During the sixteenth century the plague apparently began to show a decrease in its frequency, although during this period, as before, other epidemic diseases were mistaken for it. Germany, Holland, certain cities in France, and especially in Italy were scourged by the plague during this century. The noteworthy outbreak in Italy in 1575–77 was due to fresh importation from the Orient. The disease spread throughout Italy, and the devastation it caused was not inferior to that of the great plague two centuries before. For example, in 1576 in Venice 70,000 died of the disease.
During the seventeenth century the plague asserted itself with great severity. Following a famine, it prevailed in Russia in 1601–1603, and some idea of its destructiveness may be gained when it is stated that in Moscow alone 127,000 lives were taken. During the following decade even greater epidemics prevailed in Western Europe. France and England were invaded, and in Switzerland it even penetrated to the highest Alps. Basel in 1609–1611 had 4,000 deaths, while London in 1603 yielded 33,000.
The terrible epidemic which ravaged Northern Italy in 1629–1631 deserves more than a passing notice. During those years more than a million died of the disease. Scarcely a town in Northern Italy escaped. The city which, perhaps, suffered the most was Milan, where,in 1630, the deaths from all diseases are said to have amounted to 186,000. The Milan outbreak has been graphically described by Manzoni, in his celebrated ‘I Promessi Sposi.’ Unrecognized, the disease entered Milan in October, 1629. The mild cases which were met with during the winter months lulled the fears of the people and encouraged the mass of physicians to deny the existence of the plague. But in April the disease began to assert itself in terrible earnest. The frenzied populace, blind to the contagiousness of the disease, were possessed with the strange hallucination that obtained during former plague epidemics in other Italian cities, that the pest spread because of poison scattered about by evil-minded persons. Suspicious strangers were, as a result, stoned in the streets, imprisoned and even put to death by legal process because of such fanatical beliefs. To offset the growing pestilence, the people demanded of the Archbishop that a solemn religious procession be held, and that the holy relics of Saint Charles be exposed. At first this was refused, but eventually it was granted. The procession bearing the saintly body was solemnly held on the 11th of June. The fanatical security which these devotions engendered was rudely shattered when, a few days later, the disease burst forth with renewed activity among all classes in all parts of the city. Nevertheless, as Manzoni observes, the faith was such that none recognized that the procession itself was directly the cause of the new outburst of the disease by facilitating the spread of the contagion. Again the belief asserted itself that the ‘untori,’ or poisoners, mixed with the crowd and with their unguents and powders had infected as many as possible. From that day the fury of the contagion continued to grow to such an extent that scarcely a house remained exempt from the disease. The number of patients in the pesthouse rose from 2,000 to 12,000, and later reached 17,000. The daily mortality rose from 500 to 1,200, then 1,500, and is even said to have reached 3,500. Milan, before the epidemic, was said to have had a population of from 200,000 to 250,000. The loss by death has been variously estimated at from 140,000 to 186,000. All these deaths were not due to the plague. Thus, large numbers of children died as a result of starvation consequent upon the death of their parents from the plague.
The horrors attendant upon such a dreadful visitation can well be imagined. Scarcity of help in removing the dead and in taking care of the sick made itself felt, to say nothing of the lack of food. Enormous trenches, one after another, were filled with the bodies of the victims, carried thither by the hardenedmonatti, the counterpart of the Florentinebecchini, so well portrayed by Lord Lytton in his ‘Rienzi.’ These bearers of the sick and dead were naturally recruited from the lowest criminal classes, and it can, therefore, cause but little wonder thatan epidemic of the worst of crimes was associated with that of the plague.
In 1656 Italy was again invaded by the plague, and on that occasion Genoa lost 65,000 of its population by death. About the same time terrible epidemics of the disease ravaged Russia, Turkey and Hungary.
London, in 1665, suffered dreadfully from the plague. The disease appears to have been imported from Holland, where it was known to have existed for some time. The progress of the disease in London has been vividly portrayed by Defoe in the ‘Journal of the Plague Year’ and in the ‘Due Preparations for the Plague.’
It is supposed that the pest had been imported in bales of goods from Smyrna into Holland in 1663. From thence it crossed over to London, where the first deaths were reported about the first of December in 1664. Toward the end of that month another death occurred in the same house, but during the following six weeks no new case developed. About the middle of February, however, a person died of the plague in another house. From that time only occasional cases of plague were reported, although the weekly mortality was rapidly rising and was greatly in excess of the usual rate. Thus, while the ordinary weekly mortality ranged from two hundred and forty to three hundred, this was gradually increased, so that in the third week in January it had risen to four hundred and seventy-four. After a slight remission, the mortality again rose, so that early in May plague cases were reported more frequently. It soon became evident that the plague, as in Milan in 1630, had slowly but surely gained a firm foothold. The increased mortality was undoubtedly due to unsuspected plague cases of either the pneumonic or the septicemic type.
