Arizona silver belt., 1888-12-08
A New Pneumatic Yacht.

days since at New York, while pre-
 senting nothing in its outward ap-
 pearance to distinguish it from other
 similar crafts, yet is an experiment
 fraught with great interest to naviga-
 tion, and its sucGess may revolutionizs
 the propulsion of sea vessels. The de-
 parture consists in the machinery
 which is new and unique in eOnstruc-
 ton and design, and Is the invention
 of John A. Secor of New YerE7sHbe
 machinery is placed aft, irtnediately
 against the rudder post, and does not take up more than twelve sSfuare feet
 The New York World thus describes
 the invention:
 In Mir. Secer's system the propulsion
 is effected by the direct reaction
 against the external water of the gas
 cons products of successive explosions
 Of fuel gas and air issuing from sub
 merged tubes. The machinery consists of a series of heavy steel cylinders, the ends, or muzzles, eff which are open and in direct contact with the water surrounding the vessel. These Cylin- ders contain no internal machinery whatever, but are filled with ar and any inhammable gas or hydro-carbon exploded by the agency of electricity, and which forces the vessel forward or backward at will. Reversal in either direction is effected by opening and closing suitable gate-valves at each end of the cylinders. The continuity of action is obtained by means of number of chambers. from which the discharges occur, net simultaneously, but in well-defned rotation.
 In addition to the cylinders are sev- eral devices for the automatic admis- sion of air and of the oil, which is stored in a tank over the cylinders. There are also mechanical appliances for atomiNng or vaporizing the oil The electrical spark which causes the combustion is generated between two electrodes, which feed and regulate automatically, and are so arranged in pairs that should an accident happen to one it Is immediately thrown out of circuit and automatically replaced by its perfect mate. The current is de- rived from storage battery. The dis tingnishing characteristics of Mir. Se- COTS method are simplicity, directness and economy. Not only does it dis pense with the costly and complicated mechanism intervening between the boiler (souree of combustlon) and the far-Of propeller Source of locomo- tion), as in the present marine steam plants, but 1t enables the propulsion to be ebtalned direct from the fuel and thus precludes the possibility of any less or dissipation of energy in the form of latent heat, thereby creating that great desideratum, economy.
 This new application of power is considered by engineers to be no long, CT in its experimental stages. Fifteen months age, after many experiments with the same yacht Eureka, but with | machinery far inferior both as to con- struction and economy, Mr Secer ob- tained tangible and encouraging re- sults-he propelled his boat forward against an ebb tide, running at the rate of six miles an hour, and by these trials showed conclusively that the di- rect application of the products of combustion against the water will propel a vessel. Furthermore, he found that tue power was under perfect and instantaneous control, and that the force acted with regularity and uni 'ormity. There was no difficulty Tn steering the vessel, and to prove this point he turned her completely around n twice her ewn length. On these rial trips the captain in charge was 3eorge F. Holton, commander of the Grand Republic.
 4 careful study of the physical phe- l0mena involved in Mr Secors sys- em apparently confirms the scientific and feasibility of each step n the cycle of operations.
 The famous Helstein COW Shadsland iaId, that produced more milk than ny COW of any breed, is dead. She ras owned by Powell Bros. of Spring orS, Pa, having been imported by : hem when calf in 1881. As a G. IL