The Tupelo journal., 1905-12-22

his little s1op; his head was In the
clouds all the while.
At least five years. before autdmo-
biles were an accepted fact it was ru-
mored that Mr.. Petgreave was at work
in his brothers big barn on a wagon
that would run over the roads with
out visible means of locomotlon. At
last Mr.. Petgreave announced through
the medium of the Dayton Independent
that he would give an exhibition of his
new 'locomotorator' at the Oak Hill
race track on Washington's birthday.
Pretty much everybody who was
anybody and all who were nobodies
went out to the race track the after
moo of the day appointed.
At last a great cheering announced
the arrival of Mr.. Petgreave and his
locomotorator, which enormous and
somewhat unwieldy vehicle was drawn
to the track by two of his brothers
farm horses. Mr.. Petgreave had some
thing of a sense of the dramatic fitness
of things, and he did not wish to begin
his exhibition too soon
The old man had announced that the
machine would go once around the
track, so when he got opposite the
judges stand he unhitched the horses,
which had been attached to the vehicle
by means of a rope tightly bound
around the body of it. The three Sc
lectmen, the pastor of the First church
and old DIR. Wharton sat in the judges
stand. DIR. Wharton al an old sport
and did not look out of place up there,
but Rev. Mr.. Melvil did. Perhaps that
is why Mr.. Petgreave with a smile in
vited him to come down and ride with
him.
The pastor stepped into the loco
MODERATOR" followed by the silver
haired inventor; the doctor gave the
signal to start by firing off a pistol.
and then, amid the s%ilenceof the assem-
bled multitude, the machine-did not
go.
There was not a person there who
was not sorry for Mr.. Petgreave at that
moment.
But in about a minute the wish to
see the lOCO1uOLOTdtOT uIOVG was SIdti-
fed.
No smoke curled up from anywhere;
no odor tagged behind; there was no
whir of electricity. But the locomo-
ator began to move. There were inter-
nal noises, loud and heavy and possibly
disconcerting to some Of the women
spectators, but the vehicle moved; and
not only moved, but went at the rate
of at least eight miles an hour.
Here at last was a complete triumph
for the old man, said everyone to his
neighbor. A fortune awaited him ii
the machinery did not prove to be too
complicated. The vehicle was as big
as a circus van, but that very fact
made the triumph greater. If so big a
thing could move SO fast, a smaller one
would go faster, unless the machinery
were necessarily cumbrous.
Everybody who was anybody, and all
the nobodies, cheered themselves
hoarse, and Mr.. Petgreave looked out
of the coach window and smiled a
happy smile that lasted all the way
around the track.
The loeomotorator returned to it's
place of departure, easily, swiftly and
with no screw, nut or bolt loose.
At that time automobiles were still
largely things on paper, but here was
an old man who had invented one!
Dayton, all the Daytons. went wild.
The inventor and the pastor stepped
from the vehicle and were Immediate
ly surrounded by a bowling crowd;
men, women and children swarmed
over the railing of the grand stand in
order to inspect the machine at close
range. The selectmen and the doctor
came down the outside of the judges
stand in their eagerness to grasp the
hand of the local great man. People
shook hands with each other; men
slapped women on the backs; small
boys punched each others heads and
laughed oyer it, and W~ashington's
birthday attained a new Importance.
And then dear old Mr.. Petgreave, his
head more over on one side than ever,
his hair dancing on his coat collar, his
eyes blazing with excitement. led the
| way 10 Tie OCOLlOlOldtOl IN oAu
My friends, this is the happiest day
of my life. There is no secret that l
want to keep about the mechanism OF
this thing. It's perfectly simple. What
l have made. others can make. The
wonder is that no one ever thought OF
it before. | don't even mean to get
out a patent. I give my invention to
the American %people!"
He stepped to the back of the vehicle
and then we noticed for the first time
that there was a big door in it. He put
| his hand into his pocket, drew out a
key, unlocked the door and opened 1t.
1t was not steam; it was not gaso-
lene: it was not electricity; it was not
clock work that supplied the motive
power.
1t was a treadmill worked by Mr..
~Petgreave's old white mare, Nance.
Mother Earth Shaking Herself.