During May, and especially during the hot weather in June, the disease continued to spread. At the same time, the panic-stricken people began to leave the city in large numbers. In July the condition was truly deplorable. To quote Defoe:
“London might well be said to be all in tears; the mourners did not go about the streets, indeed, for nobody put on black or made a formal dress of mourning for their nearest friends; but the voice of mourning was truly heard in the streets. The shrieks of women and children at the windows and doors of their houses, where their dearest relations were perhaps dying, or just dead, were so frequent to be heard as we passed in the streets, that it was enough to pierce the stoutest heart in the world to hear them. Tears and lamentations were seen almost in every house, especially in the first part of the visitation; for toward the latter end men’s hearts were hardened, and death was so always before their eyes, that they did not so much concern themselves for the loss of their friends, expecting that themselves should be summoned the next hour.”
“London might well be said to be all in tears; the mourners did not go about the streets, indeed, for nobody put on black or made a formal dress of mourning for their nearest friends; but the voice of mourning was truly heard in the streets. The shrieks of women and children at the windows and doors of their houses, where their dearest relations were perhaps dying, or just dead, were so frequent to be heard as we passed in the streets, that it was enough to pierce the stoutest heart in the world to hear them. Tears and lamentations were seen almost in every house, especially in the first part of the visitation; for toward the latter end men’s hearts were hardened, and death was so always before their eyes, that they did not so much concern themselves for the loss of their friends, expecting that themselves should be summoned the next hour.”
London at this time had a population of nearly half a million. The deaths from the plague during 1665, as reported in the bills of mortality, are 68,596. By far the larger number of these occurred in August, September and October. The weekly mortality from the disease rose from a few cases in May to over 7,000 per week in September. It may, indeed, be close to the truth when Defoe states that 3,000 were said to have been buried in one night.
The great plague of London in 1665 was by no means the only visitation of that kind. From the time of the black death in 1348, London had a continuous record of plague infection. On an average it had an epidemic of plague every fifteen years. Some of these were fully as severe as that of 1665. Thus, in 1603, with a population of 250,000, there were over 33,000 reported deaths from the plague. In 1625, 41,000 died of pest out of a population of 320,000.
One of the most remarkable facts in connection with the great plague is this—that it was the last in England. The great fire of 1666 is supposed to have extinguished the plague, but this cannot be said to be true. The disease continued to a slight extent in 1666 and isolated cases were reported as late as 1679, but after that date it disappeared completely and from that time until this year England has been absolutely free from the plague. The sudden extinction of the plague in England after it had become domesticated, so to speak, for nearly three centuries, is indeed difficult to explain. Creighton sees an inhibiting influence in the growth of the practice of burial in coffins. But the absence of famine, together with the cessation of domestic wars and strife and the abeyance of want and misery, had not a little effect. As will presently be seen, the extinction of the plague in England was no more remarkable than its disappearance from Western Europe.
The history of plague in the seventeenth century does not close with the London epidemic. From 1675–1684 the disease ravaged Northern Africa, Turkey, and from thence invaded Austria and even reached Southern Germany. The Vienna outbreak of 1679 can be said to have been no less terrible than that of Milan or of London. The deaths from the plague in Vienna in that year have been variously estimated at from 70,000 to double that number.
From Vienna the plague reached Prague, where in 1861 it is said to have caused no less than 83,000 deaths. It is not to be wondered at that a nation scourged by thirty years of relentless warfare, by religious persecution and finally tried thus severely by the plague should inscribe upon the equestrian statue of their patron saint the heart-rending appeal, ‘Lord, grant that we do not perish.’
The close of the seventeenth century saw the disappearance of the plague from Western Europe. In Eastern Europe, however, the disease continued to exist even during the eighteenth century. Nevertheless,a change had taken place for the better, and as the years went on the retrogression of the plague became more and more distinct.
During the first two decades of the eighteenth century the plague was widely distributed in Eastern Europe. It was present especially in Constantinople and in the Danubian provinces. From the latter it extended to Russia (Ukraine), and from thence to Poland. The disastrous invasion of Russia by Charles XII. of Sweden, ending in his defeat at Poltawa in 1709, led to its further dissemination to Silesia, Eastern Prussia, the Baltic provinces and seaports, and even to Scandinavia. It was during this epidemic that Dantzic, in 1709, lost 33,000, and Stockholm 40,000 by the plague. During the years 1709 and 1710 the plague mortality in the Baltic provinces exceeded 300,000. Three years later, in 1713, the plague spread up the Danube and reached Vienna, Prague and even Bavaria.
