The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1906-06-13
THE AUTO SEE SAW
And Feats Of Grester SKIN in NJ.
Competitions.

Ma Il
Competitions.
For all who love TO see feats of ...,
and nerye-and who does not ?-mo.s~~
car sports. which are so popular on ~
Continent, and which promise soon :
take rank among the favorlte spor,,n.
fixtures in Great Britain. offer -
ceptlonal opportunities Of pleasure
A very difficult feat. which nona h,.
the most expert drivers may hone !,
accomplish. Is that Of balancing %.
on platform arranged to swing N.
n see-saw on pivot at its centre. m.
|. car is driven at a fair speed up n.
side of the platform which slopes /,
the ground and the object of the tlrlv,
is to bring It TO full stop at the min,
which the car Is exactly balanced !,
the now horizontal platform. An inM
beyond this point and the balance /,
destroyed; the platform tits in the an
posite direction. and the car. lmpeIls
by gravity. slides down IT, One nsss
not be motorist to see how wonda,
ful must be the judgment and contrM
TO stop car. travelling at. perhaps
dozen miles an hour. on the exact con.
tire of this delicately-balanced ps.
form.
Another competition which require,
almost equal skin. and which cause,
endless amusement to the onlookers
is the following: A couple OF parallel
planks are placed across stream. and
over these narrow planks the compeu
tors essay to drive their cars. AS each
plank Is only just wide enough to taks
the wheels, 1t Is easy to see that. nm.
less a driver has his car absolutev
straight and strikes the exact centre Of
each track, he must inevitably come "a
grief; and in many cases this is hi,
fate, much to his discontinue and TO
the enjoyment Of the spectators.
In another competition wooden post
are placed in straight line in the
middle of the track, at intervals equal
to the length of the average motor COZ
and the competitors task is to steer
zigzag course between these obstacles
without touching or upsettlng any Of
them. In order to accomplish this
difficult feat he must continually turn
his car within its own length and al
the same time be careful to clear each
post in turn with his hind wheels.
A more difficult test even than this
is the following At intervals along
each side of the track dummy figures
are placed, facing each other and at
such distance apart as to allow bare
ly an inch for the car, If accurately
steered, to pass. To steer between
these parallel rows of dummies. travel.
ing forward, without upsettlng any Of
them, would be severe test for motor.
ists; but in the competition the driver
must proceed backward, thus adding
enormously to the difficulty of the feat
1t Is, perhaps, needless to say that the
dummies as n rule have bad time Of
1t, and that the course is often strewn
with fallen bodies.
In India some wonderful exhibitions
of deXterity are witnessed, in which
driver, while travelling at twenty OF
thirty miles an hour will pick up tent
pegs at the point of his spear or, with
slashes of his sword, will cut off Turks
heads. Equally surprising is q feat
which is very popular on the Continent,
in which the motorlst, while travelling
at high rate Of speed, hurls a dart
into the bulls eye of target placed by
the side of the track.
Among other popular features OF
these novel sports is climbing and de-
scending steep flights of stairs, feat
requiring considerable nerve and great
command of the machine. 1t may be
remembered that some time ago NJ. Du'
ray, the famous French record break
er, drove his twenty-five horse power
Gobron-Brillie car up the steps leading
from the polo ground at the Crystal
Palace, and descended again without
mishap.-Tit-Bits.