The People's Voice from April 17, 1880 continues to turn up weird and delightful stories. In "Supplanting Steam," the article claims the invention of a new fuel source that could be used with current steam engines with minimal alterations (essentially adding a condenser). The extraordinary properties of bisulphide of carbon have been long known, but no one has hitherto discovered the means of utilizing its forces until recently, when its union with petroleum solved the difficulty. This substance, bisulphide of carbon, is more commonly known today as carbon disulfide . Petroleum, of course, needs no introduction (but in this invention, it seems to have been used primarily as a lubricant). The article claims this combination, when heated in the steam chamber to "lukewarm" temperatures around 140-200 F (60-94 Celsius), "acts precisely as steam, only more dense, and with greater force...It is claimed that three-fourth of the fuel required for steam is save...
Forgotten history fished from the river of forgetfulness