Norwich bulletin., 1914-12-31
DOlNGS IN THE AUTO WORLD
Remarkable Progress Has Been Made in Building of Good be Constructed at Indianapolis Motor speedway-Es- sental That Tires Receive Careful Attention During the Winter.

That remarkabIs progress has been made in the building of good roads throughout the United States during the past few years is proven by data recently obtained by the American Highway association and soon to be published in the official Good Road Year Book for 1915. It has been found that more than 34,000 miles of surfaced roads have been constructed during 1913 and 1914 and that dur ing the 10-year period from 1904 to 1914 more than 96.00e miles have has been really amazing may be un- derstood from the fact that in 1904 there were only 153.000 miles of sur faced roads of all types in the United States. That the movement is at- taining momentum as it goes is prov age mileage constructed per annum during the past 10 years is $500 miles. the total completed for 1914 exceeded 1S,000 miles The report ed with the aid of state funds. of which over $20o 0o0, ,O00 have been expended The state aid movement began in 1892, and has therefore con tinued for 22 years. Only recently has it gotten well under way as the results accomplished for 1913 and 1914 comprise a, total of 10000 miles of state aid highways completed, or in two years time one-third of the entire mileage constructed with the aid of state funds has been com pleted.
 Only six states now, out of total of 4S. are without state highway de- partments and 30 states have granted actual money aid to the building of roads The Year Book, which is the official reference publication for all good roads information, is a large cloth-boun volume issued early in each calendar year by the American Highway association.
 constrsetion of new covered stand, seating 16,ooo people, on the south turn of the Indianapolis motor speed way, will raise the total seating capac- ity of that course to 75,00O, the largest in the world, with the single exception
 of the Yale bowl at New Haven, Ct which will accommodate an equal
 numbers More than a mile of grand stands, the longest in the world, will
 be speedway fixture after It's com pletion.
 Additional improvements are the roofing of all bleachers. the erection oi a communal garage in hack of ths
 judges stand-the old garages havins been torn down to give increased park ing space,-the widening of the tracl
 on the inside 15 feet, and the construc- tion of a concrete safety wall al around. A clubhouse for drivers, com. plete with tennis courts, gymnasium
 and swimming pool. is also conten-
 plated for the spring. Nothing is be
 ing overlooked that might add to tn, comfort and safety of contestants.
 As to rival speedways being pro
 noted throughout the country, tn |, management. declares itself as yer. q optimistic. Tt will all make for tn good of the sport,'' an officer expressei
 himself. Take Elgin, for example. he said. Hundreds of Indiana poii
 people annually go to Elgin becaus
 their interest has been aroused b, 1 the meet here. With Elgin it is tn same only vice versa. The more race over the country, the better the al . around attendance provided. of course , that there is no conflict as to date"
 Ralph De Palma, Annerica's roa : racing champion, is to try once nor : to wipe out his defeat in the Indisnap
 olis 1912 500-mile race, when with bu 2 one lap to go. his machine failed, an
 he slid from first place into las Through his packer, E. C. Patterson ! he has made entry for the next Hoos fer contest, naming the same Tnachin with which he triumphed twice at El : gin. This machine a sister of the on ! that took the French grand pri4, h
 thinks amply fast enough for tn speedway race. even though Pulle  ! at CoroTe. recently.
 DePalma points out that the Coron
 victors all drove machines much l2rg : CT than his own. machines which wi U be ineligible for the Indianapolis cor
 test: moreover, he says there is a lC
 of difference between racing tnre
 hundred miles end five hundred HI
 own car, creation falling we'll unds j. the speedway 30o-cubic-inch limi = which has been tried and tested
 over 1,500 miles of actual racing, look
 to him like the one best bet,
 l One thing seems certain and that l that De Palma will 20 to the post s popular favorite. A more idolize
 driven never lived. The public like
 him for his gameness and sportsman V the latter he lists quite few, anon e them the following: 1912. Santa Mor
 ica light car race, Elgin national trC
 phy race, Elgin free-for-aH, Wander . bilt cup. Milwaukee,: 1913, Cobe troph a 1914, Vanderbilt cup, Santa Monic t Elein national trophy, Cobe troph
 Elgin.
 :, "Germany's supply of gasoline" the u say ''is necessarily imported, for thei 2 are no natural oil wells in that couH h try. BenZol a substitute for gaSoliI1 'e cannot be made in large enough guar O titles England's present mastery
 the seas precludes the possibility
 receiving fresh supplies of gasoliT Il from America except through Hollar = and the Scandinavian countries. ar q these sources are being rigidly supe, l. vised as far as possible by the fleets e the allies. Russia's oil fields will na.
 1I,-aI1T- f1a consNrved for- fi1a 1YGa of II