The daily morning journal and courier., 1906-01-04
COACHMEN BEST sCHAUFFEURs.
Automobilist of Wide Experience Says
 He Findk. rThap, paIiahle

Automoplllst of Wide Experience Says He Finds Them Reliable.
 American cQachmen, with a little training, mako more efficient chauf- feurs than the majority of Frenchmen out ofemploymelnt, who come over here with smatterih Ing knowledge of motors and are employed without question as expert drivers of automobiles"
 This statement, says the New York Herald, was made by a gentleman who has owned autd,mobiles for nearly ten years, is prominent in the affairs of the Automobile club of America and has had a wide ranAe of experience in the employment of chauffeurs.
 "A majority of the fatal automobile accidents that occur in this country, he continued, Ire due entirely to the reckless driving or the absolute ignor- ance of imported chauffeurs. I have no hesitation in saying that the sad accidents that resulted in the deaths of Mrs. Francis! Burton Harrison and Mir James E. Martin were caused by reckless driving They probably would not have happened had the drivers been graduated from the ranks of coachmen
 Bursting tires are usually blamed for fatal accidents, but I know that there is nothing about tire explosion to force car off it's course before be- ing brought to a stop. This was proved by series of demonstrations given by s. F. Edge in London with tires purposely defated. A chauffeur naturally will blame an accident to a tire to screen his own reckIessness or igorance.
 Many foreign chauffeurs are capa- ble drivers Many others come to this country to seek employment as auto mobile experts because they cannot ob- tain work at home. Some have previ- ously been walters and a great many have had no experience in handling au- tomobiles before landing in America.
 Not sufficient effort is made by own- CTS to find out the capabilities of men who apply for jobs as automobile driy- CTS If an applicant speaks foreign language he goes d long way toward qualifying for the position The owner is probably ignorant of the mechanism of his car, and so is unable to question the applicant. He takes it for granted that the latter is all he claims to be. and then intrusts his own life, the lives of his family and those of his friends to a man who possibly knows no more of the machine he is to handle than does his employer.
 Tn my experience I have found that the most capable and trustworthy driver of an automobile is a man who has been schooled in the driving of horses. The most reliable chauffeur is a good, level-headed coachman. He knows the rules and courtesies of the road; he understands that danger is likely to be met in getting the car off the road he has proper respect for the care of the varnish on q vehicle, and if given a little instruction he be- comes better able to care for a car, to keep 1t clean and to turn it out smartly than a so-called expert foreign chauf- feur
 Lessons necessary to evolve a good chaufreur from good coachman are, first, the theory on which the gas en- zine works; second, the theory of igni- tion; third, the necessity for perfect lu- brication and, fourth, the danger of fire from gasoline.
 "A chauffeur 10 take care of a car does not need to be a mechanic. If gears are stripped, crank shaft broken or axle bent no ohaffuer, however ex- pert, can repair the damage without a machine shop,
 Examinations for chauffeurs win not remedy the situation to any great extent. A reckless driver might pass a perfect examination. A revocable license would be more effective, for if a chauffeur finds he is liable to lose the chance of earning his living in driving automobiles he will be more inclined to exercise care. But to my mind the best solution of the problem is the em- ployment of steady-golng coachmen as chauffeurs,