ELECTRIC AUTOMOBILES. 



485 



tinually swings from side to side, and occasionally with a considerable 

 amount of violence. It will be evident from this fact that if the front 

 axle of an automobile were the same as that of a horse vehicle, the driver 

 would have an unpleasant task, to say the least, in holding the steer- 

 ing lever in position, and should one of the wheels drop into a rut, the 

 handle would be jerked violently out of his hand and the vehicle would 

 sheer off to one side, possibly with serious results. To avoid this diffi- 

 culty the front wheels of horseless carriages are arranged so as to swing 

 round on a center close to the hub, if not actually within it. The 

 most common construction is illustrated in Fig. 10, the first being a 



iijifini 



Pig. 9. A Columbia Omnibus. 



view of the axle and wheels as seen from the front, and the second a 

 view from above. On the left-hand side of Fig. 10, A is the axle proper, 

 and BB are the portions upon which the wheels are placed. The cen- 

 tral part A is held rigidly to the body of the vehicle or to the truck 

 which carries it, and the ends BB are swung round the studs PP in 

 a manner more clearly indicated on the right-hand side. Here 

 the levers CC are shown, and these extend from ihe side of BB. The 

 right-angle lever E is connected with the steering lever by means of 

 rod F, hence, when G is moved, rod D moves, and thus levers CC are 

 rotated round the studs PP, and in that way the supporting studs BB 



