The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1895-08-28
A THREE DAY VESSEL
Mr.. PAlNTON iNvENTS ONE TO GO
TO EUROPE IN THAT TIME.

A Working Model Exhibited II Kew York.
To BE 636 Feet In Length-The Propel-
lers Are at Bow. Stern and on Both
Sides of the Boat.
The model of Il steamship designed to
make 3S nautical miles an hour and to
cross the ocean in three days was exhib-
tied in the Maritime Exchange in New
York recently by Mr.. Richard Painton,
the inventor of the system of propulsion.
1t is thus described in his OWE words:
"This is a working model made by
Stedham & Marceron, model makers for
the United States navy. My object in
exhibiting here is to form a stock com
pany with a paid in capital Of $3, 0OO,-
600 The model represents a vessel 63G
feet long, CAPABLE of carrying 2, 500 pas
sengers, 400 officers and sailors, 5000
tons of coal, 1000 III of freight, 400
tons of food for the passengers and 800
o II of fOOd for the crew.
II gave the model a successful trial
before the board of naval constructors
and engineers at Philadelphia, and l
have the assurance of Chief Engineer
Melville Of the navy that my system of
distributing power and my patent pro-
pellers will revolutiOniZe the construc-
ton of ocean going vessels. will ex-
hibit the model before the house of rep
rescntatives and the senate when con-
gress convenes in December, and I will
endeavor to have an appropriation bill
passed to build a cruiser that will be
superior to anything that the naval pow
ers Of the world can show. The distri-
button Of power is the whole secret. We
have a series of from ii to go propel-
lers, four at the stern, four at the bow
and from four to eight OH each side of
the vessel. They are all worked by in
dependent motors, and a vessel could be
propelled by any one of them. Again,
the distribution Of power permits a YES
sci to turn III its own axis. The engines
are worked like ordinary stationary en-
gines ashore.
THE shafts that work the propellers
are from ~ to 20 feet in length and
weigh from 5 to 10 tons each. At
present the shafts of an ocean steamship
are IS feet long and weigh about so
tons. the four propellers on the bows
have a twofold duty. In the first place,
they help to propel the ship either for
ward, backward or sideways, and in
the second place they keep the bow
steady in rough weather and save the
strain on the stern propellers. The mo-
tors are not connected with each other.
They have a capacity of 6 1-8 horse
power, and can work the propellers at
an average speed of 1900 revolutions a
minute. Under the system the ship
would average 3S knots an hour.
"A vessel propelled by such a system
would save fully 60 per cent in coal.
Should some of the propellers become
disabled the passengers would not be
subjected to any worry or discomfort,
as wa the case on La Gascogne last
winter. l estimate the cost of a passen-
ger steamer at about 81, 800, 900. This
f>would cover the cost of every modern
convenience.
Engineer Melville is interested in
my propellers. If the Gushing had not
sailed I would have improved on her
%propellers and increased her speed g
knots an hour. The secret Of the alter
mating propeller is this: The blades are
constructed like a fish's tail. When the
blades strike the water they present d
great surface Of resistance, and while
recovering they present a surface akin
to the edge of a knife, and by having
two %propellers in succession the other
takes up the work that the first one can
not accomplish. No power is lost. and
no wash results from the whole series
of propellers.
1.-The whole system Of propellers is
worked by a switchboard which is oper-
ated in the charthouse. Any propeller
can be run or stopped at will, and in
this way the captain is independent of
his officers or crew. New York Jour
mol