The daily morning journal and courier., 1907-08-27
RECKLESS AUTOM0BILING
 NOW BAD FORM Fashionable Automobilists in New York Set Good
 Example. TIME TO INITIATE IT Many of the Abuses of the Sport Are Being
 Corrected.
TIME TO INITIATE IT


 the highway and with becoming de- sire to avoid the personal discomforts attendant upon fast driving, has placed the stamp of it's disapproval upon speeding, and in future those automo- bilists who are seen scorching along the public roads, with total disregard of the rights and privileges of others, may bo classed at once as bourgeois.
 It is useless to deny that there is speeding, and, more's the pity, a great deal of it, to be seen every day on the popular roads near New York. It is also true that frequently the names of prominent persons are connected with the accidents which are chronicled al- most every day in the daily papers. In most cases, however, chauffeurs have taken out the cars without the permis- sicn Of the owners, and the disaster oc- CUTS without the owner of the automo- bile figuring therein.
 To do away with speeding and its at tendant risks and to prevail upon all motorists who possess reason and de- cency to travel at a seemly gait when on the road has long been the aim of the officers and members of the Auto mobile Club of America which is to- day the premier motoring organization of the world. This task has been par ticularly hard in the past however, be- cause some of the most prominent and influential people of the land have been victims of the speed mania, thereby setting a most execrable example to the rank and file of automobllsts Now, however, that fashion has seen fit in the interests of humanity at large to frown upon racing, the work of the club officials has been made much cas- fer, and in a short space of time it is confidently predicted that only the ''bounders" will be seen standing in the police courts to answer to charges oi fast driving.
 In the past the owner or driver of a motor car has frequently dropped his right to be called 8 courteous gentle- man when he has donned his goggles and duster. By his thoughtless actions he has often worked his beloved sport great injury. He has delighted to scorch along the highway utterly re- gardless of the rights not only of oth- l CT users of the road-both afoot and | in carriages-but also of the persons who live along the highway. He has neglected, in approaching and passing pedestrians and vehicles, to give a proper warning of his coming by blow ing hls horn or sounding his siren whistle. Instead, he has rushed up be- Ihind the pedestrian or carriage with cut any warning and dashed by in 3 cloud of dust or mud, as the case might be. This sort of driving Is dan gerous in the extreme, and has result ed in many bad accidents. It has also gone long way toward sowing and fostering the seeds of Ill feeling toward lautomobilists as class which have resulted in drastic legislation in many Localities, so that to-day the motorisi feels that he is badly persecuted.
 Many drivers. have also thought | sn art to go as close to pedestrians anC teams as possible when passing In eith
 CT direction. This has resulted in badly frightening many horses and .sperson! and has also been responsible for nu
 merous disasters. To-day the best clas Iof motorists make it a rule to allow as much leeway as possible when pass ing vehicles or pedestrians.
 Motorists of the right sort are als'
 making it a point to-day never t
 frighten horses upon the highway
 When a restive horse Is seen approach ling. especially if 1t be driven by child or woman, the careful motoris
 rowadays slows down at once to a fou
 mile an hour gait or else stops alto gether. Frequently one of the passen
 gers in the car will get out and lea
 the horse by the machine, thereb
 ouelling the animals fear and earnin
 inc gratitude of the driver, who Is sur
 to remember the courtesy of the mo florist the next time he is called upo
 in town meeting to act upon some an
 ti-automobile law or ordinance.
 The use of the horn, siren and pow
 erful acetylene searchlight has als been the cause of much criticism
 motorists in the past. It is a pleasur
 to note that many of the abuses COT
 nected with these are now being col
 rected. Useless blowing of the horn (
 siren whistle cannot be too strongl Icondemned, especially when it occul
 Hate at night in passing through sma villages where the inhabitants retii Eearly. Too much use of these warnin signals is just as i'll bred as too littl , The thoughtful driver will alwa!
 sound his warning some distance b
 fore he reaches the team or pedestria , he wishes to inform of his coming. ! get right behind a carriage or persc 3 and then let out a deafening screech f inpolite, to say the least
 Many of the powerful machines s the present day exhaust with conside i able force into the road, with the r lsult that a tremendous amount of du . is thrown up. The writer has bel . passed by motorists who would opt
 the exhaust at the moment of passin . with the result that the unfortunat l behind received a literal dust bat . This is a sure mark of the butcher t saloonkeeper or professional gambi . who has attained ito money enough 5, buy a motor car, but has retained | : pristine lack of good manners.
 l. All motor ears are dusty enough, b
 the greater tho speed the more dust q thrown up. Beautiful lawns and hedg : all over the country have been ruin Is by the thick coating of dust whi e passing motor cars have thrown up Ie them, In many cases householde n have had to desert front verandas al g. sit in the rear of the houses because