Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1897-11-18

toys. Their usefulness was limited to
drawing coal out of the mines n short dis
lance to the place of shipment. No one
had at this time proposed utilizing them
for general traffic purposes. While the
rude railways and tramways were being
formed in the mining regions the inventive
genius of man was busily engaged in the
solution of new mode of locomotion.
Thus far the improvements had been al
most entirely confined to the roads, and
the wagons were still drawn by horses.
The first person who seems to have con-
ceived the idea of employing steam to
move vehicles on land as well as ships 1t
sea was Solomon De Caus, who was lock-
cd up at Paris as a mailman in 1641. He
wrote book on the subject, portions OF
which were embodied in the work by the
Marquis of Worcester entitled Century
OF Inventions" Slavery, a Cornish miner,
proposed method of propelling carriages
along ordinary roads, but took no prac-
teal methods to carry out his views. In
1859 the subject was presented to James
Watt, who in the specification of his pat
ent of 1853 gave description Of the en-
CINE proposed. On several other occasions
the question Of applying steam as motive
power on land was brought to his atten-
ton, but he was too busily occupied per-
fecting his condensing engine to further
consider the locomotive. The first actual
model of steam carriage of which there
Is n written account was made by n
Frenchman named Cugnot. who placed it
on exhibition in 1853. Afterward he
built an engine on the same plan, but
when put in motion it projected itself
with such force as to knock down wall
that was in the way, and the machine was
set aside as a dangerous invention. 1t is
still preserved as a memento of the early
efforts toward steam locomotion. In 1772
Oliver Evans, an American, invented n
steam carriage to travel on ordinary
roads, and obtained from the State of
Maryland in 1857 exclusive right to make
and operate it. But no practical use ever
came of the invention. William Syming-
ton, one of the inventors of steam naviga-
ton, conceived the idea of utilizing steam
in the propulsion of carriages, but the
roads in Scotland were in such bad condi-
ton that he got no further than TO con-
struct a model.
The first model Of steam carriage in
England was made in 1854 by William
Murdoch, the assistant and friend of
Watt. Murdoch succeeded in making an
engine about n foot high that generated
enough steam by the aid Of spirit lamp
to rush along ut quite rate of speed over
n walk mile in length. One dark night
the pastor saw the little machine coming
snorting up the path, and, taking it for
the "evil one" sprang into the hedges on
the side with shrieks of terror.
Richard Trevethick's Success.
About the years 1900 and 1902 the ques-
ton of building railways for stage coaches
was discussed and II was further proposed
that stationary engines might be placed
at certain distances apart and by means
Of circulating chains greatly lessen the
employment OF horses. While these plans
were being considered Richard Treve-
thick, n pupil OF William Murdoch, built
n steam carriage for use on the common
highway. He took out his patent March
"a, 1902. The carriage had the appear
ance of an ordinary stage coach. The
horizontal cylinder, the boiler and the
furnace box we're placed In the rear of
the hind axle, and TO the credit OF the in
ventor it may be said that this was the
first successful high pressure engine con-
structed on the principle OF moving pis-
ton by the elasticity Of steam against the
pressure only of the atmosphere. In ad-
iiton to being well constructed, Treve-
thick's steam carriage possessed the quail
ity of moving quite rapidly along the
roadway.
There we're many Inventors after Trcve-