The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1931-03-12

Evolution From the 'One.lung.
err to the Eight Took Only
Three Decades
Visitors to the Bismarck Automo-
bile show will have an opportunity
during this exhibition to compare
the present high-grade products of
Americas leading manufacturers
with those Of the past.
One doesn't have to boast many
years to be able to remember the first
automobile ever seen tn Bismarck. It
seems only yesterday that the best
automobiles were hating, limping af-
fairs which might 60 haywtre any
minute. To-day, nonstop runs Of
hundreds and even thousands of miles
are common.
An expert in the motor business,
who has watched the progress Of the
industry since it was m infant in
stead of one Of Americas industrial
giants, sees continued progress and
further refinements. He says:
Evolution from the "one- Hunger" to
the eight-in-line has required hardly
more than 30 years. Search as you
will, you can not find in any other
line of transportation as radical an
advance in motive power as that
through which the automotive indus
try has passed.
Vessels have been propelled by
steam for over a century. The his
toric trip Of the Clermont on the Hud-
son river took place in 1907. The first
steam-propelled railroad trains fol-
lowed a little over q decade after
Fulton's steamboat. Although these
two systems of transportation there
fore have had more than 100 years
development, the greatest advances
in the power-plants OF railroad and
steamship have come from the 80
year-old automotive industry.
The alloy steels that have made
possible the great increases In the
efficiency Of the steam engine, the
use of the oil burner. the fast coming
internal combustion motor ships and
the newest g~as-electrics contemplated
for rail use are by-products Of the
motor car industry.
Scarcely had the "one-lunger" been
made we'll enough to be called q sue
cess than the two-cylinder engine ap-
peared. At the time this seemed rath-
err luxurious as the power impulses
coming twice as close together made
the two cylinder equipped car a much
smoother and better unit. Just about
Is years ago, the four cylinder en-
CINE began to come in very strongly
for general use and one pioneer had
even gone so far as to have designed
an eight-in- line racing car However,
that was q freak" and certainly far
ahead of its time. as we had not even
learned how to build a good four, at
that time.
When the four had reached a stage
Of development where it was reliable,
the era of motor transportation had
arrived. A certain section OF the pub
lie then began to clamor for more
than mere transportation. They be-
gan to ask for greater smoothness
and quietness as well. The four gave
good transportation, but 1t required
the six to give the smooth, luxurious
performance that many people de-
sired.
In the interim between the four and
the six. threes and fives were also
tried. It must be remembered that
the two-cycle engine still held on dur.
ing the early years Of the Goth cen.
fury, and there were some good au-
tomobile manufacturers who thought
that the two-cycle was superior to
the four-cycle. Three and five-cylin-
der engines were quite feasible with
the two-cycle principle and q few
made their appearance, but the fund
amental advantages Of the four-cycle
plus the disadvantages Of the two
cycle o killed off the few remain
ing two-cycle attempts.
A six -cylinder engine is in what the
engineers call inherent balance and
is comparatively easy to keep free
from vibrations. Heavier c~rankshafts.
which eliminated the bad torsional
vibrations of the early sizes, estab-
lished this as q real successful power
plant that could do all that anyone
could reasonably expect and do 1t
quietly and without vibration.
However, the public compelS us to
move onward The silky flow Of pow
err developed by the eight has come to
be very much In demand during the
past few years. The six will probably
never be displaced, but we are going
to have more and more Fights. The fact
that there are more cylinders. natur-
ally increases the number of power
impulses per revolution. It is GER
tainly plain that q car will move more
smoothly il 1t Is propelled by a great
many light pushes rather than fewer
hard pushes and this, Is just what
eight cylinder propulsion means.
With the greater number Of i'm
pulses 1t is possible to get the same
power and have each one of the i'm
pulses lighter. Individual cylinders
can be made smaller and all the re-
ciprocating parts CORRESPONDENCE
lighter, reducing the vibration in the
engine and producing that smooth
ness Of performance which Is SC much
desired.
Back in the days Of the four some
manufacturers said, Our company
will never build a six, we believe four
cylinders are enough" Today those
companies are not only building SKIES.
but also Fights. It is never safe In
this industry to say that we viii not
do something. Progress is so rapid
that what looks impossible today may
be common practice two years from
now. Witness high compression. al
minimum alloy pistons, pump gasoline