The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, February 19, 1899, Page 20

(4] THE FRANCISCO CALL, SUNDAY, AS the late John W. Keely, of motor fame, the greatest traud of the century? This question that can scarcely be answered definitely for some time to cofe; because there are “experts” who is a ave .made . examinations of Keel ratory = at 1420 North Twentieth street, - Philadelphia, some whom de- c one way and some another. Svi@ences of fraud have undoubtedly béen foiuind in the old workshop, but éviden all the things that Keely did. Those +:still.have faith in the inventor say d to do the fraudu- in order to “make a show- sb as to obtain money in order to - his _great work. They still hi iith that Keely was in posse: sion’0f & sécret that could be developed capable of moving the accusation made against Keely 1§ that he “‘died with lie upon his ps:” - It is said that v lying on his".deathbed in full knowledge of the fact:that .the end was n , he told those dground him that the full account of ‘all his'secrets would be found in his records: ‘This*“has been proven to have been untrue,-for there were no records nor notes giving the faintest clew of the so- lation “of Keel mechanical “won- ders.”-From all accounts he never made any. written' explanation the case stands th k2 a’fraud cert: tér of ‘the controversy e who believe y have the bet- , for perpetrating P ?&QJ’ J.i/ee{y the .9’reafeslj7‘(l U tl) of the Cem‘ury FEBRUARY 19, 1899. 2 Compressed Air Reservoirs, Tubing, Hollow Wires, Batteries and Other Secret Mechanizal Centriv_ ances Found in His Laboratory That Go to Prove He Juggled With the Wea'thy People Who Pcught Stock After Mr, Keely's death the laboratory was given up and all the apparatus, wires, tubing, etc., in fact, everything which could be used as a clew to the discovery of the principles underlying the alleged motor, but it is shown by the result that Keely had not taken any one into his confidence, and this accounts for even his supporters being ignorant of the existence of the re- markable things which came to light. Every bit of flooring was ripped up and every nook and cranny explored in the floors, walls and ceilings, and it was found that the building was honey- combed with traps, holes for piping, ete., for carrying on the bogus experi- ments, Everything was conducted with such secrecy and ceremony, and the laboratory lent itself so admirably to the purpese of deception, that it is lit- tle wonder that this nineteenth cen- tury thaumaturgist should have been successful, for the border line between science and quackery s always attrac- tive. The ground floor has no cellar under it and at places the joists were sawn away and the flooring had been re- moved and replaced in sections, form- in His Motor. pressed alr to move his experimental machinery. This was under enormous pressure and conducted to any desired spot through small pipes that had the outward appearance of wire. There was a great similarity in the frequent exhibitions which Mr. Keely gave of his motor, and the various phenomena he claimed to produce by means of his triune polar current. By special invitation, the spectators would meet at the Twentieth-street labora- tory on a day set by the inventor. If the guests were of special importance there would sometimes be an introduc- tory exhibition, say the day previous, at which the dismantled machines would be shown and the functions of the different parts explained. By the next day Mr. Keely would have the parts together again, “graduated.” or “sensitized,” and his motor ready for operation. The motor plant consisted, as Mr. Keely explained it, of: 1. The trans- mitter. 2. The motor, or engine. These were connected by a transmitting wire. The transmitter was a hollow brass sphere or ball, resting on a heavy brass base. In the last transmitter this ball center was avolded. A pulley attached to the revolving hub served as a means to transmit the power by a belt. The company having duly assembled, Mr. Keely would point out, in place, the parts examined the day previous, and before commencing the exhibition would explain the working of his motor somewhat as follows: “In the conception of any machine heretofore constructed, the medium for introducing a neutral center has never been found. If it had the difficulties of perpetual motion seekers would have ended and this problem would have become an established operating fact. It would only require an introductory impulse on such a device to cause it to run for centuries. I did not seek to gain perpetual motion; but a circuit is formed that actually has a neutral cen- ter, which is in a condition to be vivi- fied by my vibratory ether