During these two decades Western Europe was entirely free from the dread disease. In 1720 the disease suddenly developed in Marseilles and extended from thence to neighboring towns and the country districts of Provence. Terrible as was this visitation it is of interest, inasmuch as it was the last occurrence of the plague on French soil, and the last in Western Europe until the recent outbreak in Portugal.
The plague was said to have been imported into Marseilles by a merchant vessel, the ‘Grand Saint Antoine’, from Syria. On its way to Marseilles several deaths occurred on shipboard, but the cause was overlooked. On the 25th of May, 1720, two days after the arrival of the vessel, another death occurred among the crew. The disease was still not believed to be the plague, and although quarantine was instituted, new cases appeared among the crew and the dock laborers employed in unloading the vessel, and it was not until the disease reached the city that its true nature was recognized. The germs of the disease had then been scattered broadcast. Unsanitary a city as Marseilles is to-day, it must have been vastly more so in 1720. The result of the addition of plague germs to the want, misery and filthy condition was at once evident. During August the mortality averaged four and even five hundred per day. In September the daily mortality rose to 1,000. So great was the terror of the populace that it became impossible to secure bearers of the dead, to obtain nurses and attendants. The dead were left in heaps upon the streets, so that it became necessary to transfer to the city 700 galley slaves, who were required to remove the bodies. These same galley slaves were even pressed into service as nurses. The diseased were abandoned by friends and relatives, and under such conditions it need not be wondered at that they received little or no attention from others. Food and water were denied to the unfortunates, and when food was administered to the pesthouses it was thrown into the windows by machinery.
The disease continued in Marseilles until December, 1721, but isolated cases persisted until April, 1722. During the fifteen months of its duration it carried off 40,000 of the population. According to Defoe, there died of the plague in Marseilles and within a league of its walls 60,000.
From Marseilles the plague reached Aix, and in the winter of 1720 and 1721 it carried off 18,000 of its people. It also reached Arles, where, in 1721, out of a population of 23,000, 10,000 died (forty-five per cent). The same year, in Toulon, which had a population of 26,000, the plague attacked 20,000 of the population, and of these 13,000, or about one-half of the original population, died.
The country districts about Marseilles were likewise invaded. Out of a population of 248,000, there died of the plague 88,000, or fully thirty-five per cent.
It is evident from this description that the plague of 1720 was in nowise inferior to that of 1348. Fortunately, the disease did not spread beyond Provence. It is noteworthy that in many instances, in Marseilles, people secluded themselves in their houses, avoiding all communication with the outer world, and in this way escaped. Similar isolation of cloisters, insane asylums, likewise resulted in freedom from the disease which stalked so freely throughout the stricken city. It was experience of this kind in isolation of the healthy which led Defoe to write his ‘Due Preparations for the Plague.’
Toward the middle of the century the plague reasserted itself in the Danubian provinces, the constant battleground between the Turks and Russians and Austrians. In 1738 it not only prevailed in Russia but also invaded Hungary. Of more importance than this occurrence is the outbreak of the plague in 1743 in Sicily. The last epidemic of plague had occurred in Messina in 1624. After a lapse of one hundred and twenty years, it reappeared with terrible results. In Messina, as in Marseilles and in London, the first cases were not recognized as plague cases and, as a result, the infection spread until, like a veritable explosion, the disease developed all over the city. The plague, with its attendant misery of lack of food, and even of water, was in vain combated by religious processions. The plague corpses were in heaps in the streets, as in Marseilles, and cremation was resorted to in order to effect their removal. That year 30,000 died of plague in the city of Messina. With the exception of a slight epidemic at Noja in 1815, this outbreak in Messina in 1743 was the last one to appear in Italy.
In 1755, the plague was introduced into Transylvania by an Armenian merchant from the Black Sea. Before it was extinguished, 4,300 deaths were recorded.
Next to that of Marseilles and of Messina, the most noteworthy outbreak of plague was that which occurred in 1771 in Moscow. Thedisease was introduced by troops returning from the Danubian provinces. As so often has been the history of plague, the first cases were not recognized, and the existence of pest was denied. When the plague was demonstrated to be present, it is said by Haeser that three-fourths of the populace deserted the city. The disease began early in March and increased during the early summer months. In August over 7,000 deaths resulted, while in September the records show that 21,000 died. In October the plague decreased, but still 17,000 deaths attested to its fearful power. Early in January it became extinct, after a duration of ten months, and after having caused the death of more than 52,000 people.
