The daily banner. (Cambridge, Md.) 1897-2008, 1914-11-28
TRACTION ENGINE TEST
State Roads Commission is Running
One as An Experiment, to Show
Effect on Highways.

One of the most interesting expert
ments in connection with the con-
struction and protection of roads ev-
er undertaken in this State is now
in progress under the direction of
the State Roads Commission. 1t is
expected to be of marked interest to
the farmers of the State and has been
undertaken by the Commission in
order to prove the soundness of its
contention, which was overruled last
summer by the Frederick County
Court; that it is not necessary that
the improved highways of the State
be destroyed or seriously injured by
traction engines in order that the
farmers may have their grain
threshed.
A State law forbids the use of
traction engines on the State roads
unless their driving wheels, all of
which are equipped with triangular
cleats of steel, be rendered harmless
to the roads by the use of filler
blocks between the cleats or by the
use of iron bands over the wheels of
sufficient width to prevent the cleats
from cutting into the roads. Suits
for injunction were filed by the Com
mission against the owners of sew
eral traction engines which refused
to equip their engines with either the
filler blocks or the bands, and the
Frederick County Court refused to
grant the Injunction permitting the
engines to use the roads with unpro-
tected wheels at will. The Com
mission appealed and the case is now
before the Court of Appeals.
At the trial the Commission offer
ed to equip the engine of any man in
the county with bands over the wheel
cleats, and if the engine could not go
over any State road in the county
thus equipped and draw its usual
load the Commission would with
draw its suits. This proposition was
rejected. Later the Commission en-
deavored to hire an engine from one
of the big factories in order to make
a demonstration, but the engine COM
pany refused to allow one of its
engines to be used.
Since then the Commission has Sc
cured a typical traction engine, has
fitted its wheels with bands and is
now sending it over the roads from
Cumberland to Frederick, where it
will wind up in front of the Court
House. The engine started out from
Cumberland a couple of days ago.
and is now held up at Gilpinville, IA
miles east of the Queen City, waiting
for bridge to be strengthened. This
will be completed today and the en-
CINE will start on its eastward jour
ney tomorrow afternoon. 1t has al
ready crossed Martins Mountain, sew
en- miles east of Cumberland, which
has a az per cent. grade. probably
as heavy as any it will have to en-
counter, and it went over the noun
tain without the slightest trouble.
The mountains it will have to
cross on its way to Frederick will be
Polish Mountain. Green Ridge. Town
Hill and Sidelong Hill. this last re-
quiring a steady pull of four and
half miles to the top and a descent
of equal length on the east. This will
take the engine across the Alleghe-
MES. In crossing the Blue Ridge it
will go over South Mountain, Catoc-
tin Mountain and Braddock Heights
and thence into Frederick.
The engine is owned by Chas. Nor
gan, of Flintstone; is of 16 horse
power, and has 16-inch driving
wheels. It is hauling a threshing
machine weighing three and a half
tons and tank wagon filed, which
weighs three tons more. This is a
far heavier load than the ordinary
outfit makes, but the Com
was anxious to make the
load heavy enough.
The bands on the wheels are half
an inch thick and 10 incnes wide, and
each band is made in two sections
and are bolted right through the rim
of the wheel. In tests two men put
II. I, LIT Il, l.,