The Washington herald., 1908-03-02
AUTO TOURS SEVERE
Motor Vehicle Triumphs in
Many Strenuous Runs.
UTILITY OF CAR IS SHOWN
New YOrk-tO-Parfs Race Has In
flcenced Tendency for Tests I'm
Leading Machines Have Made
Really Remarkable Records.

New York. March l.-Automobile tour
ing under strenuous conditions has been
the most pronounced feature of motor
activity during the two months Of the
present year
Apart from the New York 20 Paris
race. which has exerted a vital influence
upon this tendency to demonstrate what
the motor car can do under exceptional
conditions, interest has been prominently
directed 70 larger number of long dis
tanee tours than have ever before been
attempted within the same period of the
year
The object in each case was the same
to show the reliability of the stock tour
ing car, such as is purchased for ordi-
nary pleasure purposes, to travel prac-
ticany anywhere in the country that is
desired. Delays and difficulties have been
eneountered. These were to be expected
in season abounding in snowstorms.
thaWs, swollen rivers, frozen and muddy
roads, all Of which were met with in
the demonstrating tours and competitions
since the first Of the year.
The motor vehicle has come out tri-
umphantly at all times. One OF the most
significant facts that the public has
learned from these object lessons Of auto
mobile efficiency is the almost total
absence OF engine trouble What accl-
dents and delays have occurred directly
traceable 20 the machine have been due
10 tires, damaged or broken wheels. axles
and other constructive features entirely
distinct from the motor. The splendid
running abilities Of the five cars in the
New York 70 Paris race has been little
less than revelation even 20 those who
are familiar with the structural abilities
OF the standard motor car Instead OF
starting of as lightly equipped as pos
sible. most Of the cars in the Paris run
were heavily loaded. and yet despite this
handicap they negotiated the abomlnabIe
and muddy roads Of the Mohawk Valley
and plowed through the snow drifts OF
Ohio and Indiana without the slightest
injury. in most cases. 10 any part OF the
car. accomplishing trip mat would be
considered a veritable triumph for a well
built touring car carrying as little addl-
uonal weight as possible for the excep-
uonal conditions to be encountered.
Some Long Trips.
Some of these tours that have attracted
widespread attention recently have been
the 2,o00-mile trip OF the Oldsmobile from
this city to New Orleans the White
steam cars journey OF an equal length
from New York TO Savannah. making q
eircuitous route through Ohio. Kentucky.
Tennessee. and Alabama; the run Of the
Studebaker car now in progress from this
city to Fort Leavenworth; the pioneer
tours through the jurgles OF Florida from
Jacksonville 10 Miami by a Cleveland and
a Franklin car: the trip through the IN
terror OF Cuba by a Packard while a
Thomas and a Thomas Detroit have made
extensive runs through Indiana. Ohio.
New York, and the New England States
10 show the possibilities Of successful
motor travel in the severest winter sea
son.
The Florida tours from Jacksonville to
Miami have caused considerable interest
from the fact that it IS proposed 10 hold
an endurance test over the route late in
March, the distance being about 40 miles.
The Cleveland car. driven by James NJ
Laughlin, third, Of Pittsburg, was the first
10 make the trip, which il accomplished
in about ten days. It was a pathfndlng
trip for the coming contest. and more
than forty signs were placed in position
marking the course plainly. L. V Jur-
gensmeyer, Of Palm Beach. drove a
Franklin car over the route. and his ex-
periences were similar TO those encoun-
tered by the Cleveland. A suggestion OF
what the endurance competitors viii find
is given IN AR Jurgensmeyer's brief de-
scription Of his run:
we fOTded tWenty-six lakes. and the
entire length OF water gone through was
more than six miles Each body OF water,
over 100 feet across, was measured. and a
record kept. but the bodies OF water IN
der that width were not counted, as they
were too numerous. No one can imagine (
how many stumps and trees We had 70
run over. Every member of the party
had an ak. and they were all in use. Out
side OF the larger towns, as Jacksonville, /
Palm Beach, and Ormond. we saw scarce
ly any houses. The machine, however,
was in perfect condition at the end of the
run"
The run by the White steamer 70 Savan-
nah was made by R. H Johnston, a mem
Der Of the touring board and the good
roads board Of the American Automo-
bile Association His idea was to find q !
good touring route from the North 20 the !
South, and 70 secure accurate data re-
garding the nature of the roads. From
New York. he went 10 Philadelphia. then |
TO Gettysburg. and crossing the Blue Ridge 1
Mountains. went TO Hagerstown. Nd. /
From Cumberland, the old National high I
way was followed for $50 miles, over the (
Allegheny Mountains, then through /
Wheeling. Columbus, and Cincinnati, fol-
lowed by a 900-mile trip through Ken
tucky. where more good roads were found /
than had been expected
z
roads were rather rough, but the going
was not particularly severe, except on the [!
twenty-fve-mile detour from the main /
route, in order to visit the Mammoth Cave. /
The next large city visited was Nash /
vile, Tenn, and then we We're agreea bly, I
surprised 70 find a toll road from that |
city TO the Alabama line. 100 miles TO
the south From Huntsville, Ala, some |
bad roads were found, owing 70 an alb |
normally heavy rainfall The car climbed
Lookout Mountain and visited Missionary |
Ridge. and the battlefield of Chicka- |
mauga.
Trails Through Sand.
THE trip from Macon to Savannah was
by far the hardest portion of the journey. |
The roads are hardly more than trails I
through the sand, which becomes heavier /
as one nears the coast But the prinei- /
pal reason why few automobiles ever at /
tempt this trip. even at more propitious 4
time Of the year, is because almost all 4
of the streams are without bridges Even /
those streams which have bridges must
be approached through water. as the
bridges are built only over the deepest I
parts Often the water washed over our i
big 36-inch wheels. We were almost three
days in making the 2c0 miles between /