The newspaper., 1908-12-04


it could only carry two people, and
with one in the seat and one under
the machine the chances for CONVEX
sation, especially OF an elevating
nature, were limited in the extreme.
The early automobilists were in
domitable enthusiasts, however
and some magnificent records were
made. In 1908 an Illinois man pushed
one of these machines, weighing
l 800 pounds, nine miles over u hilly
road in three hours flat. The same
year an Ohio doctor cranked his
machine for four hours and fifteen
minutes, beating the best previous
record by more than an hour. In
1899 New York man got as far as
Yonkers on trip around the world,
and late the same fall n New York
coachman, who was hauling an
automobile back to the repair shop
with two horses, was arrested for
furious driving on Fifth avenue.
The next step forward was made
by the steam machine. About 1900
small steam car began to infest
the country. 1t consisted of a large
chest of machinery mounted on stout
bicycle wheels and contained room
for two people and 800 pounds OF re-
pairs. The driver sat directly over
a small boiler which carried 400
pounds pressure of steam, and 1t
was n toss-up whether he was going
to travel straight ahead or straight
up.
The steamer was n great improve
ment on the first gasoline ear, being
noiseless, light, and unmysterious.
1t would always go II skillfully
handled. while neither mechanics,
chemistry, nind-reading, or laying
on of hands would start the early
gasoline engine when it decided to
suspend operations. The steam ear
soon became very popular and
hundreds were sold. All that was
required to operate it was a first
class engineers certificate, n little
skill with tools, and a knowledge OF
boiler-making, steam fl itting, cylin-
der packing. chain mending, general
repair work, and chemistry In it's
various branches. Ten miles was IA
long trip for one of these cars, but
some of their owners became such
good mechanics that they could take
them fifty miles n day without re-
sorting to freight trains. Captains
of industry are supposed to be busy
men, but they are loafers compared
with the captain of one OF these
small cars. With one hand he steered.
worked the horn, and adjusted the
gasoline feed. With the other he
held the throttle, worked the feed
pump and the oil valves, blew out
the waste pipe, and worked the
cylinder cocks. With one eye he
watched the steam gage; with the
other he watched the water glass,
the road ahead, the oil glasses and
the gasoline Indicator. Every half
mile he relit his fire; every two miles
he replaced the chain, which had a
habit of jumping off the small
sprocket. Every five miles he refilled
the gasoline tank, started the feed
pump, filed the cylinder oil cup,
cleaned out the water pipe, and ad-
justed the pigtail generator Be-
ween times he conversed with his
passenger or read n good book.
The early steam autos used n great
deal OF water, having no condensers,
and every few miles It was necessary
to hunt n well and fill a twenty-gal-
lon tank with "a small rubber bucket,
taking care to strain the water lest
foreign matter should get into
the valves, Sometimes n petcock or
connection Jared loose, and after
the puzzled driver had refilled his
tank "A dozen times in as many miles
he would discover that in reality he
had been sprinkling the dusty coun-
try road. Carrying water to the
elephant in boyhood was n good
preliminary training for running one
OF these machines.
The early steam car fiourished I'M
til the craze for exercise and athletic
feats wore off. Then 1t became evil
dent that still more improvements
i xx1,,II haua 70 ha rpodn 80 arfnmn-