Port Tobacco times, and Charles County advertiser., 1889-01-18
PERPETUAL MOTION.
The Cunning Coatriyance OF n New York
GeaIus to Hun Forever.

A city man who had been informed
that there was a piece of mechanism
pHrportlng to be perpetual motion
in existence ut Lyons, Wayne county,
made a visit To the town day or two
ago to satisfy his curiosity on the sub
jcct. On his return he said: IL can
not say. Il came. | saw. | conquered
for to tell YOU the truth | was unable
la discover how the machine does W hat
| saw il do. but there is some trick
about it | am satisfied. Still rs Il me-
chanical curiosity the coDtriyance
ought Ia pay in dime museum. l
went down To LYONS and after little
search found David Jennings. a man
about 80 years old. the inventor of the
ntutor, OF whatever you would call It.
] made known my wish To see his ma
chine. and after little parley he con-
sentcd To- give me view of it, prefac-
ing his consent hy stating that it was
taken apart and would have tn be con-
necied before it would work. We
went to his house, in the yard back uf
which stands n workshop containing
the motor. Every door of the shop
was locked. and as ITS owner produced
that conld 90 in the back way with
less trouble than by the trout. as
would have Ia climb a ladder in the
latter case. lie opened the back door
from il,c iuSjsi. and WAS ushcred into
ruoin twenty feet square. fitted up
like carpenter shop. with various
tools lying around. The apparatus |
came Io see was attached To bench
aud consisted uf chain about tive feet
long made of peculiarly shaped links
that could nut easily be described with
oat drawing. One If the links vas
out ul place aud the inventor proceed
81 TO Pat Il in order. When that was
stbne tie tessfHrSysucc wss rr.ssiy fur
exhibtinu. The chain ran over three
rollers that formed vertical triangle,
one side of which was perpendicular.
The chain was su constructed that IN
running between the rollers that were
vertical the links had a movement by
which they closed together so that in
the space IL a font there would bc one
or two more links than in the same
distance when the links were extend
ed There would consequently be n
greater weight in the vertical line in
place ia lhs. chain. Ii was on This diff
ference in weight that Mr.. Jennings
said the power of the machine de-
pended. One uf the pulleys over
which the chain ran was connected
with a Lrakc-wicel by which the mo-
tinu uf the chain could bc stopped 10y
applying the brlkr. After the chain
was connected and Ii.r brake taken off,
the. ciglia tse-an in rua around the pull
leys - though Il hal an inherent mo
iinn. The puilcvS over which u ran
Were. >,.t un T,,iIrr> that reduced the
frIctInu to the minimum. bar tn" force
OF the machine WAS emily tr.ii,'. rs
could si,p il with my fingers. The
chain seemed iu carry itself around
the triangle Cuulinunusly. hut | no.
tired thai Jennings would not let me
take hold nf ih" brake. and half suS-
pected that il had something 10 60 with
the constant motion Of the chain.
which. apparently moved iii deh-
ance Of the laws of gravity. If | had
been allowed 10 closely examine the
whole thing | am satisfied that could
have discovered the secret of lis action.
| admit that il Is well-contrived de-
vice To- catch the eve and deceive the
unsk.llfnl into The belief that il is per-
petual motion. Jennings told me that
he had spent $4,000 on the invention.
and had been working ut il for TWEEN
ty-onc years. The machine he has in
Lyons is the i02d one lIc has built. aud
he is not satisfied with il.
IF YOU ask Jennings for an cxplana-
ton of the working If the eontrivauce.
his answers are not clear. He talks
about the surplus power in the 'dou-
Bile chain and the mechanical con-
struction of the links in Il way that
makes me think he is not informed on
the laws of mechanics or is irving to
deceive the visitor 10y the use of jargon
that sounds learned but means moth
intr " RDrtI Sig. RtLSk. Ernr,-Ss