Arizona republican., 1904-11-23


 There is stin another factor. greater than the two we have mentioned, and that is the improved steam engine. If the claims on behalf of a new rotary engine just perfected by a New York inventor are substantiated, it seems clear that not only locomotives but all steam engines of today are doomed to tSe scrap pile. And 1t is probable that the contest of the future will be fought out between the electric locomotive and the rotary steam locomtive.
 The claims made for the new steam engine would seem wildly extrava- gant if they were not supported by apparently undeniable facts. An article in Golfers Weekly gives technical description of the machine, and quotes some of the leading ma chinists of America and Europe as say ing that the inventor is ten years in advance of any other steam expert in the world Hundreds of patents have been issued for rotary and turbine en- zines, but it is asserted that the New York inventor, after experimenting for tw enty-five years, has produced the perfect machine. Leaving out the technical details this is what Col Hers says of the new wonder:
 "The reciprocating engine has meant much more to the world than the tele- graph. telephone, or any of the kin dred modern wonders, but the accom- plishments of applied steam pale be- fore the prophecies of mechanical scientists as to what this new marvel will have wrought at the end of the next twenty years. Wireless teleg- raphy is a triumph of science, but it is a toy in comparative significance.
 Enormous speed and lack of vibra- tion will allow the spinning of a Iour- foot railway engine wheel two thous- ands times a minute along q perfect roadbed Allowing for air resistance and friction. that means travel at the rate of four miles a minute Railway men have been looking forward to single-car propulsion for the last ten years. This engine makes it easily possible for a single car, containing engine, boilers, and passenger com partments, to travel safely one hun dred miles an hour. Across the Amer ican continent in a little more than thirty hours, from New York to Cher bourge in two days and a half, from New York to Philadelphia in forty minutes-these are some of the things of the near future.
 ''In automobiling the lowering of the center of gravity means more than in a railway engine even. With the HOff- man engine the cylinder would be part -h.s 1.1 run on momentum one minute one could speed the next at a rate so great that there are few men who would dare drive a car to it's racing limit. Re sidential congestion in cities must de- cline before a rapid transit which will take one on a subway express train from City Hall park to the Bronx in five minutes. The great changes in real estate prices can be imagined
 "In manufacture and commerce a complete upheaval in all power ~iants and means of freight transportation will follow. The engine can be put on the top floor of the highest building and because it has no vibration the building will not suffer. Power cost will be reduced about one third, and the generating Of electric currents one half, which will be a terrible blow tc gas. When freight is much faster than express is today, the express com panies will occupy a new and less i'm l portant relation to commerce. Sim ilarly the mails will be increased al l the expense of the telegraph ana tele- 1 phone. A business man can be in hi. | New York office all day Wednesday and arrive with the office day at Ei. l Chicago office Thursday morning. A l long ocean voyage for ones health WI l be difficult to get. Tropical fruits anC ! perishable foods from South America will be as ordinary as apples anC doughnuts in the United States. Thu! the field of probabilities unfolds al most endlessly.
 'In the construction of steamship. there will be a saving of One-third 1T first cost, inasmuch as no great rib. and beams Of steel need be useC
 throughout to withstand the vibration of the engines. Connection with tn, shaft will be direct, and for high spec, the hull will have new lines, especially in the bow which must be designed
 to cut through the seas instead of rid
 ing them.
 "The added terrors of warfare forn
 a wide field for speculation. The re moval of the vibration feature, the pos
 sibilties in compactness and direct
 ness seen in the new engine allow tn
 use of armOred automobiles, which cal
 mount field guns of as high as four
 inch calibre, and traverse rough coun
 try without doing harm to the powe
 machinery. A reciprocating engin
 built for compactness can be put ou
 of order by a jolt. The Hoffman ep
 zine is so simple in construction an
 so direct in action that it is not easil
 crippled.
 In naval warfare its invention open
 a new era Battleships will be able {
 travel twice as rapidly and stay at SC
 twice as long without coaling. Tn
 size of the citadel can be greatly re
 duced, and the chances of hit in tn