Toward the close of the eighteenth century, at the time of the Napoleonic invasion of Egypt and Syria, the French armies came into contact with the plague. Bonaparte’s visit to the pest-stricken soldiers at Jaffa has been perpetuated in the historic canvas which is to be seen at Versailles.
During the nineteenth century the plague ravaged Northern Africa on diverse occasions. Constantinople was invaded in 1802, 1803, 1808. It was also present to a slight extent in the Caucasus and in Astrakhan. A notable plague epidemic appeared in Egypt in 1812, and soon spread through Turkey and Southern Russia. Constantinople and Odessa were severely scourged. In Odessa out of a population of 28,000 there died 12,000.
It is a noteworthy fact that the Napoleonic wars, with all their incident hardships and misery, did not develop or spread the plague in Europe. The outbreaks of the disease were limited during this period to Africa and to Turkey, Bosnia, Roumania, Dalmatia and to Southern Russia. Two exceptions, however, are to be noted. In 1812 the Island of Malta was infected and more than 6,000 of its people yielded to the disease. The epidemic of 1815 at Noja, in Apulia, was the first recurrence of the plague on Italian soil since 1743, and thus far it has been the last.
The Balkan Peninsula and Southern Russia were visited from time to time by the plague up to about 1841. For nearly forty years Europe was wholly free from the disease, which, however, continued its existence in Northern Africa, in Mesopotamia and in India. The Russo-Turkish war of 1878 brought the Russian troops into contact with the disease in the Caucasus, and the epidemic at Vetlianka on the lower Volga was unquestionably introduced by such returning soldiers.
Such, then, has been the history of the bubonic plague. No other epidemic disease can be traced authentically as far back as the ‘Black Death.’ The characteristic symptoms, the rapid death, the excessive mortality are all features which have been noted through more than twenty centuries. The plague bacillus discovered in 1894 by Yersin,judged by its effect, is neither more nor less virulent than its early progenitors. It has often died out in a given locality or country, it has even been forced back to its original ancestral home, but still the same type, the same species has perpetuated itself unchanged. If the plague on its present world-wide journey does not cause such terrible outbreaks as it has in the past, it will be not because the germ has been altered by time, but because man has changed in so far as he has slowly learned and profited by the lessons of previous epidemics.
Tounderstand the operation of a gasoline vehicle it is necessary to be somewhat familiar with the principle on which gasoline motors act. Briefly stated, it is as follows: The gasoline is converted into a vapor, and in this state is mixed with a sufficient amount of air to cause it to ignite when heated to a proper temperature. This mixture of air and vapor is admitted into a cylinder in which a piston moves freely, this part being substantially the same as in a steam engine. By means of an electric spark or a hot tube, the mixture is ignited, burning so violently as to expand the products of the combustion with such rapidity as virtually to become an explosion. The force of this explosion pushes the piston to the further end of the cylinder, and by means of a connecting rod and a crank this movement imparts a rotary motion to a shaft.
Fig. 1. Gasoline Motor.
Fig. 1. Gasoline Motor.
The entire operation is made perfectly clear by the aid ofFig. 1,which is a simple diagram of a single cylinder motor. The chamberRcontains the gasoline. Air enters this chamber through tubeb, as indicated by the arrow, and passes out between the platecand the surface of the gasoline. The floatdkeeps the platecin the proper position regardless of the amount of liquid in the reservoir. The heated gases exhausted from the cylinder pass through the piper, and thus heat the gasoline so that it vaporizes freely and the air passing undercbecomes charged with the necessary proportion of vapor. The mixed air and vapor enter a valve chamberS, from which the flow into pipeeis regulated by the movement of handlea. In this chamber there is another valve, operated by an independent handle, and by means of this more air can be admitted into the mixture when desired. Through the pipeeand the valvefthe vapor enters chamberQ, which connects with the top of the cylinder. Suppose the shaftGis rotating, then the piston will be drawn down from the position in which it is shown and thus a vacuum will tend to form in chamberQ. This action will cause the valvefto open and the mixture of air and vapor will flow intoQuntil the piston reaches its lowest position and begins to ascend. At this instant the valvefwill close, and then the upward movement of the piston will compress the mixture in the chamberQ. When the piston reaches the upper position, after completing the down and up strokes, the leverland the contact pointpwill come together, and an electric current developed in the induction coilMwill pass through the wiresjandkand produce a spark atibetween the ends of the metallic terminals passing through the plug of insulating material, which is shown in dark shading. This spark will cause the mixed air and vapor to ignite, producing an explosion that will force the piston down for the second time. On the second upward movement of the piston the gases produced by the combustion of the vapor will be forced out through the valvehinto the chamberTand the piper. The valvehand the leverlare operated by cams mounted on the shaftm, and they are so set that the spark atioccurs when the chamberQis full of the explosive mixture and the piston is at the top of the cylinder. The valve opens when the piston begins to move upward after the explosion has forced it to the bottom position.
