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Edward Joel Pennington The following article gives a glimpse of one of the greatest scam artist in American History Edward Joel Pennington This page is focused only on his automobile ventures
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Edward Joel Pennington This page is focused only on his automobile ventures ____________________________________________________________________ In 1894, E.J. Pennington joined with Thomas Kane in Racine, WI to build Kane-Pennington engines and motorcycles In the first edition of the Horseless Age Magazine of Nov. 1, 1895, the article concerning the Chicago Herald-Tribune Race listed eighty entrants, The Kane Pennington automobile was on the list. The automobile was there, but it did not compete. Pennington left for England shortly thereafter and took his autromobile and motorcycle with him. Pennington's exploits in England were from 1896 through 1898. Pictured below is the automobile and an advertisement which was the first automobile advertisement in any magazine. The Horseless Age Magazine was published in New York and its contempary, the Autocar Magazine that was also published for the first time in November, 1895 in London, England. They both focused on the complete automobile industry. The English name for the automobile was autocar and never mentioned automobile. His scamming the automobile industry and the American businesses was done when he returned to the United States after 1899 until his death in 1911.
_____________________________________________________________________ Copied from the December,1895 Issue from the Autocar Magazine THE PENNINGTON ENGINE. We have already spoken in these columns of the Pennington engine which is attracting so much attention in America, and a few words concerning its construction will doubtless not be without interest to the readers of The Autocar. In the first place, we may say that the engine was first publicly experimented with about a year ago, and is the outcome of a series of successive developments which have been made in light engines by Thomas Kane and Company, of Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A., who ten years since went into the business of manufacturing light machinery for the propulsion of boats and launches. The obtaining of the maximum of power with the minimum of weight was always the central point of their attention, and their Racine automatic engines and boilers, using oil for fuel, achieved a large success. Then, foreseeing that steam would in time be supplanted by a gas or gasoline engine using no boiler, they designed and built the Regan, and, later, the Kane electrovapour engine, and claim to have been the first to use electricity for ignition purposes instead of fire. Their success in this line soon brought other similar engines on to the market, employing about the same principles and differing only in general construction, namely, making gas in a carburetter or vapouriser, and exploding it in the cylinder by means of an electric spark. This type of engine necessitated a large number of working parts, was necessarily constructed heavily to withstand the explosion in the cylinder, and to allow a large space for water jacket for cooling purposes, and required a heavy fly wheel to secure power and smooth running. The demand meanwhile called for a less complicated engine and one of fewer parts and light weight for stationary purposes, boat and vehicle use, and a thousand and one places where heavier power could not be used, and this ultimately led to the invention of the Pennington engine, which has been successfully used on motor cycles and light carriages, and is now built by the firm for all lines of work. Its general description is as follows : Ordinary gasoline or kerosene oil is stored in a galvanised iron tank. Extending from this tank is a small pipe, and through this pipe the oil flows to the engine by gravitation, substantially as it does to an ordinary gasoline stove. A small primary battery is placed in any convenient position out of the way from which a copper wire leads into the interior of the engine. It is a well-known law that rapid evaporation of any fluid produces cold; the more rapid the evaporation the more intense the cold. Pennington's engine utilises this principle, and on the motor cycle no water is used for cooling purposes. On other engines for vehicles and marine and stationary work only sufficient water is required to keep an equal temperature, i.e., about one gallon per horse power, and the water is used over and over again. For this purpose a small brass tube is slipped over the cylinder, which adds only a little to the weight, and gives the engine an attractive appearance. In all other engines of the gas or vapour type the explosive fluid is compounded and produced in the engine, by means either of a vapouriser or carburetter, and when thus prepared is pumped into the engine and there exploded. This produces only heat, and renders a water jacket necessary, as well as a large quantity of water for cooling purposes. The Pennington engine produces both heat and cold, as above described, and in such proportion that the temperature of the cylinder is never greater than that of an ordinary steam engine, and requires a minimum quantity of water. In a three-quarters horse power engine there is only one cylinder, two horse power two cylinders, and in a four horse power four cylinders. Each cylinder is 2 in. in diameter, 6in. stroke. The engine runs five hundred or more revolutions per minute as desired.
