Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1889-06-12
EARLY RAILWAY MOTORS.
WHEN THE STEAM LOCOMOTIVE WAS
A DOUBTFUL EXPERIMENT.

| the Horse Tread Mill Race Between
Cooper's Engine and a Horse.
Steam had to show its superiority both to
| horses and sails before the steam locomotive
was taken into service on the Baltimore and
Ohio A car that was among the first put
| into operation on the road was run by morse
power A model is exhibited in the National
museum. 1t was q tread mill arrangement,
the horse being on the car and treadlng an
endless apron or belt. An old newspaper
describing the car says:
1.-THE machine worked indifferently well,
but on one occasion, when drawing car
filed with editors and other representatives
Of the press, it ran into q COW, and the pas
sengers, having been tilted out and rolled
down an embankrnent, were naturally enough
unanimous In condemning the contrivance,
and SO the horse power car, after countless
bad jokes had been perpetrated on the cowed
EDITORS passed out of existence and probably
out Of mind"
THE FLYING DUTCHMAN."
On the South Carolina road, when the first
experiments were made, it was the sentiment
of the management that they should begin at
least with horses The steam locomotive was
The construction Of the road was begun in
1929. Six of the projected 1856 miles were
completed in a year. The company offered
premium OF $500 for the best locomotive by
horse power, nd the prize was awarded to
to C. E. Detmold, who constructed car
with an endless chain attachment. This car,
known as The Flying Dutchman, ran on the
road some time A model Of it stands in a
hot Cf
the Baltimore and Ohio sail car. With
twelve passengers aboard it achieved speed
of twelve miles an hour. Old pictures repre-
sent it with the horse in the center, persons
sitting about on the sides and negro driver
or engineer standing behind the horse with a
whip, to stir him up when he Jagged.
After the horse experiment on the Belti-
more and Ohio road recourse was had to the
wind and sailing car known as the Meteor,
invented by Evan Thomas, was run for some
time whenever the wind was favorable. 1t
would travel at good rate of speed with the
wind abaft or on the quarter. With the
wind abeam or from the side the car was
likely to capsize. La a calm, of course, the
car was useless, and passengers depending
upon it might have to walt a long time for it
to start Among those who sailed in the car
on one of its experimental trips was Baron
Krudener, the envoy of Russia, and he was
so much pleased that he sent a model Of it to
the car A sailing car was also tested on
the South Carolina road in 1880.
The first experiment on the Baltimore and
Ohio with steam locomotive was made by
Peter Cooper. The story Of his locomotive,
known as tom Thumb" shows how doubt
full at that time was the issue of the competi-
ton between horse and steam. Mr.. Cooper
was satisfied that steam could be adapted to
the curved roads, which he saw would be
built in the United States. He went to Balti
more to build his engine because that city
possessed then the only railroad on which he
could experiment His engine when COM
pleted was about the size of an ordinary
hand car The boiler, no larger than an or
binary kitchen boiler, stood upright The
engine was provided with cylinder three
a half inches in diameter, and draft was
arranged with a blowing apparatus worked
by belt from the engine This tiny affair
was the first locomotive for railroad pur
poses ever built in America
THE GRAY HORSE WON
The first experiment was made at Mount
Clair carhouse in the summer of 1880, and
it was SO successful that Tom Thumb soon
afterwards made trip to Ellicott's Mills,
drawing an open car On this journey it is
recorded that it made speed Of fifteen miles
an hour and more The passengers were as
tonished at the rapidity with which they
travelled. A chronicler of she time notes the
fact that when the locomotive was making
eigl>een miles an hour some passengers wrote
their names in their memorandum books Ito
fhoSa or hot w.
possible to do So" On the return from Eli
colts Mills at the relay house, the passengers
found waiting for them, on the opposite
track, car, to which a fine gray horse had
been harnessed by Stockton s. Stokes, stage
line proprietorS, who We're interested in show
ing that a steam locomotive stood no chance
beside horse. The challenge was accepted
and there was lively race.
The following account Of the contest was
written by Mr. Il B. Latrobe, Of Baltimore,
who was one Of Mr.. Cooper's guests on the
trip:
AT first the gray had the best of it, for his
steam could be applied to the greatest ad-
vantage on the instant, while the engine had
to wait until the rotation of the wheels set
the blower to work. The horse was perhaps
quarter of q L lie ahead when the safety
valve Of the engine lifted and the thin blue
vapor issuing from it showed an excess Of
steam. The blower whistled, the steam blew
off in vapory clouds, the passengers shouted,
the engine gained on the horse, soon it Tapped
him, the silk was piled, the race was neck and
neck, nose and nose, then the engine passed
the horse and great hurrah hailed the VIC
tory. But it was not repeated, for just at
this time, when the grays master was about
giving up the band which drove the pulley
which moved the blower slipped from the
drum, the safety valve ceased to scream and
the engine, for want of breath, began 10
wheeze and pant
In vain Mr.. Cooper, who was his own en-
gineer and fireman, lacerated his hands in
attempting to replace the band upon the
wheel; in vain he tried TO urge the fire
with light wood; the horse gained on the
machine and passed it, and although the band
was presently replaced and steam again did
its best, the horse was too far ahead to be
overtaken and came in the winner of the
race. But the real victory was with Mr..
Cooper, notwithstanding He had held fast
TO the faith that was in him and had demon
strated its truth beyond peradventure. All
honor 10 his name In patent case tried
many years afterward the boiler of Mr..
Cooper'S engine became, IN some connection
which has been forgotten, important as
piece of evidence. It was hunted for and
found among some old rubbish at Mount
Clair. Il was difficult to imagine that it had
every generated steam enough to drive cot
fee mill, much less that it had performed the
feats here narrated w ashinCton Star,
THE CURIOSITY SHOP.