Evening journal., 1913-04-24
NEW NEWS OF YESTERDAY
The Lost Secret Coveted by
Commodore Van
SantWOOd
BY Holland.

WOulu give large dnOuut VI
money! was going to say as much
AS half million dollars-if could
discover the mystery in the con
struction OF that now aged queen OF
the Hudson River, the old Mary Pow
cll." said the late Commodore Van
Santyoord to me at time when he
was planning the construction of the
only private yacht in the United
States which made use Of the paddle
wheel instead OF the screw propel-
lor.
THAT was an extraordinary mys-
terry" the commodore went on to say
"The ablest marine architects, the
most competent shipbuilders, were
never able to discover the secret Of
the construction of that steamboat
many years ago. which enabled her
to make the fastest time ever made
by steamboat, so far as know,
upon any waters European or Ameri-
can. There were times when this
steamboat really beat trains running
upon the Hudson river railroad. OF
course, she did not ever get up as
high a speed as some of the express
trains upon that railroad make, but
she frequently beat accommodation
trains that ran about twenty-five
miles an hour.
I'm The course of time it was neces-
sary to repair and practically to re-
build this steamboat In doing that
the ship carpenters followed her old
lines They did not discover the
secret which has given to this boat
the reputation of being the fastest
paddle wheeled steamboat in the
world but in repairing her the secret
went along with the repairs, for after
she came out of the ship yard she
made as good time as ever.
II was talking one day with gen
tleman who has considerable capital
invested in the steamboat business.
He asked me if the boats of the line,
which I owned and which make daily
trips between New York and Albany
had been able to match the record
secured by the Mary Powell many
years ago.
dnhtu liil WHY Ht WonA'u ~
know. He told me that he had long
been anxious to learn whether there
had been some inscrutable freak as
sociated with the building of this
boat or whether patient study of
her lines and of her entire structure
would not make it possible for some
body else to build a boat which
could match the Mary Powells rec
ord.
IL told him that | had heard that
an attempt had been made to build
a steamboat in every detail similar
to those which characterized the
Mary Powell. The most careful es-
Inmates and measurements were
made. No expense was spared to Sc
cure a new boat which IN every re-
spect would be absolutely identical
with the Mary Powell
Experts we're employed to confirm
estimates and measurements. All O.
the plans appeared to be exactly
identical with those upon which tn,
Mary Powell was built To the eye
there was absolutely nothing so fai
as fundamental construction was cob
cerned which distinguished these two
boats one from the other.
but when tests we're made il was
discovered that the new boat did no.
contain the secret which had made
the Mary Powell the mistress OF
American navigable waters. That
secret has never been discovered, and
am satisfied that il never will be
but | was more than half serious
when | said to you that believe
would give as much as half a million
dollars II that secret could be dis
covered and impaired exclusively to
me.
81 was talking with one of our lead
ing architects about this one day and
lie said It was like the secrets archi-
tects have sought in vain to dis
cover which has made some of our
great public halls, like the old
Academy OF Music in Philadelphia
acOustically perfect. whereas other
buildings modelled as far as possible
upon the interior lines of the Phila.
delphia building nevertheless were
far inferior acoustically to tha
building. There apparently is some
hidden law not yet discovered. and il
may not be discoverable, which i
followed unshspectingly by the archi
tects who make acoustically perfec
halls. and il may be there was a Law
of that kind which was unsuspect
ingly obeyed when the builders O
the Mary Powell launched what Il
the fastest paddle-wheeled steam
vessel in the world
| Copyright. 1913. by +. j. Edwards
All rights reserved.
Tomorrow Mr. Edwards will tel
"How a Section Hand Rose to B,
General Manager Of a Railroad"