123 lines
5.6 KiB
Plaintext
123 lines
5.6 KiB
Plaintext
(word processor parameters LM=1, RM=70, TM=2, BM=2)
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Taken from KeelyNet BBS (214) 324-3501
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Sponsored by Vangard Sciences
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PO BOX 1031
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Mesquite, TX 75150
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Mini-Bio of :
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John Ernst Worrell Keely
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Sept. 3, 1827 - Nov. 18, 1898
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Inventor and imposter, grew up in Philadelphia, Pa., where his
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career was run. Both his parents died while he was an infant and
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he is not known to have had any schooling after the age of twelve.
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He had been for a time leader of a small orchestra and in certain
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more or less apocryphal stories he figured as a circus performer.
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In 1872 he was a journeyman carpenter, but in the following year,
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when he announced the discovery of a new physical force, he seems
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to have ceased that occupation for the rest of his days, and for a
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quarter of a century he was a public character, maintained by the
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contributions of those who believed in the future of the
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inventions based on his discovery.
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The supposed new force was explained by Keely as resulting from
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the intermolecular vibrations of ether (Aether).
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His problem was to construct a machine to respond to the
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vibrations and in that way produce power. (Refer to the Melde
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Experiment.) In 1874 he had advanced far enough in the fabrication
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of such a machine, or engine, to permit exhibitions at his
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workshop.
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Such results as he could show amazed the general public, but
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physicists and engineers declared that the same results could be
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obtained by employing known forces, and until Keely would prove
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the exclusion of such known forces from his experiments they would
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refuse to believe in his discovery.
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Nevertheless, the Keely Motor Company was incorporated and the
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stock was taken in large amounts throughout the country.
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As time passed without the perfection of Keely's motor or the
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securing of patents, the stockholders grew impatient and by 1880
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payments to the inventor virtually ceased and the bills he had
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incurred remained unpaid.
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When bankruptcy was facing him a wealthy Philadelphia woman, Mrs.
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Clara S. J. Bloomfield-Moore, came to the rescue and financed his
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operations for many years.
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Meanwhile the Keely Motor Company brought suit to compel a
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disclosur of the secret and Keely's refusal to answer questions
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led to his imprisonment for contempt of court.
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A compromise was reached, however, without the divulging of the
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secret, and Keely was released.
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In 1887 experiments were conducted for the United States
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Government at Fort Lafayette. The Keely Motor Company retained
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its faith in the inventor and continued to market stocks.
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In 1895 Professor Lascelles-Scott, the English physicist, spent a
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month in Philadelphia for the purpose of investigating Keely's
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work, at the request of Bloomfield-Moore.
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His report was never published, but after his return to London
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Keely's patroness withdrew her assistance.
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Keely was now an old man, afflicted with Bright's disease.
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At his death, on Nov. 18, 1898, the Keely Motor Company had more
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than 3,000 shareholders.
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In their interest the company's officers arranged with the widow,
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Anna M. Keely, to have a thorough examination made of all the
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apparatus left in Keely's workshop.
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The ensuing investigation, friendly in motive, resulted in the
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uncovering of tubes in the form of hollow wires by which
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compressed air had been applied to the machinery claimed to have
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been operated by the mysterious new force.
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In some instances compressed air had been used to start clockwork,
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but more generally hydraulic power, derived from a water motor.
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The exposure was complete and unanswerable. A Philadelphia
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newspaper suggested that the "motor" be exhibited to the public,
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but no one had the heart to act on the suggestion.
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Keely's secret was out at last. But nothing short of his death
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kept the public from trusting him.
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E. A. Scott, "The Keely Motor," Proc. Engineers' Club of Phila.,
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Vol XIV (1897)
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Julius Moritzen, "The Extraordinary Story of John Worrell Keely"
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Cosmopolitan Mag. Apr. 1899
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Chas. Fort, Wild Talents - 1932
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Appleton's Ann. Cyc. 1887, 1898
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Pub. Ledger (Phila.), Nov. 19, 1898 and
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editorial, Jan. 30, 1899
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Clara S. J. Bloomfield-Moore, Keely and His Discoveries (1893)
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and articles supporting Keely's claims in
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Lippincotts' Mag. July 1890, Dec. 1892 and in the
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New Sci. Rev. July 1894, Apr., July, Oct. 1895, Jan. 1896
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This document is presented to assist the student of Keely by the
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offering of both pro and con information regarding this man.
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Here the interesting observation of Moores' withdrawal of
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support as well as Keely's having had
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Brights disease is "new" information to us.
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