The Leavenworth weekly times. [volume] (Leavenworth, Kan.) 1870-1880, 1870-10-13
ALANDLOCOMOTIVE.
Another Extraordinary Nacisiar in
Chicago.


Chicago.
From the Chicago Times.
From time to time the Times has urged
upon the inves,tovp- the necessity of prOdrc-
ing, for the level plains Of the Northwest,
land locomotive, or traction engine. Whether
or not the reiterated demands Of the Tunes
had anything to do with it, We do not know;
but on Friday, machine Of the precise char
acter which We have SO often declared to be
n necessity made its appearance in our streets.
The inventor and builder is Mr.. Lake gem
tleman well known to Chicago from his orig
inal connection with the Western railway;
and, latter, as the contractor and builder Of
the Washington street tunnel.
The vehicle which made its way along the
streets of the West side on Friday and Satur-
day. is unlike any traction engine ever before
built. 1t is a locomotive vehicle, Il portable
engine, and fire-steamcr, all in one. This
combination is entirely novel, but this is not
N tint is new about it. Mr.. Lake has dis
covered and used principle in the applica-
ton Of power that has never before been en-
ployed. This principle is one which adj
mits Of the production Of extraordinary
power almost directly TO the driving-wheel.
In an ordinary locomotive, the steam
from the cylinder acts upon the piston and
is communicated directly to the driving
wheels. In Mr.. Lakes machine, when de-
sirable, the motion can first b. commune
Gated TO lalance-wheels. When these
wheels have reached very high rate Of
speed, The poXer can be Communicated by a
.'clutch" TO the driving wheels. The COM
munication can he made gradually or radidly
-, r,o,, he <bn,uht 1aSirakla
AA%one cam Ac beak6tof tllS ftsle cf
communication. Suppose the vehicle in a
place whese itFee,iss fxYa foreto start i.
n.. st = tGI6rT j xoana il up iu the
balance-wheels and then communicating it to
the drivers, one gets almost precisely the
came Benefit that he would by getting, say, a
heavy wagon nsler saPn nsolien jnst before
running it up an incline. si@:E't o.
e Ifaman has to pass over depression in
the road with heavily loaded truck, 4 Is
easily seen that if he Islander rapid Roadway
he viii pass through it with he's dhfchn'
than he would if he shhud atteu1Pt 70 pull
hislnaa out of the hollow where IN &ngon
had been standing. 4 persoa ahtaf n leap
over some obstacle aids his final Jump by a
short run. The locomotive engineer about to
ascend difficult grade rushed at it after hav-
ihx accumulated surplus force in high
motion. -.- ..-..lI .--r ..' .
1t is precisely this weiLknown principle in
mechanics which Mr.. Lake has employed in
his engine. :, -,---..-- -. --.-Fr
He Mas another novelty. The machine
4 kSutSsets Of driving wheels, ono Of which
4 t6ksiderably smaller than the other. By
10 simple use Of the screw, either set can he
raised, leaving the other on the gound.
Pie poSe can be applied at will to either.
The object of these two sets is, Of course, to
obtain either greater POwer or speed, As
miy be desired. In hauling heavy loads, the
small wheels will be used, and in excursions,
where there is NO great weight to be hauled,
rapidity is secured ny the employment Of the
large drivers.
b = pop and els ehAsssl'sr iHrni-&h conn
plete apparatus for throwing water, while a
1i6Ad.vheel allows the transfer Of power TO a
threshing machine, or any other article OF
y soea sine n.4 III handsome one II i.
weighs about three tons, and moves without
diGnilty, and guides Is easily as well
trained horse.t -TuiI = t-ii.I -..=
The construction Of the machine will open
up, We believe, a new and important era in
locomotion. A heavy machine, like the one
referred to, will haul heavy loads, act As a
fire steamer. and do duty as a portable en-
CINE. Smaller ones can be constructed,
|Nhdte weight viii not exceed half ton,
which can be used for passenger travel, or
the lighter basiness connected with the trans
fer Of goods in large city, We see no rea-
son why such machine IN Chicago cannot
L. l. a Ell - L. l.