FIG. 2. INTERIOR OF BRAUN WIRELESS TELEGRAPH STATION. always necessary, will be seen in front The three-pole arrangement is obviously only a special, simplified case of a general arrangement in a given figure, enabling the time differences to be accurately calculated. The limitation to three symmetrically distributed wires, outside of its simplicity, has, however, a further advantage. The direction of maximum activity in space may obviously be turned round, placing it at right angles to any one of the edges of the triangle. Instead of starting the radiation from 3 across 1, 2, it may be started from any one of the three angles across the respective opposite sides, by simply exchanging the mutual rôle of the poles, which is effected by simply turning a crank in the apparatus cabin. The whole may thus be said to work like what might be compared to a blinking fire, be ing rotated by steps of 120 degrees each, while intermediate steps may be inserted. By means of an accurate calculation and graphical representation, the maximum effect is shown gradually to decrease toward both sides of the triangle. In spite, therefore, of considerable dispersion, there is thus a large large angular space practically free from any effects - i. e., an electrical shade space. In connection with the tests above referred to, the receiver was placed at a distance of a little over 1,000 yards, at which distance measurements of the receiving intensity could be made by direct methods. The favorable results obtained can, it is claimed, be extended to the case of great distances. Professor Braun's method thus affords a possibility of designing on paper such arrangements as will comply with any given conditions as to effects in space. Choosing, for instance, five points of convenient arrangement, which are excited in a proper way, the effect in a given direction may obviously be concentrated much more strongly than in connection with the 3-point arrangement above referred to, while no radiation is given off toward the back. This opens up a practically unlimited series of possibilities of designing directed sending outfits, all of which allow of a rotation as in the case of the three-wire arrangement. Trackless Trains Go Everywhere By Donald Burns RANCE two years ago formally presented to the world of passenger and freight transportation the most novel and interesting type of highway locomotion that has appeared since the days, three score and ten years ago, when the nations first saw Stephenson's steam engine pull its train of cars from London to Liverpool. This latest prodigy, the Renard train, is a train of passenger or freight vehicles headed by a steam or gasoline locomotive, which travels over country roads and town or city streets. The ordinary railway train calls for steel rails and a special right-of-way; the Renard train has no necessity for either of these, but shares the common highway with the horse-drawn vehicle. Unlike the steam railroad train, the Renard locomotive does not pull or drag its train of cars after it; each car of the train does its own propelling by means of a continuous drive-shaft extending from the locomotive throughout the entire length of the train, from which shaft a pair of wheels on each vehicle of the train are driven. The locomotive becomes, thus, a traveling power-house furnishing power for each of the eight or ten cars of the train, and transmitting this power by means of the shaft to each car. In short, the system is one of continuous propulsion, each car driving itself, and the locomotive merely carrying the power generator, which permits of it being placed at the head of the train of cars, in the middle, or at the rear end. Of not less importance is the steering mechanism, which compels each car of the train to follow the tracks of the locomotive-or locomotor, as it is generally designated-giving the impression that the train runs on rails when turning a RENARD PASSENGER AND FREIGHT TRAIN HEADED BY STEAM AUTOMOBILE. ment--engineer, fireman, brakeman, and conductor, all in one, and ever confident that where the locomotor can go the train of cars will surely follow. When moving backwards, the rear car becomes the steerer, the others traveling in the tracks made by it; and so accurate is this "tracking" that a train can run into a small yard, coiling up in snail fashion, and can with equal facility back out again. The number of cars constituting a train is the entire train. In the Renard train the locomotor is not heavier than any one car that travels behind it; whereas, if it pulled all of the cars in the train, its weight would have to be tremendously increased in order to be able to overcome the resistance caused by friction in getting the train into motion. In a cursory examination of the locomotor and cars, astonishment centers in the simplicity of the former. It is a heavy motor-car of fifty or seventy-five horsepower and weighing about 4,000 pounds, or a little more than 1,000 pounds in excess of a medium-sized touring car, and little heavier than some of the biggest pleasure machines. Either steam or gasoline serves as a motive power. With gasoline, a fourcylinder motor suffices, and with steam a couple of cylinders is deemed sufficient. Beside the motor is carried a friction clutch in the engine flywheel, and in rear of it is a transmission gear for giving the different speeds of travel. From this transmission or change-speed gear, extends a propeller-shaft over the back axle and out in rear of the locomotor, where it carries a universal joint for coupling with the continuous drive-shaft which extends throughout the length of the train. The field of usefulness of the Renard train is unlimited, and its advantages over single cars far outweigh its disadvantages. The locomotor weighs a couple of tons; the vans when empty weigh practically the same, and each is capable of carrying a three-ton load. In a train of four cars, the combined weight with loads is twenty-two tons, twelve tons of which are load. This great weight is This great weight is carried on twenty-eight road wheels, a load of less than a ton on each wheel. Should this weight, twenty-two tons, be carried on a four-wheel truck of enormous size, it would mean five and onehalf tons on each wheel. This great weight would destroy the road surface and would be too heavy for most of the bridges; moreover, it would be impossible to make wheels strong enough or tires heavy enough to withstand the load. The road laws of all countries forbid the carrying of more than a certain load on each vehicle wheel, a fact which restricts the sizes of loads carried. In many European countries, recourse has of late been had to the "tractor" method of transporting heavy loads. In this system a traction engine has yoked behind it three or four wagons, which it DOUBLE-ACTING STEAM LOCOMOTOR. pulls as does a railroad locomotive its train of cars. In starting, the wheels of the traction engine generally slip, tearing up the road surface; and in order that the engine shall be able to pull a reasonable load, it has to be excessively heavy to secure traction for its wheels. Besides these disadvantages with the tractor system, is the trouble experienced in turning corners, the tractor making a curve of very large radius, while the cars "cut the corners," turning on curves of lesser radius. In France the Renard train has been used in military service with marked results. A convoy so transported occupies one-eighth the space of one drawn by mules or horses, and it travels at a speed of ten miles per hour. Not requiring metal tracks, the train can travel over any roads over which horse-wagons can pass, and can mount hills with facility. In Persia its field is in localities where railroads are not known, and where the expense of making a road and laying tracks would prove poor investment. Holland has had several trains in operation for a couple of years, in combined passenger and express service. Other countries in which they are in constant use, are France, Germany, South Africa, Australia, Egypt, India, Russia, Turkey, and Austria. In France recently a train did service in transporting newspaper men to the Grand Prix motor-car race, covering the road from Paris to the course, seventy miles, at forty miles an hour. For freight uses, the speeds run from a maximum of ten miles per hour to intermediate speeds of six and sever miles and a minimum of two miles per hour. When traveling with PASSENGER TRAIN DRAWN BY 75-HORSE-POWER INTERNAL COMBUSTION LOCOMOTOR. full load, the consumption of gasoline approaches three and one-half gallons per hour. Perhaps the most applicable field for the train is in thickly populated countries and manufacturing districts, like the north of France and the central portions of England, where the trains form an inter-city transport system. They call at the shipping room of the maker, and deliver his goods to the receiving room of the jobber, one handling being sufficient; whereas, with the railroad train, a horse team is needed to take the goods to the depot, while another team is required in order to deliver them to the jobber at their destination. Friends Old and New MAK AKE new friends, but keep the old; Friendships that have stood the test, -Free Lance. |