The advent of the successful gas engine revolutionized mechanical progress, and by its aid we have attained many of our most wonderful and important inventions and accomplishments.

It has made possible the aeroplane and the submarine, the automobile, the motorcycle, and the motor-boat. In factories, farms, and homes countless motors are in daily use, steadily and rapidly performing a thousand tasks that formerly required the slow and laborious work of many hands. Gas engines even drive the great dynamos that flash unseen wireless messages across the broad Atlantic, while locomotives thunder across continents and steam-ships plow the seas by means of this same wonderful power.

The modem gas motor is the simplest, strongest, and most compact power-producing device known to man, and yet not one person in a thousand has but a vague idea of its principles or operation.

The purpose of this book is to serve as a simple, practical, and complete guide for all those who own, use, or operate gas and gasoline motors. In its preparation every effort has been made to do away with technical terms and names and to adapt the book to the requirements of those who possess little or no knowledge of engineering or mechanics. While intended primarily for boys, yet it will prove of equal value for older readers, as it is more complete and exhaustive than any book on the subject hitherto published, aside from strictly technical works. The author, who has had many year' experience with gasoline motors of all types, has substituted facts for theories and has included a vast amount of useful information, handy hints, and valuable suggestions which have proved of actual practical value in connection with gas-engine work. As the number of gasoline engines is increasing daily and there are now over ten thousand motor manufacturers in the United States it is impossible to describe or even mention more than a limited number of the various motors in use. As far as possible all the principal and distinct types have been included and described as well as the more important or useful accessories, appliances, and fittings used in connection with motors.

While the principles of all gas engines are similar, yet the motors designed for a certain use differ considerably from those designed for some other purpose. In this book the marine, stationary, vehicle, and aeroplane motors have each been treated and described in separate chapters in addition to the clear and simple description of the principles, operation, and construction of motors in general.

The reader interested in some particular kind of motor can at once turn to the chapter dealing with this form without being obliged to read through the text relating to motors of other types.

To the uninitiated the gasoline engine appears very complicated, but in reality it is a very simple machine and any intelligent boy may easily master its principles, construction, and care. Every owner or operator of a motor should be thoroughly familiar with every detail of its mechanism and should be competent to make his own repairs and adjustments. In this way a great deal of time, trouble, and expense may be saved and the pleasure of driving a car or operating a motor-boat will be vastly increased.

While motors are now remarkably efficient and reliable, yet they are far from perfection, and the boy with a mechanical mind will find in the gas engine great opportunities for his inventive genius and experiments.

Aside from the explanatory descriptions of the principles, operation, and construction of motors a great deal of space has been devoted to motor troubles and repairs. By its alphabetical arrangement this part of the book has been greatly simplified, and by referring to it almost any ordinary trouble may be located and remedied by an amateur. This is a most valuable and practical feature of the book, for it shows exactly what to do and how to do it when the occasion arises.

The value of any book treating of a mechanical subject is greatly enhanced by clear and simple diagrams and illustrations, and in this respect the present work excels all others of its kind.

The illustrations are nearly all original, and in their preparation the author has made no attempt to produce accurate scale or working drawings; the object being to furnish diagrammatic cuts which will clearly and simply accentuate the more important points described in the text. The automobile, the motor-boat, and the aeroplane are each subjects for a special treatise and cannot be fully dealt with in a book devoted to motors. Many of the parts and appliances used in these modern vehicles of land, water, and air are, however, very closely related to the motor itself. In such cases the parts directly affecting, or affected by, the operation of the motor have been described and explained. In treating such subjects well-recognized and widely used types have been selected, as several volumes would be required to describe in detail each of the innumerable forms of gears, shafts, clutches, transmissions, and similar devices in every-day use.

Every boy who is interested in motors or motor vehicles and who wants to know "what makes the wheels go round" will find the answer in this book. Those who are more advanced and wish to know how to make the wheels go and how to keep them going will find herein the information they seek, and those who already know both the why and how may add still more to their knowledge by a perusal of the following pages.


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