Evening Republican, Volume 18, Number 33, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 February 1914 — HAND METHOD TOO COSTLY [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

HAND METHOD TOO COSTLY

Electric Trucks Now in Use at Most Freight Stations and Large Steamboat Docks.,

The old method of trucking goods by hand at freight stations and steamboat docks is doomed as being too

costly. 'The hand truck, while good for shifting goods but a few feet, is inefficient in long hauls into freight stations from cars or on to steamers, and the small electric truck is fast taking its place. These trucks are loaded as any other truck, but when full the man in charge steps on to a front platform, grabs hold of two handles and away the load goes under its own storage battery power, steering and controlling by the handles, and moving the heavy load quickly and around sharp corners. The lower sketeh shows a somewhat similar application on rails, this being used for hauling structural steel and the like about a factory.