The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-12-04
DRAW GREAT CROWDS.
GRAND CENTRAL PALACE SHOW
HAS MANY VISITORS.

W. n. Vanderbilt, Jr., 90 Make His Debut
as n Public Speaker at Annual Banquet
Of Automobile club Of America Next
saturday and Talk az the Highway
Any fears that may have been entertained
by the show committee Of the Automobile
Club of America and those exhibiting their.
products in the clubs seventh annual show
tat the public would Re inconven'enced
by the size of the hall we're dissipated long
before the doors of the Grand Central
Palace were closed last night. As many
more visitors could have been taken care OF
as found their way to Lexington avenue
and Forty-third street on Saturday night.
In spite of hat yesterday afternoon and
last night the aisles between the exhibition
spaces were jammed from $50 o'clock
until those in charge Of the building began
extinguishing the lights to force the people
to go home. Reports OF sales were heard
all over the building, these coming from
many Of the newer firms as well as from
concerns whose titles have become house
hold automobile names. The sales are OF
all sorts OF cars, from the small runabouts
to the big imported and American ma
chimes with handsome limousine or landau
let bodies, the coach work OF which very
often costs more than an ordinary machine.
To those familiar with the history OF
automobiling in this country and abroad the
most interesting subject discussed yester-
| day was the announcement that William X.
Vanderbilt, Jr, had consented to make a
public address. Though a pioneer motortst
in every sense Of the word, he having been
a competitor In road races in Continental
Europe at a time when automobiles were
scarcely more than objects Of hearsay in
this country and better known from pict-
tires in illustrated periodicals than any
other way, Mr.. Vanderbilt has 30 far escaped
making speeches. In this instance, how =
ever, the foremost American antomobilist
has a subject to talk upon in which he is
very much interested, the Long Island
NJ otor Parkway, Ino., OF which he is presi-
dent. Mr.. Vanderbilt Ia to make his debut
"a a public speaker next Saturday evening
at Sherry's, the occasion being the elghth
annual banquet of the Automobile Clu OF
America, when he is TO take as his subject
-The Advantages Of the Long Island Motor
Parkway"
Other speakers at the club banquet will
be Gen. Horace Porter. who will speak on
The Automobile Abroad" Patrick Fran
els Murphy is to deliver a humorous ad-
dress on The Automobile From a Horse
mans Point of View, " Gen. Nelson A. Miles
is to speak of THE Automobile From a
l NlQLdIX Oil Vi wow ahN ~ ANtNs ~
ton Merle Smith, DID,, the club chap
lain, will treat the motor car from the stand
point of the pedestrian. Secretary ). M.
Butler has arranged a novel programme
10 follow the last speaker and promises
a surprise in addition TO a moving picture
reproduction of the 1905 contest for the
William X. Vanderbilt, Jr.. cup. Mr.. But
Ter said yesterday that SIS seats have al
ready been engaged for the banquet and
there are but a few available seats left.
In nnanU former anfnmOhllQ shows held
in this city the largest vehicles on exhibit
ton nave been huge electrically driven de-
livery wagons. while the smallest were
three wheeled r~unabouts that looked small
and light enough to be carried into the
owners house when he had finished a run
always provided he was not a city dweller
whose domicile was near the top OF a sky
scraper apartment building.
In the Grand Central Palace, however,
the conditions are reversed this year, for
the largest car has a gasolene motor Tor
its power plant and the smallest car IL driven
by electricity.
The giant this time is a Rapid passenger
coach, with a seating capacity for twenty
five persons. 1t Ii driven by a 2O-25 horse
power water cooled g~asolene motor, which
is sufficiently powerful to send the big
car over the roads at a fair rate. OF speed,
in fact one OF the statesmen said 1t could
90 fast enough through the streets OF this
city to attract the unfavorable attention
OF the bicycle cops 1t weighs 400 pounds.
The smallest car II a juvenile electric
rlnabout shown by the American Metal
Wheel and Auto Company. There is a still
smaller machine at another booth, the
Baby REQ, but it is so tiny that passengers
small enough to fit into it would not be able
to drive it. The juvenile electric run
about is In fact not much more than a big
toy, but it is complete in every detail and
built for rough usage.
1T is scarcely four feet in length and
v9e enough for but a very narrow passen-
| ger, though il is an exact replies of the run
abouts built for adults. The body and
leather upholstery are finished in black,
the gears in q deep red; it has nickel trim
mings, steel wheels equipped with cushion
tires, small electric carriage lamps and
a dashboard of patent leather. II has a
capacity of from twenty to twenty-five
miles on one charge of the batteries at an
average speed OF ten miles an hour. 1t
has a six cell battery, a ball bearing motor
with a chain drive and a hand brake on the
controller. 1t was said yesterday that a
number OF good children in this vicinity
would be liable to find one Of these little
cars in their stockings when they begin
their annual Investigations on the morning
of December Is.
Perhaps the newest thing at the sno
is the eight cylinder air cooled Marmon,
il being the first time that a car having
such a motor has been shown in this city,
though a firm in Switzerland has been
making an eight cylinder car for a year
Ok G"Og INV
az are practically all European machines.
The eight cylinders are arranged in two
rows opposite each other so as not to
unduly lengthen the wheelbase OF the
machine.
Each cylinder, as is the case with all air
cooled types, il cast separately, the cylinders
being placed in pairs at an angle OF 90 de-
grees.
The motor somewhat resembles the
eight cylinder Darracq racer with which
Demogeot won the two miles a minute race
on the Ormond beach in Florida last winter.
The fan behind the screen front Of the on
net, where the radiator is situated on a
water cooled machine, is unlike most fans
seen on motor cars, as it has a great many
blades, while the usual type OF fan has but
four. Just behind the fan and attached
to the top Of the bonnet front is a curved
piece Of sheet metal which is put there ia
defect the air down onto the cylinders
after it is drawn under the bonnet by the
fan.
Another novelty is an American runabout
which has an underslung frame, which
gives IL a very low centre OF gravity, in
spite OF the fact tha it has a road clear