New-York tribune., 1907-01-19
TIMELY AUTO TOPICS.
Care Should Be Used az Buying
Elaborate Consultations Notes.

In making tour OF the automobile show In
Madison Square Garden one cannot fail 10 notice
how interested most visitors are in the elaborate
bodies shown on some OF the cars. in com
menting on this Milton J. BudlOng. president OF
the Electric Vehicle Company. said yesterday:
Few persons In purchasing a closed car or a
handsome touring car pay enough attention to
the details OF the body and its trimmings. They
appear TO look only at the magnificent carriages
from q superficial standpoint. While the CO.
lumbia displaying the most modern
bodies this company does not ever guarantee
fancy color in the upholstery. Neither do
guarantee laces. carpets or cords. Cords will
fade rapidly, even the best OF them. One should
also be careful 70 that leather upholstered
The real soatskin upholstery has soft touch.
while the imitation made Of sheepskin is dry
and hard. All feathers should be hand buffed.
and not machine bufred. At first machine buff
ing does not show. but it's bad qualities will
soon come out IN
Women should always notice the pockets in
the closed cars and see that they can reach their
hands TO the bottom easily with their gloves on.
No woman likes stingy pocket Also notice
they do not operate easily they are not built
properly and will never give satisfaction A
brougham door should work so easily that
small child can open It, One should also con-
slider harmony In color.
The race for the $1,000 in prizes which Harry
s Houpt has offered to his statesmen for the most
sales made during the week OF Thomas Flyers
anu 4HOIdS EbklyS gains NGitN III Interest "
those who have been watching it. At the close Of
the show last night A $. Robinson led by ono
car. with Fred Titus his closest rival Mr.. Houpt
does not take any part In the contest himself.
although he personally has sold number OF
cars during the show. He has ranged his four
salesmen in alphabetical order and turns each Of
his own sales over to them the turn OF each
comes around. The $1,000 is divided into
four prizes. $500 going TO the man making the
most sales. $500 20 the next, S10O 70 the third,
and a special prize OF S1O0. which may be won
by any OF the statesmen no matter how many
cars he may sell. A striking fact in connection
with the contest IS that. although he announced
his intention Of giving these prizes month
ago. his sales for the week preceding the show
were heavier than in any previous one OF the
season. showing concusively that none Of the
four men had made the slightest attempt 10 hold
back sales until show week in order to have
better opportunity TO claim the big prize
The first public test of the results Of expert
ments conducted ty ]. d. Maxwell and H. a.
Grant at Tarrytown. y. Y. to ascertain the
utility OF various hydrocarbons for automobile
motors Will begin next week If the weather per-
mits Three Maxwell runabouts will be driven
from New York 20 Boston. using different fuels.
One motor will be operated with gasOlene. an
other with kerosene and still another with de-
natured alcohol. Observers will be appointed
by the New York Motor Club TO make official
reports on mileage and the quantity and cost OF
each fuel used Messrs. Maxwell and Grant
have had considerable success with kerosene
the test next week will give information Of no
little Importance to the motoring public. Stock
cars will be used, since the experiments at the
TaFTytOwn factory have already demonstrated
that a Maxwell motor Will run on kerosene. alco-
hol gasOlene
That familiar article. the cork. has found
another use. a use that seems almost impossi-
BILE OF belief. The elevated railroads of Boston
found great difficulty in finding a satisfactory
friction surface for their brakes expert
menttng with almost every known material
suitable for the purpose. Finally cork was tried
and the experipents revealed some hitherto
unknown qualities possessed by that material
Its familiar springy spOnginess would seem To
indicate incapactty fO- hard work but the ex-
periments proved exactly the opposite of this