The whole mechanism is extremely simple in construction, and is designed to be ignoramus proof. There are said to be fourteen chances (or a locomotive engine to get out of order and fail to work. In an electric car motor twenty-two chances. In the Pennington engine there are but two, viz., the flow of fluid, and the electric spark. Both are very easily tested, and when both work properly the machine is bound to go. The cylinders are made of specially drawn steel tube, tested at a pressure of 8,ooolbs. to the square inch. The piston is made loose with spring rings, and needs no packing. It can be drawn out by loosening a single bolt, and the working parts seen. The balance wheel is utilised to start the engine, and a single turn is sufficient to set it in operation. In the motor bicycle, the construction of which is shown in the accompanying illustration, no balance wheel is required, the start being effected by the pedals in the usual manner. As soon as the engine gets to work, it expected to develop fully one horse power, probably more and over-runs the pedals, which are connected with a ratchet gearing, and the rider can either pedal faster, and so keep ahead of the engine, and do some of the work of propulsion himself, or else put his feet on the rests, and " coast " all the time. In the illustration, the engine is shown attached to the back wheel, the petroleum reservoir on the top of the frame, and the electric battery in a leather case beneath it. The oil is fed to the engine through the long tube at the back, and the regulation is entirely under the control of the rider by a connection from the handle-bar, the regulation of the supply of oil regulating the speed of the machine. By turning a button on the handle-bar, the electric current is shut off, and instantly the cylinders convert themselves into air brakes. The bicycle, which has 4m. tyres, thus obtaining the acme of comfort in riding, is, of course, built specially strong to stand the strain, yet with all this, and with engine and attachments complete, il weighs but 65lbs., the weight of the engine and attachments alone being only 12 lbs. The electric battery will last for months, and is easily recharged or renewed, whilst one charge of petroleum is sufficient for a run of from fifty to one hundred miles, according to gradients, etc., encountered. As to speed, the company claim to have done a mile in 58 seconds and put the road speed down at " from six to fifty miles per hour," according tc circumstances or inclination.
Our other illustration shows the construction of a light form ol Victoria carriage which the firm are fitting with the motors, in this case a four horse power four cylinder engine being used, and the entire carriage weighing about 149 lbs. Doubtless practical engineers will be asking about efficiency, and whether the horse power of these little engines is actual or merely nominal. It may, therefore, be nteresting if we quote the following extract from a letter received from Mr. Kane last week by Mr. Baines, the company's representative here. Mr. Kane says: " The invention grows upon us all as we make further trials with larger engines. To illustrate, a few days ago we tested one of our old type of cast iron engines rated two and a half horse power. Under our old system of introducing gas it developed about two horse power in regular running. Putting in one spark and taking the fluid directly into the cylinder, it developed 2-28 horse power. Substituting an electrode with a double spark it developed 4-18 horse power. We attached a dynamo running fifty electric lights, and it did perfect work right alongin fact, it solves the electric lighting problem with gas engines, without any question. This problem has not hitherto been thoroughly solved in this country. We are now changing some half horse power old style engines, and from this we fancy our readers will agree with us that on the face of it the Pennington engine seems to have about solved the motor question for liglit vehicles, more especially as ordinary petroleum crude oil evenis used instead of the more expensive and more explosive benzoline. We may add that the English patents have been purchased hy an English syndicate for a very large sum, a larger sum, we believe, than has ever been paid for any other petroleum motor patent, and that it will very probably be one of the series of engines which will be handled by the large company which is spoken of in another column. No engines are at present in England, but we understand that Mr. Pennington leaves America to-day, bringing several specimens of the carriages with him, and that the public will ere long have the opportunity of seeing the vehicles at work. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- More on the Pennington Engine as Copied from the December 7, 1895 Autocar Magazine Issue In the columns of The American Machinist, Mr. John Randol, who, we understand, is an expert of some standing in American engineering circles, gives the following interesting report on the Pennington engine and a visit to the Kane-Pennington Works, which article, to supplement our own report on this engine which appeared in No. 3, we reproduce so far as it does not duplicate the information already given in The Autocar. Mr. Randol says : During my first inspection of the Kane-Pennington motor, I thought I was not treated with the entire frankness due to an impartial observer, if he be allowed to observe a strange and wonderful thing. I saw a heat engine, for I suppose the explosion engines are as rightfully to be called heat engines as if they took their heat slowly and through the comparatively moderate and leisurely process of ordinary burning, instead of employing pressures established by trie sudden and violent deflagration of some explosive compound. I saw, I say, a heat engine of such exquisite simplicity that a child might easily remember all of its few parts and their uses, and all so small and light that a child might use them for playthings ; a machine so absurdly lacking in all the parts and appliances which I had been trained by example and theory to believe essential to the effectiveness of motors of its class, that if previous knowledge were not wholly error, this new wonder should not be able to even move itself; yet this incredible machine not only did move itself, but moved with such vigour of action as to drive loads far beyond its apparent possibilities. I expressed my surprise and admiration and my eager desire for information, and in response Mr. Pennington gave me a halting, and, as it seemed to me, a ridiculously