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A MAGAZINE FOR THE ELECTRIC CAR OWNER. $1.50 PER YEAR. 1253 MONADNOCK BLDG.
Vol 7
CHICAGO, JULY, 1915
No. 1
9 I S OHIO COUPE
Cultures Car
There is a distinct place in Car-dom which only the Electric Automobile can fill.
For those who live in town or sub- urbs it is the one logical car.
Because more than mere utility is imperative. There is the further re- quisite of quality — of refinement — of fashion — of that extra '"something'1'' which bespeaks true culture.
This is realized by those who own both gas and electric cars.
Ownership of a Rauch £? Lang or Baker Electric indicates an apprecia- tion of that exact car service resulting from actual automobile experience.
As Chicago distributors of both these famous makes, we are taking gas cars as well as electrics in trade.
For as dealers of both gas and electric cars we can operate on a broad, unbiased scale. ~No other in- stitution we know of is equipped to offer such advantages in both lines.
Hence we welcome the privilege of serving you, whether you want to huy a new electric outright — or wish to turn in your old car, gasoline or electric, as part payment.
Baker Glecttucs
#&
Call or phone,
suggesting
an appointment at
our place
or your own
"THE SOCIAL NECESSITY"
The McDuffee Automobile Co.
Chicago Distributers of
RAUCH & LANG and BAKER
ELECTRICS. NATIONAL and
PEERLESS GAS CARS.
245 7 S. Michigan Ave., Cor. 25th St.
TELEPHONE CALUMET 4812
INDEX TO VOLUME Vli
ELECTRIC VEHICLE
July 1 to December 31, 1915
A
PAGE
American Express Ads 35 Electrics 92
Anderson Electric in New Price Field 99-100
Automobile Trucks for Delivery of Coal.... 106
Advertises for Electric Truck 118
Alienated Affections of the Battery Men,
The (Editorial) 173
Appalling Slaughter of Pedestrians. By A.
Jackson Marshall 201-204
Anderson to Exhibit at Automobile Shows. . 206
B
D
PAGE Denver Demonstrates Electric in Mail Serv- ice 49-51
Dealers and Garages Together (Editorial) .. .53-54
Detroit License Office Closed 58
Detroit Electric Shows Low Cost of Oper- ation 66
Detroit to Have Show Building Ill
Discussion of Gas Car Competition, A... 123-124 "Detroit" Electric Shows Hill Climbing
Ability 130
D. E. Whipple Explains "Detroit Electric" Success • 204
F
PAGE
First Steps in Campaigning the Electric. .. .43-45
First Electric in Edinburgh, Scotland 66
From the Garageman's Point of View. By
Harry Solvat 98
Few Suggestions for Increasing Sales, A.. 115-116 From Buffalo to New York in an Electric
Vehicle 147
Field for Medium Size and Small Trucks.
By E. S. Foljambe 151-153
Function of the Electric Garage, The. By
R. Macrae 154-156
Free Insurance for Goodrich Men 176
Baker, Rauch and Lang Merger 3-4
Brighter Outlook for Electrics in Norway.. 28
Beardsley Makes 1066.4 Miles in Ten Days. 34
Boston Motor Club Merges With E. V. A... 40 Battery Vehicles as an Adjunct to Street
Cars. By W. L. Watson 73-75
Build a Truck (Editorial) 92
Boston Brewer Has Electric Sign Truck... 95
Buffalo to New York City in a Waverley. ... 96
Boosting Electrics in New England 107-108
British Truck Subsidy Has Eye to Peace
Type 116
Battery System Offers Many Advantages.
By A. J. Thorne 128
Boost the Electric — Boost Your Competitor 133
"Bumps" Police Officer — Get's Compliment 164
Battery Rental System Promising (Editorial) 172 Big September Business for Detroit Spring
Company 176
Battery Rental System Proves Successful.
By Gail Reed 183-184
Brewers and Bottlers Using Electrics 192
Better Material in Late Models 199
Big Increase in the Use of Motor Driven
Vehicles 199
Chicago Issues Traffic Suggestions . 7
Chicago Department Stores to Furnish
Garages 12
Century Electric Car Company Absorbed. . 12
Convention Comment 14
Combining for Greater Production 14
Chicago to Have New "Detroit" Service
Station 30
Chicago Electric Revises Prices . ii
Charging Apparatus for Summer Resorts.... 38 Commonwealth Edison Company's Progres-
siveness 45-46
Chicago Dealers and Garages Organize 47-48
Chicago Truck Users Protest Against Fen- ders 52
Chicago Electric Garages Introduce Parking
System 52
Chicago Electric Vehicle Interests Hold
Outing 62
Construction of Cord Tires. By John F.
Palmer 67-69
Collection of Refuse in England. By J.
Jackson 71-73
Chicago Electric Announces 1916 Models. .83-85
Cross Country Trucking 113
Changed Tactics Landed Sale 118
Chicago Section, E. V. A., Holds Annual
Meeting 125-126
Chicago's Greatest Service Station 127
Co-operation for Electrical Development.... 144 Chicago's Latest Exclusively Electric Ga- rage 163-164
Comparative Development of the Vehicle Loads. By H. H. Holding and S. G.
Thompson 167-168
Chicago Section Appoints New Garage Com- mittee 178
Central Stations Find Great Success in Elec- tric Floats 182
Comparative Costs of Coal Delivery 185
Chicago to Cleveland in an Electric Road- ster 198-199
Chicago Electric Clims Lookout Mountain.... 208 Comparative Performance 217-218
Electrically Propelled Fire Apparatus 9-11
Electric Pole Truck Operating Cost 11
Electric in Railroad Freight Houses 11
Eagle Electric Forms in Detroit 12
Electric Vehicle Association Developments. .
15-17, 93-95, 135-138, 177-178, 235-238
Electrics for Teaming and Deposit Com- panies 23-25
Electric Automobile Increases in Popularity,
The 30
Electric Vehicles in Municipal Service of
England. By F. Ayton 35-38
England Uses American Electrics 38
Electrics Popular in Pittsburgh 38
Electric Trucks Reduce Terminal Congestion 38 E. V. A. Secretary to Make Extensive Trip. 38
England Forced to Use Electric 40
Electric Roadster Tours to Cedar Lake.... 41
Electric Truck Operating Costs 48
Electric Vehicle Association Developments. 55-57 Electric Storage Battery Company Enter- tains 57
Educational Wave of Sociability Runs 81-82
Electric Vehicle in Laundry Delivery 86-88
Electrics for Freight Transfer 88
Expansion of Electrics in Boston 90
Electrics in Motion Pictures 96
Electric Beyond Comparison for Mail Service 97 Electric Garage and Dealers Announce
Constitution. By Gail Reed 101-102
Electric as a Current Consuming Device,
The. By Dr. H. Beckman 112-113
Electric Trucks Economical Under Low
Daily Mileage 117
Expert Discusses Goodrich Tire 117-118
Enormous Exports of Automobile Trucks... 118
Electric Progress in England 119
Electric Vehicle Association's Annual Con- vention 121-122
Electric Battery Propelled Fire Apparatus.
By E. S. Hare 129-130
Electrics Recommended for Use in Motion
Pictures 139
Electrics Illustrate Society Columns 147
Edison Storage Battery Ruggedness 153
Electric Vehicle Association's Animal Con- vention 161-162
Electric Roadster Built on Gasoline-Coal
Chasis 164
Electric Taxicab, The. By I. S. Scrimger. 169-170 Electric Garage Troubles and Remedies
(Editorial) 171-172
Edison Rents Batteries on a Monthly
Charge Basis 176
Electric Vehicle as a Builder, The. By Q.
A. Brackett 179-181
Electrical Manufacturer Builds Garage for
Employes 185
English Electric Vehicle Committee Meets. . 185 Electric Tractor in Street-Cleaning Service 185 Electric Vehicles Used for Pole-Line Work 192
Electric Garbage Wagon in Boston 204
Electrically Driven Fire Apparatus 205
Electric Vehicle Prosperity (Editorial) 211
Exide Guarantees Batteries to Ohio Electric. 216
Electric Stevedore Popular in the South 222
Electric Vehicles in Municipal Service. .. .223-230
G
Greatest Problem in the Automobile Indus- try. By Edward S. Babcox 5-7
Garagemen, Don't Crowd Your Electrics. . 14
Goodrich Cuts Capital 52
Gaining the Small Station's Interest (Edi- torial) 54
Goodyear Announces New Stock Distribu- tion' 58
General Vehicle Company Merges With Peerless 192
H
Hupp-Yeats "Guarantee for Life" 7
Hanlon Windshield Patent Injunction Filed 12
Hearses Not Subject to Overweight Charges 38
Hardware Company Trucks by Electrics.... 58
Holding Down Motor Truck Costs 108
Hortford Battery Exchange System 219-221
Increasing Business With Electric Trucks. .76-78
Large Users of Electrics 52
License Trucks to Carry Passengers 124
Louisville Has Model Electric Garage. ... 157-158
M
Motor Truck and Why. By Merrill C.
Houne 18-22
Manufacturing Worm Gear by a New
Process. By Cornelius T. Myers 26-28
Milburn Makes Long Tour 33
Motor Trucks in Contracting Work 34
Menominee Electric at $1,250 57
Michigan Protects Garagemen 58
Marvland Club to Fight Ruling 95
Making Your Old Car Look Like New 105
Motor Vehicle Regulation. By F. M.
Hugo 114-115
Most Complete Charging Station for Elec- trics in West 122
Merely Filling the Job 185
Measured Service vs. Flat Rate Service. .. .207-208
N
National Electric Light Assn. Discusses. .. .29-30 New York Gas Company Installs Electrics.. 34 New Heat Treating Furnace for Springs.... 75 Necessity of a Demonstration, The (Edi- torial) 91-92
1916 Convention, The (Editorial) 92
New England Section N. E. L. A. Report.. 148 New Detroit Sales Offices for Washington,
D. C 166
New Charging Apparatus for Garages. .. .214-216 New England Electric Vehicle Men Dine. . 216 New Electric Delivery Wagon 222
INDEX TO VOLUME NO. 6— ELECTRIC VEHICLES
o
PAGE
Operating Costs of Commercial Electrics... 12 Operating Cost Data of Electrics VS.
Horses. By A. J. Brechtel 141-142
Ohio Electric Specifications for 1916. By
J. H. Horsley 143111
Ohio Opens New Branch in Chicago 144
Operating Features of a Large Electric
Garage 209"?1?
Ohio Electric Driven on Hall Room Floor.... 213 116 Miles on First Day's Run 216
1'
Picture Page 8, 174
Parking Shoppers' Electrics 14
Personal Notes 39,79, 120
Promoting Electric Vehicle Campaigns 43
Progressive Central Stations (Editorial).... 53 Public Service Commission to Control Jit- neys 57
Preserving the Life of Tires •• 57
Purchase and Care of the Initial Truck.
By G. Drake Smith 59-61
Plans Electrical Prosperity Week 82
Plans Announced for E. V. A. Convention
at Cleveland 8°
Purchasing and Advertising 115
Price Reduction of Electric Pleasure Ve- hicles •• 119
Passenger Electrics Have Been Adopted in
All Parts of the United States 134
Pardoned Murderer Aghast at Electrical
Achievements ■ ■ 139
President's Address. By John F. Gil- christ 165-166
R
Rudge-Whitworth Wire Wheels for Electrics 22 Rational Method of Determining Mileage. . .31-33
R
PAGE
Reduction in Detroit Electric Prices 42
"Round House" Care for Trucks 79
Recent Developments in Charging Appar- atus 175-176
Reports of the Sections 193-197
Reports of the Sections 231-234
S
Second S. A. E. Report 3S
Should Dealers' Parts Accounts Be Standar- dized? By B. H. Remsen 70
St. Louis Rules Horses Off Street 95
703,527 Automobiles Made During 1915 102
Suggests Road Rules for Lincoln Highway 119 Successful Parking Service Extended to
Electrics 144
Selling Passenger Electric Automobiles. . 149-150
Solid Tire Equipment 156
Spirit of Co-operation, The 170
Standardizing Wheel and Tire Sizes 178
Selling Electrics on the Installment Plan. 181-182 Secretary's Annual Report. By A. Jack- son Marshall 186-192
T
Types of Wire Wheels 89-90
Trouble-Proof Trucking. By Frank B. Roe.
Jr 103-104
Two Garage Rentals From Every Space.... 113 Territorial Development of Electric Vehicle
Sales 130
Tearing the Mask From the Wolf (Edi- torial) 13M32
Time Payments Applied to Motor Trucks.
By Walter E. Parker 145-147
Trade Opportunity, A 211-212
Two Big Changes Forecasted 222
PAGE
Uncle Sam Buys Electrics 12
U. S. L. Plan Favorable 30
V
Visit to Mt. Vernon, A. By Howard S.
Fisk 1-2
Vehicle Operators Barred From Drink 79
Vehicle Tax Reinstated in Illinois 100
Value of Organization, The (Editorial).... 173
W
Waverley Holds Sociability Runs in Indian- apolis 2
Wanted — A Better Policy (Editorial) 13
Walker Builds Tractor '. 40
Washington Holds Large Size Truck Exempt 40
War Orders and Electric Trucks (Editorial) 54 What Can Be Done to Improve Conditions?
By John W. Van Allen 63-64
What Constitutes Service to the Owner.
By Charles Gould 65-66
Woods Electric Announces "16" Series.... 88 What the War Means to the Industry (Edi- torial) 91
Waverley Electric Price Reduction 104
Wire Wheels for Safety, Economy and Re- liability. By C. R. Kyte... 109-111
Waverley Electrics at the Pavilion Show.... 122
Walker Trucks at Exposition 124
Why Avoid the Small Truck Field? Edi- torial) 132
Ward Electric Making Long Country Run.. 148 Ward Makes 733.7 Miles on 1,564 Ampere
Hours 182
Published Monthly By
ELECTRICITY MAGAZINE CORPORATION
Monadnock Building CHICAGO
Entered at Chicago Post Office as Second Class Mail Matter
Volume VII
WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED IGNITION
TRADE MARK REGISTERED IN THE UNITEO STATES PATENT OFFICE
CHICAGO, JULY, 1915
|
SUBSCRIPTION PRICE |
|
|
Domestic - $1.50 Canada - - $1.75 Foreign - - $2.00 |
|
|
FOR SALE AT ALL NEWS STANDS |
|
|
If Your News Supply You — , |
Dealer Will Not Please Notify Us |
Number 1
A Visit to Mt. Vernon
Electric "Vehicle Makes Tour to the Historic Homestead of Washington
BY HOWARD S. FISK
MT. VERNON, Va., "The Home of Washington," was recently visited for the first time in the history of the electric vehicle by a Rauch and Lang electric brougham, driven by representatives of that make vehicle in the National Capitol. The trip was unique in many ways and the manner in which the horseless vehicle glided over the highways of the Old Dominion startled the natives in a manner, the like of which has not been witnessed in many years.
It has only been within the past year or two that even gas cars attempted to motor to this historic home- stead, but since the recent completion of a new gravel highway from Alexandria, Va., to a point within a mile or two from Mt. Vernon, the motoring public has re- gained its lost courage and now in rapidly increasing numbers is paying homage to this great American patriot.
It was in the year 1674, by grant of Lord Culpeper, that a tract of some 5,000 acres situated on the west bank of the Potomac River, south of the present city of Washington, became the property of John Washing- ton and Nicholas Spencer. Half of this tract descended to Lawrence Washington, who in 1743 built a residence, and named the estate Mount Vernon, after the British Admiral under whom he served. At Lawrence Washing- ton's death, in 1752, the estate passed to the ownership of his half-brother, George Washington, who subsequent- ly extended the boundaries of his plantation until they included nearly 8,000 acres.
It was for the purpose of visiting this mansion that Alfred Young, H. A. Hall, and the author as automo- bile editor of the Washington Star, the former two being the representatives of the Rauch and Lang electric
sales staff in the National Capitol, elected to make the overland journey in true modern style by attempting to operate an electric to this place. The date of the trip was Wednesday, June 16, with perfect weather conditions prevailing. The trip was made without incident and the 18 miles made in slightly less than an hour and a half. The new high- way carried the tourists within two miles of the main entrance to the grounds at Mt. Vernon. As no vehicles of any character are permitted within the grounds the electric brougham was parked on the outside of the grounds at the entrance.
A charge of twenty-five cents is made to enter the grounds and a more imposing site cannot be found throughout the entire United States. On inquiry we learned a little of the early history of the estate. We were told that in 1799, when George Washington died, the property passed as a life interest to his widow, by whose will most of the household effects in the mansion were, after her death, divided among her four grand- children. Thus was the original furniture of Mount Vernon eventually scattered. Bushrod Washington, John Augustine Washington and John A. Washington, Jr., followed in succession as owners of Mount Vernon.
John A. Washington, Jr., the last named owner, in accordance with the wish of his family, to effect a per- manent preservation of the property, offered to sell it to the national government. This project failed, as did likewise an attempt to sell it to the commonwealth of Virginia. At this juncture the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association of the Union in 1856 organized by Miss Ann Pamela Cunningham, of South Carolina. Her ap- peal to the patriotism of all American women resulted
Arriving at Mt. Vernon Gate.
Picturesque Roads Lead to the Homestead.
ELECTRIC VEHICLES
Vol. VII, No. 1.
in the accomplishment of her noble project in spite of many obstacles. Few can appreciate the work that has been accomplished in order to retain the appearance of simplicity which characterized the home life of Wash- ington, to preserve the reverence of his hallowed shrine
Washington Is Noted for Its Splendid Roads.
and at the same time meet the protective requirements incident to increasing wear and tear of the mansion and the historic relics contained therein.
After leaving Mount Vernon, the motoring party returned to the main highway and resumed their journey westward to the ancient village of Accotink, where the electric brougham proved equally of interest to the natives, who surrounded it and viewed with astonish- ment the type of machine which had wended its way this far into the Old Dominion, without the aid of horses. After a brief pause in this village the electric was sent spinning over the highway, rolling as it did through na- tural woodlands and forests, to the old time village of Pohick. It was at Pohick Church, just eight miles from Mount Vernon, that Washington and members of his household attended worship.
The parish church was built during the years 1768- 70 from the plans drawn by General Washington, who was a member of the building committee. He was a vestryman of the parish for twenty years, and for the greater part of that time was a regular attendant at service, never permitting, as Bishop Meade says, "the weather or company to keep him from church." Sub- sequently Washington became connected with Christ Church, Alexandria, where today his family pew may be seen as he used it.
Pohick Church, during the Civil War, was occupied at times by Federal troops and all of the interior fur- nishings were destroyed. The church has been practi- cally restored, as well as other appointments of the in- terior. The historic burying ground adjoins Pohick Church, which is still being used for burying the dead, who reside in that vicinity and own lots. The church is used every Sunday morning at 11 o'clock for service, to which the public is always admitted. Visitors, who desire, may have the church opened, by the payment of a small sum to the sexton of the edifice, who resides across the road. After a visit to the church, the electric was turned in the direction of home, which was reached about 4 o'clock in the afternoon. No trouble of any character developed, and as a result of this run the members of the fairer sex who own electric cars in the National Capital are expected to make frequent visits to Mount Vernon, now that the way has been paved and confidence displayed in the electric storage vehicle.
