The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1896-01-17
THE HORSELESS CARRIAGE.
Barron Describes. In .
Paris Letter TO tho Chicago Times Her.
ald--Ilis Ride Is Ono.

Correspondent Barron Describes. In q
Paris Letter TO tho Chicago Times Her.
aid--llis Ride il Ono.
The simple truth is that there are less
than dozen hOrseless carriages in all
Paris. As yet this method of transpor-
tation Is hardly more than in its in
cipiency, notwithstanding 1t was ap-
piled eXperimentally seven or eight
years ago. Excellent as are the results
thus far secured, that excellence is still
good remove from perfection, a dis
parity understood by no one so well as
by the inventors and builders, who are
striving to overcome 1t and who have
full confidence of ultimate success.
They do not expect to supplant the
morse to any appreciable extent Tor
many years to come. and for three
reasons-the original cost is yet too
great from $500 to $l,S00); the care Of
the machinery. If not the management
of the machine itself, requires practi-
cal mechanic: and prejudices of the
general horse-using public las got to
he overcome by demonstrations in vari-
GUS directions that steam. oil or cleo
trio motor wagons, etc, are not only
feasible. but are more economic and
better In the long run than are the
means OF traffic and travel now en-
ployed In the city and country.
My first experience was gained at the
shops of Les Fills de Peugeot Freres, in
the Boulevard Guvion ST. Cyr. who
have the Daimler system. Into a four
seated ris-a-vis We clambered. quite
willing to make show of ourselves in
the streets of the most cosmopolitan
city in the world. In the throes and
agonies of starting the machine shiv-
cred as " 1t Were smitten of an eX-
travagant ague. giving its machinery
clamorous rattle. so that we felt as
If we were being subjected to a Swed-
ish movement treatment to the accom-
paniment of breaking chains. The odor
emitted from the burning petroleum
was much the reverse of pleasant, but
that was minimized by the breeze Gre
ated by the speed of our movement
When the trap was fairly under way
the vibration was not great and the
noise comparatively slight. while the
rate at which we travelled along the
street was to quite a degree exhilarat-
ing. enabling us to dart with impunity
across the course of horses driven In
the usual pell-mell fashion of the Pari-
sian cocher
No Name for 1t. +
by the way. this style OF CONVEYANCE
is so new that there Is yet no suitable
name for it. The English-speaking
world will not accept the French term:
horseless carriage IS both awkward
and inexplicit. and the word motorcycle,
which have used above. is both made
quate and misleading, inasmuch as car
riage and vans are no more cycles
than are omnibuses. street cars, park
phaetons. buggies. etc. to all of which
the motor may be applied. 1t has been
suggested over here .hat all these ve-
hicles which are self-propelled be
named dynams and classified by appro-
pirate descriptive distinctions. as
victoria dynam. phaeton dynam,
break dynam. a vis-a-vis dynam, an
omnibus dynam. and so on through the
catalogue of vehicles, which would indi-
cate clearly and comprehensively
enough that the particularized carriage
supplied its own motive power.
To adont this nomenclature for my
own convenience. the victoria dynam
constructed by +. Roger Is the hand
soonest and comnletest OF the dynams
I have seen, and was constructed at a
cost Of about $1,l00. 1t Is an electrical
motor, having a primary as well as a
storage battery, either to be used at
pleasure or one supplementing the 9TH
er. Though it has grace of curve ana
beauty of finish to make 1t attractive
to those who take the air where fas...on
leads, 1t is stoutly built. and seems or
a strength in gear and body to resist all
the perils and shocks OF bad roads. M.
Roger confessed to me that the results
of experiments with electricity are not
vet wholly satisfactory, ana ne mag
ined that more had been accomplished
In America in that respect than In
France, one purpose Of his visit to
America being to investigate that par
ticular phase Of the matter. At the
same time nc is emphatic in the asser'
ton that his electric carriages have
worked with almost entire success.
"They are absolutely practical. he In
sists. "and are so constructed that they
will run for 100 hours without re-cllarg-
n -