impossible theory of the method by which the enormous proportion of heat which the ordinary gas engine wastes on the water jacket is in the Kane-Pennington motor converted into work, and at the end of that first examination of the motor I wrote what follows. Further consideration made me dissatisfied with what I had written, and I went back to the Kane-Pennington shops, and was shown everything which the place contains, and permitted to satisfy myself fully as to the function and working of all parts of the motor. I found that I had been told the exact truth so far as the actual and observable facts were concerned, and that in some way, so far wholly unexplained, the great heat which in other explosive engines manifests itself in an inconvenient by-product, to be taken care of as best it may, is in the Pennington engine transformed into useful effect on the piston. I know that when the long, thin, first spark is not put through the charge the engine becomes weak and hot, and that when this first long, thin spark, this "mingling" or "ripening" spark, as Mr. Pennington calls it, is used, a common gas engine with its carburetter eliminated gives twice its ordinary effect on the crank. I know also that all the experts who have been employed by capitalists to examine this engine have been first incredulous and then amazed, and, finally, enthusiastic, and I have, therefore, decided to let this first paper stand as it is, because it correctly exhibits not only my own experience, but the experience of all others, both learned and simple, upon the first examination of the motor. All of the indicator cards, and all data and records in possession of the Kane-Pennington establishment, were offered to me, but as some of them cannot be put before the public, I did not choose to take them away with me, or even to examine them, as I prefer not to become the repository of avoidable [secrets. I shall very soon, however, describe in the minutest detail the twospark mechanism of the Pennington motor, which actually does not cost five cents, and yet when applied to the " Regan " gas engine, largely built up to the present time by the Kane establishment at Racine, doubles the power of that motor. It is in the igniter, and in the double spark, or rather in the effect of the first spark, apparently, that the efficiency of the Pennir.gton motor lies. This statement is as incredible to my mind now as it was when I first heard it from the lips of Mr. Pennington, but this first spark seems to be the only possible agency through which this motor achieves its miraculous results, and gives us a heat engine which delivers in usable work a great part of the possible effect of the heat delivered to it, and so opens a new round of dazzling possibilities to the engineer. One thing is certain, however, the KanePennington motor, the general working drawing of which is now given (for the first time in any printed publication) is less than 17 lbs, heavier than the final 4f i.h.p. motor, because the Kane-Pennington develops 475 i.h.p. at its regular speed of seven hundred turns, and weighs only I7 lbs. all told. It is quite unreasonable to suppose that motors will ever be produced which have no weight whatever, hence it is surely safe to say that "Air Ship" Pennington, out of the clouds and on the ground, is within less than 17Jibs, avoirdupois of the ultimate results of human effort in the production of 4f horse power motors. No fire, no water, no boiler, no carburetter only a few pieces of steel, with a few brass-bushed joints, a battery weighing one pound, and a gallon of kerosene; put these with a bicycle, bringing the weight of the whole piece of wizardry up to 581bs., and a man may be carried by it on a smooth road a mile in fifty-eight seconds, as a man was carried on one of the asphalt-paved streets in the city of Milwaukee a few days since. To avoid the weight of reducing gear the diameter of the cycle wheels is dropped to twentytwo inches, and to give adhesion, and to avoid puncture, the pneumatic tyres are made four inches diameter, after Pennington's specifications, and cannot be injured by a hammer and nail in skilled hands; the attempt to drive the nail into the inflated tyre results in a simple rebound of the nail, the tyre remaining intact To run a mile a minute with twenty-two inch diameter wheels requires over nine hundred turns; it is therefore certain, as the cycle did run a mile in fifty-eight seconds, that the motor can make about 920 turns per minute. I was one of the riders on a Pennington tandem weighing 1061bs. over a poor block pavement, railway tracks, etc.; the time was not taken; it was quite sufficiently swift, however, to satisfy all my longings foi speed. My sensations were much less piquant during a ride with Mr. Pennington in the " Victoria" !illustrated in our third issueEd. A.] This machine was built in 1894, and is driven by such a pair of engines as are shown in the drawings. This ride was made in the yard of the extensive works of the Racine Hardware Co., and the ground, owing to the recent rains, included several spots of very soft mud, but, as might be expected from the location of the weight, almost wholly over the driven rear wheels, there was no slip of the drivers. This " Victoria" can make twenty to twenty-five miles easily, and more if pushed, on a common (dirt) road. The motive power is the same as shown, chain-geared, with two reductions, first to. an intermediate shaft, then to variable speed shaft, and last, from the variable speed shaft back to the drivers, each ' wheel being independently driven, as there is no through shaft for either the rear or front wheels, the " Victoria" being on strictly bicycle construction lines. The reduction from the engine to the driving wheels is four to one for the slow speed and two to one for quick speed. The upright hand lever mentioned below has three positionsstanding upright the engines are disconnected from the driving wheels; hand lever to the right gives four to one reduction to drivers; moving hand lever to left gives the quick drive, which is two to one reduction from the motor to the drivers. The " Victoria " engines have a fly-wheel, and the right-hand crank wrist is prolonged to form a handle; the intermediate shaft sprocket wheel is loose, and may be clutched to the shaft by moving an - upright lever rising from the footboard. When not clutched to the shaft, the engines run without moving the vehicle; to start the engines, one complete turn of the engine shaft is made by the hand, and it then continues to run from the action of the engines until either the