Early flight pioneersThe Jet EngineFuture aviation Cars - a failure?Automobiles - The future? MOTOR CARS Are they a failure? No doubt there is some intimate connection between the subjects of washing appliances and horseless carriages: which accounts for the fact that the Laundry Exhibition now in progress at the Agricultural Hall has its horseless carriage section. It is true, I have not been able to discover the nature of the link between these closely allied subjects. Whether the motor car driver generally takes up amateur washing as a hobby, or whether washerwomen are more keenly interested than other people in the great problem of self-propelled traffic, I do not know. But at all events the fact that horseless vehicles have intruded themselves into a Laundry Exhibition tends to show how general is becoming the interest in the question whether they are going to turn out a huge success or a huge failure. Henry ford pictured with his first vehicle 'the quadricycle' Up to the present the name by which these mechanically-propelled road vehicles are to be known has not been definitely settled. In parliamentary language they are spoken of as "light locomotives," but for ordinary use the term "motor car" is difficult to improve upon. Another name, "autocar," which has been adopted by some, will not stand etymological criticism, if that be of any consequence. The first thing to do in reviewing the situation is to see what the new law, which has recently received Royal assent, allows. The Locomotives on Highways act comes into operation on November 14. What the Act does is to remove from "light locomotive" the antediluvian restrictions, which limited the speed of all road locomotives to little more than a snail's pace, and required that a man should walk in front waving a red flag. In order to obtain the benefit of the exemption, the weight of a motor vehicle unladen, and without including fuel, water, or accumulators, must not exceed three tons; and if it is used to draw another vehicle - it is not allowed to draw more than one - the weight of the two combined must not exceed four tons. No smoke or visible vapour must be emitted, unless from some temporary or accidental cause. But while the old restrictions are removed, some new ones of a less onerous character are imposed. Motor cars must carry a bell or other instrument of sound. Whether the said instrument is ever to be used is not stated; but at all events it must be capable of giving audible and sufficient warning of the vehicle's approach. A lighted lamp must be carried from one hour after sunset till one hour before sunrise, but further regulations respecting the character and position of the lamp are to be made by the Local Government Board. This authority is entrusted with indefinite powers of making fresh regulations for the control of motor car traffic. A much more important restriction than these I have named is the limiting of the speed to fourteen miles an hour, or "any less speed that may be prescribed by regulations of the Local Government Board." Another provision is the imposition of a special tax. Light locomotives are declared to be carriages, and if, as carriages or hackney carriages, they are liable to duty, they are required to pay an additional £2 2s., or £3 3s. when the weight exceeds two tons. The storing and use of petroleum or other inflammable liquids for motor car purposes is left to "a Secretary of State" to regulate. Breaches of the law may be punished by fines not exceeding £10. The above remarks summarise the essence of the Act from the users' point of view; and there is not much to complain of. But now that we may use our motor cars, if we are fortunate enough to possess them, is it at all certain that they are going to prove of any value? Plenty of fuss has been made about them within the past year, and certainly the idea of possessing a handy, self-moving carriage, that will eat nothing when out of use, and never get tired when in use, is very fascinating. But there is nothing new in the attempt to attach a motor to a road vehicle; and if the obvious difficulties of the problem have baffled the engineers of the past, notwithstanding the partial successes which have been achieved, is it clear that they will not even yet baffle the engineers of the present? To design a locomotive light enough for road use, capable of climbing steep hills, and able to stand jolting at a fair pace over stones and rough roads, and splashing through mud, is a very different thing from designing a locomotive that will run satisfactorily on perfectly level rails. As long ago as the latter part of the last century a steam-propelled vehicle, still preserved in Paris, was made by a Frenchman named Cugnot, while Murdoch, the assistant of James Watt, is related to have terrified the rector of Redruth, in Cornwall, by trying a model steam carriage on the road one evening in the dusk. In 1803, if not earlier, Trevithick ran a steam coach, which was afterwards further improved by Walter Hancock. At one time several of Hancock's carriages were running in London between the Bank and Paddington, as well as to Brighton and elsewhere. Steam coaches were also made by Gurney and others, and a service was started between Gloucester and Cheltenham. Between the years 1850 and 1870 the names of Tangye, Ricketts, Knight, and other engineers were associated with the manufacture of steam carriages for light road traffic, and still later a steam tricycle was made by Mr. Bateman, of Greenwich. What is the reason that the motor car fell so completely into disuse after all these attempts, some of them partially successful, to introduce it? Of course, the stock answer is, "Because of the Road Locomotive Acts." But if this was the only reason, why had motor cars been almost forgotten, or, at all events, very little used, in other countries as well as England until two or three years ago? The fact is, the difficulties of the problem had been very imperfectly overcome, and it is therefore only natural to ask whether or not they have been overcome now. What about the danger of accidents? What about the cost? What about the vibration, the smell, the noise, the unsightliness of mechanically propelled road carriages? What about their speed, and the limit imposed by the new Act? What about the ease of controlling them? And, most pertinent of all, what about their complication, and their liability to get out of order?