The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1901-07-03
LOST THINGS OF NOTE
FORTUNES TO BE MADE BY Reds
COVERING THEM.
Man Who Made Diamonds Disappeared
Perpetual Lamp Destroyed by
BureIars-Smoke Consumer Lost.
New York Press.

New York Press.
Fame and fortune await the man who
will rediscover any one Of the many SCI
entihc secrets which have been lost in the
last twenty years. In that time many val
liable inventions have been lost by reason
OF the sudden death or the deliberate de-
sign of the inventors. Ideas which no
money can buy back have been shown to
the world for a short time, and then have
been withdrawn.
Years ago John Weymouth, of Wolver-
hampton, England, invented a plan for
utilizing the force Of heat, and exhibited
one of the simplest, cheapest and most USE
full engines imaginable run by that power.
Then he deliberately deprived the world
Of it's benefit. He was an engineer and in
ventor, and before he invented his heat
engine had patented a dozen successful APP
planes which still bear his name. Way
mouth devoted himself to Harvesting the
heat of an ordinary fire and making a new
power out of II. The idea was laughed at
by all his friends. but after four years ex-
perimenting he produced a stationary heat
engine that gave double the power or a
steam engine of the same size at one-third
of the cost, and also a small model heat
locomotive, large enough to draw a truck
with a man in it. He invited a committee
Of engineers and scientists, among whom
were Professor Huxley and Forbes Brown,
TO witness the work Of his new invention.
They did so. and declared that the two en-
gines worked to perfection. The invention
made a great stir at the time, and Way
mouth had any number of offers Of huge
sums for it. But, for no apparent reason,
Weymouth refused either TO bring out the
invention himself or to sell the secret. He
said that he was satisfied simply to have
succeeded in what he had undertaken, and
shortly before his death, two years after.
he destroyed all the papers and plans ex-
planning the system, and removed the es-
sential parts of the engines. The engines
are still in the possession of Weymouth s
heirs, but no one ever has been able TO
make anything out of them.
Still stranger was the famous loss of the
recipe for the manufacture OF diamonds hf-
teen years ago. Herbert Warner. who alone
discovered and held the secret of diamond
making, did not live 10 wreck the diamond
industry, as people thought he would, and
the circumstances of the loss were mysterl-
Gus and tragic. Inferior diamonds can still
be produced artificiaily, but only al a cost
of about ten times their value. Warner.
after years of experimenting. was able 10
turn out a genuine diamond. of large size
and of the first water, at the cost OF a
small fraction of the complete stone worth
He like Weymouth, manufactured MS dla-
monds before an audience of scientists, and
produced three fine stones, which were
tested and pronounced faultless. Two or
them are still in existence, and are the
greatest curiosities the jewel world ever
has seen. But within a fortnight OF this trl-
umph, before any OF the new stones were
nut on the market. Warner disappeared
from his house in Harley street, London,
leaving no trace whatever. So complete
was his disappearance that from that day
to this not the smallest explanation has
been hit upon.
called ''talium" was heralded widely as a
great and useful discovery. 1t was an
alloy of various metals electrically treated
and was So Per cent. lighter than steel.
stronger. tougher and costing 30 per cent.
less TO produce. 1t was discovered by
GRAVITY Adams after four years OF study
and experiment. 1t was subjected publicly
to all sorts OF tests and stood them all.
Talium was going to revolutioniZe con-
struction. Railway trains constructed OF
former speed, and all sorts OF edged tools
would be keener and lighter when made of
the new metal. Steamships. carria ges-
everything was TO be of "talium.'' over
come by the magnitude of his success
Adams lost his reason. and as he had kept
the secret OF the manufacture OF the metal
entirely to himself IL was lost 10 the world
when his reason fled. He died seven years
ago a raving ~lunatic. and no papers ex-
planning his method ever were found. AL
the tools and models which Adams con-
structed OF ''talium'' still exist, but SO
far no man has been able to discover the
method by which the amalgam was
blended.
The extraordinary perpetual lamp" OF
Henry Mills. which he invented, perfected
and proved the worth of twelve years ago,
was lost in a different manner. The Mills
lamp was an incandescent light. produced