oil or the spark-producing current is shut off. After the one revolution by the hand, the riders mount the seat, and a movement of the vertical lever clutches the sprocket to the variable speed intermediate shaft, and the "Victoria" at once begins to move. Mr. Pennington informed me that he would not be a competitor in the Times-Herald, MilwaukeeChicago, 5,000 dollars prize race, as he preferred some of his customers should take the money, it being the intention of the Kane-Pennington concern to supply motors onlynot complete self-driven vehiclesto the public. It is quite probable that several entries in the MilwaukeeChicago race will be driven by Kane-Pennington motors, as the leading cycle makers have ordered motors of this type. The total weight of the " Victoria" unloaded is less than 400 lbs. The weight of the ordinary road waggon or "buggy" is about the same. The consumption of common kerosene oil per hour per horse-power indicated is about one-tenth of one gallon, or about two quarts per hour for 475 h.p. It is quite needless to say that nothing approaching the weight and power given has ever been shown by any motor within the general knowledge of the public. The common one horse-power gas engine, for instance, has a piston weighing, say, 6olbs. ; the Kane-Pennington has a piston 2iin. diameter by 3m. long which weighs about three-quarters of a pound. The best speed for a common one horse-power gas engine is 200 to 250 turns, while the Kane-Pennington can maintain a speed of 2,000 revolutions without danger or difficulty, and at this speed a nominal one horsepower motor will develop over ten horse power. The common gas engine cylinder will rise far beyond the safe limit of temperature if not artificially cooled ; the Kane-Pennington can be run without inconvenience without water jacketing, and Mr. Pennington said to me that they not only could be run without water, but gave better results in every way without the water jacket. After I had, for that occasion at least, escaped sudden death by alighting from the demon-driven tandem, and had become quite satisfied that my entire anatomy was still serviceably intact, I felt the water jackets of the cylinders, and found them barely hlood warm. I had noticed that the tank of cooling water was absurdly small, and had expected to see steam coming from it long before. I asked Mr. Pennington how this coolness could be, and he replied that all fluids took up a vast amount of heat in the change of vapour, and that, as his engine used no carburetter, but vapourised the charge directly in the cylinder, the fluid in vapourising absorbed the heat the cylinder walls had derived from the last explosion, and hence kept the heat of the cylinders at a comparatively very low point. Mr. Pennington went on to say, first, that the charge was exploded only when the effective stroke crank angle was forty-five degrees, and that previous to the delivery of the igniting spark to the charge there was a mingling current of electricity put through the air and gas in the cylinder, and that, by virtue of this non-igniting current delivered to the mixture, the heat ab-orption power or capacity, one or both, of gas in the cylinder was so incredibly augmented that the cylinder temperature could be, and actually was, so greatly lowered that the walls of the cylinders were kept cool to within convenient working limits. Perhaps it was a look of surprise that led Mr. Pennington to feelingly remark that a great many men of scientific attainments had upbraided him with tergiversation when he made that statement, and I therefore leave it to the hands of my readers. What I do know is that the Pennington engines run cool enough with water jackets having a ridiculously small water supply, and that they do not heat to any detrimental temperature when run with naked cylinders. Fully realising the factory side of the question, the Pennington motor is at present being developed on the line of augmentation by the assemblage of similar units. The two horse power engine is simply a pair of one horse poorer motors, and the one horse power units are also grouped into fours to produce a nominal four horse power motor, indicating about sixteen horse power, the cylinders being inclined in pairs, so that two of the trunk piston rods lay hold of one crank on each side of the combination of elements. It will be observed that the cylinder proportions of the engine are not at all the common square of the gas engines2h'm. cylinder diameter by 6in. stroke forms the standard unit. But a much greater digression is shown in an engine now under test having a 2iin. diameter with J2in. stroke single cylinder, in which the terminal pressure is reduced almost to atmosphere, with a fuel gain of about forty-five per cent, over the 2^in. by 6in. cylinder dimensions. Referring to the drawing there is next to nothing in the way of description or explanation to give. The oil admission is simply a screw-controlled needle valve. I saw a blue print of the igniter, but it was refused for publication, and I can only say that it is very simple and gives no hint of its two current refrigeration powers. The cylinders are made of steel tubes ground inside in a primitive engine lathe and a steady registry, and certainly not a very c ose approximation to a cylindrical form. The pistons, I was told, were dropped forgings. They would be more easily made in grey iron. The piston rings are grey iron, .'ess than ,'in. thick, and with halved joining ; the pistons and open cylinders appear to b2 wholly free from any deposit, and were bright and clean. The trunk pistons are �very fiat fitting cylinders, perhaps :I'jin. small. The workmanship generally was fair, and the designing was specialised with a very high degree of ingenuity, as I need not say when it is remembered that a fifty-eight pound locomotive makes a mile in fifty-eight seconds on a street pavement. I hardly think there will be a dissenting voice from the assertion that this feat of the Pennington motor cycle is one of the most marvellous achievements of mechanism ever seen. There is evidently some heat-absorbing or diverting or abstracting element in operation in the Kane-Pennington engine not commonly present in the gas engine, and it is difficult to see what this can be, if it is not the truth that the heat of the cylinder walls is absorbed by the incoming charge previous to the moment of the ignition, or else transformed into work on the piston, as it seems impossible that the gases after ignition should be otherwise than very hot indeed. There is no visible discharge of vapour, and no