or polar stream, and while so fed is an inde- pendent motor, as you will see.” Thereupon Mr. Keely would step to his transmitter, fluger over the dom- inant scale—the steel pins running around the base of the transmitter— meanwhile turning the knob on the side ® ANIBITION RIOH » LIPE HOLES o JHEIGH FLoon g ol i Exterior of Keely Laboratory, frauds in mechanics found in the old workshop indicate a degree of cunning and deceit unparalleled in the history of invention. The old laboratory is an inconspicu- ous brick building two stories in height. Lttt bttt dtba it orp bt bRt et bttt Committee. HOW Mr. Ke sitch as a match b ly ghowed not the slightest trace of, HOW he made his moto: sides. by heavy plates of giass to-another, and even worked M. starting and stopping it and the-square inch in h HOW Mr. Keel over the city, struck a certain note, chinery of his workshop. All of which are e D R gk R S AR T RS S S R i i o Secrets of Inventor Keely's Performances Claimed to Have Been Exposed by the Investigating produced rotation of a nonmagnetic substance, ng on the end of a compass pivot. HOW he produced a pull of hundreds of pounds on a disk which operate when held in the hands of a skeptic. HOW Mr. Keely produced a pressure of 15,000 or more pounds to vibratory 1ift. standing beside the window gazing vacantly out played ‘“Home, Sweet Home,” on a harmonica until he which instantly set in motion the entire ma- plained in the accompanying article. magnetism or affinity to a magnet. when it was insulated on all carried from one part of the room at will. B e R R R R R R R + + + ¢ D O R R R R e R R R R g PPV RPOPOOOOOOPOO 0090000090000 00006 60 ® o : UNFORTUNATE OWNERS OF PALACES. : COOETEVVPOOOOPODOOOOOD 00 0PVPPOCP00000000 O LTHOUGH vast sums have been ex- pended by Eastern potentates and American milllonaires on their pal- atial abodes, the fact remains that there is no country in the world.in which the dwelling houses can be comparéd—for. size, at all events—with those -of Britain. - It is true we have no residenice, as large as the Vatican at But although ostensibly the resi- dence-of. the Pope, this huge pile, with Its 7000_rooms, access to which Is obtained by etghf grand and two hundred and one minor staircases, s really the barracks of the Papal Guard. The récently completed Whitehall Court, mes’ Embankment, is a block of the dimensions of which some idea may be formizd from some statistics furnished the Rome. writer.by-af official, from which I gather | thatthe best suites—elght rooms—cost $200.2 wéek, and the whole yields just now a revenue of $20,000 a year. Barl-Fitzwilllam, In Wentworth Wood- hotise, hear Rotherham, Yorks, has the Jargest private house in England; but had he.net an-income of over $1,000,000 a year he Would probably regard the place as a white elephant. A"hotse 600 feet long, with a portico in the center 60 feet high, ing to a hall 60 feet square and 40 feet high, is no doubt a structure calculated to inspire envy In the breasts of people whose house accom- modation is strictly limited; but the ex- pense.of keeping up 17, rooms must be enormous, and must relieve the Earl of most of-his spare cash When & paragraph the. press that the 3Is p of Winchester mind to recarpet had at last made up his mi the .. corridors of &m episcop: palace, Farnham Castle, people expressed sur- prise, that-so much fuss should be made about so small a matter as stalr carpets Even .when a soclety jour: announced that the price of t tender was $2. 50 a yard the pulse of the gation was not Surely an income f 00 'a year could withstand an ex- stair carpets, it was Farnham Castle is It should ar Its -corridors extend over a mile, or, to be précise, 1194 yards. In a few months the learned Bishop will | no doubt regain his equanimity and set against the preposterous size of his castic his dovely- garden situated on the top of the keep—the only one of the sort in Eng- land. The lite Duke of Marlborough, in al- luding" to the size of Blenheim Palace, used to say, by way of a joke, that it was the only residence in England which required $4000 worth of putty a year to keep the window panes in order. “Money went-a.good deal further in the last cen- tury -than it does now; consequently, ent the round of | sidence of such vast proportions that | when the House of Commons veted $1,500,000 to build the first Duke a residence there presently sprang up an edifice 348 feet long and with an interior so vast that when a Government messenger once made post haste there to the late Lord Ran- dolph Churchill, during one of his visits, with a dispatch, it was over half an hour before his lordship, who for exercise had been exploring the place, with