The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-05-14
TRIED A MODEL YESTERDAY
NOUNCED 1T GOOD
THING.
VIII BE Given 1t ms Soon as the
New Link Scheme Can Be
Built.

AAAAAOOAAA --~~~-o'
Yule, N. D., and that may account fol-
the fact that, although Mr.. Lang for
the past seven or eight years has been
leading the life of a cowboy, he has
always manifested great aptitude for
the science Of locomotive engineer
ing. Mr.. Lang is now registered at the
Windsor hotel. He came to ST. Paul
to complete arrangements for the prac-
teal working test Of wonderful new
invention of his own which he worked
out and perfected during spare mo-
ments on his ranch.
Mr.. Lang has had something of q
romantic career take 1t all in all. He
was born in Scotland less than thirty
five years ago and early developed a
great taste for scientific studies. His
parents were of the same turn OF mlnd.
The family traced direct line back to
the inventor Of the first locomotive.
When lad, Mr.. Lang used to haunt
the railway stations Of Scotland and
watch the engines for hours. His faith
err after, he grew up, decided to SEND
him to the College Of Locomotive Engi-
neering in Dublin, which delighted the
heart Of the young man. However, for
tune did rot favor him in the least.
His father owned extensive ranch
lands in the great American wilder
ness, as it was called, in England, and
when twentyfour or twenty five years
of age the young man was sent out to
North Dakota to look after the ranch.
For eight years he lived among the
cowboys, being one Of them and carry
ing on their pursuits. The hardships
of the life told upon the young man
and he partially lost his hearing. Dur
ing all these long years he inwardly
longed to be where he could turn his
hand to mechanical pursuits
Five years ago he made up his mind
that even on the plains he could, per-
haps, work out some invention and set
himself about the task. In his love for
a locomotive, Mr.. Lang had often noted
Its complicated mechanism and it oc-
Cured to him about five years ago
that the link notion Of the modern
locomotive valve gearing, or eccen-
tries, was far more complicated than 1t
might be made and forwith he COM
menced to study out some means Of
simplifying the mechanism. He MOTTO
ed that the reversing gear of an en-
CINE was a cumbersome piece Of ma
chinery, and that to reverse 1ocomo-
tive an engineer was compelled to lift
or depress a complication of gearing
which weighed 300 or 400 pounds. He
also noticed that this machinery could
not be worked without the aid Of a
counterpoise spring.
So Mr.. Lang erected a shop out there
on the paririe. During the short winter
days his services on the ranch were
not needed, he worked out his idea.
Successive failures met his efforts, but
he persevered. Last winter he was
convinced that if he could acquire adj
ditional skill with the use of certain
tools and mechanical devices that he
could work out his ideas himself, SO
he went into large iron manufacture
ing firm at Pittsburg, where he worked
for six months in order to perfect him
self in the mechanical arts. Then he
returned to his prairie workshop and
made his machine. Tuesday he brought
his working model down to St. Paul
and tested it in one of the great rail-
road shops in this city. The model
worked to perfection. Next week Mr..
Lang will complete full sized mechan
ism and it will be tested on a heavy To-
connective.
The preliminary test on Wednesday
was great success. Mr.. Lang is not
yet ready to give to the public de-
tailed description Of his invention.
However, he says, it Is a simplif1ed
link motion" He does away with one
of the links entirely.
1.-THE valves and eccentrics of To-
connective are as clearly identified with
a link motion, as the lungs are to the
body" said Mr.. Lang to reporter for
the Globe yesterday. up to the
present time two eccentr1cs have been
required to produce the link motion
needed to regulate the flow Of steam
into the cylinders at the proper time.
NV invention contemplates the use of
but one eccentric to produce the same
motion. The link I propose to use will
be half the size of the old one. You
will readily see that this means saw
ing of fully Is per cent in friction. This
Is a great gain and its value cannot
be overestimated Another thing which
the invention will secure will be a more
even distribution Of the steam.
"The remarkable easiness and
promptness with which an engineer
can reverse his engine, became appar-
ent the moment we put the working
model in motion We made the con-
ditions as nearly equal as possible to
that Of an engine in service, and was
able to reverse by using one finger
The reduction in the number of eccen-
tries, the lessening Of the friction 70
per cent, and the doing away with
the counterpoise makes the work of
reversing childs play"
Mr.. Lang has interested DR.. Walsh
in the invention. which will be tested
within a few days in the presence of
experts.
M. ]. Bowling returned yesterday from Rem
ville accompanied by Mrs. Bowling, and is
registered at the Windsor. Mr.. Bowling will
leave presently for Detroit, where he will
take up the preliminary work as secretary Of
the Republican league, which will meet in
the City of Straits during the summer.
A. G. McCard and wife, of La Crosse, will
long remember their honeymoon to St. Paul.
Mr.. McCard and bride are at the Windsor.
ried in the morning Yesterday an express
man called at the hotel with an enormous
bundle of old back-numbered shoes, the bum
die being consigned from admiring friends In
La Crosse to the bride and groom.
Charles J. Davis, Of Duluth, is at the Mer-
chants.
Frank J. Price. of Grand Rapids, is at the
Merchants.
Dan C. Davis, of Window, Is a guest at
the Merchants.
G. H. Hagan, Of Seattle, is at the Ryan.
Ex-Gov. s. F. Hauser Jr., of Helena, and
Ella Hauser, are at the Ryan.
l.. F. Potter and wife, of Oakland, To-, are
at the Ryan.
William D. Totten, of Spokane, is at the
Clarendon.
W. s. Wright, of Staples, is at the clar-
endon.
e. E. Cole. of Fargo. N. D.. is at the Wind
sor.
G. E. Richardson, of Duluth. is at the
Windsor.
J. ]. Rhodes, Of Milwaukee. is at the Met
ropolitan.
Matt Czech, Of waverly, Is guest Of the
Hotel Metropolitan.