As will be seen, the piston must move down to draw in a supply of the explosive mixture; it then moves upward to compress it, and on the second down stroke it is pushed by the force of the explosion. From this action it can be clearly realized that the power developed by the motor comes from the force exerted by explosions at every alternate revolution of the shaft. On that account the cams that move the valvehand the leverlare placed on a separate shaft, which is geared to the main shaft in the ratio of two to one; that is, the wheelKis twice the diameter of the wheelJ. As the force of the piston acts onthe shaft only once in every two revolutions it is necessary to provide a heavy fly wheelO, which will store up enough momentum to continue the rotation of the motor through the ineffective revolution. Before the motor can put forth an effort it is necessary for the piston to move downward so as to draw in a supply of explosive gases and then to move up so as to compress them and produce an explosion; therefore, the motor will not start of its own accord, but must be set in motion. In the act of starting the wheelOis turned by hand.
The combustion of the gasoline vapor within the chamberQand the upper end of the cylinder develops a large amount of heat, and unless means are provided for dissipating it the temperature will soon rise to a point that will interfere with the proper action of the motor. Two ways are employed to carry off the heat. One is by surrounding the cylinder with a water jacket, as shown in the diagram atNN; and the other is to provide the exterior of the cylinder with numerous thin ribs so as to increase the surface exposed to the air and thus increase the radiation.
Fig. 2. Petroleum Spirit Motor.
Fig. 2. Petroleum Spirit Motor.
The electric spark is a very effective igniter for the explosive mixture, and, by properly setting camnthe explosion can be made to take place just at the position of the piston that may be found the most desirable; but the points atiare liable to get out of order, and the battery that actuates the induction coilMand the coil itself can become a source of more or less trouble, and on that account the igniting is effected in some motors by means of a hot tube. When this is used the camn, the leverland the electrical parts of the apparatus are not required. In their stead a tube is placed on the upper side of the chamberQand this tube is maintained at a red heat by means of a flame impinging against its outer surface. When the explosive mixture is compressed it rises in the interior of the hot tube, and when it reaches the portion that is hot enough to produce combustion an explosiontakes place. By many engineers this arrangement is regarded as superior to the electric spark on account of its simplicity.
Gasoline motors are made with one, two or more cylinders, but in each cylinder the action that takes place is that described above. The actual construction of a motor is not so simple as might be assumed from the appearance ofFig. 1; many details are required which are not here shown. A more perfect idea of the actual construction of a gasoline motor can be had fromFig. 2, which is a working drawing of a recent European invention. In this design it will be noticed that the cylinder is cooled by radiation into the surrounding air, the exterior surface being increased by numerous circular ribs and also by extending a hollow trunk from the upper side of the piston, so as not only to increase the radiating surface, but also to allow the hot air to escape from the chamberTin which the crank discs revolve. In this drawingEis the explosion chamber, corresponding toQinFig. 1, and the valvesis the counterpart off, whiles’corresponds to the valveh. The upper pipetis the pipeeofFig. 1and the lower pipet’is the piperof the same figure. Although the crank discs, connecting rods and other details are different in shape, it will readily be seen that their relation to each other is the same.
Fig. 3. Reversing Mechanism.
Fig. 3. Reversing Mechanism.
Since a gasoline motor cannot start of its own accord, it is necessary in vehicles in which they are used so to arrange the driving gear that the motor may be kept in motion all the time and always in the same direction, hence, to reverse the direction of the carriage, reversing mechanism, independent of the motor, must be provided. The most simple mechanism for a gasoline vehicle employing spur gearing exclusively is shown in diagrammatic form inFig. 3. In this figureArepresents the cylinder of the motor,Bthe crank disc chamber andMthe vaporizing receptacle, which is generally called the carburator. The pinionC, on the end of the motor shaft, meshes into a gearDwhich is mounted upon a sleeveEwhich revolves freely round shaftG. Thissleeve has its ends formed so as to engage with the gears mounted upon shaftG, and by means of a lever, which is not shown, but which works in groovea, the clutch eithersorsscan be thrown into engagement with its corresponding gear. Ifsis thrown into gear, as shown in the drawing, the wheelFwill turnHand the pinionIwill rotate the gearJwhich is mounted upon the axle of the carriage. If the clutchssis thrown into engagement, the gearGwill turnKand this wheel will turnl; but, as can be clearly seen, the direction in whichlwill revolve will be opposite to its motion when driven throughFandH, therefore, if whenFdrives the carriage runs forward, whenGdrives it will run backward, and whenEis moved to the central position, so that neithersnorssengages with their respective gears, the vehicle will stand still, but the motor will continue to revolve.
