Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-02-03

last evening at the Dupont gar
age, it is stated, did a great deal
toward placing before the public
the 1907 models of the various
manufacturers. The number of sales made,
it is said, indicates that the coming spring
will see many more Washingtonians driv-
ing about the city. The asphalt streets
of the capital city go long ways toward
making autoing more popular here than
in other parts of the country, and the
dealers believe that the ranks of enthusiasts
will be increased this year.
Tenders, or mud guards, as they are more
colloquially termed. are perhaps the least
pretentious part of a motor cars equip
ment, yet no other feature has more to
do with the comfort and convenience of
passengers. Certain makers undoubtedly
miss the opportunity Of giving their pa
irons the highest satisfaction through
scrimpfng the size of the tenders. The
on some cars have lot of Strenuosity and
temper. as with this protection no mud
can reach the bonnet, or indeed any part
Of the body of the car. There is nothing
more annoying to the man who has to clean
a car than to find the bonnet covered with
mud baked on hard by the radiation of
heat from the cylinders.
An automobile law went into effect in
Sweden January 1, the object of which is
said to be to protect the public against reck-
less drivers In cities and other closely
built up districts the speed is limited during
day time to 10 klometers per hour and in
the country to 25 kilometers per hour, while
after dark the maximum speed permissible
is 10 kilometers per hour. Only persons Of
eighteen years or over are allowed to drive
automobiles. and these must furnish proof
of their competency. Special regulations
are issued for Stockholm, where many
streets and bridges are entirely closed, and
the narrow streets and alleys of Old Stock
holm must be traversed at very slow pace.
The weight of commercial vehicles in cross
ing certain bridges and viaducts must be in
side certain limit, which is said to prac-
tically prohibit the use of many standard
motor trucks.
x*
1t is said to be a common complaint at
this time that there is comparatively little
of real novelty to be found among the va
rious types Of motor vehicle which stand as
examples of what is modern in their own
particular class of design. How true this is
as a matter of fact, and how in reality the
field of invention and possible development
along lines which are absolutely original is
narrowing down to an astonishingly low
margin Of possibility a moments reflection
will reveal. In the first place, there is moth
ing Strlklngly original ABOUT tne motor We
hicle in any way. 1t is but the legitimate
outgrowth Of the application of some form
of prime mover to the wheeled vehicle and
should logically have preceded the so-called
invention Of the railroad by a matter of
many years but for the adverse sentiment
created by the several early efforts.
Because of the difficulties which beset the
path Of the early motorist he was subdued
for q matter of several hundred years and
the activities which his spirit bred were
manifested in the creation of the forerun-
ners of the present railroad systems. Then
in process of time the development Of the
road vehicle followed instead of preceding
the railroad, and the era of motor propul-
sion was fairly staged upon the boards. All
those early attempts. however fruitless they
may have been in themselves, laid foun-
dalton Of precedent upon which the lines of
the present industry were established.
Every mechanical contrivance tried in those
days. no matter how crude, was precedent
to be taken up at a later time and under
more favorable circumstances and developed
with the improved facilities of the time.
Every idea evolved in this more favorable
period has as its psychological origin some
suggestion developed either directly or from
some of those early efforts, or from some
of their legitimate offspring in a more direct
way.