Arizona republican., 1920-12-27
THE ANCESTRAL FLIV

1890 and ran it on the streets of Mill waukee in 1892. Here Is one instance where priority narrows down to months. Duryea ran his car in 1892 and Schooner claims to have run his in the same year, but Schooner gives no month and it is not definitely known whether lie can prove the exact history of the machine. A Texas man also writes that he produced a self-propel- ling vehicle in 1S90 but details and absolute proof are lacking. Tn view of the facts as they are generally knowB now, if anyobdy deserves to be called the Columbus or Washington. or the Daniel Boone of the American automo- bile, it is Duryea.
 Duryea's Career
 From his boyhood on an Illinois farm Charles Duryea was interested in mechanics. A description of bicycle in a popular scientific magazine le4 him to make the first bicycle 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 transportation. Shortly after leav- ing school he went to the city to work for bicycle company. He became licensed steam engineer and he built gas engines. He was intensely inter- ested in everything that pertained to mechanics, motors and engines. and finally he was ready to sift and apply what he had learned to his fayerite dream, the horseless carriage. For his first attempt he used a cal.- riage body and concentrated his efforts on his motor. He experienced secretly ] in an upstairs workroom. Even when his machine was ready for a trial run he hesitated to take it on the street 1 for fear of frightening horses and So antagonizing the public. Finally, he brought his model downstairs in an elevator and made his final tests on a vacant lot. Even there people came to gape and protest but when he started the engine the sudden splitting and chugging Of the motor sent the crowd flying in terror.
 People became accustomed to tho phenomenon of the horseless vehicle slowly It took Duryea two years to sell 1S cars when he started to popu- l larize his invention. Yet he says that his first commercial demonstration ma chine, the third model he made. never ] one had to be lowed 4 few times t broke down with an inexperienced driver, but in such cases one of his as sistants or Duryea himself came to the rescue. and after a little thinkering the automobile of 1894 would start chug- ging and roll off in triumph
 The First Race
 In 1896 Duryea sent a car to England to take part in one of the oldest races in automobile history. Up to that time England had had a law prohibiting a motor vehicle to run on the common roads unless a man walked before it
 waving a red flag. This law kept Eng
 land from making any progress with
 automobile inventions while France. Germany and the United States were steadily producing swifter and more reliable models.
 Tn 1896, when England repealed the law, celebration was held to show
 what strides were being made in rapid
 transit Automobiles from different
 countries were sent to London for T
 demonstration race from London tu Brighton-52 miles. The European
 models had a reputation for speed. and : it was to the surprise of all the spec
 tators that Duryea.s American machine got to Brighton full hour before any
 of the other speed demons came puff ing up.
 From then on. Duryea produced ons [ improved model after another Ths
 body was swung lower, more cylinder, 1 were added, the horsepower was in 5 creased.
 The motor car as we know it Wa.
 rapidly evolved. It seems a far crs from the grotesque motor buggy in ths museum. but really the developmen. l has been a process of refinement ant improvement rather than of radica , change