evident odour, except in case of an over-admission of oil, and an over-admission of oil leads to a loss of efficiency which makes its continuance an impossibility. The one great mystery is the coolness of the naked cylinders, which should be red hot at the end of the first twenty strokes or so of a run. Chemists are familiar with the establishment of low temperature pressures, but pressures established by explosion are not cold as a rule, and the gas engine has always been hot. The Kane-Pennington shops are making, or have made, general trials of the water jacket cylinder ; the 2iin. x i2in. expansion engine is jacketed and piped with top and bottom natural circulation pipes to a small water tank, which a run of some length did not seem to heat very much. The cylinders run perfectly well naked, with no cooling element more than their inevitable exposure to the atmosphere. -------------------------------------------------------------- His automobiles were present at the Thanksgiving Day Race in November 1895 that was promoted by the Chicago Times-Herald, but did not enter. They could not be driven and had to be carried. According to Beverly Kimes 1996 edition of the American Automobile from 1805-1942, E.J. Pennington left for England before the race was finished taking with him two vehicles. Copied from the Jan 11,1896 edition of the Autocar Magazine The Pennington Motor on Trial We believe that most good Americans are great believers in the perfection and infalibility of the American express system of sending goods and the vast superiority over effette Euiropean methods and we think that Mr. E. J. Pennington formerly held very similiar ideas. We also believe that his enthusiasm has met with a rude check by dispatching his motor carriage and bicycle which he dispatched through the medium of an express company before his own departure now six weeks ago and expecting find them awaiting him on his arrival instead of arriving all together and have taken somethinmg like three weeks to put in an appearance and what is worse, the contents of several packages , especially the carriage and the bicycle have found to have met with consequent damage on the voage. These damages combined have prevented any test being made in this country before now. In April of 1896, Pennington arrived at a hotel in London and rented a suite of rooms. He was asked by a reporter if anyone had accepted his challenge for any one to have a better motor and he answered that no one had. He said that the Humber. Company had bought his patents and it was their worry now. The Daimler Company had gone to the States earlier and bought his patents there. r Cycle ______________________________________________________________________________
Copied from the December 1896 Issue of the Horseless Age Magazine E.J. Pennington announced that he had taken up pernament residence in England _______________________________________________________________________________ Copied from the 1897 June Issue of the Horseles age Magazine Such is the broad invitation which Mr. Pennington now publishes in an English contemporary. The precise terms of this last of a series of defis is given below for the edification of American readers : I. E. J. Pennington, of the Motor Mills, Coventry, issue the following challenge to the world. It was my first intention, as announced a few weeks back, to challenge the makers of the winning vehicle in the Paris-Marseilles race, but from accidents and other causes several good carriages were unable to do their designers and makers full justice in that contest, so I have decided to to throw my challenge open to the world, as I desire to meet the best and most efficient autocars that have yet been produced. I therefore challenge any bona-fide makers of autocars in the world to a speed contest and mechanical trial against one of my machines under the following conditions, in which it will be seen that while speed is mentioned prominently, it is only one of 31 points of mechanical efficiency which I consider essential in the construction of a practical autocar: On or before the 30th of October, 1896, each concern entering for the competition (who must be bona-fide builders of motor vehicles)and myself to deposit in Lloyd's Bank, Ltd., 72 Lombard Street, London, ^1,000 sterling, subject to the order of the judges of the competition. Upon the day ot deposit they shall meet in the drawing room of the Hotel Metropole, London, at 1 1 a. m., when each competitor shall have one representative who will be empowered to select one well-known mechanical engineer as a judge. These judges shall have the power to select a third engineer to co-operate with them, and shall be paid each not more than �20 sterling per day while engaged on the tests. DATE OF COMPETITION. The judges as selected shall mutually agree upon a convenient time for a trial test and a date for starting the race, dnring the month of January, 1897. LENGTH OF RACE. The race shall be over a continuous course of 1,200 English miles. PLACE OF COMPETITION. The race to take place on a track at least one mile in circumference, or on a properly banked course, and to be within 100 miles of London, England, at a place to be selected by the Motor Car Club, London. This track to be so situated that the vehicles can be at all times in sight of the judges and spectators. Each competitor to tender to the judges at the place selected the autocar which is to enter the competition at least three clear days before the date on which it shall be decided that the trial test is to take place. CLASSIFICATION . The competing autocar to be a vehicle carrying not less than four persons. DUTIES OF JUDGES AT TRIAL TESTS. The judges shall carefully and thoroughly inspect, test and judge the autocars during the three days preceding the race on the following points: 1. Speed of autocar carrying four people. 2. Ascent of gradients. 3. Adaptability on rough roads. 4. Adaptability on soft roads. 5. Ease of operation of autocar. f,. 6. Ease of steering. 7. Facility in turning sharp corners at high speed. 8. Maximum load for weight of autocar. 9. Minimum total weight of autocar for weight of people carried. 1o. Minimum width of autocar. 11. Minimum height of autocar. 12. Compactness of autocar for stabling. 13. Minimum number of parts of autocar. 14. Minimum number of parts of motive power. 15. Minimum cost of operating autocar. 16. Quickness of starting autocar when motor is not in motion. 17. Autocar at standstill obtaining greatest speed in shortest time. 18. Quickness of stopping autocar. 19. Efficiency of brakes. 