New-York tribune., 1918-08-25
News of Our Motors
Fighting Overseas

Accounts of what our motors are do
ing in France are beginning to come
in. For instance, c. r. Hutchns, a
Goodyear salesman, speaks interesting
ly of what is being done there.
AS a driver for staff officer he be-
came familiar with the entire battle
front and obtained the broad outlook
OF the Allied situations. During his six
months service he was attached to the
transportation departments of the
French, English, Belgian, Portuguese
and American forces and wore the uni
forms of all Of them. His story fol-
lows, in part:
when l volunteered I anticipated
the pleasure Of driving the wonderful
makes of foreign cars of which | had
heard so much. But | was soon dis
appointed. Foreign manufacturers have
turned out practically no cars for public
use during the last four Years, their
output being exclusively for their gov
/ ernments. SO little advance has been
made in design. But their power plants
I are fine-we have no better motors.
Where American cars excel is in
! the retinements and conveniences, such
as the self-starter, electric light, easily
/ handled top, demountable RIM, etc.
Most Of the tires | saw were Of the
smooth or steel studded type and even
in the large sizes were clinchers And
believe me, l nearly faint when | think
of some of the terrible times I have
had, in surroundings none too pleasant,
trying to change the things. The
modern no-hook or straight side tire
they know very little about.
ut is next to impossible to get the
slightest repair or adjustment outside
of regular automobile park. These
parks, operated by all armies, where
situated at various points. Once
broke down at Anglers, in peace times q
city of $4,000 population, but being un-
able to obtain repair was compelled
to go back to Paris by train and bring
out a mechanic and parts.
French gasolene, or 'essence,' as it
is called there. is not as good as the
gasolene we get here, and it goes hard
with American cars. American trucks
France in large numbers, and one sees
practically every make Of automobile
there"
while the French army is not
hampered by shortage of gasolene, it
is economizing in many ways" writes
W. F. Bradley, of Paris, to r. D.
Chaplin, chairman of the Highways
Transport Committee of the Council of
National Defence.
I'VE have omparatively little gas"
he says, land the shortage is going to
be so acute even after the war that we
shall have to take up the question of
! production OF benzol and alcohol on a
very big scale as soon AS possible
"Since early 1915 we have been hav-
ing drlveaways on big scale from the
Channel and Atlantic ports to Paris
and from Paris to the front; also from
| the Italian factories to the French
front. The park at Lyons receives
! trucks from the local ana Italian fac
torres. When truck trains are being
made up an announcement is placed in
the local papers and civ ians can
deliver loads at the park These loads
are carried by the army trucks and can
be dropped at two or three towns en-
route or taken through to the park at
Paris. This has proved a first class
scheme.
Considerable economies arc being
made by very extensive use of trail
ers, particularly -wheelers.
'1t is general rule that when empty
trucks have to be moved short dis
tances they shall not be run under
their own power, but one truck shall
tow two, three and sometimes four
others. At some parks it is not un-
common for oxen to be used to haul
trucks about when making up col
umns."