The Washington times., 1911-06-06
AUTOMOBILE HILL
CLIMB PLANS NOT
|NTERFERED. WITH
Date Advanced Week After
Postponement of Gid
den Tour.
By HARRY WARD.

Il will be pleasing news to the motor
fans to learn that the hill climb planned
- the Autom obile Club Of Washington
for the entertainment of the Glidden-
ties will take place notwithstanding the
postpUnem snt nf the Glidden tour. The
date originally selected ys- June 19, but
II has been found advisaSi~ - put 1t
forward one week. This will E1Vr st.
Ted" s. Johnston and the members Of -
clubs contest committee more time to
work cut the details Of the event. With
Cildden drivers eliminated from the en-
tries. the climb will be a purely local
affair and as 4 number of handsome
cups will be offered as prizes. the event
promises to be a big success. Captain
Johnston returned Yesterday from
weeks automobile trip to New York
and Immediately got busy with club af-
fairs He has received assurances from
a numter Of the dealers that they would
enter cars, and it is likely all the we'll
known makes of machines represented
mere will be in the lineup. Entry
blanks will be issued early this week,
and will be placed in all the automobile
salesrooms and garages
W. II. Casho, who has succeeded
Frank Boyd as Washington representa-
tive of the Warner Speedometer Conf
pary. arrived here yesterday and made
the rounds of the automobile sales
rooms. Mr.. Casho has been connected
with the Warner Company for a number
Of years. Mr.. Boyd will leave Friday
for Boston. where he will assume the
management OF the Century Tire Com
pary's branch in that city.
Work on the Savannah course where
the grand prize race, and probably the
Vanderbilt cup race, will be held this
fall, will commence at once, according
TO advices from Savannah. When the
drivers make their appearance there in
November a new circuit will be found,
one that can not be excelled in this
country. Already military protection
has been secured. and as last years
grandstand will be used, the only work
to be done is to the course, which will
be made as smooth as asphalt pave
ment. 1t is expected at least one hun
dred entries will be received for the
different races.
Commenting on the growth of the
electric motor car business in this city,
w. R. Emerson, of Emerson & Orme,
said:
1T is to woman that the electric
pleasure vehicle owes its marked de-
velopment. Had this type not appealed
10 feminine fancy, because Of it's SIM
plicity and cleanliness, the electric
never would have become so popular.
The woman of moderate income has
found that she can afford an electric
which she can pilot herself whereas a
gasolene car, requiring the expense of a
chauffeur, is in many cases prohibitive
10 oil hoN fYtTtr-
before them, for, while the gasolene
motors are the best for sport, the cleo
tric motor is the best for the utilitarian
purposes of cities. because the great
majority of such service comes within
the limits of fifty miles or so for pas
senger vehicles and thirty miles for
commercial vehicles. The hauling of
tons of merchandise on a truck from a
store to a railroad freight station, the
doctor making his round OF calls, the
transportation Of a theater party in a
cab or calling tour, in brougham or vic
toria, are examples OF utilitarian serv-
ice. The suitability of electricity for
this service is uneQualed, and one has
only to recall the properties Of the elec-
trio motor and of the electric storage
battery to understand why"
-
Some of the drivers in the 5o0-mile
race at Indianapolis last week have
taken issue with Ray Harroun, the win
Ter, in his declaration that the limit OF
endurance is reached at the end of 500
miles of travelling in a racing automo-
bile. Ralph Mulford, who finished sec
ond, has come out strongly against Har-
roun's argument. ANY driver" says
Mulford, who cannot drive on the In
dianapolis track 500 miles without relief
iH not in physical condition to drive In
long distance races. OF course, 1 realize
there is a difference in cars. Some of
the machines which contested at Indian
apolis were so badly balanced as to tire
the drivers out in a short time in an
effort to keep them in a straight line.
The better cars, however, were so con-
structed as to make II easy for the
drivers to handle them. I maintain that
q 600-rnile race such as last week 8
event is far from reaching the limit of
endurance of either car or driver"
That there ought to be q national
touring contest held each year worthy
Of the name is conceded, but It will
never be done so long as the present
system Of handling the Glidden tour is
employed, is the declaration Of one Of
the best posted automobile writer's in
this country. The writer in question is
Duncan Curry, who says:
"The chief trouble with the Glidden
trophy is that all the cars, large and
small, no matter what they cost and re-
gardless Of their horsepower, compete
on even terms, instead Of being classi-
fed according to price or horsepower,
as they are in every other competitive
event, unless It be a purely speed con-
test. The makers of the low-priced and
small-power cars have gone in on the
theory that through some slip-up one
of their cars might win, while the
makers OF the larger and more power
full cars in the past have seen to 1t that
the roads were as bad as possible and
that the time schedule was made severe,
in order to eliminate the low-priced
cars.
ITO such an extreme was this carried
last year that every car on the tct'
was penalized, and only a few were able
to finish at all. This year the man
ayers went to the other extreme, and
selected a route over good roads and a
very easy daily schedule of runs, but
added a little joker in the way Of
hill climb, where the mathematical
sharps were expected to figure out
winner from the clean-score division"