The Washington herald., 1912-08-18

motor vehicle. with reference to his
| ability. together with a certificate OF
] mental, moral. and physical fitness, in.
dorsed by three or more responsible cit.
| izens: compulsory Jail sentence for a
| second or third violation OF the speed
| regulations. or even upon first convic.
| ton, IL the onense was of an agra.
waited nature: compulsory suspension OF
| revocation Of licenses for ofrenses agains,
| speed laws; authorization OF the police
to make arrests for infections of speed
| laws, instead OF merely reporting same;
/ the state license tag on a motor. vehicle
whose driver violates the law 70 be
prima facie evidence that the driver is
the person in whose name the vehicle
is registered at the Office Of the secre-
| tary Of the Commonwealth. In view OF
| the foregoing. It was resolved to appoint
a committee TO prepare ordinances COW
ering these points. with the aid Of the
city attorney, for presentation to the
Council.
The road patrols of the Maryland State
Roads Commission have received order.
TO note the license number Of every mo-
tor car which they may detect exceed
ing the legal twenty-five-mile-a n-hour
speed limit. and to report the Offenders
to the commissioner of motor vehicles,
who Is authorized to either revoke the
license OF the person violating the law.
fine him. or even send him to Jail. The
road patrols are employed by the roads
, commission to keep the new State high
ways In repair, and each patrol has a
section OF five miles long under his
charge. which he is supposed to cover
two or more times a day.
Thomas p. Hickman, head of one of
Washington's largest commission houses.
Is motoring with a party through the
Northeastern States
The party left Washington last week.
ana VIII be away for more than two
weeks. 1t has completed a tour Of
Delaware and New Jersey, and is now
In New York. From there II will go TO
Boston and will return by way of Sara
toga, Albany, and down the Hudson.
The management OF the indianapolis
Motor Speedway has abandoned its plan
of holding a fall meet on August 81
and September ? although a sanction
for the event had already been granted
by the contest board OF the A. A. A.
The reason given Is that II was not
possible to obtain the promise of
enough really good entries to make the
holding of such meet worth while
There Is nothing to beat the old
fashioned hand that graced the top
of post and literally pointed the way
at the functions OF country roads for
our forefathers. This was simply a
board bearing the name of the next
village and the distance and ending in
crudely carved hand. Where two or
three roads crossed. a hand dumbly in
dicated where each lead to. and the re-
suit was a signboard that he who runs
may read" That stumpy index finger
shortened by the rains and winds Of
years exposure. never pointed wrong,
and its meaning could be read almost
as well on a dark night as II could in
the daytime. There are still a few of
these relics to be found in the "hinter-
land" but on well-traveled roads you
have to come to a dead stop right in
front OF the enameled iron directory"
and study II out. A short-sighted man
would never get some of the fine lines
unless he used a pair OF opera glasses,
but then short-sighted man has no
business driving a car, anyway. Every
motorist who drives in the East will
recognize the species from the descrip-
ton.
The signs posted by many of the clubs
are Il great Improvement over those
just mentioned. There has not been
the same attempt to crowd a dozen diff
ferent directions in a small space and
good use has been made OF red arrows
to indicate the direction. More attention
has been devoted to making them ar
tistic, but to that extent they are less
practical than the old weather beaten
board with its index finger. There ap-
pears to be no reason why this old
CIV eli Orts rd ha
as much an object of art as its latter
day successor. and, it would have the
advantage Of being more legible and
more permanent, due to the use OF enam-
els in bright colors. Such a sign could
be read at a glance, its whole story
could be gathered In one "eye-full." and
there would be no necessity Of backing
UP time and again to examine one Of
those modern attempts at road d.
rectories at close range Give us back
the old sign made by up-to-date methods
instead of the board daubed by the viii
lage artist who often got his Ms and SIS
hind end foremost and we will have the
most practical guide to road directions
that can be devised.
1t Is a well-known fact that tire ax-
pense has become the haunting bugbear
Of the majority Of motorists. both IN
ftiated and prospective. There is only
one remedy and that is careful driving
and a good vulcanizer, assuming that
tires are kept properly inflated. You
would not expect long service from a pair
of shoes II there were no cobblers to re-
shoes on your car? They are just as
subject to wear and their work Is harder
I'm proportion to their strength. II the
car Is carefully kept on the best part of