The Osceola times., 1881-10-15
IN PLACE or HORSES.
Sell -rropeiiing q rriages-yartous Modern
Motors-The Possibilities Of the

services are useful is admitted, but that
they are indispensable does not cer-
tainly follow. The horse must sell MS
his sinew with his fanlts. until we can
do better. Is it practicable 10 find any
thing better =,
The mania for horses RS matter OF
pleasure aud fashion will probably con
tinue. DIR. johnson remarked that lie
vas wildly impressed with the paucity
Of human enjoyments from the fact that
thousands of men aud women could find
no more interesting occupation than to
determine which OF tgohorses could run
the faster; and IL will probably continue
to he thrilling event foi the whole
world when some horse knocks off an
other second or 80 in the effort to do" a
mile in two minutes, although nobody
gets enthusiastic over the fact that some
birds can hy q mile in one minute or less
and can keep up this rate for number
of miles. The horse has gradually be-
come misused and misplaced, and the
peculiar decentralization he retaliates
with seems inevitable from close inti-
macy with him. The many persons who
drive for display, pleasure, speed and
fashion will probably never consent to
substitute any mechanical motor, but the
strictly utility use, which in great cities
is the chief one, will be nninhuenced by
such preferences Is IL possible to devise
ANYTHING which will do the horses work,
and thus will satisfy all who do not care
for the horse himsefP
The conditions which must be met are
obvious and very severe The substitute
must not be too costly or too bulky, it
Il ,,1a Ina n.
der easy and safe control; must be simple
enough TO be manageable in unskilled
hands; must be fairly free from acci-
dents and must not get out OF order; and
il must be economical, Self-propelling
carriages have long been sought, lut
wind is too untru9tworthy motor and
steam is too expensive. Experiments
with traction engines or road locomo-
tivcs have been made in the northwest
under stimulus Of prizes offered, but the
bulk, weight and cost Of the most com
pact engine and boiler will probably
never allow steam 10 be used, even If
the boiler is omitted and the steam Ia
ken from reservoir. Condensed air
has been somewhat used, and with en-
couraging results; 1t will keep indef.
nitely, and has the advantage of sim.
plicity aud ease OF management. Bilus
phide OF carbon is modern motor OF
which great expectations have been had,
of course, electricity seems at present to
be the ultimate fountain of all mechani-
cal services. The Faure Accumulation"
may contain the secret. No intelligent
person dreams of creating any force, Of
getting power without expending power,
Of taking anything from nature without
giving an equivalent but il requires lit
tie faith to see in the storing and hand
ling Of electric energy the possibility of
providing power exactly when. where
and how wanted, and under the most
economical and convenient conditions
Besides, there are some other motors. it
ia safe to say, although we are not now
able TO name them. Nature is not at all
generous with her help, although she has
managed 10 get the reputation o! being
20; everything in her great st2rehouss
has its price set on it, and nothing is
given away. We must pay the price
as long as we have it, and the first in
stsllment OF price is the time and labor
Of first discovering the thing in the fret
place Noah might have driven his ark
by four-bladcd propeller screw, worked
by compound engine; all the materials
existed, ready TO be put into the neces-
sary relations, but it has taken q great
many centuries TO uncover these things
we have bought in the storehouse, one
by one. The scent for them grows
sharper by use, and the discovery part of
the price is now being paid on large
scale, and by larger and more compe-
tent number OF persons than ever before.
II one dared TO say such thing we
might almost say that the next fifty
years will find out everything that is
worth knowing for its practical useful
ness; this would be said, urging from
what has been accomplished, but in
and hints Of more.
The desired thing once found, its city
applications will be, in general, in
draught work and in street car propul
sion. A little more speed could be given
the street car, although fast cars and
"way" cars run on the same track only
by increasing the distance between
them; the horse does fairly for speed in
this use, but in every other respect he is
a miserable instrument, most destructive
to pavements, and otherwise nuisance
The desired motor would be free from
odors, would operate on the rails and
not on the streets, and would make no
dirt. The working parts could occupy
portion of one end OF the car, that end
always being forward, and the front
platform Tor what is now that part could
be utilized as parcels compartment, re-
lieving tho car interior OF the nuisance
of baskets and other provocatives. The
roof could also be put TO use, and the
cars could he considerably larger; their
running gear should also be so inclosed
that no object on the track could possibly
be touched by the wheels. As for bur.
den wagons, the forward wheels would
steer as readily if turned by any other
force as when turned by the horse, and
there is no insurmountable difficulty in
the way Of applying propulsion to the
larger wheels. The requisite simplicity
of operation may be attained; and al
though the motor might break down, ac-
cidents happen now. ltmight be costly,
but the horse is not exactly like his
steel shadow in respect TO consumption.
The change would save the space now
occupied by the animal aud the project.
ing tongue" and this would be of good
account in many streets; il the propul-
sion were satisfactory, all the faults OF
the horse, as 10 his effects on the streets
and otherwise. would be removed; and
especially il tires were broadened, as
on every account they ought to be-,his
change would permit the present stone
pavements to give place to smooth ones
In London, macadsm is very largely
used, and ashphalt considerably; the
smoother the way, up to the point OF
slipping, the easier the draught; if the
tire were broadened add the pounding
of hnnfs removed the amnniher naya.