Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-03-24
A MARCH ON KELLY.
The Secret of His Motor stoIen-A
Young Philadelphia Said to Have
Made Practical Use of the PurIoined
Principles.


Young Philadelphian Said to Have
Made Practical Use of the Purloined
Principles.
Philadelphia Times, March 6.
While Mr.. Kelly has been irving the
! patience of his stockholders and keeping
the world in suspense over his thimbleful-
/ of-water machine, young man of this
| city, named James Rodney Barlow. has
| stolen his thunder and snatched fame
/ from his very workshop. For some time
I past Barlow, whose mind was given more
| to queer mechanical devices than 10 prac-
/ tical things, has taken the most absorbing
! interest in Keely's alleged inventions,
reading everything about it on which he
! could lay his hands and drinking in with
his ears every word he heard spoken on
the subject. With the fatuous enthusi-
asm common to inventors he believed
everything said IN. its favor and rejected
every statement made by skeptics. In
some unknown way he gained access to
heely's famous little workshop and saw,
himself unseen, the great man manlpu-
lating his motor. Having detected the
inventors secret and discovered, as he
thought, its weak points, he determined
to build a motor himself after Keelv's
model, with his own improvements, and
he set about il with all the fervOr usual
in such cases. A friend and enthusiast to
whom he cOntided his purpose furnished
the money, and having secured the SER
vices of a machinist, who also had the in
ventOr's craze, they jointly rugged up.
after few months labor, a machine that
was to cover them with glory and revolu-
tiOniZe the motive power of the world.
To carry out his scheme it was neces-
Sary to get the CO. operation and assistance
of some emplOye Of the West Jersey Road,
and it would be better if one could be
found who had sometimes himself taken
a hand at inYenting. Certain inquiries
were made and the very man for the bust
ness was found in George Barnaby, VINO.
when the plan was unfolded to him, en-
tered into it with enthusiasm. Through
him small building near the track, and
about half a mile out of Camden, was
secured, in which a borrowed" hand-car
and the new motor were placed and the
work of adjusting the parts OF the motor
and attaching them to the hand-car was
undertaken at once and speedily COM
pleted. The trial was made last night.
The reporter reached the little building
about O'Clock, where he found his friend
Barlow and the machnist making their
final preparations for the test, and he then
saw the new motor for the first time. 1t
consisted of two cylindrical steel vessels,
five inches in diameter by eighteen inches
long, placed lOngitudinally about one inch
dlnally, but at right angles to the wO
others, and connected with them by steel
necks or ways, was a third cylindrical
vessel, three inc les i'll diameter by nine
inches long. From the head of each of
the lower cylinders a steel tube half an
inch III diameter projected, and the two
tubes were curved to meet each other four
inches above. At their junction was a
small hand-leYer. By the side of the motor
was vertical cylinder fitted With a rod
and plunger, all anti-frictiOn metal, and
to this was attached a small rotary crank.
a steel tube, one-tourth of an inch in di-
ameter, connected the upper cylinder of
the motor with the vertical cylinder by its
side.
About 10 O'Clock everything was ready
and the car, with the motor on its plat
form, was removed from the building and
placed upon the track. Barlow, his ma
chinist, the railroad employee, the invent
ors friend and the reporter formed the
experimenting party. Barlow, usually
cool and phlegmatic, was nervous and ex-
cited. His face looked pale in the light
OF the lantern that stood upon the car, but
his every word and movement showed his
eagerness for the test. The members of
the party having arranged themselves
upon the car under his direction, Barlow
took his place by the side of his motor
AS he put his hand upon the lever over
the cylinders there was Il moment of dead
silence and each man held his breath in
suspense. Was this midnight expert
ment, conducted by stealth, so to speak,
to give the world a new motive power and
bring renOWn and riches to hitherto I'M
known young enthusiast? Was the much
talked-0f and lOng-delayed Kelly motor
to be shorn Of its alleged glory by so hum
bic and speedily-matured a rival? These
were the questions formed in the report
er's mind as he watched Barlow's sinewy
tingers-on which, by the way, no dia-
monds glistened-nervOusly grasp the
lever of his device. There was only a
minutes delay-the lever was pressed !
down, tentatively at first and loud cheer !
burst from the excited party as the car |
responded and moved slowly down the |
track. 1t was supreme moment for Bar |
low, but he bore it well and gradually |
pressed the lever more and more as the |
car went bowling away with a steady |
motion that sent a glow of victory over
his face. There was too much excitement |
among the men for talk, but each one |
urged Barlow to "let her out" The in |
yentOr, however, kept his head, and after |
a swift run to within sight of the lights |
of Gloucester be stopped the car, reversed |
the action ana started on the return. He |
explained that the motor was of limited |
capacity and had been built for expert |
ment only, but that force enough re- |
manned to make a show of speed back to |
Camden. He then pressed the lever hard |
down, the car whizzed away like the wind |
and the little building was reached in |
three minutes-a speed Of about seventy |
five miles an hour. Mr.. Barlow is very |
modest and would prefer that nothing be !
said about his motor until he has built |
one capable of real work. This he will |
do at once, and when it is completed a
public test of its power will be made.