Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-04-09

AieN. ScnW5ibaCn SAID recently
that without the gasoline engine the auto
mobile of today would not have been pos
sible. And he added the same trite
| but true remark applies to the motor boat.
Like the automobile, the motor boat prom
ises to be ubiquitous. Our love of the
water is inherent and while the use of the
sail and the oar will never be totally aban-
| doned, the increased use of the motor boat
| not only for the present but also for the
future, is indicated for pleasure and bust
| ness.
Pickle winds and a popular aversion for
| the use of an ash breeze, as caring is
! sometimes termed are also factors that
! have helped along the movement toward
| the increased use OF the motor boat. At
| any rate, the automobilists. who have
| knowledge of the power and charm of the
gasoline engine in the automobile natural
! ly turn to the motor boat. and then they
become, as Hudibras says. of amphibious
nature for either land or water
There are several Washington men of an
aquatic turn whose notions have been di-
rected toward the formation of a motor
boat club in this city. One of these who
read in last Sundays Star of the proposed
formation of automobile association
here. said the Potomac in this vicinity is
an ideal place for motor boat exercises and
racing. He said the motor boat, unlike the
automobile, is not restricted by District or
other laws, the man in the auto boat being
only subject to United States laws He
predicts great success for the motor boat
club if one is formed here.
In England.
In a report to the Department of Com
merce and Labor James Boyle, United
States consul at Liverpool England says
in regard to motor cars in England: The
expert writer on patents for Whitaker's
Almanac for 1905 makes the interesting OBJ
servation that the present trend of inven-
ton of this country is undoubtedly I'm the
development of motor cars, oil engines for
driving them, and in speed gears speed in
dicators and other accessories This fact
Is given added Importance by new order
of the local government board increasing
the maximum limit allowed for an unIaden
motor car to five tons and to six and one
half tons, including trailer, whereas form
erly the weight allowed the car was three
tons. The total weight of car and load
is limited to twelve tons These new
regulations, which will come into force
March l next. practically relate to freight
motor cars only, and not to passenger and
pleasure automobiles. Liverpool is the head
quarters of the movement for the use of
freight motor cars to compete with rail-
roads. Heretofore the limit allowed for the
weight of the cars and the load has handi-
capped the movement, but the new regula-
lions are expected to give great impetus
to the development of the freight motor
car industry. And here would appear to be
an opening LOT AMERICAN lilNtIlOIS anu
manufacturers in this line"
Commercial Machines.
It is the opinion Of observant and prophet
ic Automobiles that the change to auto
mobile traction for all sorts of commercial
work will be quite rapid. 1t will doubt
less meet with some discouragements, they
say, such as are incident to any radical
change, and, 1t is added, the discourage
f,r I,oe- tI,o
fault of the manufacturers of automobiles.
Referring to this subject recently Mr.. E. D.
Trowbridge of the Odds motor works said:
Many manufacturers, realizing the de-
mand for commercial machines, have, with
out any investigation of requirements, put
on the market machines entirely unsuited
for the work to be done. They have at
temped to adapt to commercial use vehicles
primarily designed for pleasure purposes.
The results have, of course, been unsatis-
factOry-much the same sort of results
might expect to get by hitching a Ken
lucky thoroughbred record breaker on a
dray. This sort of experimenting has had
a tendency to retard legitimate develop
ment, and we shall doubtless have more
half baked experiments placed on the mar
ket before the trade settles down to prac-
teal lines.
The few manufacturers who have done
anything along sensible commercial lines
have found that, no matter how much they
thought they knew about commercial re-
quirements, they had to spend considerable
time and money before they could turn out
really practical machines. We have been
working quietly on the commercial end of
the business for two years, and 1t is only
within the past six months that We have
felt satisfied We mad good, practical COM
mercial machine. We expect to sell about
81 ,000.0 0O worth of commercial vehicles dur
ing the year
An Innovation.
An automobile innovation that is prom
Used Washington was described to Star
reporter by Mr.. C. Royce Hough. Washing
ton manager of the Pope Manufa curing
Company. 1t was the proposition of a To-
cal milk company to adopt automobiles as
delivery wagons for serving its patrons with
the tactical fluid in the early morning hours
when the city is practically asleep. This, it
Is was argued, would do away with the
rafting noises made by the present We
hices before and just after dawn when
tired humanity Is turning over in bed to
take the last morning nap before beginning
the duties of the day. 1t was also argued
that the horseless vehicles could go over
the routes more rapidly than the old style
wagons and fewer vehicles would, there
fore, be necessary.
In this connection it was stated that the
bakers, whose wagons likewise ruthlessly
disturb the early morning sleepers, may
soon adopt the comparatively noiseless and
swift-gliding autos for their delivery serv-
Ice.
Spring Prospects.
With the arrival of the bright, invig-
Grating April days the automobile outing
season in Washington has opened auspi-
ciously, and dealers say the spring and
summer promise to be record-breakers in
every direction. A feature of the season
thus far has been the large number of high
priced cars that have been and are being
sold. Some of the recent purchasers of the
most modern cars are Prof. Alexander Ora
ham Bell, who has provided himself with a
Pope Waverly; Thomas Hitchcock, jr.
Pope Waverly; DR.. James w. Morgan, a
Pope Waverly; Mr.. Hugh OBJ. Beirne of the
British embassy, Pope Tribune. and Mr..
W. H. Lee Ewart, also of the British en-
bassy, a Pope Waverly.
Already numerous outing parties have
taken runs over the superb roads about
Washington, and other runs are on the lists
for the present week. The most popular
drives are said to be to Rock Creek Park; to
Chevy Chase; out the 18th street road to the
Maryland line; to the Anglers club house,
above Cabin John bridge, and to the Chain
bridge.
The run to Upper Marlboro. Md, through
Forestville and Centerville, will, it is said,
be one of the best in this vicinity later in