The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1886-09-18

VI Hall q CVIllul " W. SOOh udo
been familiar figure in Richland
County, and has been marked for his
singular inventive genius. In 1850,
when a young man, he became i'm
pressed with the wonders of electrical
science, and then became enamored of
its study. He began to delve into the
unknown of this hidden force, and for
thirty-siX years in alternately brilliant
and adverse circumstances has trodden
over this field till there is no nook or
corner with which he is unacquainted.
He commenced his studies at a time
when little was known of electricity.
and by pursuit of knowledge in that
direction with unbounded zeal. he has
not only kept apace with the wizards
of the day, but has SO far gotten in adj
vance of them that his assertions are
almost accepted as altogether incredu-
lous.
But no matter whether his claims
seem wonderful and almost beyond
belief, they are worthy of credence. for
he must be placed in the list of success
full inventors. In 1852 he conceived and
constructed device that revolutionized
the manufacture of sorghum strip.
The device was called an evaporation,
and was used to make sirup from sor-
ghum. His principle was to run the juice
across heated surface in zig-zag rows
till the juice would run out as a pure
strip ready for the table, the water
being evaporated in its passage, and
the impurities being thrown to one
side. On this he received letters patent
in 1858, and in 1859 company began
the manufacture of the same Thou
sands and thousands were disposed of.
varying in price from S25 to S35, over
$4,000, 900 being realized, on which the
inventor got a handsome royalty.
Through this he derived quite fortune.
although portion of it he spent in i'm
proving and introducing the device.
Even to this day a firm in Cincinnati is
engaged in the manufacture of this
same evaporation, from which the men,
bers of the firm made themselves rich.
Cook, however, several years ago lost
his right to a royalty by some means or
other, anC has not been drawing any
thing from that source since.
Save for this slight diversion, Mr..
Cook has not experimental in any field
outside of electricity since thirty-six
years ago to any considerable extent,
but in in this direction he can be said
to have spent the greater part of his
life. For while he sought to solve
the question of cheap power, light, etc.
by producing the proper current by
means of battery. He invented a
battery of peculiar value for telegraph
which in for
time at Crestline, on the Western
Union, and until the discovery of the
cheap gravity battery that is now in
use. But Mr.. Cook long ago concluded
in his own mind that in dynamic cleo
tricity lay future success. According
ly he cast aside the battery as a secon-
Diary affair, and set about to expert
ment with dynamos of novel and
peculiar construction.
For several years past he would oc-
casionally meet me and speak of his
discoveries in the electrical field, but
would say that he had not yet secured
the results he was after. He would
tell me: when | get my experiments
completed l want to show you what
willrevolutionize the world. propose
to make perpetual electric generator
or motor which will propel itself by its
own current, the resistance of the
generator proper being only about ten
per cent. of the rotary power of the
electric engine upon which the current
of the generator acts.
This assertion was sufficient to shock
an ordinary persons nerves, but ac-
cepted the statement with much al
lowance. However, | became inter.
ested and kept watching results.
Last November Mr.. Cook came to
me and said: II have at last met with
success. / have found the principle
that L have been hunting for so long.
can now start a dynamo to going,
and it will never stop except by the
wearing away of its own parts. Not
only will itrun itself by its own current,
but also produce power enough, ac.
cording to the size of the engine, to
run any machine in the world"
Perpetual notion" 1 suggested.
''More than that" he replied. "It
is perpetual motion with only ten pei
cent of the force used, leaving ninety
per cent. for power, to be utilized as
is desired. Not only that, but more