2o. Minimum cost of operating engine. 21. Minimum amount of noise. 22. Quickness of stopping engine. 23. Motive power as affected by wind. 24. Motive power as affected by water. 2";. Motive power as affected by mud. 26. In competition with oil motors, the minimum amount of odor. 27. In competition with oil motors, the largest range of grades of oil used without change in mechanism. 28. In competition with oil or steam motors, the minimum of heat radiated without extra covering. 29. In competition with oil motors, the minimum of vibration of motor power. 3o. In competition with all engines, the minimum of space occupied by motor attachments for power developed. 31. Minimum cost of manufacturing entire autocar. The judges shall keep a record ot the points of each competing vehicle, as above outlined. DUT1ES OF JUDGES AT RACE. The competing autocars, after having been put through the trial test by the judges, shill be started on the 1,20o-mile race at such a time within period named as they may decide upon. The judges shall have a record kept of the time of completion of the 1,200 miles by each of the competing autocars. POINTS OF AWARD. The competing autocar declared by the judges to have obtained the least number of points shall stand all costs of the tests, including rentals, pay of judges,etc., and this shall be paid by Lloyd's Bank, Ltd., 72 Lombard Street, London, on vouchers signed by the chairman of the judges, out of the �1,000 deposited by the owner or owners of the said autocar, the balance of the deposit to be tendered to the Lord Mayor of London for distribution among the charities of the city.The owner or owners of the other autocars competing each to have the amount of their deposits refunded in full on vouchers signed by the chairman of the judges ________________________________________________________________________________ E. J. Pennington has returned to England, taking with him the machines he brought over. Previous to his departure he is said to have brought suit against the New York Herald for libel, claiming $100,000 damages in consequence of an article relating to him and his inventions which appeared in that daily during his sojourn in New York. ________________________________________________________________
Copied from the 1897 October Issue of the Horseless Age Mgazine Pennington in Paris. E. J. Pennington is now giving his attention to the Parisian public. He is breathing out challenges to all comers to meet him on a 2,000 mile course for a purse of 5,000 pounds. None of the French manufacturers took up the challenge because they did not feel warranted in risking so large a sum of their stockholder' money on a mere chance. A resident of Lyons, however, an amateur, accepted the challenge on condition that the distance be reduced to 600 miles. This Mr. Pennington will not accede to. Meanwhile Mr. Pennington is reported to have had a brush with the Count de Dion on one of the boulevards, and to have come out second best. It seems hardly probable that he will be more successful in securing a race in France than he was in England. The Following Articles were copied from the 106 Auto-Car Magazine reflecting the early English Automobile Industry No chronicle would not be complete without a reference to Mr. E. J. Pennington, whose projected cars were much heard of in the early days of the movement, and from whom challenge after" challenge emanated. In 1897 he kept himself in the background, but returning into prominence in 1898, motoring circles were soon all set agog with th? promise of startling new vehicles. A very entertaining book could be written of Mr. Pennington's brief but lively career in the British automobileindustry. His personality was such that not only was be able to inspire confidence in the-public, from whom orders for his marvellous cars flowed in at an astonishing rate, but he induced quite a number of old-established firms to lay down plant to manufacture the same. In fact, in July, 1899, he announced that no less than eleven firms were engaged in their construction. Whether all or even the majority of these turned out any cars, it is difficult to say, but there is no doubt that at the 1899 Show great interest was centered on the Universal four-seated single-cylinder car, exhibited by Messrs. Pennington and Baines, and on the Pennington-Stirling double-cylinder cars displayed by Messrs. Stirling; the latter were on exceedingly novel lines, the engine being so located under the floor-board that the fly-wheel rotated in a horizontal plane, the power being transmitted by a light chain and belt to the front axle. Two speeds were provided, while the steering was effected by the rear wheels. A feature of the Pennington engine was that no carburettor was employed, the oil being fed directly into the explosion chamber, having previously been heated by passing through the exhaust silencer. Although reports were issued from time'to time of the great progress the vehicles were making, the cars and their designer dropped out of existence, so far as this country was concerned, almost as suddenly but with less noise than they sprang into prominence Eghteen hundred and ninety-nine proved a year of many developments, one of the most important of which was the production of the Renault and De Dion voiturettes, which have had such an important bearing on modern motor-car construction. Of the former, quite an interesting volume could be written. Designed by M. Louis Renault, the son of a cloth manufacturer at Roubaix, it not only set a fashion to the world, but has given rise to the huge establishment of Messrs. Renault Freres at Billancourt, near Paris, from whence are turned out large numbers of vehicles which have long enjoyed an unrivalled reputation In the 1899 Show, great interest was centred on the Universal four-seated single-cylinder car, exhibited by Messrs. Pennington and Baines, and on the Pennington Stirling's double-cylinder cars displayed by Messrs. Stirling, the latter were on exceedingly novel lines, the engine being so located under the floor-board that the fly-wheel rotated in a horizontal plane, the power being transmitted by a light chain and belt to the front axle. Two speeds were provided, while the steering was effected by the rear wheels. A feature of the Penni ngton engine was that no carburettor was employed, the oil being fed directly into the explosion chamber, having previously been heated by passing through the exhaust silencer. Although reports were issued from time'to time of the great progress the vehicles were making, the cars and their designer dropped out of sight.
