THE STORY OF THE MOTORCAR.

Hastings Standard, Volume XIII, Issue 4310, 13 November 1909, Page 3 (Supplement)

THE STORY OF THE MOTORCAR.

THE ROMANCE OF THE "ROAD HOG.' (Told by W. Eden Hooper.; Tli® prophet Xahuni is recorded— Terse 4, chap. 2, Book of Nahnm—to have prophesied as follow*: '"The cha- " Tiofca rage in the streets, they jnstle one another in the broad ways: the appearance of their, is like torches, they run like the lightnings Some two thousand years einee—viz.. in the thirteenth century A.D.—Roger Bacon, the learned Franciscan monk, wrote this, m the light of present events, extraordinarily <*->r'e t prophecy: '"We will bo able tr> construct machine.* which will propel large ships v.ith greater . peed than a whole garrison of rowers, and which will need only ono pilot t"> direct them: we will be able to i 'op 1 carriages with incredible speed without the assistance of any animal; and we will be able to make machines which, by means ' wings, will enable us to fly into t':ie air like birds." In 1687. certain Father Verb:est- a missionary amongst the Chinese, invented a crude steam-propelled carriage.. SIR ISAAC'S APPARATUS In 1680 the celebrated Sir Isaac Newton, "in his explanation of the "'Newtonian Philosophy,'* suggested an apparatus which should drive a vehicle by steam. to be raised by cral. ard allowed to escape violently "at the rear of the Tehicle, thos driving it forward. It is commonly be'ie-vcd —and. indeed, even taught to our children—that Janice "Watt was the inventor of the steam engine. Nothing of the kind. Watt simply took up inventions which had preceded him. and enormously im proved npoxi the crude engines which he found in existence. The first known working model of a : team engine was made by Pa pin at the cl<xie of the 17th century.

It should be observed that Pa pin's engines were use"! for pumping water, and ill a pamphlet he remarked thai the inequalities and curves of,-roads would make steam-driven vehicles difficult of perfection. It wa; fifty years later that steam "wag a recognised power, and was gradually adopted for labour-saving purposes, fn 17-59 Professor Robinson, of Edinburgh University, wrote t> James "Watt " suggesting that he should endeavour t"> solve the problem of applyirg steam power to r a 1 vehicles. SYMINGTON'S STEAMBOAT Watt-, as a matter of fact did devote considerable time and energy to the matter, and took out a number of master patents for the application of steampower to load vehicles. The ckselv following years saw a large number of experiments made by many inventors, with the idea of driving carriages by .steam. Amongst thos« who persevered t > this end was Symington, who built the first successful stearnbor.t which plied in the Clyde. Symington was the inventor of the marine steam engine, just as Robert Stephenson was the inventor of the railwav steam engine. The' nr-t r:>ad vehicle to go actually by its f.wn efforts—to be its own geegee as it were—was in France: for. whilst v.e had b en experimenting and improving in England, says an English paper*. Continental inventors had also te en busy >vith the problem: and one of the<-e—Nicholas Joseph Cugnot—succeeded in 1769 ; in placing a steam-driv-«n vehicle upon the stre. t. It m 3 a curiously shaped one, being mounted on three wheels, with a huge Uuier suspended in front. There is reliable authority to show that it travelled about two and a quarter miles an hour, and carried four persons. Every fifteen minutes or so the steam-power would give -out. and a stoppage was necessary to the lx>iler to generate a frech supply. In spite of its numerous shortcomings this was considered a most remarkable attempt at that time, and created such a favourable impress ion in official ci:*cles in France that Cugnot was ordered by the Minister of War to construct a machine powerful enough to draw a cannon. The actual machine, in a good -state of preservation, is .• till to be found •in the Conservatoire des Art -, in Paris. C'ngnot's second attempt ended in an accident, which. at the same tune, ended the inventor's career. This now brings us to the period in oar own country, of Richard TrevithiCiC. This invento> the first real road locomotive capable ot carrying passengers. and of making a continuous jouruev. Cugnot s endeavours of thirty Years previously were not to be crunDared with the'result? accomplished by Trevithick. r , ~ . On Chri-tmas Eve of 1801 this pioneer vehicle—which was half a steam engine and half a cart— got up steam, and, with a load of sevtn passengers, travelled up a high hill for half a mile, wben it was turned round and driven back. It travelled at a speed of eight miles an hour. Trevithick then built a steam carriage in London, the engine being attache! to a coach suspended on springs. This was built in Leather Lane, off Hol-t-om.

SPEED IN THE CITY. It ran to Lords Cricket Ground, and -through the C'itv and suburbs of London. It is recorded that this carriage rail "with great speed ' through Oxford Street, there being "great crowds mid much cheering. But Trcvithiek, like no many p:oneer Inventors, lost his mon«\v in pursuing liis hob'bv. and died a bankrupt. The years immediately following saw irany further attempts at placing me--clir.mcal velvcles on the streets, and making them profitable ventures But Ix.th the engineers, and those who financed them lost heavilv. At last, in 1862, tho celebrated capitalist and engineer. Sir Golds worthy Gurney. made a bold bid for the support of the public. and started a service in London and the country of steam-driven coaches and omnibu-e-, Tin s • plied regularly "between Hyde Park and Highgate, Gloucester and Cli.»lt'-nhnni. etc.