Fig. 4. Plan and Elevation of Underberg Motor Voiturette.
Fig. 4. Plan and Elevation of Underberg Motor Voiturette.
This diagrammatic arrangement is more simple than the gearing actually used and is not as complete in action as many of the devices, as it only provides means whereby the direction of rotation of the axle maybe changed, while in many carriages the gearing also varies the ratio between the speed of the motor and the driving wheels. It is also quite common to combine in the train of gearing spur gears and sprocket wheels, and in some instances even belts.Fig. 4illustrates a French gasoline automobile made by Underberg, of Nantes. The first figure is a side view, and the second is a plan of the truck and driving mechanism.
Fig. 5. Cherrier Two-speed Gear.
Fig. 5. Cherrier Two-speed Gear.
The motor, which is of the single cylinder type, cooled by radiation into the air, is located atN. The pinion on the end of the motor shaft engages with the wheel on the end of shaftA. This shaft carries four gears, which can be moved by means of leverC, so as to engage with corresponding gears on shaftB, thus providing four different speeds. The motion ofBis transmitted to the rear axle by means of a belt that runs over the pulleyspandP, the latter being carried by a differential gear, so as to run the two driving wheels at proper velocities. The circular ribs surrounding the motor cylinder are well shown in the figure, in which the carburator ofCis also seen. The housing for the motor is open at the sides so as to give air currents free access. InFig. 4the speed changing gears are shown, the reversing train being omitted; but if it were also drawn in, the diagram would be far more elaborate thanFig. 3.
Another form of variable speed gear is shown inFig. 5. This provides for two speeds. The large wheelEis on the carriage axle, and it is driven either by a pinionF, or byJ. Upon the shaftOthere are two friction clutchesC D, and whenCacts the pinionFdrivesE, and whenDacts the pinionGdrivesH, which in turn drivesI, and this wheel is mounted on the same shaft asJ.
Some of the best-known makers of gasoline vehicles do not employ variable gears and depend for changes in the speed wholly upon variation in the velocity of the motor. The De Dion carriages are made in this way, the gearing being substantially as illustrated inFig. 3.
Fig. 6. Panhard & Levassor Vehicle.
Fig. 6. Panhard & Levassor Vehicle.
Fig. 7. Motor of Vehicle.
Fig. 7. Motor of Vehicle.
Fig. 6shows a gasoline vehicle made by Panhard & Levassor, who are perhaps the best known French manufacturers of automobiles, as their vehicles have been the winners in all the notable races held within the past few years. The motor they use is shown inFig. 7, and, as can be readily seen, is of the two-cylinder type, cooled by a water jacket, just as inFig. 1. The explosion is produced by means of a hot tube, as explained in connection with the last-named figure. This motor is placed under the body of the vehicle, and is connected with the rear axle by means of a train of gearing which terminates in sprocket wheels and chains that connect with driving wheels, each one being operatedby a separate chain. InFig. 6the sprocket wheel and chain are well defined, and forward of these can be seen the outline of the casing enclosing the gearing.
Fig. 8. General View of Renault Voiturette.
Fig. 8. General View of Renault Voiturette.
Fig. 9. Plan of the Truck.Fig. 10. Variable Speed Gear.
Fig. 9. Plan of the Truck.Fig. 10. Variable Speed Gear.
Fig. 9. Plan of the Truck.
Fig. 9. Plan of the Truck.
Fig. 10. Variable Speed Gear.
Fig. 10. Variable Speed Gear.
Fig. 8shows another European design, in which a variable-speed gear is used. The plan of the truck, showing the general arrangement of the mechanism, is presented inFig. 9, and the details of the variable-speed gear are shown inFig. 10. The motor is located atA, and through a friction clutchB, and the variable speed gearC, it rotates the shaftH, which runs lengthwise of the vehicle. Motion is imparted to the hind axle by means of bevel gears contained within the casingD. The large bevel gear on the axle is of the differential type, so as to drive the wheelsR Rat the proper velocities.
