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WHAT IS MAGNETIC TRANSMISSION' 28c
of the car is to increase its speed, such as
in descending a hill. Thus when going
down hill the magnetic brake may be
applied by simply putting the controller
lever in the neutral position and the car's
speed wall be held at the set minimum.
regardless of the degree of steepness of
the incline.
But how has this intricate mechanism
worked out practically? 1 Has it given
real satisfaction during the three years
it has been embodied in automobiles ?
Even as we find expert opinion on
the subject to be at wide variance, so
do we find the ideas of the users. One
states that it is a wonderful thing and
the car of the future ; has had no trouble
with it and foresees none. Another says
he has had no peace of mind at all since
taking possession ; that the "darned thing
is always out of fix" and even when it
is in perfect order he gets very poor
results. One claims with great enthusiasm
that he could climb the Washington
Monument if he could get the traction,
while another says disgustedly that
he cannot get up the Chicago north shore
ravines. One tells us that it is simplicity
itself while another declares it is a complicated
mess that only an expert may
understand.
This brings up a question. Are these
transmissions like pigs bought in a poke?
Are some of them all that the makers
claim for them while others are rank
failures? Or is the trouble to be found
in the drivers themselves? The writer
is inclined to the latter point of view, for
there have been instances of drivers who
had no success with the transmission and
who surrendered the wdieel to others only
to see the same cars perform every stunt
claimed for them by the makers.
The magnetic transmission is as different
a piece of mechanism from the
sliding gear and clutch type as a bowd
of soup is different from an ear of corn.
One does not handle a bowl of soup in
the same manner as he does an ear of
corn in order to get the desired results
without tlisaster. This naturally brings
up another question. Is the magnetic
transmission so complex that it requirespecial
aptness and knowledge to handle
it? Of course it is. So also is the sliding
gear and clutch transmission. No
person can take any type of automobile
out on the streets and roads and get safe
and sane results until he has learned
how. And it does not follow that when
he has learned the art of handling one
sort of machinery he is then fitted to
handle expertly another entirely different
sort.
The writer believes that any man wdio
might learn to handle a magnetic car
without any previous experience with
gears and clutches, would be in a hopeless
muddle if he undertook to handle
a mechanical transmission. It is a poor
rule that will not work both ways.
The care wdiich must be taken of any
car is another point to consider. The
average owner or driver does not understand
the "works" of his transmission
at all. He is told he must put in plenty
of oil and he is also told where to find
the hole in which to put it. He obeys
this mandate and then, thanks to the
wonderful efforts of the makers of steel
gears and shafts, the transmission takes
care of itself. In the magnetic transmission
he is told that he must not put
The Way the Transmission Works
Call the crank a gasoline engine, and the axis of the cylinder
the driving shaft. As the crank is turned slowly, the
cylinder revolves under influence of the magnet, turning
the axis shaft.
in any oil, which pleases him so much
that he does not hear the mandate about
some other simple little thing that he
must do.
Fie must use a little sandpaper occasionally,
and the sandpaper in one case