The copper country evening news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 18??-1907, 1897-01-14
A FORTY KNOT GAIT.
REMARKABLE SPEED CLAIMS FOR A
NEW ELECTRIC VESSEL.
Designed Co Have Fourteen Propellers.
Six Forward To Pun the Vessel and
Eight AIT To Push Her Through the
Water-To BE Built at Providence.

promised by the inventor has been con-
structed at Providence. It Is a distinct
novelty in very many respects, and, if
as successful as its promoters confident.
ly expect, will scarcely fail to play
some havoc with modern shipbuilding
methods. Its promoters are planning to
build vessel 300 feet long, which is
to have ii propellers, placed forward, |
to draw it through the water, and |
astern, as pushers, the arrangement, of |
course, being on each side.
A speed of 40 knots an hour is conf |
IDENTIFY expected. The boat is designed |
for passenger traffic in Narragansett |
bay ostensibly, but its real purpose is
practical demonstration of system
which the projectors hope to see applied
to naval vessels in the near future.
The president of the company that
will build this boat is Richard B. Pain
ton, a naturalized Englishman. Though
his company is located at Providence,
he lives at Williamsport, Pa
Il have perfected vessel with near
~ double the speed of vessels propelled
by steam," said Mr.. Painton. "An
ocean liner of this pattern can cross the
Atlantic in three days; cruiser sim
ilarly equipped will have speed of 80
knots an hour. Steam propulsion can
only drive These great armored mon
sters 8 to 81 knots an hour under the
most favorable conditions, and the ex-
treme limit of marine achievement by
old methods seems to have been reached
Added speed must be attained by the
!! use of electricity.
"That object has been accomplished,
and l am Offering the government an
opportunity to profit by my invention.
am an Englishman by birth, but am
naturalized American citizen and
feel it my duty to give my adopted
country the first benefit of my invention.
| If the American congress does not see
fit to take advantage Of the opportunity
that is presented, will then feel free
to look for a market among the great
powers Of Europe, as did Hotchkiss,
Maxim, Calling and other inventors
who were turned away from America
and forced to seek market elsewhere
for inventions which were afterward
adopted in this country upon the pay
ment of vastly larger sums than were
originally asked
zone great source Of complaint with
the navy department has been the IN
suf1iciency of room in war vessels for
the accommodation Of men, armament,
coal and provisions. The machinery
necessary to propel these great ocean
fortresses occupies such large amount
of space that there is practically no
room for anything else. The terrific
heat from the furnaces and steam pipes,
the maddening Kissing of the steam and
the incessant vibration and SHOCKS re-
sultinp from the wrenching OF the
heavy shafts and the straining OF the
mechanism make life almost unendura
BILE and convert the vessels into verlta
BILE bells. They are torture prisons iron
which there is no escape.
, "The new electric motors will have
: greatly enlarged power over steam. In
stead of the enormous so ton shafts, eX
tending from the middle of the ship t
the stern, the electrical plant Will hav
from IA to 16 screw propellers, ranginI
along the sides of the vessel, as well
two of ingenious construction at III
stern. These propellers are operates
from n switchboard. They can be oper
ated sinely or all together, at the Will Q
the man at the keys Each propeller
: a machine by itself, and the Disabling
5 of one or more has no effect whateve
!, on the others.
Il "When the entire complement OF pre-
pellers is in action, there Is no hlor
: noise than would come from the actlo
7 of a flvwheel. There is no jar caused D
the horizontal motion, no eXcesslV
u heat from steam piping; the long shail
o. are done away with, and the terrll
II straining of the engines ana shai
u when alternately submerged and raise
y aloft by the pitching of the vessei
- heavy seas is avoided.
l. "The engines that generate the pow'
il are not mechanically connected VIII
the propellers, as is now the case
steam vessels, but the power IS tran
mitted by electric wires direct TO moeo
It built on propeller shafts. The machlhel
4 is simplicity itself. No betting or CO.
< Ming is required. The propeller aliwo,
Ie direct, and, as before noted, they can
IS operated singly or together II son
|. break down, those that are left can
70 the work 1t would not be possible i
IT all r. be disabled as is now SO often u
/. case 18th vessels equipped by steat
r lea, i, them hounderipg for days ut q
Or mei e the elements. =,
%. n 1876 to l56 revolutions OF q
a screw minute is about the limit
IN steam .wer There is practically
s. limit ne speed of screw operat
by Gle, city. Eighteen hundred rev
buttons a minute and higher nave De
. reached by these motors in practi'
III Six hundred and fifty to 500 revolutio
T. a minute can be safely depended upo y
10 "In a large cruiser of, say. gov
OF horsepower the transmission OF pc"
VI nv steam would be at the expense
% about 83 per cent loss, or $500 nor
en mower. whereas by electricity the ~
u. would be only about 10 per cent,