its fifteen staircases, was found. The last time it was repaired the late Duke was obliged to apply to Parliament for permission to sell the pictures and li- brary to pay the bills, which amounted to $1,583,730. It is, therefore, not surpris- ing that, although the estate ylelded $205.000 a year, the expenses of keeping up this preposterous residence kept the Duke a poor man. _ Altogether, everything about Blenheim is grotesquely large. Some of the pictures are seventy feet 'square. The statue of the great Duke, near the big lake of 260 acres, s 132 feet high, and cost $150,000. Windows must be as great an annoyance to the Dukes of Devonshire as they have 1 to the Marlboroughs. In Hardwick Hall, his €&race has a residence which looks more like & huge greenhouse than a nobleman’s seat, for it appears on the out- side to be all windows. His Grace is the fortunate—or unfortu- nate—owner of six other country seats of unwieldy proportions, none of which, he | once declared, he has thoroughly explored, | {m- the reason that he has never had the | time. | . Guide books are wont to rave about the fmposing beauty of such costly luxuries; but one of them. Audley End, B is 50 D large that its owner, Lord 3ray . whose income is under $100,- 000, must frequently regret that one of his ancestors did not fulfill his threat of selling it to a silk weaving company. " R% FLOGR PLAN. steel sphere forty sphere had two projections or trunnions; Three-Ton Sphere Compressed dir Reservoir Discovered Under the Building. “Back of this was a room in which no one was ever admitted, and here a remarkable discovery was made. A inches in diameter, weighing 662 pounds, was found embedded in a pit underneath a trap. The both had a hole through them; one of these had been filled up and then faced off, and the other was open and was of the proper size for chgrging the reservolr. Midway between the two P trunnions a small hole drilled into the side of the sphere was found to be the proper size for connecting with one of the small brass tubes connecting with the second story. These tubes, while of small dlameter, and having a small Dore have very thick walls, Showing that they could resist enormous pressure. Of course, the sphere possessed great strength, and must have been an ideal storage reservoir for air or gas at a great pressure. ing what is known in stage parlance as “trap: Most of the spaces between the sawed joists were filled with ashes, and here valuable finds of tubing and connections were made. The center room contains four traps and a pit. Back of this was a room to which no one was ever admitted, and here a re- markable discbvery was made. A steel sphere forty inches in diameter, weigh- ing 6625 pounds, was found embedded in a pit underneath a trap. The sphere had two projections or trunnions; both had a hole through them; of one these holes had been filled up and then faced off, and the other was open and was of the proper size for charging the reservoir. Midway between the two trunnions a small hole drilled into the side of the sphere was found to be the proper size for connecting with one of the small brass tubes connecting with the-second story. These tubes, while of small di- ameter and having a small bore, have very thick walls, showing that they could resist enormous pressure. Of course, the sphere possessed great strength and must have been an ideal storage reservoir for air or gas at a great pressure. Willlam Rickert, who was formerly employed in Keely's laboratory, has come forward with val- uable evidence. He says he helped to test the steel sphere with a hydraulic pump which was specially made for the purpose. It was tested up to 28,000 pounds, or only one ton less than the powder chamber pressure required in tests of United States ordnance. Steel tubes were also tested with this power- ful hydraulic pump. The tubes were nine inches in diameter and the bore was only three inches. These were split with enormous pressure and the stock- holders and the general public believed that the tubes were burst by the “eth- eric vapor.” Mr. Rickert states that they ran tubes to the lever machine which indi- cated pressure, and one of the tubes recently discovered Mr. Rickert believes to be a tube running to that machine. He also states that Keely never allowed the men to entirely complete any con- nection to the machinery; he assumed that part of the business himseif. The investigators have concluded that this monster steel sphere was the whole secret of Keely's mystifying experi- ments. They claim that he used com- had been reduced to about the size of an orange. In the older transmitters it was some ten inches in diameter. Around the base