The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-08-19
NEVIS 0F THE DAY
 IN SOCIAL WORLD A School for the AutomO- bilist SOME STATE FAIR NOTES The Woman Who Is Her Own chauf- feur May Become skIlful by Ex-
 pert Training-Woman' De-
 partment at State Fair.
SOME STATE FAIR NOTES
By MYRTLE MILES.

If l am ever the loving possessor of
 an automobile I am certainly going to
 drive-it myself" remarked a prominent
 Birmingham woman who has hopes" q 1 few days ago. A woman hasn't strength | enough and presence of mind enough to | conduct machine of any size, was the positive remark of a man who drives | his own-a Cadillac of medium build. Only few Birmingham women drive \ their own cars, although there are so | many who have them. Indeed, with the
 exception of Mrs. W. D. Nesbitt, Mrs.
 Solon Jacobs Miss Ruby Munger, Miss 1 Jamie Heat, Mrs. owen Gillespie, Mrs
 Mccormack and Mrs. T. H. Motion, tn ere
 are few brave enough to undertake the
 driving of their own machines. Those
 mentioned are principally electric run | abouts, but their owners drive skill l fully. Savannah, Ga., was one of the
 first cities in the south to go motor
 mad, and several years ago a great
 many women ran their own machines with unquestionable skill, but the Sa
 vannah streets are broad and have for l years been perfectly paved, broad she'll
 roads leading out from the city in 1 every direction; and the women took 1 to running their cars as to one of the
 natural womanly accomplishments. Now
 comes the word that an especial course l has been added to a school in West 1 Fifty-sixth street. New York, where
 women can go for instructions; and just
 now number of fair women of the ;! American motor world are turning
 their attention to this school. So, if
 the union chauffeurs strike, as they did
 in New York some time ago, the wo- l men can, if they wish be independent i The instructor of the motoring class
 in the school where it is taught says
 that "every women who possesses an
 automobile should know how to run it." They begin their lessons in construc-
 ton and not in steering. A very at
 tractive account is given of lesson l in this department of the school which will undoubtedly be of interest to some , of our local enthusiasts:
 i On the top floor of the building we
 found some half dozen young women l busy oyer the chassis of a machine
 The body had been removed, and there
 stood the skeleton, with its wheels and
 cogs and chains, all in perfect running l order. The mechanism was set in mo- | tion by an electric current which l turned leather band fastened to a l wheel
 An instructor was busily explaining
 the art of throwing in the clutch and
 changing the gear. He started the wheels at a very gentle rate, to enable his class to see just what happened
 when the wrong handle was moved. A grating, scratching sound was heard
 and he explained that this would soon ! wear out any machine and if often re- peated, that at most critical time the ] machine would undoubtedly fail, as | the continued strain would tell. He l did not lerve the skeleton with this
 gentle lesson, but placed the handles in the hands Of one of his pupils. Now, Miss Ray" he said, standing l back, i've are going up grade; you are running on high speed; what do you do to save the strain on your ma chine?"
 Throw my machine into a low gear The high gear would not add to the speed in hill climbing. As far as can l see, 1t might be compared to a man who walks; the longer, more forceful l slower step is better and saves | strength"
 Good, fine illustration; but now we've reached the top of the hill" ''Yes, and I change my speed and i gear, and there you are," and sure | enough she did, and the wheels went | around much faster and more smooth I ly."
 Down in the battery department there was lesson in charging batteries and | testing them out in progress. Of all 1 the faces you ever saw the young wo-
 men were making! Who wouldn's I jump in such a wizards shop, where
 the blue and yellow sparks from the
 electrical batteries were being made to give an exhibition of gentle pyrotech-
 nics?
 None of the young women like to work
 in the electrical department, but it is a I necessary part of the course, and to skip
 one part of the work Is detriment to l the study.
 l On the same floor the guiding of mo- ] tor car is learned here in all its details i Four wheels rest on bar about four feet from the floor. steering wheel Is l placed in the correct position at the head | of the machine. On the wall in front of | the machine, is chart with a compass I like needle attached. This needle moves
 with the wheel and shows eaxctly to
 what degree the front wheels must be turned to place the back wheels in a re-
 quired position.
 Scooting in between wagons and avoid ! ing pedestrians by the slightest fraction l of an inch Is learned in this way, and