which jet of the vapor issues from
the generator, six foot lever was arranged
over an aperture of the machine not bigger
in diameter than the lead of pencil, and
b
pounds would be needed to raise It. No
sooner was the word given than the lever
was lifted without trouble. According to
engineers present at the time, no steam or
compressed air could be made to do the same
work. Another demonstration of the Inn
mense strength of the machine was shown In
the power with which the fy-wheeI is
turned even when going at a slow rate. 1t
Is well known that strong man can stop
the tly-wheel of ten n-horse power engine
when it is not going at more than one revo-
Jution minute. keely's motor was started
at one revolution In five minutes; the wheel
Just turned and that was all. A strong man
took hold of it, but had no more effect up
on it than an infant would have upon
steam engine; then rope was selected in
the workshop and tested by a weight of
l 900 pounds; 1t was tied to beam of the
roof and to the fy-wheel and snapped like
piece of string. The engine was then start
ed up to one hundred revolutions a minute,
and at given signal was reversed instanta-
neously and started off in the other direc-
tion at the same speed without the slightest
Jar being perceptible. Next came some ex-
periments with the Keely cannon, a small
bronze gun fourteen inches long with an
,nch bore, Iron balls were thrown against
= target made of four thicknesses of three
inch plank, making foot in all. Each
bullet went through the whole mass of
wood and struck the wall behind. The ex-
plosive force was given to the ball by a
current Of the vapor conducted to the can
non by a pipe from the generator. When
the cock was opened the ball sprang from
the gun with terrific force and with a sound
about half as loud as the explosion of a
powder charge. Strange to say, there was
absolutely no recoil of the gun, and after
twenty shots In rapid succession it was found
to be perfectly cool. In order to prevent a
possibility of fraud on the introduction
of power through the legs of the table
the generator was then lifted from the
ground by chains, and while thus suspend
ed Keely produced his power. 1t must be
horne in mind that although Keely has only
Just got motor that will work, he has
been ready at all times TO show the power
Of his generator. According to a promi-
nent engineer present on Friday night,
Keely would have needed fifty horse pow
yr engine constantly at work COMPRISING
air in order to have always ready the power
be shows,
The list of names of the directors and
stockholders in the KeelY Company is per-
fectly amazing. To mention only one or
two widely known men, Charles q. Frank
iyn, who has just retired from the manage
ment of the Cunard Steamship Line with a
big fortune; Blanchard, Vice President of
the Erie Railroad, and Tappan, City Cham
berlain of New York, are all stockholders
and firm believers in the motor. 1t Is, per-
haps, still more surprising to find
engineers of reputation infatuated
with it. On Friday night a
dozen engineers were present who were
completely dumbfounded. Gorriuge, tie
government engineer who brought the obe-
lisk over, was present, and said to a HernI3
reporter; 81 am amazed at what -
seen. It is certainly one of the " ..1'
markable curiosities have apvr ;.ost re-
on, and appears bona .@las' looked up
Keely had thorpaghlv he said tha
invsntov ana - . had had against boti
b;t;an ws~ -.lscovery, and that the exhi
Tb1 a wonderful one.
. company, according to Green is
.lot In need of money and has no debts
No stock is for sale. Goingout of the ofic;
to-day met Baker, the largest manufac
turer of steam-heating apparatus in The
city or country, aud asked him IL he had
the Kee1y craze. 81 have had it for 1vt
years." he answered. ~ think that IT /,
the grandest invention of the age or thu
world. 1t will make physical labor unnec
essaTY. The poorest man can have his oEr
carriage and his own yacht; flying machines
will become common: machinery vii
plough the fields, reap the grain, make oul
clothing, all at almost no cost; we shall have
heat and light for nothing. | only Wisf
that had some more stock"
Notwithstanding all the foregoing re
marks / would not advise any one to invest
in Keely motor stock. The story Is toe
good to be true, and asleast one well knowr
expert, E. N. Dickefson, Of New York, has
denounced 1t as the humbug of the century
But the infatuation of sensible men o.
means for the concern is interesting, ana
the history of the fraud, If fraud it is, viii
be a strange one should it ever be writer
About $3.50, 600 have now been spent on ex