The sun., 1903-12-13
AMERICANS RUNNING AUTOS.
AND THE FRENCH WATERS ARE
BACK AT THEIR OLD JOBS. =


Attracted by the Caliins-Adventures
OF Prospective Automobile Buy ers.
WAS the chauffeur business too ex-
citing, Henry7'
Henry, the French waiter, with his ear
held down to catch the order. shrugged his
shoulders.
"There was a good deal Of meaning in
that shrug,' remarked the automobile
authority when Henry was hurrying away.
1T expressed the fact Of the passing OF the
French chauffeur in New York. The watt
ers arc coming back to their old jobs.
"The proprietor OF this place toll me
about a year ago that he had hard work to
keep with him his best walters. They
could make more money and have more
fun as chauffeurs.
Nearly everybody who owned car
then wanted a Frenchman at the helm.
People thought it gave their outfit more
tone. The French driver was the fad.
"This brought easy money to some ex-
perts who had come over here from Paris.
They set up as padrones, giving fellow
countrymen, walters and others, few
days instructions in the art OF running
autos, getting places for them as chauffeurs.
and taking substa ntial rake-offs from their
wages. .u ,rt;,o. y, . o.r u,.rs y,
course, a sealed book to these mushroom
drivers but this was matter that didn't
worry them Whenever an owner asked
them any questions about the machinery
they would smile and say they didn't un-
derstand English: .,
home by a truck, perhaps. they would
hustle around to the padrones. explain
what had happened, get some more instruc-
ton and pay another fee.
"This business OF turning raw material
into chauheurs in week to meet the great
but within the last year American owners
have walked up. The reaction has been
90 strong that really expert Frenchmen are
at discount now. There wasn't single
French driver in the recent automobile race
to Pittsburg.
block on West Thirty-eighth street. re-
suited in the verifcation Of the statements
about the decline OF the Frenchman as a
chauffeur In the United States English
and not French is now the prevailing Ian
guage In the auto storage houses.
About twenty y-five chauffeurs, employees
OF some of the richest and most particular
owners in New York, said the manager OF
one establishment, make this their head
quarters. couple OF years ago four
ffths OF them were Frenchmen. Now only
three in four are foreigners.
Operating autos has developed into a
new calling for young Americans. 1t pays
we'll.
zone young man, whose employer keeps
his machine here, gets S35 a week, 81 day
additional for expenses in town and IS
day out Of town, and has all his automobile
here receives the same salary, except that
no allowance is made to him for expenses
while in town.
AThe average is s25 a week. No good
man will work for less than this.
"The competent chauffeur must have,
Of course, a cool head and a steady hand,
and must also possess good deal OF me-
chanical ability as basis for thorough
understanding of the complicated machin-
cry Of an auto. II anything goes wrong
on the road it is his business to know what
the trouble is and to attend to any repairs
that can be made outside shop.
sThe concerns that board automobiles
are supposed to keep them cleaned, OILED
and in repair; but most owners hold their
chauffeurs responsible for these things,
and the best Of the boys take care OF their
machines in person. Some spend hours
every day polishing and tinkering on the
big cars. for which they come to have a
kind Of affection.
But while boy must be willing to be-
come greasy and begrimed in working on
the most successful chauffeurs. the manners
and conversation OF a gentleman. Some
of them, as a matter of fact, are young
men Of good family.
zone whose car is kept here is the son OF
wealthy professional man, He had
make his own living.
He began as an electrical mechanic,
and worked by degrees up to his present
position He Is now one of the best and
most highly paid chauffeurs in the city
Another excellent chau1eur here is the
"A man can't become competent to ope-
rate a big car without at least five or six
months training. In New York a man
must get the requisite practice and know
ledge in haphazard way, but in Boston an
automobile school has recently been or
ganized under the auspices of the Y. M. c. A.
There are lectures and demonst rations.
The student is taught to take an auto apart
and put it together again. and plenty Of
practice in running machines is provided
training for the safe handling of autos.
men who buy machines here often want to
take them out after two or three trips
with the instructor. Since they own the
machine, we can't do any more than reason
with them.
I'VE reasoned in vain with one very self
confident gentleman the other day. He
was 40 sure that he could run his car all
right that the only thing left for us to do
was to stand of at safe distance and let
him try.
!. "He shot out of the door and into the
brick building across the way like a batter
ing ram. His first trip cost him 81 100 for
repairs, and he went only about a hundred
feet.
Besides over-confidence, We see a good
deal Of over-timidity. One OF our demon
strators took for spin the other day man
who was thinking of buying a machine.
When they came in the man said to me-
I'm surprised to get hack alive. sat
with my fists clenched and ready to jump
most Of the time during the ride. Once is
enough for me. wouldn't 60 out again in
one OF those things il you would make me
present of it. ! saw that there would be
no sale there.
"The chief bit Ct street for demonst rating
in the city is on Lexington avenue between
10lst and l03d streets. The grade is very
steep here. As you come along at good.
stiff clip and suddenly strike that grade
from above, your heart is apt to rise in your
throat II you're novice. In sliding down
that hill in one of our autos woman
tainted once, and on another occasion a
man was affected in the same way"