Evening star., 1905-11-06
DARING FEATs OF cHAUFFEURs.
One Drove Down a Long Flight OF
Stairs and Another Climbed Roof.
From London Tit-Bits

From London Tit-Bits.
When L. Carle, a short time ago, uroVe
his fourteen horsepower car, Weighing oFer
a ton, down the steep shute OF the orys'ai
Palace the thousands of spectators heio
their breath in apprehension OF terfipio
catastrophe, and when the daring MOTOR
ist checked what promised to be heaaiohs
flight and brought his car to tuli s'op
in the middle of the chute they gasped WIN
amazement. while Mr.. Carle. who appeareo
to be the only cool, self-possesseo perSoh
present, smiled and raised MS hal'
One cannot help wondering what would
have been the sensation of the spectators
of this feat If they had seen that mao per
formance Of James Carol or Iacoiha,
Wash some time ago. Mr.. cafroi' surely
the most daring not to say reckless OF men,
actually drove his car, weighing one and
half tons and brakeless, down a wooden
staircase of TOO steps. Scarcely hao tne
machine started on Its perilous descent th1n
every tire was torn off the wheels, while
third of the way down the monster car had
reached q speed of eighty miles an hour aLd
was taking crashing leaps over twenty steps
at a time And yet, marvellous to relate,
the tourney was successfully accomplished,
although when at last its meteoric flight
was arrested and the car was brought to a
standstill 1t was found that almost every
mart of the mechanism was broken.
In comparison with such a sensational
performance as this, one hears without a
tremor of a motor car climbing the roof or
a house This feat was undertaken by
north country motor manufacturer, who, In
order to demonstrate the power and brake
efficiency of one of his cars, drove it up
specially constructed chute to the top OF
a two-story workshop, climbing the slate
roof. and then descended backward to the
ground. the remarkable double journey be-
Ing made with what appeared TO be rldlcu-
lous ease and safety.
A more perilous venture was that OF a
Danish chauffeur, who, in the presence OF
thousands of thrilled spectators. drove his
car to the summit of the Round Tower, at
Copenhagen. Running round the tower Is
a spiral platform not more than twelve feet
wide which climbs to the towers summit.
height OF 120 feet, and 1t was along this
would have meant horrible death. that
the reckless Dane drove his car completing
his task in half dozen minutes.
A very clever, although unintentional,
feat was that Of well-known motorist on
one of the steepest hills in Devonshire. The
car, when near the summit of the hill, came
for some reason to stop and began TO
run backward, to the great alarm OF sew
eral ladies' who were IN It, and when the
brakes failed to act all but the driver gave
themselves up for lost. Luckily the latter
kept a cool head, and. gripping the steer
ing wheel, he steered the car on its mad
backward course safely to the bottom OF
the hill, although before it came to a stop
1t had reached a speed of fifty miles an
hour.
One of the most adventurous of motor
trips was that of Jules Picard, who for
wager drove his car, weighing one and
three-quarter tons. over the Pyrenees. Part
OF the Journey was along narrow path cut
in the mountain side with the cliff rising
sheer on one side and precipice 400 feet
deep on the other. the brink of which was
hut a few inches from the off wheels OF
the car A dangerous venture was the
climbing of Snowdon by Harvey du Cros.
jr, and Mr.. Sangster, part OF which was
along a narrow track between deep preci-
pices, round sharp curves. and up a gradi-
ent OF one in five. The piucky motorists
were stopped at the last ridge before the
actual summit by snowdrift over six feet
deep, through which It was impossible to
make headway. "They had to dig us OUT
Mr. Du Cros says land further progress
was impossible"
Dudley Grierson had similar thrilling mo-
ments when he rode four Thousand feet up
Ben eNvis on his motor bicycle. and Miss
Vera Butler, when driving her car from
Grenoblc to La Grande Chartreuse. was
more than once within an ace of making q
headlong plunge down breath-takirg preci-
plces.
Once at least a n1otorist has ventured
with his car into the bull ring. His name
10 Peter Garcia, and IN hts ear, draped n
scarlet, he made q bold entry into the
arena At LorcA. In Spain. where . spec1Alty
04rco bull 80 4t5no HIM 9rbo aHlma1s