Democratic Sentinel, Volume 15, Number 19, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 May 1891 — BOAT RACING ON LAND. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

BOAT RACING ON LAND.

A Machine that Operates Like a Boat on the Water. The new machine consists of a cockpit. rigged and fitted like a shell; the tars are levers having the motion of sculls. All the motion of a pair of tcnlls is attained without any more exertion than is used in propelling a boat through the water. The machine is figged with the Kerns patent sliding leat and shoes. The latter have a 1

three inch adjustment, enabling them to be fitted to a long or short-legged man. The action is exactly similar to an ordinary pair of sculls. The outriggers have a spread of 4 feet 8± inches; while the slide has an extreme length of 28 inches. Fastened to the sculls are two connecting rods, which are attached to a draw bar; the latter slides back and forth on a rail as the oarsman pulls his stroke through and recovers ready for another. At the end of the cockpit is a pocket wheel. At the head of the machine is another wheel of the same size and description. An endless chain passes over both pockets. This chain is connected with the draw bar, and the movements of the sculler in pulling through the stroke gives the rotary motion to the machine. Connected with the upright shaft is a worm and system of gears. This operates a small clock-fsced dial, which registers the distance the oarsman rows, the same as though he was rowing over a measured course. On the shaft, connected with the small dial, is a smaller pulley, having the same number of revolutions of the worm gear. A belt operates the hands on the big dial, which is constructed of canvas cloth, and enables the spectators to witness the exact position of the oarsmen in the contest. On the big dial are two hands like the hands of a clock. These hands are connected with each machine, and as the oarsman rows through the stroke the hands travel around the surface of the big dial, representing very closely the exact motion of a boat going through the water. Even the rocking movement which the ground swell causes is cleverly depicted. Patents are now pending for an eight-oared machine, as Mr. Kerns claims that he can build the machine for either single, double, four, six, or eight-oared crews. The Harvard University Boat Club has ordered an eightoared machine. The most essential feature of the machine is found in the fact that the crew can be got together and better work done than under the old style and form. The apparatus can be adjusted for either light or heavy men. The well-known oarsman, James A. Ten Eyck, is going to get a partner from among the professional scullers, and they will start out after the holidays, giving exhibitions throughout the country on the machine with % well-known vaudeville troupe.