The Rock Island Argus

THE MOTOR IN NOTE

Keeley's "Vaporic Force" Put to a Sort of Test.

Made to Operate a Small Cannon—The Velocity of the Projectile Very Low—What the Inventor Says.

New York, Sept 2.—The steamer Starin on Saturday took a party of gentlemen to Sandy Hook for the purpose of testing Mr. Keeley's "vaporic" gun. There were about 300 persons present at the time, which took place at the government range by permission of Secretary Lincoln. Mr. Keeley had with him a small gun, with one and a quarter bore, resting upon wheels; an iron receiver a yard and a half long, containing the mysterious force, and connected with the gun by an iron wire three-sixteenths of an inch in diameter; a small intensifier, also connected with the gun; a wooden target 500 yards distant. The spectators saw nothing else. There was so little apparatus that people felt inclined to be disappointed.

Mr. Keeley took a small leaden ball, four and seven-eights ounces in weight, and with a wooden stick rammed it down the muzzle of the gun. He then took a hammer and tapped the iron receiver containing the mysterious force. The crowd involuntarily stepped back expecting an explosion. Nothing but a metallic sound was heard. Mr. Keeley stated that this action was to stimulate the vibratory force. Then turning a handle the first experiment was concluded. The ball was projected from the gun with a short, sharp sound. There was no heat, the muzzle of the gun being as cold as before the ball had been placed in it. There was no smoke. There was very little recoil. The projectile was sent to a distance of 300 yards, the elevation used having been 21 degrees. Fully a dozen other shots were sent in rapid succession to show that the power in the receiver was by no means exhausted. The time of flight of the second shot was found to be 3.8 seconds. One shot was found to be projected at the rate of 482 feet per second; the next at 492 feet per second; another at 523 feet per second, or at about one-third the velocity obtained by the Springfield rifle. Three three-inch spruce wood planks were then placed before the gun in order to test the penetrating force of the instrument. A cylindrical steel shot was then fired and went entirely through the first plank and half through the second. Experiments were continued during the afternoon. What the mysterious force was no one learned. "Vaporic force," was the only explanation Mr. Keeley volunteered.

A special from Philadelphia says: John W. Keeley, the inventor of the Keeley motor, who has denied himself to all interviewers for four years, explained at length Sunday the wonderful experiments with his new motor gun which were made at Sandy Hook Saturday at the expense of the government. "Stripping the process of all technical terms," said the inventor, "the motor gun is simply this: I take water and air, two mediums of different specific gravity, and produce from them by generation an effect under vibrations that liberates from the air and water an inter-atomic ether. The energy of this ether is boundless, and can hardly be comprehended. The specific gravity of ether is about four times lighter than that of hydrogen gas, the lightest gas so far discovered. The gun I used at Sandy Hook was a breech-loading rifle, weighing 500 pounds. It was specially constructed for me. It was four feet long and had a four-inch bore. Wednesday last I charged my tube, a five gallon reservoir of wrought iron, one and a half inches thick, with etheric vapor. Then I boxed it up, and did not even test it, so certain was I of its power. For three hours before the experiments it remained untouched in my shop. The process of charging it consumed less than four seconds of time. You could not guess how much material was used in making the vapor," and the inventor smiled. "To project twenty leaden bullets, each weighing nearly five ounces, at a velocity of over 500 feet a second, there was required six drops of water and about a pint of air. From this combination I derived sufficient force to fire 250 bullets of like weight as those used. And the most curious thing about it all is, that I found at the end of my experiments that I had increased the power in my tube, instead of diminishing it. Just as a race-horse needs to be warmed up before he can do himself justice, the initial velocity of the last bullet was more than that of the first one. I can take that same tube and operate it another day.

"I have filed caveats of all my motors and inventions and will have them patented. I am now building one 500-horse-power engine and one 200-horse-power engine. The latter is completed except as to the vitalizing press. You can say for me that in a few weeks the public will have an opportunity of seeing the practical and successful results of my seven years of experimenting. Although my initial discovery was purely an accident, I have pursued my investigations systematically, and I am as confident of the result as I am that the sun will set. Recently I have made a number of experiments with my gun and also with the motor in the presence of the stockholders of the motor company, and of prominent scientific men, and they have expressed themselves as abundantly satisfied with the manifestations and applications of vaporic force. This I have succeeded in accomplishing, and the problem that remains is of insignificant importance."

"Have you ever estimated the power of your inter-atomic ether?" was asked.

"I have produced frequently," was the answer, "a pressure of 10,000 pounds to the square inch in a quarter of a second. The process, in reality, is instantaneous. I have succeeded in making a vacuum of thirty-one pounds pressure. I have succeeded in generating a pressure of 56,000 pounds to the inch; and I have torn a Shaw gage to pieces under the immense pressure. I have propelled a lead bullet through a four-inch plank of wood. In this instance, after passing through, it flattened itself out the size of a plate."