DEFYING NATURE.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1366, 17 February 1912, Page 17

DEFYING NATURE.

THE LAWS OF GRAVITY UPSET. l'l'om America comes news of a senitinnnl discovery, which if established, i'ill leviilutiouisv the accepted laws of \ature. This is nothing h'ss than the [Uioiiiiceuiunt that .Major Edward S. f'ar«w, former Tactical Instructor at West 'oilit, luis succeeded iu conquering the aws of gravity. "1 ha\e di>covercd how to harness a orue," s;tiil tlie .Major, "which couuleitds and neutralises the forces of gravilv. 11 time, I belive, ii will be a very siiupiu natter with the aid ol' this i'orea to reflate UlO buoyancy of aerial cralV, to I'diiee to a minimum the weight of trains, leainships, and other movablu bodies, nut even to float large buildings, like lalloons, from placo to place. AN AMAZING EXPERIMENT. To a Press representative, Major Farow showed one or two experiments iu iupport ol' his daring theory. A powerful electrical machine and a bound book .sere placed 011 a scale. The indicator ;auk to six and one-half pounds, repreleuting the combined weiglit of the two. L'hore were two insulated wires leading i'om the machine to un electric feed wire, ,vith a switch cut-off on the tablo."Tho scalo indicator points to six and 1 hall' pounds with the power turned iff," explained Major Farrow. "Now the nstant that 1 switch 011 the current that ittlo electric machino on tho scalo will ;enerate a force which will roduoo tho lownward pull which w» call the attr lion of gravity lutly "0 per cent. In other words, the weight now bearing town 011 the scale will be reduced by lourth."Tho current was switched on, and sure nough tho scale indicator immediately rose to four and three-quarter pounds. I'he machine and tho book had lost ono and three-quarter pounds of their weight through' tho agency of somo mysterious and invisible force. Tho instant the current was shut off again tho indicator returned to six and one-half pouuds. "Now you see what 1 mean wh.cn I say that 1 have conquered gravity," declared the inventor. "This is only a beginning, or I don't pretend to claim that I hnvo succeeded already in neutralising tho forces of gravity to such an extent that a tenton. safe can be made as ight as a feather, or, better still, lighter than air, so that it will actually float. WHAT THE DISCOVERY MEANS. "There is much to learn »bout tho harnessing of this force which counteracts gravity. As a matter of fact, we aro still rery much in the dark. But 1 am satisfied that we are on tho right road, and before long 1 firmly believe wo will bo able to lift a building by this antigravity force with as much ease as the electrical niagne't picks up heavy beams, pigs,' and castings in tho steel works ot' Pittsburg, Youngstown, and elsewhere today. "i'ou can realise what this means. Railroad trains, rolieved of part of their weiglit, will travel faster and easier owing to the enormous reduction of friction. Steamships will skim across the ocean instead of having to plough through it. Aerial' craft will be rendered absolutely and practically independent of planes for buoyancy, lly simply increasing or decreasing a current of elcctrieal waves they can be raised or lowered or kept stationary at the will of the operator. "To sum up in brief, I am experimenting with a force which, properly applied, exerts as much or more 'pull' 111 an upward direction as gravity does in a dowuword direction." THE WONDER-WORKING MACHINE. The electrical machine with which tho experiment was conducted is called by him a "condensing dynamo." Small as it is, the mechanicism embraces so many new ideas in electrical application that no'less than seventeen patents have been applied for to cover them all. Until the patouts have been granted Major Farrow prefers not to go into details Concerning tho "condensing dynamo.'' Major Farrow is conducting most of his experiments with the "condensing dynamo" in his laboratory in the Terminal Building, New York City, and larger experiments with aerial craft, at his laboratory on Long Island. Before being appointed tactical instructor at West Point he was for c-ight years chief of Indian Scouts 011 the North-western frontier. Among his best known inventions is_n military small arm combining the Springfield and lllake niechnnicisms and a combination shelter tent now iu use by the army and navy.