Waverley Holds Sociability Runs in Indianapolis
The electric sociability run is fast becoming an institution in Indianapolis and the Waverley Company is doing all possible to help the good work along.
The purpose of the company is, of course, educa- tional, its idea being that Waverley owners, and for that matter owners of electrics of all makes, do not get as much use out of their cars as they should, owing to the prevalent feeling that electrics are designed for city streets only.
As a matter of fact, the new model electrics with their long wheel base and better spring's are more comfortable on country roads than half the gas cars built especially for that service.
It is to impress this fact on Indianapolis owners of electric cars that the Waverley Company recently inaugurated a series of short sociability runs to near-by points of interest.
Eleven Waverley electrics driven by owners made one of these trips into the country, for a dinner at Lake View Farm some fifteen miles east on the Na- tional road.
The Lake View Farm is on a little eminence over- looking Spring Lake Valley. The farm house is sur- rounded by an orchard furnishing shade and giving a comfortable resting place for guests.
Among the diversions provided were croquet, base ball, cards and pitching quoits. Dinner was served at 6:30 and the party reached Indianapolis on the return trip about 9 p. m.
It is a matter of interest that among the cars making the trip was one with an Exide battery four years old, that had never had a renewal. Yet this thirty-mile trip was well within the capacity of the battery. Experienced electric car owners will recog- nize this as an excellent battery record.
There was but one slight mishap on the trip, a flat tire that required pumping up, and this was quickly remedied. The entire party returned well satisfied with their experience and quite ready to repeat it at
Waverley Electrics During Sociability Run.
any time. Officials of the Waverley Company believe that sociability tours cause many to investigate the electric. They not only prove that the electric is re- liable, but also that it is the modern way; easy to op- erate and easy to ride in.
July, 1915.
ELECTRIC VEHICLES
Baker, Rauch & Lang Merger
'Prominent Manufacturers Unite for Greater Production and Minimum of Selling Production
THE electric vehicle industry receives with much interest and considerable comment the announce- ment of a new company capitalized at $2,500,000 and composed of two of the oldest and most promi- nent makers of electric vehicles in the United States.
The new organization will be known as the Baker R. & L. Company, uniting the Baker Motor Vehicle Company and the Rauch & Lang Carriage Company, both of Cleve- land, Ohio.
' The uniting of the two com- panies has been brought about for the purpose of producing both types of vehicles under the combined engineer- ing ability of the two companies. It is stated that under the new organiza- tion the best possible service and fa- cilities can be furnished to electric vehicle users.
Charles L. F. Wieber, president of the Rauch & Lang Company, has been retained as president. Fred R. White, of the Baker Motor Vehicle Company will officiate as first vice president ; Charles E. J. Lang, of the Rauch & Lang Carriage Company, as second vice president ; Robert C. Norton, treasurer, and George H. Kelly, Baker Motor Vehicle Com- pany, secretary. F. W. Treadway has been retained as general counsel.
It is the intention of the combined company to continue to build both makes of cars, Rauch & Lang and Baker electrics ; however, it will specialize on the Baker line in the light weight, $2,475 coupe and on the various models of the Rauch & Lang. The com- bination gives the dealer an exceptional line of cars because it cares for everything that may be desired by the prospective customer. It presents the top mounted or bottom mounted worm, the Rauch & Lang type and the horizontal type of controller, a high-grade light weight four-passenger car or a large roomy five- passenger single drive or the five-passenger double drive car, and as a matter of fact, there is not a type of car or method of propulsion or control that cannot be supplied by the cars of the new company.
In the majority of instances the two agencies in the city will be combined in order to give the one
Charles L. F. Wieber, President Baker, R. & L. Company.
dealer the entire line and strengthen him to the point where he can make a profitable business from the selling of the cars of the new company.
To owners of either Baker or Rauch & Lang elec- trics the new organization announces that service will be granted as usual. The new company will increase its distribution including many new cities and without a doubt the saving in manufacture resulting from quan- tity production will eventually result in a decrease in prices.
The new organization, through its efficient officers, is determined to have the dominating position in the electric vehicle field and every effort is being brought to play in making this possible.
Statement of policy has been made to all dealers representing the two manufacturers' lines, and is as follows :
The consolidation of The Baker Mo- tor Vehicle Company and The Rauch & Lang Carriage Company has been ef- fected, and it seems advisable that all of the dealers and representatives should have a definite statement of the reasons regarding the consolidation and the future policy of the company.
In the first place, it must be definitely understood that there is no question of one company buying out the other, or either going out of business. The con- solidation was formed primarily to secure the dominating position in the electric vehicle industry; sec- ondly, to build a dealer's organization of exceptional strength; thirdly, to eliminate duplication of models; fourthly, to elim- inate duplication of advertising and sales expense.
By producing under one company Baker and Rauch & Lang electrics, dealers will be in a position to present the most complete line of high grade and best known electric cars in the world, which naturally will make possible securing a much larger portion of the electric car business than has been secured by both companies in the past. It naturally follows that the dealer who represents the combined line will be in a much stronger position, and much more able to make a very profitable business out of the sale of electric cars.
The new company will continue to make both Rauch & Lang electrics and Baker electrics, and they will be marketed under these names. It is probable that in the course of time the Baker electric will be confined to the light weight, four- passenger coupe, so popular in certain sections, and Rauch & Lang electrics will be confined to the large, roomy, five- passenger and dou'ble drive cars, with, of course, the minor additions to the line, of roadsters, town cars, etc.
Baker Motor Vehicle Company, Cleveland.
Rauch & Lang Carriage Company, Cleveland,
ELECTRIC VEHICLES
Vol. VII, No. 1.
Charles
There is no ques- tion of one car being a higher grade car than the other. The entire product of The Baker R. & L. Com- pany is to be of the highest possible grade. The difference in price in the models being justified by the difference in the size and battery equip- ments.
The dealer will immediately appreci- ate that in the wide variety of models he will have an oppor- tunity of offering either the vertical or horizontal control, top or 'bottom mounted worm, as well as all other details which have been features in the construction of the two cars and which in competition
practically afford everything which any manufacturer can offer in the construction of electrics.
The new company will proceed in the most aggressive manner possible to put its product properly before the pub- lic, and the dealers can rest assured of the utmost co-opera- tion from the new organization. The customers will appre- ciate the combination, especially when they can be assured that the new company is the strongest electric vehicle factor in the world, financially, in the quality of its product and its ability due to the combination, to furnish excellent service.
The new company will specialize in the pro- motion of the Baker worm gear coupe, which sells for $2,475, and is commonly known as the "Light weight Baker." This model can be furnished in either lever or wheel steer and has specifications as follows :
Wheel base, 90 inches; tread, Standard; rear axle, worm gear; driving mechanism, two types; one with controller and steering levers, the other with steering wheel and controller (on wheel), both operated from left rear seat.
Controller lever, horizontal type; seven speeds for- ward, three reverse; springs, semi-elliptic front; cantilever rear; battery, 32 cells, 11-plate high capacity. Ironclad Exide at extra cost; tires, 32x4 special electric pneumatic; 34x4 spe- cial electric cushion.
Body, pure streamline design. Aluminum panels, with
Lang,
Vice-President.
full limousine back. Fenders, crowned metal.
Painting, body — black; panels — blue, green or maroon; or body and panels, Baker green, with brown wheels. Indi- vidual combinations at small extra charge. Equipment, head lamps, Colonial side lamps, tail lamp, in- terior lamps which light automatically when door is opened; combination lighting switch which controls all lights; ventilator; volt ammeter; auto- matic circuit breaker. Complete outfit of tools.
The Rauch & Lang models will be continued. This type will provide the roomy vehicles catering especially to those desiring a high-class electric limousine.
to those desiring a high-class electric limousine. It is expected that the new combination will be instrumental in giving the using public a better pur- chase, satisfactory service and in general cause a greater advance in the success of the industry.
In the last two years the industry has seen a number of mergers of electric car manufacturers. In each instance such mergers were for greater produc- tion rather than for financial reasons. In every instance the factors of such combinations have been able to manufacture on a more economical basis. As a result better vehicles, better sales policy, more liberal service to the public and a far lower selling price have been made possible. It is to be expected that this latest organization with its already excellent facilities will likewise work a maximum efficiency. And the pub- lic and the industry will, without a doubt, profit like- wise.
The public has waited for a new era and the latest merger predicts its arrival.
Robert C, Norton, Treasurer.
George H. Kelly, Secretary.
Francis W . Treadway, Counsel.
July, 1915.
ELECTRIC VEHICLES
Greatest Problem in the Automobile Industry
An Address Presented Before a Joint Meeting of the St. Louis Accessory Association and Advertising Club
THE big problem in the automo- bile industry — and I might say in any industry — is not manufacturing, nor capi- tal, nor materials, nor labor. Bankers have come to understand the business and now support it with their money. Materials are plentiful. Factories which pro- duce special parts are increasing, and the entire mechani- cal problem of making and assembling an automobile has during the last twenty years been just about completely solved. But with increasing competition and the conse- quent need for increasing efficiency and decreasing sell- ing price, the great need is for economy.
The pioneers in the automobile industry being pri- marily manufacturing men, have concentrated their ef- forts toward economy on the manufacturing division of their business. Efficiency methods have been instituted. Men like Frederick W. Taylor and Flarrington Emerson have been employed to put the factories on a profitable and efficient basis. So we may say that the problems in the manufacturing end of the automobile and acces- sory business have been met and conquered by the cap- tains of the craft.
The present-day problem — the great master-problem of all — is found in none of these things. The big think- ers, the inventors and the executive chiefs have fought and thought their way through these barriers.
The big problem then, is what?
In my judgment, one word covers it, and that word is "distribution" — a wonderful, all-comprehensive word. So vital a factor is this and so much appreciated by the public, that the manufacturers who have mastered it, are now advertising it as one of their advantages.
Economical distribution is a very superior talking point and ranks equally high with intrinsic quality and merit of the goods themselves. The public is awake ; they have heard that each company allows so much for the selling expense on each car, or unit of merchandise. They, therefore, quibble on price more than they used to.
You have some people coming into your stores try- ing to buy a car or other article at 10 per cent dis-
*Advertising Manager, Firestore Tire &■ Rubber Company.
BY EDWARD S. BABCOX*
count because they will tell you you have had no sell- ing expense in their case. They forget the cost of adver- tising, branch maintenance, display rooms, etc., and make the mistake of thinking because no personal salesman had called on them, no selling effort has been extended in their direction.
Now, distribution is one of the three great sub-divi- sions of business: (1) Production; (2) Distribution; ( 3 ) Exchange.
Distribution is the pivot of commerce. Labor, capi- tal, materials, factories, etc., go to make up produc- tion. Banks, accounting systems, credits, etc., make up exchange.
These things form the bark of the "Tree of Com- merce." The real heart of the tree, however, and the part which gives it life and pulsing vigor, is distribution. A factory may turn out thousands of cars or speed- ometers or tires, but if they cannot be gotten economi- cally from factory to consumer, nothing is accomplished. Distribution is the great bridge over the chasm between the factory and user.
ANALYZING THE MARKET
The problem of the sales manager is this — "How many people in the world, or in the United States, can buy my product ? In other words, what is my mar- ket?" These questions are vital. They control the man- ufacturing because no wise manufacturer produces more than can be sold, or provides for more business than can possibly be secured.
In a certain city the other day I talked with a man who is erecting a very wonderful garage. When I first saw him he was planning to take care of several thousand motor trucks. He was surprised when I showed him, after a little analysis and investigation, that there were only six or seven hundred trucks in his whole territory, and that he could not hope to get business from more than 10 or 20 per cent of these. These facts caused him to alter his plans.
In a big national, marketing problem the sales man- ager must analyze his field carefully. The United States census figures provide unlimited information and enable
laker, R. & L. "Light Weight" Coupe.
A Baker, R. Sr L. Brougham.
6
ELECTRIC VEHICLES
Vol. VII, No. 1.
him to assign sales quotas to each territory in a very in- telligent and accurate way.
He knows, for instance, that there are about five and a half million families in the United States having an income of $1,200, and about three and a quarter mil- lion families with an income of $1,800 or more. If we consider $1,800 the minimum income for an automobile- owning family, statistics prove that the field is now 59 per cent developed — that is, 59 out of every 100 people who can afford an automobile now own one. If you work on the $1,200 basis, if is 35 per cent developed.
Your live sales manager knows that there are today about one and three-quarter million automobiles in the United States. He knows that there are 10,000 in St. Louis. He knows that there are 23,295 people in St. Louis who can afford an automobile, and he knows that about 43 per cent of these possible automobile buyers now own one or more cars. With these figures to guide him, he can direct selling efforts right here in St. Louis in a very successful manner.
Now, an automobile or accessory is not finally sold until it reaches the consumer. The selling system lines up like a baseball diamond. The' manufacturer is at first base, his salesmen at second, the dealer at third and the consumer at home plate. In business, as in baseball, nothing counts until the runner (product) reaches home.
We are dealing with fundamental principles here, and in wrestling with this giant problem of distribution you will find your successful sales manager, or branch manager, or territorial salesman, analyzing his work right down to its elements. These men know that in order to make a sale, five things are necessary on the part of the customer — attention, interest, desire, conviction, action. Every buyer passes through these stages in this order before he buys, and a sale is always made in his mind before it is made on your order book. In a word, the selling problem is really a manufacturing problem — the converting of raw material into finished product — the converting of the public into customers.
That's the way the sales manager analyzes his job, and realizes his success. So he reverts back to the man- ufacturing department to cash in on their experience, if he is wise. The only difference between his job and the manufacturing department work is in the materials — that is, they are both making something which does not exist, out of something which does exist. One is working with human people and the other is working with iron, steel, leather, etc.
Did you ever see a $100 a week engineer or super- intendent trucking pig iron in a factory? Did you ever see a foreman doing day laborer's work? Did you ever see a machinist at $6 a day trying to do carpenter's work about which he knew nothing?
No, you never did in any modern factory. The efficiency in the manufacturing division of business has specialized the work of individuals and eliminated all possibility of such incongruities.
But look here !
How often do we see things in our sales and dis- tributing organizations which are like these glaring de- ficiencies, I have mentioned as being impossible in any modern factory. Recently, I was talking with a salesman of a certain company who told me that if he could not do all the work expected of him in two hours a day so he could have the rest of the day for his own pleasure, he would count himself no good. He was soldiering on his job and had been for months. Yet, the drag-net of the sales department in that organization had never
caught him. How long would this kind of thing go on in the big factories represented here tonight?
How many of your salesmen when they start out in the morning have their work laid out definitely so that they know just exactly what they are going to do, and how they are going to spend their time in the best interests of the company? How often do you managers sit down and discuss their work with your men and give them the benefit of your training and knowledge?
In the modern factory, no man is permitted to do anything which a cheaper man can do equally well. These factories are highly organized. Each individual does the work which he is best qualified to do. As a matter of fact, vocational experts are now selecting men for factory work scientifically. They no longer send in a 250-pound Russian laborer to the foreman of the de- partment handling work involving great detail. Men are picked for the work they can best do. They are given plenty of help so that it may be done right and at mini- mum cost.
Now, what is the salesman's chief assistant? Is it his sales manager, his factory, his product, or is it the thing I maintain it is — advertising?
Advertising is the great labor-saving device of dis- tribution. It is an effective method of helping salesmen manufacture the general public into customers. It is the pioneer of industry. It goes ahead of the sales force and tells millions of people about your product. While President McKinley was making an address in Philadel- phia some years ago he was interrupted by a rude rabble and being unable to quell it he stooped down and said to the reporters in front of him, "Let the thousands rail, I talk to millions here." And so it is with advertising.
The advertising of your respective companies is like a great national business card flung far and wide through- out all the states. Advertising saves salesmen because it does the hard, laborious work of distribution — it intro- duces and makes known to the public the product you are selling.
The wise salesman, the most successful salesmen, study advertising and use it in their work. That great master lawyer, Elihu Root, seldom takes time to prepare preliminary briefs and arguments in a case. Assistants do this. Their work is placed in his hands and he with his wide experience and knowledge uses it to fight the case in court. Advertising begins and lays the founda- tion for a sales campaign — but the trained, experienced, indispensable salesmen finish it.
In Washington they are building a wonderful struc- ture to be used as the Masonic Consistory. It is a replica of King Solomon's Temple. On either side of the ap- proach to the building is the great Sphinx carved out of solid stone. While there the other day, I saw ordinary workmen with heavy mallets and sledges breaking off the big corners of one of these stones. On the other side under a temporary housing were wonderful sculptors using the finest of mallets and chisels putting character into the finished work. Advertising may knock off the rough edges and lay the foundation for the campaign, but the salesman with his delicate sense of perception and understanding must complete the job.
In a certain large concern, a travelling salesman some years ago, after a long trip, went to the president and said he could not succeed in his work because he had to use half of his time telling possible customers what his concern made and who they were. He said, "You run some ads in the trade papers and send out letters ahead of me so that I can use all of my time
July, 1915.
ELECTRIC VEHICLES
selling and not two-thirds of it trying to find people to sell to, and I will show you results." The temerity of that man was rewarded, and he is now a successful sales manager. He made advertising do the drudgery of selling, the ringing of door bells and the sifting out of possible buyers, and used his salesmen as sharpshoot- ers to pick off the customers. Hugh Chalmers says that the only difference between advertising and selling is, that advertising runs a public school while salesmanship conducts a private school.
CO-OPERATION THE ONLY SOLUTION
Some say that it is only by the co-operation of sales and advertising forces that this giant problem of distri- bution can be solved.' The relative efficiency of factory is ahead of the efficiency of sales organizations, as a rule, because factory men deal with tangible matter, while salesmen deal with human beings — no two alike. Right here, much could be said about the psychology of selling and the study that is necessary by salesmen if they would succeed.
We all know well that it is possible today to tell by the features of man whether he is keen or dull, whether he is level-headed or excitable, whether he is lovable or cold-blooded. Volumes have been written and much has been done to scientize this selection of men and analysis of character. Some large department stores have classes meeting on company time for the study of character analysis. They find it pays to have their clerks understand at a glance the kind of people they are dealing with.
The problem of the factories has developed ef- ficiency experts in recent years. Frederick W. Taylor, of Philadelphia, and Harrington Emerson, of New York, are prominent among these. Today a man who assumes to know as much about distribution as these men know about factory efficiency is looked upon with some sus- picion, and as more or less as a fake. He is up against just what these men were up against before Brandeis dropped his bomb about saving a million dollars a day for the railroads if they should install efficiency pro- grams.
I predict that some day in the very near future, some colossal sales manager will rise above all the rest and show manufacturers how to train men to work with factory efficiency ; how to study people and character. He will show salesmen how to plan their work scientifi- cally. He will show them how advertising, if properly understood and used, may be co-ordinated with personal selling effort and made of exceptional assistance to the entire organization.
This man will show the sales force that after all, while there are five great M's in business — money, ma- terial, machinery, markets and men — that the basis of the entire structure of business is man.
And so I believe that while our manufacturing sys- tems are not perfect yet. they are infinitely in advance of our marketing methods in the industry at large.
I further believe that our marketing methods are on the high road to increased efficiency, and that great results will come when our sales organizations really ap- preciate how advertising plays a vital part in their specific work.
