Gasoline vs. Steam and ElectricityYet it was not surprising that the early gasoline automobile was undependable. The gasoline engine itself was an extremely recent development, and even more recent was the attempt to apply the gasoline engine to transportation purposes. Furthermore, as the gasoline engine will not start under load, it was necessary for the driver of the gasoline-engined [...]  |
The First Automobile RaceThe unreliability of the gasoline automobile was well illustrated by the results of the first American automobile race. This race, held in Chicago in 1895, was sponsored by H. H. Kohlsaat, who was the publisher of the Chicago Times-Herald and was also one of the prominent Republican politicians of the day. The race was run [...] |
The Horseless CarriageIn 1892, Hiram Percy Maxim was superintendent of the American Projectile Company’s plant at Lynn, Massachusetts. His father, Sir Hiram Stevens Maxim, was the inventor of the Maxim gun; Hiram Percy was later to invent the Maxim silencer. In 1892, however, Hiram Percy was thinking about inventing an automobile. Not that he did his thinking [...] |
