AUTOM 



Notes 



WILLARD NIXON. 



THE ROADS. 

 Recreation stands firmly for good roads — 

 good roads for the farmer, for the automobil- 

 ist, for the horseman, for the bicyclist, for ,\\) 

 who travel on the highway. The roads in this 

 country are pretty bad. When they are not 

 snowbound or mud-wallows, they are thick 

 with dust, and deepened sands. Snow, mud, 

 dust and sand are not friends of the automo- 

 bile and will never help its development, and 

 though bad roads may be unavoidable for 

 years to come in many localities, it is a cry- 

 ing shame that the average road in the United 

 States is so much inferior to the average 

 road abroad. The automobile was never 

 meant to run over rough surfaces any more 

 than the locomotive, trolley car or a billiard 

 ball, and it is a great credit to automobile 

 manufacturers that cars stand up the way 

 they do, and run with such absolute relia- 

 bility. The more touring is done, the more 

 will people understand how really bad are 

 our roads. Publicity is a fine weapnn, and 

 the more said about good roads, the better the 

 chance that something may eventually be 

 done. 



ELIMINATION TRIALS. 

 This month the American Elimination 

 Trials for the Gordon-Bennett Cup Race will 

 be held in this country. Heretofore , these 

 have proved a farce, and it is likely that this 

 year's performance will be of little interest 

 compared with what will be exacted of the 

 competing cars in England and France. In 

 the latter country the Elimination Trials are 

 almost as important as the Gordon-Bennett 

 itself, and this year promises to be more 

 interesting and exciting than ever before.. The 

 gossip from France is limited, but evidently 

 the Moss and Renault firms will not com- 

 pete. The same is true in England. At the 

 present writing it looks as if the three Ameri- 

 can cars which have been entered for the 

 Gordon-Bennett Race will be all ready and 

 well "tuned up" in time for the Elimination 

 Trials. Herbert Little will drive one of the 



Pope-Toledo cars, but it is not known as 

 yet who will drive the other. It seems cer- 

 tain that Dr. Thomas, of Chicago, will not 

 drive his Locomobile, but will delegate this 

 task to some expert — Joseph Tracy, of New 

 York, a well-known professional, has been 

 named as a possibility. From present indica- 

 tions the Gordon-Bennett Cup Race this year 

 will be the most exciting ever held. Presi- 

 dent Loubet, of France, has signified his in- 

 tention of being present, and there will un- 

 doubtedly be the usual representation of the 

 royal families of England and Germany. 

 Abroad an event like the Gordon-Bennett 

 Automobile Race is a great event, and all 

 work together to make it one. In this coun- 

 try it was almost impossible to hold a similar 

 long-distance race on Long Island, but as 

 time goes on, we shall undoubtedly overcome 

 the prejudices of our country people and have 

 some really good long-distance road races. 

 There is probably nothing in the world that 

 is quite so exciting or impressive. 



For years the writer has held that these 

 long distance races among cars of unlimited 

 horse-power were of little value either as an 

 advertisement for the industry or as a means 

 of gathering experience for the manufactur- 

 ers so as to enable them to build their cars 

 better — that is, stronger and lighter, cheaper 

 and more reliable. There is no doubt but 

 that the weight limit of 1,000 kilograms, or 

 2,204.6 pounds has resulted in the production 

 of very light cars equipped with enormous 

 motors and that such combination is freakish 

 and impractical, and that results obtained 

 from noting the performances of such jug- 

 gernauts have been of limited benefit to the 

 builder of automobiles. 



However, the writer has had occasion lately 

 to see a great deal of the building of one of 

 the American challenging cars, and realizes 

 better than ever before that there is much 

 sound practical common-sense behind the 

 2,200-pound weight rule. No manufacturer 

 wants to build a frail car for such a tremen- 

 dous trial as the Gordon-Bennett Race ; 

 strength is just as important as speed. The 



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