MOTORING HISTORY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20620, 19 July 1930, Page 12 (Supplement)

MOTORING HISTORY.

EARLY EXPERIMENTORS. IDEAS FIVE CENTURIES OLD.' It is a littlo surprising to' find that the idea oi transportation in self-propelled, vehicles over ordinary roads is at least; live centuries old, and that practical rnonstrations of motor-cars were made as long as 160 years ago. One of the earliest! evidences of man's attempt to overcome distance in sell-propelled vehicles is found in pictorial records, dating from about 1430. The idea had been suggested; even earlier, but the practical form was lack, ing. In all probability the picture records of that, early date represent nothing more than diagrams of an idea by some ingenious individual, and it is unlikely that ho ever constructed a vehicle? to demonstrate liis plan. From timo to time others advanced similar ideas, which were doomed to failure. It remained for Joseph Cugnot, of France, to invent, in 1769, a three-wheeled, carriage, which actually moved a load in addition to its own weight. This carriage was drivon by two stoain cylinders, placed either side of the front wheel, and directly connected to it. The boiler was suspended in front of the driving wheel, and, in guiding the clumsy vehicle, it was necessary to move the weight of the cylinders and the boiler, as well as tho weight of the largo wooden wheel. '1 he boiler resembled a tea kettle, and in its prominent position it made steering difficult. I lie first demonstration was not a complete success. Mechanically the performance was satisfactory, judged by the standards of the time; but, due to the difficulty in steering, or, possibly, to the excitement of the hour, the inventor lost control and crashed into a stone wall, upsetting his cargo of human freight and giving them the fright of their iives. For this little episode he was sent to the Bastille, thus becoming the first person " sent up" foi; a motor traffic accident. However, his status soon changed from that of malefactor to benefactor, for he was rescued and granted a pension in recognition of his achievements Steam-Propelled Vehicles. Following Cugnot there were a number of men who attempted to attach steam engines to the wheels of carriages, but no advances of note were made for some time. Jn 1301 a young English engineer, Kichard Trcvethielc, produced a working model, which succeeded in hauling seven or eight passengers up a rather steep hill faster than a man could walk. Much attention was foeusscd upon him, and he might have been famous as a builder of steam motor coaches had he not I een forced, through bankruptcy, to go back to the mines as an engineer. After Trcvethick came Sir Goklsworthy Gurncy, whose steam coach made regular trips between Cheltenham and Gloucester, England, more than 100 years ago. His interesting carriages were spectacular affairs with their loads of gaily-dressed men and women, trying to appear at their ease, when most of them were having inward qualms, fearing that the journey might as likely end in purgatory as elsewhere. Small wonder they were nervous, for the steam generator was directly underneath some of 111 a passengers, and boiler explosions were very frequent. Gurnev attained a fair measure of success financially, but the opposition of his own class — landowners and breeders and users of horses—led him to abandon tho enterprise, and no further attempt was made to popularise this type of road vehicle for many years to come. Tho novelty and glamour had disappeared, and, without doubt, the costs of operation were too high to encourage general usage. Furthermore, the development of the steam automobile was arrested by the growing success of railways. Air-Pressure ancl Gas Designs. Although most of the ancient automobiles were driven by steam, some were operated by other sources of power. Even before the steam engine had been invented by Wall, men had been experimenting with fuel burned in a cylinder. Some had used gunpowder, and others turpentine, but the results were unsatisfactory. Most of the early internal combustion engines worn what are called airpressure engines. Gas was exploded in a cylinder to drive the piston to the top and so expel the air. .As the burned gases condensed; the vacuum' in the cylinder was held, and tho pressure of tho atmosphere drove the piston downward. It was during this downward stroke that the real work was .performed, hence tho name, airpressure engine Several men made gas engines which performed a little useful work, but tho one invented by Samuel Brown in 1823 was the first to bo used to movo a carriage. Tho principles of the modern petrol motor were first specified in .1862 by Beau de J'ochas, of France. He described in detail tho operating principles of a four-cycle engine, such as is now used in practically every motor-car. No attention or credit was given his invention, and it remained for Dr. Otto, of Germany, to re-discover the principle of de liochas ; and make a practical application of it,. The whole history of the motor-car abounds with men who were so far ahead of (heir contemporaries that their valuable ideas were often rejected. It is to Franco and Germany that we must look to find the men who finally succeeded in getting tho world to recognise tho utility of the automobile. In these countries experimenters were unhampered bv legislative restraints, and superior roads made the motor vehicle a more useful product than in other countries.

FAN-BELT DRIVERS. When ordinary strap leather is used for fan-belt drives, a very satisfactory joint can be made by chamfering the ends and overlapping them, then tucking them togcthei with six or eight tacks on each wide, tho length of tho tacks being such that tho point can bo just turned over. Many joints have been made in this way, and it. has been found that the belt does not click at the joint, I and will stand up to a terrific amount of j hard work.