The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-07-24
AUTOMOBILING IN EUROPE.
The Subject of a Special Report to
the State Department.
ThornweH Haynes Discusses the
Various Machines, Roads, and the
Laws Governing the Use of the
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES of the CIubs.

c7--ScopS OF the Clubs.
The automobile craze in Europe has
/ led Thornwell Haynes, the United States
| Consul at Rouen, France, to send to the
/ State Department an interesting
| report on the subject He
| says the recent great automobile races
was decided victory for France
After all the talk Of automobHists Of
| other countries, the contest finally mar
rowed down to q full representation on the
! part Of the French declares to consul
! That much progress has been made and
/ prestige obtained by the automobile as a
| factor in everyday life was shown at the
| exposition.
without doubt, the. excellent roads of
! this country have contributed much to
| the development of the automobile in
! dustry- The highways. are remarkable
| for their durability and. evenness- and
/ they receive continual attention If a rut
| OF a hollow forms. it is at once attended
! to. usually by being deepened and rough
| ened. so that new material Will adhere,
/ and then rounded by small chip stones
| This is undoubtedly one of the prime Ted-
| sons for the superiority of the French
/ machine The smooth running neCeSsi-
! ties less repair and less power. One of
| the greatest aids to American industry
along this line would be better public
! roads
The Automobile Club of America has
| only this year taken up the subject of
! placing signposts upon the highways. 1t
| is to be hoped that they will be of a
! material that viii not decay or the figures
| become iIegibIe. Here all the roads are
! fully provided with explicit information
! and the posts are of iron
! HAS it ever occurred to the rn3uufac-
| turer that the time and money put in aut-
| omobiIe shows could be more pTofiJabIy
| invested in some other manner Several
| of the French manufacturers say that one
| Of the great difficulties they have at auto
! mobile exhibitions is to fix intending
| purchasers a person sees so much that,
| realizing the startling rapidity of auto
| mobile Improvement, he is afraid of an eX-
| penSiVe purchase becoming antique in
/ couple OF seasons.
| cit would prove much better to have the
/ machine visit the people, instead Of hay
| ing people come to see the machines. 4
! tour Of the country with a train Of auto
/ mobiles would advertise and DOpularize.
! The expense of such n proceeding would
| be comparatively small
| THE Austrian Minister of Railways has
| ordered an automobile carriage from the
| Vienna Daimler Motor Company. It IS to
| be of the dimensions Of an ordinary third
/ class European railway carriage, with
| thirty-tEyo seats and standing room IN
| der the flooring will be placed q 30
| horsepower G-cyIinder motor with the
! mechanism an supplies necessary to en-
| able the carriage 70 travel independently
! at speed Of thirty miles an hour Con-
| trolling levers will be placed at both ends
| Of the carriage on platforms enclosed with
]
move in either direction. The car neces-
| states the services of only one man, and
| viii probably be put into use during the
! coming autumn on the Southwestern lire,
/ in Lower Austr4-
| such vehicle viii permit exceedingly
| economical traffic on local lines in thinly
/ populated districts, and consequently more
| frequent trains and better connections
with main lines The drivers Of automo-
] biIes in this country often outdistance the
| fastest trains
Among the many uses to which the au-
/ tonobne is applied in military service is
that Of a new mill and bakery. called the
/ SchweitzeI Military MiEEBakery Automo-
| bile This viii folIow the regiments on
the march and make fresh bread from
the wheat obtained on the spot. There IS
mounted on an automobile car a mill with
boilers and kneading trouEhs, all run by
| the same motor which runs the automo-
/ bile The oven is draryn along ia the
rear The bran obtain4d serves as food
for the cavalry horses. BY this method
1900 men can be fed daily. This MIL bak-
cry can also render service in cases Of
large labor contracts which bring toEeth-
CT numbers Of woTkingInen-
The manufacturers here, in their zeal
for speed. seem TO have forgotten the con
I
II an accident happens to d vehicle drawn
by horses it is not necessary to go very
! far to find someone who can repair It;
but the technicality- Of the makeup of the
automobile prevents this The vehicle
that shows the least departure IN con
structiCD from the usual type viii be the
most successful The design should be
wei known in the art ana made suSCep-
tibIe of repair by any carriage manufaC-
turer. and the electrical parts should be
so standardized and simpIined that any
electrician could successfully make the
inspection and repair that may be neces-
saIy from time to time
Ever daily paper has some accident
10 mentiC-l. There are many different
causes-eza ggerated speed. inexperienced
drivers. want Of attention-but there is
one cause which is becoming more and
more dangerous-it is the cheap automo-
bile In all industries the moment a
high-2riced article has won public favor,
natural laws Of competition begin to lower
the price.
There would appear to be but two Ie-
gitimate means by which the price of the
automobile could be cheaPened. First, to
manufacture in quantities with special
machinery. thus reducing cost: secondly.
TO simplify the mechanism of existing
models and to manufacture only a single
type
These two legitimate ways are not al
ways followed. There is, unfortunately. a
desire to sell to the public a machine
which has only the appearance Of the
fiTst-class original. the qualities OF re
sistance and security Being entirely want
ing
The many accidents have caused leg
islatiOn all over Europe. NJ. Waldeck-
Rousseau, President of the Council. and
NJ Pierre Baudin. Minister of Public
Works, sent only a few days ago to the
Consen d Etat the project OF decree TO
Teduce the excuses OF speed against
which so many complaints have been
made. The maximum speed allowed in
the open country is 1876 miles an hour.
According to the new project, any auto
mobile capable of exceeding this speed,
and thus Liable TO violate the law, shall
be provided in front and behind with
plaques bearing a registered number
and this number shall always b. visible
The use of alarm horns is - be CirCUm-