The Washington times., 1906-12-22

The principal topics of conversation
among local automobile dealers are the
auto shows 70 be held in Washington
and in Baltimore. e is understood that
at this early date every available bit
OF space at the Washington show has
been bid for and allotted. and that the
exhibition viii be the greatest affair OF
It's kind ever seen IN the District. Not
only VIII every salesman do all in his
power 10 make the local show a success,
but the majority of them will have their
cars and exhibits shipped 10 Baltimore
Immediately after the shutdown here.
Louis s. Julien. who was for a num-
Der of years in charge Of a Washington
agency. and who. with two professional
drivers made the LOO0-mile nonstop run
a year ago. the only affair OF its kind
ever pulled of here. is now in Chicago,
where he says that he is doing even
better there than he did here.
The members of the committee Of the
Association OF Licensed Automobile
Manufactures, who visited the White
House on Tuesday, to present President
Roosevelt with specially prepared in
yitation 20 be present al the New York
show. next month. are giving glowing
accounts OF their trip. The President,
they say, evirced an unexpected interest
In automobile affairs and expressed him
self as newly concerned in them. 1t Is
understood that he viii do all in his
power 10 visit the show during the week
Of January 12-l9
A similar. Invitation 10 that offered
the President was presented to a num-
Der OF the foreign ambassadors here.
and the members OF the committee re-
ported to the main body that several OF
them VIII attend with their suites.
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II is possible that the Saturday even
ing meetings Of the Automobile Club of
Washington, which were held all last
winter at the Colonial. will be revived,
TIE place % meeting TO be some place
near the center OF the citv which will
be convenient Some Of the members
occasionally go out TO the new home OF
the organization, which opened last
summer, but the majority prefer a place
inside the CITY limits. as the ride out
bFightWood avenue this time OF the year
ls anything but pleasant al night, and
the car service out that way is none too
good What IS wanted IS merely a few
rooms such as the club had last winter.
where the members may all gather on
saturday evenings. and swap tales of
impossible rates OF speed and how they
evaded the sheriff.
No matter how well posted the aver
age automobile owner may be as 70 the
various metals and other materials that
enter into the construction Of his car
their dimensions and weights and the
ieasons for their use, there are some
matters OF construction thar probably
would puzzle him.
One Of these undoubtedly would br the
bfuhing surface he has II his cOumgnd
II IS d sale guess that not one among
ten drivers could answer this question
etth0ush the chances are that every one
OF them could tell where the brakes
were located and their method OF ap-
pltcation.
This was a subject that came I'D when
several men who had recently ordered
cars happened TO be together recently.
II developed that ONLY one OF the men
VINO had bought cars could answer the
question OF hand. He was one who
nad had considerable mechanical train
ing, and had insisted on going over
the car with a ruler and a scale before
ne became thoroughly satisfied that Il
combined all the features OF safety and
strength he believed in.
The actual braking surface Of the
car in square inches is something every
man should find out before ne places
his order. this man said THE mai
ter is too important TO be Ieft 10 guess
work. Before l ordered my ear, 1 mas
uTed up for myself, and found Lhat
the exact surface on which the brakes
had 10 play, was 243u6 square inches for
the four leather To metal bands on the
counter shafts and hubs. Before / did
that / had satisfied myself that every
thing else was all right, and SO 1 put
my pad in my pocket and brought out
NV CheckbCOk -
Probably not more than one in five
thousand OF those who witnessed the
Vanderbilt Cup race were able TO see
just what a racing car looked like after
it had finished that grueling contest OF
almost 800 miles.
AS soon as a car finished, 1t was
whisked away to the scales. and as soon
as its weight had been taken it was just
as mysteriously taken away and hidden
in the training quarters of it's driver
The public Will be given an oppor-
tunity, however. to see for themselves
al the Madison Square Garden autOmO-
bile show, in January, what they
missed at the course. Among the ex-
hibits there will be the racer with which
Hubert LeBlon, the big. bearded French
man, led the American team in that con-
test. The car viii be shown in ex-
actly the condition il was when LeBlon
was tagged just before he was 10 cross
the finish line on the tenth lap, which
probably would have given him sixth
honoTs.
At the conclusion Of the race the car
was taken to New York. where it was
exhibited for a few days. ana then sent
to Chicago, where IL has been since
AS a result of the European trip of
William x. Vanderbilt, jr., who sailed
from New York on December Is, the
rules of the next Vanderbilt cup race
here may be modified. Part of his er-
rand abroad is to consult with the for
eign clubs on the subject.
F. Russell Thomas. the New York
banker, has decided that he viii not en-
ter for the Florida races his naw
Hotchkiss racer, which is-a duplicate of
the one driven by Elliott +. Shepard in
the Vanderbilt cup race. Mr. Thomas
viii, however, probably be a competitor
with some other car.
a plan for long touring contest on
basis deemed equitable TO all sorts of
cars has been worked out by the contest
committee of the National Association
of Automobile Manufacturers. Most of
the rules for 1t have been framed al
ready, but what the plan is viii not he
known until the annual meeting of the
n. A. A. NJ, which Is to be held In New
York. on January 10, during the week OF
a. eEa.