The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1908-09-24

TENDER "a, 1908.
coupled to drill-plow or planter puts
in the seed while his neighbor, who
has no engine, is taking care of his
horses. When harvest time comes the
giant reapers and binders are brought
into action; after the grain is cut there
is no waiting for a thrasher outfit to
come along and perhaps burn up more
than could be accomplished in year.
with spark from their steam engine.
Besides his tractor he may own small
three or four horse power stationary
engine. Such an engine can saw wood,
shell corn, grind feed. pump water,
churn butter, run the cream separator,
milk the cows, turn the ice cream free
zer On Sunday, do any kind of heavy
lifting and if he has small dynamo
he may light his place perfectly safe,
better and more economical than the
old way.
The gas engine is no longer merely a
thing of pleasure but with its increase
in popularity has come a correspond
ing increase in the diversity of its uses
and apparently there is no limit to the
uses to which it may be put. And yet,
the gas engine is comparatively in its
infancy. Take steam, for example,
not considering turbines-the principle
of which is oid-nO particular improve
ments have been made within the past
few years, the great Corliss machines,
the big locomotives have merely in
creased in size ard that is all, yet the
gas engine of today Is nothing like its
prototype of few years back. While
steam has been standing still the gas
motor has been refined until today, in
connection with the suction gas pro-
ducer, it is recOgn zed as the coming
power.
+ It has been known for some time
that gas could be made from coal for
use as gas engine fuel, but this great
advantage in power production has
only recently become apparent to the
public. The following few lines are
taken from late census report
on manufacture. "Probably the best
demonstration of the economy Of tht
internal combustion motor, as com
pared with steam engines, is afforded
by the use of the gas engine in connec
tion with a gas producer. 1t has beer
} shown that such a combination will
utilize about twice as much of the en-
ergy of the fuel as can be developed by
} the use of the steam boiler and engine.
Later this is proved to be a very tame
statement, for several reliable maker.
of gas producers guarantee their out
fits to do four times as much work, OF
!, given amount Of fuel, and not tax,
t up half as much room as the steam
] boiler and engine.
' The most striking evidence of tn,
J. reliability of these engines is found il
Q our larger cities, where they are uset
: for all purposes, from driving the moto
cycle, small machine capable of car
8 rying twice its own weight at the speet
t of All express train and at the triflin,
9 cost of one-tifth of a cent per mile, t,
i the pOnderOus hook and ladder tt uck
a and fire engines. In New York ant
Boston these gas-driven fire appara
8 fuses may be seen most any day glid
Q ing over the streets at almost twice tn
: speed horses could pull them, and tn
Q improvement in other ways is apparent
Statistics recently compiled by the As
,, sociation of Licensed Automobile Man
Q ufacturers, and published in Motto
l. Talk, show that the total value o
g American made automobiles for tn
# year 1907 reached the enormous sur
# of $105, $685. ,572. This represents $3.50
II pleasure cars. OF these all but soc
8, were gasoline vehicles. the smaile
,s number being divided between stear
,s and electric machines. In 1904 tn
.e value of the automobile output of tn
Is United States factories was $26, ,645, ,O6
10 and steady increase has been motto,
able for every year. In making tn
q 1902 automobiles turned out last yea
~ it is estimated that 5000 employee
D. were engaged in the various factorie
is while the capital employed was mol
= than $4,000. 900.
ID With the omission of heavy boiler
es and dirty coal bunkers, with reliabilii
g. and safety, with the absence Of Il