Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1917-02-10
MORE WOMEN ARE
DRIVING CARS
Comfort of Accories Have Les
ened Tasks of Female Driv-
ers; Many Features Add

Women drivers are almost as fire.
quent on the streets now, at one time
or another, as are motors.
Virtually every man who owns a
car has taught the feminine members
of his family, whether wife or daugh-
ters, how to drive, and their introduc-
ton into the pleasure has resulted in
a reduction of motoring difficulties,
because women are enlisted on the
side of the careful drivers. and never
allow familiarity to bread contempt.
Y With the automobile progress came
the advanced interest from a woman's
standpoint, and much of 1T has been
helped along by the comfort-giving
appliances that have ben put on the
machines in recent years.
Self-starting engines have added to
the pleasure of the women motorists,
the tires are more reliable than in past
years and along the line of accessories
every comfort is now available for the
females who take q delight in either
driving for pleasure or business.
One of the worst evils was cranking
car, but with the coming of the self
starters. the women do not have to
get their dresses all soiled in jumping
in and out of car in order to start
the machines.
Lighting system also gave endless
trouble. The top that had to be ad-
Justed against a sudden storm or turn
OF weather was a cumbersome affair
that two or three persons had all they
could do to handle.
Manufacturers wisely noted this
condition, and gradually there was
evolved the car of comfort and con-
venience, from the standpoint of the
female driver.
Another benefaction was conferred
on women motorists when gear shift
ing was reduced to a minimum. Wo-
fnrnlnr1v dnta
driving by the cranking, gear-shifting
and tire-changing evils saw removed
all the obstacles to their participation
in the full pleasure of motoring.
Thousands of women now arrange
their daily programs so that they fin
ish up their household duties in the
mornings and are ready for several
hours spin through the country in
the afternoons. And in summer time
they are seen at the steering wheel of
big touring cars taking trips that
years ago would have been thought
! impossible.
| Autos look better in construction
and finishing every year, and the gen.
eral tidy appearance always appeals
to the female enthusiasts. There is
more convenience and comfort for the
women, such as feet warmers for the
coldest days of winter, limousine heat
ers that take the chill off the car dur
ing business hours, touring or theater-
| going, electric horns, neat cases to
hold an extra supply of tires and
| tubes, nicely furnished tool boxes
warm blankets and also auto clothing
including long coats, gloves and gog-
giles.
The increase in the number of wo-
men drivers has been simply astound-
ing. A number of years back women
| hardly drove anything but electrics.
The occasional woman driver was so
/ tI.nA doe f..io --N-x a.
look or point her out. But all this has
passed.
Women by the thousands drive cars
and take just as much interest in their
upkeep as men. They take a keen
pride in their cars.
One of the greatest p1easuresof mot
| oring in sitting beside a woman driver
| is to watch the alertness with which
she meets traffic conditions, and to see
| her general attitude of carefulness
which never for an instant relaxes.
Women automobile speeders are so
seldom as to be virtually a negative
quantity. The accidents in which wo-
men have figured in the past have
generally always been shown to have
been caused by the pedestrian or the
male driver of another car.
Court proceedings in which the de-
PENDANTS are women motorists are
rare. They occur so infrequently that
it might be remarked of proceedings
against the fair sex that they amt
| no such animals"
| More women drive cars each season
and next year there will be a surpris-
ingly large increase, because every
woman is learning the technique of
| the car.
Motoring now is as easy as playing
piano, crocheting a scarf or any
other pastime which formerly engaged
womanly attention.
The lure of driving a car is SO great.
/ also, that when woman once learns
the mastery of the car there is no
denying her. One of the great fea-
lures of driving. also, is that it teaches
a self-refiance which can be gained in
no other way, and tones up the whole
| system.
| Doctors prescribe automobiling for
women as a tonic for jaded nerves.
A spin in the open air works wonders.
| Its benefits are two-fold. 1t rivets the
attention on something else than ones
| own person and thoughts, and also
forces a great quantity of fresh air
| into faraway concerns of lungs which
| otherwise never receive their full
quota, and many ills are forsaken
forever.
Makers of motorcars sensed the
drift of things when they introduced
into their 1917 models the many lit
tie reffnements in lines and fittings
which have caught the feminine eve.
Also, they have been simplifying the
operation of their cars until what en-
tailed a lot of hard and trying work
is now very easy.
| The feminine movement In motor
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