The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1912-08-17
Mo toring Notes,
Good Road News
and rade Matter

Ohio Lee, Of staunton. has bought
tire works from W II. Countess, &C
cordins 10 dispatch from that city.
MIR Lee has ed 10 Richmond and
will conduct his ne@ enterprise from
s22 West Broad street.
Engineers have been iabortns for
wears TO produce the silent car and
only by the use OF special bearings
and accuracy and detail to the thou
sandth part Of an inch have the re-
suits as exemptred In the modern
automobile been obtained
But. OF course, he nosiest part OF a
car is the motor. and with good rea
son too, SAYS the Scientific American.
Each explosion in each cylinder gen
crates a pressure approximating ESQ
pounds on each square inch of piston
surface
This means thar IA nifty horse
power. four cylinder motor force of
nearly three tens Il conceutra ted on
each piston with every ignition Of the
charge IN thai particular cylinder /0r
II We consider the gas engine AS d
whole q total Of over 5000 tons -
exertsd on fhe pIstons each nTNHte
that the motor runs at normal speed.
These are imposing figures and 1t
may be wondered why such gaso
tene motor develops only afty horse
power. bur II must be remembered
that this force 70 not applied con
! iinuouasy but that Ii lis divided into
number OF three ton hammer blows
OF short duration But though the
three ton energy OF each explosion In
soon expended there Is SILT a con-
siderable force. amounting to three or
four times the pressure OF the at
mo- here. that must be disposed Of
at the bottom Of the stroke
This is the exhaust. and when this
pressure Is suddenly turned loose into
the open air by the quick motion of
valve a sharp report la bound to &C
cur. for the force In question IL really
the tail end" Of the explosion that
has just taken place In the cylinder
Let two thousand OF these "tsfl ends"
each OF which IL pretty vigorous by
itself. occur in a minute and II will
he realized why ear splitting In =
mild term 20 apply 10 the unmufried
exhaust
Now to MANY of us me term
'muTier max convey the idea Of
choke or cover up, and this la
sense is what the muffler does 70 The
noise Of the explosion. Bur the muf~
fer does rot throttle the exhaust with
high hand and say You shah not
escape" bat rather does IL lead the
ASs W E~NFtfAN 4NR NfAN" = - NNN''F
stages,
n does this by providing cham
her in which the exhaust gas may
I've expa ndea before reeching th~ out
side @air II the exhaust were ear
ried through series Of expansion
chambers 1t would have become quite
meek and subaued by the time Il
was discharged. for as II expands. 80
: str energy ard consequent noise max
ing ability fs expended.
But In order to save space and
weight many mufrers are In the form
OF a single ~xpa nsion chamber pro-
vided with a series Of battle plates,
or disks containing number OF
perforations through which the gas
passes and thus the exhaust expeuds
most Of It's energy La these and is
rendered practically harmless by the
time Il has reached the place where
II conld make any impression on the
human ear
Many motorists consider the word
"muftaer' 10 be synonymous with
'-ba ck- pressure and az they know
that this latter term means resis-
lance 10 the passage of the exhaust
gases and consequent reduction III
the power developed by the motor.
some of them have come to look an ~
! the BtNUIEf a% H. power AhSN& wing 'tf
vice In consequence OF this BELIEF,
the cut out by which the exhaust
gases are allowed To escape directly
into the open air without arst passing
through the mufner, has become one
Of the most used--~snd abused-aeces-
series al tire car.
Its abuse has become 50 iiaSrsn nj,
sn fact that many cities and towns
have enacted ordinances prohibiting
its use. and It In looked upon as the
one device that is setting at naught
ers toward the production OF the
silent car.
n may he that The old type ~
rauf'ler. provided with many onstrue-
tons to the passage of the exhaust
gases produced an appreciabie
amount of back pressure that absorb
ed some of the power developed by
the motor But the modern muffiei.
BY means OF especially shaped pas
saRes and expansion chambers. en-
able the speed Of the outrushing gas
TO be Increased so that the resistance
Of the mu er may be nearly over
come and the amount OF back pres
sure viii he reduced to very small
figures.
Recent tests have shown that the
mufffer produced no dirninution IN
the power developed by the motor
at slow and medium speeds. On the
contrary. some OF the tests showed
that the motor produced slightly more
power at 700 and 500 revolutions per