The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-12-02
EASY TO LEARN AUTO DRIVING
SMALL AMOUNT OF MECHANICAL
SKILL REQUIRED.


Many a business man VIII Soes prac-
tically all his daily work al a desk in q stuffy
office might 10 enioying the benefits of
automosi,ilg were it not that he doubts
his own ability to learn how to run a ma
chine himself and does not care to be
bothered with a professional chauffeur.
Beyond any question the greater majority
OF this class Of men would be able TO master
most any modern light touring car after
few lessons from some one who thoroughly
understood the machine. An experienced
motorist who has run his own cars for
several years, beginning when automobiles
we're far more complicated pieces OF
mechanism than most American cars are
at present, was asked to give his opinion
as to how much mechanical skill Is required
to run an automobile without the constant
presence OF a chauffeur.
Well, that is rather a hard question to
nswer as it is so involved in other prob
lems," was the reply. 1T depends very
largely upon the make of the automobile
and, to a certain extent, upon the good
fortune Of the owner OF the oar. This
latter statement may seem strange to the
uninitiated, but the longer a motorists
experience the more firmly does he be-
come convinced that some men are hoo
dooed and might as well make up their
minds never to attempt to run a car. How
ever, l think / know what you mean, and
that is whether or not the ordinary mortal,
not the mechanical expert, can keep friends
with his automobile and his temper at the
SAINT time. 1 nave heard men say they are
never going to buy a motor car, because
they stAnd in mortal dread Of getting stuck
in the wilds with it,. They
will tell you that If they are out driving a
horse and the harness breaks they know
enough to patch it up with a piece Of string,
but they will grow visibly nervous at the
mere suggestion OF a tire shoe or a car
bureter.
My experience has taught me to think
that any man Of reasonable brains, who has
the slightest leaning toward mechanical
devices. and who has the patience necessary
to deal with an inanimate machine when il
goes wrong, can be taught to run an auto
mobile with such a degree OF success that
he will derive infinite pleasure from it.
Take, for example, the case Of my friend
who Is sure Of his capabilities in fixing a
harness. He Is just the sort OF material l
should like to have to begin on II l were
teaching a novice TO run a car IL he has
self-reliance enough to fix the harness, then
he has sense enough, In all probability, TO
learn how to run a motor car. Why Is it
that he knows how to fix the harness1 Sim
ply because that sort OF repairing Ia the only
kind he has ever been called upon to do.
II no can handle a ~jackknife and a piece OF
string ingeniously, then he should be able
10 handle more complicated pieces OF
mechanism.
Simply because in the beginning the no.
vice does not know the difference between a
~commutator and a spark plug IL no reason
why he should not learn how to mend apunc-
ture on the road or do the mino repairing
70 his car. Il IL principally common sense
that is needed to run an automobile. A
little ingenuity IN, OF course, also a requisite,
but men who have any fondness at all for
handling tools and machinery, as l ind most
men have, will in the great majority OF cases
manage TO keep friends with their cars.
II is a very important thing this making
friends with ones car. Usually the driver
who lacks patience with a horse when
something sils It will display a similar
amount OF temper when something gets
slightly out Of place ON his car, and thereby
hangs his woe. A motorist must remember
that nine times out Of ten when something
goes wrong with the machine it is due TO
some carelessness OF his own In not making
"A needed adjustment. When the motorist
~"aaliSe~ this and stops getting mad at the
car every time something turns up to annoy
him, think hat he will find no serious
difficulty.
In ali the experience I have had, I have
never found a case where a man who had
ordinary common sense and a little mechani-
cal skill failed to get along well. The CON
slant association with things mechanical
leads 10 a degree OF skill in the manipulation
of tools that sometimes astonishes the no
vice, and he N apt to say when lie sees hif
motoriet friend tinkering with his car that
he ia not go skilled and will not make a sue
oeae Of keeping a car, while the fact is that
his friend was no more skilled than he six
months previous. Don't hesitate to get an
automobile because you think you have
not the ability TO care for It, provided you
like machinery a can keep your temper