Scientific Americaft
THE
"TYPHONOID"-A NEW TYPE
OF MOTOR
BOAT.
BY M. J. PELTIER.
The
racing
motor
boat
herewith
illustrated
was
launched on July 27, 1907, at the, Beilvaire shipyard,
ber of blades-six in this instance-symmetrically dis­
that of cedar poles.
tributed around an axis and terminating il'1 a cylindri­
pole is about 'twelve years, that of a concrete pole is
While the average life of a cedar
cal tube.
Each blade is composed of two sheets or
practically unlimited.
surfaces.
One sheet is spiral-cylindrical, like a loose­
labor cost of removing it and attaching the wires to
When a cedar pole decays, the
near Nantes, France.
The boat is the invention of
ly-rolled sheet of paper, with its inner edge at the
a new pole is far greater than the cost of the pole
M.
Its
axis and its outer portion forming part of the envelop­
itself.
ing tube.
preciation in both telephone and telegraph properties.
Andre Gambin.
Length over all,
principal
dimensions
are:
59 feet; length on water line, 52*
The other sheet is smaller, inclined and
Such cost is by far the greatest item of de­
feet; greatest width over all, 514 feet; greatest width
helicoidal, like the blade of an ordinary screw-propel­
Indeed, this very item is perhaps the only one that
at water line, 4 feet 7 inches; molded depth, 4 feet 41h
ler.
has made telephone securities less desirable than rail-
inches;
mean
draft,
2
It extends from the front edge of the cylindrical
feet
road
stocks.
71h inches; area of amidship
poles
this
section, 7.14 square feet.
eliminated.
When afloat the boat pre­
sents
a
very
trim
ance, with no suggestion
the very
peculiar
Chauvalon,
ing
of
the
in
important
is
sav­
is
the
poles afford
against lightning.
M.
cement
cost
depreciation
protection these
apparatus
by which it is propelled.
further
A
appear­
With
renewal
Each pole
becomes a lightning rod, be­
assistant
ing
lightning-proof
itself,
constructor of the little ves­
thus protecting wires, instru­
sel, claims that it cannot be
ments,
capsized,
chinery.
except possibly
in
making a short turn at high
and
Another
electrical
risk
to
ma­
be
con­
speed, when great skill on the
sidered
part of the steersman will be
standpoint is the destruction
required.
of
The motive power consists
of
two
4-cylinder
motors
of
each,
60
coupled
V-type
together
pole
lines
wrought
loss.
is
propelled
by
The
a
placed at the bow, as shown
speed
of
more
than
kilometers,
62
miles,
in
need
painting,
appearance,
to
in
fresh and
and
never
can
be
mathematical
ex­
In point of appear-
ance and safety there is an­
or
per
hour.
M.
new
actness.
a
their
poles are graceful
'aligned
The in­
guaranteed
100
fearful
so great is
form and outline,
311h
"typhonoid"
screw,
inches in diameter, which is
has
a
likely to affect a line of cem­
lessen the chance of failure.
in the illustrations.
often
or sleet, or both combined, is
ent ,poles,
ventor
and
and
strength.
is
sleet
The ruin thus
Double
accumulators, is provided, to
boat
in
investors'
But no storm of wind
ignition, by magneto and 'by
The
the
wind storms.
horse-power
to the propeller shaft.
from
other
factor
in
they
being
constructed
their
favor,
in
such a way as to make the
Gambin,
years
of
after
fruitless
fifteen
pole
attempts
self-supporting,
taking
care
to improve the action of the
without
ordinary
screw
dangerous
conceived
the
�rting
the
propeller,
idea
of
con­
defects
of
that
NOVEL MOTOR BOAT FITTED WITH A NEW FORM OF PROPELLER KNOWN. AS A "TYPHONOID."
of
the
all
thus
strains
necessity
and
of
unsightly
anchorage.
Our forests are disappear­
the
sheet to a spiral line traced some distance behind the
ing rapidly,
"typhonoid," placed at the bow, instead of at the stern
front of the cylindrical sheet of the preceding blade.
tainable, and the price of those of even moderate qual­
of the vessel.
