The age-herald., 1899-01-15

1 the new trucking enterprise has said: "We 1 have built autotrucSs and used them at our 1 works in Massachusetts We can haul l load of eight tons, twenty-five miles with- l out replenishing the air. It is easier foY our trucks to move eight tons than for
 three horses to haul six tons in ordinary
 street. On wet asphalt horses are almost l helpless and with the substitution of as-
 phalt for paving stones the horse must go.
 From a sanitary standpoint and in tho matter of cleanliness it would make great difference in the city if the 900 to 16000O l horses in it's streets were done away with. l Our trucks will take up less room, and will move much faster than an ordinary team.
 and they are under such perfect control that there is less danger to life and limb than with horses.
 "Electricity cannot be used for trucks designed to carry heavy loads, owing to the weight of the storage batteries that would be required. It does very well for cabs and light delivery wagons. but trucking is an- other matter. If we had our trucks in the city when the last snow storm fell we could have rerroved it in seventy-two hours at the outside"
 Tho most successful so far of all horseless carriage enterprises is the electric cab ser vice in New York city Considerable cur- osity was manifested before the winter
 storms set in as to just how they would get along in a snow storm The November blizzard furnished an excellent opportunity
 
 to test their usefulness. Of ~ hundred
 vehicles owned by the company only one breakdown was reported. And this was on night when the entire elevated railway. cable and underground trolley systems were practically at standstll
 Tn general appearance these cabs are somewhat different from any vehicle here tofore constructed. The fore body is similar to an ordinary handsem-cab. but rearward- lv protecting from this part of the vehicle fa1, T., hatto rtn oro These batteries are corposed of multi tude of lead plates carried in boxes and im- mersed in dilute acid. They are inserted or i. removed by taking off the rear end of this so-called battery box.
 The running gear Is composed of four wheels instead of two, and their appearance is striking.
 Another striking departure from ordinary practice is embodied in the arrangement of the front wheels as drivers, the vehicle be- ing steered by the rear wheels. Each cab is fitted with two two-horse-power electric motors one of which is geared to each driving wheel. The motors are entirely en- cased, and are attached to the axle adjacent to the wheels.
 The electric "cabby' is seated on top of the battery box from which point the vari- ous controlling levers are easily accessible to him. Under his seat is the controller. From this device a handle projects on tho
 left side of the drivers seat, so that by
 moving this lever forward from its normal position the batteries and motors are vari- ously connected and several speeds result. In operating the cab under ordinary cir- cumstances it is necessary to use these three controlling levers only, but to reverse
 the vehicle switch is operated by the heel of the foot, which arranges the motors so as to operate in the reverse direction The automobile cabman needs no hitching post
 Should he leave his seat, he carries away