The Washington herald., 1907-01-06
PREPARING FOR SHOW
Automobiles viii Soon Hold
the Boards.
ALL CARS ON EXHIBITION
Every sort Of Machine from "a Run
about to Touring Cars VIII Be
Demonstrated at the Dupont Gar
ase-QuaLer City Endurance Run
an Unqualified Success.

Nothing but show talk is heard in local
automobile circles and the general feel
ing is that the seventh annual show,
which Will be opened in the Dupont gar
age on the night Of January q. will be
most successful. There is considerable
talk about the decorations and lighting
effects, about new cars, about novel
things in mechanics, and Of the record
year that seems certain. It Is generally
admitted that this VIII be the most pre-
tentious exhibition OF motor cars and ac-
cessories ever seen in Washington An
orchestra has been engaged TO furnish
music throughout the week of the show.
Prospective purchasers at the show viii
have their choice Of an array Of cars
that Will range from the moderate-priced
runabout to the big touring car, weigh
ing several thousand pounds. The com
mercial car viii also be given recognition.
Everything allied to the motor-driven We
hicle in any form will be seen ia the big
garage, which will lend itself admirably
20 the housing Of the exhibition.
Improvement in details seems 10 be
the chief work Of the automobile designer.
whose successful solutions OF the more
serious problems Of seasons past have left
little that is fundamental 70 be COPIED with
The first endurance run Of the Quaker
city Motor Club. Of Philadelphia, which
was finished Wednesday, was an unquaIi-
fled success. and the members Of the club
were very jUbilant over the affair. Two
cars-the Stevens-Duryea and the Mathe-
.sou-finished with perfect scores, but the
Matheson was disqualified on a small
technical point leaving the Stevcns-D Dur
yea the winner Of the Macdonald q Camp
bell cup. The Matheson was disqualified
for having special body. which was bur
very little lighter than called for by the
rules governing the run There were
twenty-six entries for the run, and of
these TWO were n0nstarters four dropped
out on the trip 10 Harrisburg, and two
were disqualified, leaving eighteen starters
on the return trip or these only five
dropped out, the other thirteen finishing
in good style.
Radical changes in the manufacture and
use of automobiles are predicted by Joe
Tracy. the auto expert. who is perfecting
"A system Of using alcohol instead OF gaso-
lire for motive fuel Tracy. in q car run
with denatured alcohol instead of gaso-
line fer fuel. has just completed a trip
from New York 20 Philadelphia. and he
was more than twenty-four hours making
the trip OF about 100 miles. He lie. with
several accidents TO his machine. ana then
the miserable condition Of the roads made
the running very slow. He believes that
the use Of alcohol instead Of gasoline for
fuel VIII revoluuOnize the use Of automO-
biles In this country. greatly reducing the
cost OF running the machines and per
hitting them TO be run in many places
where gasoline Is now barred by the in
surance companies. IN cotton. paint, OIL
and similar manufacturing concerns the
use Of motor vehicles is prohibited because
of the inhammable character OF the gas
oline. which has been used in the past.
With alcohol as the fuel it is believed the
insurance people will be less strict.
It was left for H. o. Carter, of this
city. To grasp the situation and clinch
the proposition Of plural number of en-
the idea until fully equipped and abso-
iutely reliable machine was his reward
the now famous Carter two-engine car.
The patents covering the operation Of a
plural number OF engines have been Sc
cured by Mr. Carter in this and nearly
all foreign countries.
A striking feature is the fact that when
the two engines are working as a unit
they increase the horsepower - per
cent without any additional consumption
of gasoline Besides the increase Of
power and saving Of expense the two
engine principle renders the Carter car
one of the most speedy machines on the
market over q half-mile course at Fort
Myer recently the 4J-horsepower car
now on exhibition IN this city went the
distance in % seconds. The same car
took Senator John W Daniel and party
from the Aqueduct Bridge to Cabin John
Bridge in II minutes
The Carter two-engine car viii be on
exhibition al the coming automobile show
i'm this city.
A plan for a long touring contest on a
basis deemed equitable 20 all sorts of
cars has been worked out by the con-
test committee of the National Associa-
ton of Automobile Manufacturers. Most
of the rules for il have been already
framed but what the plan is will not
be known until the annual meeting Of
the n a. A NJ. which is to he held in
New York on January l6 during the
week OF the Madison Square Garden show.
II is expected that this new contest Will
be favored by the manufacturers in pref
erence to the GIidden tour.