Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1892, volume 3).djvu/535

Rh having been employed in various capacities, he was ordered by the government in 1850 to survey the rapids of the St. Lawrence with a view to their improvement, and also to explore the country be- tween the head-waters of the St. John in New Brunswick and the St. Lawrence, opposite Sague- nay river, for the purpose of opening intercolonial communication by canal or railway. In 1851 he resigned from the government service and was ap- pointed chief engineer of the Toronto and Kingston section of the Grand Trunk railway, and made pre- liminary surveys for a bridge over the St. Law- rence, the present Victoria bridge being the out- come of his plans. He constructed water-works for Montreal, Hamilton, Ottawa, and other cities. In 1878 he was sent to Paris as chief commissioner for Canada at the international exhibition. In 1849 he was the successful competitor for a premi- um that was offered by the Earl of Elgin for an " Essay on the Influence of the Canals of Canada upon her Agriculture." He published " The Phi- losophy of Railways " (1849).

KEELER, Ralph, journalist, b. in Ohio in 1840 ; d. at sea near Cuba. 16 Dec, 1873. On the death of his parents Ralph was sent, at eight years of age, to the care of an uncle in Buffalo, N. Y., but ran away, was cabin-boy on a lake steamer, train- boy on a railroad, a member of several bands of strolling minstrels, and finally was connected with the " Floating Palace," a large steamboat fitted up for theatrical purposes. He studied at St. Vincent college in 1854-'6, and, after serving as a clerk in the Toledo, Ohio, post-office, spent two years in Kenyon college. He visited Europe and studied in Germany, supporting himself by correspondence with English, Scotch, and American journals. He then spent three years in California, writing for the newspapers and occasionally lecturing. While there he published in the " Atlantic Monthly " " Three Years a Negro Minstrel," and " A Tour of Europe on $181." In 1870 he became art editor of " Every Saturday," a weekly published in New York, and in the following year he revisited Eu- rope. In 1873 he became special correspondent of the "New York Tribune" in Cuba, and while en- gaged in this work mysteriously disappeared. It is supposed that he was murdered and thrown overboard from a steamer. He published, besides numerous magazine and newspaper articles, " Glov- erson and his Silent Partner" (San Francisco, Cal., 1868) ; " Vagabond Adventures " (New York, 1871) ; a translation of George Sand's " Marquis de Villemer " (1873) ; and at the time of his death had in preparation a " Life of John Brown."

KEELY, John Worrall, inventor, b. in Phila- delphia, Pa., 3 Sept., 1837. He studied in the Phila- delphia public schools until he was twelve years of age, when he became a carpenter's apprentice, and continued at that trade until 1872. Meanwhile, with inadequate training, he had become interested in speculations concerning physical forces, and originated certain theories of questionable value. His object was the liberation of primitive atomic motion, and its application to the uses of man ; the resolution of ether in which the waves of sound and light are supposed to be produced into a work- ing "energy." The vibrations of windows and glass dishes in response to the sounding of various musical chords first set his mind upon the subject of vibration, and the curious sympathy between distant waves vibrating in harmony. His efforts were unaided until 1872, when a company was or- ganized, and funds, since aggregating $500,000, were placed at Mr. Keely's disposal. This work resulted in the invention of a "hydro-pneumatic pulsating vacuo machine," whose action, it is claimed, is produced by forces obtained from water and air, which he still keeps secret, and which can exert a pressure of 500 pounds to the square inch. Subsequently he constructed 124 different engines, and has at present (1887) eliminated the use of water entirely in developing the energy that he claims to control. Results which are marvel- lous in their effects have been obtained by Mr. Keely, in the presence of reliable experts; but all exact details of the method of operation have thus far been carefully kept secret.

KEEN, George, or Joran Kyn, colonist, b. in Sweden about 1620 ; d. in Chester, Pa., about 1690. He accompanied Gov. Printz to New Sweden as a soldier in 1643, and dwelt with him for several years on Tinicum island in the Delaware. After- ward he removed to Upland (now Chester, Pa.), where he bought a large tract of land, and settled his two sons and his daughter. He is described as of a singularly pious and gentle disposition, and is the ancestor of eleven generations of descendants that have been born on American soil. — His grandson, Matthias, legislator, b. at Upland in 1667; d. at Tacony, Pa., 13 July, 1714, was a vestryman of the Swedish Lutheran congregation of Gloria Dei and chairman of the committee on building their church, which is the oldest extant in Philadelphia. With other Swedes he presented a petition to the general assembly of Pennsylvania in 1709 for redress of grievances that they had experienced at the hands of "William Penn and his officers," charged with fraudulently getting possession of their deeds, abstracting their lands, and increasing their quit-rents. This complaint was referred to the proprietor, and by him to the royal council of Sweden. In 1713 Mr. Keen was elected a member of the assembly, and held that office at his death. — Morris Lorigstreth, inventor, b. in West Philadelphia. Pa.. 24 May, 1820 ; d. at "Highland Grove," near Stroudsburg, Pa., 2 Nov., 1883, was a grandson of John Keen, who was a great-grandson of Matthias. After receiving a private-school education he was entered as apprentice in Norris's locomotive works. Later, with his younger brother, Joseph, he established a foundry in West Philadelphia for the manufacture of flat-irons on a new principle of his invention. Some years afterward he gave attention to the making of paper out of wood, which had already been accomplished unprofitably by chemical methods, and discovered a means of attaining the end by boiling under pressure, which has completely revolutionized the art of paper-making and reduced the cost of paper about one half. This invention was first carried into effect by Mr. Keen in the old engine-house of the Wilmington and Philadelphia railroad at Gray's Ferry, in West Philadelphia, and was brought to perfection by him in a paper-mill at Rover's Ford, Chester co., Pa., in 1854. This led to the formation in 1863 of the American wood-paper company, with patent-rights for the United States and privileges in other lands. Mr. Keen made many improvements in various departments of machinery and manufacture, for which he received upward of forty patents.— His brother, Gregory Bernard, clergyman, b. in West Philadelphia, 3 March, 1844, was graduated at the University of Pennsylvania in 1861, and at the Protestant Episcopal divinity-school of Philadelphia in 1866. He then was ordained to the ministry of that church, but in 1868 became a Roman Catholic. In 1871 he was appointed professor of mathematics in the theological seminary of St. Charles Borromeo at Overbrook, Pa. From 1873 till 1876 he devoted himself to the