﻿554 
  ANNUAL 
  EEPOET 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  192 
  9 
  

  

  learned 
  to 
  read 
  he 
  obtained 
  what 
  books 
  and 
  magazines 
  he 
  could 
  on 
  

   the 
  subject. 
  When 
  in 
  his 
  teens, 
  velocipedes 
  came 
  into 
  vogue 
  and 
  

   from 
  descriptions 
  in 
  some 
  magazines 
  he 
  built 
  one 
  out 
  of 
  old 
  carriage 
  

   wheels. 
  A 
  short 
  while 
  after 
  that 
  he 
  went 
  to 
  what 
  was 
  known 
  as 
  a 
  

   seminary, 
  and 
  for 
  his 
  graduation 
  thesis 
  in 
  1882 
  he 
  chose 
  the 
  subject 
  

   "Rapid 
  transit," 
  discussing 
  transportation 
  on 
  land, 
  on 
  water, 
  and 
  in 
  

   the 
  air. 
  

  

  Duryea 
  taught 
  school 
  for 
  a 
  year 
  and 
  then 
  tried 
  his 
  hand 
  at 
  the 
  

   carpenter 
  and 
  millwright 
  trades 
  for 
  a 
  while. 
  Later 
  he 
  went 
  to 
  St, 
  

   Louis 
  and 
  got 
  a 
  job 
  in 
  a 
  bicycle-repair 
  shop. 
  Three 
  years 
  later 
  he 
  

   was 
  selling 
  bicycles 
  of 
  his 
  own 
  design 
  and 
  made 
  by 
  several 
  manufac- 
  

   turers. 
  He 
  continued 
  in 
  the 
  bicycle 
  business 
  for 
  over 
  10 
  years 
  both 
  

   in 
  St. 
  Louis 
  and 
  in 
  Washington, 
  D. 
  C, 
  and 
  as 
  a 
  side 
  line, 
  was 
  a 
  li- 
  

   censed 
  steam 
  engineer. 
  He 
  helped 
  a 
  Washington 
  inventor 
  con- 
  

   struct 
  a 
  steam 
  bicycle 
  and 
  tricycle, 
  but 
  he 
  could 
  not 
  work 
  up 
  much 
  

   enthusiasm 
  for 
  these 
  because 
  of 
  another 
  type 
  of 
  engine 
  which 
  he 
  had 
  

   seen. 
  At 
  the 
  Ohio 
  State 
  Fair 
  at 
  Columbus 
  in 
  1886 
  he 
  had 
  had 
  an 
  

   exhibit 
  of 
  his 
  bicycles. 
  Next 
  to 
  his 
  stand 
  a 
  gasoline 
  engine 
  had 
  been 
  

   exhibited, 
  the 
  first 
  he 
  had 
  ever 
  seen. 
  It 
  was 
  a 
  clumsy 
  affair 
  weighing 
  

   about 
  a 
  ton, 
  although 
  only 
  developing 
  2 
  horsepower. 
  The 
  carbu- 
  

   retor 
  consisted 
  of 
  a 
  tin 
  tank 
  larger 
  than 
  a 
  wash 
  boiler 
  stuffed 
  with 
  

   excelsior. 
  Duryea 
  felt 
  that 
  in 
  time 
  this 
  engine 
  would 
  be 
  refined 
  into 
  

   a 
  more 
  portable 
  unit. 
  Nor 
  did 
  he 
  have 
  long 
  to 
  wait, 
  for 
  that 
  same 
  

   year 
  he 
  read 
  of 
  Daimler's 
  newly 
  patented 
  light-weight 
  engine. 
  By 
  

   1891 
  he 
  concluded 
  that 
  the 
  public 
  would 
  be 
  ready 
  to 
  buy 
  horseless 
  

   carriages 
  as 
  soon 
  as 
  he 
  could 
  make 
  them. 
  

  

  That 
  summer 
  he 
  went 
  to 
  Springfield, 
  Mass., 
  where 
  the 
  Ames 
  

   Manufacturing 
  Co. 
  was 
  making 
  bicycles 
  for 
  him, 
  and 
  while 
  the 
  plant 
  

   was 
  shut 
  down 
  in 
  August 
  began 
  some 
  gasoline-engine 
  experiments. 
  

   Daimler 
  engines 
  were 
  then 
  available 
  in 
  the 
  United 
  States 
  but 
  they 
  

   seemed 
  too 
  big 
  and 
  heavy 
  for 
  Duryea's 
  purpose. 
  While 
  his 
  brother 
  

   Franldin, 
  a 
  toolmaker 
  for 
  the 
  Ames 
  Co., 
  conducted 
  the 
  experiments, 
  

   Charles, 
  with 
  a 
  pencil 
  figured 
  and 
  sketched 
  and 
  sketched 
  and 
  figured 
  

   for 
  the 
  rest 
  of 
  the 
  year 
  on 
  a 
  design 
  for 
  a 
  gasoline 
  buggy. 
  At 
  last 
  he 
  

   employed 
  an 
  artist 
  to 
  make 
  two 
  pictures 
  of 
  the 
  contraption, 
  based 
  on 
  

   his 
  descriptions 
  and 
  sketches. 
  

  

  Armed 
  with 
  these 
  pictures, 
  Duryea 
  set 
  out 
  to 
  raise 
  money 
  to 
  build 
  

   the 
  machine. 
  Lucidly 
  he 
  found 
  a 
  man 
  in 
  Springfield 
  willing 
  to 
  risk 
  

   some 
  of 
  his, 
  so 
  Duryea 
  set 
  to 
  work 
  early 
  in 
  1892. 
  Fii'st 
  he 
  hired 
  

   a 
  draftsman 
  to 
  make 
  detailed 
  drawings 
  of 
  the 
  various 
  parts. 
  Then 
  

   he 
  let 
  contracts 
  to 
  make 
  the 
  parts. 
  He 
  rented 
  the 
  second 
  floor 
  of 
  a 
  

   machine 
  shop 
  in 
  March. 
  He 
  purchased 
  and 
  brought 
  to 
  the 
  shop 
  a 
  

   lady's 
  phaeton, 
  with 
  top, 
  regulation 
  oil 
  lamps, 
  whip 
  socket, 
  and 
  so 
  on. 
  

   Assembling 
  began 
  as 
  soon 
  as 
  the 
  parts 
  started 
  to 
  come 
  in. 
  With 
  the 
  

   completion 
  of 
  each 
  unit 
  for 
  the 
  buggy 
  it 
  was 
  tested 
  and 
  any 
  changes 
  

  

  