New propelling power for steamers.
We were shown yesterday, by the inventor, Mr. A. Obendorter, of Norfolk, a new machine for propelling steamers, which seems to possess the advantages of utility and simplicity. It is a wheel, placed upright under the stern of the boat, with paddles attached, and connected with the engine by a horizontal shaft. The model which we saw is composed of a wheel six inches in diameter, corked by a small clock instead of an engine; and this miniature machine propels the boat in which it is placed, (some three feet long, and weighing about twenty-five pounds with the ballast,) at the rate of seventy-five feet per minute. The construction of the boat is such as to protect the wheel and rudder from shot, and it might be used with great success in the immediate vicinity of an enemy's ship. Mr. Obendorfer deserves credit for his ingenuity, and we hope the naval authorities will give his invention a thorough examination.
