PUBLIC LEDGER ALilfANAC.

lOI

THE KEELY MOTOR.

of fo _ce by the disintegration of water. He
~!o- pretended to ~ccompl!sh t~is by an ~pparatus
J 0 h? \V K eely ' the inventor of the Keely
H
.11 called the "Liberator, ' whtch confidmg stock~~-k~~~n~~\i~~~r18b8: ~~:~itf~ h:a~!~e hic:n;~lf h?lders of the. Keely l\Iot?r Company v..m see
fi nd ., hat ept"taph pictured on thetr stock ceruficates. The second
y bit.
w h en as k e d b y a d ou mg- ne
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1 d u on his tombst one. \Vith a ~eno
ega? a out I
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e P a~e
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h
d tor a new dtscovery of a force denved from the
senousness whtch was not assumed. e answere .
.
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t t H mbuo- of the vtbrauon of some 1t erto un nown m )etween
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d
h C t , ,, This was within a year t e atoms o t e 1 tmtta e et er. ~ IS scco n
1N'
/b:tednt h en Ur)
j claim was brought ont after the Keely i\lotor
o . JS eat
.
Company, discouraged by Keely's failure after
~he '!.lleged ~otor was a fraudulent devtce many years to bring out any practical commer\\:htch Keely claimed '~as ope~ted by a for~e cial motor, had ceased to supply him with funds
hitherto unknow.n to scte~ce w~tch he had dts- for his experiments or his support.
covered; t~at t~1s force extst~<;i m na~ure and b~
During the first period there was a wild specuproper d~v1ces.1t could b~ uuhzed wtthout co.st lation in the stock of the Company, due largely
that, ~avmg dt.scovered tt, he was. en~eavormg to the almost hysterical reports in many of the ,
to deytse practical mea?s for puttmg It to com- newspapers of what had been done by Keely,
mer~1al us~. .These clatms. were first broug~t to and more especially to the fact that men of well pubhc nouce m .1873. \Vhtl e they were dended known scientific ability in other fields than physby .the few as bemg absurd, th_ey were p~pula~ly ics, had not only indorsed Keely's claims but
beheved to have some foundatiOn, and thts behef had also purchased the stock. It is not strange, '
was stren~th~ned by the fact that several well- therefore, that there were many thousand stockkpow~ sctentt?c gentle~en who. saw some of holders in Philadelphia and other cities-clerks,
Keely s expenm.ents dunng the Wtnter of r873-4 shop-girls, widows and orphans-all looking for
were unable to dtsco ver any f~aud. although they the day when the increased value of their stock
wer~ not al1owe~ to examt~e. !he a?paratus. w ould make them independent. A check was
Durmg the. fol~owmg ye~r e~hibtt\ons \\~remade given to this speculation by a few conservative
before capttahsts of tht.s ctty, New York and newspapers of the country, notably The Ledger,
Boston, and de~ons~rat10ns of a powerful fo~ce which from the beginning pointe~ out the abs?rwere made wht~? .~eely pe.rsu.~ded them "as dity of Keelv's claims, and pubhshed the opmproduced by the dts.m.t~grauon of a few drops ions of such ,veil-known physicists as the late
?f water. .such exh1b1ttons ?f power l<;>st noth- Dr. Cresson and Dr. Barker, whose partial inmg of their marvelousness m the tellmg, and Yestigations led them to believe Keely's claims to
imaginative newspaper reporters thr~mgh the be fraudulent.
cS>lumns o~ the press cr~ated an enthusiasm over