1898 Pennington Victoria Pennington & Baines exhibited a victoria weighing less than 250 pounds and propelled by a 3 H.P. horizontal Pennington motor having one cylinder and making 800 r.p.m. The 32-inch horizontal fly wheel is so arranged under the platform that the operator can readily turn it to start the motor. The rear wheels constitute the steering wheels and the front the drivers. Rope transmission is employed, a lever tightening the rope by increasing the distance between the countershaft and the driving shaft. The maximum speed is 18 miles an hour.
1899 Pennington-Stirling Pennington & Baines, of 5 St. Hinchester street, London. S. C., are present with ous. The entire motor and its mechanism, with the horizontal fly-wheel, is placed below the level of the framework, and consequently the carriage builder finds no obstacle in the way, but has free scope for the exercise of his skill in getting out a commodious and elegant super-structure; in fact, different types of bodies can be fitted on the same frame. The "Universal" carriage is fitted with a single-cylinder motor, bno less than half a dozen of his little carriages, and the public has at last an opportunity of seeing these in operation in the demonstrating arena. The pennington motor is mounted under the floor of the vehicle, the flywheel being fixed horizontally. The motor drives a horizontal pulley at the rear by means of a light cycle chain, the pulley being now connected to the front wheel axle by a belt in place of a rope as formerly. The wheels are of the suspension type, shod with pneumatic tires; the rear wheels are the steerers, and are controlled by a handle at the side of the car. Another feature of the Pennington carriage is that no carburettor is employed in connection with the motor, the oil being fed directly into the explosion chamber, passing on its way through the exhaust silencer and so receiving a preliminary heating. Although the use of a carpurettor is avoided, it is claimed that not only is perfect combustion secured, bus every drop of oil is utilized, and the maximum power developed from the amount of hydro-carbon consumed. The cylinder is fitted with both a water-jacket and radial discs, attention being drawn to the small amount ot cooling water required to be carried. As the centre of gravity of the carriage is only some eight inches from the ground, and the wheel-base being long, it is almost impossible to upset it, indeed, the stability is so great that it can, it is stated, be swung round in a narrow road when going at top speed. Besides the positive speeds obtained by changing the gears, two of which are provided, any intermediate speed can be got by the regulation of the oil supply, the oil being passed to the motor from the tank in which it is stored through a needle valve, and a quarter-turn of the valve handle, conveniently placed within reach of the driver's hand, will decrease or increase the oil supply, and the result on the motor is instantaney means of which a maximum speed of 16 miles an hour can be attained. The new Pennington-Stirling has a twin-cylinder motor, which permits the carriage to be driven up to a maximum speed of 30 miles an hour. _______________________________________________________________________________________ In 1899, Pennington was back doing business in the United States and he and Harry John Lawson had formed the Anglo-American Rapid Vehicle Company THE ANGLO-AMERICAN RESUSCITATED? All signs point to a resuscitation of the Anglo-American Rapid Vehicle promotion in Philadelphia. The Pennington war machine is now getting itself arrested there, as it did in the vicinity of New York some time ago. Gibbs, the well known stock-jobber of the City of Brotherly Love, identified with this scheme in its inception, has been relieved of his official duties in several other watered corporations of which he was the chief promoter, and now has leisure to devote to the automobile project. The widows, the orphans and the omnipresent gudgeon in finance will again be invited to bite. Copied from Wikipedia Harry John Lawson, Henry Jo hn Lawson, (18521925) was a British bicycle designer, motor industry pioneer, and fraudster. Lawson founded the Daimler Motor Co. in Coventry in 1896 and the London to Brighton Run. The son of a brass turner, Lawson designed several types of bicycle in the 1870s. His efforts were described as the "first authentic design of safety bicycle employing chain-drive to the rear wheel which was actually made", and has been ranked alongside John Kemp Starley as an inventor of the modern bicycle. Motor promotorLawson saw great opportunities in the creation of a motor car industry and sought to enrich himself by garnering importantpatents and shell companies. He attempted to monopolise the British automobile industry through the acquisition of foreign patents. He acquired exclusive British rights to manufacture the De Dion-Bollee vehicles. He bought the Humber Bicycle Cpmpany and British patent rights for US bicycle designs. Lawson also founded the British Motor Company, British Motor Traction Company, Great Horseless Carriage Company, Motor Manufacturing Company, and he bought in the rights of Gottlieb Daimler and E.J. Pennington, forming the Anglo-American Rapid Vehicle Company. __________________________________________________________________________________________________
