The steam machine, after being practically succeeded by the gasoline, was again improved by the flash boiler. The main development of this new power was carried on by Serpollet, of France, and later, by Rollin T. White, in the United States, both whom have become most able competitors of manufacturers of machines of other classes. THE INDUSTRY TO-DAY The beginning of 1905 finds us with the annual shows, which have been consecutive for many years, while the census of vehicles now in use, or made in the last ten years, will aggregate several hundred thousand. The annual production is estimated as probably approximating one hundred thousand in a few of the principal countries. The value of the electrical vehicle, particularly as the town vehicle for anything except speeding, is now well established, and reports from Paris as well as New York indicate the lack of facilities of factories in this line for producing these carriages as rapidly as demanded. Heavy 'buses and individual vehicles alike are also popular. PIONEER INVENTORS NICHOLAS JOSEPH CUGNOT, WILLIAM MURDOCK, OLIVER EVANS, WILLIAM SYMINGTON, NATHAN READ, RICHARD TREVITHICK, DAVID GORDON, W. H. JAMES, GOLDSWORTHY GURNEY, THOMAS BLANCHARD, M. JOHNSON, WALTER HANCOCK, W. T. JAMES, FRANCIS MACERONI, RICHARD ROBERTS, J. SCOTT RUSSELL, W. H. CHURCH, ETIENNE LENOIR, AMÉDÈE BOLLÈE, GEORGE B. SELDEN, SIEGFRIED MARCUS, CARL BENZ, GOTTLIEB DAIMLER, M. LEVASSOR, LEON SERPOLLET. NICHOLAS JOSEPH CUGNOT Born at Void, Lorraine, France, September 25, 1725. Died in Paris, October 2, 1804. Concerning the early life of Cugnot, little is known. He was educated for the engineering service of the French army, and gained distinction as a military and mechanical engineer. He also served as a military engineer in Germany. Soon afterward he entered the service of Prince Charles of Lorraine, and for a time resided at Brussels, where he gave lessons in the military art. He did not return to his native land until 1763, and then invented a new gun, with which the cavalry were equipped. This brought him to the attention of the Compte de Saxe, and under the patronage of that nobleman, he constructed in 1765 his first locomotive. This was a small wagon. On its first run it carried four persons, and traveled at the rate of two and a quarter miles an hour. The boiler, however, being too small, the carriage could go only for fifteen or twenty minutes before the steam was exhausted, and it was necessary to stop the engine for nearly the same time, to enable the boiler to raise the steam to the maximum pressure, before it could proceed on its journey. This machine was a disappointment, in consequence of the inefficiency of the feed pumps. It has been stated that while in Brussels he had made a smaller vehicle, which, if so, was soon after 1760.