New-York tribune., 1908-10-25
RITTER SURFACE TRAVEL.
InUentOrs Hard at WOrk on Snip,
Rail and Road Motors.

The spectacular successes of inventors OF ar
at,ips have so captured the public interest that
sne is likely to forget that the more prosalc
methods of transportation are also making raplo
strides toward perfection. The airship is not
the only channel open to the fertile imagination
of the mechanical dreamer. The inventor stlu
has a future in devising other means OF Fehlcu-
lar traffic than the flying machine.
Anparentlv travel by land is before long to be
r,,ch more comfortable than it is to-day. The
.n,okeless electric motor is gradually forcing It's
xsv into the domain of the steam locomotive,
and soon the star bespangled sky II night VIII
no longer be lighted up by the roaring nalhes VI
the rushing locomotive as II sweeps along the
steel highway; the clatter of the wheels ana
the noisy escape of the steam will be replaced
by a comparatively gentle hum; cinders VIII no
longer rritate the eye and srnirch the SKIN OF
passengers. and the speed Of travel will be
greatly increased Likewise there VIII be less
danger of forest fires, caused by sparks and Gin
ders from locomotive smokestacks-
Some inventors are looking for new ways
af using electrical motors to make the con-
struction and operation Of a railroad less ex-
pensive and at the same time to increase the
speed A few days ago the Public Service COM
mission received an application for per1nis-
aon to build q monorail line to replace
the antique City Island horse car line. A
line of the kind proposed for City Island was
operated at the jamestown exposition, with
what is said to have been great success
The cars are cigar shaped and rest Oh one rail.
the vertical position being maintained by over
head guides through which the current is taken
for the motors It is claimed for the cars that
they will travel at a speed of from 80 to lOo
miles an hour and that it viii cost less 10 bulld
a roadbed for them than the ordinary two-rall
tine because only half of the rails and a mar
rover strip of land Will be required with less
ballast It is also believed that the cars will
Jolt less because the springs will need to be ad-
tusted to only rail instead of two.
Besides the City Island line there is talk OF
utilizing this kind Of railroad on the pro-
posed elevated lines in The Bronx and on a line
between New York and Newark the trains
the latter to cover the distance in ten minutes
and carry passengers for 5 cents
But if the steam locomotive is to be displaced
finally, ii does not give up the ghost readily.
Nearly every year sees the creation of larger
machine than any previously known The
latest mammoth locomotive is one built TO assist
she movement OF heavy freight trains over the
sleeper grades of the Erie Railroad. This en-
CINE alone has a weight of 20J tons, 1t has six
teen driving wheels and four cylinders. Two Of
the piston boxes are so large that a boy twelve
or thirteen years old can sit erect in one of
them and have room to spare Working at full
capacity the engine can drag a train two miles
long loaded with 10000 tons of freight, 1T
speed of eight miles hour. The load, if it
consisted Of wheat. would represent the harvest
Of twenty-six square miles of wheat farms.
In Germany a freless locomotive has been in
vented for use in switch yards. The boiler is
nned with steam taken from stationary boiler
at a pressure of 10 pounds. With this supply
Il is able to run for four or five hours without
fresh charge This kind OF locomotive requires
no fireman The only machinery needed for its
soutrol is a throttle valve, reversing gear and
q brake. 1t is curious looking locomotive, for
Il has no smokestack
The big steamships which it has been an