Without going into theoretical details
The front edges of the two sheets of each blade are
ity is fast advancing.
it may suffice to point out that the injurious effects of
riveted together and form a salient cutting edge which
It is estimated that there are forty million poles
centrifugal
slopes backward fro, ,1 the apex to the circumference
in the ground in the United States, worth two hundred
apparatus
into
advantages
displacement
by
and
the
the
adoption
central
of
void
are
thus converted into beneficial effects and the limit to
the advantageous increase in the velocity of rotation
and good cedar poles are almost unob­
million dollars.
at an angle of 45 deg to the axis.
A French naval engineer, after m'tking a minute
twelve years.
These poles have an average life of
More than 3, 200,000 poles are required
examination of the inventor's plans and calculations,
every year to replace those decayed, at a cost of from
has asserted that the Gambin typhonoid far surpasses
fifteen million to seventeen million dollars per annum.
wind, and the apparatus is designed to act by suction,
all
expressed
When it is considered that much of this may be saved
in the manner of a waterspout.
his confidence in the ability of Hie new boat to de­
by the use of concrete poles, their enormous value to
velop a speed of much more than 62 miles an hour,
the public service corporations of the country may be
with an expenditure of energy of 100 horse-power.
appreciated.
of the propeller is removed.
derived
Very
from
a
curious
Greek
The name typhonoid is
word which means
experiments
were
made
a whirl­
by
the
in­
ventor two years ago with' models about 8 feet long,
o�her propellers
driven by clockwork, and velocities exceeding 40 miles
per hour were obtained.
•••••
diameter, for the purpose of determining the tractive
volumes
and
weights.
The
results
were
A table of road resistances in pounds per ton
The figure given railroads is 10.
BY c. M.. GINTHER.
Telephone, telegraph, and 'electric railway managers
and investors will
be
pole,
Interested
(of
2,240 pounds), has recently been published in England.
CeJllenl 'l'e]egraph Pole8.
experiments was made with a typhonoid 2 inches in
measured
efficiency and has
.. 4'�'"
Last May another series of
effort and the energy 'expended in moving large and
in
in a new concrete
invented by Mr. William M.
Asphalt has second
place with 15, 22 and 29 pounds for good. medium, and
poor,
respectively.
each placed at 30.
Tramways and wood
paving are
The best macadam is from 43 to
Bailey, of Richmond, Ind.
In a general way the poles are
built on the plan
concrete
w·ork,
struction
is
character.
pole
quite
In
and
its
spaced,
the
con­
distinctive
the
near
equally
of all armored
though
body
in
of
the
circumference,
are
continuous
rods of twisted electro-carbon steel
especially
pose.
prepared
These
for
rods
this
are
pur­
tied
to­
gether and held in position by con­
tinuous
spiral
binding
These form the
the
pole,
or
wires.
skeleton work of
the
reinforcement,
which is then inclosed in a form
into
which
cement
is
pour' ed.
After a �umber of days the form
is removed, and the result is a con­
crete pole.
Extreme
climatic
conditions
of
summer and winter or heavy de­
SIDE VIEW OF THE NEW PROPELLER, SHOWING ITS LOCATION AT
FORWARD END OF TUBE.
not only s,atisfactory,
buVsurprising.
From these
mands
upon
the
strength
and
elasticity of a heavy pole line leave
THE "TYPHONOID" VIEWED FROM THE
the poles made by this process ab­
FRONT.
solutely unimpaired.
One of the
4 6; ordinary quality from 50 to 60; and soft macadam
the typholloid will produce' the maximum speed for
features of the poles is their remarkable elasticity. A
30-foot ,pole will deflect 31 inches at the top without
cracking
a given expenditure of power.
pole
_
two seri�s of experiments it seems fair to infer that
Furthermore, as the
typhonoid presents no projecting edges, it is manifest­
ly superior to the ordinary screw propeller for the
navigation
growths.
of
shallow
waters
containing
vegetable
The typhonoid propeller consists of a num-
the. concrete.
The breaking
strain
as high as 97 pounds per ton.
The best gravel and
of
the
cobbles
times
the
ordinary and very bad cobbles are placed at 130 and
strength of the common WOOden pole.
Carefully calculated accounts of all expenditures for
labor \1nd material in the construction show that under
ance of 100 pounds per ton; a sand road, 360 pounds;
average conditions the first cost is slightly more than
cent of the weight to be moved over it.-Iron Age.
is, figured
at
5,000
pounds-three
are
240 pounds.
given
as
57 and
60
respectively, while
Dry, hard clay is said to offer a resist­
and loose sand,. no less than 560 pounds, or
25 per