Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-10-14

man can go whirling over Europe without
expense, without foresight. without help
and without any too much skill.
Electricity is even better. a really touch
the-button force, but, unhappily. the pros
pect of recharging stations remains as re-
mote as ever. Six months ago in an in
terview the representative of an American
electrical automobile firm pledged his con-
Germ to the completion of an elaborate
program in time for the exposition. 1t is
sufficient to say that as yet not one OF
Is that capital is timid in risking the adj
venture. In Paris the problem is a rather
whimsical one, well exposed by the diem
ma of a friend of mine who has lust been
offered 1000 francs for a six-horse- power
petroleum racer that cost him 1000 francs
a year ago. why should 1 sell it?'' he
asks Il would want to buy another. and,
as far as petroleum goes, this machine is
good enough am perfectly satisfied with
i. But might buy an electric automobile?
don't know what to do. At the begin
nlng reasoned In favor of petroleum be-
cause l wanted to be Independent. / want
ed to be able to go to st. Petersburg or
Nice at a moments notice. But 1 have
never gone! AS a fact, | never go out Of
a ten-mile radius from Paris. Then, why
should | have electrical automobile
after ALP Perhaps it is reasoning like
this that hinders the establishment of re-
charging stations all over France. Would
they be patronized?
The principles of the petroleum motor
have been so often stated that it will be
suffcient to say that they are fixed princi-
pies not likely to be changed; the effort
toward Improvement is all in the direction
of the simpIification of parts When YOU
buy Dion ct Bouton tricycle. they tell you
frankly: This machine may stop sudden
ly for any one Of nine reasons" 1t is true
that the tenderfoot soon learns to master
all the nine, but he would rather there
were only one or three or four!
Petroleum Motors.
The motors are certainly little wonders.
1t Is astonishing to get three and half
horse power out of fifty pounds of weight.
There are about two quarts of gasoline in
a receptacle. Air passing through 1t comes
out mixed with gasoline gas, ready to ex-
plode. The sportsman gives his crank
whirl. The thing begins to WORK auto,nat
ically. The piston goes down, sucking the
combined gas and air into the cylinder
Then the piston comes up and congresses
1t Then the piston goes down again, strik-
Ing an electric spark. There is an immc-
date explosion The piston goes up again,
discharging the used-up gas in the form of
smoke. This is the operation of the French
automobile motor deux temps, which
gives one explosion for every two turns
of the piston; that is to say, they are all
quatre temps, as | have outlined the wock
of only one cylinder instead Of two three
or four, with which all but the tricycles
are nowadays furnished; but even with the
1our-tme motors one motion of the piston
only ttne thlrd) is a motor motion, eacn
cylinder making it in turn, while the others
are for drawing in, COMPRISING and eject
ing the gas. The Phenix motor applied to
the Pahhard ct Leyassor voitures, has two
vertical cylinders, the Peugeot motors two
horizontal cylinders, the Gardner automo-
biles are supplied with four-cylinder mo-
tors, the Gauthier Wahrle motor has no
horizontal and transversal cylinders so dis
posed that an explosion takes place at each
turn; the Dacanville VoturelleS, which
holds an intermediate place between auto
mobiles and motorcycles, have two-cylinder
motors, with a special rhythm that varies
in each cylinder, turn by turn, while the
Roser ct Mazurier motors have a third cyl
inder for the utilization of the waste gas
ly variable; but to the plain man it is clear
facturer is to dodge the patents of his
rivals as effectually as possible while safe
guarding such as are his own. BY their
fruits ye shall know them. NJ Albert l e.
maitre had constructed for him by the Pau
geot firm two-place racing due actioned
by sixteen horse power motor. With this
ne mas won every race in which he has
taken part Last winter at Nice he did ono
klometer along the Promenade des Anglais
at the rate of Seventy-six kiomyres-or
forty-seyen miles-an hour In the Pau
Bayonne-Pau race he covered 266 kfIome-
tiers Q2S miles) in three hours and ffty-
TWO minutes an average of fifty-three kiio-
meters thirty-three miles, an hour This
would be astounding had not half a dozen
other manufacturers each their own rec
ords equally astounding.
STERLING HELLO.