Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1908-05-16
FAST SPEEDING AUTOS.
Experiments to Determine to What
Extent They are Road destroyers.

Experiments to Determine to what
Extent They are Road destroyers.
| Washington, ID. c., May 14.--Auto-
mobiles are road destroyers. This the
conclusion reached by the experts OF
the good roads department OF agTicul-
i ture and of highway experts in prac-
tically every county of the civilized
world.
/ The net results of the conclusion
eventually will be that every owner OF
an automobile will have to pay tax on
his machine, the proceeds OF which
shall 60 to the repairing OF damages
done to roads by the horseless We
hicles.
! 1t is not known generally, but never
theless is fact. that the good roads
department is conducting a series OF
experiments to determine just what
amount of damage is done to high
ways by automobiles. The expert
ments are being made under the direc-
ton of L. w. Page, director OF public
roads, and he expects to submit an
elaborate report to the International
road congress which is to be held next
October in Paris In a preliminary
report on the subject, Director Page
says:
while the racing car md others OF
various weight and types made many
trips over the selected stretch of a
mile and half at varying rates Of
speed, from five, to sixty-five miles an
hour, corps of skilled photographers.
equipped with the most modern de-
vices for photographing vehicles at
very high speeds, made accurate rec
ords Of the various tests. 1t has lone
been known to highway engineers that
automobiles were rapidly shortening
the lives of the rock-surface roads Of
the world. and many experiments have
been made in the past six or seven
years to determine the actual cause OF
the damage done.
Those who witness our expert
ments could not doubt for a moment
that the various road experts all over
the world are correct in the opinion
that very rapidly driven automobiles
are tearing up the surface Of the mac
adam road, for not only were huge
clouds of dust lifted into the air and
blown off the road, but careful exam
ination showed that the material I'M
der the wheel tracks of the machine
was distinctly loosened and travelled
even DRUG the short period of these
tests. No such effects were noticeable
after the passing of iron-tired vehicles
the series of tests beginning with the
passing of horse-drawn vehicle. This
was photogr aphed as it moved along
and also as the wagon tires passed a
gwen mark. Then the automobiles
were sent over the course The first
was a heavyweight touring car NOV
ing at five miles an hour. A series OF
pictures was made of that car on its
many journeys at varying rates OF
speed until its maximum OF forty-five
miles an hour was attained. Then the
work was taken up by the huge
racer, which tore down the road first
at speed OF fifty miles an hour then
at fifty-fve, sixty. and finally at sixty
five. 1t fairly lifted the road-surfacing
material as 1t sped along. regular
ridges of rock dust rising In front OF
the rear wheels and floating away in
binding clouds. 1t was plainly notice
able and was commented on that the
automobiles, when moving at the slow
rates of speed, equal to the speed
made by horse-drawn vehicles, made
very little dust, the theory that fast
speeding automobiles are responsible
for road surface destruction beng
pretty thoroughly substantiated by
these means"