Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-10-11
HIS FIRST RIDE

| tor Of my life and limb, monkeyed with
various contraptions and ''let her out.
The landscape dashed before my eyes-a
heterogeneous mass of green and yellow
and brown, while the silvery crysta! ana
! blue of the Potomac danced eldn-like In
| the brilliant glare of the afternoon sun.
The full speed ahead" was not. however.
| pleasant sensation. 1t was UNIQUE. out
not desirable to one who hardly felt good
enough to approach the heavenly gates
| just then. l touched Pierre on the Shout
| der timidly-for / had a mighty respect
for the chauffeur by this time-and IN a
sinking. plaintive voice informed him that
he could not test the ability Of his brakes
any too soon for my satisfaction. He did
as I requested-there was burning.
cracking sound and in an instant we were
motiOnless-at least the car was motion
less while I was thrown against the front
seat l thought 1 detected grin on
Pierre's pleasant face at my discontinue.
but hope 1t was only a peculiar freak OF
| the suns rays playing with those brilliant
Irish-beg pardon, French-eyes.
You can control this thing easier than
one can a horse" 1 asserted
4
"Surest thing that ever happened" was
the rejoinder. while the car proceeded
like trim yacht under steady breeze
over the we'll kept roadway. 1t was pleas
ant riding--no strain, no harsh movement
anywhere. Just rhythmic motion which
was easy. and oh! SO restful.
Pierre is interested in good roads, as are
all automobilists. and in order to interest
me in this movement he arranged for the
| next thrill. We had circled round and
| reached the Long bridge by this time.
With one hand he pointed tragically to
the white dome Of the Capitol. to the
White House. and to the Washington
Monument. Then he proceeded in stilted
rhetoric to tell me what it all meant:
You see those buildings where our ma
ton perpetuates the memory of the man
to whom that monument was raised.
Well, sir, l am going to show you some
thing right within sight Of them that
will astonish you-somethng that Is a
disgrace to the 60OOO,OOO people who are
ruled FROM"
Thud, thud. thud-we were over the
bridge and on the Virginia road, and as
the car proceeded I appreciated to the
were shaken up and jinged in the most
astounding fashion. Perhaps the con-
trast would not have been so pronounced
| were 1t not that we had come to a realiza-
ton of it SO suddenly My chauffeur looked
at me with eloquent eyes and l answered
his look with several swift mods An
effort to speak at such a time would prove
temptation to your teeth to do damage
to your tongue. But we understood each
other, and the car was headed home. A
sigh of relief escaped me as We reached
the bridge and the Virginia roadway was
left behind. Again we glided here and
there over asphalt and macadam until the
setting sun threw it's last look at the
shaft of the Washington Monument.
1 was thoroughly pleased and flattered
by the thrills of my first automobile ride,
and was anxious for more. After a hearty
meal l was thinking over the thrills seat
ed in my armchair, when sleep enveloped
me, and 1 was awakened from my dream
by the shock of full speed ahead at
LOCO miles an hour. During the short
nap my fancy had given due attention to
the "carbureter." the pickup" the
| 'shock absorber.'' the "sparker, tread
ing true" "cranking, and last but not
| least, to the comfortable seat in the
| tonheau and the polite chauffeur.