The age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1897-1902, 1899-11-08
THE HISTORY
OF AUTOMOBILES
from the Autobian.


will be able to propel carriages with in
credible speed without the assistance of any
animal, and We will be able to make ma
chimes which by means of wings will ca
able us to fly in the air like BIRDS
These We're the words of that far-seeing
philosopher of the fourteenth century,
Roger Bacon. An autobainist who visits
the patent office in Washington will fully
believe that this prophecy, which in Ba-
cons time was considered the imaginations
of 1igbty mind, and which has since
been fully realized in the case of the steam
ship, is about to be fulfilled IN the locomo-
ton of the road vehicles.
To make researches in The patent office
Cor The purpose of examining The various
patents relating to tine horseess carriage.
autobainist must have unlimited time,
as there are many hundreds of patented
parts that would take a lifetime ito ex-
anime Thoroughly; so it is only in this our
ability at present to deal with the question
III an historical and general manner.
Among the numerous dra wings of horse
less vehicles was a cut of the first wagon
ever propelled successfully by the Of
machinery. 1t was constructed in the six
teenth century by Johann Haustach, of
Nuremburg, who was described as IMAM
ufacturer of dhariots going by spring, and
making two Thousand PAGES an hour" The
vehicle Itself large and clumsy, being
deliberately adorned with gilt and carving.
IL resembled a heavy circus cart of the
present day. The motive power was de-
rived from the potential energy of a
coiled spring. AS the wagon was without
any steering apparatus it could only be
run ON a straightway course and as many
accidents resulted from this deficiency the
civil authorities forbade the running of the
wagon on the public roads. Another means
of horseless locomotion which L found in
this office, and which came into use about
the time of the spring-propelled carriage,
was the wind-propelled vehicle of the
Dutch. These carriages, 1 should say
wagons, for they closely resembled the
heavy road wagons of the American farmer
We're propelled by means of two square
sails. The sails proved a success on level
lands and in going before the wind, but
there was trouble when the wind was
against them, and the only way.out of the
difficulty was to resort to the horse again.
The first steam-propelled vehicle was ex-
perimented with 10y Jesuit missionary
among the Chinese, one Father Verbrest
the thirteenth century The vehicle was
propelled by a jet of steam, for it appears
that Father yer5rest set UP a let AMI
vaned wheel in a vehicle of light construc-
ton. The jet wheel was affixed to verti-
cal shaft gearing attached to one of the
axles.
Thus one is able to trace the growth of
The horseless vehicle from the period in
winch The power of steam was discovered
to the present day of electric and gasoline
motors Upon investigation L ound that the
hrst patent fer complete horseless car
rage was granted to a Mr.. B. Langdon of
New York, on February %, 1917. The mo-
tive power was supplied by the means of
steam, and I afterward learned that uhe
whole affair proved a complete failure
About the earliest patent granted for a
complete carriage propelled by gasoline
motor was granted to ]. Sledon, of Chicago.
He applied for his patent as early as 1879,
but he let 1t lay in the patent office until
1894.
The first record of a complete electric
motor carriage that 1 could find was a
patent granted to M. w. Deway, of New
York, on December l, 1891. According to
Mr.. Mitchell, the chief clerk for the bureau
having the records of the horseless vehicle
patents, there are at the outside not more
than $50 complete patents for horseless cor
riages. The employees having experiences
in the patent office say that the minds of
the inventors all run in the same channel
according to the craze or the fad of the
day, and that now the inventors all over
the world are daily sending to them for
information concerning every means of lo-
comotion without the use of the horse.
. Everything in the world has its ridicu-
1ous side, and many patents have been
granted for ingenious but perfectly useless
arrangements for 1ocomotion. These pat-
ents are spoken of by the patent Office Off
Gals as curios of the horseless vehicle.
The first of these curiosities that came
under my notice was that of the steam
man. This curious steam locomotive is
about eight feet high and resembles an
armored knight of the olden times He has
articulated limbs, which move in imitation
of the human legs. In his mouth there is a
pipe, through which steam is constantly
emitted, while in his hands, which hang
down along his sides, are the shafts of a
carriage, which serve to steady the figure
upon its feet. The body of the man proba-
bly, contains the boiler, the heat being gem
GRATED by fire located about where the
stomach of human being is situated. Tho
name of the inventor of this ingenious de-
vice could not be found, although 1 tried
many means through which one might hope
to reveal to the public the name of one SO
worthy of publication in the comic journals
of the present day.
The next of these curios was horrible
enough to frighten the doomed ghost of
Hamlet's father, had he ever come in cons
tact with 1t during his nocturnal escapades.
Imagine coming down the street a huge
white horse, emitting fire from his eyes and
nostrils and fore feet attached to the pedals
of what appeared to be a bicycle. In the
body of the horse is an electric motor
which generates the power that moves the
mechanical devices attached to the forelegs.