\Vhat became of the money which came to
Keely's dtscovery whtc.h made many people Keely as his share of the great sums raised by the
doubt whether the p~ystcal laws of nature had sale of the stock is a matter of conjecture. He
been correctly stated m the text books.
.
. lived in good style, was free in the use of money,
~eely ~a~ inspired enough confidence m hts gave to charitable enterprises, purchased ~ome
clatms wtthm a few months to warrant the or- diamonds "as an investment "as he told a fnend.
ganization of the Keely l\Iotor Company wit.h a But the withdrawal of finan~ial aid by the Keely
capital of Ss.ooo~ooo. qne <;>f the most plaustbl~ ::\Iotor Company seemed to leave him without
a;guments u~ed m fl_oatm~ tts stoc~ w~s that, tf resources, and the public seemed to have become
Keely estabhshed hts clatms by bnngmg out a incredulous or indifferent, when a paragraph
commercial engine, all present sources of power published in 1881-2 caught the eye of the widow
' would be superse~ed by the "etheri~ for<:e" ofBloomfield H .l\Ioore,thepapermanufacturer.
' evolved from a thtmbleful of water, m whtch It rela:ed that the inventor, still working to percase a single s hare of the stock would be worth feet his apparatus, was on the Yerge of stanation
a fortune to its possessor.
and desp&'r. ~Irs . l\Ioore, in speaking of the
Unlike most great inventors, Keely had no incident, said she had just been reading of the
education. He was first known as an inventor suicide of an inventor in New York who had
by his exhibition of a perpetual-motion apparatus been unsuccessful in getting any one to take an
on l\Iarket street, a couple of years before the interest in his invention, which after his death
advent of his motor. In physique he was a was seen to have been a valuable one. Here,
powerfully built ma;n, about six feet tall, broad she thought, was an opportunity to sav~ an?t~er
shouldered square Jawed, muscular, and fond of inventor from a like fate. She made mqutnes,
exhibiting 'his great strength. He spoke very called to see him, and supplied him with means
rapidly, and when explaining hi~ experiments to go on with his work.
.
.. .
obtained the confidence of the ltstener by an
\Vithin a year or two after th1s reh abtlttatton
apparent freedom from anythin~ looking like a of his fortunes Keely announced the ~isco,ery
concealment of facts. His language abounded of his vibratory force. In the meanttme l\Irs.
in words which were used out of their ordinary :\Ioore had become a convert to his theories, and
meaning so that an investigator would learn with her pen and large acquaintance in this
oothing from any explanation of his relating to country and Europe, gave wide circulation to
the character of his force or the means of con- these theories, and revived the hopes of the
trolling it.
Keely .1\Iotor stockholders. B~t Keely g~n-e the
There were two periods in the hi~tory _of t~e ~o~pany t o .unders~~nd that It had no mter_est
Keely 1\IotoF which must be borne m mmd m m hts new d1sc?venes, and to test .the question
order to gain a clear understanding of the char- a stockholder, m :888, broug~t sutt .to c?mpel I
acter of the claims made by Keely, and the him to show wherem the t'vo dtscovenes dtf!ered
experiments by which he supported them. ~he from each o~ber. T.he Court ruled th~t Keely 1
first period covers his claims to the production should explam the difference, and on hts refusal

