Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1912-02-17
Sill ENCE EVIDENCE OF
GOOD
IN MANUFACTURE

Silence in an automobile motor is
| practically a guarantee of fine work.
manship. 1t does not follow, however,
that skilful making involves silence.
Conscientious effort on the part of
motor car builders to produce a quiet
motor has resulted in reducing noise to
a very marked degree, but the present
striving for quiet, which actually en-
braces the automobile industry of the
world, is due more to an appreciation
Of virtues resulting from silence than
to a desire for mere absence of noise.
OF course there is pleasure and pride
in the ownership of a a which glides
| along the highway without a mechani
cal sound.
Just as a carelessly made car will
quickly expose it's own insincerity by
| the manifestation of numerous noises,
so the absence of noise under continued
hard usage p%ortrays faithful workman
ship.
And this is equally true of minor
noise, so common and annoying in the
average car. So, in the last analysis,
| silence is vital because it means eff
| cheney in a. very important sense of the
word. Many factors have contributed
to its widespread consideration, and
these, too, are important since they not
only show an early conception Of what
is required for silence, but trey con-
firm the s~oundness of certain practises
which are now absorbing a great deal
of the attention of engineers.
Efforts to approach the stage of in
audible operation may be traced to the
French automobile show of seven or
eight years ago, when leading makers
exhibited cars Of comparative quiet in
running. A distinct impression was
made, not only on the continent, but
Upon the visiting engineers from this
country. 1t was later accentuated by
early six-cylinder cars and, to a cer-
tain extent, by the vogue of the steam
car There was an interval of several
years, however, before any great i'm
petus was given to the movement, de-
spite the appearance of new forms of
motors both here n abroad.
In the United States there was less
Industrial excitement but nevertheless
a keen interest in watching European
development. Since that time many
important conclusions have been
reached by designers in this country
anu III PRAISE VI liicIl II can De Sa1u
that many Of their early theories have
been proven in practise.
While it is admitted that the best
poppet valves are almost as quiet as the
inaudible sleeve valves it is no longer
denied that on the average the sleeve
valve is much "quieter.' The sleeve
valve motor must also be credited with
the substitution of a silent chain drive
of the miniature crankshaft which re-
ciprocates the sleeves, instead of gears
driving a camshaft. Also helical gears,
cut to permit a longer, easier ngage
merit and more of a sliding, rather
than striking contact. are now used
widely. In each case silence and its
man, attributes were the prime con
sideration.
Engine efficiency goes side by side
with silence. 1T is not difficult to
build an engine which will be very
powerful for It's cylinder dimensions,
nor is it difficult to make an engine
fairly silent. Either one or the other
is comparatively simple, but to COM
bine both these qualities it is extremely
difficult.