When a high speed is desired, the variable speed gear,Fig. 10, is set so that shaftMdrivesNdirect, the clutch atEbeing moved so as to interlock.Nis the end of shaftH, so that with this connection the bevel pinion, which meshes into the axle gear atD, revolves at the same velocity as the motor shaft. By moving the handleV,Fig. 9, to theright, an intermediate speed is obtained, and by moving it to the left, the carriage is run at the lowest velocity. When the handleVis turned to the right, the endsMandN, which form the clutchE,Fig. 10, are separated, and at the same time the lower shaftHis moved towardM, so as to cause gear 1 to mesh into gear 2, and also 3 into 7. By this means the endNof the axle-driving shaft is rotated through the train of gears 1, 2, 3 and 7. If the handleVis turned to the left, the shaftIis moved towardM, so as to cause gear 1 to mesh into gear 4, and gear 6 into 8, the latter being secured to endNof the axle-driving shaft. The speeds obtained by these changes are in the ratio of nearly 1, 2 and 4.
Fig. 11. Plan of the Türgan-Foy Voiturette.
Fig. 11. Plan of the Türgan-Foy Voiturette.
Fig. 11shows the plan of a light French carriage, which is equipped with a double cylinder motor, set in a horizontal position above the front axle, and arranged to impart motion to the hind axle by means of belts. The motor, which is located atA, turns a vertical shaft, and this, through spur gears, rotates a horizontal fly wheel,B. Two pulleys are mounted upon the motor shaft, and from these belts run to tight and loose pulleys on a countershaft,S. From the latter the rear axle is driven through two sets of spur gearing, which give two different speeds. By means of the belts, two other speeds are obtained, thus giving, in all, four different velocities. To stop and start, the belts are shifted from the tight to the loose pulleys by a belt-shifter,f. Ath, a muffling chamber is located, into which the motor exhausts, so as to reduce the noise.
The elevation and plan of one of the celebrated French racing-machines, the Vallée car, is shown inFig. 12. The motor of this machine is of sixteen horse-power capacity, has four cylinders, and is connected so as to impart motion to the hind axle by means of a singlewide belt, which is markedGin both the line drawings. The driving-pulley on the motor shaft is located atH, and the axle pulley atH’. Within the latter there is a train of gears for reversing the direction of rotation of the axle, and also for obtaining the differential velocities of the two driving wheels. There is no mechanism for variable speed, this being obtained wholly by changes in the velocity of the motor. The motor speed can be made to vary through a wide range by using four cylinders, with which it is possible to reduce the velocity so low that it would be likely to bring the machine to a standstill if provided with one, or even two, cylinders. The change in the motor velocity is obtained in part by the action of a governor located in a chamber atA, and in part by the action of the electric ignition device which is arranged so that the time when the spark is produced can be varied. The rear axle is so held that it can be moved through a short distance, horizontally, by manipulating the leverD, and in this way the beltGcan be made tight or loose, thus affording another means for varying the speed. A brake is provided which presses against the inner side of the axle pulley,H. This brake is used ordinarily, but in the case of an emergency another brake can be operated which presses against the outside of the wheel in the space between the two sides of the belt. It is claimed for this vehicle that by the elimination of mechanical speed-changing devices, a great deal of weight is saved, and that this is more than enough to compensate for the extra weight of the motor, arising from the use of four cylinders. In most gasoline carriages it is necessary to provide a slow-speed gear for hill-climbing, as the motor cannot put forth a sufficient effort to ascend a steep grade at the normal velocity. With this racing-machine such a gear is not required owing to the enormous power of the motor.
Fig. 12. Elevation and Plan of Vallee Car.
Fig. 12. Elevation and Plan of Vallee Car.
There are quite a number of gasoline automobiles manufactured in this country, and, as in the case of the steam and the electric carriages, they compare most favorably with the best European products, in so far as the artistic effect is concerned. That such is the case can be realized at once by an examination ofFigs. 13and14. We regret our inability to illustrate the mechanism of these vehicles, but the truth is, that the manufacturers appear to be unwilling to make public the detailsof their designs. In the phaeton shown inFig. 13, a single-cylinder motor is used, and it is so arranged that it can run at different velocities, so that no variable speed mechanism is required, except a single train of gears, which is thrown into action when running uphill. The motor itself can be run at any velocity from 200 to 800 revolutions per minute, thus giving a speed variation of four to one. A carriage of this make competed in the last international automobile race from Paris to Lyons, France, and although it failed to come in first, it made a remarkable showing, which might have been considerably improved if it had not been for an accident which compelled it to retire from the contest.
