The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-06-25

! SooOS on large scale, the company
hopes to secure faster time from the
railroads and a guarantee of the
prompt delivery of freight. Hence it
is hardly possible that a fight with
the express companies can be avoided.
Much Secresy Observed.
The promoters of the new scheme
have been secretive in floating the en-
terprise, but the information herein
has been obtained from confidential
sources high in the management of the
auto concern and is sufficient to es-
tablish the fact that Salt Lake and
several other of the larger American
cities are on the verge of a complete
revolution in their systems of intra-
mural passenger transportation and
mercantile delivery. 1t could not be
learned at what amount of capital the
| promoters intend stocking the Salt
| Lake company.
The relations between the three origi-
nal companies are understood to be.
that the New York Gas & Electric
| Light, Heat & Power company owns a
controlling interest in each of the other
! two. The Electric Storage Battery
company is really consolidation Of all
! the leading storage battery companies
of America and practically controls
that industry. 1t will supply the stor-
| age batteries to the sub-companies
build and sell the vehicles to the sub
companies.
Agents of the companies have been
for weeks past studying the conditions
| in the various cities where it is pro-
posed to establish sub-companies, and
| it is said that the report regarding
Lake is most favorable.
The automobile vehicles to be put in
the service in Salt Lake will be like
those used in New York. They differ but
| little, in appearance from the horse We
! hicles, except for the absence of shafts
or tongue and that the wheels are
smaller and have large pneumatic rub
Der tires and wire spokes like bicycle.
The storage batteries are beneath the
body of the vehicle and are not particu-
! larly noticeable.
If the automobile proves as popular
in other American cities as it has in
New York the holders of stock in the
various companies need have no fears
as to dividends. The service was es-
tablished in New York about two years
ago. At first, while there were still
only a few of the vehicles in the ser
vice, people hesitated to patronize them
because they were still a novefty and
excited considerable attention so that
persons riding in them became more
or less conspicuous. As the number
of vehicles increased and the novelty
wore off they grew rapidly in popular
ity and are now more in demand than
horse cabs and coupes. There is now
upwards of 100 of the vehicles in use in
the city and hundreds more Will be put
into the service as soon as the manu-
facturers can complete them.
Demand In New York.
An idea of how popular the automo-
biles have become in the metropolis
l. u,
which appeared in Il New York paper
a day or so ago. 1t was as follows:
1.-TWO patrons of Dels (DelmonicoS)
tried for an hour yesterday to hire an
automobile to ride through the park,
but had to give it up as a bad job In
front of the restaurant stood a dozen
cabs and hansoms with horses at
tached, but no one seemed to desire
their services. When a motor cab
passed and was hailed, the reply came
back engaged. Numerous styles of
the automobiles were in the avenue
going up and down, but all were busy.
The same condition was noticeable at
the Grand Central station; thirty
horse vehicles stood idle while money
was not good enough to hire an au-
tomobile."
In addition to the automobiles in the
public service in New York, there are
scores of them owned by wealthy citi-
Zens as private conveyanceS, and men
prominent in the social, professional or
business life of the city can be seen
any morning or afternoon spinning
through the park or along the avenue
and boulevards manipulating the lev
ers of their own carts, dragS or vic
torias, just as a year or so ago they
held the reins over housekeeping
horses.
The electric automobiles are but a
omobiles in which other propelling |
power was used. France, where auto
mobiles are most popular today, is the |
country where the first automobile was |
made. In 1863 Nicholas Joseph Cugnat |
built working model of a steam car |
Tiage, and six years later built a steam !
gun-carTiage. Murdoch. an English |
man, built steam bicycle in 1871, and |
in 1855 another EngliShman, Syming /
ton, built a steam carriage thought at |
that time to be an improvement on the |
steam carriage of Cugnat, built many |
years before. In this country Oliver |
Evans, in 1856, and Nathan Read, in
1880, applied for patents for steam
driven road wagons.
In the present state of development |
of automobiles. steam carriages are
dropped from the race. Electric auto
mobiles are now considered the best for
city use, where storage batteries may
be replaced or recharged conveniently.
For travelling distances petroleum aut-
omobileS are the favorites of many
There are several points urged against
petroleum or gasoline automobile We
hicles-among them being the vibration
caused by the explosions of gas in cyl
inders, the smell of gasoline and gas
the heat generated and the difficulty
in starting gas engines when they are
first shut off.
Salt Lakers Interested.
Apart from the motors, all automobile
have followed the develop
ment of the bicycle. The likeness is
shown in comparing an automobile car
riage with an ordinary road carriage.
The automobile carriage is built as
light as possible while the ordinary
road carriage is built very heavy The
are built just as light as
possible within the limit of safety for
strains. just like the bicycle for added
weight does not give strength. Strains
upon it act very differently from those
upon horse carriage. In one case the
vehicle pushes itself oyer obstacles.
tending to pull and push itself apart;
in the other case it is dragged over OBJ
stacles.
Tht first automobile race was run
from Paris to Rouen, in 1894 1t was
won by Count de Dion, in a steam car
-iage. In 1895 steam. petroleum and
electric carriages competed in a race
rom Paris to Bordeaux and back. The
steam motor carriage gave out first, the
electric was left behind and the pc
.roleum carriage won by several hours
Only a few days ago there was an
parade in New York, in
L.