Perth Amboy evening news., 1920-12-22
THE HASKIN LETTER
TUF ANCESTRAL FTJV.


ny looking rig which is probably the
oldest American automobile in ex-
istence has just been given q prom
inent place in the National Museum
here.
This vehicle was made in 1898 by
Charles Duryea. 1t is literally an
old-fashioned phaeton carriage
with an engine fastened at the back
and a long steering rod which work.
ed up and down sideways conspic-
uous in the front. To start the en-
CINE, the driver had to go to the
back of the a and crank. He had
to get out to shut on the engine
when he stopped the car. But In
many ways this primitive automo-
bile Is closely related to the supe-
rior car Of today.
Duryea saw that his motor wagon
could not turn corners easily on
ordinary wagon axles. He therefoYe
made use of a differential, so that
the outside wheel could revolve
faster than the inside wheel in
making "a turn-a fundamental
principle of every modern car. He
used a spray carburetor, no/very
unlike the modern carburetor: cleo
trio ignition, water cooling, and
other features which later makers
improved. but have not replaced.
This car saw hard service for a
few years. Then from 1897 to the
present it has stood in a Massachu-
sets barn where children played
around it and sat on its cushions,
and dust. cobwebs. and rats helped
along its appearance of antiquity.
Fifteen years ago. the inventor Of
fered HIS historic automobile to the
National Museum; but at that time
the government had to crowd in
thousands of exhibits into one in
adequate building, and rather than
accept the gift and then store it
away in a warehouse. the %curators
iefused it. Now it has been dug out
of its oblivion, carefully shipped to
Washington, and set up in state, in
a r~oped-off enclosure, in the hall
with our early locomotives and air.
planes and other pioneer vehicles.
This is not. of course, the worlds
first automobile. Automobiles run
by steam were tried out in France
in the eighteenth century. They
were never satisfactory, and they
had little in common with the gas
oIine automobile. But even in the
history of the real gtas-propelled
vehicle we ind that a German in
vcntor was running his a in 1884,
American inventors dared
attempt anything so startling.
Sudden Rise OF the Auto.
Then. all of a sudden, automo-
biles appeared in different parts of
the United States. The time was
for a revolution Of traf-
tic. and the inventors were getting
busy. So rapidly did the first ma
appear that 1t is a 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 automobile.
exact information has not been
supplied by some of the inventors
claiming priority for their inven-
1t is possible that il cannot
be obtained, and that mystery will
eEshroud this epoch of our
history.
Meanwhile only when %indisputa-
BILE proof of it's existence at a GER
tain time is given, Will the museum
consider using an his
vehicle as an exhibit. Duryea
has proved that he built his first
car in 1891, and was using it by
the end of September or the first Of
October, 1892. The next year he
took it apart and used it's best feat
ures to make a better one-the car
given to the government.
Until Duryea proved history of
model. Elwood Haynes was popu-
given credit for making the
appearance in an American car.
planned his invention and
had it built in 1894. and on these
grounds he claimed the title of the
of the American automobile.
Gottfried Schloemer, of Milwau-
See is still in the competition FOR
the title. He sets forth. for the
benefit of all whom it may concern,
in O sworn affidavit. that he built an
automobile in 1890 and ran it on
tho streets of Milwaukee in 1892.
Here is n instance where prior
Ity narrows down to months. Dur
yea ran his a in 1892 and Schloe-
mer claims to have run his in the
year, but SchloemerN gives no
month and. it is not definitely
whether he can O the
exact history OF his machine. A
Texas man also writes that he pro-
duced a self-propelling vehicle in
1890. but details and absolute proof
are lacking. In view of the facts
as they are generally known now, il
anybody deserves to be called the
of Washington. or the
Boone of the American au-
.omobile, it is Duryea.
Duryea's Career.
From his boyhood on an Illinois
farm, Charles Duryea was inter-
in mechanics. A description
Of a bicycle in a popular scientific
led him to make the first
he had ever seen. When he
had to write a graduation thesis
at school he chose rapid transit.
and described the near approach of
the horseless carriage and air
Shortly after leav-
ing school he went to the city to
work for a bicycle company. He
became a licensed engineer and he
built gas engines. He was intense
ly Interested in everything
p~ertained to mechan-
les, motors and engines, and finally