The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1895-08-14
MOTOR TO RUN BOATS
NEW ELECTRICAL APPLIANCE THAT
WILL AID NAVIGATION.

tem-Plan Soon to he Used IN the Erie
Canal-wm Not Damage Banks and WIN
Minimize Expenses.
Frank W. Hawley of Pittsford, N.
Y, vice president of the Cataract Gen
eral Electric company, is we'll known as
the first person to apply electricity to
the propulsion of boats for commercial
purposes. The famous test which he
made in November, 1898, was SO salts
factory that it became thereafter only a
question of time when the countless
barges that float upon hi great water
ways would be propelled electrically,
and when the canals would be lighted,
the bridges turned and the locks opened
by invisible force.
Mr.. Hawley, in speaking Of the out
look for the speedy introduction Of cleo
tricity upon the canals Of New York, re-
Gently said:
Electrical propulsion Of boats upon
our inland waterways is now an assured
fact. Many tests have recently been
made in search Of the most practical and
economical method of applying this en-
ergy to the requirements Of the canals.
Perhaps the best plan yet made public
is that which it is proposed to put in
operation upon the Erie canal. It is
known as the galloway system and has
been heretofore used in the lumber dis
tricts of North Carolina and for ferriage
purposes to an extent that fully demon
strates its feasibility.
1T may be briefly described as fol-
lows: A line of hollow steel poles is
placed along each bank Of the canal.
They are imbedded in cement and stand
IA feet above the towpath. On top Of
this pole line a steel cable Of great
strength and measuring ~ inches in
diameter is strung. Resting on this ca
BILE is a traveller, suspended from which
is a car containing an electric motor
and accommodations for a motorman.
A second cable, an inch in diameter, is
placed two feet below the first one.
This makes three turns about q horizon
tai shaft with which the electric motor
is directly connected. Every movement
Of the motor in either direction turns
the shaft and every revolution Of the
shaft moves the car along the lower ca
BILE, the traveller moving along the upper
cable at the same time, and acting both
as a support to the car and as q trolley
for the transmission III the current to
the motor. This motor, Of course, will
be as easily operated as the motor Of an
ordinary trolley car on q street railway.
To this suspended cable trolley car may
be attached a towline from any boat or
raft and in this way a single craft or a
whole feet may be moved along as rap
idly as it is practicable to navigate the
canal. The current of electricity passes
into the motor from the upper cable
and is discharged from the motor over
the lower cable, and in this way a per-
feet metallic circuit is secured.
"This plan seems to meet the essen
tial requirements Of a practical system
Of towing. Its operation will not tend
to injure the banks. 1t does not require
the purchase of any equipment by boat
owners. 1t permits q continuation of
present methods by those who desire to
use them. 1t tends to lessen greatly ex-
pense and labor and is absolutely relia-
BILE. By its aid products can be trans
ported at a fraction Of the present cost.
1t will enable the canals hereafter to
compete with the railways under most
favorable conditions and render exorbi-
tant freight rates a thing of the past.
The electric power used will be general
ed by the falls at Niagara. s..
1T is probable this system will soon
be in use upon the Erie canal, thus af-
fording to Chicago and the great west a
cheap and speedy outlet to the sea for
those vast and varied products which
seek the seaboard by the shipping of the
lakes.
But the introduction Of electricity
upon vi waterways means far more
than this. It will inaugurate q canal re-
vival such as the world has never seen.
Transportation by water is ~undeniably
cheaper than by land, and with i'm
proved facilities and more rapid transit
they will naturally become the favored
merchandise and all articles not of a
perishable nature. The opening Of the
twentieth century will doubtless see the
numerous canal lines now projected
either completed or in process Of exca-
walton. Iexpect to see Lake Erie joined
to Lake Michigan by a waterway rum
ming from Toledo to Michigan City; to
see Chicago's magnificent canal COM
pleted, furnishing q highway for Amer
lean shipping to the heart Of the CONT
nent; to see the Nicaragua undertaking
accomplished by American enterprise
and maintained by American protection,
opening to the valley Of the Mississippi
q new outlet for its commerce into rich
and hitherto u~nattainable regions.
I'm all these great achievements cleo
tricity will necessarily play al impor-
tant part. 1t can ~excavate the channels,
propel the boats that pass along them
and line the banks with shops and fac
tories. This wonderful force will speed
lily usher in an age Of magnificence, Of
gigantic public works and ~stupendous
undertakings, which the countries Of the
| old world have scarcely attained to in
| A. -~----