Vicksburg weekly herald. (Vicksburg, Miss.) 1868-1883, 1870-10-15
lFrOrn the Chicago
A LAND LOC0m0EK. !.

from time 70 ume E16 ZINES
has urged upon the inventors the
necessity of producing, for the
level plains of the Northwest, q
land locomotive, OF traction en-
gine. Whether or not the reiter-
ated demands Of the Times had
anything to do with it we do not
know; but on Friday, Q machine
of the precise character which we
have so often declared to be . ne
cessity made its appearance on our
streets. The inventor and builder
Is Mr.. Lake, q gentleman well
known to Chicago from his orig
inal connection with the Westsido
railway; and, later, as the con-
tractor and builder Of the Wash
ington street tunnel.
The vehicle which made It's way
along.the streets of the West-side
on Friday and Saturday 10 unlike
any traction engine ever before
built. 1t Is q locomotive vehicle,
a portable engine, and a fire steam
er, all in one. This combination
is entirely novel, but this Is not
all that is new about it. Mr.. Lake
has discovered and used a prin-
ciple in the application of power
that has never before been en-
ployed. This principle is one
which admits of the production of
extraordinary power almost di.
rectly to the driving.wheel.
In an ordinary locomotive, the
steam from the cylinder acts upon
the piston and is communicated di-
rectly to tie crank of the driving
wheels. In Mr.. Lakes machine,
when desirable, the motion can
first be communicated to balance
wheels. When these wheels have
reached a very high rate of speed,
the power can be communicated
by "clutch" to the driving-wheels.
The communication can be made
gradually or rapidly as may be
thought desirable.
Any one can see the benefit of
this style of communication. Sup
pose the vehicle in a place where
it requires extra force to start it.
By applying the power at once, no
movement is effected but by stor-
ing it up in the balance wheels,
and then communicating it to the
drivers, one gets almost precisely
the same benefit that he would by
getting, say, heavy wagon under
rapid motion just before running
it up an incline.
II a man has to pass over a de-
preston in the road with o heavi-
ly.loaded truck, it is easily seen
that if he is under rapid headway
he will pass through it with less
difficulty than he would if he
should attempt to pull his load out
of the hollow where his wagon
had been standing. Aperson about
to leap over some obstacle aids his
final jump by short run. The
locomotive engineer about to as.
cend a difficult grade rushcs at it
after having accumulated a sur
plus force in a high motion.
It's precisely this well known
principle in mechanics which Mr..
Lake has employed in his engine.
He has another novelty. The
machine has two sets of driving
wheels, one of which is considera.
bly, smaller than the other. BY q
simple use of the screw, either set
can be raised, leaving the other on
the ground. The power can be
applied at will to either. The OBJ
ject of these two sets is, Of course,
to obtain either greater power or
speed, as may be desired. In
hauling heavy loads, the small
wheels will be used, and in excur-
sions, where there is no great
weight to be hauled, rapidity is
secured by the employment of the
large drivers.
A pump and air chamber fur
nish complete apparatus for
throwing water; while a hand
wheel allows the transfer of pow.
er to a threshing machine, or any
other article of the kind.
The engine is a very handsome
one. 1t weighs about three tons,
and moves without difficulty, and
guides as easily as a we'll trained
horse.
The construction of this ma.
chine will open up, we believe,
new and important era in locomo-
tion. A heavy machine, like the
one just referred to, will haul
heavy loads, act as a fire steamer,
and do duty as Il portable engine.
Smaller ones can be constructed,
whose weight will not exceed half
q ton, which can be used for pas.
senger travel, or the lighter bust
ness connected with the transfer
of goods in large city. We see
no reason why such a machine in
Chicago cannot be made to take
the place of the truck, of horses
on the street cars, of the emacia-
ted steeds which drag the heavy
omnibuses, and Of the light pleas
ure vehicles which dash up and
down our avenues.