I'pISLIsHED V\ hnr. i.M).U S AND SATURDAYS BY JOHN FENNO, No. 69, HIGH-STREET, BETWEEN SECOND AND THIRD STREETS, PHILADELPHIA [No. 62, of Vol. lII.] PHILADELPHIA READ IN THE HOUSE Oh' REPRESENTATIVES THE TWENTY-FIFTH INSTANT The Secretary of Stats. to xuhom was referred, b\ the House of Representatives of the United States, the petition o) Jacob Ifaacks, of Newport, in Rkodc-ljland, has examined into the 'truth and importance oj the allegations therein fit forth, and makes thereon the following REPORT. THE petitioner sets forth, that, by various experiments, with eonfiderable labor and expence, he has diicovered a method of converting fair-water into frefh, in the proportion of 8 pints out of 10, bv a process so simple th?.t it may be performed on board of velfels at sea by the common iron caboufe with small al terations, by the fame fire, and in the fame time, which is used tor cooking the ship's provisions ; and offers to convcy to the go vernment of the United States a faithful account of his art, or se cret, to be used by or svithin the United States, on their giving to him a reward suitable to the importance of the discovery, and, in the opinion of government, adequate to his expences, and the time lie has devoted to the bringing it into effc£t. In order to alcertain rhe merit of the petitioner's discovery, it becomes necefiary to examine the advances already made in the art ol converting fait-water into frefh. Lord Bacon, to whom the world is indebted for thefirft germs of so many branches of feience, had oMervcd, that, with a heat fufficicnt for diftillition, fait w:l! not rile in vapour, and that falt-iwater distilled, is frefh. And it would fcem that ail man kind ifiight have observed, that the earth is supplied with frelh- Water chiefly by exhalation from the lea, which,is in fa6l an in fenfib'le diitillaiion elided bv the heat of the fun. Yet this, tho' the moil obvious, was not the firft idea in the eflays for convert ing salt-water into frefh. Filtration was tried in vain, and con gelations could be relorted to only In the coideft regions and fca ions. In all the earlier trials by distillation, some mixture was thought necelTai v to aid the operation by a partial precipitation of the fait, and other foreign matters contained in Of this kind were the methods of Sir Richard Hawkins, in the a6th century, of Glauber, Hauton and Lilt r, in the 17th, and ol Hales, Appl by, Butler, Chapman, Hoffman and Dove, ituhe ißih : nor was there any thing in thefc methods worthy noting on the present occasion, except the very simple still contrived ex tempore by Capt. Chapman, and made from such materials as are to be found on board evciy ship, great or small. This was a common pot with a wooden lid of the usual form, in the cen ter of which a gieathole was bored to receive perpendicularly a short wooden tube, made with an iuch and half auger, which perpendicular tube received at its top, and at an acute angle, ano ther tube of wood also, which descended till it joined a third, of pcwrei, made bv rolli'ig ub a dish, and paflir.g it obliquely thro' a cask of cold water. With this simple machine he obtained two quarts of frrlh-watcr an hour, and observed, that the expence of fuel would be very trifhug, if the flill was contrived to itand on the fire along with the ship's boiler. In 1762, Dr. Lind proposing to make experiments of several different mixtures, firft,diftiljed rain-water, which he luppofed would be the purcft, and then sea-water, without any mixture, which he expedted would be the least pure, in order to arrange between thele two supposed extremes the degree of merit of the ieveral ingredients he meant to try. " To his great surprise," as he confeffes, the sea-water diftiiled without any mixture, was as pure as the rain-water. Me puriued the dilcovery and cftablilh cd the fatt, th. t a pure and potable Irefli water may be obtained irom lait-water by limpie diftillaiion without the aid of any mix ture for fining ot precipitating it's foreign contents. In 1767, he propol. dan extempore still, which in fatt, was Chapman's, only substituting a gun-barrel mftead of Chapman's pewter tube, and the hand-pump of the {hip to be cut in two obliquely, and joined again at an acute angle, inftcad of Chapman's wooden lubes bored express ; or, inltead of