The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-07-30

r second series of kites, and the two l series are both controlled by the en- | zine power of the car, through spe- 1 ciaI winding drums, the arrangement being similar to that employed in con nection with captive balloons. By using engine power, the cable connected to both series of kites can l be drawn at the rate of 500 feet per minute, which has the double advan- 1 tage of making it possible to pull the I observer down quickly out of any i danger from ,gunf1re that may arise, and of allowing 9. sufficient air press ure to be concentrated on the lifting 1 surfaces of the kites to prevent a sudden fall
 ADaches of the Road
 The woman Apache is hard to han dle. Because of her sex she feels that deference is due her on the road-al1 men must take to the gutters. She uses the middle of the road instead of keeping on the proper side, to the disconfture of every car. she meets. But the meanest of all is the official Apache of the road. Who hasn't seen him N He is a city p1ate-holdeP. He thinks he owns the earth. His business is more important than anybody e1se's, but he imagines he must get there a mile a minute. And the policeman whose business it is to see that all traffic laws are obeyed salutes him and -yells at other people to get out of the way.
 No man who keeps within a speed of thirtyhve miles an hour in the open country and observes city speed rules can be called reckless. Faster than that, he is an Apache to be stunned by all reputable automobiI- fstS. At more than thirty-ive miles the man at the wheel cannot handle his car properly because he doesn't know what is ahead and he can't stop short enough to provide for the safe ty of the occupants of his car or of any car he is apt to meet. On curves at a, faster speed it is imp possfb1e for car coming to see if the other is sufficiently far enough over on the right side of the road to pass dn safety.
 Our standard roads are sixteen feet in width. This gives eight feet for each car in passing. At more than thirty-fve miles an hour a car has a sway in rounding at curve that will not leave clearance for the fellow com ing in the other direction and observ-, thermore our roads are not banked high enough at curves to prevent swaying and skidding if a car is going at a greater speed, and the result is that the luckless autoIn obilist coming the other way is sideswiped and up- set-or worse.
 You may be sure that the Apache who violates this essential of safety for the other fellow is also the one who ignores all danger signals on the roadway. What does he care? He belongs most likely, to that seven per cent. of automobiles who run away after the accident and are never two a week in New York. In fact, there are less than sixty arrests to every thousand accidents, and then only a small percentage of convictions even i'm these.
 The remedy lies in strongly enforc- ing the speed laws and in the rigid observance ef all traffic rules Failure to do this should result in the sus- pension and -annulment of licenses. Everybody who drives a car should be licensed, so that the privilege could be taken away in case of reckless driving. This obtains in New ter sey, Connecticut and Massachusetts and in many other states further re- moved. and has materially reduced the number of accid ents due to reck- less driving. In New York only professional chauffeur requires a H- cense.
 Since January 1 in this state we have had 1000 arrests for reckless driving The great majority of these
 
 position of the minimum fine of $25, and the road-burning still goes on ev- anywhere. It will never be ended until every one is ncensved every where, and regular system of sus-s pension and forfeiture of license is in augurated from one end of the coun- try to the other.
 Then we will be rid of the Apache of the road. And, the other hun dreds of thousands of decent automo- ibolists may then enjoy their cars without fear that at the next curve they will be run down by some maniac who has no thought for the safety of any one, not even his own.-New York paper.
 Autos and Trolley Cars.
 Hiram Percy Maxim, the famous in ventor, writes as follows to the Hart ford Times:
 As a result of a few months ex-I perience with the automobile law pro hibiting automobiles passing street cars on the off side, am led to make the following comments, especially as you frequently devote editorial space to this subject:
 use Harrington avenue out to Prospect avenue four times a day when I am in Hartford. also use Albany avenue frequently and of course. Main street. Coming down Pennington avenue in the morning and going out in the evening, there will be every morning a. time when from six to twenty automobiles will be damned behind street, car. It seems to occur when an automobile with a careful driver happens to come even with street car at some little distance out the avenue. This care full driver will stop each time the car stops and will not drive reck- lessly n order to pass the car: Fur thermore,s De usually will not take chances in< squeezing through be- tween the car and a standing auto mobile at the curb. The clearance is very small and, at the speed nec- essary to get by the street car, it is a bit tfcklish
 When this careful driver and street car happen to come together