New and Novel Carriage Forthcoming.

The American Motor Company, Havemeyer Building, New York, bave issued a new catalogue illustrating and describing the various styles of marine, stationary and vehicle motors which they are now manufacturing. These number 15 in all, ranging from I horse-power to 50 horse-power. In addition they are also prepared to execute special orders for sizes and styles not included in the catalogue.

The portions relating to motor vehicles are of special interest, as the announcement is made that an improved design of motor carriage is soon to be shown by this company, a carriage in which an infinite number of speeds, from zero to maxi mum," may be obtained without changing the speed of the motor, the driving mechanism to employ neither pulleys, gears, spockets, chains nor friction discs.

We illustrate their latest style of vehicle motors, marine and stationary.

2 H.-P. VEHICLE MOTOR.

COMMUNICATIONS.

More About Iron Tires.

Editor Horseless Age.

My article on vehicles for cripples and iron tires in the February number of THE HORSLESS AGE has caused a few manufacturers of horseless carriages and would-be inventors to write to me, but no one has replied through THE HORSELESS AGE. For the benefit of the would-be inventors I will say that I have no money to experiment with. If I had I would go into the business myself, as I think such a tricycle, carriage, vehicle or whatever it was would be salable.

Some makers of rubber tires seem to think that what I said about iron tires will interfere with their business. Common sense will teach any reasonable person that iron tires will outlast rubber tires. I admit that some liverymen have carriages with rubber tires which are preferred by some of their customers, because they are noiseless and elastic, but they will not last so long or endure the rough usage. Tacks, glass, pieces of tin and iron soon destroy them, while they make but little impression on iron.

Iron tires on motor carriages would not make any more noise than on those drawn by horses. Neither do rubber tires eliminate the noise made by the horses' feet. To eliminate that we would have to have rubber shoes for the horses, which would be very expensive.

A wheel with a felloe like a lawn mower would not slip or clog, and attached to a moter carriage would be as serviceable as a rubber tire and far more permanent. There would be no puncturing, collapsing or coming off, and it would need no inflating.

I saw a horse rake, a few days ago, with iron wheels, which I think could be made to illustrate my theory. The felloe had a g. oove in it 1 inch wide and 4 of an inch deep. The spokes were iron screw bolts, the head outside the felloe, fitting in the groove, and the thread entering a flange in the hub and holding it in place by the nut. Tires made in sections, 1 or 2 feet long and crimped, could be made to fit in the groove and held to the felloe by the spoke. Then, if a section of the tire broke or wore smooth, a new one could be replaced with no other tool than a wrench. EDWIN COOMBS.

ELMER, N. J.

About Rotary Engines.

Editor Horseless Age.

DEAR SIR: In the March issue of your paper, second page, you state that the rotary motor thus far is quite unsolvable. I beg to call your attention to the fact that some of the most powerful fire engines built in the United States use rotary motors to operate their pumps. The best engine we have in our department here in Quincy is so equipped. This engine throws an inch stream into the fourth story of the ordinary building in this town and is capable of throwing a stream nearly the whole length of a square.

It would seem from this, which will stand verifying, that there are rotary engines which will generate power enough to propel a baby carriage, as you are pleased to put it.

Kindly look into this matter a little more and let us read the

Improvements in Gas Engines.

At a recent meeting of the society of German engineers, Herr Petréano gave an account of his improvements in gas engines, by means of which a practically instantaneous explosion is obtained. An illustrated report is given in the Zeitschrift des Vereines Deutscher Ingenieure (Feb. 6), from which the following is abstracted:

It has been demonstrated experimentally that the explosion in gas engines of the Otto type is not instantaneous, but con. tinues during the greater portion of the stroke, and that, in fact, unburned gas is discharged with the exhaust. This results in a reduced initial pressure and consequent reduced efficiency, as well as an unnecessary heating of the cylinder, requiring excessive cooling. The co-efficients of diffusion of various gases have been determined by Guglielmo, Obermayer, Stefan, Loschmidt and Waiz, and their results confirmed by Herr Petréano's own experiments, and these show, for example, that liter of marsh gas requires 6 seconds to become fully diffused in 1 liter of air, and that 1 liter of gas compressed with 5 liters of air requires 10 to 12 seconds for diffusion. When therefore, the time of a single revolution of a gas engine is considered, it will be seen that the mixture cannot become sufficiently intimate to permit proper instantaneous explosion.

