Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-11-23
WALKING By STEAM.
The Wonderful Invention of Job Shell
don, of New Haven.

don, of New Haven.
Il was about the first" said the kindly,
gray-haired old man to a New Haven
Register reporter, 'to discard ken and
use horses in drawing brick in New Ha-
ven. L carted very many loads Of them
and through loose and sandy soil. On
such ground, you know, wheeling is very
hard. The wheels sink down and crush
the sand, and teams often get set in this
way. l tried to remedy this by using
larger wheels, and l found that the larger
the wheel the easier it would run. But
there has to be q limit to the size
Of wheels on account of the great weight
Of large wheels, to say nothing of their
being In the way. Then l thought Of a
walking machine, and when / starred
with this it was with the sole idea Of
using 1t on sandy land. A walking ma
chine would not crush the sand and bury
so in 1t as a wheel There is my point.
1t will step over the sand and nO5 be
dragged through it, as a wheel is. But L
put them matter off until about a year ago.
Since then l have perfected this machine,
and l claim it will run faster, cheaper,
easier and better than any sort Of a
vehicle yet invented"
Here Mr.. Sheldon stepped aboard of his
NdAhAuE u4uSullS anu pIuCGtUSU ~ SuUNG
it of. The bed is about / feet square,. On
the right and lett hands rises a frame
work supporting two movable timbers
hung at the top so as to swing back and
forth. These are the legs, and they are so
connected by a lever that when n is
pushed ahead the other is showed back.
When the machine is walking they stretch
apart just like the legs of the letter A. A
beveled edge on the shoe of the leg hits a
--L1aT - AhO L0a1 sc kLA ~..aAs-A - - -
impelled forward and drives the leg
down to the ground, a clicking spring
and notches holding it there till its step
has been finished, then a spring releases
the leg, it b0bS up and is swung forward
while its mate is doing its share Of the
work. The machine will be balanced
from behind by a little wheel like the
third wheel of a tricycle., or by a third
pair of legs.
These legs" said Mr.. Sheldon, care :
feet long, or equal to One-half the dame
ter Of a 14-foOt wheel. Consequently the
vehicle when drawn by a horse will run
as easily as though it had wheels Il feet
in diameter. 1t will take 6-feet steps and
it is got up on the principle of a pendu-
lum TO a clock. Whether drawn by a
horse or driven by clock-work, foot or
steam power, it will run so easily that
very little effort will be required to urge
II dlOHSs even at q IdpiU IdlE. anu Uphill
You know that a clock pendulum when
pulled out to n side and let 90, VIII
swing out nearly as far TO the other. That
is the way my machine will work.
All the operator has to do is to
overcome the little distance that the pen
dulum fails to make in its vibration. Now,
these legs are pendulums, nothing
more nor less. When one of them has
reached out and is making the first half of
its step, of course, if it is being driven by
motive power instead Of being drawn by
a horse, force will be necessary to drive it
over that portion of its travels. But on
the second half OF the step, when the
weight OF the machine has passed for
ward of the leg, it will, as you can see,
finish the step by its own weight and the
leg is caught up and pushed forward for
duty again."
The legs being jointless, of necessity
give the machine a tipping motion as they
pass and repass each other, but Mr.. Shell
don can remedy his evil By making the
shorter. He has also a device for
keeping the machine from tipping when
one of the feet slips on a turning stone or
yielding ground.
Il think on the whole I shall run it
with hot air from a big oil stove when |
come up through the city, said Mr.. Shell
don, as he swung the shapely oaken legs
idly to and fro; ''tEen l shan't have TO
carry a water tank, as [ should if I de-
pended upon a steam engine"