The St. Johns herald., 1895-10-24
WITHOUT HORSES.
Carriages That Are Propelled by
 Motor Power.
Road Tests in France for the Purpose 0f Bringing Out the Best Type
 of Machine for
 Vehicles.

One year ago there was so much fn- terest in these horseless carriages that a race was arranged between them from Paris to Rouen, the first prize 10 be given to the carriage which should excel in speed, safety, manageability and economy. There were one hun dred and two vehicles entered, but be- fore the day of the contest this number was reduced by withdrawals and dis qualifications to twenty-one. The starters were of all shapes and sizes, from neat victorias to great coaches for eight and ten passengers. The first to finish was Comte de Dion's steam ve- hicle. a heavy traction engine of some twenty-five horsepower, drawing four-seated carriage. The next to fin ish, thirty-fve minutes later, was 9 four-seated phaeton, built by the Sons of Peugeot Brothers, of Paris, and pro- pelled by Daimler petroleum motor. The next four to finish were also pro- pellcd by this same motor. The prize was given to 1he first petroleum motor to finish, and this carriage had covered the distance, eighty miles, in five hours and forty minutes, including two stops of fifteen minutes each. This test was a distinct victory for petroleum en- zines, and special victory for the Daimler type of engine.
 In these petroleum engines it must not be understood that pc troleum is used as a fuel for the production of steam. The principle is quite different, as this Daimler motor is the utilization of gas explosions pro- duced at regular intervals. What bothered the inventive minds of those who first experimented with this type of engine was the irregularity of motion, and the fact that when the work to be done was less than the nor nal power of the engine too many ex- plosions occurred, and the machine ran too fast The first of these defects was corrected by the Introduction of fly wheel heavy enough to take up and carry on all surplus force of the gas at tlc moment of its explosion. The pis- ton was thus brought back by the mo- mentum acquired by the fiy-wheel to the position in the cylinder where a fresh explosion had the greatest pro- polling effect upon it. The second de- feet mentioned was remedied by an in- Cenious application of the principle of the regulation governor, by which the gas-valve was not opened when the speed of the engine exceeded certain limit. Again, the cylinder in which the explosions took place became so hot after time that the entire engine was likely to be smashed, owing to the expansion of parts made to fit accu- rately. A water-jacket around the cylinder, and circulating cistern in connection with it, prevented this catastrophe. The heated water flowed out above, while the cold water passed into the cistern in its turn.
 With such general improvement as indicated, the gas engine became com mercially practicable. But it was not until about nine years ago that MT. Daimler. a German inventor, found that he could make use of the ordinary gas engine, with some notifications, as consumer of liquid hydro cartoons, vari- ously known as petroleum, naphtha, parafiine, or gasoline. The chief change was the addition of small heating chamber, into which the liquid fuel passed before it entered the cylin- der Beneath this chamber a petro- ieum burner was lighted, and its metal covering made so hot that the petro- leum vaporized as soon as it entered the chamber. The freshly prepared gas was then in position to explode in the cylinder as soon as it was mixed with the air. A small portion of each charge was allowed to escape through an opening near the top of the cylinder, so as to come in contact with the naked light which heated the vaporizing chamber. These various steps were automatically regulated by puppet valves, which regulated the force and time of the explosions.
 Such, on general lines, is the Daimler motor which has been used so effective ly in these road tests in France. After seemingly perfecting the motor there was much ingenuity required in reduc- ing its size, and also in preventing bad smells and objectionable noise. Perfect combustion secured an abatement of odors, and the size was diminished by shortening the stroke of the piston rod and enlarging the cross section of the cylinder. This gave shorter connect ing rod between the piston cross-head and the pin on the fy-wheel. In order to gain increased power with a shorter stroke, the speed of the engine had to be accelerated from one hundred and twenty to seven hundred revolutions per minute.