The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1899-01-22
KEELY'S SECRET PROBED
THE MYSTERIOUS MOTOR PROBABLY
MOVED ny COMPRESSED AIR.
What Was Revealed by an ExpIOra-
ton of the Old LabOratOry-Rem-
nants Of Hidden Tubing Found.


| Compiled from Philadelphia Press.
| In view of the tremendous interest in the
| question of the genuineness Of the famous
Keely motor experiments, and following up
| its own investigation of a week ago, the
Press has just concluded an investigation
of the dismantled workship of John W.
| keely, 1920 North Twentieth street, in an
| endeavor to get at the bottom of the secret
| Of the Keely motor. In this work the inves-
| tgatorS were assisted by Prof. Herring, a
consulting electrical engineer of wide ex-
| perience; Prof. Arthur w. Goodspeed, as
| sistant professor of physics of the Univer-
| sity Of Pennsylvania Prof Leighter Wit
| mer professor of experimental psychology
| at the University of Pennsylvania, and DR..
| M. s. Miller. In addition to these gentle
men Clarence B. Moore, son of Mrs. Bloom
| field Moore, was an interested spectator,
| and Mr.. Coleman Sellers, jr., took part in
the examination of the flooring on Tues
| day afternoon, when the most important
| find Of all was made.
The investigation was most thorough, ev
| cry bit of flooring was ripped up and every
nook and Granny explored under the floor
| ing and under the walls The debris left
| in between the joists and in barrels were
sifted, ard no opportunity to find tell-tale
| evidence was missed.
The results show that communication be-
| tween the upper and lower rooms of the
| famous laboratory was easy, and was APP
| PATIENTLY one of the conditions under which
the experiments were carried on. In a nut
| she'll, the discoveries of tubing under the
floor of the main exhibition room and the
| brick partition wall between the exhibition
rooms, in connection with the possible use
/ of the great ST. sDbere a. a reservoir for
| compressed air, or compressed gases, has
| convinced all the Investigators that this was
| not only the possible. but the probable agen-
| cy that moved the Keely motor.
This tubing is of the kind calculated to
| stand high pressures, ana the amount OF II
| found and the position of the few pieces IN
| place is held by the investigators to go a
| long way toward solving the secrets of the
| famous laboratory
TUBES CARRIED PRESSURE.
On Friday Of last week number Of men
| high in mechanical circles made a cursory
examination of the old Keely workshop.
Among them were William Sellers, ]. S.
| Bancroft and Coleman Sellers. Protruding
| about an inch from the floor of the middle
room Of the upper floor a tube was found
that at first appeared to be heavy electric
wire. The tube entered the floor close to
| the wall, passed diagonaly through the
heavy brick partition and extended a dis
| lance of two feet into a room on the first
floor, where 1t hung free. This tube is now
in the safety vault of William Sellers &
! Co.. 1000 Hamilton street
Coleman Sellers said to-day: after see
| ing the tubing in place under the floor of
the Keely laboratory l am inclined to the
| opinion that the inventor employed COM
! pressed air in his experiments. The size
| of the bore of the tubes indicates that they
| were intended to carry high pressures. 1t is
| Impossible to see the tubes under the floor
and believe in the inventors sincerity. He
| could have had no honest object in creating
| Them
By Wednesday night every nook and cor
| ner in the one-time Keely laboratory had
| been searched, every board had been turned.
| exploring the Ozark receSses under the floors.
| Eager eyes followed every move of pick
and shovel: Scientists and engineers looked
| carefully for tangible evidence, and most
| watchful among them was Clarence B.
| Moore, into whose life Keelys interests have
brought so much disquiet and unhappiness
! The three-ton steel sphere, description
| of which has been previously published in
| the Tribune, was the first object of investi-
| cation. 1t lay under the floor and al
| most covered by the earth and refuse that
| had been used in filling up the space be-
! tween the floor ana the ground. Excavations
were made on all sides until the sphere was
| entirely uncovered. 1t was found to be rest
| ing on the natural clay. Heavy beams had
| been pressed about it to hold it in place.
! The earth that covered it seemed to have
| been thrown in after the sphere had been
! set in position. The joists had been cut to
| allow it's passage from the room into the
| ground, and the joists had then been rein
| forced and braced against the upper sur
At the opposite sides of the sphere We're
| two heavy partitions, and in the top was
! hole lined with screw threads The diameter
! Of the hole increased toward the inside of
| the sphere. A hole was dug in the side Of
| the globe, into which the mysterious mass
| of steel was rolled with little effort on the
| part Of the workmen.
Close to the sphere, under the joists ana
| level with the hole in the sphere, was an
1ea1
! into the space beneath the front room and
| terminated close to pit lined with heaVy
| wood and covered by trap door. At each
| end Of this pipe was an elbow point OF steel.
| The work of Monday was confined to the
| lower floor. At night two detectives guard
| ed the dismantled laboratory Inc search
| party explored the upper floor on Tuesday.
! Nothing was found in the front and middle
rooms. The room in the rear was curlously
| raised above the others and two steps led
| to it from the middle room 1t was In this
| middle room that Keely had conducted the
| demonstrations with his motor and lever.
EXPLORE CHAMBER OF MYSTERY.
The upper boards were quickly ripped off,
and every man in the party went down upon
his hands and knees A cry of surprise
| came from a man in the corner near the
door. The man brushed aside the dust and
disclosed a narrow brass tube about three
feet in length that ran through the joists in
holes specially cut for it. The tube did not
extend far, but the holes in the joists con-
| tinued halfway across the room. Within
a foot of the first tube another was found
that pierced the thick brick wall in two diff
ferent places. The tube had been broken
off, but the part in the masonry had not
| been disturbed
| The long tube found by William Sellers
| passed through the same wall at a distance
| of four feet from the place in which the
| other tube was discovered The men who
| saw both are of the opinion the two tubes
| were connected at one time, and that it
| would have been easy to continue tube
under the double floor from one place to
| the other.
The removal of all the experimental ma
| chinery by the Keely Company left the
| meager labratory at 1920 North Twentieth
| street nothing but shell of brick walls and
| wood partitions.
| The lair of the famous motor, motor that
| never turned a wheel for commercial pur-
| poses in all the twenty-five years of Keely's
| experimenting. was a lair from which it
was quite evident the curious mechanical
| constructions had been carried off it en-
| tirely, nothing being left but traces of
| where they had stood on the flooring or
where they had hung on the wall or had
| been suspended from the ceiling.
Such a dismantling naturally broke off all
| connectionS-if there were any-with secret
wires or tubes on the inside or the outside,
| and it was the belief of certain of the in
vestigators that no secret tubing would be
| found in position even if such tubing were
| entirely innocent, as it Was felt that the
| complete cleaning ont by the company