the wooden lid and upright tube, he proposed a tea-kettle (without its lid or handle) to be turned bottom upwards over the mouth of the pot, by way of itill-head, and a wooden tube leading from the spout to a gun barrel palling through a calk of water, the whole luted with equal parts of chalk and meal 11101 defied with falt-W3ter. With this apparatus of a pot, tea-kettle and gun-barrel, the Dolphin, a 20 gun (hip, in her voyage round the woild, in 1768 from 56 gallons o! lea- water, and with gib. of wood and 691b. of pit-coal, made 42 gallons of good fre(h water at the rate ot 8 gal lons an hour. The Dorfetfhin ,in her palfage from Gibraltar to Mahon, in 1769, made 19 quarts of pure water in 4 hours with lolb. of wood And the Slambal, in 1773, between Bombay and Bengal, with a hand-pump, gun-barrel and a por, of 6 gallons of sea-water made 10 quarts of frefh water in 3 hours. In 1771, Dr. Imn, putting together Lind's idea of distilling without a mixture, Chapman's Rill, and Dr. Franklin's method of cooling by evaporation, obtained a premium of 50001. from the British Parliament. He wet his tube conftantlv with a mop instead of paflirtg it through a calk of water : He enlarged its bore also in order to give a freer passage to the vapour, and thereby en crcafe its quantity by leflening the refinance or prelfure on the evaporating furface : this last improvement was his own, and it doubtless contributed to the success of his models; and we may suppose the enlargement of the tube to be ufelul to that point at which the central parts of the vapour, paflingthrough it, would begin to efcapc condenfaiion. Lord Mulgrave used his method in his voyage towards the North Pole, in 1773, making Irom 34 1040 gallons of frefh water a day, without any great addition of fuel, as he fays. M. de Bougainville in his voyage round the world, used, very fuccefstuliy, a still which had been contrived in 1763, by PoyHo mer, so as to guard against ihe water being thrown over trom the boiler into the pipe, by the agitation ot the ship. In this one sin gularity was, that the furnace or fire box was in the middie of the b<>>ler 3 so that the water fui rounded it in contact. This still, how ever, was cxpenfive and occupied much room . Such were ihe advances already made in the art of obtaining ftelh from fait water, when Mr. lfaacks, the petitioner, suggested his discovery. As the merit of this could be 3fcertained by experiment only, the Secretary of State asked the favor of Mr. Ritlcnhoufe, Prtfident of the American Philofophicai Society, of Dr. Wiftar, profelTor of chemistry m the college of Philadelphia, and Dr. Hutchinfon, profeffor of chemistry in the univevfity of Pennsylvania, to be prc fenr at the experiments. Mr. lfaacks fixed the pot of a small ca boufe. with a tin cap and lirait tube of tin palling obliquely thro' Wednesday, November 50, ly9l. a cask of cold water ; he made use of a mixture, the compolition of which he did not explain, and from 24 pints of fca-wa.ter, tak en up about 3 miles out of the Capes of Delaware at flood tide, he drilled 22 pints ot frclh water in 4 hours, with 2olb. of sea soned pine, which was a little wetted by having lain in the rain. In a 2d experiment ot the 21ft of March, performrd in a fur nace and 5 gallon still at thecollege, from 32 pints of fea-u a'er he drew 31 pints of trelh water in 7 h. 24 mm. with 511b. of hicko ry which had been cut about 6 months. In order to decide whe ther Mr. Ifaack's mixture contributed in any and what degree to the success of the operation, it w.ts thought proper to repeat his experiment under the fame circumstances exafclly, except the o miflion ot the mixture. Accordingly on the next day the fame quantity of sea-water was put into the fame still, the fame furnace was used, and fuel from the fame parcel. It yielded, as his had done, 31 pints of frefh water in 11 min. more of time and with lolb. less of wood. On the 24th of March Mr. Ifaacks performed a 3d experiment. For this, a common iron pot of gallons was fixrd in brick work, and the flue from the hearth wound once round the pot spi rally, and then pasTed off up a chimney. The cap was ot tin, and a lira it tin tube of about two inches diameter, palling obliquely through a barrel of water, fcrved inttead ot a worm. From 16 pints of sea water he