The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1903-10-26
THE. "B0Y WIzARD)|'":
William w. Davis, Jr., Who Builds
an Automobile and a Steam ~
80 : ;t's'.A .GFsl 8. =
boat. :.1--~
A Natural Born Edison Who Prom
Uses to Make a Great In
ventor.
New York World.

-- New DIRK World.
The Wizard of Madison, n. j., and
his faithful man, Friday, known local
ly as. Soup, are worth special mention.
Madison is not a town that has ever
attracted any particular attention, ex-
| cept on one occasion two years ago,
when a flood washed up the bodies in
one Of it's Oldest cemeteries. NotWith-
standing it's seeming inconspicuous-
ness the town, has a wizard done
William Webb Davis, Jr., son of Will
! liam Webb Davis, wholesale mer-
chant Of New ork: -. ~
! Altho only Is years old, the Wizard
/ of Madison has succeeded in accom-
plishing two rather remarkable things.
He has invented and operated an au-
| tomobile with direct driver, and he
/ has navigated steamboat of his own
1 built on the waters Of the Passaic
! river as high up as New Providence.
/ Perhaps the value. Of these feats
will be overlooked by the casual
day are operated with a clutch, and
that no inventor has ever been able
to put upon the market a car with an
absolute direct driver: The feat Of
4 running a sideWheeI steamboat on the
Passaic river aschigh up as New Provi-
dence is remarkable because Of the
/ very shallow water there. In the lam
guage Of the wizard, the fish in those
waters "have to stand on their heads
in order to dampen their gills.
T. Madison never had an idea until
| last summer that it contained a nat
ural born Fulton-Edfson. The news
4 leaked out when the Eagle, it's week.
| ly paper, put in a new printing press.
4 The engine which was designed to
/ run the press would not develop suf-
ficient power, and the efforts Of all the
mechanical engineers in the town
could not make it do any better. FL
J nally the wizard, who had just put on
long trousers and who is still a "prep'
at the Stevens institute, volunteered
! his services, and within twenty-four
hours the Eagles new engine was de-
: veloping enough power, so the
wizards understudy, Soup, says, tc
not only run off the entire edition OF
quired of it, but also to heat and light
4 the town-had it ever been called
upon. ~..~ .-s-- .z-.->z.
Shortly after establishing his repu-
.tation in this fashion, as a consulting
, engineer. the wizard and his friend
Soup came to the conclusion that il
was about time Madison supported ar
automobile, Taking the duty upoT
!, themselves, they located an automo
bile factory in a shed connected witt
the Davis stable. A dry goods boz
was secured for a body. Steam gen
: Grated by gasolene was settled upo1
f as the power,ssand a boiler was made
Of a piece ofswrought iron piping
eight inches in diameter and twenty
| four inches long. This pipe wa
capped at both ends and four tube
were inserted trayersely by boring
holes in the sides Of the boiler. So ia
as.thes wizard knows his system Of pip
ing was original. ys1
When he had his engine completes
t he rugged up a running gear with
:, bicycle chain and sprocket wheel at
: tached to the rear axle. The wheel
Il were taken from a toy wagon and
: gasolene stove burner was used a
E first to generate steam. Later WOO
r was used, because. the inventor
\ funds ran out: E*
A. When all was ready Soup gave, tn
/ cal: a shove. and she shot out int
: Main street like "a regular red devil.
Madison's s. leading grocer happene
to-. be, in the way, and he narrow
: escaped being run down. for Whlc
: he threatened suit. The trial trip wa
: such a success the Wizard and Sou
! took daily runs; on the roads. abou
!. Madison, going frequently two or thre
.. 1 nnilse, and in the course of q week tn
Coffin which was what eyerybod
III called the machine caused nos les
! than "a dozen horses to. run ava.
t Enough litigation was proposed b
! 4 the surrounding farmers 40 keep sln
.o Wizards family estate tied up &c
IF about q generation, and then he de
.s*eided to- turn the disturber into
I'LL steamboat. $50
n After being finished in the stab
: she was sent to New Providence on
!. friendly farmers wagon and launche,
= Like the Coffin, whose engine. she cor
e tanned, the Ark runs. Gasolene
d used to generate her steam, and st
e is. geared very low, so her half horse
power engine Develops the Wizar
n calculates, about one horsepower. 81
= is twelve feet long, three feet s.
y inches beam and carries four passel
gers il she isn't leaking too much. II
Soup is the only human being asit
m from the Wizard who has enough COZ
IF fidences in her to become a passenge
~ He and the Wizard take frequent tril
il on the river, and she seems to Wo1
id all right now, but If the gasole1
c. burner, which is a treacherous-1ool
r. ing affair at its best, ever has a. mi
le understanding with the steam boile
& twill be necessary to- rescue the r
d. naining portions Of the Wizard al
Ia Soup with a boat hook
is I5S The Wizard. it is quite evident, ge
81 his genius from his mother, who
10 zone Of the leaders I'M Olson. She