New-York tribune., 1901-09-16
THE AUTOMOBILE CONTEST.

! The automobiles which left this city week
ago for Buffalo. with the intention Of dividing
! the trip into six daily stages, abandoned the
| test on Friday night at Rochester on account
! of the Presidents death. But the competltlon
was carried far enough to prove instructive.
| 1t should be borne in mind that the virtues
Of only gasolene and steam vehicles were on
trial last week Electric automobiles would be
equal to two thirty-five or forty mile Journeys
daily for week, If facilities for rechargng the
batteries or for substituting new cells for ex-
hausted ones were to be found en- route But at
present these are not available. Carriages OF
this class have much to commend them to peo-
pie Of taste in cities-simplicity of mechanism.
freedom from unpleasant odors and noise. and a
shapey appearance. And trolley and electric
light stations, which will eventually be able to
furnish supplies of power to the tourist, are al
ready plentifully distributed all over the coun-
try. The industry Of charging automobile bat
teries has not, however, been sufficiently Or
ganized in rural towns 70 make 1t expedient to
venture far Just yet from the greater centres OF
population.
Upon the relative merits of the other two
forms of motive power little new light was
shed last week. Although a gasolene machine
was the first to arrive at the designated stop
ping place nearly every day. this record is
evidently due to the thirty horsepower motor
which drove it, and not to the type of engine
employed. Though none of the steam vehicles
had more than ten horsepower at their dis
posaI. they frequently came in second. Still. 1t
was not speed. but ability to go through the
ordeal of long, hard trip. which was involved
In the contest Just brought to close. And
neither class of automobile has shown degree
Of fitness that was not known months ago. 1t
is worthy of notice, however that of the sew
enty-seven vehicles which started forty-two. or
more than half. reached Rochester on Friday.
When ii is remembered that the daily run this
year has averaged nearly eighty miles, and that
fully so per cent of the vehicles engaged in last
years trial We're disabled in way an
other on a much shorter course. it will be seen
that a highly gratifying record has just been
made. Far greater powers of endurance have
been shown now than were exhibited then
This result is the more significant when the
highways traversed and the weather encoun-
tered are taken into consideration. Up through
Il large part of the State the roads scarcely
wide enough for teams to pass each other. And
a little swervng from the middle, especially
when going at high rate of speed. is likely TO
cause an upset. That sort of accident seems to
have been common on Wednesday, when the
mud, produced by heavy rains, not only cogged
the wheels and spattered the exposed parts OF
the machinery, but rendered the track treacher-
ously slippery. Another kind of mishap, col
lision was favored the day before by the dense
clouds Of dust which enveoped the contestants.
The gradual thinning of the ranks during those
five days appears to have been due more largely
to these causes combined with careless driving,
than to defective construction.
There is room for further Improvement in
strength and workmanship, no doubt. but II Is
apparent that q distinct advance has been made
in these particulars within the last twelve
months. And. after ALL when horseless carriages
are put to their legitimate and normal use,
| pleasure driving, they are not likely to be SUBJ
| Jected 10 conditions cxactlng those I'M
| posed by this weeks test