The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1884-09-23
THE MOTOR NOTES. y
Keeley's "vaporic Force Put to a
Sort of Test.
Made 90 operate a Small Cannon-
The Velocity of the Projectfle
Very Low-What the
Inventor says.

on saturday, TOOK party OF gentlemen 10
Sandy Hook fer the purpose of testing Mr..
Kfeley's "vaporic" gum There were about
800 persons present at the time, which took
place at the government range by permission
of Secretary Lincoln. Mr.. Kelley had with
him a small gun, with one and a quarter
bore, resting upon wheels; an iron receiver
yard and half long, containing the mysteri-
Gus force, and connected with the gun by an
iron wire three-sixteenths Of an inch in d.
ameter; small intensifier, also connected
with the gun; a wooden target 500 yards dis
tant The spectators saw nothing else There
was so little apparatus that people felt in
clmed to be disappointed.
Mr.. Kelley took small leaden ball, four
and seven-eights ounces iii weight, and with
q wooden stick rammed it down the muzzle
of the gun. He then took a hammer and
tapped the iron receiver containing the mys-
FERROUS force. The crowd ipvoluntarily
stepped back expecting an explosion. Moth
ing but metallic sound was heard Mr..
Kelley stated that this action was tostimu-
late the vibratory force. Then turn
ing a handle the first experiment was con-
cluded The bali was projected from the
gun with n short, sharp sound. There was
hcub, LILO hAhAxho VA thC Suu pCHfk as COfu
as before the ball had been placed in it.
There was no smoke. There was very little
recoil The projeetile was sent to a distance
of 800 yards, the elevation used having been
215 degrees. Fully dozen other shots were
sent in rapid succession to show that the
power in the receiver was by no means ex-
hausted The time of fight of the second shot
was found to lie Ss4 seconds. One shot was
found to be projected at the rate Of 1872 feet
per second the next at 400 feet per second;
another at 523 feet per second, or at about
one third the velocity obtained by the
Springfield rifle Three three-inch spruce
wood planks were then placed before the
gun in order to test the penetrating force of
the instrument A cylindrical steel shot
was then fired and went entirely through
the first plank and half through the second
Experiments were continued during the
afternoon. What the mysterious force was
no one learned. "Vaporic force" was the
only explanation Mr. Kelley volunteered.
A special from Philadelphia says: John
W. Kelley, the inventor of the
Kelley motor, who has denied
himself to all interviewers for four years,
explained at length Sunday the wonderful
experiments with his new motor gun which
were made at Sandy Hook Saturday at the
expense of the government Stripping the
process of all technical terms" said the
| inventor, 'the motor gun is simply this:
take water and air, two mediums of differ
ent specific gravity, and produce from them
by generation an effect under vibrations that
liberates from the cir and water an inter
atomic ether The energy of this ether is
boundless, and can hardly he compre-
hended. The specific gravity of ether is
about four times lighter than that OF
hydrogen gas, the Ightest gas so far dis
| covered. The gun ! used at Sandy Hook was
breech loading rife, weighing 500 pounds
1t was specially constructed for me- 1t was
| four feet long and had four-inch bore
Wednesday last charged my tube, a five
gallon reservoir Of wrought iron, one and O
half inches thick, with etheric vapor Ther
boxed it up, and did not even test it, so Ger
tain was / of its power. For three hours be
fore the experiments it remained untouched
J In my shop. The process of charging it con
sumed less than four seconds of time
You could not guess how much materia
was used In making the vapor," anG
the inventor smiled. ITO project twenty
leaden bullets, each weighing nearly five
ounces, at a velocity of over 500 feet {
second, there was required six drops of watel
and about pint of air From this combina
ton l derived sufficient force to fire $50 bull
lets of like weight as those used. And tn,
most curious thing about it all is, that
found at the end of my experiments that
had increased the power in my tube, instead
of diminishing it Just as race-horse need
to be warmed up before he can do himsel
justice, the initial velocity of the last bulls
was more than that of the first one l cal
take that same tube and operate it anothe
day.
II have filed caveats of all my motors NM
inventions and will have them patented
am now building one 500-horse-power engin
add one 200-horse-power engine. The latte
is completed except as to the yitalizing press
You can say for me that in few weeks tn
public will have an opportunity of seeinI
the practical and successful results of m,
seven years of experimenting. Although m,
initial discovery was purely an &C
cident, l have pursued my investiga
tions systematically, and am as confiden
of the result as / am that the sun will set
Recently l have made a number Of expert
ments with my gun and also with the moto
In the presence of the stockholders of tn
motor company, and of prominent scientifi
men, and they have expressed themselves a
abundantly satisfied with the manifestation
and applications of vaporic force. This
have succeeded in accomplishing, and tn
problem that remains is of insignificant i'm
! portance."
"Have you ever estimated the power c
, your inter atomic etherf" was asked
II have produced frequently" was tn
answer, "a pressure Of 10000 pounds to tn
square inch in quarter of
second. The process, in reality, is il
Simultaneous l have succeeded in maxim
vacuum Of thirty -ons pounds pressure
have succeeded in generating pressure @
5000 pounds to the inch; and / have torn
Shaw gage to pieces under the immense pre-
sure. have propelled lead bullet throug
a four inch plank of wood In this instance
after passing through, it fiattened itself on
the size of a plate
: Masonic News.
I'll MILWAUKEE, Sent pa large nfImhar r