The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1920-12-22

The Ancestral FGv.

- automobile In 1880 and ran u
on inc streets OF Milwaukee r.
1897. Here is one instance vhe,.:
priority narrows down to montss
Dufyea ran his car in lss. All
Schooner claims to have RIM N.
In the same year. but Schlorms.
gives no month and it is NOT des
nitely known whether he can nros.
the exact history of his machine
A Texas man also writes that =.
produced Q self-propellins ,yeb;eis
In 1880. bpt details and shsolr,s
proof are lacking. In view a. ~
facts az they are generally knor,j
now. II anybody deserves TO b. ~,
ed the Columbus, or Washinss",
or the Daniel Boone of the Amsr
can automobile. it is Duryea
Duryea's Career,
From his boyhood on an Ill,n1,.
farm, Charles Duryea was int
ested in mechanics. A descrintss,
OF . bicycle in a popular scieni;t.
magazine led him to make the a.:
bicycle he. had ever seen. w"
he had to write graduation thes.
at. school he chose rapid tr,nsa
and described the near approach = !
the horseless carriage and i,
transportation. Shortly after lesv.
ing school he went 10 the citv !.
work for bicycle company i.
became a licensed steam ens,ne,,
and he built gas engines. He -.
intensely interested in everyth,s,
that pertained to mechanirs
motors and engines, and finally h
was ready to sift and apply wA,t
he had learned to his fayorit /
dream, the horseless carriage
For his first attempt he used
carriage body and concentrated Nj,
efforts on his motor. He experi-
mented secretly in an upgtairs
workroom. Even when his machine
was ready for trial run he he,i.
lated to take it on the street for
fear Of frightening horses and 10
antagonizing the public. Finally.
he brought his model downstsiry
in an elevator and made his final
tests on a vacant lot. Even there
people came to cape and protest.
but when he started the engine The
sudden splitting and chugsing Of
the motor sent the crowd flying b
terror.
People became accustomed to Do
phenomenon Of the horseless ".
hicle slowly. 1t took Duryea Two
years to sell 13 cars when be
started out to popularize his invsa-i
ton. Yet he says that his fst
commercial demonstration ma
chine, the third model he mad.
never once had to be towed. A
few times it broke down with n
inexperienced driver, but IN such
cases one of his assistants or Dus-
yea himself came to the rescue, and
after a little tinkering the automo-
bile of 1894 would start chuggi4
and roll of in triumph,
Tho First Raca
In 1896 Duryea sent a car 10
England to take part in one OF thu
=, oldest races in automobile history.
Up to that time England had hal
a law prohibiting a motor vehicle
! to run on the common roads unless
a man walked before it waving
red flag. This law kept England
from making any progress WITH
automobile inventions while
France, Germany and the United
States were steadily producing
swifter and more reliable models
! In 1896, when England repealed
! the law, a celebration was held 10
show what strides were being made
in rapid transit. Automobiles from
different countries were sent %
ILondon for a demonstration race
from London to Brighton-52 mlles.V
The European models had 9 repu-
tation for speed. and it was to .ne
surprise of all the spectators ina!
Duryea's American machine got 10
Brighton a full hour before any
of the other speed demons came
putting in.
From then on, Duryea producea
one improved model after another,
The body was swung lower, more
| cylinders we're aided, the Eorse-
,,,oa ;rnrnocpd
| The motor car as we KNOW
was rapidly evolved. II seems
far cry from the grotesque mo,oI
j buggy in the museum. but reafs
the development has been a pro-
cess. of refinement and improve
ment rather than of radical chang