Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-08-03

Special Correspondence OF The Star.
PARIS. July % 1907.
OR some weeks past l have been
r. s sssspa Of inc, motor car. In other
words l have been alternately
uuaffing the wine of life and chok-
ing over the bread of sorrow and despair
Nobody who has not been through similar
experience can have any idea of the mental
torture which such a selection involves, at
least to a woman. AS far as | was per
sOnally concerned | went about the pur-
chase In exactly the same way do that OF
Il hat-that is 10 say, / knew from the very
beginning what car | meant to have-but
tust as | make a point or trying on every
other hat in the shop so l made a point
OF going for a trial trip in every other
make of car. l need hardly remark that all
our friends were only too eager 10 help us.
Each individual was convinced that there
was only one make OF car for MS and that
was his own. 1t surely is Iunny the way
people viii hypnOtZe themselves into be
Eeving in the absolute PERFECTION OF 'heir
own possessions. on the subject OF motors
the case rivals even that of sewing ma
chine fame. No matter how much car
Tattles OF vlbrates or how prehistoric 1t
may be In build. In power or in mechanical
construction, to the proud possessor ii is
the only one worth having.
Every time we went on one of our trial
trips We came home with our fan. shaken
but stll with the beautiful hope unshat
tered that the next run would prove the
final try out. We looked long and fire.
quently for our Ideal car. and no manager
here in Paris we left wIenout a ray of
hope as 10 the ultimate booking of our
order. At last the day dawned when 1t
seemed inevitable that if wished to get
a car delivered this summer we must come
to a decision. This eventful day was
OF last weeks seven, and l never expect
TO forget II, for il was the longest and the
hottest | ever remember rs there was no
time 10 lose We had several cars meet us
early in the morning In the Bots, and |
think we spun from this point of vantage
back and forth Into every nook and corner
within miles of gay Paree. | did not pre-
tend to enjoy II, as | had previous drives.
and even cur expert friend who accom-
panied US on all our excursions into the
unknown was too busy this day trying to
keep himself from becoming liquid and
diluting the gasoline 10 pay uch attention
10 the running of the car. To make long
story short, We were pleased with the
manner In which the last car took hill
that If 1t had not been for d subsequent
breakdown We might have closed bargain
with the firm. Another car was fitted with
u delightful patent footstOol that took my
fancy. but the expert after diving into the
engine shook his head, muttering some
thing about the works being of soft steel
or something Of the kind. l know II con-
veyed meaning TO me.
At last our friend was seized with a bril-
put all responsibility as to our ultimate
selection OF car on some one else. He
would like US. he suggested. to an &C
quatntarCe of his. the greatest authority
on cars In France. Whatever he said and
what ever he recommended We might take
as the final word on motors In general. We
rushed TO the office of the great man only
to hear that the one and only car was
q French machine, the name of which we
had never even heard. but which, he added
as an afterthought, was just going to be in
troduced to the public. and he was to be
manager of the company.
BY this time We were quite convinced
that We no longer desired to possess a
motor and that If 1t had not been for the
fact that as we were driving home in a state
OF extreme depression we were run into by
q large auto and our cab smashed to pieces
We might really never have decided on
UP out OF the dirt and felt our bones to
see IL they were broken we concluded that
In the interest OF our own safety II alb
solutely essential to provide ourselves as
soon as possible with "A car. For Proyi-
dence, as Napoleon once observed Is ever
on the side OF the big battalions. and GER
tainiy in a collision between two vehicles
II makes considerable difference whether
you are In the larger and stronger one or
In the smaller and weaker.
We signed the contract next morning for
the car we had seen first, but wild horses
will not drag the name of the make out
OF me. Although II Is not yet delivered. my
relative already feels the proud sense of
possessorship which makes him confidently
assert that IL 10 the one and only car on
the market for speed, reliability. luxury,
Sto.
II Il not often one gets In the Lackneyed