The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1897-10-22

mere, ana now ne 10 going with
SIS, 900.
Another man was here waiting for
the boat to 60 home, and died yesterday
with heart disease. having In his pos
session $1,000. Stranger things than
fiction happen here every day"
THIS. A NOVEL PLAN.
Seattle Man Invents Steam Sled for
the Yukon.
The question of how to get supplies
into the Klondyke mining country In
the winter to relieve the distress for
food, has been solved by one man, that
is. h man thinks he has solved 1t.
r. H. Ballinger. father OF the we'll
known attorney. Is the inventor Of the
device. which. IL it meets with expecta-
tons. will drop into Dawson City In b
lead Of winter like an angel of mercy
descending from heaven, bringing food
Tor the starving miners and news from
the great world which they forsook to
seek gold in h frozen regions Of the
Tar north. The device is not a balloon
nor a flying machine, nor is it q mere
theory which the inventor has so little
faith in himself that he wants some one
k4A ~ ~ Ak Va u CACs
cution. The machine is actually being
built in Seattle. n Is SO nearly COM
pleted that q very good idea can be
gained from an inspection of II as to
It's probable practicability for the use
intended. It is a steam sled, which is
TO climb the hills. scale the mountain
passes, spin across the bleak praides,
slide over the ice and deposit it's load
in the heart of the famished region.
Mr.. Ballinger Is interested in two or
three OF the argonauts who have gone
into the great gold region. Like many
others, his associates took supplies only
Tor a limited time, for they supposed
sary supplies at the end Of their
journey. When Mr.. Ballinger realized
their condition he at nee began to de-
wise means for getting help to them.
One after another he thought up and
discarded schemes for their relief, until
ne hit upon the n which he adopted.
Once settled upOn a plan he lost no
time in having the big sled built. It Is
nearly completed and stands in a ma
chine shop on the water front near the
foot of Spring street.
The sled is twenty-one feet long,
three feet wild and about seven feet
high. The propeller in the rear makes
the whole device look very much like a
small stern-wheel steamer out of
water. The propeller cylinder is pro-
vided with adjustable spikes for ice,
and paddles for snow, and it is hollow,
so that it may readily be packed full of
meats or other heavy freight, which
will serve the useful purpose of giving
it a solid hold on the ground. A five
horse power engine and a marine boiler
built especially for this purpose will
supply the over. It will be equipped
with a power saw for making it's w
fuel, and will use the water required
over and over again. 1t is geared to
make seven miles an hour, but H. F.
Percy and j. P. Johnson, who are to
take the sled into the interior, believe
that the momentum will carry them
along at the rate Of at least ten miles
an hour,
The front runners are six feet long.
Inc are on a pivot operated by the
pilot, who sits under cover in the front
end. The rear runners are eight feet
long. All the parts which touch the
snow are heavily shod with brass.
An ingenious arrangement is applied
to the propeller by which that part of
the sled is made to drop into the de-
pressions Of the path and run up over
the. Jumps. entirely Independent Of the
movements of the main parts of the
sled. There is an arrangement, too, in
the general form of a toboggon runners
to run in front of each set of unn
in deep snow and pack it down so that
the runners will have a harder surface
to run on.
A capstan and a quarter of a mile of
cable is carried to haul the sled I'D
steep hills.
The whole thing will weigh 1900
pounds, and it is thought that it will
carry a load of four tons. The boxing
is lined with asbestos to keep the four
occupants warm, and there is a
double floor to stow away letters in. Mr..
Ballinger thinks hat the most prof.
table freight that he could carry, il he
a room for any outside of the sup
plies, which he is to take to his friends
would be copies of The P~ost-Intelli-
gencer, which he is sure he could sell to
the miners at a great premium.
A small dynamo, to light the interior
and provide a good headlight, is part OF
the outfit Of this owe craft.
Not only is this queer craft to be
equipped for snow and ice, but it is tt
be so arranged that if found necessary
1t can be run over the water. The at,
tachment for this use is a boat, thu
lumber for which a be sawed GU
with the steam saw carried along. 4
practical boat.
The route which will be taken int
he interior is in the main Dalton trai
via the Chilkat pass. There is onl,
five miles of the route where timber /
not handy. Part way they will talk
jected by Mr.. Burleigh, and it is esti
mated that the trip in with a load cal
be accomplished in fifteen days and tn
return made in half that time.
The Campaign In Greater New York
New York, October 18.-Dozens o
moofippS wara held foniphf in tho hor