The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1913-03-23
Some Car, This Talbot,


Further as to the Talbot car which
attained for the first time in the his
tory OF man the record of covering
more than 90 miles in an hours run
ming, ii Is indeed interesting to note
what happened to the tires that were
on the machine. There was no stop
made for tire trouble. all four castings
coming through with remarkably lit
tie wear. The greatest wear was on
the near rear tire, which lost 4 A
ounces In weight in the hour trial
The off rear lost four ounces. The
front near lost only two ounces and
the off front casing dropping l Ia
ounces. The castings, which were Pal
mer Cords of $50 by 40 millimeters,
averaged close to rs pounds weight
each. There were two of % pounds
ounces, one OF IS pounds 2 ounces
and one of 81 pounds 5 ounces.
II there was anything that contrib
uted to the success of the Talhots run
II was attention to details apparently.
In building the car all parts were mod
eled TO the stream lire idea. Not alone
was the rearward of the body brought
to a sharp point SO as to get the
squeezing effect of the wind but the
frame ends were carried out to points
in the rear; the back axle was made
GO that II presented a knife edge to the
wind and also toward the end OF tho
car. and the diTereutial housing was
produced to a point.
Furthermore. as it was. found extra
difficult to steer with discs on the front
wheels, they were removed. Lett on
the rear wheels. they helped with the
speed Of the car.
Another interesting detail is shown
in the power curve Of the Talbot en-
CINE, given In a recent number Of the
| AutoCar. BY It there is Il straight line
right up to 5000 revolutions min
ute, at which point the engine develops
100 horsepower, This is six times the
horsepower developed At 500 revolu
tons minute. so that the increase is
exactly even on proportions. AT $3.50
revolutions a minute. where the power
curve shows tendency to fall Off, the
horsepower developed is about 1872.
All of which is extremely interesting
when 1t is kept in mind that the Talbot
car is rated 25,6 horsepower
Wagon Tires and Auto Tires.
A vital point to be taken into con-
| sideration in relation to the load car
ried In the case OF automobiles as
against horse vehicles is that the load
carried per iineal inch of tire width
is one-half az much in the case or
heavy motor trucks as Is the case with
horse wagons in heavy service.
Ut example, II morse truck carry
| ing five tons of load will have twice
the weight per inch of tire width as
will exist In the case OF an autom obile
carrying five tons. In the horse waR-
on case ii will be 1.100 pounds per
inch and in the motor truck case it
will seldom exceed 900 pounds per
inch.
This fact ia verified by the basis on
which automobile tires are sold. APP
piled and guaranteed. the average load
per inch being 500 pounds.
A critical analysis of the actual
loading conditions which exist in all
the principal motor trucks on the
American market proves that the load
per inch OF tire width does not exceed
so 0poundA Oh trucks ranging from
two and a half TO five tons load carry
ing capacity.
Since this subject Of the destruc-
| tive influence of vehicle tires to road
surface is an old one and dates back
to 1885, the matter has been digested
and commented upon by some of the
foremost authorities on road building,
and experiments and Investigations
made both abroad and In this country,
including many made under the super
vision of the office of roads, depart
ment of agriculture, Washington,
proves that heavy wagon tires under
four inches are extremely injurious to
ROAD surface, WHite over Aoul AItIAltS
they are beneficial and 1t can be
proved upon investigation that all mo
tor trucks carrying two tons and over
have tire widths in excess OF four
inches
Therefore, motor vehicles. instead
OF being detrimental, are beneficial,
and nearly all horse vehicles, being
equipped with less than four-inch
| tires, are detrimental to the road sur
face.
Behind in Highways.
The movement for good roads Ia
at the present time world wide" says
| Edward S. Cornell. of the National
Highways Protective society,"" but In
America we are far behind Europe in
that the authorities here do not count
the cost and lay aside a sufficient
amount for a roads upkeep after 1t
has been built Moreover, many roads
are built in this country whose foun-
dations are not sufficiently perma-