15 NOVEMBER 1924, Page 3

During the week photographs have appeared in the newspapers of

the wind-driven but sailless ship which we mentioned last week. The tall cylinders which take the place of sails look like thin steam funnels. The descriptions of the invention are so meagre that we imagine that Herr Flettner means to keep his secret for the present. The general idea, however, is that the wind, instead of playing upon fixed sheets of canvas—that is to say, upon sails—plays upon the rotating surface of the cylinders. The cylinders apparently arc moved by electricity. But it is the wind, not any mechanical power, that drives the ship. According to an article in the Manchester -Guardian, the cylinders are 60 feet high and 9 feet in diameter, and they make about 120 revolu- tions a minute.