Popular Science Monthly 



EQUALIZER 

 REMAINS 



ORDINARY brake: rod 



AND HAND LE.VE.R 

 ,RtMOVtD 



91.5 



WIRES TO CONTROLLER 

 ON WHEEL 



ELECTRIC BRAKE 

 CABLE. 



POSITION OF 

 ELECTRIC BRAKE 

 TO CORRESPOND 

 WITH PHOTO 



The motor can be attached to any make of automobile simply by substituting it for the 

 usual hand-levers, lever quadrant and brake connections. The brake is disengaged by push- 

 ing the switch-handle back to its original position. The device weighs twenty-five pounds 



pull on the brake-cable, it has been found 

 feasible to have the brake-drums run in 

 oil, reversing the usual practice which is 

 to keep them as dry as possible. 



By means of the two-point switch-con- 

 troller, the electrical energy is so govern- 

 ed that the brake can be applied gradually 

 or in the fraction of a second in an 

 emergency. The first-point switch posi- 

 tion supplies enough braking power for 

 service purposes and the second for an 

 emergency stop. 



A Device for Adjusting the Ends of 

 Steel Rails 



ARAILROAD man of 

 Louisiana has invented 

 a device for adjusting rails, 

 which is employed at the 

 rail-ends where space 

 is allowed for expan- 

 sion and contrac- 

 tion. 



Two strong clamps 

 are provided, one of 

 which is fitted over 

 each end of the ad- 

 joining rails. A 

 double-threaded 

 screw connects them. 

 Over this a rod is 

 fitted, by means of 

 which the screw is 

 turned to spread the 

 rails or draw them 

 together as desired. 



One of the clamps fits over each rail-end 

 and a screw-rod spreads or joins them 



Wire Wheels for Automobiles Are Rap- 

 idly Taking the Place of Wood 



ONE of the most interesting tenden- 

 cies of the times in the automobile- 

 manufacturing business is the growing 

 popularity of the wire wheel. An exami- 

 nation of the statistics of wheel produc- 

 tion in this country reveals the fact that a 

 distinct wire wheel boom is under way 

 and is rapidly gaining momentum. At 

 the end of 1915 it was estimated that 

 there were not more than ten thousand 

 cars equipped with wire wheels. The 

 1916 season, though not yet finished, has 

 probably added fifty or even sixt\- thou- 

 sand cars to this class, a gain of five 

 hundred per cent. With that spectacu- 

 ar increase in mind it is not 

 difficult to credit well-inform- 

 ed automobile men who 

 predict that 1917 will see 

 two hundred thousand 

 new cars put on wire 

 wheels. These wheels 

 are popular on ac- 

 count of their hand- 

 some appearance; 

 and they have re- 

 ceived an impetus 

 from the scarcity of 

 hickory of the best 

 quality, and from 

 the patent litigation 

 which has vexed the 

 manufacturersof the 

 demountable rim. 



