The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1911-12-26
Valuable Hints
 For Auto Owners
Things Which Owners and Operators of Motor Cars
 Should Know

|
 There were seve:: makes of foreign cars in American racing in 1911 1 Special automobile instruction in German is now taught in the automo-
 bile school of the West Side '. M. c. A., in New York
 l It is estimated that sixty automobiles
 a day are being sold in Southern Cali fornia, which already has licensed
 about 60.G00 machines.
 l Seventy hill-climbing contests of
 importance were held during the sea son just closed in the United States. AS | 8 general proposition the time made
 was better than it was in 1910. There were also twenty-five road races dur | ing the season.
 The motor racing tendency, as shown l in 1911, is toward standardization, but on different lines from those suggested l by the futile grand circuit fiascO. A l speedway near New York is projected, and in the Central West is movement
 to build a circuit for track racing. The guayule rubber industry in Tor
 reon, Gomez Palacio and other towns l of the TorreOn region of Mexico is ser iously affected by the general labor troubles. More than 10000 workmen in TOrreon, Gomez Palacio and LerdO
 went on strike the early part of No-
 vember and the trouble is still unset l tied. As a result there is some fear l that the price of tires may be affected. After experiments covering more l than a year, which have resulted satis- l factorily, the Indianapolis board of public safety has announced a policy
 of replacing the fire department with motor-drtven equipment as rapidly as | possible At first such installations
 are to be largely in the districts hay | ing paved streets, although expert | ments are now about to be made with such equipment in districts where tbere
 are some unimprOved streets.
 | Automobnists and others in Mexico are greatly interested in the announce ment by President Madero that one of his policies will be to promote the
 construction of good roads through
 out the republic. There are already
 several splendid highways in the fed
 era, district. The favortte highway for automobile pleasure seekers of the | capital is that which runs between Mexico City and Toluca. The distance l is 45 miles, and the route lies through grand scenery.
 By one expert, the recent series of Savannah races is declared to have demonstrated that a 17.14-mile course ! is too long, and that a 10-mile one 1 would be preferable, particularly with small fields of cars. such as at pres
 ent, when not over sixteen compete in
 
 frequently g. and 4-minute waits, and during these the interest of the crowd waned, and as some expressed it.. 1 They forgot that there was a race on." The 10-mile course with wid- l CT roadway, is better for holding the I interest of an audience than a longer course, particularly during the last half of race
 l Finding the center of the European automobile market, slipping away from | ~>Se r Brussels, the French Association of Automobile Manufacturers, presided over by Marquis de Dion, is determin ed that the annual automobile salon at the Grand Pafais in Parts shall be re- vived and that the income from it shall be distributed among the exhfbi- tors, so as to reduce the cost of stag | ing the great show, rather than turn i ing the profits into the treasury Of the l Automobile Club de France, whose leading men are charged with the re- 1 sponsitFlity for having weakened the position of the French industry by first rendering the cost of the annual show prohibitive for the benefit of the club, and afterward abolishing it; all for the selfish motive of preventing small and progressive manufacturers from mak- | ing themselves conspicuous before the pubNc and establishing competition with the big and prosperous concerns which the leaders in the club repre- sent.
 l Complete rules governing the award 1 ing of a gold trophy for the first auto l mobile touring continuously between Vancouver, B. C., and Dawson Cor any other settlement in the Canadian Yu- kon or Alaska, an equal or greater dis l tance north than Dawson). via a con 1 tinuation of the, Pacific highway l route, have been issued by the Pacific 1 Highway Association. This makes the third trophy to be put up by the asso- citation for pioneering runs along pro- jected combinations of fts route. The first, for the Seattle -Hazelton trip. was l won by P. E. Sands; the second, for a tour from San Diego to the City of Mexico, will probably be contested for next spring or summer. All these tro- phies are similar in appearance, being reproductions in gold of an automobile of the tire and with space on the brake drum for the winners name. The rules for the Dawson tour, covering nineteen clauses, are largely similar to these of the other contests. Inn mense difficulty would attend an at tempt for this more than 1,4O0-mile run at present, but with the recent discov- cry of enormous coal fields in the Groundhog district. 40 miles north of Hazleton, tt is probable the British Co., lumbia government will begin a wagon road into that country along the pro- jected Pacific highway route. This, l together with the provincial govern ment's activity in behalf of highways and the recently avowed Federal in- | tention of helping roads in the prov inces, encourages the promoters of the | Dawson run to believe that it can be 1 undertaken with a considerable chance l for success within a year or SO.
 The Automobile Club of Yonkers, N. | r., has leased a large plot of ground l on which clubhouse will be erected. 1
 The Wart Department at Washington has ordered four more motor trucks | for field service, to be used in connec- tion with army manoeuvres.
 Many times when on the road it is necessary to jack up a wheel for one reason or another. A small piece of 2-inch by 4-inch board about foot long will then come in very handy to stand the jack on, especially if the road is muddy, or the ground very soft. This also serves to make the jack higher and gives it a greater height of lift
 Like the terms automobile and chauffeur, we have seized upon the French word hangar" as the home of the flying machine. Abroad it sig nifies any shed, loft or similar struc- ture, but to the American it will nev- CT mean anything but an "airship ga- rage" Its variations of pronuncia- tiOn are quite as numerous and amus-