Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-04-14

The Massachusetts supreme court mas oe-
cided in favor of a motorist suit Tor
damages against a street railway company
which used such a powerful headlight on
car that the motorist was Temporarily
blinded and ran into an obstruction, wreck
ing his automobile.
Owing to the difficulty of arriving at
basis satisfactory to touring machines and
runabouts Of different horsepower. the fuel
test has been dropped as a part of the en-
durance run of the New Jersey Automobile
and Motor Club, scheduled for May 80, 81
and June 1.
The annual French industrial vehicle tests
will be run between May 20 and June H.
and will include an endurance test ana a
fuel consumption test based on usefui
ton kilometric calculation. There Will be
five classes Of vehicles. with loads varying
from 10 to above 6.6OO pounds.
1t should be remembered that alkalies
have considerable corrosive efrect on alum
mum or alloys containing 1t, and that soapy
water splashed on crank cases and other
parts of a car made of that meta! Is liable
to have a pitting effect and AFFORD place
for the lodgment Of dirt and dust.
-
The Toronto Automobile Club has decided
to reorganize as a provincial association, to
which every motorist in the province OF On
tario will be eligible for membership The
new organization will be named the On
tario Motor League, and one of its princi-
pal objects will be to carry on a good roads
movement.
The supreme court Of Massachusetts has
ruled that a traveller on a highway is not
bound to be continuously looking or listen
ing to ascertain whether motor cars are
approaching. under the penalty that MS
failure to do SO will constitute contrbutory
negligence precluding a recovery for IN
juries sustained in a collision.
Chicago alderman proposed that all
cars owned by the city, except those for the
use Of the fire and police chiefs, be Kept IN
a municipal garage and sent out on call
from any city department head. When a
machine goes out the time will be regis
tered and also the use for which II is
taken. The return also Will De checkeo.
The first car designed especially to use
dena tured alcohol has been built for A II.
Renshaw of Norton, Conn, a rrienn OF
Prof Luckey of Columbia University. VINO
has done so much to make the new fuel
available The carburettor Is slightly
smaller and the compression chamber
slightly larger than in gasoline motors.
~
With 1000 taximeter cabs awaiting or
ficiar sanction to begin operations in Lon
don the old hansoms and four-wheeiers
seemed doomed to extinction. They Will
add a lively touch Of color to the streets.
for they have red bodies with yellow
wheels. and the drivers will wear gorgeous
blue uniforms with plenty OF brass but
tons.
A number of New York importers of for
efgu cars favor holding separate exhi-
bition next January open to every make
of foreign car The early dates OF the Two
big New York shows render 1t imperative
for the importers to have an exhibition the
latter part Of the winter. as their 10OS MOD
ola will not arrive in this country De1Ore
January l.
The German Automobile Technical Asso-
citation at its meeting in Berlin last month.
discussed the advisability Of providing
means by which the rear seat occupants of
a car may control the speed in the event OF
the driver becoming disabled. The general
opinion seemed to be that 1t might work
more harm than good in the hands of
nervous passenger.
1t takes very little experience for the
motor cyciist to discover that 1t requires
more care to round corners with machine
than it does with an ordinary bicycle. Al.
ways shut off the power we'll in advance or
reaching the corner an slow down TO pace
that keeps the machine In easy control
Remember that the unexpected Is generally
right around the corner.
~
Inventors are turning their attention to
devices to rid autoists of the boy evil.
Two recent inventions are the boy drop
per." which is a rack for the back of cars
which separates when a boy tries to ride
on 1t, while the boy eradicator" is a brass
bar, heavily charged with electricity. which
gives an unwelcome passenger severe
shock when it is touched.
Vanderbilt cup conditions will be an
nounced before the end of this month, SO
that American and foreign makers will
know whether or not the former weight
limit of ZOO pounds will be the main point
of the rules, whether they will have to
run their cars under some sort of fuel
capacity regulation, as In the French grand
prix or to comply with a combined cylin-
der capacity and weight limit regulation. a.
Is the main rule for the kaiser's cup race.
A purchaser should be careful to see that
leather upholstered cars are done in goat
skim and not sheepskin. The real goatskin
upholstery has a soft touch, while the imi-
tation made of sheepskin is dry and hard.
All feathers should be hand-buffed and not
machine buffed. At first machine buff1ng
does not show, but its bad qualities will
soon come out in use. A machine buffed
victoria mood will look bad in one year
as a hand oufred hood will look in Ave
years.
According to NJ. Faroux, the French au-
thority. the United States built 10000 auto
mobiles in 1906; France, 5000: England.
$4,000: Germany, 22,0O0: Italy. 10000. and
Belgium. 1900. In 1901 the United States
built only 314 cars, and that same year
France built 23.711. Thus 1t is shown That.