of the transmitter projected, horizontally, a circle of steel rods, which vibrated and sounded like a tuning fork when twanged by the fingers. This was the dominant scale of the instrument. The interior of the globe contained two or more Chladni plates and a group of brass resonating tubes, looking like a bunch of embty brass gun cartridges. This collection of brass tubes was called the shifting resonator. From one side of the globe projected a small ball or knob called the graduating shift, which held the head of a long screw which passed into the center of the globe and enabled the operator to shift the resonating tubes backward or forward. This transmitter was the generator or awakener of the vibratory etheric force which ran the motor. It was an acoustic device simply. By twanging the proper rods in the dominant scale at the base of the transmitter, the vari- ous resonating tubes, ’phones and Chladni plates took up the vibrations, carrying the note up the musical scale with infinite rapidity, conserving, mul- tiplying and intensifying it, reducing the wave lengths of the vibrations until they became so rapid or fine as to be synchronous with the vibratory im- pulses of the magnetic currents flowing toward the north pole. Mr. Keely said this stream was of a triple nature, the result of sympathetic interactionamong the planets of our solar system, and constituted an endless closed circuit. This vibratory impulse was carried from the transmitter by the wire to the moter, where, acting on the polar and depolar disks, it set the motor in motion, as will be explained later. The motor itself consisted of a heavy iron hoop, or band, firmly supported on a bed plate. Within this hoop and re- volving freely on a stationary axls, supported by posts at each end, was a double walled hub, or drum, from which eight spokes projected toward the hoop. On the end of each spoke was a vitalized disk. On the outer side of the hoop were nine series of resona- tors and an equal number of vitalized disks on the inner side of the hoon. By having one more disk on the hoop than there were disks on the spokes, a dead of the transmitter to get the correct ad- justment of the resonator within, and would soon strike the right note. Then the harmonic rosonant impulse, which was transmitted along the wire to the motor from the transmitter, would awaken In the sensitized disks of the motor, with reference to the “outreach” of the third or dominant current of the polar stream, alternating conditions of “sympathetic negative attraction” and “sympathetic positive propulsion.” As a necessary consequence the spokes of the motor would begin to revolve with- in the rim of the machine and Mr. Keely would expain that this motion could be kept up until the machine wore out—a costless, inexpensive power. The miracle was accomplished before the eyes of the distinguished guests. The day before they had examined the various parts of the engine; they had seen the spherical transmitter apart and had admired the wonderful collec- tion of Chladni plates, resonators. graduated adjustment screw and other paraphernalia that came out of it and looked at the wire, even clipped it and been given a plece by Mr. Keely. It was solid, usually of German silver. about the size of a knitting needle. After the motor was in motion they were allowed to test for electricity or magnetism; not a trace. Without a doubt Mr. Keely had discovered a new force. So has thought many a stockholder who now deserves the honest sym- pathy of the reader, for there will be no Keely motor stock worth thousands of dollars per share. However, the memory of the Keely Motor Company i‘ax likely to outlast the present genera- on. When the committee took charge of Mr. Keely’s laboratory, one of the first discoveries was how Mr. Keely did this particular experiment, just described. He could vary the initial performance a dozen ways, but the principle was al- ways the same. “In taking down the posts which held the stationary axis on which revolved the hub of the motor, with its arms, the first fraud was dis- covered. This framework had no ap- parent connection with the engine, be- yond serving as a support for the sta- tionary shaft or axis which passed through the hub of the motor. “A false box, a hollow post and a Plan of Second Floor of Laboratory, Show- ing the Way Keely Controlled His Secret Appliances. BEvery bit of flooring was ripped up and every nook and cranny ex- plored in the floors, walls and cell- ings, and it was found that the buudlng1 was honeycombed with traps, holes for piping, etc., for carrying on the bogus experiments. Everything was conducted with such secrecy and ceremony, and the