My parting plea, therefore, is — study the advertising policies and campaigns of your respective organizations, support them and the men responsible for them with all your heart and soul. From this co-operation nothing can result except the increased efficiency for which every man of us is struggling.
Chicago Issues Traffic Suggestions
The Chicago section, Electric Vehicle Association, at a recent meeting, appointed a special committee of which D. C. Arlington, Chicago manager, Phila- delphia Storage Battery Company, is chairman, for the purpose of preparing a folder in the proper observ- ance of traffic regulations.
This interesting little booklet is entitled "Some Traffic Suggestions," and presents to the electric vehicle using public some very important suggestions. Owners, garages, manufacturers and dealers have been supplied with the folders and these suggestions will, without a doubt, have a special bearing on elec- tric vehicle owners..
The following includes the suggestions as set forth :
We wish to encourage the owners and operators of elec- tric cars in the proper and complete observance of the traffic regulations as imposed by the police department of this city. If any car owner is without a copy of the rules and regula- tions of street traffic, same may be obtained by addressing the vehicle bureau, police headquarters. It is the desire of the Electric Vehicle Association of America that all owners of electric cars co-operate with the traffic department in an endeavor to facilitate traffic on our streets and boulevards and especially in the loop district.
In addition to the general traffic rules, we wish to call to the particular attention of those driving electrics at re- duced speed, to a fault that could be very easily corrected. It seems to be the disposition of drivers of electric cars, whether slow going or fast, to cling to the crown of the street, thereby impeding traffic, especially during rush hours, for, as you will find in the traffic rules, it is not lawful for those coming behind to pass on your right, and those who do so not only violate a traffic regulation, but place you and themselves in danger. We believe this is largely due to the idea that it is necessary to keep the car on a level in order to prevent acid in the battery cells from spilling. There is no danger whatever of this when driving on the very slight incline found at the side of any of Chicago streets. The obvious thing, therefore, for a slow going electric is to travel on the right side of the street near the curb, leaving the center to those who wish to drive at a higher speed.
If all automobile drivers would follow the "Golden Rule" and show a little more consideration for the other fellow, general speeding up of traffic would be possible and there would be fewer accidents.
We trust that those who read this will give the matter their very best consideration and follow the rules, thereby helping themselves and the traffic squad, who have our in- terests at heart, and who work so diligently to make the path of the automobile • driver in our city "run smooth."
Hupp- Yeats "Guarantee for Life"
Hupp-Yeats Electric Car Company, Detroit, Mich., announces a very unique guarantee: "A Guar- antee for Life." The company guarantees its product free from defects is material or workmanship during the life of the car, and guarantees to replace, free of charge, any defective material returned to the factory for inspection.
Hupp-Yeats electrics have been sold since 1910 and in the last few years they have been developed to such an extent that for a moderately priced car, they represent many of the best methods in electric vehicle construction. In the very last models, a motor gen- erator type electric charger is furnished as regular equipment. The principal aim is to furnish all pos- sible apparatus necessary in the maintenance and oper- ation of the vehicle.
The Hupp-Yeats has eliminated all extra elegance and has been quite successful in giving the public a moderate priced car, substantial and practical.
ELECTRIC VEHICLES
Vol. VII, No. 1.
"Al Jolson Girlies" During Their Stay in Chicago Were Entertained by the Chicago Electric in Various Trips Through Chicago Parks. The Cars Shown Are the Latest Models, Roadster and Brougham. Equipped' with Rudge-Whitworth Wire Wheels and All Other Modern Improvements.
Mischa Elman Invariably Comments on the Litxuriousness of His Baker Alice Neilson, Popular Opera Singer', Has Used an Electric for a Number
Brougham. 0f Years. The Baker Shown Is Her Latest Purchase.
Edgar Smith, Playwright, and Daughter Margery, of Manhattan, N. Y., Own and Find Constant Companionship in Their Ranch and Lang Coupe. \
Carolina White, Grand Opera Singer and Probably the Most Beautiful
Woman on the Stage, in a Waverley Electric Which She Has
Forwarded to All Cities in Her Tours.
July, 1915.
ELECTRIC VEHICLES
Electrically Propelled Fire Apparatus
Installations in 'Various Great Cities Where Electrics Are Operating Successfully in Exacting Work
EVER since the first fire de- partment was organized in ancient Rome, for centuries countries have vied with one another in the development of efficient fire controlling apparatus, endeavoring to make fire the "servant" of man rather than the "scourge" of man. One of the greatest problems has been the propulsion of fire apparatus and at present the greatest effort is being made to develop motor propelled appli- ances. It is interesting to follow the development of fire-fighting from the early period when the "bucket brigade" was the most efficient means of combating the enemy. The hand engine and man- pulled hose carriage were considered marvels of ef- ficiency in their day, but it is with a mixture of curiosity and amusement that we now look upon apparatus relegated to the glass cases and rusty en- virons of museums. In 1875, shortly after the period of the great fires which devastated some of our cities, a new movement sprang up which heralded modern building era and modern fire controlling ap- pliances. It was at this time that steam engines came into general use. The inclusion of fire fighting amongst the scientific problems of the day as one worthy of serious consideration dates from modern times, and hence the many improvements which have been introduced into its practice are all of such recent origin that even now they are only just emerging from an embryonic stage.
It is with considerable interest that fire chiefs throughout the country are watching the results and performance of electrically propelled fire trucks and engines in the cities where they have been adopted. The very many obstacles that present themselves in the changing of horse-drawn to motorized apparatus of a large fire department are such that the utmost care must be used to secure that method of propulsion for apparatus that will give speed, reliability, and efficiency together with ease, and economy of oper- ation. In these points the advantage of the electric over other methods of propulsion is fast establishing itself.
The first storage battery fire engine in this coun- try came into existence in 1912 when Engine 217 of the New York Fire Department was converted into an electrically propelled apparatus. The Edison Monthly gives an interesting account of its history and operation :
"The early history of 217 is well known. The engine, originally a horse-drawn steamer of the
*Secretary, Electric Vehicle Association.
BY A. JACKSON MARSHALL
Philadelphia Recommends Electric Fire Trucks.
largest size, was converted to the motor type by the removal of its forward running gear and the substitution of two couple gear freight wheels, a storage battery and the necessary steering and controlling devices. This con- version cost $4,000 and it gave to the city an engine that would have cost not less than ten thousand dollars had new apparatus been purchased — in other words a
dependable steam pump- ing engine was continued in service with added speed and greater radius of operation.
"With the exception of battery renewals and re- placement of minor parts, it stands today just as it did when it went in service on April 24, 1912. The bills for repairs and renewals during the two years have come to just $744.29, $486.97 of which was for battery renewals that were made after the machine had been in serv- ice a year and a half. The balance includes minor parts, labor and decorat- ing, for the engine has taken part in two street parades. Adding depreciation and the cost of charging, operation of this engine has cost the city just $1,370.03.
"The cost of motive power for this same type of engine, but with horses instead of a storage battery, is $1,469.06 for two years. These figures are based on the records of two companies which ordinarily respond to about the same number of calls as 217. The sum includes depreciation on horses and harness and stable equipment, which at 10 per cent is $105.98 a year. Feed, shoes and veterinary service for three horses cost $516.86, while the repairs vary. As a rule, better service costs more money. In this case the depart- ment not only has a better price of apparatus, but one on which it is saving money. The economy claim is supported by the records of the department — the claim of superiority is based on the actual performance of the engine. In the case of fire fighting this is rated principally by the speed in getting to the blaze. To begin with, the engine saves time in getting out of the house, for there are no horses to harness (inci- dentally the passing of the horse has done away with the stalls, and the space thus saved is utilized for garaging the car of one of the department chaplains). With no time lost in harnessing and with the greater speed through the streets and a wider range of opera- tion, No. 217 is often the first engine at hydrants to which in the days of the horses it was due third."
The experience of Philadelphia with electric fire apparatus has been most successful. Two years ago the first step was taken and Engine No. 20, a first- class steam fire engine, weighing 10.500 pounds, horse-
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ELECTRIC VEHICLES
Vol. VII, No. 1.
drawn, was equipped with an attached two-wheel storage battery tractor. The excellent performance of Engine No. 20 during the tests made in the con- guested traffic zone induced the bureau to convert two smaller class steam fire engines, horse-drawn, to bat- tery tractors, also the two horse-drawn, high pressure hose wagons to storage battery apparatus. In addi- tion to these five pieces of electric apparatus the city of Philadelphia has recently ordered two combination hose and chemical wagons, and one 65-foot aerial truck to be storage battery driven. This re-order should be especially gratifying to the manufacturer as showing that the electric has proved satisfactory under high speed conditions. In a report on electric fire apparatus given by Chief Mechanician George S. Walker before the Electric Vehicle Association Convention last year some very interesting tests were described in which the electric excelled all the specifications demanded. In one performance of a fire engine equipped with electric tractor, a distance of four miles was covered in eleven minutes, while the same distance consumed 30 minutes with horsedrawn apparatus. Chief Walker says of this performance :
This test was made to corroborate our belief in the battery tractor, and any person conversant with the terri- tory traversed is well aware that it is no easy going. Along that route there are many hills and one extremely sharp, dangerous curve, and the time made on that run — 11 minutes — stands today as record time, not excelled by any fire appa- ratus of any make, weighing very nearly six tons, over the same route. . . . The facts presented to me after over a year's experience are so satisfactory and the results so grati- fying that I unhesitatingly say that for use in the congested traffic zone and the close adjacent territory thereto, of any large city similarly situated as is Philadelphia, the storage battery tractor is the very best method of propulsion for fire apparatus that is presented by any present-day methods, and I sincerely wish that the Bureau will be able in the near future to receive the necessary funds, that the present small number of motor apparatus may be so augmented that our city will possess the requisite number of apparatus that modern methods demand of the department of public safety.
No more convincing proof of the superiority of the electric fire apparatus could be obtained than a letter from Chief Engineer W. H. Daggett of Spring- field, Mass., in which he states that the actual use in the service of the department has shown one of the chief advantages of battery driven apparatus to be absolute positiveness in starting. Further that the pieces have never failed to start instantly and ex- perience with them has been such as to inspire a feel- ing of confidence that they are sure to start when needed, at any time or place. These gas-cars are as good as those owned by any city, but there are times when the crank is used more than once to start the engine, and the larger the engine the more time it takes, also the greater the difficulty to start. Up to the present time we have not thought of failure in starting with our battery driven apparatus and no piece has been out of service a minute since they were installed. The battery in the aerial truck is two years old. Making due allowance for the operation of the batteries under adverse conditions, the cost of main- tenance of a piece of apparatus is as follows :
Renewal of plates (in 4 yrs.) $500.00
Renewal of separators (in 2 yrs.) 80 cells @ 35c 28.00
Charging batteries (in 4 yrs. @ $60.00 per year) 240.00
Broken jars (4 yrs. @ $7.00 per yr. ) 28.00
Total in 4 years $796.00
Total in 1 year 199.00
In other words, $200 per year is estimated as the cost of maintenance of a battery driven aerial ladder
truck of such size and capacity as was formerly drawn to fires by three horses.
When it is considered that the maintenance and upkeep of three horses varies from $500 to $600 per year, it is evident why Chief Daggett is so enthusiastic in his report of the electric apparatus.
In Baltimore, Md., Engine No. 32 of the fire de- partment is equipped with a storage battery tractor, which is the most reliable and economical apparatus in the whole department, and can always be depended upon.
The city of Akron, Ohio, owns a 65-foot aerial truck, equipped with electric tractor, which, at a demonstration of speed and climbing grades, went up a 13 per cent grade when carrying a full complement of men and equipment and attached to the truck, at the rate of eleven miles per hour, and on level streets the tractor propelled the truck at the rate of twenty- six miles per hour without any trouble or showing any loss of power in the least.
"In my judgment," said Chief Mertz, "the storage battery has solved the problem of converting horse- drawn steam fire engines and hook and ladder trucks of any fire department to self-propelled apparatus from a practical standpoint."
As in other departments where the horse is being superseded by self-propelled vehicles it will not be long before every fire department of any size will be entirely motorized.
It is now a question which will prove the more efficient means of propulsion, gas or the storage bat- tery. It is an established fact that the electric vehicle is more economical to run than a gasoline car. With- out a doubt the gasoline vehicle has its own sphere and as Chief Avery of Worcester, Mass., states its use in suburban districts will not be superseded, but for the exacting work in the congested and business centers, "the electric vehicle," he states, "will be the future machine for fire-fighting."
The economy of operating an electric is large be- cause of its few working parts. As against the gaso- line motor and transmission and the large number of working- parts, a number of which are reciprocating in their action, the electric is driven by one, two or four motors, as the case may be, and the movement is a revolving one, the least wearing of all movements. In addition, these motors are revolved by electric magnetism and not by destructive explosive forces. The electric car has less than one-half the total parts required with a gasoline car. The life of the storage battery in this class of service is estimated at upwards of five years with one renewal. This estimation is given by Chief Daggett of Springfield, who has had a considerable experience with electric fire apparatus.
As for reliability, many of the above statements of various fire chiefs bear witness to the absolute de- pendability of the electric. Its ease of operation and promptness of action arouse utter confidence in it. "The battery tractor has the advantage of the gasoline apparatus," states Chief Walker, "in answering alarms, because of the fact that it is simply necessary for the driver to get on the seat, throw on his con- troller, and it is under headway in less time than is taken to crank the motor. It eliminates the character- istic ignition and carbureter troubles in starting the motor in cold weather, and the attendant radiator troubles of freezing and leaking "
Another characteristic of the electric fire ap-
July, 1915.
ELECTRIC VEHICLES
11
paratus, which should commend itself to the heads of fire departments, is its absolute cleanliness. The elec- tric does away with the offensive odors of horses, and the customary litter, dirt and flies, allows more room in the station, eliminates all odors of gasoline and oil, reduces the element of fire, which is characteristic of gasoline equipment. As there is comparatively no grease it is much easier to keep the apparatus clean and of good appearance, all of which adds very greatly to the sanitation of the station.
Although fire apparatus usually has the right of way there are times when it has to be held up on account of congested traffic, or for other reasons. At such times as these the simplicity of the electric be- comes all the more apparent. The quick, positive con- trol is a big factor in operating ponderous machines in crowded city streets. The electric stops instantly and in starting, there is no delay in acquiring momen- tum again, there being no time lost in gear shifting. This positiveness of control plays a great part in the safety element of the electric which is one of its prime virtues.
It is no unusual thing to see a horseless fire in this day and age, and it is to be hoped that the efficiency of the fire department of our cities will continue to in- crease by the adoption of electric apparatus which has proved so efficient and reliable.
Electric Pole Truck Operating Costs
The six-ton electric pole truck put into service by the Philadelphia (Pa.) Electric Company, March 21, 1913, had covered up to May 1, 1915, 17,948 miles. It has averaged 30 miles per day in service, the maximum daily mileage being 53. During the two years it has taken 33,845 kwh. of energy, or 1.88 kwh. per mile. As testimony to the efficiency, economy and excellent per- formance of this electric pole truck, a second truck which is practically a duplicate of the first was pur- chased on March 18, 1915. The original battery in the first truck was of the twenty-one plate type, but when the time came for renewal a twenty-three plate type was installed. The batteries in both of the trucks have forty- four cells, and it is claimed that they are the largest electric-vehicle batteries in use in the state of Pennsyl- vania. The acquisition of this second truck will enable the company to eliminate to a great degree the use of horses for hauling poles.
The company's force recently hauled five heavy 45-foot poles from the pole yard, Seventeenth street and Sedgley avenue, to Newton Square, Pa., for the Bell Telephone Company. While there is nothing significant in a 26-mile run, it is interesting to note that the distance was covered in six and three-quarter hours with a current consumption of 305 amp-hr. The poles hauled in this instance were above the average size, the entire load weighing approximately eight tons. The great weight and the hilly condition of the country traveled caused the truck at times to consume three times more energy than under normal conditions.
The cost of this trip was $10.12, or $1.50 per hour, or slightly under 5 cents per ton-mile. Formerly this work required a four-horse team twenty hours, at $1.20 per hour, or $24. Thus the cost by electric vehicle rep- resented a saving of approximately 40 per cent over the cost of haulage using horses.
The advantages to be derived by the use of electric trucks for pole hauling, as compared with the use of
horses, are set forth by the superintendent of the com- pany's transportation department as follows :
(1) The saving of time to and from jobs, which is important.
(2) More economy, because more work can be done in less time.
(3) Accidents are less likely, because the electric truck occupies less space on the street, because the driver has better control over it, and because it can turn corners with perfect safety, which is impossible with a four- horse pole truck.
(4) Loading and unloading can be done with less labor and with perfect safety by using the motor and winch.
The new truck is shown in the accompanying illus- tration. It differs from the old truck only in the steering device for the rear wheels, which is similar to that now used on hook-and-ladder fire trucks to facilitate the rounding of corners.
Electrics in Railroad Freight Houses
Battery-driven industrial trucks are increasing in favor for handling goods in both transfer houses and freight houses, according to the report of the committee on yards and terminals of the American Railway Engi- neering Association, presented at the Chicago meeting of the association. Many railroad officials have found the electric truck particularly useful when used as a locomotive for drawing a number of trailer trucks, for which it has ample power.
One railroad, which has fifty electric trucks _ in transfer service at its dock terminals, notes an operating
TABLE I— COMPARATIVE COST OF ELECTRIC-TRUCK OPERATION.
Tons Electric Hand
Handled by Trucks Trucks
Electric {Cents per (Cents per
Trucks Ton) Ton)
Eastbound :
Vessel to dock.
Dock to car. . . .
Total
Westbound :
Car to vessel..
24.050 12,383
2,452
19.12 11.38 30.50
21.15
29.23 13.15 42.38
30.30
cost of 8.74 per truck per month, including energy at 3.3 cents per kwh. In comparison with hand trucks, the cost of electric-truck operation was as shown in Table I.
TABLE II — AVERAGE RESULTS OF OPERATION.
Average per Month
Maintenance and repairs, including labor and material.. $ 480.71
Cost of energy 487.99
Labor expense, including foremen, checkers, truck opera- tors, freight handlers, sealers and coopers 5,496.58
Interest on investment and depreciation of property 778.13
Total average expense per month $7,243.41
Average number of tons handled per month 17,010
Average cost per ton, cents 42.58
Average number of trucks in use per month 47
Later these trucks were put in service at a transfer station. The average results, based on seven months' operation (February to August, 1914) are given in Table II.
Police,' fire department, fire patrol, traffic emer- gency repair, United States mail vehicles and ambu- lances for persons and animals shall have the right of way in any street and through any procession.
12
ELECTRIC VEHICLES
Vol. VII, No. 1.
Operating Costs of Commercial Electrics
Recently an investigation was made of the cost of maintaining' electric commercial vehicles in 145 large installations totaling 3,095 trucks in some 30 different cities.
As a result of this investigation it was found that more than 3,000 electric vehicles included in the tables are now being operated for the following average daily costs: One-third ton, $5.68; y2 ton, $6.34; y4 ton, $7.02 ; 1 ton, $7.56 ; lj£ ton, $8.15 ; 2 ton, $8.92 ; 3% ton, $10.38; 5 ton, $11.74.'
