, 1863-08-14


ed. Horses that formerly rere dull at SIS to
$50, now bring $l20, and in some localities
the price..tas advanced from fifty to seventy
five per cent-an average OF fifty per cent.
nil over tho country. This demand Will in-
crease so long US the war continues,
and aa a consequence It becomes the people
to substitute steam power for horses When
ever 1t is practicable.
The idea of applying inanimate motors to
the propulsion Of city passenger cars has
been thoroughly Investigated, and is being
adopted in the East, aud ne believe the DIV is
not far distant when steam will supercede
horsepower On our Chicago city RAILWAYS.
of course there are certain class whose pre-
judices Will be arrayed in favor Of the "good
old way" Every new invention or improve
ment, no matter how strikingly Important the
advantages, meets with more or less oppos;-
tion from old fogies ut the outset.
We have steam to move our printing press
cs, throwing of ten Thousand an hour With
less fatigue to any Of the men controlling tbs
work, than WIS formerly experienced in print.
Ing 200 per hour; our factories are propelled
by steam; our mines worked, rivers dredged
turnpikes macada1nised, and In a thousand
paths of industry steam has taken the place Of
muscle. Nine-tenths Of all the travel in the
world, BY land or water, Is done by
the aid OF steam. Yet, at the outset
any or all Of these changes met
with opposition. The public mind must
be educated up to the required lerel on these
changes.
Looking upon the adoption Of steam On
the City Railway cars at an early day as inevi-
table, We will briefly state some Of the adyan-
| tages clnimed for steam over horses as q pyo.
pelling power:
l. The steam CIR can ascend any Of the
grades In the city, or traverse any curve, With
out assistance; and upon the leyel track will
draw two cars at tine, when desirable.
2. It will propel ut greater speed, and can
be stopped much quicker, than the horse Cal,
and Is very easily controlled.
5. The entire cost Of propelling power, on
the steam car, will not exceed cne dollar per
day, while the expense for horse power is not
less than sir dollars per day.
| 4. The paving between the rails would not
be uEed by the company, the traction being
upon the rails.
| s. The space occupied In the streets would
be lessened, each car, the length Of the horses.
| 6. All dust, cindcrs and smoke would be dis
I pcnscd with, as the boiler would use only an-
tbracite, and CONSUME Its own gus. TIE es-
cape Of steam is also carefully provided
against.
| Z. The car can be heated by a coil Of steam
! pipes from the boiler, and rendered comforta-
b1e during al degrees Of the atmosphere.
s. There viii be nothing more to frigatcn
horses than one Of our present cars, being
pushed along without team attached, as the
machinery and boiler are enclosed, occupying
but little more space than the platform at
either end Of llorse car,
That there have been failures in introducing
the so called :" dummies" we do not deny;
but We are assured that the difficulties have
all been overcome. In cities, we must have q
Bisscll truck under tie engine, to allow 1t to
turn sharp curves; smoke.consumfng en-
CINE that will not emit ciuders, nor make
much show Ct steam, and that can be easily
controlled, started and stopped at pleasure,
run slow in the thronged streets and make
time" where there is nothing to hinder.
Steam passenger cars claiming all these requi-
cites are being introduced in New York, md
If New York can use them, why can't Chica-
gos Once introduced, We believe they would
be profitable to the companies and popular
with the people. Who will inaugurate the
movement Of giving steam cars tria1 In Chi
cagos
| TnpnrnTnYsy auxa IN f.urrarv.
| The apparently impossible teat of shooting
fully accomplished in this city, # VIC may be-
neye the story Of the inventors who have
the gun to do it with on exhlbi-
ton here. To-day and tomorrow, at
the Central Park skating Pond, they
| promise to demonstrate that they tell no
untruth when they soy they can shoot In q
circle. In these beligerent times, any i'm
p1oyement in the art Of Eunnery deserves to
be especially noticed. If the missile from
! this mortar can describe circle, It can doubt
| less describe half circle, and it seems to us
an army supplied with them, can leisurely sit
down at the rear Of . be1eagured city and
thunder away at its front gates. 1t would be
3 safe operation at au events, unless like tue
boomerang Of an Indinn Tribe in the Pacific,
In its clrcrmambulatoEy gyratlons, the mis-
sile returns to ye1 the head Of the inexperi-
enced experimenter. Whether hu1nbug or
otherwise, an Intelligent reporter" from
the TRIBUNE, Will be present, and If the ex-
hib1tion is one.half rs successful us is promis-
ed, we can insure the proprietors s.frst rate
notice.''