The apparatus of Herr Petréano provides for the mixture of the air and gas before they enter the cylinder, and consists of a cylindrical chamber through which passes longitudinally a central tube; through this tube the exhaust gases pass, thus heating it to a high temperature. The tube is covered with a wicking of asbestos fiber, and a series of diaphragms are fitted in the annular space between the outside of the central tube and the inside of the chamber. The incoming gas and air pass through this mixing and heating chamber, and are thus thoroughly diffused before they enter the cylinder for compression, and the result, as shown by indicator diagrams, is a greatly-increased rapidity of combustion, and an increase, not only in the initial, but also in the mean effective, pressure. According to experiments made at the Technical High School at Charlottenburg, it is also possible to avoid altogether the use of circulating water in the jacket, it being only necessary to keep the jacket filled with water, and supply the loss by evaporation. After a ten hours' run under these conditions, the cylinder remained clean, the temperature of the water in the jacket not having exceeded 80° C. (176° Fahr.) The pressure shown by indicator cards for the explosion with the usual construction is only about 2.7 times the pressure of compression, while with the new arrangement the pressure of explosion is shown to be 3.7 times the pressure of compression. — Engineering Magazine.

JOIN THE

AMERICAN

MOTOR LEAGUE.

The Whitney Steam Wagon.

This wagon, called the Whitney Full Automatic Steam Wagon, was built by George E. Whitney, East Boston, Mass. The boiler is said to be entirely automatic and hence to require no attention so long as the water tank is supplied. The builder claims that grades of 20 per cent. can be ascended without difficulty, and that he recently traveled over the common highway from Boston to Hartford in 101⁄2 hours, the distance registered by his odometer being over 130 miles.

It is reported that a company has been organized to manufacture this wagon, one of those chiefly interested being George B. Upham, a lawyer of Boston, who was mentioned in connection with the Massachusetts Motor Vehicle Bill in our last issue.

The Elliott Motor Carriage.

After three years of experimenting W. L. Elliott, manager of the Oakland branch of the California Cycle Company, of San Francisco, California, has completed a motor carriage which he has publicly exhibited on the streets of that suburb. The vehicle has naturally attracted a great deal of attention in the city, where it was shown about the streets, and a few points of explanation may not be amiss.

The wheels, which are of bicycle construction, are 30 inches in diameter, and are fitted with non-puncturable 4-inch Morgan & Wright pneumatic tires.

The motive power is a 2-hp. horizontal Otto cycle motor, weighing 165 pounds with fly wheel. The diameter of the cylinder is 5 inches, and the stroke is 51⁄2 inches. At 600 revolutions (the normal being 300) the motor is claimed to develop about three actual horse-power.

Any grade of gasolene may be used, but best results are said to be obtained from 74°.

The control is effected by means of a steering lever in one hand, a speed lever in the other, a powerful band brake operated by one foot and an electric bell by the other.

Transmission is by belt from the motor to the countershaft, with cut gears from the countershaft to the rear axle.

The positive speeds are four, eight and sixteen miles an hour, with all the intermediate speeds.

The weight of the vehicle is said to be 600 pounds. It is also said to be capable of climbing a 13 per cent. grade at the rate of five miles an hour, and to be able to be stopped within a space of 15 feet when going at nearly full speed.

Charles Fair, son of the late Senator Fair, recently imported a French carriage and ran it about the streets of San Francisco and environs and the native product, the first one yet built and operated on the Coast, has been very favorably compared with the foreign vehicle.

Mr. Elliott writes that he will place his vehicle on the market at once.

The Berrenberg Motor.

Around the central chamber A are arranged equidistant cylinders B, whose pistons C are fastened to the crank pin by means of connecting rods, E.

Each cylinder B is provided with a valve E communicat

ing with the chamber A, through a pipe f, which conducts the mixture to the chamber A. This valve is operated by means of a cam G, acting upon levers such as fi. G is supported by the arm g sliding in the piece g 2, which is guided by the return of the movement g 2 g 3. so that the distance to the centre can be regulated at will.

Between the motor cylinders B are air-compressing cylinders I, whose pistons K are attached to the crank pin D by connecting rods L. In the top plate of each cylinder are found a safety valve, working out and in; an escape pipe i connecting each compression cylinder with the corresponding motor cylinder by means of valves F opening at the desired moment through the action of the cam G.

In the bottom of the cylinders are screws f regulating the contact pieces of the igniting device.

At each revolution each of the cylinders B is filled successively with explosive mixture through the valves Fopened by the cam G. During the preceding half revolution the mixture has been compressed in the cylinder I. The eccentricity of the cam G, which can be varied at will, regulates the valves F and consequently the mixture they supply.

Four impulses each revolution are therefore obtained.