The Salt Lake tribune. [volume], March 09, 1913, Magazine Section, Image 34

About The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current

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M TITB SALT l.AKE TRIBUNE, SUNDAY MORNING, MARCH 9, 1913. 'fl
I Milan, Feb. 20.
- ELF-MOVING mechanisms modelled on
the lin?s of gigantic inosquftoes'and
designed , to enable man to conquer -Naturo
in thoso places where the climate
or the formation of the country make it
imposfiible for him to enter or to remain
for any length of time have been invented
by Dr. Gustav Luchy, a Swiss scientist
Dr. Luchy, who has-been collaborator with .
the Chevalier Plnl, the inventor of aston
ishing machines for exploring the Bea bot
toms, asserts that If Captain Spott had:
been equipped with one of his mechanical .
mosquitoes he could have made his way
to the South "ole within a few hours after
leaving his base. He also claims that the
machines will make .impossible any repetl- .
tion of the Scott tragedy, and will enahle
man to wrest from the Antarctic'contlnent
its mineral treasures without exposing
their operators to the slightest danger.
DeBpite man's boasted mechanical
progress, his engines of locomotion are
singularly" limited. The locomotive
Is dependent upon rails; the auto
I mobile demnndB at least a fairly ,
j smooth surface on which to run, and
I the flying machine as yet lacks ef
ficient carrying power. None of tho
three is equipped to provide ade
quate shelter for any length of time
1 In parts of the earth's surface where
I without shelter man cannot exist.
I Dr. Luchy's problem was to find r
i mechanism which could he Independ
ent of rails, would not be deterred a
by obstacles Impassable to the auto- yr
mobile, would have practicable car
rying power, and would provide shel
ter to a sufficient number of men
for a sufficient length of time to en
able them to do whatever they had
Bet out to do. Ss
"In the formation of the mosquito P
he claims ho found the combina-
tion of leg height with carrying
power that he desired. The appear
ance of the machines In action
would recall vividly the appearance
I v-v "'.r sTjm ifr ,-QIrrtWCTVKnc 1 .V'V ' vi ' ; vv '""'Kv.
. . : ' ' ' '' yc
Astonishing 1
Machines 1
Suggested by M
a Swiss 9
Scientist to I
Op e n Up M
Earth's U
Remotestm
Places, M
and to Makm
Impossible 9
a RepefitiaiM
of the I
Captain ScoU
Tragedy fl
!0f the Fighting Machines of tho Picture Diagram Illustratlntr th Invontor Idea of tho Development of the Luchy Machine, Drawn from Sketchea of the Small Working Model. The Essential Points of the Invention Can Bo Grasped Easily by Study e! jjH
Martians in H. Q. Wells's "War of the, Carefully Worked Out Illustration. Tho Artist Has Shown, the Machine at Work in tho Antarctic, Boring Through the Ice Cap Down Into the Internal Fires of the Earth. While tho Inventor Has Suggested las dH
the World'B," a description Of Which Possibility of Tapping Earth'o Heat in This Way, Other Scientists Believe Such a Development Highly Improbable. Not Only Would the Tools Have to Bo of Impossible Length and Siie, but It Would Not Bo Po B
Is reprinted on this page. aiblo to .Generate Enough Power to Run Them. Besides, tho Internal Fires, When Struck, Would Destroy the Tools Instantly. The Future of the Invention Lies, It Is Believed, in Smaller Machines Which Art B
Only email Working models Of the Able to Carry Men into Places Inaccessible to Other Means of Conveyance and at the Same Time to Provide Shelter. ffl
Imecnamcai moHtjuiiueH uuvu v.a ym
been made by the inventor, but these
seem to be as practicable as the paper
plans promised. A large working model
forty feet high when the long, articula
ted legs are fully expended. Is now in
course of construction. In the body
are the engines which, provide its
motive power and the quarters for a
crew of ten men. Tho head is nothing
more than a huge engine, from which are
operated the drills, cutting tools, lifting
cranes or whatever it is that, is necessary
for the work at hand. The inventor haB in
mind still larger machines built on ex
actly the same line's. He believes that
there is no limit to the size of his mech
anisms, and that It will, be possible to
build a mechanical mosquito big enough
to walk through the shallower depths of the
ocean, and to bo powerful enough to cut
through earth's crust to the internal fireB
iie same plan that has been suggested by
the famous astronomer, Camille Flamma-
rlon, as a solution of the problem of our
future source of energy when our coal
beds give out
The Lucny machines, "besides being fore
shadowed in WellB's fanciful Btory, have
actual predeceBBors in travelling stages in
use at Whitby, England, for marine work.