Actual verifications in writing over the signature of the owner or operator, cover 50 per cent of the cases investigated, while the others personally acknowledge the truth of the figures given.
Waverley electric trucks were represented in 15 of the installations investigated and a comparison of figures of those installations with other shows that the Waverley cost was lower than the average in six of the eight classes, the net saving in those six classes being 42 cents per day. In one class, including some 36 Waverleys, the Waverley cost was .03 cents or z/2 of 1 per cent above the daily average and in the re- maining class represented by a single Waverley only the cost was 26 cents or 2 per cent above the average of the class. So that in 6 out of 8 classes Waverley was below the average of all..
The cost analysis included investment, spare parts, equipment, garage equipment, and office equipment on the total of which 3 per cent interest was charged to annual operating- expenses. These expenses also in- cluded depreciation of 10 per cent, liability and fire insurance and license, fees. Maintenance included tire upkeep, battery upkeep, and mechanical upkeep. Electric power, supplies, labor, rent, light, etc., were charged to garaging. Driver's wages were charged to operation and salaries and office expense to admin- istration. Current was figured in all cases at 4 cents per kwh. and wages were averaged at $2 a day for light delivery wagons, $2.50 a day for 1 to 3 ton trucks and $3 a day for heavier trucks.
The average daily cost of all the trucks investi- gated was exceedingly low and many gratifying ex- pressions were received from the owners and operators.
Within a period of ten years horse carriages have almost totally disappeared from the streets of the larger cities and transition from animal to mechanical transportation of merchandise is now rapidly taking place. It is evident from all the available reports of comparative expense that the most economical system of delivery now in use is the electric truck.
Hanlon Windshield Patent Injunction Filed
Windshields that have an adjustable "visor" or small swinging panel at the top in front of the top panel of the shield, as a protection against rain or snow, are the subject of an injunction that has been issued by the United States District Court at Cleve- land, O., against all the members of the National Auto- mobile Chamber of Commerce, except the Anderson Electric Car Company, of Detroit, which was one of the plaintiffs. If the visor is not adjustable, it does not come under the injunction.
The order for the injunction is the result of a patent infringement suit on the windshield re-issue patent No. 13,653, to Hanlon, December 2, 1913, against the Ranch & Lang Carriage Company, of Cleveland. The suit was defended by the National
Automobile Chamber of Commerce, but was decided for the plaintiffs, William B. Hanlon et al., last March. The injunction order is against the Rauch & Lang Carriage Company, the National Automobile Chamber of Commerce, and all its members, except the Ander- son company. An appeal is to be taken by the Chamber.
The Hanlon patent was invented by a Pittsburgh trolley motorman, for the front windows of trolley car vestibules. The ordinary rain-vision windshields as used on touring cars do not come under the decision,, and closed cars that have a closed window in front do not infringe, provided the extra visor at the top is made immovable and non-adjustable.
Uncle Sam Buys Electrics
The general supply committee has awarded the following contracts for furnishing the executive de- partments here with motor vehicles during the fiscal year beginning July 1, 1915:
The AVaverley Company, Indianapolis, electric truck, 1,000 pounds capacity, $1,660; with screen side express body, $1,920; with standard full panel body, $1,925.
1,500-pound electric truck, no award.
The Waverley . Company, 2,000-pound truck,, $2,095 ; $2,385 ; $2,425 ; $2,450.
Kentucky Wagon Company, 2-ton Urban electric truck, $2,650 ; $2,985 ; $2,010.
Baker Motor Vehicle Company, Cleveland, O., 3-ton Baker electric truck, $2,975; $3,360; $3,435.
800 to 1,000-pound gasoline truck; no award.
Chicago Department Stores to Furnish Garages
Organized electric car men in Chicago are prepar- ing an appeal to the owners of the big department stores to institute garage facilities for electric cars. The local organization will endeavor to obtain from the merchants a promise of space, so that women shoppers will be able to run their cars into the basement garages while they are shopping.
It is suggested that the merchants make the garage self-sustaining by charging a nominal fee of 25 cents. The chances are that the women who drive their electrics downtown would reciprocate by doing- all their shopping in the store in which they are able to garage their electrics.
Eagle Electric Forms in Detroit
Under the name Eagle Elcetric Automobile Com- pany there has been incorporated under Michigan laws a company for the purpose of manufacturing electric pleasure cars and delivery wagons. The company has a capitalization of $100,000. The stockholders are: Herman A. Schmidt, Cass C. Smith and Henry Clay Tudson, all of Detroit.
Century Electric Car Company Absorbed
The Century Electric Car Company, which manu- factured the Century electric at Detroit, has been ab- sorbed by a new company, incorporated under the name Century Mfg. Co. The capital stock of the company is $40,000 and the incorporators are : John Gillespie, William M. Pagel, Philip Breitmeyer and Edwin Denby.
July, 1915.
ELECTRIC VEHICLES
13
Published Monthly by
ELECTRICITY MAGAZINE CORPORATION
Monadnock Building, Chicago
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New York Office, 1022 Longacre Building, 42nd Street and Broadway.
Ed. J. Mock and Paul H. Woodruff, Editors
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Entered as second-class matter January 22, 1912, at the postoffice at Chicago, Illinois, under act of March 3, 1879.
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Remittances — Remittances should be made by check, New York draft or money order, in favor of Electric Vehicles. Foreign subscriptions may be remitted direct by International Postal Money Order.
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This publication is free and independent of all business or house con- nections or control. No manufacturer or supply dealer, or their stock- holders or representatives, have any financial interest in Electric Vehicles or any voice in its management or policy.
CHICAGO, JULY, 1915
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
A Visit to Mt. Vernon. By Howard S. Fisk 1-2
Waverley Holds Sociability Runs in Indianapolis 2
Baker, Rauch and Lang Merger 3_4
Greatest Problem in the Automobile Industry 5_7
Chicago Issues Traffic Suggestions 7
Hupp-Yeats "Guarantee for Life" 7
Picture Pages 8
Electrically Propelled Fire Apparatus ' 9-1 1
Electric Pole Truck Operating Costs 11
Electrics in Railroad Freight Houses 11
Operating Costs of Commercial Electrics l 12
Hanlon Windshield Patent Injunction Filed 12
Uncle Sam Buys Electrics. . 12
Chicago Department Stores to Furnish Garages 12
Editorial 13-14
Wanted — A Better Policy 13
Convention Comment 14
Garagemen, Don't Crowd Your Vehicles 14
Combining for Greater Production 14
Parking Shoppers' Electrics 14
Electric Vehicle Association Developments 15-17
The Motor Truck and Why. By Merrill C. Horine 18-22
Electrics for Teaming and Deposit Companies 23-25
Manufacturing Worm Gears. By Cornelius T. Myers 26-28
National Electric Light Association Discusses Electrics 29-30
The Electric Automobile Increases in Popularity 30
Chicago to Have New "Detroit" Service Station 30
Rational Method of Determining Mileage 31-33
Second S'. A. E. Report 33
Motor Trucks in Contracting Work 34
Beardsley Makes 1066.4 Miles in Ten Days 34
Electric Vehicles in Municipal Service. By F. Ayton 35-38
Personal Notes 39
WANTED— A BETTER POLICY
EACH year, just about the time when the automo- bile world announces its coming year models, the whole public pauses long enough to note the latest developments in general lines and mechanical con- struction, and especially the selling prices.
Among the gasoline car manufacturers there is a constant tendency to adopt new patterns, with grace- ful lines, pleasing to look at and truly beautiful.
To the lay public the constantly descending prices each year are likewise of interest, because to many each cut means another step toward the possibility of purchasing.
In the electric vehicle world, the tactics are dif- ferent ; indeed, so entirely unlike those of the success- ful gas car builders that one cannot avoid the con- clusion that electric vehicle manufacturers are con- tinuing methods the gas car people long ago found it necessary to break away from.
Electric car prices, in most cases, continue at exorbitant heights. The prospective purchaser, even though fully educated to the economy and luxury of the electric, waits for an opportunity to invest at a reasonable price — but waits in vain.
So it is but natural that the electric must lie dor- mant while its more adaptable rival hnds the public's eye with a better car at a price that appeals to the average buyer. The electric vehicle manufacturer, on the other hand, finds each year a great obstacle in the selling of his product and "universal adoption" is but a will o'the wisp — a chimera — entertained only by those high-strung imaginations which have survived the disappointments of an extraordinarily conserva- tive policy.
The electric has had its day of education. The world admits its superiority, its economy and its dur- ability. The world likewise recognizes the merits of radium and other rarities beyond its means of securing. What the public waits for and what must absolutely be regulated is a selling price which will give more people a chance to purchase ; and in these greater sales will be a more regular profit to the manufac- turer on his investment.
Just now we find the electric vehicle industry be- coming contaminated with illegitimate sales policies, unreliable guarantees and less carefully constructed cars ; all of which automatically develops from the use of impractical methods which the gas car industry discarded long before it could become one of the great- est industries in the world.
We have had ample opportunity to sympathize with those who are either slowly losing ground or have fallen from the road to success. Petty trade secrets, sharp and illegitimate tactics have been laid bare, and the electric, so highly regarded by the few who appreciate quality, cost unconsidered, is bur- dened with a millstone of business methods that were thrown by the wayside years ago in practically every other industry.
We are waiting patiently for an organization of business men who will further educate the public not to the electric in general but the electric in particular, with a sales policy honest and indiscriminating. The public will not long be influenced by unscrupulous sales talk ; it must purchase on facts which it knows are true and reliable. Then, and only then, will the electric be able to prove its true greatness.
14
ELECTRIC VEHICLES
Vol. VII, No. 1.
CONVENTION COMMENT
Nl »\V that the N. E. L. A. convention is over and the electric vehicle situation has been thoroughly discussed, we hope a new and better era may come for both manufacturers and central stations.
As is always the case, central stations have con- demned the high prices of cars and manufacturers the high price of current.
From all reports we again find that that part of the convention devoted to the discussion of the elec- tric vehicle was an arena of keen verbal combat. At any rate the central station as usual is ready to pick up the struggle with still more enthusiasm ; and the manufacturer likewise takes a firmer hold on the same tactics he used last year, hoping for greater sales on the newly aroused enthusiasm.
To those central stations in audience not using electrics, all real prospects for at least one vehicle in their own service, the yearly wail of the combatants can have little favorable influence in persuading them to make such an investment.
Although the facts of the situation certainly should be stated clearly in order to secure compre- hensive co-operation, it is hardly to be expected that the mutual pessimism displayed will have a salutary effect at a time when optimism should form its first root of ambition in the minds of the uninitiated.
Whatever the outcome of the last convention may be, it is hoped first that many central stations pre- viously lukewarm will investigate the much discussed electric on its own merits, install a vehicle in their service, and give it a thorough test.
GARAGEMEN, DON'T CROWD YOUR VEHICLES
IN RECENT years the increased sale of electrics has introduced a problem which is just beginning to show evidence of trouble, demanding immediate solution. Five years ago in practically any vicinity one could find ample garage space to board an electric properly. Today in the average garage catering to the electric, we find the garagemen hoarding the greatest possible number of vehicles in the space available. As a result, the cars are placed so close to each other that fenders are scratched and mutilated, hub cups badly bent, and running boards injured from slight, but constant collision.
Such abuse in the course of a few months leaves many scars on the highly polished surfaces, which very soon detracts from the general beauty of the vehicle and causes owners to become dissatisfied with the care given their cars. It is far better for a garage owner to set a maximum limit to the number of cars to be boarded in his station than to selfishly find room for "one more," and as a result, lose many of his regular customers.
Those people who buy electrics, buy them for their beauty. The garage man is an important factor in pre- serving this beauty and general appearance.
COMBINING FOR GREATER PRODUCTION. \I/HEN the Baker Motor Vehicle Company and the ' » Ranch and Lang Carriage Company, two of the largest and oldest electric car manufacturers in the United States, announced their recent merger, the elec- tric vehicle industry paused in its regular routine of business cares long enough to wonder just what de- velopment was going to take place and what effect it would have on the industry as a whole.
Electric Vehicles has long anticipated a new era in the electric car industry. The old, shopworn
methods of small-scale production and profits ; in- flated overhead expense resulting" from keen com- petition in a seemingly limited field ; avoidance of ad- vertising campaigns, and a general lack of regular selling tactics have long worked to undermine the industry.
Practically every electric car manufacturer in the industry has been taking the line of least resistance, satisfied with a comfortable revenue from a few sales at a big- price.
Today we find the beginning of what we believe to be a new era in this splendid industry which has been practically trodden into the ground through poor judgment.
Legitimate manufacture, a combination of prod- ucts which are worthy of the industry's approval to be built at a minimum expense because of quantity pro- duction, will we hope through immediate success stamp the electric in the minds of the public.
Then will our remaining manufacturers find it necessary to get down to the business of manufac- turing and selling according to those principles which the gas car manufacturer and every other manufac- turer have found to be the only road to success.
The close of the year 1916 will find a much different status of affairs. The $1,000 electric will not be a mere dream ; on the contrary it will be on the market to thou- sands who had never previously associated its posses- sion with their ambitions.
Then shall competition be keen not from its pres- ent angle of sustenance but more so from the angle of leadership and record production. And even in that day a success in the electric car industry will only be a repetition of the gas car industry's history, which long struggled in a similar rut of irresponsibility.
PARKING SHOPPERS' ELECTRICS.
IN many of our larger cities where the electric vehicle is used in great numbers for shopping, the question of "parking" is becoming- a serious problem.
In practically every city the large department stores are centrally located which signifies, of course, in the heart of congested traffic.
It is hardly to be expected that any municipality should allow vehicles to park at the curb. And fur- ther, a remedy is hardly to be expected from city officials.
The remedy, however, must be obtained else the "popular electric for shopping" will have lost its effect as a worthy slogan. The attended vehicle will then have exclusive rights and many who now enjoy the pleasure of driving their own vehicles will find much inconvenience.
From every angle the remedy should come from the department stores. A parking system can be in- augurated if the department stores will. A reasonable fee could be made, our lady shoppers could still shop "via electric" and the driver, the departmentier and the industry would profit immensely.
Every garageman and every factor in the electric vehicle industry should take special effort in promot- ing a parking system. It means a greater success for every interest ; increased sales and greater popularity for this type vehicle.
In Chicago a movement is on foot to induce the large retailers to consider such a system. If the true condition was forced emphatically upon the large re- tailers, without a doubt immediate steps would be taken to establish a satisfactory system.
July, 1915.
ELECTRIC VEHICLES
15
Electric Vehicle Association Developments
Sectional Development Work, Reports of Committees and New Announcements
FOLLOWING is a review of the activities of the Electric Vehicle Association of America as pre- pared by the secretary.
A council meeting of the association was held on Friday, June 25, at which time President John F. Gil- christ, Treasurer H. M. Edwards and Messrs. W. C. Andrews of the Edison Storage Battery Company, Joseph F. Becker of the United Electric Light and Power Company, who attended the meeting for Frank W. Smith; Charles Blizard of the Electric Storage Battery Company, E. P. Chalfant, secretary of the Electric Automobile Manufacturers' Association ; W. A. Donkin of the Duquesne Light Company. W. C. Johnson of the Waverley Company, George H. Kelly of the Baker Rauch and Lang Company, E. S. Mans- field of the Edison Electric Illuminating Company of Boston, C. A. Poyer of the Edison Storage Battery Company, who attended for W. G. Bee, Harvey Robin- son of the New York Edison Company, P. D. Wagoner of the General Vehicle Company, were present.
A letter from Samuel Scovil, president of the Cleveland Electric Illuminating Company, to President John F. Gilchrist, was read, in which Mr. Scovil in- vites the association to hold its 1915 convention in Cleveland. Mr. Scovil's appreciated invitation was unanimously accepted by the council, but the exact dates on which the convention will be held is a matter yet to be determined upon and will be released as soon as possible.
Particularly interesting was the presentation of two petitions for sections, one from Kansas City, Mo., and another from Portland, Ore., which Secretary Marshall secured on his recent trip. This increases the section representation to sixteen (16) in as many cities, namely, New England, Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington, Cincinnati, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Pittsburgh, New York, Detroit, Cleveland, Toronto, Denver, St. Louis, Kansas City, and Portland, Ore.
It is gratifying to note that about a year or so ago, the association had but two sections in New Eng-
land and Chicago, with a membership of something less than five hundred (500), whereas today, the mem- bership is 1,058, with 16 sections.
Follows a membership report as presented at the council meeting, showing section and membership classification.
ELECTRIC VEHICLE ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA. Membership — June 25, 1915.
Active Associate Auxiliary Press Active Associate Auxiliary Press CS Mfrs. CS Mfrs. February Report. ... 104 33 820 12 30
Resignations 10 31 . . 1
Pending 104 23
Applications 2 1
12
91
29
1
Pending 106 24
Total Members . . 130
February Report. Application
Total Members
February Report. Transfer
Resignations
880
NEW ENGLAND
32 2 86
.. .. 1
12 12
Pending
Applications
Pending
Total Members. . . .
February Report . Resignations
34 87
CHICAGO 5 118
5 2
7
116
2
114 17
131 131
30 30
Pending . Applications
Pending
Total Members. .
Total Total
999
42
957 95
1,052 1,052
122 1
123
134 ?
132
5
127
17
144 144
|
PHILADELPHIA |
|||
|
2 3 |
67 1 |
[ 1 |
74 |
|
4 |
4 |
||
|
2 3 |
63 |
[ 1 |
70 |
|
6 |
6 |
||
|
2 3 |
69 |
L 1 |
76 |
|
5 |
69 |
I 1 |
76 |
|
HI' |
'""jI |
, |
||
|
B^^5BI^%i?^i?-r^^ v |
ffl:^w*Ai$fc$^lg |
iaJ9 |
||
|
11 : .: |
JP' '- I |
"* |
P* |
|
|
* . '*i Hf X» J |
||||
|
^^^^JS^^attisBB |
||||
|
Wp4£ S^^JE |
||||
|
HHH '™tSm aem! |
e* |
G. M. C. Electrics Are Easily Operated in Congested Districts.
Mrs. S. Dreyfus, Manhattan, New York, in Her Rauch & Lang.
16
ELECTRIC VEHICLES
Vol. VII, No. 1.
February Report Resignations . . .
Pending
Applications ....
Pending
Total Members
February Report. Applications
• Pending
Total Members.
ASHINGTON
42 3
39 2
41 41
CINCINNATI 1 .. 12
16
16
SAN FRANCISCO
February Report. Total Members
February Report. Resignations
Pending
Total Members.
February Report. . Total Members.
February Report. Resignations
Pending Applications
19 19
LOS ANGELES 57 1
~ 56
56
Pending
Total Members
February Report. Resignation
Pending
Applications
Pending
Total Members.
February Report. Resignation
Pending . . Applications
PITTSBURGH
1 1 26
2 26
NEW YORK
8 8 197
.. 1 17
8 7 180
.. 1 17
8 8 197
197
DETROIT
3 45
1
45 2 1
16
18 1
17
17 17
2 46
46
CLEVELAND
Pending
Total Members
February Report. Total Members.
February Report. Resignation
Pending
Total Members.
