Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-08-08

tho automobilists. resulting II
many stay-at homes. rev
hrayed the elements and took sfor' sp'n'
but they were few indeed The roaos lo'
q considerable distance away were ues.i'
cd. with one or two exceptions. y hui''o'
who had been spending the week at heal
by points risked the heavy conoitioh "
The roads and returned to ther hoiies
,rhe farmers more than welcomed Tx
-, .ha crons having Jared badly on ac-
count of the recent drought. In some sc.
60. of MARYLAND the rain failed to make
SIS anpearance and relieve the eAlstihs
conditions.
automobile circles were stirred to ac'ioh
during the past week by largely a..enu
cd meet ing of the floral parade coHihil. ~, !,
at the clubhouse or the Auto;'; Of
of Washington. The automoolils,s
Washington are also taking deep lhtei
est in the movement to construc. p.i
nanent highway between AleXahuria enu
mis- city. The good roads ehthusiae. o.
coming to the front strong, ana Lhans
have STARTLED their willingness 10 aio 'he
project.
Aftertraveling through sea OF mud 1or
miles and miles. Mr., and Mrs. II. 1hau-
wick Hunter were finally compelled u
abandon their motor trip to Denver 1ol''
and took the train from Columbus. Nep''
to their destination. After several Gays
delay at Omaha. on account of rain. ana
on the advice of the weather bureau ,nes
left Omaha and arrived at Nofth Denu
at 10 the afternoon of July ~, after COW
ering fifty miles through deep mud. Inc
North Bend residents informed the party
that they would find good roads west SO
the next morning they set out. with ehe
hone of making Grand Island, 100 miles
distant 1t took them four ana one-haii
hours to cover twenty-three miles tnFousn !
the long stretch of mud. Inc - hneu
us" saws Mr.. Hunter in his letter 10 Inc
star. 4 big mud hole stopped them. and
il was necessary to get assistance from a
farmer who came to their aid WIN a
team of strong horses. The car was iel'
in the mud. while the farmer GROVE MT
and Mrs Hunter to the nearest town. CO.
lumbus Neb six miles distant. the next
morning Mr. Hunter had the car toWed 10
Columbus where it was shipped to Den
yer. Following on the trail of the Gild.
denites Mr.. Hunter says that several OF
the ears were stuck in the gumbo in the
same section of the country Up TO that
time Mr. and Mrs. Hunter had been great
" aided in their tour by the Glidden con-
fetti strewn along the ROAD. ihey "e.e
both disappointed at not being able 10
complete the trip. and had the weather
conditions improved they would propapiy
have showed on Mr.. Hunter commented
on the reasonableness of the farmer. VINO
only charged him $3.50 for driving to CO.
lumbus and return, twelve miles. meals
and towing the car to Columbus. Mr. ana
Mrs Hunter expect to motor to New Mex
leo, as reports are favorable concerning
the roads.
AS a general rule. no matter how ex-
rerienced an autoist is in night driving.
there should be some one in the seat
alongside to watch the road and the ma
iority of drivers are only too glad to have
such assistance. Due to the combination
of deep shadows and strong lights with
the general gloom of the night, all sorts
of objects created in the imagination seem
TO spring up. causing doubt and anxiety
For comfortable night driving, as well as
for the safety of the car and its passen-
gers. powerful lamps are an absolute ne
cessity.
Uncle Joe" Cannon is to have an auto
mobile. At least, it's his for the asking.
In the urgent deficiency bill reported to
the Senate last week provision is made for
an automobile or horses and carriage for
both the Speaker of the House and
the Vice President. AS both are
enthusiastic motorists, there seems to be
but little doubt as to which of the pro-
visions will be victorious. Uncle Joe"
can be seen any afternoon enjoying
ride with his colleagues in big touring
car. At the recent aeroplane flights at
Fort Myer he was frequent visitor, al
ways riding in an automobile. With the
Vice President and Speaker provided with
automobiles they will now be able to keep
pace with President Taft and discuss poll
tics on touring trips.
Pittsburg motorists are being compelled
to provide drip pans for their automobi
to prevent the oil from dripping from
their cars. The ordinance officers in the
Smoky City have started crusade
against owners who have not equipped
their machines with these pans.
X
Representative D. r. Anthony, jr., of
Kansas and Mrs Anthony left last week
on an automobile trip to Beverly, Mass.
They were accompanied by Representative
Phillip Campbell. also of Kansas. After
a visit to President Tafts cottage at Bev-
erly the party will motor to Boston and
several other cities in New England, after
which the car will be shipped to Leaven-
worth, Kan.
As an evidence of the popularity of au-
fomobiles at summer resorts in three
pages on a register of a well known hote.
in New England all of the arrivals but
six came in automobiles. At another no.
tel forty-siX cars were registered, the
property of permanent guests OF the ho-
tel who had brought their cars for great
er enjoyment of the good roads in that
section.
One OF the latest publications issued by
the office of public roads of the United
States Department of Agriculture treats
of the split-log drag. an implement which
numerous experiments have conclusively
shown to be the greatest possible boon
to keep earth roads smooth and passable
Because of its simplicity. it's efficiency
and its cheapness. both in construction
and operation. il is destined to come more
a nd more into general use. With the drag
properly built and its use well under
stood, the maintenance of earth roads
becomes a simple and inexpensive matter
Al the present time there are approx
mately 2.0UO.00O miles of earth roads in
the United States Some of the most i'm
portant of these roads will eventually be
improved with stone. gravel and other
materials. Many others which are equally
important cannot be so improved on ac-
count OF lack Of funds or suitable ma
ferials. while still others will not re-
auire such treatment because of the light
traffic 10 which they are subjected For
these reasons the majority of roads must
be maintained as earth roads for many
years to come. This must be done by
inexpensive methods. and the split-log
drag Will be powerful aid if economy is
the criterion demanded.
Conditions are so varied in different To-