The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1900-08-17
EXPOSITION LETTER.
written for the Citizen.)
PARIS. July 80. 1900.

about them. True the autOmo
bileS are here, but the cabs and
carriages still Outn um Der them By
at least fifty to one. The Frencl
machine is not as ornate as tn,
American, but it has decided,
business-like and enduring ap
pearance. They are under per
feet control and thread the crowd
ed streets and get mixed without
damage in the closest Jams.
Their engineers extricate then
from tangle in the street will
quite as much ease as do the
drivers of other vehicles. But,
if the automobile does not move
in battalions through the streets
of Paris, it is because its real habi
tat is the parks and surrounding
country; there they travel at great
speed, often forty miles an hour
through dust and mud and over
small obstacles. A fewdays ago the
annual international automobile
cup race was won by the French.
CharrOn, the famous adept in the
automobile racing game, covered
the $50 kilometers (about 1852
miles, between the Vile d'Avray
and Lyons in 9 hours, 8 minutes
and 80 seconds with an average
of about SO miles an hour from
start to finish. Girardot, also
French, business partner Of Char
ron, with the same kind of auto.
mobile was second in 10 hours,
&c minutes and % seconds. The
other contestants, Jenatzy, Bel
gian), WintOn, (American), and
De Knyff, (French), met with
various mishaps and were forced
to abandon the race.
Winton, the sole American rep
resentative, was going well until
near Chateaudun. He arrived at
that place with one of the front
wheels of his machine twisted
until it would scarcely turn, and
one of the rear pneumatic tires
punctured. He managed to par
tally patch up the breakages and
reach Orleans, but at this place
found it necessary to stop alto
gether. AT several points along
the route LIE Vegh, who ran indie
pendent of the race, was mistaken
for Winton and this confusion
led to the report that WintOn was
second.
All the contestants had acct
dents, and Charron either had
the fewest or was more fortunate
in quick repairs. The real con-
test from first to last was between
Charron and Girardot. At Cha.
teaudun, 70 miles, CharrOn led
Girardot by 80 minutes, but at
Orleans, 10S miles, Girardot pre-
coded CharrOn by II minutes, the
latter having bent his axle three
kilOmeters before Orleans. Char.
ron again took the lead before
La Palisse and kept it to the fin
ish. Near MOulins his machine
struck a big dog, swerved from
the road, passed between two
trees, completely cleared a ditch
and resumed its course in the
road at forty miles an hour before
Charron could regain control of
tie steering. 81 thought l was
a dead one," said CharrOn in re-
lating his experiences afterward.
Henry Fourier, none the less
daring as an automobile driver,
was on the seat with Charron.
1t is no unusual sight to see a
small tricycle. automobile ridden
by a lady and gentleman in the
environs of Paris or in the sur
rounding country. The roads
are excellent, but sometimes there
is rain and mud and the machine,
going at the rate of from thirty
to forty miles an hour, will cover
a man and his wife with thin NOR.
tar from head to heels. They, as
a rule, anticipate the weather and
are covered with waterproof
clothing, having their faces, es-
pecially their eyes protected.
Many optimistic speculations
and prophesies are made in view
of the new lOcOmOtOr. The COM
plete disappearance of the horse
from the streets of the cities is
only a question of time, then
when dogs are baniShed the
streets and sidewalks may be
kept as clean as a Duth parlor.
With the disappearance of the
horse, stables and fly. breeding
filth, the flies, those insects that
are now known to be the agents
for the transmission of conta.
giOus and epidemic diseases, will
disappear. The reason W h Y
sweeping and washing streets and
destroying garbage promotes
health in cities is, first by cutting
off the food supply and breeding
nests of those detestable insects
which are more destructive to hui
man life than were all the wild
beasts Of the forest when prim.
eval man cOmbated them with
nothing better than a dOlmonite