102

PUBLIC LEDGER ALJJfANAC.

to divulge his secret he was sent to prison for day's experiences. The principal point pro,en
contempt of court. A compromise was effected to their satisfaction was that compressed air wa::,
by his agreeing to permit a mechanical expert to used in nearly all the experiments, either as the
examine the apparatus, and upon the report of moving force, or as auxiliary to some other force
the expert that there was a radical difference more powerful but hidden from view. As a n
between the two discoveries Keely was released instance of this, the rise and fall of the weights
from confinement.
in a jar of water, closed at the top. was found to
l\Irs. l\Ioore, thoroughly believing in Keely's be the rise and fall of hollow globes and discs,
integrity, invited the leading physicists of this delicately baianced, so that au increase or decountry and Europe to examine and report upon crease of pressure in the inclosed air space
the discovery. The few who accepted the invi- abo,e the water would make them sink or rise to
tation were not permitted by Keely to handle the the surface. This variation of pressure was proapparatus, or to do more than to remain specta- duced by the introduction or abstraction of air
tors of his experiments. Some came away into this space through a small tube which
puzzled with what they saw; others formed Keely called a solid wire. At one visit l\lr.
theories of how well-known forces of nature Scott, unobserved, picked up the end of the wire
would account for the results produced; but and showed it to l\Ir. Burk, calling attention to
nothing they could say or publish could shake its hollowness. The tube was a feature common
the faith of l\lrs. l\Ioore or Keely's followers to nearly every piece of apparatus in the laboragenera1ly.
tory. Other equally fraudulent apparatus which
After an absence of several years in Europe, had excited the admiration of many prior invesMrs. ::\loore returned to this country in conse- tigators was proven to be operated ori wellquence of litigation in connection with her trus- kno wn philosophical principles, and there was
teeship of her husband's estate. Her champion- not the slightest evidence of the disco,ery of
ship of Keely's fortunes was an element in the any hitherto unknown force presented by Keely.
case, and, to fortify her position, she endeavored The gentlemen so reported t o 1\lrs. l\Ioore, who
to get several well-known physicists to examine was very much surprised at the conclusion arKeely's inYentions~ feeling that in their advanced rived at.
state of perfection the experts must make fayorIn February, 1896, :\Irs. l\Ioore sent for an
able reports. These gentlemen (among '"hom English physicist, Prof. \V. Lascelles-Scott, her
were Edison and Testa) all declined, urging object being to have Keely communicate his
various reasons for not taking up the investiga- secret to him in case he should die before comtion. In N o vember, 1895, 1\Irs. l\Ioore invited pleting his commercial engine. The Professor
Addison B. Burk, President of the Spring Garden was to take apart any of the apparatus, and
Institute, to make an inYestigation. l\Ir. Burk ha,e full instructions from Keely as to its use.
without declining, asked to have associated with After a month's investigation. the Professor stated
him ~lr. E. A. Scott, an electrical engineer, and at a Franklin Institute meeting that ''Keely has
ultimately 1\Ir. Scott took charge of the work. demonstrated to me, in a way which is absolutely
1\Ir. Scott accepted with alacrity, as he was unquestionable, the existence of a force hitherto
, familiar with the history of the Keely mo,e- unknown." Shortlyafterthisl\Irs.l\Iooreinvited
ment, and had talked with the inventor about it l\Ir. E. Alexander Scott to witness an experiment
in t874. He was also familiar with the views of at the laboratory devised by Professor Scott, espethe United States Government engineers, before pecially to convince l\Ir. Scott that he was wrong
whom Keely had performed some experiments in the conclusions previously stated to her by
at Fort Lafayette. His first visit to Keely's himself and l\Ir. Burk.
workshop, No. 1422 N. Twentieth street, was
An afternoon was spent at the laboratory with
made with l\Irs. 1\Ioore on Nov. 9, 1895, and the the result that the conclusions before reached
afternoon was spent with Keely. On this and were fully verified, and in a most remarkable and
' all subsequent visits he ga Ye Keely no impres- unexpected manner, the Professor being unacsion that he .did not accept the inventor's state- quainted with the grounds upon which those conments as truth-as a question indicating doubt, elusions had been arrived at. At l\Irs. l\loore's
or a statement of a discovery made, would have request, l\Ir. Scott spent the evening with the
1 prevented him from seeing other experiments,
Professor, at the conclusion of which the Prowhere he might get further confirmation of his fessQr agreed that it would be fair to both parties
belief in the fraudulent character of the experi- to have the experiments repeated by Keely, and
ments. J\Iany things were shown at this inter- that l\Irs. J\Ioore should cut the so-called wire
view, some of which the investigator had heard while the experiments were in progress to see if
spoken of several years before. Among these it were a tube. l\Irs. 1\Ioore agreed to require
was the levitation experiment, by which heavy this of Keely. The following day, Sunday, l\Iay
weights rise and fall in water in response to 3, 1 896~ Professor \V. Lascelles-Scott had an
musical notes produced o n certain pitches. This inter{iew with Keely, the result of which he
experiment had been shown to admiring inves- communicated by letter of same <date to .1\lrs.
t o s and investigators from the earliest days of Moore, in which he said: 11 To my surprise, he
the mystery, and had always been very effective. declined p oint-blank to repeat the demonstration
~lr. Scott left the building that day satisfied that of Saturday, _just as I 'WtlS told lze would do."
the experiments witnessed did not depend for The Professor urged upon 1\!rs. :M oore t the
absolute necessity of winning :\lr. Scott's opin1 their explanation upon any hitherto unknown
sou -~e.
ion at once, in Keely's own best interests as in 1
On the second and third ''isits l\Ir. Scott was yours." He a'sn said: u It would be rashness to
accompanied to Keely's laboratory by 1\Ir. Burk. 1 discuss the ~nbject further at the Franklin lnsti- I
These gentlemen, agreeing upon a lin~ of obser- tute ;" and without calling upon 1\lrs. l\Ioore, he
vations, confirmed several of the conclusions left the couritry. 1\Irs. l\Ioore, on l\Iay 4, 1896,
arrived at by them after a discussion of the first withdrew her financial support from Keely.

