The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1896-09-02
in FIVE DAYS.
Curious Plan Of an Inventor TO
Shorten Ocean Voyage.
Propsllers at the Bows Would Lift the
Vessel and Increase Speed.

The recent record Of tho American line
steamship ST. Paul I'm crossing the Allan
tic In n few minutes moro than six days
win not be considered remarkable per-
forinanco when the plans Of Philadelphia
naval architect are realized.
To Europe I'm five days will be the or
dinary passage. That there Is nothing
chimerical In tho idea may be demonstrat-
ed soon. The inventor, Mr.. Robert 3. Pea
body Of Germantown, Pa, does not pro-
pose 10 cut one day out of the record Ivy
some newly discovered motive power or
by the construction OF boat OF unusual
novel design, but by applying n principle
he has discovered 20 conserve the force OF
energy cxerted upon the water by NOV
ing vessel and TO utilize the resultant Of
such force or energy for generating or
creating a useful wave movement which
will disturb the equilibrium Of the craft,
In order that 10y seeking 10 regain its lost
equilibrium II will Of necessity partake Of
forward motion.
Many schemes have been tried to force
ship at sea TO develop tendency TO raise
her Prov above the waves and SO override
them rather than plow through them. 1t
has long been conceded by seamen and
naval engineers that IL ship could be
constructed which would not poke her
nose into every big wave, but would, on the
contrary, try TO rise above 1t, one Of the
greatest obstacles "a making record break
ing time over the ocean would be over
come.
In the majority Of previous plans many
an oddly constructed craft was turned out,
and some of them actually succeeded In
getting their prows well over the waves,
L,,t. ,hat 81
overcome was how To carry the tendency
TO rise far enough toward the center OF the
craft to get beyond what is technically
known as the "crost Of the transversely
disposed wave notion
Craft were made so deep of draft and so
narrow that they secmed almost like knife
blades as they cut through the heavy seas.
Others were built with rounded, canoe
shaped Prov, and get others ;ried 30 reduce
friction and tho natural resistance Of the
water by giving the bows a slightly con-
cave shape as they rounded toward amid
ship. All of these had their advantages. but
none of them succeeded in carrying their
improvements far enough aft TO oySScome
the tendency Of the ship to dive through
head seas
It was long ago acknowledged that II
the resistance Of tho water against the
front of u ship could be materially lessened
and corresponding amount OF pressure
placed against the stern a great deal Of
speed would be gained. It was this idea
which gave to modern ships their wedge
like tapering sterns, the idea being that
the mass OF water parted by the ship in It's
onward progress would, as it came togeth-
er beyond the widest part of the craft amid
ships, force the ship onward and so add to
her speed.
The modern engines which send the
ocean greyhounds across the Atlantic arc
limited as TO the speed which they can
produce only by the conditions which
surround them and under which they arc
operated Marine engineers are practical
iy agreed that any material increase In
speed must now come from a radical
change in the outer construction Of marine
architecture rather than from any imme-
darc change in the engines
1t was with this knowledge that Mr..
Peabody set about TO construct n craft
which, while in no way differing as 10 its
interior construction from the ordinary
flier, should have hull SO constructed as
- take advantage of the pressure on all
sides and thus obtain additional speed
from the very source which in ordinary
chips retarded them.
The idea of propeller, or twin screw,
mt the bow as we'll as the stern of the boat
had already teen successfully tried on
ferryboats and tight river craft, and TO
utilize the Same idea on his invention Nr.
Peabody designed n hull of peculiar con-
struction below the water line. His idea
was TO SO construct that portion of the
hull forward Of amidshps that the action
OF a twin screw working in the bow would
force the bows upward, and as the resist
ance of the waves could bc utilized to still
further forco the PROV up his object would
be accomplished.
His invention must in no way be con-
used with a model which was recently
l~lown IA a swimming tank of the Man
haitian Athletic club in New York. rs the
two craft In practical workings are entire
ly dissimilar. In Mr.. Pcabody's invention
the hull az the boat is provided with