Charcoal Burning Truck Is
Making Transport Cheap
Chinese Government Experts Acknowledge Successful Efforts Of Mark Moody And P. H. Lee In
Making Transportation In Interior Less Costly
The revolutionary new type of
power which has just been announced by Mr. Mark L. Moody
of Mark \,. Moody, Fed., Inc.,
U.S.A. and Mr. P. H. Lee of the
China Gas Producer Co. is destined to have far-reaching
economic effects on the future of
China's transportation.
Messrs. Moody and Lee have
been working in collaboration for
some time and have just recently
announced their product as ready
for the market, after exhaustive
tests of a highly satisfactory
nature.
The new type of power, which
consumes native charcoal for fuel,
will save millions of dollars annually for the operators and keep
the money in China instead of its
going out of the country for imported fuels, as is the case now,
which will improve China's balance
of trade accordingly.
Following many months of
patient and painstaking research
and experimental work and
thousands of miles of road testing, Messrs. Moody and Lee have
announced their product as being
really for the highways of the
interior of China in the far-flung
hinterlands.
Special  Reo Truck
The new product is a specially
built Reo truck adapted to operate
on charcoal gas, which is generated in quantity by a charcoal gas
producer designed and manufactured in China by Mr. Lee.
The    charcoal    gas    producer    is
built into the specially constructed Reo truck, and the performance
results have been interesting both
from an economic standpoint, and
that of ability on the highway.
In the vicinity of the ports
where gasoline is around $1.00
per gallon, on these new Reo
Dreadnought trucks, (as they
have been named by Messrs.
Moody and Lee), charcoal to the
value of 20 cents is required to
give the mileage results of a
dollar's worth of gasoline. Back
in the hinterlands, where gasoline
sells from $2.00 to $4.00 per
gallon, the saving in fuel costs is
much greater than five to one.
Many interesting tests have
been conducted, not the least
among which was one in Central
Hunan province which was
officially observed and attested by
the Hunan Highway Bureau
officials.
Recent Test
A recent test made in Shanghai
for Mr. T. C. Chen, Director of
The Bureau of Roads, of the
National Economic Council of
'China, resulted in his presenting
a valuable and interesting certificate to Messrs. Moody and Lee,
congratulating them on their
success in solving an important
problem in China's transportation.
The test was also observed by Mr.
Frank Pounsett of the Engineering
Department of the Reo Motor
Company; Messrs. A. D. Calhoun
and L. B. Mallery of the National
City Bank of New York; Mr. G.
D, Litchfield of Chungking, field
representative of the Moody 'Company, and many others.
Certificates   Presented
The certificate given by Director
T.   C.   Chen,   after   the  test   run
given    for    him,    translates    and
reads   as   follows:—
"It gave me great pleasure to-day
to be invited by Mr. Mark Moody
of the Mark L. Moody Company
and Mr. P. H. Lee of the China
Gas Producer Co. to inspect their
newest product, the Reo two-ton
Dreadnought Charcoal Gas truck,
and also to take part in a personally conducted test run of the truck.
"I have always taken a great
deal of interest in the development
of the charcoal gas operating
trucks, but the past records of test
runs on the ordinary gasoline trucks
which were converted to charcoal
gas, were always disappointing on
account of showing a , power deficiency and decreased hill-climbing
ability.
"Now the Moody Company and
Mr. P. H. Lee have succeeded in
overcoming these difficulties and
deficiencies   after   many   months   of
PROGRESS   i
Pictured above is the group ol
observed tests in Shanghai of the
operates solely on charcoal gas with
fuel. Left to right: Messrs. T. B.
Gas Producer Co.; Mr. Frank Pounse
of the Reo Motor Co.; Mr. P. H. Lee,
Co.;  Mr. L. B. Mallery of the Natioi
tests    in   that   province,   provides
interesting     transportation     comparisons  and  data.    The translation of the certificate follows:—
1.—Truck:    REO   Dreadnought   1%
ton truck, wheelbase 166", piston
displacement   of   special   engine
268  cu.  in.,  Gas  Producer made
by   China   Gas   Producer   Corn-
Company.
2.—Load:—177 kilos of charcoal and
18   passengers.
3.—Starting:—With cold engine and
cold  gas   producer  the   start   at
the   first   station   was   made   in
three     minutes.     The     average
time  to  start  the  gas  producer
after  each  re-filling  with  charcoal   during   the   trip   was   one
minute.
4.—Speed:—Total        distance        of
Chang-Heng Road 314 li. Actual
running   time   to   complete   trip
3 hours and 42 minutes. Average
speed of 86 li per hour   (equivalent   to   29.4  miles   per  hour).
The highest speed attained was!
110 li per hour.
5.—Fuel:—Not   a   drop   of   gasoline I
carried   on   the   truck.   Charcoal
consumption  was  75  kilos.    The
saving   on   fuel   cost   compared
with gasoline was about 1 to 5.
The  above  test  run  was   personally conducted under the supervision
of the Purchasing Conference, consisting   of   the   following   members
of   the   Hunan   Provincial   Government:—T.   T.   Ree    (Reconstruction
Bureau),     F.     C.     Lee      (Finance
Bureau),    T.    Y.    Tan     (Auditing
Bureau),   Y.   H.   Liu    (Supervising
Committee),   H.   N.   Koo   (Treasury
Department),   C.  H.  Pin   (Mechanical    Engineering    Department),    S.
T.   Wu   (Civil   Engineering  Department),   T.   S.   Peng   (Executive  Department),   C.   H.   Chang   (Businer
Department),  P. Yang   (Purchp-'
(Department).
Government Dip!
,     . .      ,,      . x    i     The   Chinx 3   Nationa
endeavour, Dy increasing the pistonA^      **+v»>»<m^  O- \- "
displacement   of   the   standard   Rec
■*"<Vs   and   v^nkin ^  o**»"-   '*—'
merxt*        adant t}*p
charco&i.   gas    satisfactorily.    As    a $ .
result   of   these   improvements   the j invention    0±
producer,  and  hi.._   ..
Lee with the Governmei
of     Honour,     2nd     Or<
translation    of    the    Diploic
Honour awarded to Mr. Lee rea.
as follows:—
Diploma   of   Honour,   2nd   Order,
performance of the Reo Dreadnought charcoal gas truck is marvellous, without the help of a single
drop of gasoline as proven by today's test run. This improved
Dreadnought charcoal gas truck not
only eradicates most of the deficiencies formerly connected with
charcoal gas trucks but will open
up a new era for the development
of highway transportation of this
country.
"I wish to congratulate Mr. Moody
and Mr. P. H. Lee for the success
of their joint endeavour and hope
that the authorities in charge of all
Provincial and Municipal Highway
Transportation, as well as private
operators, will give careful attention and close investigation to the
highly successful and extremely
economical   new  product.
(Signed) "T. C. Chen.
"September   17,   1935.
"Shanghai,   China."
Interesting   Comparisons
The    certificate    given    by    the
Hunan      Provincial      authorities,
following   the   officially   conducted
Land, Air and  Sea Force, National
Government  of   China.
Lee Pao-ho, the manager and
owner of the China Gas Producer
Co. has through his diligent efforts
invented and perfected a charcoal
gas producer attachment fo** motor
vehicles, which attachment is
extremely useful for military
transport. According to the first
article of the 4th section of the
regulations governing reward by
Diploma of Honour by the Land,
Air ond Sea Force of the National
Government, this Diploma of
Honour, 2nd Order, is hereby
bestowed upon Lee Pao-ho as a
token of appreciation and encouragement.
(Signed)   H<j  Ying-CHIN,
Minister, War Department.
June 29th, 1934.