Rensselaer Union, Volume 8, Number 10, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 25 November 1875 — The New Motor Discovered by a Chicago Man. [ARTICLE]

The New Motor Discovered by a Chicago Man.

Mr. Nicholas Thomas, foreman of the Chicago A Northwestern Railway machine shops tn Chicago, claims to- have discovered a new motor which outdoes anything heretofore claimed in behalf of the Keely motor. The Chicago Tribune of Nov. 13 gives the following account of the operations of the Thomas machine: Yesterday afternoon the inventor gave an exhibition of what his invention can do at Featherstone’s foundry, in the presence of several gentlemen interested in mechanics. The inventor came in about three o’clock, and, when asked to proceed, did so by simply turning a cock which allowed water from the hydrant to enter the mysterious generator, where in some equally mysterious manner it was transformed into its enormous force. In forty-six seconds a pressure of 7,156 pounds to the square inch was obtained, and shortly afterward this pressure was increased to 17,000 pounds. The engine was put in motion by admitting the gas generated, or the motive power, or whatever it may be called, through a very small tube into the piston, when the wheels began to revolve. By admitting a greater or smaller quantity the speed was either increased or retarded. The inventor stood near and answered the questions asked and the criticisms offered by the spectators. Of course he did not explain everything, as that would be to divulge the great secret of the invention. But from what he said the following general description was obtained, and, it the reader has the curiosity, as many doubtless will have, to follow the matter out, he can see the machine itself at almost any time. The apparatus consists of two parts—a generator and an engine. The latter is of ordinary construction, and "is not a part of the invention. It will therefore be necessary to speak only of the generator, which the inventor keeps pretty well ljoxed up, where it is secure from the too-prying eyes of the curiosity-hunter. There are two cylinders, each about twelve inches in diameter and about twelve inches deep. Inside of these cylinders are the pipes, which are connected by another pipe to a reservoir, much stronger than the generators. The water-pipe, with a pressure of about ten pounds to the squar e inch, is connected with the generator. When the w ater is admitted it produces the force, which passes through the reservoir and thence through a pipe with an area of’alxmt 1-1 C of an inch to the engine, whose cylinder is 3J4 stroke by '3 inches in diatheter, and which niakes about 150 revolutions per minute. A lever, five feet long, is attached to the generator and loaded down at one end with a piece of iron weighing3ol pounds. This contrivance acts as a sort of safetyvalve. When the engine is not running, and the force generated is, therefore, not being exhausted, but kept in reserve, an additional weight of 220 pounds can' be attached to the weight without deflecting the lever. Yesterday afternoon Mr. Ihomas suspended himself to the weight

with his bonds, and his own weight, 160' pounds, together with that of the iron itself, was net sufficient to pull the bar down. Mr. Gage, weighing nearly 200 pounds, tried it with the eame result, and a day or two ago Mr. Sanborn, Master Mechanic of the Chicago & Northwestern l Railroad, who weighs abosrt 220 pounds, was unable to pull it down. Mr. Thomas is so well satisfied that he is determined to go further, and is confident that, before many weekshave elapsed, he will have a machine whscli will convince even, the most skeptical of its entire practicability. Even with the present apparatus, small and imperfect as a first experiment must be, he says he can drive an engine seven-y-five times as large as the one now being used. He thinks he has accomplished what Keely has and more too, but with different apparatus. One- great difference between his motor and Keely’s lies in the fact that the former claims he can run his engine continuously. He has left the office when the engine was running, and on his return, hours afterward, it had not stopped. He says he doesn’t know really how much power he has, but he knows how much pressure can be exerted to the square inch with the present apparatus. In reply to a question as to whether any chemicals or electricity were used, Mr. - Thomas l said they were not, and that nothing was used but air and water. The weight is simply used to show the pressure. Gauges were used at first, but so great was the pressure that they burst, and he now has to employ the weight. Mr. Thomas proposes to utilize his novel power to run railway trains, steam and fire engines, and generally to supersede steam where the latter is employed for mechanical purposes.