Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-05-17

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which and beneath hangs a boat the latter has
| two large paddle wheels like those of a steam
boat, and a propeller in the rear besides. A
curiosity in this way is an air tricycle., with
| paddles worked by the feet and balloon to
neutralize gravity.
| FOR NAVIGATING THE WATER.
| Not less curious than the devices for sailing
in the air are those for navigating the water.
For instance, there is a model of boat that is
/ to be propelled by a gigantic windmill nearly
| as big as the vessel ITSELF or course in a calm
| the windmill would not go, but that difficulty is
| provided against by treadmill on deck which
| Is worked by horse when cat's-paws are lack
| ing. Another craft has a steam engine on board
| that pumps in water through a pipe at
| the bow and shoots it out at the stern
| upon sort of water wheel, which in
this way is made to revolve and forces the boat
ahead by the action of its paddles. This latter
notion, by the way, is engaging the attention
OF capital and inventive talent even now. One
man has thought that in the conch shell was to
be found the ideal shape for a propeller, and
his model Is made on the pattern of two such
shells put opening to opening 1t has never
been adopted by navigators, however. I'm
aSlne two enormous revolving cylindrical
screws, many feet in diameter, extending be-
low the water line on each side of vessel
from one end of the craft to the other, and you
have another queer contrIvance for propulsion,
the threads of the screws being desig ned to act
upon the water and drive the ship onward.
PROPELLED By WEIGHT.
One Of the funniest Of all the devices Of this
sort is in the shape Of an enormous weight
hanging like pendulum from an inclined mast
into the hold Of the vessel. The waves make
the pendulum swing back and forth, and the
energy thus produced is utilized by an elab-
oratc mechanical arrangement to run the pro-
peller at the stern. When there is no wind
there are no waves, necessarily, and when
there are no waves the ship comes to a stand
still. But it can afford to do this now and
then, inasmuch as the power it uses costs moth
ing. There are other contrivances for
utilizing the motion of the waves not
less interesting. One is vessel with its
back bneken in the middle, SO that the
waves hump 1t up and down and thus
produce power to work the propeller. 1t is
not explained how the people on board are to
keep their feet under these peculiar circum-
stances One would think that they would be
afflicted with variety Of seasickness unusually
intense. seeming improvement on this is in
the form OF two separate boats, across which a
frame work is stretched endwise. Wave motion
Is supposed topropel this also, though, as a mat
ter Of fact, it doesn't. Perhaps the queerest
thing OF all is the model of a ship the entire
bow end OF which, comprising about one-sixth
OF the vessels entire length, is made to revolve
by the mere progress Of the craft through the
water and its revolution operates the propeller
at the stern. The inventor does not state how
the ship Is supposed to get started.
FOOT POWER.
Small boats to put on the feet, for the pur-
pose OF walking upon the water, water tricycles
and water bicycles have already become pub
licly known. A surprising sort Of life boat is
made of two cylindrical shells, one inside of
the other and, no matter how often the outer
shell may roll over, the passengers In the
inner shell, which is hung like a pendulum,
must always remain right side up. The great
trouble about life boats at sea is that they are
very apt to turn bottom upward or get
swamped In being launched; but this trouble
Is obviated by craft of the sort that has two
air-tight cylinders for sides and is right side
up no matter how it falls into the water which
automatically sets the boat into shape to re-
ceive its passengers and crew. the oars being
ready fastened in their places for rowing.
SAIL DEVICES
Many glass cases in the model rooms are
filed with attempted improvements in sail de-
vices. The most extraordinary Of them all is
represented by a miniature ship with one
enormous mast extending at an angle of As
degrees from the middle deck toward the bow.
This mast Is equipped with a vast amount of
complicated frame work supporting halt dozen
great sails in the shape OF parasols al 4 umbrel-
las, to be raised in the same way two e three
cornered sails and huge square sal. The
whole affair looks very much like Chinese
junk. Close by ia Abraham Lincoln's patent
for getting vessels off shoal places in the Ohio
and other rivers. 1t consists of accordeon
shaped air bags Of enormous size, which were
to be built into the hull Of the craft and in
hated In cases OF emergency, to buoy her of.
THOUSANDS OF MODELS.
But these are only q few Of the queer and
surprising ideas expressed by the l56. 600
models in the Patent Office. There is an entire
sewing machine made out of a single strip of
copper two-thirds of an inch wide and half a |
dozen inches long. One end Of the strip is
sharpened in long, fine point, to make the |
needle, and the affair is worked very much on |
the same principle as ordinary sewing ma
chine, with one thumb and fore6nger. 1t will |
sew, too, but not conveniently enough to make |
it worth while. The beam Of pillow patented |
many years ago is q gun as well. which was |
very convenient when Indians were about be- |
cause the farmer could so readily turn his |
horses one side and shoot with his agri- |
cultural instrument Many other curios-
such as canes and umbrellas that one |
can shoot with IL there il occasion. Also
rifle, the entire skeleton stock of which is a |
tube filed with hundreds of cartridges. I'm
luckily II VIII not work fast enough to make it |
serviceable. Then there is a revolver that will |
ire big bullets or little ones, Just as may hap
pen to be requisite. Speaking of killing peo-
pie reminds one of collins. One sort of patent
casket for preventing burial alive is big enough |
to permit tho late lamented upon reyiying
below ground to climb out of his grave by
means of o ladder left handy for that purpose
and communicating by q ventilator hole with
the upper world. In case he should not be
strong enough to climb bell is provided and
attached to his wrist to summon assistance
Another coffin 10 arranged that il the corpse
moves its forehead the lid springs open.
wELDINo BIZ ELEcrRIcrrY.
The marvellous process, newly invented, of
Welding metals by electricity is illustrated at
the Patent Office by . large number Of ex-
amples which show the joining Of brass with
iron a. If the two were the same in material
and likewise with ell other known metals. A
single small bar 10 shown consisting in different
parts Of its length of steel, brass, tin, copper
and silver-all SO perfectly united end TO end
that the bar might be supposed to have been