Courier Democrat., 1894-02-15

now MAxrMs AIR SHIP WORKS.
Curious Mechanism of a Wonderful
lnventiOn-A Bold Electrical Prof.
ect-shall the Small Boy De Taught
Sciences-Ahead Of the Cowcatcher.

lnventiOn-A Bold Electrical Prof.
ect-Shall the Small Boy BE Taught
Sciencee-Ahead Of the Cowcatcher.
Pushed by the wcrkmen, the machine
rolled slowly out Of the house, and
shortly stood upon the track In the
park. 1t had completely filled the work
shop from roof to floor, but here, with
only the sky above it, seemed smaller
and lighter. The steam was kissing in
the boiler, the big screws had made one
or two preliminary revolutions, and a
fight along the tracks was imminent.
Jump on board" shouted its owner.
who stood at. the boiler, coming half
dozen different gauges; and, climbing
Of a canoe, mounted the platform,
which was Of the lightest matched
boards, so thin that they seemed in
sufficient to bear mans weight.
Prior to the start, q rope running to a
dynamometer and post was attached
behind to measure the forward impulse,
or push" of the screw. Mr.. Maxine
turned on the steam, and the screw
on the port side began to revolve. 1t
is seventeen feet eleven inches in
length, five feet wide at the ends and
twenty-five inches at the waist. 1t
is made Of the lightest American vel
low pine and painted q pale blue, the
paint having been sandpapered to per-
feet smoothness, reducing the skin fric-
ton to a point at which it became negli-
gible. 1t revolved faster and faster as
the steam power was increased, until
| it was whirling on it's seemingly frail
! framework at a dizzying speed. The
steam was shut off; it came quickly to
a standstill, and it's fellow on the other
| side was tried. All working smoothly,
both screws began to turn faster and
faster, until the eye began to lose the
blades and retain only the sense of
| two whirling disks. The action of the
screws at high speed caused relnarka-
bly, little shaking of the whole machine
| This is one of the surprises of the In
vention-the tremendous force exerted
as compared with the lightness steadi-
ness and oompactness Of the whole.
Behind the screws forty feet away,
| two men were squatting over the dy-
| namometer, and indicating the degree
of push on large index board for
the engineer to read. The index mark
ed 400, 500, 600. 700, and, finally, 1,200
pounds of push" The pressure was
then diminished below 500, and the
commander yelled, "Let go" A rope
was pulled, the machine shot forward
like railway train and. with the big
wheels whirling, the steam kissing and
the waste pipes putting and gurgling,
flew over the 1900 feet of track in
much less time than it takes to tell it.
1t was stopped by a couple of ropes
! stretched across the track, working on
capstans fitted with revolving fans.
The stoppage was gentle, and the pas
sengers breathed freely again, looking
now upon the machine with more
friendly and less fearful eye, as If it
were a dangerous bulldog with which
amicable relations had been establish
ed and fear Of injury was over The
machine was then pushed back over the
track, 1t not being built, any more than
q bird, to fly backward. In a quarter.
Of an hour it is again at it's starting
place, and ready for another flight
McClure's Magazine.
A Bold Electrical Project.
This is the age Of great engineering
projects. The magnificent idea or rcviv
; ing English industry by cutting a thir-
ty-six mile canal and thus making sea
port of Manchester has just been sue.
cessfully carried out, and the harness
! ing Of a portion of Niagara Falls for
the supply of light and power to a
lcrgt section of country will soon be an
accomplished fact. An enterprise that
compares fayorably with these gigantic
undertakings in originality and daring
is now on foot. 1t is proposed to Use
the tidal currents of the Irish Sea for
the generation of electricity by joining
Great Britain and Ireland, and building
| power houses on the isthmus. TWu pow
| er houses would meet all requirements.
one for supplying the Scotch side, the
other for the Irish side, and railroad
would run along the isthmus from Can
tire to Antrim, the respective points
at which the junction with the main
! land would be made. The Gulf Stream
flows In q continuous current from the
North Sea into the Irish Sea in volumes
of water estimated at many cubic miles
daily, and utilization Of as much as
would test the capacity Of the two pow
er houses would enable power and
lighting to be supplied to the districts
on both sides Of the channel for hun
dreds of miles around. The waterway
between the headland Of Cantire in
Scotland ad Torhead in Ireland, on the
proposed line of junction,is fifteen miles
wide and 474 feet deep at midcurrent,
! but much shallower toward either
shore. The high bluffs of Cantire and
the still higher land on the Irish side,
from 900 to 1900 feet high, offer facili-
ties for gravitating the materials requi-
! site to form the isthmus. The superb
cial extent Of land required to form
the isthmus would be a little more than
square mile, of the average width and
depth Of 100 yards. The cost of Great
+; ing this junction would be about $1O,-
100000 and would occupy about three
years. 1t is pointed out that the i'm
portance and value of the results in the
present aspect of affairs in Ireland can
/ not be over estimated. A land junction
of Great Britain and Ireland would
create a more perfect homogeneity of
the united people. 1t would change
the Irish Sea into landlocked bay
losSonad in deDth nv the cessation of