INTERESTING TESTS OF A HORSELESS WAGON.
Owing to many inquiries received by the Autobain regarding the announcements of the Chicago company, heretofore made on the cover page of the magazine, and which have been renewed from month to month, but not fulfilled, the writer wishes to say that none of these promises are visionary, but that he himself has seen most of them performed. The delivery wagons of this company weigh seventeen hundred pounds, and are capable of carrying twenty-five hundred pounds at any speed desired. The writer himself has seen this vehicle do some apparently impossible things. For instance: A piece of timber, fourteen inches square, was placed directly in front of the hind wheel while the carriage was at rest. The power was then applied, and the wheel, brought up and over the block, dropped gradually, by inches, almost to the opposite side of the block, to within about an inch of the ground, but not touching it. The power was then reversed, and the wheel again mounted to the top of the block and down again to the other side. This was repeated several times. Then a six-inch pipe was placed in front of the hind wheel, the wagon pulled up to the top of it, balanced there, and then the pipe rolled167by the action of the wheel, much as we have seen acrobats do the same trick on the stage. Then an egg was placed back of this pipe, in such a position that when the wheel dropped, it would rest on the egg. The wagon then dropped from the pipe onto the egg, cracking the shell until the white of the egg began to appear; then the power was again applied by the operator, and the vehicle drawn away without crushing the egg. Grades of fully thirty per cent have been negotiated in our presence, with a full load, and a stop made when half-mounted. The power was then shut off, only to be again applied, and the wagon again started up the incline. What do these tests indicate? To the writer they indicate three things, the first of which is that the operator of the machine is one of the most expert who ever handled a lever. The next is that the vehicle, in the hands of one who can operate it, is under absolute control; and finally that the vehicle has all the power necessary or desirable. And, incidentally, it might be well to say that an expert is not necessary to its operation; for it really seems to be almost fool-proof. But probably the test given of breaking an egg could be performed only by an expert.