The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-09-26
ENGINES OF D.s RUCrlCN.
Queer Inventions That Are Sent to
the Navy Department.
ELnn I'd lVAshlnnton Ntar.

Ibe lQkelt4gt =: ~ VI iIiODNiu iuGtl- an
Genius novers tendcrly and persistently over
the War and Navy Departments. There is
something Offering i'll the promises and
CHARGES offered by the field of engines Of
war, and thearchives of both departments
are filled with the plans and drawings of
i,ventionS that have besc sent here for
examinations 1t would seem that the
PROPER place for such things Is in the patent
Office. but there are Inventors who, for
many reasons, prefer TO deal directly with
those departments in the line of which their
productions run. In a number Of cases the
main reason for this preference seems to be
the tact bhat thu inventions are worthless and
have neeu rejected by the patent Office, but
thelnventors, uncruShed by such a defeat,
sand them tc these departments in the fond
hope that perhaps the technical eyes Of naval
and army experts viii SEQ the real merit Of
the machines.
SOME ODD INVENTIONS.
few Of these oddities of American in
ventiou were recently called to the atten-
tion Of a reporter by naval officer,
through whose hands number OF them had
passed.
mon u.s. he said, 'bv cranks and others, at
the rate OF one invention a month, or there
abouts. / should say. Most of them are
utterly worthless, and the formality through
which it is necessary for us to pass before
informing the fellow of the rejection of mis-
nlan is practically a waste of time / think
that the last enc saw was the most unique
niece of foolishness ] ever encountered 1t
was an invention of u war ship, the plans
consisting of some rough pencil drawings
on a piece of common manila paper, accom-
panied by few notes of explanation and a
letter requesting its adoption by the navy.
fine ship, &C cording to the drawing, seemed
10 be designed as q sort of double ender,
there being no difference between the bow
and the stern, both of which rose from the
water line outward for short distance, and
then reiterated, thus forming a point, or
ram, on either end There were three pro-
jections in the plan, along the deck, equi-
distant that looked like mast stumpS, or
smoke stacks, but they were neither They
we're the tons of elevator shafts. The ship,
explained the notes, was TO DO divided into
three decks, and each deck cut up into
twelve rooms By an ingenious arrange
ments of bulkheads and partitions each of
the three elevators was open to four rooms
on the deck. These rooms were to he pro-
yided with strong locks and other means of
security, and also with all modern i'm
provemeuts and conveniences. The inven-
tor claimed that when the ship was attacked
the crew could retreat to the elevators, de-
scend to the rooms by a sort of system or
drill lock themselves in by means of the
strong safeguards and thus prevent the
ship from being taken" That formed the
central idea of tine plan. There were no
provisions for boilers, engines, or for guns
or means of attack or defense, except an
armor plating two inches thick. The in
ventor, Texan, evidently thought that
this ship was a model. IL was, in its way.
The drawings, which were submitted in
March last, were sent around the usual
course and finally returned to the inventor
a few weeks ago with n letter from the
Secretary thanking him for the chance
which he had given the navy to profit by
mis- invention, but regretting an inability to
adopt it,"
SENDING PLANS OF HALIFAX HARBoR.
"One of these people-these inventors-is
a regular correspondent with the depart
ment, living in Halifax, n. S. Besides
sending numerous plans and designs, he is
continually sending maps of the harbor of
Halifax, with various schemes by which to
capture that port and also to annex Nova
Scotia. He is crank on the subject of Cana
dian annexation, and seems to devote his
entire spare time to the development of
schemes to that end. One of his recent pro-
auctions in the line of invention is an armor
for battle-ship consisting of considerable
thickness of india rubber. His idea was
that the elasticity of the substance would
cause the shots striking the vessel to re-
bound without damage to the ship. The
plan has been often suggested before"
This idea of a rubber armor, however, is
not so foolish as it might be thought as an
armor-plate expert at the department ex-
planned TO the reporter.
AN ELASTIC ARMoR.
There has been invented" he said, "a
sort of elastic paste which is spread over
the unprotected, unarmored parts of a ships
hull. 1t is made of prepared powder pro-
duced by grinding the fibers of the cocoanut.
Its properties are such that if penetrated by
a shot the substance is not destroyed or
torn away as in the case Of iron or wood,
but the hole closes up instantly, leaving
only minute cracks where the shots en-
tered The hole is closed so tightly that
water cannot enter, and this is the main
object of this armor, to prevent the ship
from filling and sinking. II has been used
experimeutally in Europe with great sue
cess, and has been adopted by the French
navy. Of course, as an armor, strictly
speaking, it is valueless; but IS a means to
keep the compartments of a ship dry, 1t is
good thing. A metal armor would keep the
ouOG OuJ 6uUlTely, Dub tLlS Gun 10 uscu NhSt Q
the metals cannot. 1t is a peculiar sub
stance, men working with the dry powder
before its preparation being afflicted with
frequent pose bleeding"
LIKE THE FRENCHMEN AND THE FLEA.
"Your mention of queer inventions" con-
tinued this officer, reminds me of a letter
which noticed recently from fellow who
wanted the navy to buy his secret for de-
stroying hostile naval vessels by means Of
torpedo. His plan was detailed in the letter
about as follows: A man, clad in new
and improved diving suit, was to swim out
to the enemy's vessel, and, diving under her
hull, to fasten to her bottom metal eye
bolt or ring. He was then to pass through
1t a line which he had pulled out with him
and swim back to his starting place. A
torpedo of a peculiar design should then be
fastened TO the line and hauled out to the
vessel by means of rope and ring. When
1t came in contact with the ship it could be
exploded, either by the contact or by time
fuse. The inventor wanted several thous-
and dollars for his secret, which consisted
In the diving suit, the method of fixing the
eye-bolt to the ships bottom and the style
OF the torpedo. The department rejected
his offer"
REVOLUTIONARY PLAN.
This idea is somewhat similar to that OF
David Bushnell, torpedo genius OF revolu-
uonary days. Among his many schemes
and engines for destruction was one called
tne American torpedo, described as ma
chine shaped like water tortoise, and
managed by single person. 1t contained
tuinclent air to support respiration Tor
thirty minutes without being replenished,