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
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