24
24 3
27 27
TORONTO 1 14
14
DENVER
18 1
17 17
43
3
40 2
42 42
13
4
17 17
21 21
62 1
61
61
29 29
235 19
216
18
234 234
50 1
49
1
50 50
28 1
27 3
30 30
18 18
19 1
18 18
|
February Report. Transfer |
. 1 |
ST. 1 |
LOUIS 25 1 .. |
27 1 |
|
Pending Registrations . . . |
1 |
1 |
26 2 |
28 2 |
|
Pending |
1 |
1 |
24 6 |
26 |
|
Applications |
6 |
|||
|
Pending |
1 |
1 2 |
30 30 |
32 |
|
Total Members. |
32 |
PORTLAND
February Report... 1 3
Applications 11
Pending 1 .. 14
Total Members... 1 14
KANSAS CITY
February Report 3
Applications 1 .. 11
Pending 1 .. 14
Total Members... 1 14
MEMBERS AT LARGE
February Report.. 41 6 64
Resignations 4 1
Pending 41 2 63
Applications 7
Pending 41 2 70
Total Members... 43 70
4 11
15 15
3 12
15 15
117
5
112 7
119 119
Mrs. E. F. Van Note, Brooklyn, and her 1915 "Detroit."
Inasmuch as the summer season is here, a great many of the sections have curtailed activities until the fall.
CHICAGO SECTION.
On May 18 the Chicago section held a meeting at the Hotel Metropole, Chairman -W. J. McDowell presiding. F. A. Phillips, the speaker of the day, was introduced and gave a short, but excellent talk, on "Organization, Journalism, and the Power Wagon." The situation was very well set forth by Mr. Phillips and considerable discussion ensued. This address ap- peared in the June issue of Electric Vehicles.
On May 25, at which time F. E. McCall, secretary, presided, William H. Noble of the Lincoln Electric Company read an excellent paper, illustrated by black- board notations, on "Charging Electric Vehicle Bat- teries from High Potential Circuits." The speaker elaborated considerably on the loss that would occur from low number of cells per charge on ordinary voltage circuits or where normal size vehicle batteries were charged from higher than ordinary potential cir- cuits, and where the amount of current needed was regulated by means of a rheostat. He also called attention to the fact that it might prove economical to use balancer sets. The subject proved to be one to
July, 1915.
ELECTRIC VEHICLES
17
which the majority had given little thought and evoked considerable discussion.
An executive committee meeting of the Chicago section was held on May 28 in the office of Secretary F. E. McCall, at which time reports of the section committees were presented and general affairs of the section discussed.
F. E. McCall presided at the June 1 meeting of the Chicago section held at the Hotel Metropole. As there was no program scheduled for this meeting, topics of general interest were called for and discussed. The question of a coming field day was taken up. The discussion which followed indicated that the opinion of those present was to have an affair similar to the one held last year. This event was held indoors and a supper was participated in, after which the attrac- tions of the evening were pool and quite an extensive bowling tournament.
Mr. Meyer of the Timken Bearing Works of De- troit was to have been the speaker at the June 8 meet- ing, but was unfortunately detained and could not attend. Consequently, the time was given over to other timely matters. Chairman McDowell told about the bill board truck advertising scheme being post- poned until the fall.
NEW YORK SECTION.
The May 25 meeting of the New York section was held in the auditorium of the Consolidated Gas Com- pany building. Harvey Robinson, chairman, presided, and announced that the program for the evening would be a series of talks on charging apparatus.
David F. Tobias, secretary, stated that the papers committee had been endeavoring to obtain papers which would be of general interest and along definite lines of work connected with the electric vehicle in- dustry in general. For this meeting the committee selected a program of more practical nature, that is, more technical than those previous. It was felt that to select any one type of apparatus would not be dis- cussed. Invitations were sent to manufacturers of charging apparatus of all types to send representatives to tell the good and bad features of their apparatus. Several of them attended, prepared to address the meeting and most of them had lantern slides.
The first gentleman called upon was D. J. Burns of the Ward-Leonard Company, who read a paper pre- pared by Mr. Waller.
The second speaker, J. J. Kline, of the Fort Wayne Works of the General Electric Company, described the features of his apparatus, nine or ten slides of which were thrown on the screen. S. C. Harris asked what success the Fort Wayne Works had been having with charging batteries by the constant potential sys- tem. Mr. Kline replied that they had marked success. There have been many recent installations but they have not been in operation long enough to obtain any statement of results. Garages favor it to some extent. They seem to be very well pleased at getting an 80 per cent charge in three and one-half hours.
One member inquired whether the fuses in the standard board were air fuses. The speaker replied that they were standard underwriters' fuses, regular N.E. C. Mr. Harris inquired as to the details of the finish of the charge regarding current not dropping as low as it should and causing increased heat in the battery. Mr. _ Kline was not prepared to give details on the condition of the battery from their experience
but knew that his factory superintendent had been charging his own individual car on the constant poten- tial method for a great many months, and while his car was looked over by the men who have charge of their trucks, was very well pleased with the service under this method G. B. di Moise of the Westing- house Electric & Manufacturing Company presented some slides showing motor generator sets and recti- fiers and explained their characteristics.
E. T. Foote of the Cutled-Hammer Company con- fined his talk to the one type of charging apparatus for public garages and small and large fleets.
F. W. Eller of the Electric Products Company described some motor generator sets, and after similar talks by E. D. Pike of the Wagner Electric Manu- facturing Company and E. B. Forslund of Chicago, the meeting adjourned.
DENVER SECTION.
Denver section held a meeting on June 22 at the Hotel Metropole, at which E. M. Jackson, chairman, presided. "The Electric Automobile Motor," by H. S. Baldwin, as presented at the last convention, was reviewed and discussed.
It was suggested by Messrs. Davis and Bruck- man that the Denver section inaugurate some kind of an electric vehicle run that would tend to stimulate the electric vehicle industry. They suggested that a trip be taken up Lookout Mountain, which is undoubt- edly one of the grandest trips in the world. With a view to making the trip possible for all kinds and makes of cars, it was suggested that suitable charging apparatus be temporarily installed in Golden, at the base of Lookout Mountain, where the party could rest for lunch and in the meantime, all the cars could be given a very substantial "boost." It was announced that a prominent moving picture concern would be glad to take a moving picture of the trip and these pictures would afterwards appear all over the country in their "Current Event" films, thus advocating the use of the electric and demonstrating the possibilities of type of car in mountain climbing. Several mem- bers of the section have previously made this trip with comparative ease and after making the descent have turned around and repeated the trip. The cars used in these trips were ordinary cars and one was not even considered standard make. In order to ascertain the possibilities of making this run and perfecting arrange- ments for the "boosting" facilities, a committee of five was appointed, and upon a satisfactory report from them to the section, the event will be made official.
SECRETARY'S WESTERN TRIP.
The Electric Vehicle Association has been ex- tremely fortunate in having the sustained, hearty, and valued co-operation of the National Electric Light Association, the secretaries of the two associations working in very close harmony, and when the occasion is required it has been customary for co-operative com- mittees to be appointed by the two associations to promote any particular development.
Some few months ago the opportunity was af- forded President Gilchrist and Secretary Marshall of the Electric Vehicle Association to develop for presen- tation at the thirty-eighth convention of the National Electric Light Association Convention, which was held in San Francisco June 7-11, a paper, "The Elec- tric Vehicle and the Central Station." This paper was presented by Secretary Marshall.
18
ELECTRIC VEHICLES
Vol. VII, No. 1.
The Motor Truck and Why
A Paper Presented at the National Team Owners Assn. Convention
MOTOR trucks are of three |BY MERRILL C. HORINE:: kinds : light delivery ve- hicles, from 500 pounds to 1^4 tons in capacity; medium-sized trucks, from 1 ton to 2l/2 tons in capac- ity; and heavy trucks, from 3 tons to 6 tons or more. There are also tractors and trailers from 7 tons up to 30 tons in capacity.
Teaming and draying companies, warehouse and storage firms, and express and transfer concerns have made heavy investments in motor equipment.
You have seen motor trucks introduced. You have seen them grow in favor, and although in isolated instances you have witnessed the aban- donment of motor trucks, the fact of the constantly- increasing numbers of re- peat orders, especially from the larger and more successful of the transfer and storage companies, must have impressed you.
That these concerns indorse and continue to use motor trucks must have borne into your minds the impression that motor truck failures can- not have arisen wholly from the lack of reliability
of commercial motor vehicles or from their inability to do hauling as cheaply as horses or mules. In other words, if you have looked around you at all, if you have analyzed your own experience candidly, you must have come to the conclusion that whether or not a motor truck is success- ful must depend upon how it is used.
Now for a motor truck to be used properly it must be applied to work where it is adapted, and with a proper application for a motor vehicle and a knowl- edge of how to use it efficiently, so as to get the most out of it for the least expenditure in the long run, it is logically essential that the right unit be chosen in the first place.
borne out strongly by the fact that in the past two years, two team owners' associations have changed their names to team and truck owners' associations, or similar cog- nomens, indicating that there were sufficient truck owners in the body to warrant it in extending its ac- tivities to consideration of motor truck as well ,'^s horse problems.
Your national organ has devoted a large por- tion of its pages to motor truck subjects, and re- cently, following the lead of several of the affiliated
associations, has struck out the horse word, Team, from its name.
HORSE STILL HAS A FIELD.
You all have very aood friends and close
A Baker Electric Operating in Tokio
WHAT A BUYER SHOULD KNOW.
Then there must be three factors for considera- tion :
1. What type and capacity is needed?
2. What class of work can be efficiently done with motor trucks?
3. What is the manner of operation which will net the greatest return for the money spent upon the vehicle and its maintenance?
These questions are not to be answered by any form of snap-judgment; they require real, earnest study, by persons qualified by knowledge and experi- ence to make the proper analysis and recommendation. But it is not an impossible task or one requiring any greater genius than wholesome common sense. That these problems have been and are being solved is
connections amid the
horse interests, and your
experience has shown
you, perhaps, that there
are some fields in which
the motor truck has not
yet demonstrated i t s
economy over animal
power. I am not here to
advise you gentlemen to
sell all of your horses to
the French, English and
Russian war buyers and
buy motor trucks instead
— if this war keeps up horseflesh will be a better
investment than American Tobacco preferred — I am
here to point out the respective fields of the horse and
the motor truck and to urge you to confine the use of
horses to fields in Avhich they are efficient, applying
motor trucks to all lines of work in which they are
more efficient than horses.
I am here to warn you against the snags in the course of truck use which have mired many a promis- ing concern because of its failure to grasp the funda- mentals essential to truck success.
One premise you must grant, namely, that the horse will eventually be practically supplanted by motor vehicles of one kind or another. You cannot avoid it, and when the time comes you will not want to. You will welcome the time when the faithful horse is finally led from the traces to his last rest.
THE MOTOR AGE IS INEVITABLE.
Here are the reasons :
1. Economic conditions: Land values are con- stantly rising, and it becomes increasingly expensive to raise horsefeed and to breed draft animals. Collier's for January 9, 1915, is authority for the statement as follows :
The horse's average consumption of food is 10 pounds for every hour that he works, or a total of 12,000 to 14,000 pounds per year, which is the average production of 5 acres of agri- cultural land in the United States.
The economic waste resulting from the feeding of 25,000,000 horses (and mules) in the United States, taking the Govern- ment's estimate that one horse requires 5 acres of land for his
July, 1915.
ELECTRIC VEHICLES
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up-keep, and the known fact that 5 acres of land devoted to food products can be made to feed five people per year, we have an acreage sufficient to fed 125,000,000 pople that is now being devoted to the growing of horse feed alone.
The proportion of meat animals to the population has steadily decreased since 1850. According to Farmers' Bulletin No. 575, issued by the U. S. Depart- ment of Agriculture, in 1850 there was .88 cattle to one human in this country, as against .57 in 1914. This means that for every 100 people in 1850 there were 88 cattle. Today there are but 57 for every 100 — natur- ally beef is higher. That it is not 31 per cent higher is due to more efficient methods of manufacture. Swine have decreased from 154 to every 100 people to 60 to every 100; sheep from 113 to 50. Today there are 26 horses to every 100 people. This acreage turned over to beef, pork or mutton production would greatly re- duce the cost of meat by increasing the acreage avail- able for the raising of the animals.
HORSES GETTING DEARER TRUCKS CHEAPER.
2. Economy of haulage : It is a known fact that the prices for horses are constantly rising, while those for motor trucks are getting lower every year. There is no limit to the possible production of motor ve- hicles, but, as above indicated, there is a very definite limit to the production of horses, and their value must increase irrespective of quantity of production. Land values have doubled in the first fourteen years of this century with no territorial expansion in the United States proper. With an immigration of over a million a year, there is every reason to believe that land values will continue to increase, and as each horse depends upon five acres of land to support him, the in- crease in value of these acres surely will increase his cost of living.
Motor trucks are made from materials that do not increase in value very much, from year to year. All of the principal parts are made from easily-obtained materials, and the cost of production depends to a great extent upon its volume.
Mechanical improvements are reducing the cost of repair and adjustment greatly, while the increasing prevalence of horse diseases, such as glanders, azoturia and others, are constantly increasing the horse's vet- erinary cost.
The average list price of American motor trucks of all capacities has decreased $393.11 in 3 years since 1913, or about 12 per cent. Horses in New York State in that time have increased $8 per head in price ; in New Jersey, $10 per head ; in Pennsylvania, $6 per head, and in Massachusetts, $15 per head, a percentage of from Ay2 to 10% per cent ; so you see motor trucks are getting cheaper in even greater ratio, year by year, than horses are getting dearer. It is easy to see that the causes of these changes in values are fundamental and not likely to change, so that the time cannot be far distant when motor trucks will be so much cheaper than horses that you gentlemen will have to resort to gasoline fuel instead of hay in spite of yourselves.
WHAT WILL THE WAR DO?
3. The war: The present war is going to have a greater bearing on the horse supply of this country than is generally thought. The first four months of the war, 75,000 horses were shipped out of this coun- try for military buyers abroad, according to the U. S. Bureau of Animal Industry of the Department of Ag- riculture, or only .3 of 1 per cent of the total we have. But this does not warrant the hasty conclusion that
the horse wastage of this war will be negligible. Euro- pean buyers would not come to the United States and Western Canada at all if their home supplies were not inadequate. The breeding centers of the world for draft horses are in northern France, in Normandy, and in Belgium, also in England and Scotland. The stables in Continental Europe have been burned and the horses sent to the battlefields. In England the supply of animals has been depleted, and remember, it takes 5 years to raise a horse after you have bred him — and 50 years to develop a breed from wild or mongrel stock.
Of course, we in America have a plentiful supply of high-class stallions and a goodly sprinkling of pure- bred brood mares, but no more than we need. We do not depend upon a home supply for breeding stock. Our pure-bred animals are mainly stallions, and our draft horses are principally -bred from grade mares. Remember that the high quality of a draft breed must depend upon the amount of pure blood in the animals to retain the desirable features, and the amount of pure breeding that can be done depends upon the supply of pure-bred mares. We have no such supply here, and now Europe lacks it.
Horses, therefore, are not only going to be more expensive to keep and raise, but they are going to be more scarce, and worse than all this, of poorer quality than that to which we are used.
TRUCK SOLUTION 0E TRAFFIC PROBLEM.
5. Street congestion : Unfortunately, our fore- fathers never dreamed that the United States would grow and prosper as it has, and yet we are forced to do business in the cities whose narrow lanes were the widest that these old sires could conceive of being necessary. Modern commerce has grown faster than our cities and long-haul transit, railroads and steam- ships have developed possibilities for overland trans- portation far ahead of the available means for moving it over the short hauls from thence to the marts of trade, so that the traffic problem becomes more acute daily.
Our streets are nearly all too narrow; but they cannot be widened. Our terminals are too small, too crowded and too antiquated. We can change the lat- ter, but we cannot relocate them or make them larger. Our trains move faster and carry larger loads con- stantly, so do the great ships ; but the increased vol- ume of freight thus moved has to pass through the same terminals and over the same streets as our great- grandfathers used.
If we continue to use present methods much longer, traffic will become so congested that it will be impossible for vehicles to move at all. The only remedy is either to reduce our population, and there- fore the volume of our commerce, or to improve our traffic methods, so that we can move an increasing volume of freight traffic with a decreasing amount of congestion. There are but two ways in which to move a greater amount of matter through a passage of inextensible size : by moving it faster, or if it is not in fluid form, in larger units.
. TAKE YOUR OWN MEDICINE.
You have perceived the mote in your brother rail- road carrier's eye, but you have not plucked the beam from your own. You have pointed out the appalling inefficiency of our freight terminals, and evolved a means of speeding up operations with reduction of
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Vol. VII, No. 1.
Operating Costs of The
General J 'chicle Electrics Have Proven That for Haulage
Reliable Type.
letzveen Freight Terminals the Electric is the Economical and
congestion. You have advised tailboard delivery and receipt of freight, simpler clerical operations, and elec- tric industrial trucks within the freig'ht houses instead of the slow, costly and congestion-causing hand trucks.
Turn your attention now to your own situation. You are the common carriers of the city. You are to the retail deliverymen and to the citizens of the city what the railroads are to you and the merchants who hire your service. The railroads have delayed your traffic by their inefficient methods — just as you are congesting the city streets when you operate horse vehicles where motor trucks would haul larger loads at greater speed, and at less cost, thus decreasing both the street congestion and the cost of your service.
THE CITY HORSE AND PUBLIC HEALTH.
6. Sanitation : I have left this reason to the last because it has no direct bearing on anybody's pocket- book, unless we consider the fact that most of our worst diseases are maladies of filth, and that the most prevalent filth, in cities at least, is horse filth ; unless we take into account the enormous cost of cleaning this litter from our streets, and the toll in human life and suffering, as well as doctors' bills that result from filth diseases.
I know that these reasons will never, by them- selves, cause horse owners to trade their animals for machines, but I do believe that eventually the boards of health, when it has been demonstrated that the horse is not only an evil but an unnecessary evil, will banish draft animals from our crowded cities, as they practically have done with cows and chickens.
So you see that is the way it lines up when you begin to look beneath the surface of things. But do not mistake me that I look for this state of things to come to pass immediately — right after the war, as some seem to believe. It will be accelerated by the war, beyond a doubt; for one thing, the fields of the world will be so much in demand to raise food for starving nations and to refill the empty granaries that the horse's full nose-bag will for some time to come be an equine dream.
What I have tried to sketch is the development of perhaps another generation, half a century, even, al-
though with the accelerated rate of progress which we have all had cause to note. I might venture the opinion that most of us here would live to see the motor millenium.
MOTOR MILLENIUM DRAWING NEAR.
Today is what counts, though, for on what we do today depend our actions tomorrow. Today even the ox-cart has not been displaced by the horse, as yet. In Ceylon the intermediate horse stage is being side- stepped and they are going directly from oxen to motor trucks. For the present the horse has a place, duties to perform which man has not yet found me- chanical means of doing more cheaply.
The present types of motor trucks are displacing and will continue to displace large numbers of horses in commercial fields, and the electric is going further than the gasoline vehicle into the exclusive precincts of horses. But our present vehicles cannot run the whole gamut of transportation uses. When new types, much cheaper than it appears present types can be built, and probably slower, the horse will cease to be a necessity.
