Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1901-08-14
the AuIomosiL ABROAD.

me great activity which during the
past few months has characterized the
automobile trade in France has caused
Thornwell Haynes, the United States
consul at Ruen to submit to the state
department an elaborate report on the
subject. It should A.ove interesting not
only to the chauffeurs and automobile
makers of the country, but also to the
public generally. Consul Haynes inti-
mates very plainly that the manufact-
ure of motor vehicles is doing more, di-
rectly and indirectly, to stimulate busl-
ness and, consequently, to add to
Frances general prosperity, than any
similar industry in which the people OF
that nation have ever engaged.
Evidence of the swift and gratifying
results which have attended the recent
automobile exhibitions and races is all
most overwhelming. and it Is to be
found conspicuously outside, as well as
inside, the borders of the French repub-
lie. For example. the demonstrated
ability of the automobile to travel fas-
ter over country roads than many thru
railroad trains has led the Austrian
minister of railways to order from q
motor vehicle company an automobile
railway carriage. with four-cylinder
motor of thirty horse power. The car
riage is to have thirty-two seats and
ample standing room, and will be equip
ped with mechanism and supplies sufh-
Gent to enable it to run Independently
at at the rate of thirty miles an hour.
Only one man will be required to oper-
ate the car. which may travel in either
direction. The vehicle is to be put in
,ic-cix
short line in Lower Austria: and it is
believed that the use of such cars will
greatly facilitate passenger Transports
ton and bring about ultimately non-
siderable reduction in existing railroad
rates
New motor wagons for military use
are being designed constantly. One OF
the latest and mcst novel, and perhaps
| the most servlcea Bile, Is the Schweitzer
military mill-bakery automobile, which
Consul Haynes describes thus:
1T Will follow the regiments on the
march and make fresh bread from the
wheat obtained on the spot. There is
mounted on an automobile car mill
with boilers and kneading troughs, all
run by the same motor which runs the
automobile. The oven is drSwn along
| in the rear. The bran obtained serves
as food for the cavalry horses. BY this
method 5000 men can be fed daily. This
mill bakery can also render service in
cases of large labor contracts which
bring together numbers of working
men"
Another vehicle. designed particularly
for use on the field, is equipped with two
motors one to be operated by electricity
and the other by petroleum. The motors
may be used separately or together, and
combined will generate twenty horse
power.
| Consul Haynes confirms the stories
| that have come in the past few weeks
| from the other side of the ocean con-
corning the prevalence there of automo-
| bile scorchers, and reports that Their
recklessness has been the cause of legis-
lation all over Europe tending toward
restriction of the automobiles speed
The maximum speed allowed in country
districts of France is 1876 miles per hour
and it has been proposed that ever,
motor vehicle capable of exceeding thai
rate shall carry, fore and aft, a plat,
bearing registered number, which
shall at all times be visible. 1t is espe
| feurs in this country that the projected
decree strictly forbids automobilists
| from using alarm horns merely for the
purpose of clearing the way" The
horns may only be sounded to give
warning of an automobiles approach IL
dangerous places, in order to guard
against accidents.
Manufacturers of motor vehicles ir
America may take a hint from that por-
| ton of the consuls report which refer:
to simplifying or stancardizing the com.
ponent parts of the machines they make
whatever their style or size. A difficult
lily which exists here exists also II
/ France, namely. that of obtaining
promptly new parts or pieces to take the
place of those which break or wear out
! consequently chauffeurs suffer much
embarrassment and inconvenience be,
cause of their inability to find readily
any che capable of repairing their yehi
cles Uniformity of construction WOULD
obviate this trouble and enable any car
| rage maker. engineer or electrician, a:
1 the case might be. to put crippled ma
! chine in runring order. A good illustra
| ton of the perplexity now experienced
by automobiles owing to the caus
mentioned was afforded in the case o.
bicycle riders prior to the formation o.
I the bicycle trust. The trust at once Sc
out TO remedy matters by standardizint
| so far as possible the parts OF bicycle!
made by the different concerns in the or
/ ganization; and it's efforts have Won fol
| If many warm friends among the wheel
men.
| II is manifest that Frenchmen are