The Hartford herald. [volume] (Hartford, Ky.) 1875-1926, 1915-11-24
The Discovery Of Perpet-
ual Motion
WAS LIFE SEARCH OF LANEY
Who Died At the Age Of 90.
Disappointed But Ever
Preserving.
I.RIzE SEEMED OFTEN NEAR

Recently when James Laney, nine
,y-three years old, was laid to rest
IN Crystal Lake cemetery at Mime
apoiis, Mimi, seventy-year quest
for the secret of perpetual notion
came to fruitless end.
SO close did he think himself to
The secret at times that he trembled
with expectancy. For seventy years,
despite his disappointments. his
mind aiame with ambition, Laney
worked thinking, experimenting.
Meanwhile this man, Scotchman
by birth and a stonemason by trade,
whose only relaxation was reading
The works of Bacon. Shakespeare,
COleridge, Wordsworth, smashed and
destroyed contrivanoe after contriv-
ance when it failed Then with in
tensi6ed energy he concentrated on
= new idea.
ut almost worked.
These three words tell the life
story of a man gifted in some ways
beyond his fellowmen. John Laney
wanted his name to go down in his
Tory, but always when he fancied he
was at the very edge of accomplish
ment. it was only to find the some-
thing missing in a continuance that
almost worked
when | was just a little girl
rather used to have the kitchen ia
Die cleared for him when supper was
over" said Mrs. Lizzie Welton. at
whose home the aged man spent his
last days. He had groove in the
fable and round stone ball that he
made himself. He would roll this
round, and round, and then mother
would have to get up late at night
and beg him TO stop and rest.
Father had good education.
mostly self-acquired. He loved the
poets and he wrote several songs,
one for the st. George Guards, of st.
ieorge, New Brunswick, where we
once lived. He was sculptor also"
Outside the steps of the coy cot
tage where Mrs. Welton lives, are
TWO pieces of granite. One has on
il figures of Hiawatha and Minneha-
ha. the other has on it bear and
Two cubs. Inside the house. highly
treasured, is chain, five feet long,
with many links and an anchor at
the end that was cut out with
iackknife from solid piece of wood.
Many small mementoes remain
But before he died John Laney de-
stroyed all charts or mechanical con-
triyances he had made i'm his search
for perpetual motion One day he
said to his daughter:
Perpetual motion will yet be
round. There is no doubt of it,
When it is found the world Will be
ustounded. not alone by the stupen-
dous changes that it will bring in all
industrial life. but by the simplicity
of it, Millions will wonder why no
one ever thought of it before"
Il am an old man, he would often
say. Il saw the coming of the rail
road, the telegraph. the automobile
and the more wonderful things of
later years. | predicted. back in |
$50. that the world would one day
see the horseless wagon, and il is
here. All. If | could only Just get |
the one little missing link
But near-perpetual motion was |
the best he could do. Everything |
that he started-and he had some
cOntrivances made OF balls and |
weights that kept moving of their
own volition for long time-stop-
ped eventually. ,rsst
One day he broke down. ''WhenI
came on earth | had nothing" he
said. sobbing. "and now am an old !
man and | have nothing"
But he really had much. He had
"A good home and many loving
friends and was respected by all who
knew him.