St. Landry democrat., 1885-02-21
! AN ODD INVENTION.
A Man Who Proposed to Place TeIe-
graph Station in Midocean.

A Man Who Proposed to Place Teie-
graph Station in Midocean.
The remarkable success of many IN
tentors who began without and pre-
Vious knowledge of the subjects on
which they were at work has led to the
diffusion of the notion that for in
gentors, at least, ignorance is bliss.
People who have talked even with in
.ventors of some note have very often
heard them say that man of native
talent who knows nothing of a process
of manufacture is more likely, because
unpreiudiced, to evolve new and bet
ter process than a man who has been
long engaged in the business. Only the
Examiners in the Patent Office at WASH
ington and the various patent solicitors
know about the astounding results of
the labors of the unprecedented inventor.
The idea that a previous lack of knowl-
edge is a benefit to the inventor leads
hosts of men to suppose that such ig-
norance is the only requisite for the
successful inventor. AS a result, it is
probable that would-be inventors waste
much more money than successful in
yentors accumulate. The most inter-
esting chapter, to the ordinary reader,
in recently published history of rail
roads was the chapter devoted to the
odd railroad inventions which had little
or no practical value. A similar chapter
could be written in the history of the
merchant marine.
There was man who, number of
years ago, was concerned greatly about
the number of steamships that became
disabled in midocean, and had to make
a port under inadequate sail, to the
great discomfort Of all on board. To
mitigate these evils he decided that a
midocean telegraph station ought to be
established near the track usually fol-
lowed by transatlantic steamers. He
proposed to make the station of sheet
steel, the form of a great cylinder, 290
feet long, by Sc feet in diameter. This
cylinder was to be divided by bulk
heads into three sections. One was to
be arranged for ballast. so as to float
the cylinder in vertical position. The
middle section was to be filled with
cork shayings, so that in case an ocean
racer ran against it and pierced the
shell, it could not fill with water. the
third section, which was to project
above the water, was to contain the
living rooms of the station men, and,
above all, 140 feet from the water line
there was to be great lamp to serve
as a beacon to the passing mariner.
Having completed and launched the
cylinder, the inventor proposed to tow
it to the place selected and there anchor
it with four steel ropes two inches in
diNmeter, secured to anchors weighing
200 tons each. The plan was feasible,
the inventor said, when the water did
not exceed one mile in depth.
What would be done by those who
were in the station in case a big iceberg
swept up against it in gale of wind
was not stated in the circular which APP
pealed to the public to take an interest
in the invention. Neither was there
statement Of the force of the waves,
which sometimes reaches 5000 pounds
to the square foot. As the exposed sur
face Of this cylinder would be equal to a
flat surface of 1920 square feet, the
strain which would eventually come on
single steel rope two inches in diam
eter would be Is, $50 tons. If the cylin-
der did not give way under the blast the
ropes would, and the floating Lighthouse
would go dancing over the waves like a
Will-o'-the wisp, or an enormous travel
ing buoy--M Y San.