Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-07-02

horsepower developed by his machine He
came in on his rims, and 1t was generally
believed that had his tires held out he would
have been either first or second.
No Thirteen in Racing.
Perhaps racing men are no more super
sitious than other people, but the fact re-
mains that no machine will ever carry that
number In another race. The wiseacres will
tell you of cases in which the number was
the precursor of all sorts of trouble. and.
in some cases, of death. There was the
case of Miles and Stafford, who were wear
ing the hoodoo number when they were kill
ed in a race at Waltham, Mass. in 1900.
They were given the number for their tan
dem and asked that 1t be changed, but this
tho track managers refused to do, and the
two men were subjected to some. good
humored ridicuIe for even asking for an
other number. But the racers took the
matter seriously. Stafford babe farewell to
his friends, and Miles turned over his
earthly possessions to his sweetheart. Just
how much their melancholy frame Of mind
had to do with the result can only be con-
jectured At any rate. their machine slip
ped on the heavily banked track and the
riders were hurled against a post to their
deaths. Johnny Nelson. when he was killed
while racing in Madison Square Garden in
1901, was being paced by motor car bear
ing the fatal number.
Additional food for thought is furnished
the curious by the fact that there are thir-
teen cars booked for the elimination races
for the Vanderbilt cup contest this year.
I he statement that there will never be
ar ether No. 13 given to racing machines, on
this side of the water, at least, Is based
upon the announcement to that effect that
has just been made by the racing board of
the American Automobile Association. The
beard does not hold that any number is
or Is not lucky, but it is felt that If any
driver has such notion. 1t might seriously
affect his state of mind were he handicap
ped by carrying such designation, and
that 1t Is unfair to require that when, under
the best of circumstances. he may be said
to be looking death in the face
Your Uncle Samuel has gone into the au-
tomobile road business to a small extent.
The road will not be very long one
only seven miles-but 1t will be a good one
1t Is to run from Sandy Hook through
the government reservation south to High
land Beach under the Navesink light. 1t
will be used exclusively, II Is said, by army
officers and their friends, and 1t is to be
constructed of yellow shingle. 1t will have
minimum width Of fifteen feet and for its
entire distance will parallel the New Jersey
coast. 1t will connect with the broader
country road that runs from Highland
Beach to Ssabright. This is one of the
finest roads for automobiling In New Jersey
None of the officials at Fort Hancock will
acknowledge that the proposed road is in
ter ded for automobiling but a road builder
who applied for specifications was told that
automobile travel.
Those wealthy Americans abroad who in
sist upon having nothing but foreign cars
are not Only paying the highest market
prlceS-aS travelling Americans are always
expected to debut are being held I'D for
heavy bonuses for immediate deliveries
Mrs Potter Palmer has Just been required
to pay f2,OO0 as such a bonus. which is
about the equivalent OF 10000 good Amer
fcan dollars
To chronicle the whereabouts of all the
Americans who are doing Europe by car
this season would require MANY columns
of this size. A list of their names alone
would make a good-sized letter. But It
may be said in all seriousness that for
travellers Of certain length Of purse an
automobile Is as necessary as any other
sort OF baggage. They are used habitually
between London and Paris nowadays with
out attracting any more attention than ii
they were merely trundling their owners to
and from their country homes. The road
between the two cities named by Way of
Dieppe or Boulogne has recently seen such
well-known Americans as Mrs. Herman
Oelrich and her sons. Mr. and Mrs j. w,
SpaldHg, Col. and Mrs. George Harvey
Mr.. and Mrs. ]. Harper. Mr.. and Mrs Og-
den Armour and Mr.. and Mrs. D. A. Lor-
ing. The British Isles and the Continent
are naturally full of American touring cars
but 1t Is believed that the use OF autos for
the fitting that is constantly going on be-
tween London and Paris during the season
has never been so common as 1T Is this
year.
The Autocar. an important English jour-
nal devoted to the machine. contains the In
teresting experiences of a British motorist
in the difference In speed obtained while
using tires Of various sizes. He states that
he uses two-cylinder Daimler car. and
that there is an enormous Improvement In
speed as well an a great gain In comfort
with the use OF tires OF the largest Size
When he frst started with his car It was
equipped with two-inch solid tires ana the
average speed he was able to attain varied
creastng the size Of his solids to two and
half inches he rot up to eighteen miles
With four-inch pneumatics he was able TO