These machines, the Invention of Messrs.
W. Hill & Co., are now being used for the'
construction of concrete breakwaters and
similar operations. A description of their
Blmpler mechanism will serve to make a
trifle clearer the mode of locomotion of
the Luchy machines The Hill stages have
eight legs and feet, four of which are used
at a time when in motion. There are two
maBsIve steel framework structures, one
inside the other, the outer being square,
and the Inner rectangular, the latter being
somewhat smaller than the other. The
legs, comprising stout members, which
can be moved up and down vertically for
a considerable distance, are fltle'd at the
I
I Striking the Earth's Internal Fires. A Drawing by Lanoe, the Distinguished Frensh
Imaginative Artist, of the Great Bore Suggested by Camille Flammarion as a
Means of Providing Heat and Energy for the Future.
oorners of each stage, and are pointed at
the lower end to secure a firm grip upon
the rocky seabed.
The walking action is seourod as fol
lows: The outer frame has its front legs
'lowered until tho spuds (or feet) secure a
grip upon the seabed. The legs of the
inner stage are then raised to clear all
obstructions when the stage is moved for
ward the full extent of its travel, which
brings It against tho forward end of the
outer stage, when Its legs are lowered to
the ground. The legs of the outer stage
are now elevated vertically, so that the
latter rests upon the former.
The outer stage Is now moved forward
until the inner stago is brought into con
tact with the rear end of tho outer stage.
The logs of the last named are then low
ered, those of tho Inner stage raised, and
the same cycle of operation is ropeated.
The "walking man" is quite a massive
affair. The outer frame is 48 feet
square, and It stands 33 feet high from
the bottom of tho spuds to the working
deck level- Tho Inner stage is 29 feet
(by 40 feet. The result is that the ma
chine can make a forward stride of about
ten feet, while the inner stage can move
sideways for about three feet. The feet
are raised and lowered by screw gearing
driven by electric motors. A complete
movement can be effected in fifteen minutes.
It has been found that, with thlB trav
elling stago, work can be continued In the
roughest weather. Indeed, it was the heavy
seas experienced at Peterhead that led to
its Invention.
The Luchy machines have six articu
lated legs, three on each side of the body.
Each leg ends in a deeply ridged foot, de
signed to give gripping power and to in
sure stability. The parts where the legs
come from the mechanical body move on
ball joints, thus giving free movement in
all directions.
A Btudy of the diagram on this page
gives more clearly than any written de
scription could, tho essential principles
of the Luchy invention.
In tho Antarctic are enormous fields of
mineral wealth. Captain Scott reported
great coal beds and evidences of platinum,
gold, iron and other useful minerals have
been reported by other explorers. The
great question has been how to get this
mineral wealth away from such a place.
Tho land is frozen and for a great part
of the year is swept by terrific blizzards,
in which man can hardly live, much less
work. But it is claimed for tho Luchy in
vention that Bevoral machines, each capa
ble of holding crews of forty or fifty men,
could be taken down to tho Antarctic
land mass. There they could be adjusted
and could be effectively worked for tho
greater part of the year at least
The boring tools in the head of tho
The Weird, "Living" Machines
of the Octopus-Like Martians
(From "Tho War of the Worlds," by H. Q. Wells.)
AND this Thing I saw! How can I
describe it? A monstrous tripod,
higher than many houses, striding
over the -young pino trees and smashing
them asldo In ItB career; a walking en
gine of glittering metal, striding across tho
heather; articulate ropes of Bteel dangling
from it, and tho clattering tumult of its
passage mingling with tho riot of the
thunder. A flaBh, and It camo out vividly,
keeling over ono way with two feet In the
nlr to vanish and reappear almost instant
ly as it seemed, with tho next flash, a hun
dred yardB nearer Can you imagine a
milking stool tilted and bowled violently
along tho ground? That was the impres
sion those inBtant flashes gaye -But in
stead of a milking stool Imagine it a great
body of machinery on a tripod stand.