drew off 15 pints of frefh water in 2 h. 55 min. with 31b. of dry hickory and 81b. of seasoned nine. This experiment was also repeated Ihe next day, with the fame appa ratus and fuel from the fame parcel, but without the mixture. Six teen pints ot sea water yielded in like manner 15 pints of Irefh, in t min. more of time, and with half a pound less ot wood. O9 the whole,it was evident that Mr. Ifaacks' mixture pioduced no ad r vantage, either in tiie process or result of the distillation. The diltilled water in all these instances was found on expert ment to be as pure as the bed pump water of the city. Its taste indeed was not as agreeable, but it was not such as to produce any dlfguft. In fa£t, we drink in common life, in many places, and under many circumstances, and almost always at sea, a worse tailed, and probably a lei's wholesome water. The obtaining frefh from fair-water, for ages was confidcred ajs an important defiderarum for the use of navigators. The process for doing this by iimple distillation is so efficacious, the erecting an extempore still with such ulenfils as are found on board of every iV.ip is so pra&icable, as to authorize the aflertion, that this deside ratum is fatisiicd to a very ufeful degree. But though this has been done for upwards of 30 years, though its reality has been ef tab!ifHed by the a£lual experience of several vessels which have had recourse to it, yet neither the fact nor the process is known to the mass of seamen, to whom it would be the moil ufeful, and for whom it was principally wanted. The Secretary of State is therefore of opinion, that since the fubjeft has now been brought under observation, it should be made the occasion of difl*eminatin<r its knowledge generally and effe&uallv among the fea-faring citi zens of the United States. The following is one of the many me thods which might be fordoing this. Let the clearance for every vessel failing from the ports of the United States, be printed on a paper, on the back whereof shall be a printed account of the eflays which have been made for obtaining frefh from fait water mentioning shortly those which have been unfuccefsful, and more fully those which have fuccccded ; describing the methods which have been found to answer for conftiu£ling extempore fti|| s Q f such implements as are generally on board of every veflel, with a recommendation, in all cases where they shall have occasion to resort to this expedient for obtaining water, to publish the result of tfreir trial in some gazette on their return to the United States, or to communicate it for publication to the office of the Secretary of State, in-order that others may, by their fuccels, be encouraged to make similar trials, and be benefitted by any improvements or new ideas which may occur to them in practice. Philadelphia, November 21, i7qt L O N L) O N, September 19 Nothing could have been more dexterous than the art with which La Fayette seized the moment of the Allembly's joy at the royal acceptance, to proeme from them an Amnesty. This was art fully availing himfelf of the motlia tewpora fandi. Any delay might indeed, from the tumultuous clamours of the Enragees, have proved fatal to that wife and magnanimous measure. It remains to be ascertained, whether the haughty spirit of the Princes and Nobles of France will fnffer them to re-enter their country as pardoned criminals. The French King's speech does no little ho nor to its author : betides the good Ityle and good sense which pervade it, there is an apology for the King's late elopement, intermixed with pe culiar skill and efted. The acceptation of the new Conftitiilion by the King nf France, imilt certainly be regarded as in ionic measure definitive, and depriving others of a pretext for interference. The alternative was either that he lhonl-J accept upon the terms there granted hiin, or abdicate the throne. The nifl of oblivion, jufl: now pafled in France, was certainly dilated by a wife and good policy. It will tend to fofien the animolity of parties, and reconcile the minds of tho!e who ar* yet a verse to the Revolution When the King of France refufed to wear the tecorations of the St. Efpnt, notwithftandingthe previous penniifion of tlie iNational Aiiembly, he aid, " that he could not decide in regard to the ?rince Royal, who was a minor ; but lie doubted lot but that the eldest Ton of a King of Fiance would endeavor to diitingiiifli hiinrelf by the vir tues of his heart, rather clian any bauble about his person." . . Numbers of French families are preparing to quit London, in confcquence of the adjultnieiic ol'ifce French Conflitutioii. 