I
I

PUBLIC LEDGER ALMANAC.

IOJ

As a member of the Engineers' Club, Mr. Motor Company officially concluded that they
Scott, in January, x898, read a paper detailing the had been deceived by Keely.
principal facts above referred to, and prior to
1\Irs. l\Ioore, who had been in very feeble
that ~Ir. Burk illustrated the fraudulent character health tor several years, died at her residence in
of Keely's claims by public experiments a t the London on Janua ry 5, 1899. lt was stated that
Spring Garden Institute. One of the strange after her return to England her confidence in
things shown by Keely was a steel bar. with a Keely was res tored, and that she continued to
: 1 minute but not cont inuous h ole in it, which he supply him with funds, although with much less
1 said he had sensitized with hydrogen gas. On liberality than before. The t otal sum invested
being struck it vibrated, and gave forth two mu- by her in Keel y's enterprise is not d efinitely
sical sounds about two octaves apart and very ' known. It was not as large as some published
persistent, one at each end. Pupils of the Spring statements h ave put it. She showed her account
Garden Institute reproduced it under 1\Ir. Burk's to l\Ir. Scott in 1896, and it then amoun ted to
direction. As made by them it w as a hollow about $6s,ooo. 1\Irs. l\Ioore was entirely sincere
tube containing two tuning forks, but with the and unselfish in her support of l\lr. Keely's preend pieces so cu nningly joined to the main body tensions, her sole purpose being to enable Keely
that the piece of steel appeared t o be whole. to give the world the benefit of what she believed
This had no sooner been shown to l\lrs. l\1 oore to be a great disco \ery.
than Keely declared that his bar had been lost. 1
He expressed no great regret, though a few weeks
THE TRANSVAAL WAR.
before he had valued it at $4o,ooo. Evidence
was afterwards found that Keely's bar was made
For a long time the British Government, under
exactly in the same way. The counsel a nd sev- the direction of Joseph Chamberlain. had been
eral of the Keely :Motor Company's Board of trying to provoke a war with the South African
Directors were present at the Engineers' Club Republic. The J a mison raid was a part of the
when the paper was read, and were permitted to project. Pres'den t Kruger of the Transvaal,
discuss it. On the following November 1 g Keely however, proved a match for Chamberlain in didied, and the l\lotor Company took possession of plomacy' and eYentually forced Great Br!tain
Keely's laboratory. They called to their aid T. into an unjust war. After the failure of the
Burton Kinraide, a Boston electrician, who had Jamison raid, Chamberlain incited the Uitlanders
been in communication with Keely. The labo- to demand naturalization. The laws of the Re~
ratory was dismantled, and the apparatus was public wete modified to meet these demands,
taken to Kinraide's laboratory, where he is said but the English wanted to retain their allegiance
to have endeavored to complete Keely's work. to the Queen while becoming citizens of the
The dismantled laboratory was explored by 1\Ir. Republic. N agreeme..nt was P<;>ssible. for to
Scott and 1\lr. Burk, and abundant evidences of concede the demands of Chamberlam would have
secret devices were everywhere visible. Under been to snr~e.nder th; governm~nt of the Tr~ns
the ground floor an immense hollow steel ball vaal to Brmsh sl7bJects. Van<;>us concess.H:'ns
was found, which in the early days had been used 1 Gere mad\ bnd mt the theantlme th~ ~ttlsf
as a compressed air reservoir, and tubes were 1 overnm.en
egan
ga er an army m .ata.
found under the floors and con cealed in the walls. I ~efore t~ts movement. had gone too far! Prestde_nt
The globe had not been used for several years Kruger tssued an ulumat~m, and, as tt was dts
d h 1
d
' reo-arded. he took possession of the passes and
t h e a1r pressure reqmre m t e atter- ay expen- ~:> d d N t 1 Th
b
0 t b
8
1
ments being supplied by rubber bulbs and rubber Tha
a a
te fi'~~ egan fc
tl9
1
tubes, which were also found in great numbers
e oerhs. wer.e. a hr:::.Bs.u.ccess ud' u at le
amono- the rubbish left by the Keely :\Iotor close of t Is. wntmg t e nt1sh ha .concentrated
~
an army ofs1xty-fi vethousand men m Natal, and
Peop I ... .
d
d
h
r f f
.
The whole scheme of fraud was finally laid we.rf? rea Y. to proc~e to t e ret e o var.wus

