The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-10-14
Armstrong Laundry ', ::s5s s'; .'


premiership in the practical school OF the
real.
AS a boy young Adams excelled in ath-
letic sports When about eighteen he
swan acress Lake Geneva, Wis, and back,
a distance Of seven miles When the walk
ing craze set in he at once went into train
ing. In scores OF races he was not once
defeated, and had the distinction of being
the first amateur TO walk a mile "heel and
toe" in less than seven minutes, his rec
ord being six minutes fifty-eight seconds.
His ambition to become a professional
pedestrian thwarted by his father,
much to the future authors surprise and
dismay.
Desiring that his son should secure a
practical and thorough knowledge OF me-
chanics the father placed him I'm a machine
shop. where he worked two years In a
thoughtless hour he thrashed the proprie-
tors son and lost his position. Being then
of age he ignored parental advice and be-
came the reporter OF a local paper. In
spare hours he studied drafting and the
designing of machinery. In this he evinced
decided proficiency and had little difficulty
in obtaining a position as craftsman IN the
office of a well-known Chicago patent OF
flee attorney. He soon became recognized
as one OF the most ingenious designers or
machinery in the West. During the hve
engaged in solving the puzzling problems
which arose in the invention of harvesting
machinery, barbed wire. marine engines.
hydraulic dredges, and the hundreds OF de-
vices evolved In mechanical progress.
1t was in 1890 that the Journalist-inventor
grasped the idea of an invention which
brought him much fame and may yet be-
queath to him fortune. Becoming con-
vinced from observation and experiments
that the resistance of the atmosphere was
! the greatest friction which retards the
speed of passenger railway trains, MI
Adams designed a system of construction
which provides that train pointed at both
ends. and with smooth continuous surfaces
at all points, so as not TO offer more than
the least possible resistance 10 the AIR.
Joseph Medill the millionaire owner OF the
| Chicago Tribune, became interested in this
theory and spent many thousands OF dollars
/ in preliminary experiments and in patents
1t was not until 1890, many years after
| Mr.. Medills death, that James r. keene,
/ the famous Wall street magnate and oper-
ator, became convinced that these inven-
| lions were practical. Through Mr.. keene's
support and influence working test was
made by the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad
| Company.
Few experiments have been so expen-
| sive or have attracted more attention. A
passenger train of seven cars was con-
| structed and ran at various speeds be-
| tween Baltimore and Washington, and be-
| tween Washington and Philadelphia Bus
/ mess complications arose which prevented
as thorough a series of tests as had been
planned. but enough was accomplished 70
| demonstrate the accuracy OF Mr. Adams >
/ theories. With a small locomotive all
| records between Baltimore and Washington
| were shattered, and on one occasion i've
| miles were made in the unprecedented ti1le
| of three minutes. Negotiations are now in
best experts agree in the opinion that the
| passenger train of the future will embody
| many of the features of Mr.. Adams's in
| vention, which is popularity known as the
cigar-shaped train" or as ''the wind
| splitter"
| In 1854, in recognition of his comprehen-
| sive grasp Of mechanical subjects, Mr.
Adams was appointed superintendent of the
| department for the suppression or the
| smoke nuisance in Chicago, which position
| he held with credit for three, years. The
plans he formulated are now being exc
| cuted with every prospect that the greatest
municipal curse OF the Western metropolis
/! will be reduced and finally abated. His re-
1 ports and recommendations are accepted
| as authoritative, and have been widely
| translated
| In the presidential campaign OF 1896 Mr..
| Adams was induced to accept the position
| of chief OF the Democratic literary and
press bureau, and was an influential factor
| in that interesting but disastrous campaign
Soon after he resigned his political Office
| and founded the New Times, magazine or
| social reform. Ii attained large eircula-
ton under Mr.. Adams's editorship. and IL
| was with reluctance that its founder con-
solidated Ii with the Arena, when COM
| PEELED to devote his time and energies TO
the railway inventions before mentioned.