The weekly true Democrat. (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1905-1912, 1910-02-11

Sh1 io
mh BI1SE
RlllNGE NlINTlllEl

Hktl Al..cl
epinalng Teps Making ecoo Rsyolu-
tions Aiaais, Kept tbs aaehins On
lis Single Rail-No Tilklnu ana Sc
Redoosion Of Speed st sbs Curves.
WITH whireing Of motors that
noUadod ilke the hum 81 q buzzsaw.
gyfoscoDe monorau car ~ the German
igpe was piloled around an oval track
AZ the Clermont rink. Brooklyn. the
other morning before q crowd that d.
cluded several engineers and railroad
men. xt wns the FIRST exhibition az the
car "a che U.uited States, and che group
o. experts who viewed IL appeared "a
Be greatly interested GA the working Of
the white. boat shaped contrivancs as
q circied the rink, supported on one
small rain.
The noise was made BIZ two steel
tops lodged At either end Of the ear,
which involved az the nte Of 5000
turns a minute. They were incasod "a
q steel covering and could not b seen,
but it was these two spinning tops
which kept the car nom topping over.
had they stopped suddenly which, q
Was said, was next 10 impossible tho
car would have lost is balance. Ac-
cOrding 20 those 10 charge 81 the dem
onstration, nothing could make the
wheels stop except cutting on the cleo
triC current and even then theY would
50 on revolving FOR nearly an hour az
suficient rpeed 20 hold The car IA an
upright pogiti0n.
Richard bchori. the German inventor
who designed the car, was not 90 hand
when the demonstration began, but g
squad Of assistants ana mechanics set
the Byrogcopo going % that the visitora
couid zee the latest Wrinkle an car
building IA operation Il was tho same
car which had bean oxhibitcd IN Ber-
lin but e differed "a many respects
from the Brennan OF English type Of
monorall car recently shown IN Eng.
Hand
Ne Passengers Carried.
No passengers were taken on board
during the preliminary trials, although
the car was built % accommodate from
six to ten persons The only man who
actually rode ID Il was the mechani-
elan, who operated the levers. Some
times be dismounted and allowed the
car 20 60 It's way with no one at the
helm. II never made very high speed,
however. and. ss the operating levers
were ali within reach Of any one stand
ing near the track. the motorman could
bring the car TO a stop simply By touch
ing the right lever a. the car rolled by.
What seemed 20 interest spectators
the most was the way the car took the !
turns. Tho track was oval and the
turns were SHARP. sharper By q good
deal than the general run Of curves a |
the subway IN New York, Tor instance.
But the single track car took them |
with only Che slightest tut and with
out reducing ita speed. u travelled a. |
about eight miles en- hour most Of the |
time. Whether stationary or moving |
along the rail. the car kept It, balance
perfectly.
A oussr Feat
One Of the queer feats Of the gyro-
scope was shown when I'VE men
climbed Up on one side Of the car
while a was standing still The car.
instoad Of tipping toward them. leaned
"a the opposite direction The tend
enry o. the gyroscoDe. Il was ex-
plained. was 70 preserve equilibrium
under al conditions, and, no matter
how the passengers might b seated.
the car would always preserve its own
balance
Il was q small car that was used IN
ehs demonstration, built only Cor ex-
perimentai purposes. Its dimensions
ware elahtsen feet a length and -four
feet IA width. IL rested upon -four
wheels vt a. 3 gtrnlght Inc. each hav-
ing nanees o. boih sides
Iha track stood about three inches
hlgh and noagursd one inch 60 thick-
ness sc the top. On each ode of 4
was strung q wire which carried the
current Ihcre Wero 10uf motors A.
TIE car, two % one horsepower each
Cor propeiIlDg e and two a. one.haif
hoIaepoWor each, which operated the
yfoscopo ntfrchnent Iho car Itself
weighed two and one.half lons and
as erroseops about Dne-tuentlclh of
fhia it wa explained that THIS pro
ooflIon wou.d haze 30 % incrcaood e
ln8 egrocope were 20 - applied %
nrY car 81 fas rallman igpe. 40
preserve Dalsnce Al puIlnan err q
~told - r4carlr ~ have rgro.