h
ld b Ch 1 J H"l]
1c
Bnt!sh garnsons besteged by the Boers, chtefly
betore
t e wor
y
ares . 1 , counse or L d
'th K' b l
d :\I [! k'
Th
John \V. Keely's widow, on January 29, 1 899 , m a_ ysmt ' 1n:' er eyan . . a e mg.
e war
when he ublished the fact that shorth after thus .ma~ ~urated ts. appa rently <;>ne to the de.a~h.
Dec b p 0 8 8 h'l

K 1Y, 1 b 1t vnll etth~r result m the expulsiOn of the Bnush
1
orat~my e~l ' K_.9
~~xammtdgth efiy ~ a.- from South Africa, or their complete control of
I
1
1
denc r 0'f r. d
ISC~~'er~.
~ 0 rsd ilivi; the region. The gold and diamond fields, and
1
e b rlbau
ul dmveds ga IOn s '~e
a the control of the projected railroad route of Cedi
rubb er
u s concea e un er carpets or m some Rh d
f
C
h C
th"' b'

out ot th
1
ld b
t
d
d
o es rom a tro to t e ape, are
~ o ~ects
- t: e-wthay Pace coud . eths epphe on, alnd of the British invasion of the Transvaal.
th us .orce e com presse atr
roug concea e
ruober tubes. The Keely l\Iotor, or engine, was
ASSASSINATION OF PRESIDENT
started by compressed air through a platinum
HEUREAUX.
tube, su , posed to be a wire, the pre5sure setting
a water motor in operation. This in turn operPresident Heureaux, of San Domingo_, was asated the Keely l\1otor, a belt passing up from sassinated on July 26. He was in his fourth
below through the hollow supports of the motor consecu tive term. He was a despot, and had
axis to a small concealed pulley on the shaft. executed m any military officers and civil officials
The water motor was under the floor of the one- or procured th eir assassination. But in the main
story back bui1ding. Keely had several ways of he gave San Domingo a fairly good government.
doing the same thing, so that if suspidon fell San Domingo appeared to be on the eve of a
upon one he could readily use another.
: revolution, with Jiminez as the leader of the
Considerable indignation was expres-;ed by : r~volutiot.ary party, but the United States GovI many of Keely's supporters on the publication ~ ernment detained Jiminez for a time in Cuba, and
of the facts-not against Keely~ but against l\lr. : u p to the close of the almanac year the governHill. The public gen:rally ~ccepted l\Ir. -!:Jill's i' ment of San Domingo, under the con~titutional
statement as true, and m Apnl, x899, the Keely successor of Heureaux, had not been d1sturbed.

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