Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-09-16


and Yorkshire to see the possibilities which
last years autotruck demonstrations OPEN
| ed up for the saving of time and money In
the handling of goods. Therefore. the sup
| porters of this years exhibition were some
| of the leading commercial people of this
city, who are now aiming to tie Liverpool
| trade to Manchester and all the country
round by putting lines of freighting
wagons to give cheap and rapid delivery
service from the wholesalers to their pro-
vincial customers
Every Possible Test Made
Rigid tests were made at the Liver
pool steamship docks the ability of
the drivers to maneuver their wagons in
such necessarily small spaces as are met
In directly loading and unloading vessels
a masked bay, about half as long again
as a motor wagon, was arranged some
twenty feet from and nearly opposite to
a gate, into which they must back. En-
trance was made successfully with two
feNcrSeS by the most of the contestants,
who showed their careful training mo-
tOrneeTS.
The tendency is to make the freight
ing cars heavier and heavier likp', he mann
moth American railway locomotives, and
IN this way vaster power and a greater
speed may be expected to develop. At
present the government lays restrictions.
upon the weight of autoCars. and limits
thcir highway speed to six miles hour,
but a mere liberal enactment is hoped for
to meet the changing conditions of auto
matte traffic. TWenty-f tons can be
moved over an average English road as
readily as fourth of that weight. and
II TINS system of transport develops as
rapidly as it promises to do there will
come III some new problems in town paw
ing and country road making. 1t must
reVolutionize the present system, suited as
II Is to comparatively light traflics
Last years tests in Liverpool showed
the advantage of petroleum in lighter We
hicieS. ana this year proved anew that
steam Is still the standard for heavy trac-
lions. On the previous occasion the wheels
and other working parts gave trouble by
the severe strain and the vibration. but
TINS year the tires and wheels were found
perfectly sound at the end of the exhibit
tons, thus demonstrating the notable adj
Nance,hent made in one year.
The Automobile in EnsIand
The British government IS steadily ad-
Vancing in its use Of the automobile for
civil and military purposes An official who
witnessed the late hill-clmbing and long
distance road trials said he would urge
upon the war office an enlarged use of au-
tocars for heavy artillery and campaign
service, as few hundred of these will dis
pense with thousands of horses, and be
more effective, he thinks. In the postal
service motor cars have for some time
been in satisfactory use. and at the late
Richmo nj show mail vans were run uD
ana down the steep hills along the Thames
at nigh speed. One Newcastle car da
up hill at thirteen miles an hour 1t is
Sald the rate of travel for such heavy We
h1c!eS may be raised to fourteen miles an
hour to make possible rapid cross-country
postal delivery service. Such an one is
operating now on the London and Brighton
routes, which needs speeding I'D to meet
the requirements. Private motor car stage
routes are being established about the coun-
try, one of these lying between Bedford.
where lived and wrote John Bunyan and
kemDStOD n naipbhorDe will
recently 3S7 passengers were carried the
thfee miles for the regular fare of two
penc'e' and the trade is rapidly growing.
The United States has definitely entered
the competition in the worlds markets
against both the French and English max
efs. American machines are now entered
at nearly all contests in Europe, and west
ern Wheels are being ridden in increasing
numbers in Paris, the home of the auto
mobile. as well as here. The artistic Pa
rlSlan has been a long time in getting lines
of beauty onto his wares, although one
can now see some real beauties in the
show rooms of the Count de Dion and the
other makers there. The American car
rlages are better covered in their working
parts. and there is evidently more security
to the rider, as well to the mechanism.
The English autocar is also being improved
by the influence of it's energetic American
rivals, and the notorious ugliness is being
slowly worn away with a plenty of room
still for Improvement. American sporting
dogcarts are becoming especially popular
for their lightness and beauty, and Euro
pean manufacturers more and more
sending across the ocean for their fittings.
Even such parts raWhide pinionS are
being imported from Chicago. AS usual,
the Germans are counterfeiting the Amer
lean articles, and with their usual lack of
success.
Evolution of the Automobile.
The evolution of the light and grace
full automobile of France into the heavy
,;,.1,,
British Isles is an interesting study. In
France the machine Is one for pleasure
and luxury. but in this country it has been
rapidly adapted to the serious business of
life. Among the hundreds of automobiles
I have seen dashing about Paris and
through the Bois du Roulogne there was
rarely one that served it's owner other than
in pleasure. On the contrary there are
but a few hundred pleasure Automobiles in
all the united kingdom. and in the streets
of London a rider of one of these is still J
stared at as a curio. France Is therefore, first
in it's adoption as pleasure machine. while |
England leads the world when solid work |
and utility is under debate. While Europe |
is keenly watching the American develop !
nentS, it is not unlikely that the west will |
be for some time a rival in the use of the /,
machine generally. by the inferior roads |
in most parts of the states. The League Of |
Wheelmen viii likely find the
automobile a powerful ally in the good |
roads agitation.
All of these demonstrations are exerting /
powerful stimulus to automobilism in |
his country, and international races with |
he French are being held frequently. A |
few days ago. when ! was at Rlenheim Pal |
ace. the young Duke of Marlborough was |
flashing about for the first time new
Machine while his youthful American wife
Miss Consuelo Wonderfully and the babies
ooked on approvingly from their seats
Upon the porch. Trips to the limits of the
and being taken almost daily now
John Stirling drove his motor dogcart from
Edinburgh to London lately. making one
lay ITO miles: and the first long motor
lrive in Ireland has been performed by Mr.. |
Colohan of Dublin, who made 123 miles in |
eleven hours. over rocky roads and against
heavy grades
Horseless cabs have not as yet proved
success in conservative London. and the |
project is temporarily abandoned. ostensi-
lily by the lack Of drivers to operate them. |
The company had a hard time of it. and |
heir operatives suffered many indignities !
rom the ubiquitous hanson and GROWER"
:abbies. of whom there are more than H.
100 in London. Many of the horseless driv-
rs gave up their positions. some of them |
o take private situations automobile |
irivers. and the management has not as |
ret been able, they say. to find capable SUBJ |
tftuteS. deeper reason than all is the |
.vident aversion Of the shilling paying pub |
ic to riding in the ugly. noisy and vibrat- |
p v,T,1 Iy, -