New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-06-07
HOW A MOTOR WAGON WORKS
A FEW EXAMPLES OF TYPICAL HORSE
LESS WAGONS.
GASOLINE ENGINES LEAD OTHER METHODS oS
Observation-Disclosures OF INVENTORS
AT wORK-PLANs FOR ELEC-
TRIO WAGONS

OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES OF INVENTORS
AT woRK-PLANs FOR ELEc-
TRIO WAGONS.
Here come the electric wagons"
mo: they don't run by electricity They've
never been able to get storage battery even 10
run streetcar satisfactorily. These wagons go
BY steam power, I'm sure. Don't you hear the
little puffs every second?"
Thus the two intelligent citizens watched ana
commented on the autocycle race to lrvington
week ago Similar comments might have been
heard anywhere along the line Of travel where
a crowd gathered to the strange vehicles go
by. The horseless wagons. boxed In under the
seats do not differ much In outward appear
ance from a rather clumsy carriage. The sha1ts
are removed, a lever or two may be seen behind
the dashboard a gear or chain connects body
and wheels but what is hidden away In what
might pass for the luncnbox of brake Is
profound mystery to the average person who
sees the vehicle Nor Is he likely TO have much
satisfa cion from the exercise of an inquirng dis
position The autOcyce Is in It's infancy, ana
most of the devices not yet so perfected that
the inventors care to talk about them In more
than general terms. They are seldom Wiling To
give an inquirer a peep into their boxes, and' so
far as outward appearance goes, they might De
propelled by any one Of several different meth-
DDS
F. p. Ingersoll, the Editor Of 1.-The Horseless
Age" says that there are over 2,OOO men al
work in this country alone devisng motor car
rtagey not to mention the inventors In Europe
The era OF mechanical road-voyagng may be
said already to have begun in France Last
summer a race was made from Versailles 10
bordeaux and back to Paris at which rorty-slA
carriages entered and twenty -eight hnished' Inc
frat prize was taken BY the Peugeot phaetoh
and the second by the carriage designed ny NM
panhard and Levassoe. which came In hrst' Out
az II seated only two persons couid not receive
first prize The horseless carriage is a common
sight In Paris. and last summer trials were heid
in Naples and other smaller cities or the Con
tircrt. Chicago had q race last November over
q dfty-four-mile course Eleven vehicles entered
ak began the race. and the prize was won Dy
Charles T. Duryea. OF Springfield. Mass, with
wagon manufactured there. The hrst prize III
the recent New-York race was also won oy MT
Duryea and the second by Roger machine. I'M
ported from France.
ORIGIN or POWER.
All ~ these carriages are propelled by gasoline
ard 4, may d. said that 80 far that agent Is
N m, lead FOR vehicles intended 70 go any dis
,ance Steam has been used somewhat ana II
posses.es the advantages OF greater ACCUMULATE
power. simplicity Of construction and genera"y
hotter understood mechanism but the disadvah-
tapes OF heat and smoke. frequent SUCKING anu
the bulk and weight OF coal and water have STOOD
In the, way OF n satisfactory steam wagon. hleo-
trtcity has many adherents. In the present state
OF electrical science reliance has 10 De piaced Oh
a storage battery. So far no storage battery
has been in use which was not AZ least fourth
heavier than tho machinery for a gasoline motor
and tho impossibhty OF recharging the batteries
.xcer, n, an electrical station commonly TO be
found only In q city or large town. mas lea most
inventors 10 conclude that the electrical car
rage can DO made available only for city tranlc
and not for country Journeys II suitab1e
urinary battery can be devised capable OF de-
welcoming sufficient power for 4 good length OF
time without burdening the carriage with 100
great n load electricity Will doubtless DO &C
ccpted az the best motive power Tor ROAD wagons
The electric motor is steady In action and SILENT
and mower can be applied directly TO the wheels
without difficulty. thus avoiding mo ho'se "ha
loss ~ power inseparable from most chain gear
or friction connections employed IN tue gas en-
rines. II has been proposed to use a steam or
electric current 70 be transmitted 10 motor on
the main axle. This. It IS held. would have ad-
vantages over tho direct working OF the engine
,,thout the Intervention OF electricity. In spite
., ,he great loes in this transformation OF power
I'm, IN snite OF all speculation tho gasoline en-
CINE etill holds sway.
OF this type OF machine there Is a great variety
Some apply power by belts. some by chains some
hy gears some by friction wheels. Some nave
one cylinder and Others have four. No two are
alike and Il would be beyond the power OF
lnyman TO say that ono was better than another
In fact. the that is better to-day may be
poor indeed. Tomorrow. 80 rapid Ii the advance
being made through the rivalry OF the scores OF
manufacturers and the hundreds OF inventors
working at the problem.
AN EASILY UNDERSTOOD WAGON.
(,ns Of tho simplest forms for the unscientiic
observer to look into and understand is the Roger
CARRIAGE which was brought from France. and
Ia being made the basis for improvements by the
Roger-A American Company. OF Bridgeport. Conn.
This carriage, which was second Ia the race 10
Irvngton, is a sngle-seated buggy-top vehicle
weighing about ] 700 pounds Behind the seat
is a box which, when the back Is thrown open
and the cover lifted, reveals q space about
eighteen inches high and three feet long. filled
with machinery. The essential part Of this IS a
gasoline engine. There is one horizontal cylinder
with a piston running to shaft parallel with
the rear axis, and bearing a fywheel FORWARD
under the body Is four-gallon tank OF gasoline
The engine works follows: The gasoline Is car
red into a small near the cylinder known
as a carburetor. which is a device for turning the
liquid gasoline into a gas. This is accomplished
by drawing current Of air through the liquid
An air tube goes to the bottom of the carouretor
tank. and tube leads from the top Of 1t to the
cylinder The tank being partly filled with liquid
gasoline the air when pumped In bubbles up
through the liquid just exactly as smoke does
through Turkish tobacco pipe. This air takes
ND the gaaoline. and on It's way TO the cylinder