The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1899-10-09
The AUTOMOBILE:
Makes Its Appearance in
Honolulu.
Seen ca King Street Yesterday AfIsruccu
for the First me-Exsiies
Much Ccmmsut.

the first to- be seen in the Hawaiian
Islands. was given the first trial yes
terday afternoon. and IL was very
successful one. z. D. Tenney was in
charge of the machine and handled IL
as though he was used to IL. During
the trip from his residence To- King
street and out along Punahou street
the vehicle was tried at three differ
ent rates OF speed. first at four miles.
then at eight, and on Punahou street
at fourteen miles an hour. II worked
most smoothly and easily at all times.
was well under control. and. n most
important point, II appeared to- excite
no undue attention from horses.
though IL was amusing ut times to-
note their drivers preparations for the
expected calamity.
In Paris and London motor vehicles
are as common as cable and electric
cars in San Francisco. France and
England are away ahead OF America
in the adapting OF them tn everyday
practical purposes, and society on the
Continent has what might be awk-
wardly called acknowledgements. so
furiously has the fad taken hold upon
aristocratic fancy. In France there is
an automobile club with nearly 1000
members, some OF whom have travelled
thousands Of miles in their own mo-
tor conveyances. In fact. big part
OF Europe has been explored by horse
less contrivances OF every sort adapt
able to n road journey or the climbing
OF mountains.
Few people have any idea OF the
scope OF the motor vehicle. There are
no less than 200 different types of ,hem
in actual use in America. and fully 100
OF these have different methods OF OPP
Grafton. Nearly $500, 1000. 900 has been
invested in America within the
past year in factories for the construc-
ton of automobiles. These are run
ming day and night to fill rush orders
for carriages. trucks, delivery wagons.
coaches, tricycles and other vehicles.
Chicago has a motor ambulance. \
motor gun-carriage is being made for
army use, and there is every likelihood
that automobiles will entirely replace
the mountain stage lines OF California.
New York has only a hundred or so
OF electric cabs, but there are nearly
ten times that number scudding about
the streets OF Paris.
AS to- the motive power OF automo-
biles, France has preference for
gasoline, England for steam and Amer
lea for electricity.
Little is known by the average read
er about the way i'm which motor We
hicles are operated. There Is n general
impression that danger exists from
possible explosions. This Is not the
case. The automobile cannot explode
Moreover, il is built to climb hills with
the same facility that II covers n level
road. Its speed varies from TWO q
twenty or more miles an hour. Yet SO
simple is the mechanism that a person
of Intelligence and judgment who de.
sires to become driver" can learn
IL in an hour.
The advantages OF the automobile
are it's safety, its noiseless movements
its freedom from odor and vibrations
Its disadvantages are its heavy weight
owing to storage batteries, its cost
and the fact that it can run only q
limited distance without being re-
charged.
. Motive powers beside electricity. gas
cline ard steam now being expert
nented with on the Mainland are com
pressed air, carbonic acid gas and al
cohcl.
The storage battery for an electric
vehicle weighs from 500 to- I. 500
pounds. In weight the vehicles In
which electricity is employed vary
from 900 to 1000 pounds. A phaetor
will weigh the greater part of ton
a 10. 81 ha Lei. -,
controls the electrical current that op.
crates the vehicle. rings its gong anC
lights its lamps. Recharging must bs
il being thirty. A family carriage op.
Grated by electricity can be had fol
g., 600. The maintenance OF storage
batteries yearly varies from $50 e
$500, according to the weight of the
vehicle and the use to which IL Is put
When IN automobile suddenly stop:
the driver knows that his current 1:
gone a-glimmering. He must ther
communicate with the central Office
which sends out a cab to drag him e
the nearest charging-station. Al
owner can have his own charging
plant If he chooses TO pay five or sew
Ell hundred dollars for IL.
Gasoline has been found the mos
practical of motive powers for long
distance rides, propelling carriag'
through any weather, however severe
and over the worst CT roads. Its speed
also, is almost unlimited. IL Il
claimed that gasoline power is cheaper
than horse power.
For heavy vehicles steam Is Yer!
successfully used.
Truck traffic will doubtless be II
time entirely the work OF automobiles
performing the work OF dray horses
without noise and with the occupation
OF less room upon the crowded streets
To the French are we indebted To-
the baptism OF the new invention al
AUTOMOBILES" In England they pre-
fer to call il the "auto-car.' American.
refer to il as the ''horseless carriage
and motor vehicle" These name.
ought to be improved upon by some
thing which shall be at once simpl'