Other strongly-ba< keel inventors also ran ferric: s of steam and 'buses, •and by 1830 the=e vehicles wore common sights in London and upon the «ltntry road.-;. The rate or progress was about twenty mile-:: ail hour.

THE MAX WITH THE RED FLAfJ. But many interests w re threatened with this new in novation. The oid posting irm--.. the powerful oiniers of liorse-dTawu coiche;. the owners of the roads, all joined in erring down the <: ne!c locomotion." ToH-gate charges were mr.d*- prohibitive. The law step ped in with restriction after restriction, run!!. by the Act of power driven whales on t!t» roads were prohibited i'r m travelling ; > yond a speed «f four miles an hour. and unless preceded by a man waving a reri fine. This absurd .Vt killed the new industry of s.eam r ad-cnrr-agi s. Those who lu'd put their money into it lost it, and inventors and engineers were dis-citij-aged. For thirty years Erglidi < ndeavour nr.irt Ya'l.v teased, and this Hi eat modern movement, started in England over a century ago. was only purswed to its grand fulfilment by Continental and American inventors. It was not until 1890 that the o'd prohibitive red-fl ip; A t was repealed and a fresh character of liberty was 'riven to makers of strain, electrical, and pet-rol-driven vehicles. But whilst invention, so far as meeha«i<'«l road locomotion was concerned was lying fallow iu England German and

French engineers worked persistenthat the problem, and at length Gottlieb Daimler evolved the first real motorcar, as distinct from a steim-driven vehicle. On the Continent there were no restrictive laws, and the roads were fre-ely used for experimental purposes. No further explanation is required—the restrict if; n in England and the freedom on the Continent—to show why they in England fell £f> far behind in the earlv stages of modern motor-car brilding." It was. indeed, years before they were able to make up the lost ground. It may bs said that Daimler—he died in Ifino—was the fath?r o; the modern petrol car. He had evolved a light intornal combustion motor, fed by petroleum spirit petrol. This motor, originally fitted to marine launches he succeeded in fitting to a tricycle. Thiswas in 188-3. A FIG FOR FIXES.

A year later ho built a wooden cart, with four wheels, and affixed his motor to it. This was the first, motor-car ever made. The celebratecTFrei:ch engineer. Monsieur Levas.or. of Panhard-Li vasrnr fame, secured the F:>. ndi rights. He improve:! upon the original patent-;. Others quickly saw the possibilities of these l get. motor-driv, n car-". Improvement followed upon improvement, and bv 1592 both Daimler, Levassor. and others had orders in hand for a number of cars. These travelled at fifteen to twenty miles an hour. Motor-cars became the rage on the Continent. It was four years later that the Act was passed which allowed motor-cars to be used upon the public highways of England. But, in spite of fincis and legal pro e utions, some enthusiasts t 'ok cars over to England, and persisted in running them long before the law allowed tli em

In 1890 Sir David Salomons held an exhibition of hor. eless cn'rriag s at Tunbridge "Wei's—the first in England. It was followed by another cxhibition at the Impeiial Institute early in '9o. This inhibition was opened by H.M. the King—the.i Prince of Wale?--and the result of these shows, and of much influence and hard work was seen in the rrotor-car Act of 1896. By this time racing , n the G ntinent I eiween "horseless" vehicle", had become a senFj.tional sport. TITF FIRST OF THE RACES.

The first rac was bet we n Paris and Rolln«vi in 1801. It was followed by the Pari -Bordeaux, the Paris-Bou'ogae, tlia Paris-Madrid races, and ofhers. From a rate of speed, in the first race, of twelve miles an hou:\ the pace grew to fifty miles in a few years, and fatal accidents were everyday occurrences. Ni.wafl lys e'ghtv m:lr-> an hour is quite a common speed in motor-rac-insr.

The first big mec-t of motor-cars in England was on November 14th, ISDfi. tlie day when the Act allowing them to lan came into force. Ab-ut forty cars of vtt' ioMs types, and all of foreign manufacture, start'd for a run to Brighton from Northnmberlar d Avoinr 1 . London. Only a pr. portion of the e ever arrived there. Others broke down at various stages of the journev, and stoppages for repairs and to take in water were frequent. From the period just d> alt with the prcgresi r? tl>~ boivele-s vehicle has gor• •• • v'.tlt •(■-(■ri-li intensity. Twenty .-ear? ai- > the motor-car was a hobby. an'l little i««»rc than a toy. Today. it 'i .1 machine of strenuously tester! powers and enormous future possibilities. The instincts of man are even more forward in his method of locomotion. a.s in other things. It is this instinct that is drivng us oil to the era t>f aerial transport. Without the light, internal-combnst'on motor evolved by automobile engineers the flying-machine would not have been possible. No state of perfection, no finality, is recognised by man.