Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-10-25
THE AIR MOTOR.
No Pipe Line Believed to De Needed
i'm This City.

i'm This City.
To the Editor Of The Evening Star:
NEW YORK. October "a, 1897.
Inasmuch as the Commissioners, l I'M
dersta nc, have given permit to the Ecking
ton and Soldiers Home Railway Company
to equip that line with the air-motor car, and
as we who live in Brooklyn and have suf-
fered the Inconvenience Of the horse cars
for years. l naturally thought that while
in New York l would look into the working
OF the air motor in this city. / find that
it is working in good shape on LenoX ave-
nue., and that It apparently is fully equal
in rapIdity, in safety and in convenience
to any motive power employed here. If
Mr.. Schoepf shall equip the lexington and
Soldiers Home railway throughout its en-
tire line with cars that work as satisfactor-
lily as these in this city, the people in Brook
nd, lexington and Washington will have
no cause to complain. After riding upon TIE
cars l went to the office of the company
and had a talk with some of the people
who actively connected with the man.
agement of the road. They tell me that
they can run their cars from 18th street
to the Battery and back with one charge
of air: that the recharging does not take
over two minutes, and that under pressure
it can be done in one minute. l asked
in regard to the necessity of the laying
of the supply pipes along the line i'm Wash
ington, and there was no one who believed
that such pipes were necessary. They
say that with the proper compressor. and
with cars properly equipped, single
charge will last for ten miles. and that in
Washington. as they understand the con-
ditions. there is no necessity for the lay
ing of supply pipes. They say that the
tests made in Washington have been I'M
der disadvantageous circumstances, be-
cause at the power house there there is
but a small compressor, insufficient to prop
eriy recharge the cars without occupying
from fife ell to twenty minutes.
l asked If any order had been given by
the lexington and Soldiers Home Rail-
way Company for air motors, and was
told that none had been received. OF
course, there had been great deal of cor
resrondence with Mr.. Schoepf. but that no
definite order fer the equipment of the
road had been received. L was told that
if the order was given there would be no
delay in its fulfillment here.
Those who are interested in this mo-
tor believe thoroughly in it, and are salts
fled from its operation in this city that
it is the coming motive power for street
railways. OF course, experiments are be-
ing constantly made to perfect its working,
and some Of the most sanguine people i'm
agine that 1t will soon take the place of
even the underground electric system. The
fact that such men as William c. Whitney,
III. H. Vreeand, Thomas f. Ryan ana w.
l.. Elkins have become interested in the
air motor is viewed as sufficient to indi-
cate their belief in its practical utility and
While the Hoadley-Knight patents are the
foundation on which this motor works, inn
provements. it is said, being con-
stantly made to render the system more
perfect and more desirable. This week an
election took place of the directors of this
company, resulting in the selection of the
following: w. c. Whitney, Thomas F.
Ryan. H. H Vreeland, F. S. Pearson, w.
L. Elkins, Joseph H. Hoadley. w. ii.
knight. c. E. Warren and Thomas j. Bren-
nan. Many in Washington will remember
Mr.. Brennan when he was attached to
the Associated Press there, and subse-
quently when he was the private secretary
of Daniel F. Manning, when the latter
was the Secretary of the Treasury. He is
now the treasurer Of the Compressed Air
Power Company, and Mr.. Whitney, the
former Secretary of the Navy under Mr..
Cleveland, is its president.
l do not know what may have been the
developments in regard to the equipment
of the lexington and Soldiers Home Rail
way Company since l have been away
from Washington, but it seems to me that
If Mr.. Schoepf honestly desires to give the
citizens of Washington and its northeast
ern suburbs any in provement in the pres
ent mode of travel, and has received per-
mission from the District Commissioners to
use the air motor, there is no reason why
that road should not be thoroughly equip
ped for rapid transit before the snow lilies.
RI