The silver star., 1897-06-03
HORSELESS TO FIRES.
sosroN.s NEW EXPERIMENT,
Monster Engine Whloh WIN Racs = y,rs.
Under Its Own ste~m-laost Powsrf,l
Machine Of lts Kind Evsr nulls-Is.
Mechanism w NJ

Engine No. 3S, the new acouis,t,or
to the Boston Fire Department, other.
wise known as .the horseless." Il M.
dergoing a series OF tests In the thor.
Oughfares Of the city, preparatory II
putting 1t into active service as 1 repn.
lar feature Of the fire fighting appars.
tus.
The experiments made with the new
propeller are 80 satisfactory that they
foreshadow a revolution In the equiD.
ment Of the department, and It berins
to look as though the days Of gallon.
ing horses and their exciting rushes Ia
fires are nearing the end, in great
cities. at least. Much care is exercised
in the experimental trips that ara
made, and nothing like the speed that
It is said to be capable Of attaining has
been attempted with It. Most Of the
tests are made at night and the appear
ance Of the engine, which bowls along
like specter, save for the noise occs.
stoned by the passing Of 30 heavy 4
machine, attracts great deal OF At
tention wherever it goes.
The engine was built at Manchester
New Hampshire. Its makers claim for
1t the greatest water capacity OF any
steam fire engine ever constructed. The
Dig three-horse engines now In use in
the department have a capacity Of
nearly LOO gallons minute, but this
one Is built to thrown 1,5OO gallons in
that time, and tests made since the ma.
chine was finished indicate that 1900
gallons may be reached. Yet It can get
over the ground more rapidly than will
a lighter engine drawn by horses.
The pattern is marked improve
ment upon previous horseless engines.
Hartford, Connecticut, has three in use
which answer the purpose for that city
very satisfactorily, but they are small
er machines and lack certain features
which make the Boston engine an up
to-date production. far ahead of It's
predecessors in efficiency. A peculiar
construction of the tire Obviates diff
ficulty met with in the tendency q
horseless vehicles to run in the gutter
In travelling over crowded roadbeds. II
the machine works, as 1t IL expected to
work In Boston's narrow and crooked
streets, 1t opens new era In fire de-
partment apparatus.
The height of the engine over all Is
nine feet nine inches; extreme length,
sixteen feet six inches; extreme width,
seven feet three inches. Its weight
when in service will be about 1900
pounds. Through fifty feet Of hose,
with a two-inch nozzle. continuous
horizontal stream of $40 feet or more
is obtained. The inlet pipes on each
side are for six-inch suction hose, with
outlets of two or more lines of three
and one-half inch leading hose.
Very little machinery In addition to
the ordinary mechanism of a nre en-
gine is required to operate these self
propellers. An extra water tank Is car
ried Mt the rear to supply the boiler
until connections can he made with Z
hydrant. The driving power is ap-
piled from one end of the main crank
shaft through an equalixing compound
and two endless chains. which pass
around the inner rim OF the hubs Of
the rear wheels. These hub rims are
fitted with cogs. which make them, In
fact, sprocket wheels: this arrange
ment allows the wheels to be driven At
varying speed when turning corners.
When 1t is necessary to use the pow.
er of the engine for driving purposes,
by the single removal of key the driv-
ing power is disconnected from the
road-drivlng gear and the entire power
Of the engine may be devoted to the
pumps. The new machine will be par.
ticularly helpful In fighting fires In tops
Of tail buildings. which now cannot BE-
very well handled by the ordinary
methods.