The Sumter watchman. [volume] (Sumterville, S.C.) 1855-1881, 1870-09-28

LOCOMOTIVES WITHOUT RAIL
WAYS.
AT the present moment, when so
much anxiety has been expressed on
account of the expectation of horses, a
Parliamentary paper just issued will be
read with interest as showing that the
time approaches when we shull no long
er require the services Of the noble
animal. 1t appears by the reports on
Thomson's "road steamer" made to the
War Department, that this engine, un.
less, perhaps, for hunting purposes, is
far more useful than any horse. Mr..
Anderson. the superintendent of ma
chiuery, says he has "come to the con-
clusion that tho question ofsteam trac
tion on common roads is now completely
solved )" that the application OF the in
dia rubber tire is perfect success that
it opeus up an entirely new field, aud
that he looks up this application as a
discovery rather than an invention. The
wheel aud its tire may be described as
consisting of a broad iron tie with mar
row fanges, upon which is placed ring
Of soft vulcanized india. rubber the ring
is about twelve inches in width and
about five inches in thickness, which
thus surrounds the iron tie, aud is kept
iu its place by the fauyes then over the
india rubber there is placed an endless
chain of steel plates, which is the por.
ton of the wheel that comes into actual
contact with the road, the rcticulatcd
chain being connected by sort Of yer.
zebra at each side Of the wheel. The
india-rubber tire and this ring of steel
plates have no rigid connection, but arc
at perfect liberty to move round as they
please without consulting each other
or even without the concurrence of the
inner ring Of the wheel which they both
enclose. Mr.. Anderson states that the
reason why this wheel is SO efficient is
because the soft india-rubber allows it
to Aatten upon the road, whether rough
or smooth The wheel, being circle,
If it is rigid structure, presents but a
small surface, but this wheel conforms
to every irrcgularity for space of near.
y two feet by the weight of the engine
causing the india-rubber to collapse, aud
50 producing change of form. In the
construction of the road steamer the
greater portion of the weight, including
the boiler, rests upon the driving wheels;
the third wheel in front is for guiding
the direction Of movement, and is per-
iectly under control. In tho course Of
experiments witnessed by Mr.. Ander-
sou the engine went up IA zigzag laby-
rinth cf courts, and it can describe any
figure almost in space twice its length.
The boiler employed is an independent
invention adapted to the carriage. Its
chief popularity is the copper pot for
holding water within the furnace, and
1t 10 so contrived that if the boiler
contains any water the pot will have a
full supply. This arrangement keeps
tho centre of gravity low, and allows the
engine to run up hills of one in ten or
go along an angle OF thirty-five degrees.
On the first day Mr.. Anderson saw it in
I.eith the streets were very wet and
adhesive. A train of wagons contain
ing ten tons Of -four, besides their owu
weight, were standing at the bottom of
slippery street with gradient OF
about one in seventeen; to this train
the little engine was attached, aud away
it marched as if it had no load, went up
to the top Of the hill, and then down
on the other side, no breaks being re-
quircd. After iepositing its load somo
where in Leith, it ran down to the
Portobello seashore at the rate of ten
miles an hour. On surveying the sands
Mr.. Anderson says, it seemed an impos.
sibility that it could walk on suoh soft
sinking ground, but on it rushed
through all, over some quicksands, ran
into the sea and along its edge in every
direction, in the most wonderful man
ner. 1t then, after returning from the
seaside, removed an old boiler from the
docks to yard at some distance. The
boiler and wagon, with the fastening
chains, weighed upwards of 20 tons
and the boiler on the wagons stood
some 25 feet high. UP to this the
engine backed, then marched off with
its lood along tho quay, over rising
swing bridge and along o.her quays
until it reached its destination. The
charm of the performance, MIR. Ander.
son remarks, was 10 the way in which il
was done. No shouting, no refractory y
or desuitory pulling of horses, but b,
the expenditure Of a few pounds o.
Goals and water the whole was accom-
plished with ease and oelerity; and 81
accustomed are the people in Leith tt
its performance that no notice was ia
ken Of IL, except by the country horses
for the town horses seem to know thai
it is their friend rather than theil
encmy.-PaN Mall Gazette.
| -That man who knows the world