Democratic Sentinel, Volume 19, Number 44, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 November 1895 — An Amphibious Vehicle [ARTICLE]

An Amphibious Vehicle

Among the novelties w lemilieaa. It is announced that a esaa haa cowstructed a vehicle that 2—eqnallr well on land and water. it ie said to be capable of a speed of * hundred miles an hour on a geed highway and two-thirds of that dzsraiaco on water. Specially constructed roods at least fifty feet in width would ho required, and the surface west be very!level and smooth. Curves are aa inconvenience, although if «ery long and not at all abrupt, they night be tolerated. This conveyanoe would certainly be a novel sight charging along at the rate of a hundred miles an hour on land, then plangi*; suddenly into the water and drioicg through it at a speed hitherto unknown to ocean racers. As a matter of fact this is not a specially new idea. Long ago a plan was made for a vehicle of this ■ore. It was made -somewhat on tho principle of a flat boat, the entire bottom being covered with a scries of paddle wheels resembling those of the ordinary side wheeler, bnt smaller, and running the entire distance of the boat from side to side. The so wheels were strong enough to support the weight of the car or boat, whatever it might be called, oe the land, having on the axles wheel shaped attachments with a the on which tho wheels turned. These tires were about a foot apart, and the apace between them was filled ie with the flat paddle-shaped sections. Running along smoothly en the sea beach, this unwieldy creators could be turned so as to slide into the water, the same motion propelling it as was used to drive it over the land.