Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-12-30
The Ancestral Fliv.
ny Frederic J. Haskin

Washington, ID. c., Dec. PA funny
booking rig which Is probably the oldest
American automobile in existence has just
been given prominent place IN the
National Museum here.
This vehicle was made in 1893 by Charles
Duryea. II is literally an old-fashioned
phetor carriage with an engine fastened
NJ the back and a long steering rod which
worked UP and down sideways conspicu-
otis in the front. To start the engine, the
driver had TO go to the back of the car and
crank He had to get out TO shut of the
engine when he stopped the car. But IN
many ways this primitive automobile IL
closely related to the superior car of
today.
Durvea saw that his motor wagon could
not turn corners easily on ordinary wagon
axles He therefore made use of diff
ferestial. so that the outside wheel could
revo,ye faster than the inside wheel In
making n turn-a fundamental principle
of every modern car. He used spray car
buretor, not very unlike the modern car
buretor; electric ignition, water cooling,
and other features which later makers inn
proved, but have not replaced.
This car saw hard service for 8 few
wears Then from 1897 to the present il
has stood in Massachusetts, barn where
childrcn PLAYED around it and sat on It's
cushions and dust, cobwebs and rats helped
along its appearance OF antiquity Fit
teen wears ago the inventor offered his
historic automobile to the National
Museum; but at that time the government
had TO crowd its thousands of exhibits
INTO one il adequate building, and rather
than accept the gift and then store 1t
away in a warehouse, the curators refused
a l. l.. y, of rs nhlIr-Inr1
carefully shipped to Washington and set
up in state. in roped-off enclosure, in the
hall with our early locomotives and air
planes and other pioneer vehicles.
This is not, Of course, the worlds hrst
automobile. Automobiles run by steam
were tried out in France in the eighteenth
century They We're never satisfactory
and they had little in common with the
gasoline automobile But cvcn IN the
history of the real gas-propelled vehicle
we find that n German inventor was
running his car IN 1884, before American
inventors dared attempt anything SO
startling
SUDDEN RISE OF THE AUTO.
Then. all of a sudden. automobiles
appeared in different parts OF the United
States. The time was propltlous for
reyOtutlOn OF Vfh11c3 tflu tue IHNeulCt~
were getting busy. So rapidly did the
first machine appear that 1t IS n matter Of
proving the months, or maybe the exact
days. on which several of the first cars
appeared, in order TO settle the question of
which is the original American automo-
bile. This exact information has not been
supplied by some Of the inventors claim
ing priority for their inventions. II is pos
sible that it cannot be obtained, and that
Will always enshroud this epoch
OF our history.
Meanwhile only when indisputable
proof of its existence at a certain time is
given. will the museum authorities con-
slider using an historic vehicle as an ex-
hbit Duryea has proved that he built
his first car in 1891, and was using it by
/ he end of September or the first Of Oc-
tober. 1892 The next wear he took it