laboratory lent itself so admirably to the purpose of deception, that it is little wonder this nineteenth century thaumaturgist should have been successful, for the border line between science and quackery is always attractive. hole extending down through the floor led to a careful investigation. TUnder the floor, between it and the ceiling of an unused store room beneath and al- ways kept locked, was found running through the timbers supporting the floor an iron shaft with a small pulley on it. The pulley and the hole in the floor were directly under the hollow post of the engine. “The iron shaft was followed to the side wall. At its termination was an- other pulley. Directly beneath this, but just above the ground floor of the room, another iron shaft came through the wall, also with a pulley on it. A small well-worn belt was found, which fitted over and exactly connected these two pulleys. Going into the small rear room, mostly filled with old junk and the door of which was raised consider- ably above that of the middle room, there was discovered beneath a box and an oflcloth spread out on the floor a trap door. This trap opened over the shaft, which came through the wall. Here it was found that the shaft con- nected with a small water motor of peculiar construction, the water being supplied by a lead pipe coming in from the outside of the building. ,Extend- ing from this water motor was a small rubber tube. It was found that by at- taching a rubber bulb to this tube the water motor could be started by press- ing the bulb and would stop when the pressure was released. This water motor is now in the laboratory of Mr. Kinraide, in Boston. The rubber tub- ing was found also to extend between the walls and ceiling from the water motor to a point under the Keely mo- tor, then up through the stationary post of the engine and to terminate in the binding post or socket into which the end of the wire was inserted which connected the motor with the trans- mitter. Further investigation revealed the fact that there were in the labora- tory different sets of transmitting wire, exactly allke in external appearance, but one was hollow, the other solid, both, as mentioned, about the size of a knitting needle, and with connecting tips that made it impossible to tell which was hollow and which was solid, except by cutting or trying to blow through them. ““A duplicate, an exact copy in exter- nal appearance, was found of the latest perfected transmitter, ‘the grad- ual perfection of years of patient study and improvement.’ The _duplicate transmitter exactly resembled its mate, but upon opening it the Chladni plates and the resonators were lacking. In- stead was a rubber diaphragm stretched across the sphere, dividing it vertically into two air-tight compart- ments. The long screw, with its head in the little bulb on the side of the sphere, and which in the exhibition transmitter regulated the position of the resonator, in the duplicate trans- mitter worked in a fine thread through a small brass plate clamped in the cen- ter of the diaphragm. By turning the knob the diaphragm could be thrown backward or forward. By connecting the motor and the real transmitter by means of the hollow wire, then turning the knob in the proper direction, the diaphragm would be thrown forward, the air forced through the wire and down through its various connections to the water motor, releasing an auto- matic cut-off and setting the water motor in motion. “A more careful investigation of the Keely motor showed that the station- ary axis was hollow. Within this hol- low shaft, which was only a dummy, the real axle revolved, over one end of which passed the belt which ran down through the hollow post to the pullay underneath on the end of the iron shaft described. 'This inner axle. run by the belt, carried the hub of the motor and caused the same to revolve when it re- volved.” PR XXX XXX R R R S A A R R A A T ) R MADE A FORTUNE IN BIRDS' EGGS. : PePDOOPPOCOPOOPPO00R0000000000000006006060 A sparrow’s egg seems of little or no value, and vet there Is a man in Paris who can transform it into a prize really worth having. Indeed, this ingenious gentleman makes a very handsome income through his skill in coloring birds’ eggs. As to the legitimacy of his business tae reader can judge for himself. A few years ago this wideawake Parisian was an assistant in a provincial museum of. natural history, and while there he learned and saw a great deal which has since been of much use to him. So much, indeed, did he learn that when he lost his position he went to Paris and determined to start in business for him- self, His apprenticeship at the museum had shown him the value of