New-York tribune., 1905-12-31
AFRAID OF AUTOMOBILES.
Nqtiycs Of NGnc Hoods Flcd Lest
THcg Bios [ p

Meeting II t6e ofFce e rarsSs tae other
day hair dozen surowoa;li~fS a"Sar rel'tnS
incide-ts corrscted vith tr5.r su~r@r tips
Af,er discussing r7iic- traps ~Nps-.ore1s Win
Officers II the law vho we're hCrt on aTreS''nS
then for IS, carving license numbers. HsiNy
motors ana bad roads. the CONVERSE t.9H ce'.'
with the Kinds os TecePt.ous tn cars ''9' WIN
ss they --c-e driven about a various parts OK
he country
The rlan who had toured .hroush fann'yl-
5ania as far west as Pittshu-s declared That his
entrar5e into tie mining regions rs aoe'uA-
panied vith mora pomp and ceremony than ne
had ever seen accorded "a urohtrusiNe Amer
ica7 before Au;omobijes are Sill rare sights
amous lie Hurgariars aid Po'anders in the
mining rssiouS. liz declSrN: tor t.N i"u'l. ''''
roads ara - srsap aid hilly that few ,1rS ever
pass over them As soon IS our party i'It 'he
large cities and began Is climb into the bills va
excited ths curiosity e thc inhabitants, and
their wonder end admiration aJ the big machine
that Vert by Itself caused them 20 flock IN
crovas e the roadside . watch ls - by-
Before ~ had gone far the drst day boy
mounted on mule and Plurgins into the woods
81 our right passed over the mouut7iu and re-
gained the rad far ahead e us, ne yelled
tdings of our approach As he rode alonS' ana
the result WIS that the people suspended work.
and lining up along The highway. stood IN
groups watching us SIS Iong as We were ~ slshi.
This was done time after time. II was mystery
to Us how the riders could pass rs with their
slow going mules hut they ascended and de-
scended the mountains by almost impossible
trails while ne wore obliged 70 proceed slowly
by the roads which skirted the heights
IN the south where went last fall. the peo-
pie evinced the greatest curiosity at seeing me
and my car" said another man. "hut they were
not so demonstrative as the Pennsylvania
miners Wherever We stopped-in towns or at
isolated farnlhouses or hOu5eSteads-We were
surrounded Immediately by group Of curious
folk. III which whites and negroes mingled IL
the most friendly manner The poor roads We
found in North Carolina caused several break
downs hut we never had any trouble I'm Sc
curing the services cf 2 colored man and his
team Of mules to draw US ont OF a tight place
obstinate Yankees Who refused t." Eiv" M half
Of the road made The trip of the party VINO
toured through Nev-England unpleasant. but
the man who penetrated The vids of Maine IN
runabout had the most djsasreeable expert
ences of al.
Ny wife and I drove through pari Of the
state where automobiles had never heen before.
he said but the trip which had long looked
forward 10 with Joyous anticipation wae made
anything hut peasan; through tho stupidity "S
the natives
-Thc farmers aud Iumherneu had read about
automobiles and had probably seen pictures or
them in the papers. but they had never heheId
one until Ne appeared among them
.,As soon as We got into the thiuly settled dis
tricts We noticed that the people ne met gave
Us vide berth. and that the hoteIkcepers did
not accord us a very hospitable welcome. How
ever We attributed II an 70 their prejudice
against automobiles
when W. got deep int the woods this slight
aversion became more pronounced. until AZ tho
close of The second DAYS We failed to get
place to store our car over night. Not barn
vas open t. us and VIC had 70 leave the automo-
bile under n open shed
al the end or the third days journey we en-
countered more serious trouble ,'ot only did
The people refuse 10 house but they
turned us Off as well i wes With the greatest
difficulty that We obtained hotel accommoda-
lions for the night The Inhabitants looked
upon our car as something from the Internal
regions. and upon Us as people from another
world
When we finally got tavern keeper 10 take
us in We we're shown to our room by trembling
daughter of the landlord. and served in an
ernrgy dining room al supper tire. II was not
untf ~ had Icft til. room hat tile other guests
would ST down
AFTER tnat things grew worse News Of our
approach would be sent ahead by means.
and when Te arrived at village it was often
n fnd the place literally deserted. Houses would
be left vide open. and even me tavern keeper
would BE- Invisible except fpr glimpse we
might obtain of him behind an outbuIidiug- We
would catch glmpses ~ the inhabitants peepfng
at ~ from behind trees and bushes and il we
called to them. they would run Ike deer deeper
into the woods.
",The fear 81 us 1as a huge joke n first. but
its continuance grew nouotonous. and later
caused lie keen suffering from hunger and cold.
sometimes ne could noJ obtain shelter for the
night until long after dark. and. While We had
money y buy food. the people would not come
near enough "a us 10 allow Us 70 talk with them.
We vara glad when tre were out - the Maire
woods
eF}It the natives are ordinarily kind and hos
pitd5I- This was shown III one case when our
supply OF gasOIeuc gave out while We we're four
miles from our destination a farmer drovs
along one 81 the few. met Who did not Try to
avoid US H consented 70 proceed IN his wagon
to the next t~-l1 and bring some Of the neceS-
sary fluid and when we offered 70 pay him HDer-
aIIv for hs trouble he refused the money Upon
to. uur1 Tki-ty-fi-a cents was enough. and
th4r vas avarr cent he would ACCEPT
To him tod some = our experiences
among he people and NJ zpIaired tile!r fear %
tIs bv SAYING that they expected us 20 5loH up
They had read ~ automobiles exploding and
thought that was 2 common occurrence, aud t1at
rhA passenger we're - 'fkeiy - explode as t19
machines
DEgR HALTs TROLLEY cas-.
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