Then suddenly the trees in tho pino
wood ahead of me wero parted, as brittle
reeds are parted by a man thrusting
through them; thoy wero snapped off and
driven headlong, and a second huge tripod
appeared, rushing, as it seemed, headlong
toward me,
Seen nearer the Thing -was Incredibly
strange, for it was no mere insensate ma
chine driving on Its way. Machine It was,
with a ringing metallic pace, and long,
flexible, glittering tentacles, one of which
gripped U young pine tree, swinging and
rattling about its strange body.
It picked Its road as it went striding
along, and the brazen hood that surmount
ed It moyed to and fro with the inevita
ble suggestion of a head looking about it
Behind the main body waB a huge mass
of white metal like a gigantic fisherman's
basket, and puffs of green smoko squirted
out from tho Joints of tho limbs as the
monster swept by mo. And in an instant
it was' gone.
The little steamer was already flapping
her way eastward of the big crescent of
shipping, and tho low Essex coast waB
growing bluo and hazy, when a Martian
appeared, Bmall and faint In the remote
distance, advancing along the muddy coast
from tho direction of FoulneBS.
It was tho first Martian my brother had
seen, and he stood, more amazed than ter
rHied, watching this Titan advancing de
liberately toward tho shipping, wading
farther and farther Into the water as the
coast fell away. Then, far away beyond
tho Crouch, camo another, striding over
somo stunted trees, and then yet another,
still farther off, wading deeply through? a
shiny mud flat that seemed to hang way
up. between sea "and sky. They were all
stalking soword, as if to Intercept the
escape of the multitudinous vessels that
wero crowded between Foulness and the
Maze.
t
The mecnanism It certainly was that
hold my attention first It was ono of
those complicated fabrics that have-since
been called handling machines, and tho
study of which has already given Biich
an enormous impetus to terrestrial inven
tion. As it dawned uvon me first it pre
sented a sort of metallic spider with five
jointed legs, and with an extraordinary
number of Jointed levers, bars and reach
ing and clutching tentacles about his body.
Most of its arras were retracted, but with
three long tentacles it waB fishing out a
number of rods, plates and bars which
lined tho covering of, and' apparently
strengthened the walls of the cylinder.
TheBe as it extracted them were lifted out
and deposited upon a level surface of
earth behind It
Its motion was so swift, complex and
perfect that at first I did not boo it as a
machine, in spite of its metallic glitter.
mosquitoes can be manipulated entirely
from the inside of the machine itself and
the body of the mechanism provides per
fect shelter against the worBt climatic
conditions that could be encountered.
The machines will be made of steel and
aluminum, and are not Inordinately heavy.
They are run by the Diesel oil machines,
and the problom of fuel is the difficult
one. It would be with coal. It will even
be possiblo to use one machine as an
operating mechanism and to use several
others as carriers for whatever ores or
other earth's treasures their crews are
after.
For work in deserts, where tho only
means of access is by caravan, it is
thought that the Luchy machines will be
extremely useful. They do away with the
necessity of erecting elaborate buildings
or elaborate fortifications against hostile
vibes, and can move easily and swiftly
from place to place. They carry their
own supplies and their own means of
movement, and so are not dependent 0081
their surroundings. H
In tropical countries, where locomourtH
travel is impeded by the vegetabla grotl,-M
the machines can bo equipped with cuttbjfH
tools, and could clear a path to whaterpH
point aimed at in a fraction of tha ticiH
compared to the slow methods now in
Finally their use as war engines,
terrible as the fanciful "walking tripoliH
of Mr. Wells's Martians, is being brougMjH
to the attention of the Italian OovenH
It is only fair to say tMc many scteH
tists are skeptical as to the practicablllfH
of the machine:. They grant that ifH
will have limited use, but doubt If titfll
can be extended to the deep sea wadlafjf
size predicted by Dr. Luchy. ComplailtfH
of parts, weight and the 'enormous enerffH
needed to run them on a- large scale H
put forth as arguments againBt thelpQiB
limited use.
A "rlSC of MrUM. in Well.' "War of K
mant Mechanism Wb.ch the Luchy Inventions Somewhat Resionbl