balancing a bicycle after one has once learned to ride. The cause of any stoppage can usually be more easily traced than with a petrol engine. Stops for fuel and water are more numerous, and the fuel consumption greater (about one gallon of petrol every twelve miles on average roads).
The Art of Driving.—Almost anyone can drive a steam car in a few minutes, but it requires experience to get the best results. The great art of driving is always to have sufficient steam in hand to get up any hills that may be met with on the road, and at the same time to keep down the consumption of fuel and water to
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The De Dion Steam Vehicle driven by the Marquis and the Count de Chasseloup-Laubat. (See Chapter 1.)
the lowest possible limits. Considerable space might be devoted to discussing the niceties of the art of driving a steam carriage, but they may be summarised as consisting in the maintenance of an even steam pressure and mean water level on all conditions of roads, with a minimum consumption of fuel and water. If the owner takes the trouble thoroughly to understand his car and its mechanism first, and then bears this rule in mind, he will soon acquire the art, and will learn to take advantage of every variation in the gradient and road surface. Linking up plays a very important part in the economy of fuel, and by