Present traffic conditions will have to be changed. Horses will always be used at the congested freight terminals until the I. C. C. forces the railroads to in- stall tailboard delivery and receipt with electric steve- dores instead of hand trucks. Not till then will it be worth while to try to apply commercial vehicles to dock haulage. Until then, keep your horses on the freight terminal runs if you live in a large city.
SHORT HAULS AND LONG HAULS.
There is no argument, among informed persons, about the effectiveness of the truck on long hauls. That is why so many users of trucks still cling to horses. They use the trucks for long hauls and the horses for short hauls. That is right, provided the long hauls are not too short, or the short hauls not too long. There is a fairly definite dividing line, which differs in varied installations, but in most cases where mixed equipments are maintained, the horse is given the benefit of the doubt and the truck used only where the hauls are of such length as to leave no question about the economy of using trucks on them.
July, 1915.
ELECTRIC VEHICLES
21
Those who do not have trucks naturally use horses for the whole range of hauls.
Roughly speaking, the types of vehicles best adapted to commercial hauling may be apportioned as to zones. The first zone, which is of small radius and usually in the most congested portion of the city, is the horse's domain. Within this zone, except under exceptional conditions, no motor truck will pay. Out- side of this zone is the electric's own little territory. At this radius it will do the hauling cheaper, and of course more satisfactorily than a horse wagon, but the hauls are still too restricted for the efficient and economical operation of a gasoline truck. Along the outer rim of the electric zone the gasoline vehicle will show greater economy than the horse wagon, but the electric will beat them both. Outside of the electric's zone is the exclusive zone of the gasoline vehicle, in which class the steamer, of course, ought to be in- cluded.
There are two kinds of short hauls : those which are inherently short, which cannot be lengthened, and those which are short because of arrangement of the routes. Long delays in loading and unloading shorten a route very definitely.
When the motor truck takes the place of the horse wagon entirely it will be when truck manufacturers learn how to build low-priced trucks which can operate eco- nomically within the horse radius, or when horses be- come so expensive that present types at lower prices can compete with them; and when truck users learn enough about the value of time and efficiency of motions to so reduce loading delays that big mileage will be possible on short hauls. The two outer zones will then contract so that the inner circle will disappear entirely — that will be the motor millenium.
Now, then, why must the present type of gasoline vehicle have what I have called long hauls, and why may the electric have hauls longer than the horse, and yet operate economically on shorter hauls than the gasoline truck of similar capacity ; and also, why may not the horse operate efficiently on long hauls ?
What I mean by haul is not necessarily the distance from the loading point to the unloading point, or the first delivery point, but rather the mileage that the vehicle makes in the necessary travel in the working hours of the day.
A motor truck costs so much per day to run. Most of this cost is fixed, and goes on just the same whether the truck is moving or not. The man who first got out that story about a truck costing nothing when it was idle did more harm than he will ever know. Its cost increases with its mileage, but nothing like in proportion to its mileage. In other words, the more miles you get out of your truck each day — that is, useful miles — the less it will cost you — per mile.
This would also be true of a horse, were it not for the unfortunate fact that a horse, being animate, tires, and cannot keep working at a given rate, hour after hour. He must stop frequently for breath, to cool off, to rest his aching muscles, to ease his chafed shoulders. Give him all the opportunity in the world and he will not haul a load farther than a certain number of miles a day. After that he is liable to lie down and quit. If you do push him to his limit of endurance, the last few miles will be very hard miles to make, and the driver will be working almost as hard as the horse.
Further, a horse cannot pull his load at so great a speed as a truck, hence it cannot go so far in a given lengfth of time.
MAKING THE MOTOR TRUCK PAY.
A truck costs more to run than a horse. It costs more to build, and to buy. You must, or should, have a higher-priced man on its seat, and so to pay the expense of its operation you have to do more work with it in a day to correspond with its increased cost. If it does less work in proportion to its cost than to the horse's cost it is an extravagance ; if more, an economy. There are two ways in which it may be made to do more work :
1. Take the same load more miles in a day.
2. Run the same miles with a greater load.
If the haul is fixed, and the weight of each load is fixed, the truck must make a greater number of trips per day — it must depend upon its speed.
If the length of haul and the possible speed are re- stricted, the truck must be able to carry a greater load.
Suppose, for example, a motor truck costs twice as much as a horse wagon per day, disregarding the differ- ence in cost due to varied mileages, and that the horse wagon is making 4 trips per day over a certain route with a certain load. For the truck to pay it must make 8 trips with the same load, over the same route, in the same time, or 4 trips over a route twice as long with the same load in the same time, or 4 trips with twice the load over the same route, or equivalents thereof.
At that rate it will do the same work as two horse wagons at exactly the same cost. If it does more work it will be cheaper than any combination of horses.
But right here is the difficulty. Suppose the load cannot be increased, and the length of each trip is fixed. The only way in which the truck can justify its employ- ment is by doubling the horse trips. Loading conditions permitting, this is easily possible, for the truck can keep going every minute of 10 hours, if need be, and can double the horse speed ; but loading conditions do not al- ways permit.
In such a case, it follows that unless the loading time can be cut down, the truck will not be a success. But, if you are going to cut down the loading time for the truck, why not for the horse, too?
THE FACTOR OF FATIGUE.
Because it cannot run as far in 10 hours as the truck. It cannot run as far, as fast or as continuously. The advantage of the truck is that it has cut out the factor of fatigue. A horse might for a brief instant equal the truck in speed; but it could only sustain this speed for minutes, while the truck can keep going at that speed for hours.
A horse in heavy trucking can run 15 miles a day, and serve a long and efficient life — 5 years from date of purchase, I believe it is, so that he dies at the age of 8, or at least degenerates into less active service. He can haul, with his team-mate, 5 tons of goods over metro- politan streets, at 3 miles per hour, average moving speed.
This means that he can draw a load for 5 hours, all told, although if he tried to do it all at once without stopping it would not be good for him. This leaves an- other 5 hours which he must spend in standing, in load- ing and unloading, etc. So wise horse operators so ar- range their horses' working day that their moving time and standing time is evenly distributed throughout the day.
If the hauls are so long that the horse must walk steadily for several hours, he will not work as efficiently as though he only had to walk an hour or less before having another rest. A horse works best at an easy, placid amble, with frequent stops of sufficient duration
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to get his breath and dry off under the harness. He must only travel 15 miles a day, anyway, and he has 10 hours to do it in, so speed of loading gets him no- where, for if his driver knows what he is about he will • see that he spends all of his day in making that 15 miles.
A similar condition exists with the lighter loads, such as heavy expressing, where the horse will make 5 or 6 miles per hour and go from 18 to 20 miles per day ; and the light delivery horse who will make 7 or 8 miles an hour and travel 25 to 28 miles a day.
For each of these classes of horse there is a truck of similar capacity, or perhaps slightly more, which will double the horse speed and travel all day long without getting tired.
FOR EXAMPLE.
To illustrate more plainly the importance of reduc- ing the standing time of a motor truck in order to achieve its utmost efficiency, suppose a team to be capable of 15 miles a day, a speed of 3 miles per hour, and a load of 5 tons. Suppose it is working over a haul of IV2 miles each way, or 3 miles round trip. In a 10-hour day it will make five trips, 5 hours will be spent in moving and 5 hours in loading and unloading, averaging 30 minutes for each operation of loading and of unloading. Under these conditions, each trip will take 2 hours, 1 hour loading and unloading and 1 hour moving.
Now a 5-ton truck, going 9 miles per hour, can make the 3-mile .round trip in 20 minutes. Under the same loading and unloading conditions, it will make each trip in 1 hour 20 minutes, so that in 10 hours it will make seven trips, taking 9 hours and 10 minutes, the remaining 50 minutes being too short a time for a whole trip. It is obvious that, assuming the truck to cost twice as much per day as the horse wagon, that seven trips for the truck as against the horses' five will make the cost by truck more than by horses, so that under these con- ditions the truck will not pay.
To pay, the truck must do the same work at the same cost, or less, so the problem is how to make the truck complete tree more trips in the 10 hours.
Suppose that it is possible to cut 10 minutes from the operations of loading and unloading. This would mean 20 minutes from the trip time of the truck, leaving 1 hour to make the entire round trip. At this rate the truck will make ten trips per day, reducing the cost per trip to the same figure as for horses.
THE HORSE PACE.
Now, as it is well known that the loading and un- loading time for horse vehicles is longer than abso- lutely essential, for the reason that long waits such as extend the horse working day to a full 10 hours conserve the energy of a horse, and do not detract from his efficiency because of his limited mileage capacity, it is very likely that in most instances such a saving of load- ing and unloading time could easily be effected. Such has been my observation.
There are cases, of course, where the loading and unloading time cannot be decreased ; where 1 hour aver- age standing time per trip is essential — you are lucky, sometimes, if you get off that easy at the freight terminals of North River, New York, Market street, Philadelphia, or Atlantic avenue, Boston — but not always, nor in the majority of cases, I believe.
Horsemen get used to the horse pace of doing things, and begin to think it is necessary for a loader to spit on his hands, hitch his trousers and heave a deep sigh every time he puts his hands to a box. I have often thought what an economy it would be if some truckmen
would buy their teamsters each a good pair of suspenders now and then to save the time that seems to be necessary for him to keep his trousers on without them.
It never occurred to some men that a $10 roller chute on their unloading platforms might save hundreds of dollars in murdered minutes in the course of a year; that a side-door in a truck might save years of time.
COST FIGURES AND GUESSWORK
Another thing. How many truck users really know whether trucks pay or do not pay? You can't judge by snap-judgment. You must rely on figures. Not on the sort you scribble on the edge of your blotting pad on your desk, but the sort that are kept in books or on cost and performance sheets. You cannot tell by the ledger alone, especially if half the items that should be charged are left out and a lot of others put in where they don't belong. You must know, first of all, how much work your vehicles are doing, and then be able to compare the costs of both horses and trucks with their respective performances.
You have heard the statement over and over again : You have got to come to trucks, sooner or later. With some of you it will be later; you will wait until horse costs go up and truck costs go down until you are forced to the conclusion that trucks are cheaper, or your com- petitor begins taking your business away by giving better service via truck than you can with your horses. With others it will be sooner; when you realize that today, under present conditions, by applying a little thought and study to your loading and unloading, routing and dis- patching arrangements, so as to give the truck a show, you will be able to do your hauling faster, more reliably, more cleanly and more cheaply.
Rudge-Whitworth Wire Wheels for Electrics
"A question that is occassionally asked me," said H. L. Dunbar, Chicago agent of the Rudge-Whitworth wire wheel, "is, 'How long do your wheels last in the racing game?' ' This question was answered by L. C. Erbes, manager for Bob Burman. He stated that the same wheels have been used on the Peugeot which Bob drives, ever since it has been in this country. He doesn't know how long they were used before that time. The car has been through three 500-mile speed- way races and many other shorter ones.
The remarkable superiority of wire wheels is recognized by the race drivers, as was demonstrated by the number of them that were used both at the Indianapolis and Chicago speedways. In the former, twenty-eight out of forty-one cars entered were equipped with Rudge-Whitworth wire wheels. The prize winners using them finished first, second, fifth, sixth, eighth and tenth, making six out of ten winners.
At Chicago the showing was even better. There were thirty cars entered. Twenty-three of these were equipped with Rudge-Whitworth wire wheels. Of those finishing "in the money" were: First, Resta; second, Porporato; fifth, Grant; seventh, Chevrolet; eighth, Burman ; ninth, Alley, and tenth, Cooper. This makes seven out of ten winners.
The wire wheel, as demonstrated on gasoline rac- ing cars, has proven its durability and tensile strength.
Electric vehicle owners invariably demand the best possible equipment, insuring first, safety, and sec- ondly, durability.
It is predicted that practically every electric vehi- cle manufacturer will equip all 1916 models with the popular wire wheel.
July, 1915.
ELECTRIC VEHICLES
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Electrics for Teaming and Deposit Companies
Motor Vehicles Allow Greater Extension of Business Area
THE day of the teamster has nearly passed. Ten years ago the teamster sat behind a fine_ span of plump horses and took a special pride in his equipment. Today the few remaining teamsters drive close to the curb and look with much envy upon their former acquaintances at the steering wheels of rapidly moving motor trucks.
The motor truck era has practically included every business having a delivery problem. Teamsters, the hinge on which all freight transportation depends, are likewise rapidly falling in line in the universal accept- ance of the motor truck. Although the very existence of this industry was made possible by the horse, today we find the greater bulk of matter transported by motor trucks.
Warehouses, safe deposit vaults, furniture and piano movers, and teaming companies of every nature, have found that the motor truck gives quicker service, thereby allowing the transportation of a greater vol- ume of matter, which represents, of course, a greater revenue pro rata.
In this new development the electric battery pro- pelled type has figured prominently, for instance, the Manhattan Storage & Warehouse Company, conceded to be the largest concern of its kind in New York City, and one of the biggest in the country, is gradually re- placing all of its horse-drawn delivery equipment with motor vehicles.
Although the company has comparatively made only a beginning in the work, the clear, concise ideas of its president, with reference to its attitude toward motor vehicles, are extremely interesting, replete with definite information for the actual or prospective user of the motor truck.
According to G. L. Wells, the Manhattan Com- pany's president, in the storage and warehouse busi- ness today, under any conditions, there is no profit in the actual work of calling for and delivering goods. The delivery equipment of a company in this line pro- vides the greatest factor in the cost of doing business. Deliveries are at once the greatest problem and the greatest expense. It is simply a question whether or
not they are using the equipment which will give the most satisfactory service during the time it enables them to reach out and serve bigger territory.
For this reason alone the Manhattan Company has introduced motor cars, and are now eliminating horses entirely, as a trade-creative and not a cost-re- ducing factor. To use an actual illustration of trucks building business, orders coming from One Hundred and Fiftieth and One Hundred and Sixtieth street ter- ritory, known as Washington Heights, one of the city's newest and finest residential sections, with a motor car we can be filled in that territory, from either the ware- house at Lexington avenue and Forty-second street or from the one at Seventh avenue and Fifty-second street, two or three times a day. With a team not more than one order a day in the Heights could be filled. If the wagon itself made the trip twice, which would be problematical, there would have to be a fresh team. It is readily apparent that with trucks we are taking care of two or three orders where one grew before.
You may talk all you want to about trucks re- placing so many pairs of horses and so many wagons. They do. What we are interested in, though, is how many orders in outlying territory those cars will en- able us to fill. We want to know how much the use of a motor truck will multiply the unit of business which a horse-drawn van can handle. We are finding a very satisfactory answer to the question in the use of power wagons.
Proof of the Manhattan's satisfactory answer is that the company is now using one 4-ton Studebaker wagon and two 3^2-ton General Vehicles, while two more G. V.'s, one of 2,000 pounds and one of 2 tons capacity, are being built to order for it. The cars are in service in the general household goods and safe de- posit storage business of the concern. They are ex- ceptionally ornamented, some of the G. V.'s containing a big picture of the immense Manhattan warehouse at Lexington avenue and Forty-second street on their sides.
The once commodious stable of the company is
Two Styles of General Vehicles Operated by Manhattan Storage & Ware- house Co., New York City.
G. V. Electric Used by a Chicago Warehouse and Storage Concern.
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reduced to fourteen head of horses. As these die off or are relegated to country pensions trucks alone are brought into play. With its extensive trade the con- cern is naturally required to hire a great many teams during the rush seasons of the year, but even though it has gone into motor truck operation only conserva- tively, it is working with a purpose and proposes in time to build a fleet which will take care of its necessi- ties the year round.
A big garage replaces the stable of the Manhattan. The company does its own charging and has found that not a single charge has ever been completely ex- hausted in the average daily run of 45 miles to the truck.
Expert chauffeurs are employed, licensed under the regulations of New York state. Several of the men, however, are veteran employees graduated from the seat of the company's old horse-vans to the more dignified position at a General Vehicle steering-wheel. Owing to the great amount of extremely valuable goods handled regularly by the Manhattan interests, only drivers with certificates of the highest character are employed, and it is notable that most of the men
A G. V. Electric in Warehouse Service.
have been with the company for a great many years. President Wells believes that it is more practicable to train wagon drivers for positions as chauffeurs, pro- viding they are tried in the company's service, in view of the fact that a saving in extra labor is oftentimes accomplished. Your true chauffeur will demur at, loading or unloading; while men who have almost grown up in the Manhattan company's service take this work as routine with the operation of the car. But even the veterans risen from the reins must un- dergo a rigid examination in motor truck operation under New York state law before they are given the promotion.
With competent drivers, motor trucks provide an extraordinarily safe means of transportation. We have not had more than half a dozen accidents due to collision of any sort. This is naturally a big con- sideration, on account of the valuable nature of most of the cargoes. Every accident was during the old days with horse-drawn equipment.
The Manhattan Storage & Warehouse Company owns a seven-story fireproof warehouse extending along Lexington avenue from Forty-first to Forty- second streets. Another of its properties extends along Seventh avenue from Fifty-second to Fifty-third
street, giving it the greatest aggregate amount of space controlled by any concern in Gotham.
The electric truck is also employed by many safe deposit companies where the cargoes are extremely valuable, fragile and perishable. The fact that the electric is free from fire liability, breakdown and street delay makes it especially adaptable for such service.
For instance, the Lincoln Safe Deposit Company, 42 East Forty-second street, New York City, has been doing business more than 30 years, consequently dat- ing back considerably before the greatest utility of motor wagons was discovered. Years ago, however, during the rapid extension of the Borough of Man- hattan and other portions of the Metropolitan district, the problem of reaching its many customers quickly and economically, with absolute assurance of safety, became one of the greatest confronting the concern.
Consequently, when trucks first proved their practicability in many lines, the Lincoln Safe Deposit staff became interested. Once their interest was known, the familiar arguments for the use of modern equip- ment were presented. General Manager Walter C. Reid and his staff learned that trucks were very eco- nomical, that one good one would replace two or three teams. It was proved to their satisfaction that the maintenance of gasoline or electric cars could be re- duced to a very satisfactory cost per ton-mile. The minimum amount of space required for housing mo- tors, as compared with the ramifications of a stable and wagon-shed, was impressed upon them. The ever- ready qualities of the truck were expounded.
As conservative officials in charge of a large de- posit institution, Mr. Reid and his confreres thought the matter over carefully before going so far as the purchase of a single 1-ton car. Endless calculations were made and they instituted careful investigation of the ratio of truck troubles to the ratio of horse-and- wagon ills.
Then the unexpected happened, for the company reached unusual conclusions. It purchased a fleet of seven General Vehicle trucks, five of 3 tons capacity and two of 1 ton capacity, and in considering the pur- chase of even more vehicles as the business expands, bases its reasons for using motors on the following :
1. For the transportation of extremely valuable loads, some of which are worth a king's ransom, the self-propelled is superior to the horse-drawn vehicle.
2. Of self-propelled cars, the electric is the more desirable for this work in view of the fact that it pro- ceeds at slower speeds, is more readily stopped and started in danger of unforeseen collisions.
3. Electric trucks, being comparatively silent in operation and relatively more dignified as power wagons go, are apt to appeal very favorably to the wealthy clientele with which a representative safe de- posit concern must come in contact.
4. Electric trucks, properly equipped, subject their contents to a minimum of jolts and jars, a fea- ture which is essential in the handling of fragile and costly household goods, silver plate, jewelry or paint- ings.
