The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1896-09-26

| horizontal position-so much ridiculed
reduces the air resistance TO mini
mum.
The next discovery made by the Vi
cycle rider was that he could ride fas-
| ter II paced. He also found that the
closer he rode to the pacemaker the
! easier it was to maintain the speed.
The explanation Is simple. The pace
| makers take the brunt of the air re-
sistance. and the one being paced rides
i'm partial vacuum. where the air re-
| sistance is decreased. The only true
test of the endurance of IL bicycle rider
1 is an unpaced run for any given dis
! tance. not in competition. In u race
no rider cares 10 lake the lead ar set
the pace. The man who sets the pac"
has To- meet the uubrnk-n impact of
| the air.
Bicycle speeds have been increased
! just in proportion ls the pacemaking
/ facilities have i.rcn improved The
! Singl" pac-nak-r, then the tandem.
! then the quad, th"n the horse, and
! now the l"c"m",iN-. II II perfect
vacuum can he PROV id-d. some rider
will go mile in thirty seconds
{ In the las; few years everyone
. with the single exception nj the pas
srngcr car bnilder-has discovered that
the atmosphere has wonderful quail
lilies of force and oi resistance. y hur-
rcaur with u wind velocity Of eighty
miles an hour will level half the houses
in Il town and blow passenger train
from Il track. This. however, has 70
significance to a car builder who yet
l N..iplN. i,,s s,ri "a. ilnt l,.,nntiE.. IA
haul passenger train eighty miles an
hour without rucoun,ering much at
muspirric resistance. \ wind storm
will tear the solid masonry from The
EadS bridge. 4 month later an in
rcnlor. who has designed new and
/ powerful locomotive. wonders why hr
cannu, haul a few passenger ears al
The rate of 100 miles an hour. The
/ fact that II l0o- mile gale will hnrl u
man into the air like a chip entirely
escapes his attention.
\ meteor Wandering through Spaca
comes within the orbit vi the earth
and enters that intangible liuid we
call thasatmosphei-. So grra, is th,
friction that IN. meteor Instantly
comes To white heat and fuses a. n
thin strip of glass cas-, into q blast fur
nace. And Yet some alleged experts
declare that atmospheric resistance is
So small factor that it may he ig-
nurtd
RESISTANCE. ESTIMATED.
the modern passenger train is, of
all things animate and inanimate, nat
dral ~ artificial, the one exception
that attempts, while defying II simpl'
and Self-eridcnt law of nature. To at
tain a high velocity The modern To-
comotivc and passenger train is a suc-
crsison Of air-rcsistinE planes, seeem-
insiy erected with the one object Of
r-,arding speed ana Multiplying the
power cxerted in the cylinders. Not
until the existing construction Of pas
srnscr trains is changed will high
speeds be possible or any sped cconom-
! ical. At fifty miles an hour not less
than 50 per cent. of the power OF tn.
locomotive is exhausted in overcoming
the atmospheric resistance due to the
speed of the train.
According to Smraton. the most con-
s-rvativc authority on the subject.
wind resistance equals the square Of
the velocity Of miles per hour divided
by zoo Thus. at ten miles
per hour the pressure in pounds
per square foot is one half a
pound: at twenty miles II is two
pounds; at forty miles 1t Is eight
pounds; at sixty miles it is eighteen
pounds; at eighty miles it is thirty
two pounds and at 100 miles it is fifty
pounds a square foot. That is why
t,.,; ;,,.,l Il l,x,,
ii is the only reason why.
Suppose Smeaton Is wrong and that
the resistance Is only half as much
as he says. the fact will yet remain
that atmospheric resistance is tht one
and the only factor which prevents
high speeds. 1t will be admitted that
the pressure increases with speed: thu
faster n train goes the greater is the
air resistance and that finally limit
is reached in its speed Examine all
your other train frictiOns. Not one of
them increases with the speed. On the
contrary, there is the highest author
ity for the statement that they de-
crease.
Now it would naturally be supposed
in view OF the fact that only one fric.
ti'li WIN opttu. anu tut lU'-
ther fact that speed Is desirable
thing in a railroad train. that some At
tention would be paid to this factor
and an attemDt made to lessen the
amount of atmospheric resistance. Rut
nothing has been done. 4 powerful
tugboat hitched to string of flat
headed mud scows stands as much
show of attaining Il marine time rec.
ord as does a locomotive which at
t-mpts to haul Il modern passenger
train ut Il high rate of speed.
Fl'HTTER FIGURING.
Make IL single computation. Smcaton
Says that ut sixty miles an hour the
air resistance Is eighteen pounds to
the square foot. Recent tests show it
10 h- more than this. but for sake of
argument call il eighteen pounds t.
The square foot No one can contend
il is less than tlat. \ locomotive of.