SYLVESER DENIS EGAN'S TORPEDO BOAT.

Taranaki Herald, Volume XL, Issue 9255, 3 December 1891, Page 2

SYLVESER DENIS EGAN'S TORPEDO BOAT.

HOW TO PUSH A BOGUS INVENTION.

The civil case of Wilson v. Macdonald which was concluded in the Supremo Court Wellington, on Wednesday afternoon, November 18, had its origin, says the N.Z. Tunes, in a set of very strange circumstances. It will bo remembered that both parties to the suit were associated iv trying \o " boom" a 'torpedq boat in vented by a person name,d Sylvocor Denis iLgan, the advances made to whom formed tfic subject'qf dispute. Tliis Egan appeiira to have beep fertile of resource, plausible or! address, bold and unscrupulous of expedient, and to have succeeded in duping somo of the smartest business men in thja city and elsewhere. Ho solved the problem of liqw to live prosperously by ono'B wjts. The. story of his misdoiugd reads Jiko romance. In England he married a very woithy lady who kept a- boarding-house, and who brought him £500, and she accom • panicd him to Wellington, whero ho worked for somo Uuio as v stoker and later aa an engineer. [lie them camo to New Plymouth, where he workod for somo timo as driver of au engine on onr line,and was connected, we bcliovo,- with the party who purchased the Kangatira, which was wrecked at Bell Block in September, 1880.] After this ho suddenly burst upon the public as tho inventor of: a torpedo motor which was to c.mpletely eciipso Brennan's eilortß in the same direction, and to prove quite a mint to those who .were fortunate enough to acquire aa interest in it. No one appears to have known of his antecedent; 5 , and business men were soon found to take him up. Ilia boat he sokf no less than four times to separate and distinct individuals for good round sums, and all the time he was also disposing of imaginary shares in her for £6'and £1Q notos to young fellows about town 1 . The first person to buy tho boiit straight out \\ v as a veiy prominent public man, who' not only give Egan £150 for her, but allowed him to build her 'ln his fato're' and supplied him with the necpssary materials. Q ne day a gentleman came {q the store and left there an oyercoat containing a pair of gloves in ono -pockej.. That overcoat was. never inpro heard of, But Mr Jilgan turned up with ono of thp gloves, which he brpughf to hjs patron as proof presumptive that aa ho had found it jn the storo it owner must be some scheming rogue who had been hiding there to learn tho eccrets of tho wonderful invention. He was, therefore, anxious that the polico should bo communicated with and laid on the trail. Tho suggestion was acted upon and Detective Chrystal appeared upon tho scene, Ho promptly recognised the soidisant inventor and exposed his record. Tho merchant in alarm assembled somo trusty friends and pn>. cccdcd to tho store £to bci'zq tho boat,

Egan, however, having somohow lieard of tho intention, confronted them, and , in a theatrical manner threatened to blow out tho brains of the first maa who dated to enter. Tho threat had .the ; deal rod effect, and ho hold tho fort and shifted Ins boat. ' Sovoval other sales wero effected and then Mr Kennedy Macclonald fell into the toils. Mr Mocdonald represented a syndicate who agreed to push tho afonr in England by sending Egau Homo. Ho accordingly was shipped in tho Ruayjohu w Juno, 1889, as assistant engineer, and in tins May reached London. On arriving . there the Customs authorities wished to inspect the case containing the alleged patent, ; whereupon ho flow into a violent vago, declared that it was tho secret of his life, that ho was bringing it to London expressly with a view to itd sale to the Admiralty, and rather than permit it to bo scrutinised by vulgar eyes ho would shoot the man who dared to open tho caso. The Customs officials told him tho case would not bo oponed if he obtained an order to that effect from the Admiralty. Meantime thoy would hold it. Egan accordingly repaired to the Admiralty, and by means of his representations, got an official authority for tho Customs Department to pass the caso until tho Admiralty had seen it. He was in no' hurry, however, to present the note. It boro the official statrp, ami it bettor suited' Mr Egan's trtful purpose to allow his boat to remain in detention while he travelled thocountvy and interviewed distinguished persons, armed with the Admiralty paper, which lent a pleasing aii- of verisimiljtiulo to his statement that the naval authorities wore treating for tho purchase of tho torpedo motor. In this way he gained interviews with Sir William Jervok, Admiral Fairfax and other gentlemen of position, obtained their advice and made use of their namos. Offers poured la. upon Wilson, who was tho agent of the Now Zealand syndicato, but ho was so dazzled by tho splendour of the prospects as depicted by Egan and of the rising value of liis own eighth thare in the affair that lie bluntly refused one offer of £800 for a tenth, and another of £500 for an eighth interest. Meanwlnlo Egau still had time left for softor dalliance Herdvertisod in ths Matoimonial News for a wife, and actually captured ono with a dot of £400, having Ur&t assured her that ho was the owner of a gold mine in New Zealand, from which ho regularly received princely dividends, Uavipg informnd Mr \Vilson that ho was meditating a trip to Rusdi, as tha C:wr was likely to give £100,000 at least for tho sole rights to the invention, ho crossed over to France and spont a pleasant honeymoon. Tho Czar of Russia was quito forgotten. Shortly after the ret-irn of tho happy pair to England tho brido diseoveied that her Bpouso already had a wife in New Zealand, an 1 she innneJiatoly p.osccuted him for bigamy. The ca~e, however, brolo down, through want of evidence from New Zealand. Nothing daunted , the intrepid Egan married again, whether as the refill t of fresh advertising cannot bo staled, but at any rate disas-tor again followed hard upon his heels. Tho new wife found that she had a bigamou9 husband, and he was again brought up at the Old Bailey, and thiatimc it is said ho was convicted, but wo cannot vouch for the fact. Thus ends this " B". range eventful history." Tho castles in Spain reared upon the prospective sucpess of tho wonderful motor have vanished }nto thin air, leaving not a wrack behind, and many a ono in Wellington — some of thorn few would over suspect of having been had — aro considerably the poorer for making his acquaintance.