. Bulletin - United States National Museum. Science. Figure 3. — Steam carriage of William Church, 1832. roads were strong and successful competitors. Finally, an act of 1865 brought the road vehicles to an abrupt halt as it imposed on them a speed limit of 4 miles an hour in the open country and 2 miles an hour in the city. In addition, a man carrying a red flag was required to precede the vehi- cle. An amendment in 1878 removed the requirement that a flag be carried, and in 1896 the popularly called Emanci- pation Act eliminated this restriction and raised the speed limit, thus removing a ma
. Bulletin - United States National Museum. Science. Figure 3. — Steam carriage of William Church, 1832. roads were strong and successful competitors. Finally, an act of 1865 brought the road vehicles to an abrupt halt as it imposed on them a speed limit of 4 miles an hour in the open country and 2 miles an hour in the city. In addition, a man carrying a red flag was required to precede the vehi- cle. An amendment in 1878 removed the requirement that a flag be carried, and in 1896 the popularly called Emanci- pation Act eliminated this restriction and raised the speed limit, thus removing a major obstacle to the manufacture and use of the automobile in England. In 1903 the speed limit was raised to 20 miles an hour. First Attempts in America In America, Nathan Read, well-known inventor of Salem, Mass., obtained a patent in 1790 for a 4-wheeled, self- propelled vehicle, and built a small operable model. It was powered with a 2-cylinder steam engine. Because of lack of public interest Read's vehicle did not progress be- yond the model stage. The earliest known passenger-carrying, self-propelled land vehicle in the United States was that of Oliver Evans, American inventor and engineer. Although he had planned a "steam wagon" in 1801, it was not until July 1805 that the "Orukter Amphibolos," or "Amphibious Digger," was set in motion, up Market Street and around the Center 11. Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original United States National Museum; Smithsonian Institution; United States. Dept. of the Interior. Washington : Smithsonian Institution Press, [etc. ]; for sale by the Supt. of Docs. , U. S. Govt Print. Off.
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