New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1854-07-27
LETTERS FROM THE PEOPLE.
sTrAM CARRIAGES.

10 as Edser u The " Y. T,i1sne .-,r., a..
SIR: The Scientific American refuses TO publish the
Those utterly f and S ,. :. ss Inss 10
,. sSs ls .% sSsss only ,a.s INTAKES
IN after ieyesed demands proof correction they co.
deliberate hoSd.i .nd dem ipy GUY ~ hespo.e them
Columns Ana ' Ss.f oSsd'a' RI''
To Conductor. Of tn. sci,attSe A~oaoos'
Ever since fret made public enor. % attain
means to build steam-csrnsge The Scie ;se Au,,;e,n
has pursued course which, so far as Il, irenarce ey
tepds must have tended to defeat 80 -. ns III
should not complain had il not MI ,;ss,.toment.
and refused to correct them ,ehcb ,nisststements
were ofsuch nature as to .nduce belief that steam
carriages hso laiea 10 III Gland not from unfair oppo
sition but from their incapscitv 70 compete with
horses in speed and rheapness: and these nisstate
ments II Per.steo IN, and refused TO correct after
represented u" and demanded their correction
he chiei Of them made in reply 10 statement
OF NINE A&t Gurney's carriages between Gloucester
by obstructng the road with broken stone. 1t is
<ad that certags webuilt carriages failed under the
most favorable circumstances in 1888; that they had
no such oppositiOD that they did not pays and that
they did not run faster than twO-hOrse stages. 1t is
said they were "Gordons improvement on those Of
Journey" The names Of the towns between which
they ran not given, but the editor has since told
me that they were Glasgow and Paisley.
For a time was mised by these confident asser
tons: bat after searching for account Of these
RACES in order to judge whether they worthy TO
be called improvements OH Gurneys | became salts
fed that Gordon never built carriage, designed
one that ever built; and that steam-csrriage
ran between Glasgow and Paisley in 1888. In 1884
Fix cansges built by Russell did between those
cities. Surprising that these were the ones alluded
to-tiat mistakes in name and date had been made-l
called upon the editor aud asked if this were not the
case. lie persisted in his statement; and tod me that
in Luke Herberts Encyclopedia | should find an ac-
count Of them. / examined Heberts Encyclopedia,
and found in ii no such account am, therefore,
baied in my efforts to find the data upon which to dis
the Of the isuccess OF the carriages which
sdduced to convince the pubic that good steam
carriages failed from their own irremediabe defects
Under these circumsances-haying read GOrdon's
History OF Locomoton, published year after the
alleged failure Of bis carriages, and found no aluslOn
10 them that; and having thoroughly read the work
in which the editor told me l should fnd confrma-
ton Of his statements, and found alusiOn to them
in that work, deem it proper TO deny that Gordons
Dame is rightly applied, and that any carriages
there in the year indicated and to demand proSf Of
the statement, if proof exists admission of the
error, if proof cannot be adduced.
If ii be- said thought, that error in mere names
and dates is unmpOrtan reply that it is not unim
pOrant; for if there be such error and Russels be
the carriages referred to- then it important that this
fact should be admitted; because can at once prove
that Russes carriages were subjected TO the very
hind Of opposition that Gurneys had endured; that the
roads were deeply piled with broken stOne-sO deep
that hOrse-carriages could not pass over them; and
that, notwithstanding these distractions the steam
carriages made average speed of more than twelve
miles an hour and the best of them attained a speed
of twenty.one miles hour for half the distance be-
tween the towns. And this successful working was
kept up, notwithstanding the breaking of many wheels
until all event was produced which should have sub
jeced the trustees of the road to punishment for
der One of the carriages had its wheel broken by
the distractions that it fell upon its boiler causing
that to burst and several persons to be killed. Upon
this the infamous opponents OF the invention applied to
the Court of Sessions and obtained an Introduction
against the whole line; and thus Russes carriages,
like HancOcks and Gurney's, were OutrageOusly
broken down by violence, and driven from the roads
by magistrates.
In this view Of the case think you will gee the JUS
ce of my demand of the proof of your statements if
they be true; or Of the correction of the mistake if
such there be, in name, date, other circumstance
that may enable to identity the carriages adduced
10 prove the failure of this mode of l0com0tion, from
ito own ncapacity to succeed under favorable circum-
stances.
The Scientific american of July l. in sllusion to my
claim that my carriage is successful, says that the
success is cheaply obtained by speed of ~ miles
hour; for other steamcarrages 20 years ago. attained
a greater speed. This you denied in January, 81,
when you said they did not make better time than two
horse stages unless your Scotch horses better
than any others ever heard of. My carriage is sue
eessiul because it proves that steamcarrages can
work much cheaper than horse-carriages. If other
steam-carriaqes, built with more ample means, after
repeated experiments far more brilliant in their
pcrformances-as l have always maintained they
were-stil you denied it-so much the better for the
case am labOring TO prove l am confident that when
Inv plans are carried out, with ample means and per-
fected workmamebip shall with half the expendl-
ture of fuel and trust the speed of 80 and 40 miles
an hour attained by English carriages will be equaed
by mine. Yours respectfully, j. Il. FISHER