5. For the purposes outlined, trucks are very much more desirable than horse-drawn equipment be- cause of the total absence of penetrating, horsey odors which may even lead to the decay of perishable con- tents, furs or such like, of a van.
6. The sanitary and other features of electric cars are equal in every respect to whatever advantage
July, 1915.
ELECTRIC VEHICLES
25
of economy and reliability there may be obtained by their use with a safe deposit company.
The amount of business handled with the seven General Vehicle vans of the Lincoln Safe Deposit Com- pany is imposing. Practically every large order re- ceived by the concern involves their use. The cars, particularly at certain seasons of the year, are in opera- tion from early in the morning until as late in the evening as approaching darkness will safely permit.
In New York, a cosmopolitan beehive whose in- habitants from the richest to the poorest, frequently change their place of residence, there is an immense volume of business in the storage of valuables and everyday household goods and furniture. It is the experience of the Forty-second Street company that in a great many cases orders for the storage of all the effects of a family for a given period may be placed periodically every one, two or three years.
With a great many families following this routine it is easy to appreciate the amount of storage trans- acted. Apartment-dwellers in the metropolis, and this means a very great percentage of the population, are accustomed to lease for one, two or three years. When the typical New Yorker's lease expires, the chances are that he is obsessed with the idea of moving, to gain one convenience or another. While he makes up his mind, the family go to a hotel, board or take a fur- nished apartment and their own effects are taken care of by the best safe deposit company available.
The Lincoln company during its thirty-odd years of existence has built up a very select following and, as a matter of fact, possesses prominent men upon its directorate, W. K. Vanderbilt, Jr., F. W. Vanderbilt, M. C. D. Borden and Joseph P. Grace among others. The work which the company's vans are called upon to do is, therefore, of the most exacting character.
A collection of paintings from a famous Fifth avenue residence once filled a 3%-ton car, making it a perambulating parcel worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. A fur coat valued at $40,000 was once a portion of the contents of another van. Trunks and cases of all sorts of valuable merchandise, with crates and barrels of the finest furniture and bric-a-brac, are frequently handled. The electrics are pronounced to provide the best possible service in this line. Only once in the lengthy history of the company has one of its vans suffered accident, and the occurrence was taken care of in a fashion preventing any loss. Inci- dentally, it happened years ago to a horse-drawn vehicle in a collision.
The cars go all over the five boroughs. On long hauls they average, according to the records of the company, 15 to 18 miles per day, making 5 to 6 miles to the trip. Shorter hauls with quick loadings and unloading enable the cars to average 25 to 40 miles per day. There are a great many short trips, inci- dentally, as the Forty-second street warehouse is con- venient to a large number of the company's customers along Fifth, Park and Madison avenues and in the fashionable East and West Sixties and Seventies ad- jacent thereto.
Each car in Lincoln service is charged every night in the private garage maintained by the company. The garage is fully equipped so that none but the trusted employes of the company itself may repair, renovate, charge or re-tire the vehicles.
According to Mr. Reid, during the time he used horses, he found that the stock was almost invariably tired out by ten or eleven o'clock in the morning, and
two teams a day became a necessity for one wagon. "As we hired a great number of teams, employing two of them a day per wagon was a very expensive propo- sition, and you may believe that delivery became one of our greatest problems. Not only that, but hired teams and even our own staid nags could never be depended upon absolutely to carry a wagon of valu- ables without spilling. This company doesn't take chances.
"Even as regards the possibility of strong, equine odors penetrating paintings, furs or household goods, it does not take chances. We have arrived at the con- clusion that the electric vehicle is very much cleaner and appeals directly to our best customers for that reason.
"We keep seven wagons busy because we have the largest safe deposit warehouse under a single roof in New York City. It embraces eight floors 150 by 200 feet in dimensions, or in all more than eight acres of storage space. An idea of the cubic volume of the structure will be gained from the fact that there are more than 1,600 rooms of various sizes, each a veri- table steel safe in itself.
Trucking and Teaming Companies Arc Gradually Adopting the Trouble" Electric.
"No
"You would be surprised to see the favor visited upon our trucks by customers. There is so much dignity about a big electric rolling up for a load of household goods, and the crews in their neat uniforms put up such a good appearance, that we figure con- siderable advertising value in the use of the modern vehicle. To sustain the substantial idea of our work, and also to minimize road hazards producing tire and mechanical trouble, we limit the speed of the cars at 8 to 12 miles per hour. The pace is fast enough. As a matter of fact, if you could realize the rapidity with which we handle goods under the new regime as com- pared with the old, you would agree with us that the company is giving service as speedy as it is satis- factory."
A special arrangement has been made by the Lin- coln Safe Deposit Company with the Bowling Green Storage & Van Company, of 18 Broadway, New York, whereby goods consigned for safe deposit may be taken from it or brought to it from European or far- distant American cities. The Bowling Green Com- pany, employing horse-drawn equipment exclusively because of its practice of sending its vans bodily across the ocean with their contents, co-operates in trans- atlantic and transcontinental moving-.
26
ELECTRIC VEHICLES
Vol. VII, No. 1.
Manufacturing Worm Gears by a New Process
A Description of a New Process and Some Features of Past Methods
ORM gearing- is ancient
Y/ y in principle, but its de
velopment has been very slow, due to difficulties count of the varying and largely unfavorable results obtained in its use. The rapid development of the auto- mobile and motor truck has, however, opened up a large field for it, and as a natural result of this critical and exacting demand came improvements in manufacture, including the patented machines and devices herein described.
ASSEMBLY CHARACTERISTICS.
Two general types of worm gearing known as the straight type and the "hour-glass" type are in common use today. The straight type worm is a modification of an ordinary screw thread — the pitch diameter, out- side diameter and root diameter being constant from one end of the worm to the other. More correctly speaking, the pitch line of a straight worn is a spiral traced on the pitch cylinder, the surface of which lies tangent to the pitch diameter of the gear. The pitch line of the "hour-glass" type worm lies on a surface which has a general form similar to the little device from which it takes its name. The pitch line of the threads has a compound spiral form, the threads constantly growing larger in diameter as they recede from the mid- dle of the worm toward either end of it. The pitch surface envelops an appreciable part of the pitch circle of the gear, instead of being merely tangent to it at the middle as in the straight type. In the straight type the linear pitch of the worm threads remains constant, whereas in the "hour-glass" type it diminishes on both sides of the center-line. The straight type has a great advantage over the "hour-glass" type in that it requires accurate alignment in but two planes; whereas the "hour-glass" type requires accurate alignment in three planes, which introduces a difficult element in the mechanical assembly of the gearing. There is hardly any necessity for going into details on these points, as they are quite generally understood.
MANUFACTURING CHARACTERISTICS.
The design of driving-axles is such that the dis- tance between the axis of the gear and that of the worm is established accurately and permanently by jigs and fixtures. With straight type worms there is no neces- sity for accurate adjustment fore-and-aft in line with the axis of the worm. This leaves but one accurate ad- justment to be cared for — bringing the mid-plane of the gear teeth into the plane of the axis of the worm. These features are of importance in the original assembly of the gearing by experienced hands, and are of far greater importance if the gearing must be adjusted by those who are not expert, in the service station, garage or re- pair shop.
The very accurate fore-and-aft adjustment of the worm called' for in the "hour-glass" type is a serious point against it on the score of mechanical simplicity and danger due to derangement, for it is self-destruc- tive if incorrectly aligned fore-and-aft, because of its
BY CORNELIUS T. MYERS
'Engineer, Timken-David Brown Company, Detroit, Mich.
varying pitch and the constant pitch of the gear teeth with which it must mesh.
The combination of rubbing and rolling contact be- tween the surfaces of the worm threads and the gear teeth is a condition of operation that calls for correctly designed and accurately machined surfaces. The pitch, pitch diameter, lead angle and pressure angle of both the threads of the worm and the teeth of the gear must be uniform to assure the best results. The surfaces, also, subjected to this contact must be of the greatest durability combined with a low friction coefficient; and in practice extending over many years the metals to be used have been almost uniformly settled upon as hard- ened steel for the worm, and phosphor bronze of a par- ticular and carefully prepared alloy for the wheel. That the hardening of even the best of steels causes surface distortion is a well recognized fact. This distortion is particularly noticeable in complicated forms such as worms offer. The hardening of a perfectly formed worm causes distortion in the threads and variations in the pitch, lead, lead angle, etc., to a very marked extent; which no amount of ordinary polishing will serve to correct.
Operating under heavy loads and at high speeds these variations form irregularities in the thread sur- faces that set up a severe hammering and abrading ac- tion on the working flanks of the teeth of the gear, and produce unnecessarily rapid wear. While of late years careful hardening and polishing had minimized this wear (and its attendant loss of mechanical efficiency) to the extent of making worm gearing very reliable and popular abroad and in this country, there was still much to be desired in the operation of worms so made. The straight type again lends itself more readily to this finish- ing operation, which is another point in favor of its more universal adoption. The process described herein in- cludes a worm thread grinding operation, that gives an accuracy of surface heretofore impossible of attainment. Combined with a number of refinements in the nobbing process for forming the teeth in the gear, this grinding operation gives surfaces which in operation mate so per- fectly that, when proper materials are used and the gear- ing is correctly mounted, the area of contact is much greater than has heretofore been the case. To get reliably accurate working surfaces on the hardened threads it is essential that they be ground not by any approximate buffing method, but by precision machines. Here again the straight type of worm lends itself very handily to the newly developed processes, one of which is a grind- ing operation on a precision machine of a new type. In connection with this machine is used a dressing tool for regenerating the peculiar shape of the abrasive wheel.
In considering a straight worm, the section at the threads is a rack with straight-sided teeth. The worm being a sort of endless rack, every axial section will have the form shown. The prolongation of any flank will intersect the axis of the worm, making an angle, which is the pressure angle, with a perpendicu- lar at the point of intersection. If a line should be re- volved about the worm axis and at the same time moved at a uniform rate along- the axis a distance of
July, 1915.
ELECTRIC VEHICLES
27
the lead for each revolution, it will take successively the positions 1, 2, 3, 4 — 10. The thread worm surfaces, then, can be formed by this movement of this line, and every element as shown by an axial section will be a straight line inclined at the selected pressure angle and of a length equal to the flank of the thread. The same surface will be formed in a steel bar if a lathe tool is placed in the position shown (the straight cutting edge pointing to the axis of the worm) and the bar rotated and advanced in accordance with the required lead ; the elements of this surface being, of course, straight lines which if extended intersect the axis of the worm. Worms thus chased in a lathe are approximately correct in form but are expensive and subject to many manufacturing inaccuracies.
The ordinary method of manufacture is to mill out the space between the threads by a rotary cutter, the straight sides of which are made to slope at the normal pressure angle of the threads, the cutter being mounted on a spindle which is inclined normal to the lead angle of the threads. Such an operation, how- ever, will not produce the desired surface described above, for the straight line elements will appear only when the thread section is made by a plane normal to the lead angle. In many cases, too, this cutter in- terferes and undercuts the thread surfaces below the pitch line. The gear, however, revolves in the plane of the axis of the worm and not in a plane normal to the lead angle ; and to mate with such a worm and form some species of conjugate gearing the gear teeth must be subjected to a considerable amount of running in. The conjugate form of gear tooth, to mate with the correctly formed worm threads, as produced in the processes herein described, is the true involute which is so universally utilized in other types of gear- ing and which will mesh with the worm threads with the minimum amount of rubbing and the maximum amount of rolling contact.
PRODUCING CORRECT WORMS.
The problem of the production of milling cutters and grinding wheels that will produce a correct thread surface was solved as follows : A thread-milling machine with a rotary cutter is used. The cutter form is gotten by means of a generating tool, consisting of a carrier which can be gripped in the chuck jaws of the milling machine head. It carries a tool holder which swivels about a pivot, and can be clamped in any desired posi- tion. The edge of a straight steel tool passes through the pivot center of the holder and intersects the axis of the spindle of the milling machine. The milling machine is geared up for the lead which is desired in the finished worm. The tool holder is turned until the edge of the tool coincides with the desired pressure angle, and the tool moved out until it coincides with a point on the out- side diameter of the worm threads, both tool holder and tool being clamped in these positions. When the mill- ing machine is started the carrier will revolve and move axially as determined by the lead gearing, and the part a'b' of the edge of the tool will pass exactly over the surface of the desired worm thread, taking successively positions as at 1, 2, 3, 4, etc. A soft blank is mounted on the cutter spindle C, and rotated as the edge a'b' is caused to work against it in its travel. The tool will generate on the flank of the soft blank a curved surface which has the desired form for milling the correct thread surface in the steel bar, a surface the elements of which are straight
lines inclined at the desired pressure angle and inter- secting the axis of the worm if prolonged. A templet 'is made from the soft blank, and a hardened cutter is made to fit the templet. This hardened cutter having been formed, as it were, by the elemental generating line of the desired thread surface, it, in turning on the cutter spindle, will produce this surface in the bar when the bar, gripped in the chuck jaw of the machine, is rotated and fed past the cutter at the original rate as determined by the lead gearing of the machine. The curvature of the cutter flank varies considerably with variations of pitch diameter, pitch pressure angle and lead angle of the worm to be formed. It is a very difficult and tedious task to calculate the correct curvature and to produce a cutter with this curvature by any method of "laying-out," but it can be quickly and accurately formed by the device just described.
The thread-milling machines themselves are heavy and rigid so that great accuracy can be maintained under the heavy feeds and high cutting-speeds which are es- sential to minimum production costs. After the threads are milled on the partly finished bar or forging, they are carbonized and hardened. The piece is then mounted in a thread grinding machine, which grinds with precision the thread surfaces and corrects the very considerable inaccuracies formed in hardening. This machine is auto- matic in operation. The table carrying the worm carries it against and by the abrasive wheel, the head meanwhile turning the worm in accordance with the pre-determined lead. When one lead of the worm has passed the abrasive wheel, the head carrying this wheel drops back and the table reverses its motion, going back to its original posi- tion. The next lead is indexed into position on the table, the grinding head comes forward into position and the face of this lead is ground. This sequence of operations is continued until the worm has been ground to the proper pitch diameter.
But in order to grind the surfaces of the worm, threads as true as they were milled, it is necessary that the working face of the abrasive wheel be formed and maintained in the same shape as the flank of the thread- milling cutter. This is accomplished by means of another kind of generating tool which operates against the face of the abrasive wheel on the same principle as the generat- ing tool which formed the basis of the construction of the milling-cutter. This consists of a carrier and tool- holder similar to the device previously described. The tool which passes through the tool-holder is a round bar and near its outer end is mounted a diamond for dress- ing the abrasive wheel. The carrier and tool-holder con- tain a train of gearing which gives the tool a reciprocating motion. This train of gearing is driven by a rope belt running over the pulley shown near the left-hand shank of the carrier. The operation of dressing the abrasive wheel now becomes a very similar operation to that of generating the flank of the milling-cutter. The tool- holder is inclined until the point of the diamond in its reciprocating motion passes back and forth along the elemental line of the thread surface to be formed. The carrier is then given the same spiral motion as the worm to be ground, the tool is given a rapidly reciprocating motion by means of power applied through the rope belt, and the diamond dresses the abrasive wheel, against which it works, into the same essential contour as that of the milling-cutter. This contour having been formed by the generatrix (the path in which the diamond point re- ciprocated) of the desired thread surface, it will in turn
2S
ELECTRIC VEHICLES
Vol. VII, No. 1.
grind the desired surface on the steel threads of the worm.
Micrometer measuring- attachments tell the operator when the work is within the close limits called for on the blueprint, and he re-dresses the wheel according to the requirements of the work. After grinding, the threads are polished and burnished to remove all traces of metal or grinding dust, and present a perfect surface to the flanks of the gear teeth when in operation. This accu- rate grinding operation reveals distinctly the complex distortion produced in hardening. From .020" to .060' is ground off the high spots before the surfaces become smooth and uniform. Occasionally there are greater variations. These irregularities produce variations in the lead, pitch, pressure angle, pitch diameter, etc. ; and one can readily imagine the damage which a quarter of the above variations can produce when revolving at high speed and under heavy load against the teeth of the gear. An abrupt variation in thread surface acts on the gear tooth like an adze on a plank. Even when irregularities are polished out to a considerable extent, there are exces- sive local increases in the pressure per square inch be- tween thread and tooth, due to these irregularities, and a resultant breaking down of the lubricating film, with the usual consequences.
PRODUCING THE GEARS.
A perfect worm is the basis on which perfect gear-
- pe__ g must be built, but it is just as essential that the form of the gear teeth be correct and accurately machined in the gear blank. It is commonly supposed that inac- curacies in the gear teeth are of no great importance because in service the worm will gradually bed itself into the gear teeth, forming to itself the working flanks of the teeth. When using a very soft bronze in the gear blank such an effect is approximated though never thor- oughly realized. With the hard phosphor bronze, which in some cases is even chilled to make a more dense and close-grained metal structure, the most perfectly formed worm will be worn out of shape before it can bed itself into the gear teeth and form them correctly. In endeav- oring to do this the worm will often show more wear in some parts of the thread surface than will be found in the softer teeth of the gear. This is due to a considerable extent, to the fact that the bronze becomes a kind of lap after the skin formed by machining is broken. Small abrasive particles from impurities in the casting, or worn from the surface of the worm, or present in the gear case, are retained or picked up and held by the bronze, and a lapping process starts at once. High spots on the gear teeth must be worn down at the expense of the surface of the worm threads. This more or less uneven wear on the various threads reacts on the gear teeth, so that wear once well started proceeds with greater or less rapidity throughout the life of the gearing.
As accuracy in the product is so essential the ma- chines must be very rigid and designed so that there will be a minimum of spring due to operating stresses and lit- tle or no wear. The rotating table that carries the gear blank is supported near the periphery. The head is a stiff casting sweeping well back of the hob arbor which has very little overhang, and the bearing surfaces are un- usually large. The hobs are mounted on a sliding platen carried by the adjustable head. The hobs are fed along the position that will later be occupied by the axis of the worm.
The hobbing operation is a double one. The rough- ing hob removes over 90 per cent of the metal cut away
in generating the gear teeth. It is tapered so that the wear on the various teeth is quite evenly divided. The finishing hob has a large number of teeth — a feature essential to an accurately generated tooth flank — and has a comparatively small amount of accurate work to do, in place of the large amount of less accurate work performed by a hob which has to have heavy enough teeth and arbor to remove all the metal necessary to form the gear teeth. The finishing hob leaves a tooth surface that cannot be improved upon by any method of hand fitting or running- in. Any worm will mate correctly with any gear, if properly mounted and aligned ; and when put into service there will be little or none of the so-called bedding-in during the first stages of service. Within a very short time, and in most cases immediately, the contact be- tween the worm threads and the gear teeth shows that the pressure is being distributed over the entire surface of the gear teeth, instead of being localized in one, two, or possibly three, spots. With practically a perfect worm extreme care in making the hobs is essential for securing this much-to-be-desired distribution of load by perfect contact. The hobs are designed on sound fundamental theory which special machines carry out in practice, and essential refinements in hobbing the gear teeth are se- cured to supplement the improvement in the worm thread surfaces. A hob sharpener employs a grinding wheel the working surface of which is generated to the correct form in a manner similar to that of the worm grinding wheel.
MEASURING INSTRUMENTS.
