The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-08-07
Intended for Washin >

An ingenious person of the name of
MANTzER appears to have designed the
perfect motor car. II is eleven feet long,
six feet wide, weighs 1000 pounds, is
capable of running forty-five miles an
hour under normal conditions, is enclosed
entirely in bulletproof steel and in fact
is practically impregnable. Mr.. MANT-
Ter furnished the designs, prepared the
specifications and finally paid $3.50 for
the completed Juggernaut, the construc-
ton Of which he is said to have super
vised personally from first TO last.
Upon the really interesting feature Of
this achievement its author refuses to
shed a ray of light. He will not admit
that the car is intended for business. He
distinctly says that it is not intended for
pleasure. The extent of our informa-
ton is to the effect that he paid his money
and sped the machine away with all it's
secrets locked in an adamantine dia-
phragm. Before he surrendered the last
dollar the owner insisted upon a con-
elusive test of strength. The car was
made 10 climb a steep hill carrying twen-
ty-seven men and boys. All doubt,
removed by this simple but searching
expedient, Mr.. MANTzER entered the
coming tower and vanished in a cloud
of dust. He closed the casemate, put up
the bombproof Stats that protected the
windows and sped away into the night,
leaving behind him bafled gossip and a
whole, widespread, gasping famine of
curiosity.
IL occurs 10 us. however, that this
mystery is not insoluble. In the imag-
innings of the light minded and the super
fetal it may take on somewhat 'of the
quality of the occult. In the philosophy
of the enlightened there is a patent clue.
As it seems TO US, the Mantzer locomo-
tive is peculiarly adapted to the needs of
a~ristocratic Washington. Here in New
York we leave the devil wagons" to the
trolley cars, the overloaded trucks and
the steel pillars of the elevated" Pro-
vincial neighborhoods take care of them
selves with the aid Of ropes, chains, arti-
fetal bunkers and assorted shotguns.
But the various speedways of suburban
Washington have been comparatively
unprotected. The Conduit Road" be-
loved of diplomats and small Govern
ment officials, TO say nothing Of the
naughty ~millionaires assembled at the
capital from pork and whiskey, soap,
silver, diamonds, white goods. three balls
and other origins too numerous TO men,
tion-this inviting t~horoughfare stood
open to the ravages of scorchers until the
besotted villagers along the line made
bold TO interpose in favor of their fami-
lies, themselves, their live stock and their
self-respect.
The reaction is a matter of history.
The local authorities have held up Am
bassadors, Cabinet officers, society lead
ers, wealthy plumbers, actually rough
riders and tennis players of extreme
renown. Not wen the solemn official
mandate of Acknowledgement BONA
pARTE, inspired a. it wa by an abound
ing innocence and a plentiful lack of
information. availed TO quell the rural
arrogance referred G. The bumptious
hayseeds dismissed him as "one lawyer,
and a third rate one az that, and brazenly
went on arresting, filming. and If neces-
sary imprisoning or cruelty insulting
the noble. the highborn, the wealthy and
the well veneered. II has come TO pass,
indeed, that even a foreign nobleman,
much less a domestic psrvenu, cannot
run down obscure inhabitants OF the
suburbs without risk of arrest, penalty
and humiliation.
Certainly il there be a mission any