Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1868-11-20
NO. 32 UNION STREET,

diameter, with an altitude OF three feet,
while the engine is completely hidden
under the body of the car, and protected
from dust, frost, snow, etc, by substan-
tial casing Of wood and galvanized iron.
The propelling power is an endless chain,
capable of sustaining a strain three times
as great as the ordinary hslf-inch log
chain. This chain, or band, runs from
the engine shaft to the forward axle,
which is also connected with the hind
axle by another chain of similar con-
struction, making all four Of the wheels
driving wheels. The engine has ca
pacity of six-horse power, and as the
shaft m axes two and one-hsif revolutions
to one revolution of the wheels, it will be
seen that the latter reach ffteen-horse
power. This increase of force is calcu-
lated to be of great advantage in starting
the car and in turning curves.
In addition to the advantages already
alluded to, which are of themselves suffi-
cient to commend the invention to all, it
is far less expensive than the system now
in vogue. For example: the Third
Avenue Railway Company of New York
run two hundred cars, for which eighteen
hundred horses are required. The re-
ceipts of the road are SlO0, 900 per month,
and the expenditures range from $S5, 900
to $4,000. The average daily expense
of running a single car is SIG, but with
the Wilder invention in use lit requires
only seventy cents per day for fuel) it is
claimed that the cost will be reduced to
at least $5 per day. The Superintendent
of the Third avenue line estimates pro-
bable saving of $4,000 per month by
this means.
Another obvious advantage is the plan
for heating the car in winter, which may
be done by running pipes under the seats,
through which the steam passes on its
way from the boiler to the condenser, the
latter being situated at the rear end Of
the car. When no artificial heat ia re-
quired the pipes may be disconnected
with the boiler and the steam will all pass
through another pipe running under the
car to the condenser, from which il
escapes by slow drippings in the form of
water. BY using anthracite coal, and a
base burner, no sparks are emitted and
everything is kept free from dirt and
smoke.
SO simple 10 construction is this in
vention that child can manage it with
ease, and even when going at the rate of
twenty miles an hour the car may be
stopped instanta. eously, if necessary,
without the aid of brakes. Indeed the
inventor claims to be able to stop car
within an inch of any given spot on the
track, without jarring or Inconvenience
to passengers.
One of the cars belonging to the Fort
street and Elmwood Company has been
supplied with this power and has been ia
operation at the locomotive works on the
corner of Congress and Third streets
several days. 1t has been thoroughly
tested by competent judges, all of whom
have pronounced unequivocally in favor
of its adoption on all street railways in |
the country, deeming it possessed of ad
vantages far superior to anything ever |
before offered for the same purpose.
Our own railway men have already |
become convinced of this, and before
many days one of these locomotives will
be in operation on the Fort street and Elm
wood line. Having seen the invention
tested, and after full investiga ton of
we are quite willing to indorse the fa-
vorable opinions of others who are ia
miliar with it,
Mr.. Wilder, the inventor, has received
proposals from railway officials in va
rious large cities for furnishing their
cars with his locomotive power and we
have no doubt that within five years it
will have altogether superseded horses
as a means of propelling street cars. To
Detroit belongs the honor of the inven-
ion, and it is gratifying that Detroit
should be the first to appreciate its ad-
1antages.