|
The first Rose automobile
The entire Rose community — students, faculty, staff, and especially alums —
are justifiably proud of the Solar Phantom. The Phantom, in its many continually improved
editions since 1990, is designed, built, and raced by the students themselves. Rose
students of any era can relate to the joy of getting behind the wheel and seeing what is
possible. But the Phantom is not the first student-built vehicle to hit the streets of
Terre Haute. For that, we must journey back to the turn of the 20th century.
Today, it seems hard to think of a time when the automobile was a new idea. Some
authorities credit Charles E. and J. Frank Duryea with creating the first American
gasoline-powered automobile, in 1892-93. The three-horsepower, curved-dash Oldsmobile was
perhaps the first commercially successful American-made automobile, and only 425 of them
were sold in 1901. The Ford Motor Company, which was organized as a corporation in June
1903, did not sell its first car until July 1904.
So, what was going on at Rose Poly at 13th and Chestnut, is all the more interesting. Over
a two-year period — stretching from the summer of 1900 until the spring of 1902
— Arthur J. Paige, ’02 and Heminway medalist, built in the Institute shops
(machine, foundry, and woodworking) an automobile. This was a fulfillment of his senior
thesis entitled “Construction and Test of a Six Horse-power Gasoline
Automobile.” The body of the auto was built entirely on campus by Paige using his own
designs. He noted, “the design was of necessity largely original, as at the time the
vehicle was practically begun, the manufacture of automobiles was in such an experimental
stage — in this country at least — that very little literature on the subject
could be obtained.”
Probably the very experimental nature of this new means of transportation was reason
enough for Paige to decide to give it a try. The car he created, with the help of the shop
superintendent and foreman plus classmates like his life-long friend Claude Cox, is
thought to be the first car driven on the streets of Terre Haute, according to newspaper
clippings and local historian Michael McCormick.
In a March 1903 article for the Rose Technic, the student monthly magazine, Paige
described his accomplishment. The photo of the proud alum shows a vehicle with close links
to the horse-drawn era. Writing in 1969, Paige explained “during my junior and senior
years at Rose Tech, I built a complete 4-passenger car, piece at a time, gas engine of
original design, clutch and transmission axle, frame, body, etc., and gained a lot of
experience.”
The 850-pound vehicle was propelled by two single-cylinder engines coupled together with
cranks set at 180 degrees for the purpose of balance. The two cylinders could generate 6
horsepower. He liked the idea of two engines since vibration was lessened and, if one
failed, the other could bring you home. The car pioneered the use of liners of steel
tubing for the cylinders and had a four-note musical horn. The steel tubing gave greater
durability to the engine. “The use of the steel tube gives a thin, easily cooled
cylinder, which is free of flaws, strong enough to preclude any possibility of breakage by
explosion.” Evidently, the risk of explosion was very real to motorists of the era.
All of Paige’s skills were necessary to design and forge the necessary parts. While
Paige no doubt was a precocious individual, all Rose students had to demonstrate
proficiency in wood working, machining and forging metal. After graduation Paige remained
at Rose Poly, teaching drawing for the next six years and using the resources of the
Institute and Terre Haute to further his passion for improving engines, notably the gas
turbine.
He eventually earned a master’s degree in 1907 and the M.E. award in ’09 before
taking off to private industry. He joined a succession of auto companies (America had many
dozens), beginning with the Fort Pitt Motor Mfg. Company in New Kensington, Pennsylvania,
in 1909, makers of the Pittsburgh Six auto, which he designed. In 1910 he joined National
Motor Vehicle Co., of Indianapolis, makers of the National car, as chief draftsman and
assistant mechanical engineer. In 1911 he became mechanical engineer, a title and
promotion of which he was very proud in writing to President Mees, for the Western Motor
Co., of Marion, Indiana. Paige later designed a number of racing and special cars,
including the winner of the 1912 Indianapolis 500 Race, a car long on display at the
Speedway Museum. From 1915-1946 he worked in the automotive industry engineering and
developing internal combustion engines and two-stage carburetors. At the time of his death
in 1972, he still was hard at work improving car engines and challenging Detroit.
— by John Robson
Librarian and Archivist
 
|
