Kansas City journal. [volume] (Kansas City, Mo.) 1897-1928, 1898-03-14
SPAIN MIGHT AS WELL SURRENDER
UNCONDITIoNALLY.
AT A KANSAS MANS MERCY.
HE INVENTS A FIRE THAT WILL
CONSUME HER STEEL SHIPS.
Discovers Also q Means by Which the
trolled So That 1t Will
Work"Either Lateral-
Iy or Straight Up.''

ST. Joseph, Mo-, March 13.-(Special) In a
very few days the authorities in the war
department at Washington will be called
upon by man. well, known in every state
west of the Mississippi river. who claims
to have made discovery which will rem
der invincible any, power using 1t in naval
warfare or coast defenses, as against an enc
my not similarly provided. This man, who
declines to allow his name to be dvulged at
this time, is an experienced electrician and
mine operator.
1t was while working in a Colorado mine.
which has been a steady producer for thir-
ty-nine years, and in which the $500 foot
level has been reached. that he made the
discovery which he thinks will give the
United States certain victory in case of
an armed conflict with any foreign nation
While, of course, unwilling to make pub
lie his secret, he Is not reticent in regard
to its general nature and effects. 1t ap-
pears to involve a new force and new
element from natures storehouse, the ex-
istence Of which and its use at the time
have often been suggested as the only ex-
PLANTATION for the ability Of the pyramid
builders to place the massive stones used
by them in position. 1t is, in fact. the
means of suspending the power of gravita-
tion in large and weighty objects and re-
storing 1t at win. Also, Of directing the
full weight and force Of gravitation later
ally or upward instead of downward, ana
with as unerring precision as that with
which the electric current can be controlled
by the manipulation of the key.
In a naval battle, the. proposition is to
surround the ship with an envelope of this
new force which acts instantly. and will
cause the heaviest projectile to either drop
in the sea or be driven off into new
orbit. 1t is claimed that this can be done
as readily and thoroughly as oil will quiet
the troubled waters. Tho effect would be
to more certainly protect the vessel using
this force than could be done with the
heaviest plate armor known, making the
ship impregnable to a rain Of shot and shell.
The new force involves the old prin-
ciple of the resultant Of centripetal and
centrifugal forces, which any student OF
mathematics will understand. 1t can be
generated with all the facility and economy
of space of that by the battery used in
city telegraph office.
The element referred to as companion
discovery is one that is believed to have
no mention in history, is in liquid form
and of such nature that it will, when
brought in contact with an enemy's ves-
start consuming fire. that no known
chemical combination will extinguish until
the material upon which 1t feeds Is eX-
Its most striking popularity is. that when
hurled after the manner of hand grenades,
in the direction of an enemyS ship, 1t
bursts into violent flame on the water, and
that this flame continues IN the course in
which 1t was first started. :. III,
With 1t. the discoyerer says, It will be
can battle line. confederation on the
water that will not only effectually con-
ceal the movements Of All entire SQUADRON
ol,y 1h1 ha
fleet. So fierce and unconquerable is this
fire that 1t is like those which were once
the terror Of travellers on the great plains
Of the West, sweeping everything before
it until its force is allayed. Ap enemy's
only means of defense against this hither-
to which which burns S 81 even Savh the
supply of the same ammunition and
throwing a similar line of fire out, which.
on meeting the other would ,Sn;s Shsck It a9S
on each other.
The discoverer is. however. an intensely
ISaf his secret snail abe Become the ppoperty
of any nation but the United States. The
fluid Is of. such strength that he carries
a pint, in a very thick and well sealed
bottle. Because OF its dangerous char
acter he closely guards the identity OF the
consulted the authorities at Washington
and convinced them Of its startling ma
ture and Importance.
1t is simply matter of justice to the
Sunflower state to announce in this fon-
nection that the perpetrator of the fore
going advices is a formerly Of Kansas man.
In fact, he still maintains his Topeka cit
izenship. He is the same man who,
few years ago. in Wyoming. saw an entire
party, of thirty or forty Eastern tourists
spouting of a boiling geyser which had
been moved to action by the accidental
dropping of bar of soap into its latent
story brought him was gone. he saw a
party of a dozen or more hunters over
whelmed and trampled to death by n
stampeding herd Of buffaloes; and few
faloes go over precipice several hundred
feet high. and learned of a man who
cleared Ss3.H6 above all expenses" by
skinning the victims and selling the hides.
After he went to Kansas, he was told by
a man who is one of the principals in the
scheme, but who refuses to permit the use
company capitalized at $5O.OOO.OoO to pub
lish a strictly up-to-date newspaper. The
entire plant-editorial offices, composing
room and presses.,was to be on board an
overland train. and special edition was to
be printed for each town. SO that every
one might have his news strictly fresh.
This story must have brought him an ag-
gregats of $50 or $50. for he did not fail |
to syndicate it in thrifty fashion. Later,
a high meteorological authority" let him |
into the secrets of the origin Of tornadoes.
ana ne. III turn Iook tne pubic INTO his |
confidence at the usual rate of s. n COL |
umn. All Western tornadoes. he learned.
start as petty whirlwinds. such as one may |
see any day in summer. from a vast cave |
under Burnett's Mound, a rather promi- |
nent elevation near Topeka, and gather
force as they progress until they become |
the destructive storms that overwhelm cit |
les and leave paths of utter ruin. Never. |
until now, however, has this genius discov-' |
cred the force OF gravity working either |
.laterally or straight up:" nor has he ever
before seen unquenchable fire that would |
consume steel and even the surface of the |
sea. But ''these be parlous, times" when |
tits easier than usual to see things.
PERSONAL. L