Article August 4, 1917 ISSUE

Balance

ESTHER B. MC LAUGHLIN

At a recent exhibition of motor boats a group of people were intently watching a special demonstration. Curious to know what could be holding their attention, a bystander glanced over the intervening heads and saw the prow of a miniature ship lurching violently from side to side, roughly simulating the behavior of a slender craft in a rolling sea. At that moment the man who seemed to be in charge stepped up and touched a button. In an instant the boat came to a standstill. The onlookers were all attention, some faces expressing credulity, and some skepticism, but all were intent on what was to happen.

The demonstrator, pointing to a piece of mechanism which consisted largely of a fly-wheel in the body of the boat, proceeded to tell his audience that he would show them how the boat would act when the gyroscope was in action. He explained that when the power was on this wheel would revolve very rapidly on its bearings, and the counter-force thus produced would neutralize that which was causing the boat to roll, thereby holding the craft in an upright position. He went on to say that the gyroscope did not need a counter-force to keep itself upright. Then he turned on the current. The looks of skepticism faded into expressions of wonder. Instead of the unruly rolling motion of a moment before, there was the boat upright and perfectly steady.

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