NEW STEAM PROPULSION,

Star (Christchurch), Issue 7482, 16 August 1902, Page 5

NEW STEAM PROPULSION,

♦ .. The simplicity of imaaiy inventions has sometimes been their greatest drawback (says the London "Echo"). Hardly anyone would conceive the idea of utilising the simple form of propulsion by steam jet— 'aa used in the toy steamboats of boyhood days — for serious work, yet a North London inventor, Mr Walter Carr, has devoted himself assiduously to the task, and has produced a boat which has undergone several severe tests most satisfactorily. An "Echo" representative was favoured with a private view of the model in working order, and was astonished at th© excellent results produced. Aboat without screws, without paddles, navigated o> large stretch. of water with a speed which would not have disgraced one with m^re powerful accessories. \ The inventor explained that he had patented his idea of screwless and paddleless propulsion, and thafc the -method he had adopted was to do away with bulky machinery, preserving only a special type engine and an arrangement of steam gear. ADVANTAGES OV THE INVENTION Tbe principle of the invention is thafc after the steam is generated it escapes ioto small cones which are fixed near apertures in a specially-constructed stern, and the rush of steam creates a strong current of air which is expelled with considerable force against the water. The liberated air forms a cushion which forces the vessel forward, the motion being remarkably steady for so singular a process. The speed which may be gained is good. The advantages of the boat are very apparent. By the same method by which it is propelled it can be steered— -easily and effectively, having no rudder, paddles, nor screw, the liability to foul is small, the machinery space' being (curtailed, more cargo room ia afforded, and less mechaniqeal power brings economy in construction and working. As a river boat, of the kind which is used for , navigation in large interior tracts of water in America or Africa, the invention should prove valuable . As an adjunct to liners the method might prove useful in times •when unavoidable accidents to vital portions necessitate an expensive delay. A sfcory that would have done credit to the skill of Charles Lever is told by Mr Bennet Burleigh in one of his latest letters from South Africa. An Irish soldier, wounded in a dozen or more places, was stripped by the Beers and left on the veldt. Fortunately, he was found and carried into hospital alive. He became convalescent, and a comrade called to see bim. *' Is itshot I was?" said the Irishman. " Begorra, I was drilled that full of holes that the man in the next bed caught cold because of the draught through me 1" One day at school (says a schoolmaster) I gave a boy a problem in algebra, and, although ifc was comparatively easy, he couldn't do it. I remarked : " You ought to be ashamed of yourself. At your age Geo_„e Washington was a surveyor.*' The boy fooked me straight in the eyes, and replied : "'Yes, sir; and at your age he was Pre--ulent of the United States."