The Washington herald., 1914-12-03
HISTORY BUILDERS.
An Early Ancestor of the Automobile
Written Expressly for The Heraldl
By DIR. Z. J. EDWARDS.

I WAS chatting with the late DR.. Bev-
erly Mead while We both stood looking
at the work Of destruction OF the house
long occupied as the country home, in
Greenwich. Conn, of William Rockefel-
Ter. II stood upon a piece Of land which
was separated from the country home OF
William NJ. Tweed by a narrow street
and a slightly broader lot. The home Of
Tweed had been torn down earlier. so
that upon its site could be constructed a
dwelling modelled after the so-called
Elizabethan architecture. Mr.. Rockefel-
ler's former home was taken down so
that upon its site a dwelling Of modern
architecture could be built. While we
were chatting there appeared in the
driveway an automobile driven by steam
power. as the yapOr that came from the
exhaust clearly indicated. DR.. Mead 5
mind was diverted by the appearance OF
this car from the destruction OF the Rock
efeller home to a recollection OF an in
cident which came within his knowledge
forty years earlier.
He said: Il never see one OF these autos
Of which steam power Is the driving en-
ergy without recalling an incident in the
career OF a friend Of my early manhood
named Ingersoll. whose name. although
it does not appear in any OF the many
biographies, Is known the world over be-
which made It possible to dispense with
hand labor in rock drilling and 70 substi-
tute steam power for it
"Ingersoll was born in a house which Is
still standing, and is only a mile or so on
the Connecticut side Of the boundary line
between New York and Connecticut. The
house was n famous one in the early days
because 1t was built of rough brownstone.
whereas almost all the other farmhouses
in that vicinity were built OF wood. My
own home and the farm upon which
passed my childhood and early manhood
were within pistol shot OF Ingersolls
home.
The neighborly relation created a sort
OF intimacy between Ingerson and my
self. although l was a younger man than
he. learned. however. that he belonged
to the prevailing type OF American in
ventors who were distinguished generally
for the lack OF money sense. His inven-
tions have enriched the world by millions
upon millions. but he never had much
money and died poor.
TT was about the time OF our civil
war that I saw Mr.. Ingersoll riding
along the highway in a go-cart OF extra
ordinary appearance. 1t went along all
right. although neither horse nor mule
was attached TO it, and it made a tremen-
dous racket.
get an explanation from him. He said
he had been called to account in one of
the villages through which he had passed
because his wagon made such a noise
that it frightened horses and, besides. the
horses were scared when they saw a
wagon going along without any horse.
''Ingcrsoll said that he had made an en-
gine which would drive a wagon by
steam power. He told me that he would
have TO give up using It because the
farmers protested against it. He said.
however, that the time would come when
a -propelling wagon driven by steam
power would be in common use The
principal difficulty to overcome was to
secure a sufficient supply of fuel to drive
the machine for any distance without
making too heavy a load for the car. He
also told me that he was certain that !
some day a substitute for steam energy
would be discovered. and when that was
done self-propelled cars would pass into /
common use.
He did not live long enough to know /
of the invention of the internal combus- |
ton engine. but never see one of these |
autos going by without thinking OF the |
talk I had that day years ago. with |
Ingerson."
Copyright, 1884, by E. J. EdWards All rights re- |
serTedJ