A 500 Miles an Hour Ship.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVII, Issue 7912, 30 August 1905, Page 4

A 500 Miles an Hour Ship.

The present, method of applying power to ocean steamships is wliollj wrcm;, writes Professor Andre Gambia, who believes lie has made a discovery which will entirely revolutionise navigation. The experiments with models show us (Science Sittings) accordiag to the Professor, that a ship can b« built which will travel at the rate of 500 miles an hour. It is 3000 miles, roughly speaking, from England to America, and allowing an hour for getting out of the harbour and docking the vessel, we should be able to cross the Atlantic in seven houi s—passengers may breakfast in London and dine in New York. The inventor calls the vessel a typhoonoid, or water-suction craft, because the revolution of the spirals in front of it causes a vacuum l.etween air and water like that causedby the water spout of a typhoon. The resistless pressure of atmosphere and water which has pulled many a ship into the fatal - waterspout is the very thing that will Jive vessels of ihis Ivpc as fast as stated. THE GREAT SPICED of the boat would render it impossible for any person to remain- in th« open of the upper deck. The boat would, therefore, be built like a submarine, with only a very low superstructure. Passengers would nave little chance of viewing the ocean, and would be for the most part below the water line. A model of the boat about seven feet long flashed across the 40ft length of the testing tank in microscopical time. ! All nautical engineers are aware if the partial vacuum created i>y a ships propellers under her stern. This partial vacuum thtv well know exerts a powerful influence in drawing the vessel backward. In overcoming this cavitation, as it is technically tailed, the engines use up g large proportion of their horse power leaving little to be represented in forward motion. The higher the ship's speed the greater the waste in this way. Taking into account all opposition to a ship's progress at the present time, the force producing the desired motion is reduced to

about one 25th part of the generating force. The "typhoonoid" is connected with the new ship by means of a driving shaft, which is set in motion by a turbine engine. The apparatus consists of an outside projecting part of the shall, consrtituingi a' cone,, the inside of which covers the bow oi the ship. Its length is equal to the circumference of the base. This ccne is encircled by a bclicoid or spiral contrivance which extends from the base to the vertex and is attached to the projecting shaft, The spiral or crew, is moved in such a way as to remove its outer surface away from the water, with which it is in contact while at rest, and this surface acts, consequently, /as ian air pump piston ami causes a void or difference in pressure. A SECOND SPIRAL fitted over the cone, and which is bwvt (inwardly and has two revolutions acts as a centrifugal (frying from the centre) pump blade, anil drives away the surrounding liquids to open the track for the ship. The pressure of the prow angles of the ship is done away with, and it dashes forward, in the wake of the cone. If the ship moves her whole length in less time than is required there will be a suction counter to tlicentripetal (flying to the centre) reaction for filling up the void created. The length must therefore, be calculated so as to correspond to the vacuum created by the "typhonoid." The ship will have to be shaped something like a swollen sugarloaf, and it will be partially or totally under water.

Reversing Mie engines or a typhoonoid ship when going at full speed would stop her within a few lengths as suddenly as would be safe for the vessel and for the passengers within. Built as l<lfesc ships will lie, with few apertures, and almost entirely under water, they will have with their great speed and momentum a novel way of escaping collisions. A couple of horizontal rudders near the bow could send the vessel 20 fathoms beneath Hie waves m the twinkling of an eye. Then she could bob up a mile on the other side without having lost any speed or gone our of her way. It will also solve THE SUBMARINE QUESTION. A steamer could shut a valve in her smokestack and with the steam already in her boilers and the air under her decks take a 5U mile trip under the surface. This would be enough to attack or escape from an) enemy and answer any other purpose of the submarioc boat. The modern torpedo wonld be useless against) such a vessel. Before the torpedo reached the water the typhoonoid would he under water and out of range. The only torpedo that could catch her would bo one of the typhoonoid iype, and this would have to be discharged before.the victim knew it in order to strike.