245 TH. JEFFERSON. ttitfoo [Whole No. 270.] Saturday lait difpatclies were received at the India hotife, over land, confirming the particulars of the capture of Darwar by Colonel Frederick, who is not dead, as has been generally reported. Rufiia has begun to fulfil her terms with the Porte, and the peace, at length established be tween these violent foes, proinifes to be one of fonie continuance. Among the curiosities imported from Botany Bay is a leaf, of very uncommon properties. The rnoft extraordinary is that when dried, even with out being pulverised, it goes off on the applica tion of a match, with an explosion somewhat si milar to gunpowder ; and the air is afrewards agreeably perfumed. Experiments are now mak ing to try what force it may poflefs, compared with our materials of explosion. The capture of Darwar took place about the latter end of March. The Mahratta troops dis played much gallantry, and were chiefly inllru mental in shortening the duration of the siege. The fort re fs of Darwar is in the P/Jyfore coun try, on the Bombay fide ; and will by the conve niences attached to it, greatly accelerate rhe to tal subjugation of Tippoo and his flying follow ers. Near three millions have been remitted to Lord Cornwallis from Bengal and Britain, since he took the command. Yesterday dispatches were received at the Se cretary of State's office, from Mr. Whitworth, tlie British Ambafl'ador at Peterfinirg. They were brought over by the Jezikill Garnour. It was mentioned, news of the greatest importance had been received by the Empress from Prince Potemkin ; that on the departure of the nief fenger, the Ruffian army continued to penetrate farther ng:iiiift the Turks ; that the former had been fuccefsful in several skirmishes ; that the latter received several considerable reinforce ments from home: and, not having heard of the treaty of peace between tlie two powers, they were about to rally themselves for tie purpose of a general engagement. In the lad rencoun ter, the chief of the Turks and a lieutenant-ge neral of the Piuffians, felH It is however believ ed, that the communication of the peace would soon disperse the several encampments, and render the usual guards on the frontiers on ly necessary. The Ruffian fleet at Cronftadc had been dismantled ; and the empress had issu ed orders for another jete in hono r> of-her con quers. WARW I C K At a quarter part twelve, Francis Field, other wise Rodney, and John Green, convicfted'for the offence of aiding and afiifting in the demoliftiing of the house of Mr. Taylor, at Aftiton, near Bir mingham, were taken to the usual place of exe cution, where, together with two others, the one for horse-stealing, the other for a highway rob bery, they were executed purfnant to their sen tence. The rioters behaviour was fuchas might be expeifted—expreffive of sorrow .for their of fences ; and confeffing the caufeof them to ariic from delusion and tnilguided zeal. PLYMOUTH-DOCK, Sept. ro, This day his Majesty's ship Impregnable, of 98 guns, Sir Thomas Bayard, was paid off and laid up in ordinary. When the Impregnable was paid oft, all the seamen went to the pay-table in uniform ; and afcer receiving their wages, they went relpeft fully to return thanks to all the Officers for their treatment of them ; as did also upwards of sixty fine boys, sons of the seamen, who, from the li berality of the Officers, had been taught to read and write. PORTSMOUTH, Sept. 12. An inventijn is fuccefsfully used in the Dock yard for tarring ropes by the labor of horses in ltead of men, and another is (hortly to be intro duced for laying the cables by the fame means. This will be a great injury to the people em ployed in the rope-house, but a very connderable saving to Government. LIVERPOOL, Sept. 17 : hurfday morning last, about five o'clock, the poll-boy carrying the mail from Warrington to Manchester, was robbed of tlie Chelter and Li verpool bags, and murdered. •t. 8 , 01
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