Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1908-01-30
"NOTORITE.'

Mr. Hudson Maxim takes exception
10 a statement made In an AssoeiaVeu
Press dispatch dated New York. Jan
in which he was represented as the
,nyentor of IA new motive power
known as 'Motorite, which Is eNPeo'-
ed to revolutionize torpedoes ana 'oi
nedo boats and possibly In the future
replace steam as a motive power ioi
ocean going vessels" Mr.. Maxim Is
specially Indignant that the dispdtch
represented him as having eXpressen
the opinion that his new motive pow
err will sooner or later come into use
on merchant vessels and will double
their speed"
In a letter to the News dated
Brooklyn, Jan. %, the inventor eN-
plans that "Motorite" is only form
OF smokeless gun powder, and that the
cost of IL prevents its use on mer-
chant vessels According TO his calcu-
lations it would cost over thlrty-three
million dollars to take the Lusitania
across the Atlantic, II "motorite" were
used instead of steam. He says.
'',rhe L.usitania, for example, burns
nearly one thousand tons OF Coal per
day at u cost of about SS,oOO Tor eaeh
twenty -four hours AS il takes nearly
1--WE DAVIS for the run, about 1000 tons
of coal are required, at cost OF about
81, 500 for the run, The coal carrying
capacity of the Lusitania ~ about
1000 tons. The total displacement OF
the vessel is $1,000 tons and she de-
welops about 10000 horsepower. II the
speed of the Lusltania were 70 De
l,ng III
would require more than eight times
her present horsepower, or more than
b6O. 900 horsepower. About 5000 tons
of coal per day would be needed, or To-
600 tons. costing about $4,000 for the
two days run. H. requires about twelve
pounds OF air to supply the oxygen 10
burn one pound OF coal Molor.te,
however, Is n chemical compound con-
sistlng OF 20 per cent nitroglycerine ana
30 per cent guncottOn, aud carries It's
own oxygen for it's combustion, Con-
sequently II requires very much more
motorlte than II does coal 70 eNaporatc
an equal quantity Of water, Roughly,
motorite viii evaporate about one
fourth as much water per pound as
coal. But as the products Of combus-
ton OF the motorite are combined with
the steam "a drive an engine, the
quantity of combined steam and prod
ucts OF combustion produced by
pound OF motorite is about a third as
great as that OF the steam produced
by the combustion OF pound of coal.
II would, therefore. require three times
as much motorte 10 drive the Lusi-
tania across the ocean IN "a couple OF
days as It would coal. Tho amount
of coal required being 10000 tons the
quantity OF motorlte needed would Re
$4,000 tons. Motorte costs about two
hundred times as much ner ton AS does
the coal used by m Iuslt7uia go that
the cost Of mntorite for the voypg"
would be the modest sum of 1913 500 600
Motorite can, however, we are further
told be used for the propulsion OF tor.
pedoes and light torpedo boats whore
enormous energy Is required for short
run, and where the e 81 Is lmmatcriol
Suppose" says MI Maxim, "it wern
10 cost ten thousand dollars 10 drive
torpedo boat nt the sree1 of sixty
miles an hour for two or three minutes
the cost is nedgihe comp re i'm
that Of the hattleshi. destroyed
we gladly comply with the request
Of the inventor TO gl.e S ace T. this
explanation, Al the same tine Wa
earnestly hope thai he time Will
speedily come when enus can b. d,
voted 10 The discovery Of means where