Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1912-09-12

MIA III EAA-g
q !: !: :: !. !.
-E smokeless powder, de-
HY MAJ vices for aeropIanes
NME and other ingenious
MSN All things, now comes for
WSANX Wl ward with a new and
WkslTMy startling original idea
Tor preventing collisions
at sea.
Briefly stated, ne wishes to provide
ships with a sixth sense, repre-
scented by an apparatus that will send
out vibrations and record minutely
the echoes" caused by them II they
strike against any hard object near
the ship - an iceberg, for example.
Sir Hiram got his idea Of this sixth
sense from the bat, which, according
to him and other scientists, possesses
such a sense, and is able by means OF
it to find its way about in the dark
with perfect ease.
The inventor explains his invention
in pamphlet just published by him
In london. The wreck of the Titantic
was a severe and painful shock to US
all" he writes 4 asked myself: Has
science reached the end of its tether?
Is there no possible means Of avoid
ing such a deplorable loss Of life and
property?' At the end of four hours
it occurred to me that ships could be
provided with what might be ap-
propriately called q sixth sense, that
would detect large objects in their
immediate vicinity without the aid
of a searchlight."
Then Sir Hiram set to work to
study the bats peculiar possession
in an endeavor to apply it to prevent
ing marine collisions, and soon hit
upon the idea which he now makes
public. Before describing the new
Maxim apparatus it is well to set
down what he has to say about that
which inspired 1t, the sixth sense of
the bat.
Every naturalist that has either
experimental on bats or writes on
the subject" he says, seems to ad-
nit that the extraordinary append
ages attached to the bats face are
organs of perception more or less
allied to the sense of feeling, but
not one Of them, so far as I can learn,
has ever suggested that these organs
are for the purpose of receiving the
! echo from the vibrations of the wings.
| I think I was the first to discover this.
| The inventor goes on to show that
/ the wings of the bat are extremely
/ sensitive and very well provided with
nerves, which is also true of the va
| rious organs Of the bats face. These
nerves, he maintains, are intimately
/ connected with each other and with
! the brain. Thus a bat, flying about
/ in total darkness, seers out, by
| means of its wings, a series of pulsa-
! lions or waye-like sound waves, but
! too low to be considered a sound.
These waves, striking against all
surrounding objects, are reflected
| back to their source, just as sound
and light are, and these reflections
! of the vibrations, being received by
/ the sensitive organs on the face OF
! the bat, enable it to Judge the dis
! lance to any object by the lapse of
time between the sending out and
the receiving of the waves.
Coming, then, to his collision-pre,
| yenter, Sir Hiram says:
Suppose now that we construct an
apparatus that will produce atmo
! spheric vibrations of about the same
frequency as those produced by the
/ bat, but instead of using the infini
| tesimal amount of energy employed
by the bat, we use 200 or 300-horse
| poweT-that is, We send out waves
that have an amplitude and energy al
least 100000 times as great as those
sent out by the bat. These vibra
lions, although of great energy, viii
not be audible to our ears, but they
will shake up and agitate light OBJ