Copied from the 1996 Edition of the American Car by Beverly Kimes The first Stearns car was an electric built in 1899 at Syracuse, NY by E.C. Stearns. In the fall of 1900, the company switched to steam power and the company was named Stearns Automobile Co. . It was incorporated with a capital stock of $1,000,000. The first year, 100 cars were sold and the firm had a bright future. But in the meantime. Stearns had allied himself with E.J. Pennington who was Vice-president of the Anglo-American Rapid Vehicle Co. The Stearns Automobile Co. became a subsidiary and within a year, the Stearns company was broke and was sold for $600. E.J. Pennington was not finished yet! He showed up in Carlisle, PA in 1900 with a real loser, The Tractmobile
The Tractobile was built by E.J. Pennington's Pennsylvania Company of Carlisle, PA and was built from 1900-1902. It was device that could be attached to carriage and the carriage could be motor driven instead of horses. The steam motor was connected to a removable frame built between two bicycle wheels with a tiller connected to the right wheel. A full automobile could be ordered. Only a very few were built. Copied from the 1903 Horseless Age Magazine The American Automobile Company, of London, England (American Works, Racine, Wis.), the latest promoting scheme of the notorious E. J. Pennington, is sending out and has been distributing at the recent Tri-State Vehicle Show at Cincinnati a circular addressed to the carriage trade, which reads, in part, as follows: "Do you want to make money? If so, come and see us. Instead of making less than $100 on each vehicle, why not triple it by buying one of our automobile attachments by which you can realize from $200 to $400 profit? "We are not automobile or carriage builders, but we build the automobile horse or locomotive which is applied to the horse drawn vehicle the same as is a horse viz., we draw and steer with our locomotive attachment applied to any horse drawn vehicle as does the horse. "We are the oldest automobile manufacturers in England and amongst the oldest on the Continent, having devoted over twelve years to the business. We have also taken out over 400 patents throughout the world on automobiles, etc. Our shareholders in England have decided to spend $1,500,000 in putting in more machinery and equipment, so that by next year we hope to be able to turn out 50.000 locomotives. We have now over sixty customers in this countrynone of them ordering less than 100 outfitsand shall have over 400 by March 1. The scheme of giving exclusive territory for a cash deposithas been "worked" before in the automobile line in this country by irresponsible parties, and it is to be hoped that none of the vehicle dealers or vehicle manufacturers may fall into the trap laid for them. Pennington has been exploiting the ignorance of the general public in motor matters for over a decade; he has organized in succession the Pennington Motor Foreign Patents Syndicate, Limited, the Anglo-American Rapid Vehicle Company, the Pennsylvania Steam Vehicle Company, the American Automobile Company, etc., with an aggregate capitalization of over a hundred million dollars, but is not known ever to have placed a practical vehicle in the hands of a purchaser. None of his vehicles have ever taken part in any road contest in this country, nor abroad as far as our knowledge goes, and in view of this fact the vehicle men will do well to think twice before they listen to the claims of this combine. If they want any further particulars about the career of Pennington the back volumes of The Horseless Age will be of service to them Copied from the 1906 edition of the Motor World Magazine POPS UP AGAIN "Wizard" PenningtonRevisits Racine Where He Relates "History" and Talks of His Newest "Wonder." Pennington, of whom there is but one although he is of ever so many. which is equivalent to saying that the inventor of It is now E. J. Pennington "of Milwaukee, Wis."he so told his questioner. There he is interested in a "large automobile company," organized and capitalized under the laws of the State of Maine. Since the MotorWorld devoted so much space to his wonderful vibrationless motor that would run on anything from garbage to condensed milk, and the equally wonderful Standard Oil Automobile Company, of St Louis, which he assisted in exploiting a year or so ago, Pennington has been heard of but little. He cropped up in Ohio and in Michigan. with a sparkling spark plug and a boltless truck but it was only for a day For "world heaters" and multifarious money making schemes, Pennington is probably without an equal an equal and there are few who have had as interesting a career, the complete details of which probably will never become known. Pennington, when ne talks to reporters who do not know him, takes upon himself the credit of having in, or invented the first working automobile in this country; his models, he says, were made at Racine. That a vehicle could run by self-contained mechanism was incredible to believe at that time and, like all "wizards," Pennington was ridiculed, according to his story. Although he displayed his whizzlet in sumptuous offices in New Yorks banking district and helped exploit a many millioned rapid transit company, "bites" were scarce and he failed to interest capital and was practically driven out of the country, taking his patents and machines and going to Europe. Here he succeeded and became a millionaire, it is said. After scamming for another nine years, he wound up in Springfield, MA trying to convince the city to build an electrical railway. While standing on a curb in downtown Springfield, he fell into a puddle of water and died from pneumonia.
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