Jasper County Democrat, Volume 3, Number 31, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 November 1900 — Inventor of Automobile Dies Poor. [ARTICLE]

Inventor of Automobile Dies Poor.

M. Lenoir, the inventor of the automobile. recently died in France in a state of poverty. Lenoir was a chemist. In 1860 he took out a patent for a motor driven by an explosive mixture of air and gas. He even used electric ignition, actuating a sparkling (dug similar to that in vogue today. In 1862 he produced a ear driven by one of his mptors and accomplished some short trips in the streets of Paris, after which it made no further progress. He seemed to have no luck, his invention was premature and beyond the gratification of his hobby he had no appreciation.