The Washington times., 1913-08-30

The oft repeated advice, Il always be-
gin my tour plans months before the
day of starting" enjoys perennial youth.
1t is as necessary in 1913 as 1t was in
1908, and II will continue to enjoy this
prominence for years yet TO come.
A motorist going on a two weeks sum-
mer vacation will lose 40 per cent Of
the possibilities of his tour IL he lacks
in the preparation for it. He will go
through II with eyes, seeing but frac-
ton of what is to be seen and with
ears hearing but small part of the
historical roplances that the territory
can unfold to him who searches.
Nobody cares to make labor out Of
tour, yet who would think Of spending
vacation in Europe without a Baeae-
ker? We have just as much need for
Baedekers, if satisfactory ones existed,
in our summer vacation tours. The
party spending week In the vicinity
of Boston will, il not prepared in ad-
vance, return home little wiser except
for having seen a few monuments by
the roadside and heard few snatched
sentences regarding each Of them
1t Means More.
But planning for a tour means much
mCre than simply familiarizing yourself
nadvance regarding the historical and
present-day aspects Of the territory to
be passed through, says Motor Age.
The car must be made ready. The timer
airy must be drafted The night stops
must be roughly selected. Satisfactory
hotel arrangements must be looked into.
Road conditions should receive some
consideration. The most suitable wealth.
er for the territory should be a point
of consideration; there are other de-
tails that with the aid of little prep
aration are practically freed of the ir-
ritatiOns which they not infrequently
provoke on a tour which has been poor
ly prepared for.
Car preparation Is essential. There is
nothing that will disturb the pleasure OF
a vacation tour so quickly as poor
running car. Carbon In the cylinders,
which will slow down the power on hills,
and perhaps cause steaming Of the radi-
ator, with an hours steady. hard driv-
ing. is disturbing to the driver and all
of the party. II has often been respon
sibls for making the arrival at the night
stop too late tor the dinner hour. and
too late 10 secure the hotel accommoda-
tons arranged for In advance.
No motorist should start On a ten-day
or two weeks tour without personally
looking after the motor in this one re-
spect II may not be necessary to have
the cylinders removed and the carbon
scraped out. The removal of it can be
accomplished in other ways, but 1t
should be seen to that the motor Is an
first class running condition a couple OF
days before the tour begins.
Tires Nightmare.
Tire troubles always have been the
nightmare of the tourist and they will
continue TO be so long as poor prepara-
ton is made. II the tires are old 1t is
foolish to leave without at least one new
casing and other repairs which can be
used in case OF a blowout Look over
the stock of inner tubes carried, and IL
some of these have been carried in the
car from 1912 they should be inflated and
thoroughly tested before the tour starts.
Two, three, or perhaps four. additional
inner tubes should he carried, and they,
too should be tested. These tubes should
be carefully wrapped to prevent being
punctured while being carried under the
rear seat or in whatever other place they
may be put. The wise driver will al
ways take the additional precaution of
having some fresh tire repair compound
with him, so that in case Of continued
iIl-Iuck he will be able to make tube re-
pairs. A few tourists take the additional
precaution of the small vulcanizer out
fit. which can be used for tube repairs
along the road.
Hand-in-hand with tires goes the
nece ssity of a satisfactorily working
tire Bump. If the motor Is not fitted with
some form OF power pump. Test your
purnp in advance Do not wait until
you are held up on the road to discover
that the pump is in poor working con-
dition II is difficult to make tire re-
pair without a Jack. See that IL Is prop
erly i'm your tool box.
There are many other little details by
way OF car preparation which should De