The Portland daily press., 1899-06-23
THE AUTO MOBILE.
Interesting Study of Structure
of These Vehicles.
The Gas Engine Is Preferable Tor Gem
eral Use and Country Roads.

recently introduced IN Providence, shows
very conclusively that the builders Of
these machines have overcome the prin-
cipal difficulties encountered few years
ago. That improvements Will BE- made
is expected. 1t Is not believed by we'll
informed men that the motor vehicle Of
today is psrfecs in every detail. But 1t
cannot be denied that gasoline and cleo
trio motors as now designed give good re-
suits in regular road service. and that a
large number of the new vehicles will he
purchased as soon as the manufacturers
are In position to I'LL orders. The state
ment that satisfactory vehicles have teen
built in various cities, and that facilities
for meeting the demand, stimulated by
the reports Of the general use Of autoIno.
biies in France. are lacking, applies to
about every concern that has given q t.
tention TO the problem Of substituting
machinery for horses on city streets and
country roads. Ina year or two most Of
the factories now In operation will be
able to promise quick deliveries, and
probably new enterprises will be started.
All the signs point to IN active trade In
motor driven vehicles, and this accounts
for the widespread interest In the differ
emit types of machines rscently put on the
roads At first electric motors were
prominent, but recently the explosion
engine has been drought to the front, and
today 1t Is conceded that electricity. not
withstanuing its cleanliness, will impose
restrictions on the user. the principal
~ "A a..
tance. Neither cannot be overcome I'M
less radical changes in the storage battery
are made, and for the time the explosion
engine has decided advantages over the
electric motor.
The American Maohinist's authority on
wagons and motors, Hugh Dolnar, does
not consider the storage battery available
The claims made by electricians are :
jeoted without ceremony In the statement
that there are exactly two prime motors
in sight, and no more, which are avail
able for driving wagons on common
roads. One Of these is the steam engine,
and the other is the explosion or gas en-
CINE. Electricity is not a prime motor,
as it must itself be generated by some
PIlkuo A1ODOE OoACAO AZ NOA NC dscu Aux
any purpose.
The weight of an electric motor suit
able for driving wo-passsnger carriage
runs from 1875 pounds up, according to
the builders idea of the power required.
TO drive this motor, storage batteries
weighing from 800 to 1900 pounds are re-
quired. The virtues of the electric car
- Dc oil
managed. and does not produce objection
able vapors. The electric carriage has
aleo several serious faults. 1t has to be
q great deal too heavy for the paying load
transported, and 1t can only run q little
wey without rechsrging If more battery
is added to give the wagon more range,
the already too heavy wagon is made
heavier, which is something very disad-
yantageous because of the wheel load
imposed. Up to the present time. no one
has learned how to make any really Salts
factory passenger wagon wheel wi thout q
pneuamtio tire, and 1t is difficult to make
really satisfactory pneumatic tire to
carry LOAF of more than about $50
pounds. This means, of course, that the
total loaded weight of road wagon
should not exceed 1000 pounds at the out
side. But there is.not much satisfaction
in 1000.pound electric carriage, because
it has only very limited range. On
asphalt Ii may run Is or 20 miles If every
ways In good form in electric carriages,
however. The motor, II from good
maker, Is fairly reliable and Is not sub
tect to sudden and mysterious weakness
es. The storage battery Ia another thing
altogether. IL can be spoiled by bad
handling, and at best is liable to deteri-
crate, and, taken all around, the Ma
chinist states. is by no means SO reliable
an element of mechanical traction as a
steam boiler or a gas engine A set of
four pnsuamtic tires which will stand up
we'll under 250-pound load on each can
be had for SIS. and at this price the own
er or road wagon could we'll afford new
tires every year. But 1T is a common
thing to place electric carriages on tires
costing 500 per set, or 800 each, and
even at that price the heavily loaded tires
are not sure of o long life. Reference is
made to $50 tire, inches diameter,
used under an Individual wheel load of
about 700 pounds. The outer part is of
comparatively hard rubber, to stand
wear; the inner part, which has four
turns of canvas about IL. 10 much softer,
and the two parts are vulcanized into a
single structure. The whole fabric must
be of the very best materials, and the air
pressure is 1875 pounds to the square inch.
Steel rims are commonly used, but, 1t is
represented. wood rims are less liable to
injure tie tires. and a wsll-known Amer
lean steam wagon has wooden rims
which give excellent results on suburban
roads.
There Is decided advantage in small
wheel diameters. These run from "a
inches on some French machipes to SO
and 40 inches. For two or four passengers
Is inches Is pronounced the best diameter
for pneumatic tired wheels. Stanley is
just now sending out 100 wagons with
wooden rim 2S-inch wheels. which will
tell by their behavior in practice whether
the wooden rim Is suitable for light mo-
tocycle work or not. The whole subject
of wheels il thus summarized by MIR. Dol
mar: There is no satisfactory wheel
known for loads greatly in excess of 25D
pounds per wheel; tine smaller the wheel
the stronger 1t is, and 2S inches is a COM
mon tire diameter. Wire spoke wheels,
bicycle style, give good satisfaction in
the country under light loads, bnt do not