Norwich bulletin., 1912-12-20


 and west, which gave the public a
 number of thrills as a game and fur
 nished food for thought for the motor
 enthusiast at Madison Square garden
 recently. There had been rumor of
 the game from time to time, and peo-
 pie had heard that the four wheeled
 ponies on which it was played pro-
 vided as many sensational moments as the four-legged ones of the horse polo
 match. But no one was quite prepar-
 ed for the exhibition which took place
 in the arena still covered, oddly enough,
 with the tanbark of the horse show. AS in regulation polo, the mallet is
 only a factor in the newer game. The horse, or, in this case, the car is quite
 as important to success, if not more so. It was on the performance of these
 cars that the interest of automobile
 men naturally entered. Occasionally there was a bit of engine trouble but for the most part the little machines, stripped to the bare frames and lack ing even bonnets. stood up manfully under conditions that were grueling to say the least. Every canon of good motor car driving, from the viewpoint of the car, was broken time and again, as the drivers sought to block the bounding leather ball or feed gas to their motors until the pop of explo- sions became an almost continuous roar in an effort to be the first "on' the elusive prize. Turns so short that they reshuletd in turnovers were made several times, but~st the motors re
 mained operable to the surprise of the onlookers.
 Over the radiators and the gasoline tanks in the rear hoops of steel served to break the jar and make the ma chimes roll more easily when there was an upset, but that they could survive
 much of this kind of treatment, not to mention the locking of wheels, furious
 braking and even full-tilt collisions,
 made those who had driven cars in
 distance races believe that the internal combustion engine was one of the SeV- en wonders of the modern world. Whether the game can ever become
 general-even as general as pony polo -is a moot question. It involves, in the first place, deal of expense, for, played in earnest and in the heat of the desire to win, big repair bill would be inevitable. In other words, 1t would be an expensive thing to pro
 mote in professional way. The automobile department of the secretary of states office has sent out
 notices to all automobile owners noti- flying them that their registration ex~ pires on December 31. and that the markers to be used on and after Jan uary l, 1913. will be blue background with white figures for private owners, and those to be used by manufactur- CTS, dealers and liverymen, white background with blue figures. How the motor truck is penetrating what few years ago was considered wild in the far west was told recently by E. L. Ferguson, the veteran pilot, in an address before the Motor Truck club of New York MT. Ferguson in relating his experiences as captain or the Transcontonental Alec truck eXpe- dition declared that the rapid improve ments of roads and bridges have re- moved the last obstacle to employing power vehicles to their best advant-
 age.
 While facilities for motor freight ing are far from ideal in such states
 as Wyoming, Utah and Nevada, and in
 parts also of Iowa; Illinois, Ohio and
 Indiana, the spirit of better road and
 bridge conditions has taken hold of
 business men all the way across the
 transcontinental route" said the
 speaker.
 Here are few facts that should in-
 fiuence the sinstallatfon of motor bus
 lines in preference to street car lines
 where the circumstances are favor
 able:
 To install motor bus line 1t Is not
 necessary to tear up the street. erect
 trolley wires, etc.
 Motor buses are just as adaptable to
 1. tod 'otyc SfToGL
 cars.
 Instead of dumping it's passengers
 in the middle of the street, the motor
 bus stops at the very curbing ana thus
 makes both entrance and exit more
 convenient and safe.
 Street blockades need not affect motor bus-it can make detour arc, Id the obstruction.
 Motor buses are more comfortable and attractive to the public than street cars.
 Abroad. in the larger cities, motor
 buses are used, almost exclusively in some instances, which proves tneir
 practicability on large scale.
 "The present condition of the Euro
 pean and Oriental markets points to a, record breaking season for the Amer
 ican built car abroad" says R. M. Lockwood, head of the foreign depart
 ment of a big motor car company.
 "For this time of year, trade Is un-
 usually brisk and I look for the 1915
 season to show unprecedented deVel-
 onments in the sales of moderate-pric-
 ed cars in foreign countries. Especially
 in the far east are theScondft1ons such
 as they have never been before. Dur ing the past 12 months the trade of
 these Oriental countries has exceeded all expectations and the motor car
 manufacturers of the @tn1ed states now have a hold on this market which ena ables them to compete on an equal footing with the great producers Of Frace, Germany and England" Carrying ten passengers whose total weight was 1749 pounds, a Franklin Little Six touring car recently made test run up two steep hills at Fort An cient. near Cincinnati. Five passengers were on the front and rear seats, two on each running board, and the tenth sat on the hood. Thus burdened, the machine drove up and down two steep hills twice in succession, making two dead stops on the way up. At the end of this test. the hood was lifted and the engine found to be so cool thaA the passengers SVulu Ae"J on it without the slightest discomfort. This test was the result of attempts of the writer of Cincinnati autcmo- bile column to settle his doubts as to l the practical working value of the air | cooled system.
 With tho early opening of headquar- ters at Washington. D. C.. by the American Automobile association, the campaign of the organized motorists 1 of the United States for national roads l takes on new vigor and becomes cen tered. properly. at the national capital. | While the principal headquarters Of | the A. A. A. will remain In New YorK' inc association's policy of promoting l inc Dlan of road building by the fed eral government has been found to
 necessitate such close and constant touch with the various federal agen-