For the attainment of accuracy in the final product, accuracy in each operation is a prime requisite of eco- nomical manufacture, and this accuracy, so very neces- sary in worm gearing, can be maintained only by the careful checking of each operation. Micrometric devices are used for guidance during manufacture and for final inspection. These devices work on the principle of the magnification of error, and by making small errors quite apparent train the workmen to use the refinements of the machines to their full advantage, and allow close check- ing by inspectors.
(To be continued)
Brighter Outlook for Electrics in Norway
The Christiania consulate general has reported from time to time on electric cars and their chance of sale in Norway, and from the information obtained on those occasions it was concluded that because of the many hills in Norway the use of such a vehicle would not be prac- ticable. An address delivered by Mr. Arthur Bjerke, an electrical engineer, apparently changes the previous re- ports on this subject, for Mr. Bjerke considers the elec- tric car of the present day well adapted to road conditions in Norway. He said, in part :
"The type of car most used, and therefore especially worthy of mention, is the 'electromobile,' provided with a battery that drives one or two electromotors. When the battery is discharged it can be recharged while re- maining iii its place or be exchanged for a new charged battery.
"It is incorrect to say that a car of this type can be driven only for short distances and on flat, good roads, as it has demonstrated its ability to traverse hilly country and to go more than 100 miles on a single charge. In America and England it is used in as hilly country as any in Norway. The motor in an electric car can for a short time be overloaded 300 per cent if necessary to take a steep hill.
Tuly, 1915.
ELECTRIC VEHICLES
29
National Electric Light Ass'n Disscusses Electrics
Experts Discuss New Plans and Offer Many Suggestions for a Greater Industry
A
T the recent convention of the National Electric Light Association, held at San Francisco, the elec- tric vehicle situation was thoroughly discussed.
The difference between selling motor-driven vehicles and central station energy, the inconsistency of electric service companies employing gasoline-en- gine-driven automobiles when advocating the use of electric vehicles, and the reasons for the high cost of electric cars, constituted the principal topics in connec- tion with electric vehicles which were discussed at the National Electric Light Association convention in San Francisco.
George R. Murphy, representing the Electric Stor- age Battery Company, in speaking of the use of elec- tric vehicles on the Pacific Coast, pointed out that the electric service companies, with few exceptions, are supplied with energy over long transmission lines, therefore the operation and maintenance departments must employ vehicles which will travel a long distance without being compelled to stop frequently for sup- plies of energy. Nevertheless, the central station com- panies in large communities are using and encourag- ing the use of electric vehicles where possible. Con- ditions are specially favorable to the use of electric vehicles in Los Angeles, San Diego, Sacramento, Stockton, Fresno and Oakland, but there are numer- ous hills in San Francisco, Portland, Tacoma and Seattle. In San Francisco the grades reach a maxi- mum of approximately 30 per cent, and it is inadvis- able to run loaded commercial vehicles on such streets because of the limited braking facilities. Electric vehicles are being used, however, on streets having a grade of from 16 to 20 per cent. AAHiere the hills are as steep as those in San Francisco larger batteries must be employed than are required in more level places. Where this fact is overlooked by enthusiastic vehicle salesmen there is likely to be complaint re- garding the inability of electric vehicles to climb hills or to run long periods between charges. Wherever electric vehicles have been selected with character- istics suited to the service they are required to per- form complete satisfaction has been reported." There are at present in the three Pacific Coast States ap- proximately 265 commercial electric vehicles, rang- ing in carrying capacity from 750 lb. to 5 tons. In no city is there any very large fleet of trucks. Instead, they are distributed among a large number of owners. A close co-operation between vehicle manufactur- ers and central stations is absolutely necessary, pointed out Mr. Murphy, if the use of electric vehicles is to be increased. This is evfdent in Spokane and San Francisco, where the central- station companies have established a battery service system. With this system owners of trucks are guaranteed expert atten- tion to batteries at a lower annual expense than could be obtained otherwise. Furthermore, the radius of action of vehicles is increased. For example, one baggage transfer company operates between four or five railroad terminals and is able to cover 75 miles a day with a 1-ton vehicle. Without the battery-service system this mileage could not be attained unless ex- tra batteries or another truck were purchased.
If electric vehicle manufacturers expect to develop their industry they must maintain service stations within convenient reach of every community in which it is desirable to sell electric vehicles. Mr. Murphy declared that he knew of electric trucks being in- operative for three weeks, waiting for special parts to be ordered and received from the manufacturer, 3,000 miles away.
R. L. Lloyd of the Philadelphia Electric Company stated that the process of selling electric vehicles is entirely different from the sale of electrical energy, as the salesman cannot complete the deal unless his company has taken an agency. The speaker expressed the belief that electric vehicle salesmen should not lay too much emphasis on the low rate which pros- pective vehicle users may obtain in purchasing energy for charging batteries. Other advantages should be pointed out to interest prospective users. When the company is required to sell energy at too low a rate, there will be no inducement for central stations to encourage the use of electric vehicles unless it is to fill the valleys in the load curve.
There is still a great deal of educating to be done as too many persons consider that electric vehicles are luxuries and chiefly for the use of women. The speaker expressed the belief that a battery service system similar to that maintained by the electric serv- ice company of Hartford, Conn., would encourage the use of electric vehicles in many other cities, as electric vehicle users would then have to purchase only the vehicle and not the battery.
Arthur Williams of the New York Edison Com- pany expressed the belief that the performance of elec- tric vehicles on steep hills cannot be equaled by other types of vehicles. He also said that it is a reflection on the industry for so many central station companies to employ gasoline-engine-driven and horse-drawn ve- hicles while advocating the use of electric vehicles. To give some idea of the prospective field for busi- ness lying at the door of every central station, the speaker said that the cost of feeding horses in this country is at least three times the total central station income, which is assumed to be $350,000,000. As the difficulty of substituting electric vehicles for horse- drawn vehicles lies in the expense of the change, it might be possible for central stations to replace horses with electric vehicles by issuing equipment trust certi- ficates similar to those employed by railroads.
John F. Gilchrist said that there is altogether too much tendency among central station companies to argue that before anything worth while can be done in developing the electric vehicle industry the price of vehicles must be reduced. On the other hand, vehicle manufacturers are arguing that rates for electric serv- ice are too high and that central station companies have not given sufficient consideration to their own interests. The speaker agreed with the latter opinion, and stated that the Commonwealth Edison Company has only recently begun to give attention to the ex- ploitation of electric vehicles. In many ways the sup- port of important persons in the electrical industry has been lacking, at least so far as using electric auto-
30
ELECTRIC VEHICLES
Vol. "VII, No. 1.
mobiles personally is concerned. It was suggested that if men who are influential in electric service or- ganizations would prevail upon their superiors to use electric vehicles and furnish them to the heads of dif- ferent departments the interests of the company would be extended and a wide field provided for the elctric vehicle industry.
Herbert A. Wagner pointed out that the cost of electric vehicles, particularly in small sizes, is high compared with the cost of gasoline-engine-driven ve- hicles because the former are produced on a much smaller scale. The production will be increased, and consequently the cost will be reduced, if every central station will purchase at least one electric vehicle and encourage persons in the territory it serves to use similar vehicles.
In closing the discussion, A. J. Marshall, secretary of the Electric Vehicle Association of America, de- clared that there are about 2,700 commercial electric cars in New York City, or about 45 per cent of the total number — gas and electric — used there. He also referred to an organization in New York City which is preparing to operate electric taxicabs in all of the principal cities in this country. In closing, he said that if a gasoline car and an electric vehicle were started together at Forty-second street, New York City, in the direction of the lower end of the city, the electric car would arrive at the Battery first.
The Electric Automobile Increases in Popularity
"I wouldn't be without my electric any more than I would be without my maid or any of my household necessities," said a woman owner of an electric vehicle, who is active in social circles in New York and a nearby summer colony. "My electric is a friend of which I stand in constant need for little morning spins in the park, for calling and shopping, for matinee and for dinner and theatre, and it never fails me ; I'm simply in love with it," she concluded enthusiastically. This woman's words explain quite clearly why the electric pleasure car is increasing in popularity as a lady's and family automobile. She knows that it ful- fills all of the demands of her daily routine of calling, shopping and pleasure seeking. She knows that she likes to run it because there is a certain charm in its simplicity of operation and control — a sort of mild fascination. She knows, too, that she can step into its beautifully cushioned and brocaded interior, enjoy every minute of her ride and arrive at her destination as fresh and spotless as when she started, without so much as a curl disarranged. She also knows that she can wear her prettiest and most delicate gown with the confidence that not even as much harm would come to it as in a parlor car. She has the car under perfect control at all times, so she loves to have the children with her — and she could run it almost the first time she stepped in it, too. This explains to some extent why there are 73 women in Manhattan alone who own and run electric automobiles. One of the most notable changes in electric car building has been in the batteries. Thirty miles used to be the limit on a single charge of battery, but the 1915 models can cover 85 miles or more on one charge of the batteries. Facilities for charging have also been improved so that the owner of an electric car will find frequent and con- venient charging stations within a radius of a hundred miles of New York.
Chicago to Have New "Detroit" Service Station
Coincident with the news that Chicago will be made a central distributing point for Detroit electric automo- biles comes the announcement by D. E. Whipple, man- ager of the big new central district, that work has already begun on a large new Chicago service station. When interviewed last night Mr. "Whipple stated: "Our new building will be located at 2429-2431 Wabash avenue, and will serve a large territory, em- bracing 76 cities of over 10,000 population each. It is to be 50x194 feet, one story in height, and of rein- forced concrete, strictly fireproof construction. A fea- ture of the new structure will be the entire absence of posts on the main floor. This is regarded as de- cidedly advantageous in an electric car garage as it permits the rapid handling of cars without any chance of mishap. The main garage floor will be surrounded on three sides by a mezzanine floor which will be used to accommodate stock rooms. In these rooms will be kept adequate quantities of parts for all De- troit Electric models and orders will be filled from all the territory handled by the Chicago branch.
"Detroit Electric Which Made Twenty-Day Interitrban Runs, Leaving
Detroit According to Schedule and Returning on the Original Charge
After Completing Distances Averaging Nearly a Hundred
Miles Daily.
"In the basement will be the boiler room and a commodious locker room for employes. Shower baths will also be provided, as well as other features for the comfort and convenience of the working force.
"During the last year the business of the Chicago branch has greatly outgrown the present service sta- tion. In fact, they have found it necessary to lease outside space. The new facilities, how- ever, will make it possible to greatly improve service both to Chicago owners of Detroit electric cars and those in the territory which will henceforth be served from Chicago as a central point. Last year Chicago branch business ran close to a million dollars in vol- ume and plans are being made for a big increase within the next twelve months period. When the new build- ing is completed and occupied, excellent care can be taken of every demand which shall be made."
U. S. L. Plan Favorable
The reorganization plan for the United States Light & Heating Company is meeting with favorable response. It is expected that the new company will have bought all assets of the old concern before August 1.
July, .1915.
ELECTRIC VEHICLES
31
Rational Method of Determining Mileage
A Paper Read Before the Society of Automobile Engineers BY T. H. SCHOEPF
THE problem confronting the builder of an electric vehicle, when it is desired to determine how many miles the vehicle will travel before exhausting a single charge of the storage battery, does not differ in essentials from the problem confronting the builder of an "electric motor to drive the electric car when it is desired to determine the behavior of the motor under conditions approximating within close limits those of actual serv- ice. I have worked out in detail a method whereby the motors can be tested in the shop under practically service conditions. This method is used by one large builder of electric motors and will be described very briefly.
The electric motor is set up and connected me- chanically to a rotable element having considerable inertia or flywheel effect. The motor, is then operated through a series of predetermined cycles such as are shown in Fig. 1, which is the' series for a motor used on an electric commercial vehicle having a capacity, of 1500 pounds or 2000 pounds.
This series may be varied in detail, but it must conform- invariably to two essentials, as- follows :
First, the equivalent schedule speed must be the same.
Second, the equivalent heating current, or square root of mean current square, must always be equal to the rated current capacity of the motor.
Once the series of cycles is properly adjusted, the test is started and the series repeated without interruption until the equivalent of one to two years' service is completed.
It occurred to me that a similar method may be worked out and used to determine the mileage an elec- tric vehicle can make per charge of the storage bat- tery, and I will endeavor to outline briefly herein my conception of the essentials of such a method. Each builder of electric vehicles has selected a test course within close proximity to his works, where- on the vehicle can be operated and tested. With
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rare exceptions these courses are on public streets, roads or highways, and the vehicle is subjected to the interruption of other traffic. The length of such a course depends on local conditions ; in some places it may be as short as one-eighth of a mile, and in others one mile or more. I think it is generally agreed that the course should be level but, in any case, the vehicle
*General Engineer, Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company.
should be operated first in one direc- tion and then in the opposite direction so as to compensate for grade and wind resistances.
Having agreed on the number of stops or cycles for a series (e. g., in Fig. 3, I have assumed a truck of two-tons capacity making four stops per mile), it is
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necessary to agree on the schedule speed and duration of each stop, which practically fixes the average running speed. For each capacity truck the three essentials should be agreed on as follows :
First, the number of stops or cycles for the series. Second, the duration of each stop. Third, the schedule speed, or, since the duration of the stop is fixed, the average running-speed.
Perhaps I can convey more clearly and simply the idea by explaining in detail a specific case, for which purpose a truck of two-tons capacity has been selected. The details of truck and equipment are as follows :
Capacity 4,000 pounds
Weight, fully equipped 10,300 pounds
Diam. of wheels over tires 37 inches
Total speed reduction 18.7 : 1
Edison battery, 60 cells "A-8."
Westinghouse motor, V-49-C-3, rated at 60 volts, 60
amperes, 1,200 r. p. m. The details of the service are assumed as follows :
Number of stops per mile 4
Schedule speed in m. p. h 6.25
Duration of each stop in seconds 20
Length of test course in miles 0.25
Length of test course in feet 1320
I have concluded that a single cycle should be com- pleted in the same length of time and, therefore, haze
32
ELECTRIC VEHICLES
Vol. VII, No. 1.
the same average running speed, no matter where the tst course may be or what particular make of car is being tested. Therefore, I have shown in detail of cycle, three conditions, as follows:
First, assuming a rate of acceleration of one m. p. h. p. s., the speed-time curve 0 A B C D E being shown in solid line. The time-distance curve for this
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particular cycle is shown by the solid line 0 N R S. rate of acceleration of V^ m. p. h. p. s., the time-speed curve for this being shown in the broken line 0 F G RD E.
Third, assuming a rate of acceleration of 1% m. p. h. p. s., the time-speed curve being shown in the dotted line 01 KLD E.
In each of the three cases the same rate of coasting and braking has been assumed.
In order that the average running speed and schedule speed should be the same in each case, it is necessary that the inscribed area of the time-distance curves be equal, which explains the difference in the length of time for coasting and braking.
The total figures for the three conditions under which this cycle is completed, show that the one under condition No. 3 requires somewhat less energy than the ones under conditions Nos. 1 and 2, but it draws energy from the battery during the accelerating period at a much higher rate, so that the three conditions impose on the battery practically the same delivery of energy.
In Fig. 4 is shown a detail cycle and a series of cycles for a passenger car similar to the curves in Fig. 3, which were for a truck.
The details of the passenger car and equipment are as fol- lows :
Capacity, passengers 4
Weight, fully equipped 3,600 pounds
Diameter of wheels over tires 34 inches
Total speed reduction 5:1
Lead battery, 42 cells, 11 plates.
Westinghouse motor, V-52-H rated at 80 volts,
28 amperes, 900 r. p. m.
The details of the passenger car and equipment are as fol- lows :
Number of stops per mile 4
Schedule speed in m. p. h 10J4
Duration of each stop in seconds 20
Length of test course in miles 0.25
Length of test course in feet 1320
In the detail cycle, three conditions have been as- sumed as follows :
First, acceleration at the rate of one m. p. h. p. s., the time-speed curve for which is shown in the solid line in O A B C D E. The time-distance curve is shown in the solid line OM N R S.
Second, the rate of acceleration is assumed as 1% m. p. h. p. s., the time speed curve being shown in the broken line O F G H D E.
Third, the rate of acceleration is assumed as IV2 m. p. h. p. s., the time-speed curve being shown in the dotted line 0 I K L D E.
The time-distance curve is also shown for this con- dition simply as a matter of interest.
By selecting courses as short as ^ of a mile, it is possible to continue to operate a series of recurring cycles until the charge of the battery is exhausted, without suf- fering from the interruption of other traffic. In fact, it is possible to operate such series for any length of course where one or more complete cycles can be made within its length ; also the same condition will obtain where the course is so short that a complete cycle necessitates cov- ering the course out and return, provided the course is sufficiently wide that the turn at the outer end may be made without slowing down and again accelerating. Should the course be so short or so narrow that a stop and complete turn, either continuous or of the switch- back nature is necessary, it is manifestly evident that energy is consumed which should not be charged norm- ally against the mileage that can be obtained from one charge of the battery. Therefore, I would propose that
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a corrective factor be adopted for all stops other than scheduled and for all turns at the end of the course, wherein the vehicle has come to a stop and again ac- celerated.
I have assumed various conditions under which the vehicle would have to stop and again accelerate, other than scheduled ; conditions wherein a vehicle would have to stop to make a continuous turn and accelerate other than scheduled ; conditions under which the vehicle would
July, 1915.
ELECTRIC VEHICLES
33
have to accelerate, make a switch-back turn and accel- erate ; the average result showing that the vehicle could run 8/100 of a mile further if it were not called upon to make one such unscheduled stop.
As a result of the investigation I suggest that a scheme of recurring cycles, such as has been outlined herein, be worked out and adopted for each capacity of commercial truck and passenger vehicle, and the number of miles which the vehicle can run on one charge of the storage battery be based on the following formula :
M = Mo + (Na—Ns) Ma. (1)
The symbols have the following significance :
M = equivalent miles per charge of battery which could be obtained if the run were made without stops other than those scheduled.
Mo = the miles traveled as read from the odometer or actually measured.
Na = the number of stops actually made.
Ns = the number of stops as scheduled.
Ma = a constant factor indicating the additional miles, or fraction thereof, which it is possible to run with the energy that was otherwise used to accelerate the car.
It is the practice of vehicle builders to determine the mileage that the car will run on a single charge of the battery and then to guarantee a fraction of this, the dif- ference being a matter of reserve to meet unexpected conditions in service. The builders usually guarantee between 50 and 75 per cent of the determined mileage, so that this case Formula No. 1 would read somewhat as follows :
Mg = R (Mo + (Na — Ns) Ma) wherein R is the factor decided on by the vehicle builder and Mg is the guaranteed mileage.
This paper has been made very brief intentionally, as the benefits of the scheme cannot be exposed in writ- ing except by a long and tiresome text, and an oral dis- cussion will quickly bring out the advantageous features.
Total time of cycle Schedule speed Distance traveled Mean amperes hr.
= 24 minutes
= 10.6 m.p.h.
= 4.25 miles = 35.1
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details |
of each cycle of Fig. 1 |
are as |
follows : |
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Accel. |
1.5 |
Sec. |
210 Amps |
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Coasting Braking Standing- Total |
29. 2 60! 300. |
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Sec. |
105 Amps |
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105 Amps |
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