The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1895-08-15
THE HORSELESS CARRIAGE.
Common in France and Now About
to be introduced in America.

1t is the expectation of those
who have watched the progress of
the invention ofhorseless carriages
and their trials abroad that in a
comparatively short time these
automatic vehicles will become
more or less common on American
streets, although in the present
conditions of the country roads in
this part of the world it is not
thought that the mechanical car
riage will Immediately become
popular as a road machine. The
recent race between the horseless
carriages from Paris to Bordeaux
demonstrated that there has been a
great improvement in the past
year, as the race of '94 from Paris
to Rouen afforded means of COM
parison. The '94 test covered only
a distance of eighty miles, while
that of the current year covered
726 miles. There was apparently
little gained in the point of average
speed, but the increased distance
showed that the motors that are
now applied to the vehicles can be
built so strongly that they will re-
sist the wear of a long continued
run, while not being so heavy as
to impede the progress of the ma
chine. The Daimler motor was
demonstrated this year to be the
most effective and was awarded
first prize of $4,000. These motors
have been perfected to such a point
that they are now to be frequently
seen on the streets of Paris, and
have even passed the stage when
they attract attention by their pass
ing and repassing along the thor
oughfares. In this country they
are being manufactured on Long
Island, but hitherto have been
made chiefly for marine use, al
though preparations are now being |
made to apply them to carriages |
for use in the city streets. The |
New York Society for the Proven
ton of Cruelty to Animals will |
probably soon change from horses
to these motors on it's ambuiances.
It is calculated that the use of the
horseless carriage will be a matter
of great economy to such establish
ments as the large department
stores of big city, which are now
compelled to maintain expensive
stables.
The estimate is that a three
horsepower petroleum engine can
be run in the streets of New York
at a cost of cents an hour. 1t
would do the work of two horses
that would cost many times that
sum in stabling and feeding. Of
course, the cost in a city like Wash
ington, paved as it is with asphalt,
would be much less than in a
paved city like New York,
as each engine would make a
greater return.
In the Daimler motor the power
is obtained by the explosion of gas
produced by the volatilization of
petroleum, naphtha and similar
fluids. At first some difficulties
were encountered in the mechan-
ism, but these have been overcome
by ingenious devices. For in
stance, fly wheel has been intro
duced to regulate the force, which
is otherwise apt to be too great at
one period of the revolution of the
piston wheel. Another defect was
hat when the normal power of the
engine was greater than the work
10 be done, too many explosions
occurred and the machine overran
itself. To remedy this an ingeni-
,u5 valve has been devised that
operates much like a governor
IN steam engine. A water jacket
has also been introduced around
he explosion cylinder that pre-
vents overheating, and thus the