New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-12-10
Hard to Improve Upon
Present Efficient
Devices
SPRING TYPE WAS
FIRST STYLE MADE
Air and Acetylene Crank.
ers Were Followed by
the Electric
BY CHARLES f. DURYEA. NE

The hundred different makes Of auto
mobiles, numbering close 10 500 cars, to
be exhibited at the National Automo.
bile Show in Grand Central Palace, will
reveal many important changes. Tn.
usual interest will centre in the self.
starting systems now 70 be found IA
every make of car TO be exhibited. Each
year self-starters have shown advance.
ment until now It IS hard TO Improve
upon their efficiency.
Part Of the present popularity Of II.
automobile is due TO this device, which
has practically wiped out the need for
mechanic 70 crank the engine, and N.
ever-present fear that, once stopped. II
would be beyond the drivers ability 70
start. II has made the gas car adapted
TO the use of the ladies, and 80 has Al.
most doubled the possible market
Looking back from the pre,.r,
period, the strange part of the story h,
that starters found no favor In TIA
early years. Mostly the men drivers OF
cars felt able TO do the required crank
ing, and as the new vehicles vera
bought largely by the wealthy, they er.
I pected the chauffeur TO do the start.
/ ing, and were not concerned about
added but out-of-sght mechanism "a,
/ that purpose. Further, those were ths
days of large cylinders, and the large
/ cylinder requires starting power that
the many cylinders Of small diameter
b do not need.
The spring starter was proposed as
early as 1893, but no cars worth men.
tloning existed, and no buyers were In
Z sight. A three-cylinder compressed Al,
/ motor was advertised in the early uart
Of the century, but again lack Of buy.
ers allowed 1t to die. Many devices be.
gan 70 be tried as the number of auto.
: mobiles increased, and some OF these
were very curious. Revovers for Ar.
y ing blank charges into the cylinder,
/ starting plugs with powder charges IN
/ them, hand pumps for forcing in the
proper amount of explosive mixture. h..
hitting cocks through which a big head.
ed match could be introduced Ana
which contained means for igniting ths
match were among the things tried.
One genius even used carbonic acid
gas capsules, which can be bought In
many places for carbonating beverages
From the medley of methods order be.
/ gan 10 come when one maker fitted an
ar starter as a regular part Of the ear.
/ MS was followed by a wave in favor
OF gas starters, in which the usual
mixture of acetylene gas was used 70
form working mixture in the cylin.
ders, and was introduced in the prone,
] cylinder at the proper time. These,
I however, were short lived
Finally the electric device began 10
/ come to the front. Partly this was
due TO the steady growth Of the elee.
trio equipment of the car and partly 70
/ the public faith in electricity as the
universal servant. This latter feelsg
was stimulated by the growing use Of
/ electric horns and lights and many
other devices where electricity does the
work. Just as the first successful air
starter was fitted to the car which used
already an air governor for controlling
! the engine, so the electric starter won
out tlrst or those cars where the
/ ignition source demanded a storage
/ battery, anyhow.
Al first the battery was charged at
the garage, but il was found to be
I lighter and more reliable if a charging
! dynamo were carried on the car in ad.
/ dition to the small electric motor used
for turning the engine. This completed
! the development of the two-unit start
/ ing system. But progress did not stop
there. Attempts at simplifcstion soon
showed that one electric machine could
be made 10 serve as both motor and
dynamo, and a wave of single unit
: starters swept over the trade. But
doing two jobs was rather difficult and
sometimes unsatisfactory, so the pen.
dulum again swung the other wsy, and
the two-unit outfit again seemed TO be
favored.
Inventors did not quit, however, and
many Improvements have been made in
the various parts, until il is ques-
; ton as TO which will be the final form
/ or whether both will be used