The Democrat. (Scotland Neck, Halifax Co., N.C.) 1884-1896, 1895-08-29
THE HORSE.
HE MUST PASS OUT.
Electricity Comes IN.

elect rlcal devices tor street car pIOpui-
sion has had very great and bench
cial effect in lessening the number OF
horses and mules on our streets. Ihe
Derfection Of the safety" bicycle, with
a speed record surprising that OF the
fastest racer, has almost entirely elimi-
mated the riding horse from our roads
For several years there has been IN sue
cessful and profitable operation In the
large European capitals electric omnl-
buses and goods vans. In England 1T
il proposed to erect trolleys along the
principal roads radiating from the CIT
les to hand to the consumers the mar
ket cart of the truck farmers. In our
own country horseless vehicles daily
traverse the streets Of New York, BOs-
ton and other large American cities.
SO great indeed has been the decrease
in the use of the horse for traction pur-
poses that the price for the noble anil
NAL has fallen amazingly, and on the
large ranches in the far west large lac
tories have been built to work up the
horse into canned meats, glue, leather,
buttons. oil, etc, and we have seen it
stated that the price for horses on the
hOOf was from two to three dollars per
head one sale being reported OF one
drove Of eleven hundred for two thOus-
and dollars This being the present
status of the horse, what can we reas-
onably expect when we consider that
electricity will early supplant horse
power for all farming operations?
When we know that the cost OF steam
power at $50 per annum will not sup
port horse for six months, and that
water power can be electrically conduct
ed over any distance at even less cost,
we can easily comprehend that the
poor horse Is doomed. These are not
speculations Let Us see how facts sub
stantiatc these statements. Since 1897
horseless carriages have been popular
In France and have been rapidly COM
ing into favor and use. The Invention
OF the petroleum motor, Transforming
this heavy oil into vapor and apply
ing the explosive force as in gas en-
CINE, has developed wonderful eff
cheney for traction purposes. The re-
cent race from Paris to Bordeaux, in
which carriages Of two and four seats
competed, and in which the petroleum
motor won the victory and the prizes,
has attracted wide attention on both
continents. The petroleum carriage Is
OdOrless, smOkeless, without disagreed
BILE heat, runs forward or backward at
Will, can be started in from two to five
minutes, is automatic In operation and
no horse can compete with it in speed.
A simple lever, easier to manipulate
than the handle of a bicycle, controls.
every movement of the carriage. Elec-
trio carriages are as vet too heavy and
too costly to compete with this light
petroleum vehicle, but yankee ingenu-
ity will doubtless early overcome these
difficulties. Electric vehicles do run
and under favorable conditions are
profitable. In Philadelphia, an cleo
trical wagon has run several hundred
miles without accident or repairs An
electrical wagon In Brooklyn on ordi-
nary good roads makes an average
speed of from fifteen to eighteen miles
an hour A hotel bus in LOckhaven,
Pa with eight cells, is claimed to have
sufficient capacity to run fifteen days
of nineteen hours each 1t weighs |,
600 pounds, with carrying capacity OF
5000 pounds. A light and graceful
buggy weighing only 600 pounds pro-
PEELED by gasoline motor has been for
months traversing the streets of Spring
field and climbing the adjacent hill
roads, and has a record of over 800
miles without accident. The vehicle
can be stopped within space of four
feet, and the running cost is one-fourth
OF cent mile.
Ether and hot air engines will doubt
less be early applied to carriage propul-
sion, as they are now to bicycles and
tricycleS Ether is converted into eX-
banding gas at SO degrees Fahrenheit.
whereas water requires 2l2 to convert it
into steam, ard the gas of ether has
one-third more power than steam. A
bicycle with three inch pneumatic tires,
fitted with this ether motor, weighs 60
pounds and speed record Of mile
minute is claimed for it.
In the west they are making hot
air engine which is of wonderful light
ness and simplicity, weighing with bal
ance wheel, less than fifty pounds and
of four-horse power. Ordinary kerosene
or gasoline is used for fuel. and Is fed
Into the cylinder and exploded by a
spark from an electric battery 1t on
ly uses one-tenth of a gallon Of fuel per
hour for such horse power. These hot
air engines are applied to bicycles, tri-
cycles ana to carriages equipped with
four inch pneumatic wheels, and are
thoroughly efficient in operation.
We thus see that for propulsion the
horse is rapidly becoming q hack nu,n