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Hendershot's model consisted of some basket-woven coils of wire, stainless steel rings about
three inches in diameter and some Anico magnets. It weighed less than ten pounds and any fraud
could be easily observed. Hendershot said that the trick was to get just the right proportion
of each of the materials. Wrong proportions resulted in it quickly "burning out." It was
pre-set when made to turn at a certain speed and put out a certain power.
It would seem that a great discovery had been made. Reputable men sang the praises of the
machine and, beyond any doubt, it had proved to be a workable invention - even though it
operated on no known principle. About this time some very curious things began to happen.
For some unknown reason a distinguished scientist, Professor Hoffstetter of Pittsburgh, rushed
to New York and rented at his own expense a large lecture hall to deliver a speech to
"debunk the fraud of the Hendershot motor." He declared, among much other rhetoric, that
if this invention were accepted it would "destroy faith in science for one thousand years."
He said that he had found a small carbon battery in one of the models and that this was the
source of its power. Newspapers accepted Hoffstetter's claims and soon no more was heard of the motor
- despite the fact that there had been no solid evidence whatsoever to prove the motor
a fraud.
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