Fig. 13. Winton Phaeton.
Fig. 13. Winton Phaeton.
Fig. 14. Oakman Vehicle.
Fig. 14. Oakman Vehicle.
The vehicle shown inFig. 14is of small size and light construction, although amply strong for the purpose for which it is intended. Thepower of the motor, which is located under the seat, is transmitted through friction wheels. In looking at the illustration it will be noticed that the hind wheels have a circular rim attached to the inner side, and of a diameter somewhat smaller than the wheel itself. Two small friction wheels are placed so that either one may be pressed against the inner surface of this rim. The shape of the rim, as well as that of the small wheels, is such that they hug each other firmly, so that the rim is carried around in a direction which corresponds with the direction of rotation of the friction wheel. In operating the carriage the motor is set in motion, and then one or the other of the two friction wheels is pressed against the rim on the driving wheel, according to whether it is desired to run forward or backward. While this arrangement might not operate with entire success if applied to a heavy vehicle, it appears to be all that could be desired for a light carriage.
Three-wheel vehicles have been used, but there is a difference of opinion as to their value, as the construction has disadvantages as well as advantages. It is evident that such a vehicle can be steered with greater ease than one running on four wheels, but on country roads, where the wagon wheels roll down a smooth surface, and leave the space between in a rough condition, it is equally evident that the third wheel, in passing over this uneven surface, would jolt the vehicle to a considerable extent. On a smooth pavement the three-wheel vehicle will run fully as well as the four-wheel; but, on the other hand, on such a pavement the latter can be steered with as little effort as the former, so that the question of superiority of design is one that probably depends upon individual taste.
From the descriptions of automobiles given in this and the two preceding articles, it will be seen that although many of them are used, especially in France, they are not entirely free from objectionable features. The electrical vehicles are provided with the most simple and durable machinery, and, being noiseless, odorless and free from smoke, are all that could be desired in so far as their operation is concerned; but they are heavy and can only be used in places where the batteries can be recharged. The steam vehicles are light, have simple mechanism and can run anywhere; but they exhaust steam into the air, which is clearly visible in cold or wet weather, and the heat from the engine and boiler is an objection, at least in summer time. The gasoline vehicles run well, but are noisy, and the odor of the gasoline is disagreeable as well.
Asin boxing, fencing, saber and bayonet exercises, there are comparatively few postures, guards, thrusts and strokes, so in warfare, whether the numbers be large or small, the arms most modern or ancient, there are just a few principles to whose steady adherence and skilful manipulation all success is due. In order that these may become apparent without irksome study of military details, let us imagine a command of say a thousand men, fairly well drilled, of good ordinary intelligence and engaged in a cause worthy of being fought for. We have been in camp for some time, but an order has now come to join the main army. This is a long distance off, the railway communications have been broken, and the intervening country, though possessed of good roads, is more or less in the hands of the enemy.
Our scouts have kept us informed as to the condition of the country for several miles around; our first day’s march is, therefore, not hampered with any especial dread of surprise. We move quickly and at ease. Safe as everything appears to be, the commander relaxes none of the needful precautions; at least fifty men, under command of an experienced officer, are sent quite far to the front, the distance varying with the nature of the country—the farther, the more broken it may be. The best roads are followed; the men are allowed to march at ease, though always preserving-their company organization, while the officers are always more or less on the alert. There is a small rear guard, but it is upon the advance that the main responsibility falls. Of the fifty thrown forward, about half will remain together; the rest are scattered; some far to the front along the highway; others on either side of the route, riding up the hills on either hand, making sure that no deep gorge, dense growth of forest or thicket, nor even a field of grain conceals an enemy. It is upon the alertness of those vedettes on front and flanks that the safety of the force in great measure depends. History records many relaxations of this principle of precaution, and for lack of it sudden ambushes and deplorable disasters. It was thus, in spite of Washington’s repeated warnings, that Braddock fell into a cunning ambuscade, and thus (not to multiply examples) that Custer and his command were massacred to a man among the high Rockies.
On the annexed map the men may be located at ‘A’ marching from ‘D’ in the direction of the village, ‘F’. The advance is at ‘B’, the rear guard at ‘C’. The commander rides with the main column, near thefront. The black dots, with pennons, indicate the general position of the vedettes at this point, though, of course, they are continually advancing. The commander has noted on his map a foot path, beginning at ‘D’, leading over the rugged hills. By taking this path a considerable distance could be saved; but it is quite impracticable for the wagons, and the troops, therefore, continue along the high road. The valley is gently undulating, with a gradual slope from the low hills towards the stream.