New-York tribune., 1915-03-14

We started from Portland, Me-. going
through New Brunswick into Pic, que
bee. on the lower St. Lawrence. lhe
Canadians Of that section had read OF,
but had not seen an automobile up
TO that time. and hundreds of times we
were asked what we called the machine.
Curiously enough they did not seem TO
be as much interested IN the mechanism
of the car as in the tires, the thickness
Of which they never tired Of discussing.
Beginning about 1905 | began syste-
matte touring that kept me pretty well
on the go for the next nve years. ne
member, motor cars were no novelty 70
New York in l904-'05: in fact, they were
numerous enough 10 show that our
roads and road knowledge were utterly
inadequate. My early tours were SIM
plv for pleasure. and | enjoyed them
immensely. / Just seemed TO drift into
the gathering of the information that
later appeared IN the White tour books.
We had some good stretches OF klgh-
way around New York. and other large
cities and towns could boast the same.
but the efforts in that direction had
been largely sporadic. From wonder
ful piece of macadam the motorist was
liable 10 run into mire, and the
worst of il was that he had no guide
books. It was largely matter OF gem
eral direction, especially IN an eX-
tended run.
| explored every state east of the
Mississippi River, gathering data on
the various routes. The Southern
States proved especially difficult for
touring. for the reason that no ono
could furnish information OF value. l
actually found my greatest asset
map showing the routes taken by inc
armies during the Civil War. Amos
invariably they took the best routes,
and these afterward became fairly good
roads-better, at any rate, than psrai-
lei routes. At times, however, ran
into impossible spots. and not in1re-
quently was obliged TO sleep IN the
car or on the roadside.
While the motor car played a great
part in bringing a general desire for
better highways, the publication or
road conditions helped along the. good
work. County and state officials began
TO realize that il meant loss OF rev.
eDue TO be branded as having very poor
roads or none fit for motoring, and
they took steps TO gain better reputa-
+ion. The agitation that resulted IN
the building Of the fine highway from
Philadelphia to Gettysburg grew out
of a story that showed how difficult 1t
was TO reach that famous spot.
The best result of my touring in the
South was that it started discussion
of the need for a through highway
connecting the North and South. |
travelled from New York to Savannah
in 1906. and the route selected for the
national highway some years later was
the one | had follc wed to Atlanta. over
that same route, by the way. ! ended
NV pathfnding work a few years ago.
On that run we made detour to Wash
inptor. where we were received py
President Taft and congratulated.
| recall, too, with considerable prlde,
that / helped to make New Jersey
hack down on it's hostile attitude tow
ard nonresident motorists a few years
ago. The run to Philadelphia was then
n fayorite one with New York people
and / showed how it could be done IN
two days without touching New Jer-
sew. Ii proved to the legislators that
their antipathy might mean a big loss
Of revenue. and they did not lose much
time in modifying their law.