The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1884-12-25
WALKING BY STEAM.
The Wonderful Invention of Mr.. Job Shell
don of New Haven.

81 was about the first" said the
kindly, gray-haired old man, Ito dis
card oxen and use horses in drawing
brick in New Haven. 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.
| tried to remedy this by using larger
wheels, and found that the larger the
wheel the easier it would run. But
there has to be a 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 l started
with this it was with the sole idea OF
using it on sandy land. A walk
ing machine would not crush the
sand and bury so in it as a wheel,
There is my point. 1t will step over
the sand and not be dragged through
it, as wheel is. But put the matter
off until about year ago. Since then
l have perfected this machine, and /
claim it will run faster, cheaper, easier,
and better than any sort of a vehicle
yet invented"
Here MIR. Sheldon stepped aboard of
his walking-machine and proceeded to
shove it off The bed is about four feet
square. On the right and left 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
lever that when one 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
wheel on the head of the machine as
it is impelled forward and drives the
leg down to the ground, clicking
spring and notches holding it there till
its step has been finished, then spring
releases the leg, it bobs up and is swung
forward while its mate is doing its share
of the work: The machine will be bal
anced from behind by little wheel
like the third wheel Of a tricycle., or by
a third pair of legs.
"These legs" said Mr. Sheldon, "are
seven feet long, or equal to one-half the
diameter of a fourteen-foot wheel
Consequently the vehicle when drawn
by horse will run as easily as though
it had wheels fourteen feet in diameter.
1t will take six-feet steps, and it is got
up on the principle of pendulum to a
clock. Whether drawn by a horse or
driven by clockwork, foot or steam
power, it will run SO easily that very
little effort will be required to urge it
along, even at a rapid rate, and up hill.
You know that a clock-pendulllm when
pulled out to one side and let 90 will
swing out nearly as far to the other.
That is the way my machine will work.
All the operator has to do is to over
come the little distance that the pendu-
lum 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 be-
ing drawn by horse, force will be nee
essary to drive it over that portion of
its travels. But on the second half of
the step, when the weight of the ma
chine has passed forward 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 tipping motion as
they pass and repass each other, but
Mr.. Sheldon can remedy this evil by
making the steps shorter. He has also
device for keeping the machine from
tipping when one of the feet slips on a
turning stone OF strikes the yielding
ground.
Il think on the whole l shall run it
with hot air from big oil-stove when
come up through the city," said Mr..
Sheldon, as he swung the shapely oaken
legs idly to and fro; ''then | shan't
have to carry water tank, as l should
if l depended on steam-engine. -
Neu Ha3,e3L EeGGSter