The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-11-28

whatever other material was used to sup
ply the motor power. Another difficulty
would lie in The sleeping accommodations
or in providing suitable meals while trav-
cling in such q carriage. Otherwise il
would be perfectly feasible
But the snow train, does away with all
these objections by drawing cars behind
II in which people can live. They are at
tached to the engine by the regular car
coupers. The fact that there are large
fiat runners makes the scheme more SEN
sible. Il is well known that snow is very
firm and viii support a body of any weight
provided that weight is distributed. If
a house could be lifted complete without
breaking and deposited upon snow bank,
1t WoI Id rest there. high and dry, with the
snow for a foundation. The same way
with a railway train If it were support
cd by a large fiat surface it would rest
nicely upon the snow and would not sink
into it. This train is supported by run
ners four feet broad.
The runners that support this car have
large projections all around them. These
are designed to cut their way through
snow ana plough the train along.
practical objection is the immense
amount of electric force needed TO carry
such a train. The most powerful dyna>
mo must be used, and the engine must
be constantly fed. If gasoline is used it
viii take an enormous supply, but of
course this is all provided for.
In the experiments with the automo-
bile wagons it was found that while
very little quantity of the material would
carry the vehicle over macadamzed
road it would take a great deal to carry
it over the fiat land The fuel was con-
sumed just in proportion to the amount
of motor power that was needed TO pro-
pei the train; SO that if a quart of gaso-
line would keep an automobile car
twelve hours on macadamized road il
would take a gallon to keep it in motion
on lat or grassy land. IL is just the
same with the snow train.
This engine is designed TO go on ice
even better than on snow. This is the
exception to the rule. Generally the ice
either stops the vehicle or wrecks it, If
going down hill it gets on too great a
speed, or If going up hill it is not able
to get on any at all
An inventfoA was tried near Uucas
frozen falls These falls lay between
two industries that would have been
greatly benefited by a quick and easy
method of connection. The only alterna-
tive was by travelling with wagon a
long way around the falls
A little car was fitted up and supplied
with an electric motor. under which was
placed runner. The car with one pas.
senger inside, was set IN motion over the
frozen falls The falls, by the way were
not frozen with a perfectly smooth sur
face, but were rough and Jagged and fun
of icicles, as frozen falls are apt to be.
When they froze thfy were moving, not
perfectly perpendicular, but downward in
little lcsmely leaps for about sixty feet
When the engine started up the incline
II moved al a very nice rate OF speed
and went along successfully for about fir
teen feet Of the grade; then it stuck fast
and the spikes became 50 FIRMLY imbedded
in the ice that the electric engine was
not sufficient to move II.
The inventors of the snow machine have
obyiated all by building very broad wheels
and eduipping them around the edge with
broad fat, shovel-hlSe pieces that are too
broad TO surface and near together to al
low them TO sink into the ice.
A searchlight has become SO useful to
civilization that no vehicle Of any ac-