birds’ eggs, and he promptly decided to make a living by dealing in rare eggs. True, he had only a very small collection of eggs with which to start business, but this was a trifling obstacle to a man of his versatile genius. He knew that there were many collectors in varlous countries who were willing to pay faney prices for eggs, and he resolved to supply their demands, no matter how extravagant they might be. Of course, not having many rare eggs and lacking the necessary facilities for procuring them he could not supply them unless he manufactured them, and this he did. For example, if a collector wrote to him for a penguin’s egg, he would make out of gypsum a shell exactly resembling that of a penguin's egg, and he would EH4444444440844 4440444444 CITY B Agnual Cost of e Ccos' R B g 'opulation. overnment. er Capita. |3 NEW YORK. $138,000,000 $47.10 | PARIS . 72,700,000 28.94 | 65,000,000 10.33 SERLI] 21,450,000 12.42 |3 VIENNA ... 11,850,000 832 |+ CHICAGO . 32,400,000 20.30 |+ PHILADELPHIA 23,000,000 22.01 | BOSTON .. 10,640,000 82 ;r SAN FRAN! 6,055,553 R S S S s a s s aassss s e e e e e e e s COST OF GOVERNING SOME OF THE BIG CITIES OF THE WORLD. Mayor’s Salary. $15,000 5,100 No salary. 8,100 £10,000 fgr expenses. 16,000 7,500 4,500 10,000 3,383 12,000 2,600 10,000 1,123 3,000 558 No. of Men. Annual Expense. New York Spends More in the Aggregate and More Per Capita, Its Officers Receive Larger Salaries, Require More Money for Policing and Cleaning the Streets and Find Other Opportunities for Using Millions of Dollars Apnually More Than Is Required for Any Other Municipality at Home or Abroad. R aama s e e e e e e e e S R e e e e e e R e aa e s ansas e s e e e e e e e e e saaanad r OHQONQOHQQ#WWQ % + Police Department-—— Municipal Legislature Department Street z Members. Compensation. of Education. Cleaning. $11,000,000 88 $132,000 $11,000,c00 $3.050.000 i 3,600‘000 80 $800 a year for expens: 5,000,000 170000 3 ,000,000 138 No salaries. 17,000,000 % 785,000 126 No salaries. 3,500,000 550,900 + eeeaaes 138 No salaries. e 600000 + 3,225,000 5,600,000 70,000 * 2,350,000 3,500,000 itsooo t 1,360,000 2,260.000 780.000 4 848,648 $100 pe: th. 1,241,540 125,532 : ] forward it to his customer, who would never dream that a penguin had not laid it. As a rule, however, he uses a shell of some common egg, his sole care being to see that it corresponds in size with the desfred egg. The eggs of the common fly- catcher are very cheap, and by coloring them properly they can be made to re- semble much costlier eggs. Again, a duck’s egg costs very little, and yet -ur ingenious French gentleman could easily transform it into an egg worth from 40 to 60 francs. Pigeons’ eggs are also very useful for a similar purpose, since tLey are exactly the same size as many very rare eggs. Any one with a knowledge of chemistry could change them so that the pigeons themselves would not recognize them. Almost every collector of birds’ eggs desires to ve one or two finely marked nightingale’s eggs, and is willing to pay a high price for them. The Parisian dealer was well aware of this little weak- ness, and, larks being more abundant than nightingales, he found no difficulty in getting larks’ eggs and coloring them so that they were exactly like the genu- ine article as deposited in remote places by the timorous nightingale. It can be seen that this is a very profit- able business and a little consideration will show that there is not much risk of detection. True, the tricky methods of this Parisian dealer have been brought to light, but the discovery was apparently made more by chance than by any sus- plcion on the part of his customers that they were being swindled out of their money. The average collector, no matter wheth- er he has a passion for autographs, pos- tage stamps, coins or birds’ eggs, is in- clined to be gullible, and this seems to be especlnll{l the case with collectors of eggs. They know that certain birds lay eggs of a certain size and color, and if they can get eggs that seem to be fault- less in these respects they are satisfled. ‘Tha thought that the coloring may not always be natural does not seem to enter their heads. At any rate, such has been the experience of this Parisian dealer. He has forwarded specimens of his skill to collectors in all countries and it does not appear that he was a fraud. Hereafter collectors will probably be more cautious about buying eggs, especially from for- eign dealer: —_——————— The Compania General of Manla, one of the largest cigar making concerns in the world, employs over ten thousand hands, and turns out every year 80,000,000 cigars, 40,000,000 cigarettes and nearly 5000 tons of cut tobacco.