FROM CART TO AUTOMOBILE 



would be distanced by 1040 feet. It is interesting to 

 visualize the procession that the automobile would 

 leave behind if placed in competition with the various 

 kinds of champions whose feats have been mentioned. 

 As the automobile crossed the line the locomotive would 

 be almost one-fifth of a mile in the rear; 1,900 feet 

 farther back would come the homing pigeon; after 

 a long gap Salvator, the first runner, would come strag- 

 gling along, having covered little more than one-fourth 

 of a mile; Lou Dillon would be just beyond her first 

 fifth of a mile; the fastest cyclist would be placed be- 

 tween the racer and the trotter; while Hutchins, the 

 swiftest runner at the distance, would have gone only 

 240 yards from the tape. 



For distances greater than two miles, the locomotive 

 record has not as yet been surpassed by the automobile. 

 A locomotive on the Plant system, for example, is 

 credited with a run of five miles in two and one-half 

 minutes (in 1901). But, of course, there is nothing ex- 

 cept the mere matter of speed that makes the locomo- 

 tive engineer's performance comparable to that of the 

 chauffeur. The engineer is driving a machine that 

 runs on a fixed track. He has to do little more than 

 keep up steam and open the throttle. The chauffeur 

 must pick his course, for at any moment a soft spot in 

 the sand may tend to deflect him. How appalling may 

 be the result of a slight deflection with a machine going 

 at great speed has been illustrated by the tragic acci- 

 dents that have marred the success of many important 

 racing-events, and have led to the oft-repeated question 

 as to whether, after all, such speed tests are worth 



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