The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1899-08-01
Washington Bureau of the Standard, 1,
No. LIZ q. Street n. W.

washington. July 27.-General Nell
son "A. Miles is taking an active inter-
est IN the now famous trans-continen-
tai automobile trip which is being
MADE fro mNew York to San Francisco
by Louise Hitchcock Davis and her
HUSBAND, with the 'two-fold object of
promoting automobilism, establishing
record and securing interesting news
paper material for the newspanprs who
are behind the enterprise. General
| Miles consented to the following au
| tnorized interview and, after having
ms compliments to the enterprise of
the newspapers who had united in
packlns an Undertaking of such great
| magnitude and beset with many diff
| cullties said: IF / only had the time
and opportunity, this first trans-con
| tinental trip is just the sort of a trim
| would like to take myself. I consider
the journey from New York to San
| Francisco quite feasible. There seems
| to me to be no reason why this pIucky
newspaper woman should not succeed.
1t certainly will be a valuable demon
stration to the public of what a horse
| less carriage can do under service con-
| ditions. In that much it will be use
full In helping ITO usher in the era of
auto-vehicles, and will be watched
| with widespread interest.
| 80 far as the army is concerned
there is no question but that the auto
| mobile will have a field of usefulness
| limited only by the character of the
country over which it has to be oper-
| ated. The signal corps mas already
| ordered some experimental vehicles |
| do not know that that is quite a fair
statement either The utility and
economy of the automobile has passed
| the stage of experiment. The only
| question that remains is to determine
| the best economic application of this
| form of machine, and also to find what
form and motive power is best fitted to
the needs of the service.
AS to how far the automobile is
| likely to be of service in the transpor-
| tation of artillery, especially in action
is problem. For transportation of
artillery over fair roads, it will doubt
| less have its place. It's value will be
| limited by swamps, deep sand, unus-
ually bad roads and mountain work.
! There is quite a field of possibility in
its application to light machine guns.
| What I consider one of the most de-
| sirable features in the prospective de-
| velopment of the auto-vehicle is the
emancipation of mans best and most
| abused servant, the horse. 1t is de-
| plorable to so often see brute in the
| saddle or on the box, and the better
| animal of the two under the reins.
| There may be a certain sentimental
interest in the passing of the horse and
in finding mans faithful friend of some
| thousand years with his Occupation
gone, but I am certain if a vote could
be taken on the subject, you would find
the strongest advocate of the automo-
bile was the horse himself.
The complete revolution of hauling
methods and replacing the horse drawn
| with the horseless carriage will be
matter of some time, owing to the large
initial cost of replacing the horse with
| something better. But it is, so far as
we can now judge, certain to. come.
| One of the greatest bars to the rapid
| Introduction of the horseless age is the
condition of American roads. But
the horseless carriage will be a very
strong factor, l think, in improvement
in this direction. Good roads are a ne
| cessity of the country, and they have
a very important place in the consider
alton of all military problems"
1t is a fact overlooked by many peo-
pie that one of the most interesting
mechanical marvels of the decade has
| been silently stealing into popular
| favor. 1t is no exaggeratiOn to make
this statement regarding the horseless
| carriage, for there are forming all over
the country automobile clubs to make
the most out of the automobile as a
means of recreation: business men are
calculating how they can introduce
the new vehicle into their service to
the best advantage to themselves and
their customers, and here and there in
our city streets, few and far between,
it is true, but daily growing more num-
erous, are to be seen automobile cabs,
automobile brOughams, and, last, that
rare and wonderful innovation, the au-
| tomobile truck. Furthermore, the eyes
of the whole country are fixed on the
little conveyance that is being rushed
| across the American continent by Mrs.
| John d. Davis in order to establish a
| record for the automobile trip from
ocean to ocean on the American conti-
nent.
This trip undertaken in the interests
| of this and other leading newspapers,
has done more to attract attention TO
the automobile perhaps than anything
| else in connection with the vehicle that
is destined to hammer the last nail in
the coffin of the poor horse, but it is
by no means the only interesting fea-
ture of the new means of locomotion
Notwithstanding the fact that the
makers of these cOnVeyances are un-
able to fill the demand for them even
by working at the very limit of theiI
capacity, there is no sign yea that the
inventive genius of the Americans is
dormant. improvements are almost
daily devised, many worthless, some de,
cidedly valuable. Out of the mass OF
suggestions and ideas it is certain thai
America will evolve the perfect au-
tomobile and take from the French
who claim to turn out the best horse
less carriage in the world, the palm
that rightly belongs to this nation Of
inventors and originators.
1t will surprise those who have no
taken notice of the march of progress
in the direction of the automobile, aho
to whom the coming of the vehicle rul
by Mrs. Davis is in the nature OF
revelation to know that the entlr'
Capitalization of the companies ina
these vehicles as fast as their pan
will permit is no less than 1888 900 OoO
In all the large cities the factories are
hummiug, and in many small cue
tba demand has caused smaller estab
lishments to start up and join in th'
rush for the horseless carriage avenue
TO wealth. The demand, which a
least 90 establishments throughout th'
states are doing their best to fill, il
for coaches, carriages, delivery wagons
BICYCLES tricycles, trucks Nictoria
and numbers of other vehicles OF NJ
| heinz bIlil