AUTOMOBILE NOTES. 



EDITED BY J. A. KINGMAN. 



BY WAY OF PREFACE. 



With this issue of Recreation an automo- 

 bile department is established and an effort 

 will be made to include as much interesting 

 matter as possible in the space assigned. The 

 use of the automobile has become so general 

 and its value as a means of recreation is so 

 great, that all lovers of outdoors should be 

 in sympathy with this new and useful form 

 of sport, and should find some interest in 

 these notes about automobiles. In company 

 with the editor of Recreation, I have a 

 strong feeling against those who abuse any 

 sport or act generally in such, a manner as 

 to bring discredit on it. For instance, auto- 

 mobiling has been seriously hurt by certain 

 road hogs who have little respect for the 

 feelings of other people. There is a road 

 hog as well as a game hog, but the road hog 

 is not always the automobilist. Joseph Pen- 

 nell, the well known artist, says in a recent 

 letter to an English newspaper, that if auto- 

 mobilists were half as careless w : ith their 

 machines as the average driver is with his 

 horse and vehicle, accidents w r ould be al- 

 most innumerable. However that may be, 

 the automobilist is almost daily abused for 

 disregarding the rights of others, and there 

 is something to be said on both sides. 



A resume of automobile news will be a 

 chief feature of the automobile department, 

 and the matter o'f utility will not be lost 

 sight ot. Communications from readers of 

 Recreation on automobile subjects will be 

 welcome, and will receive prompt attention. 

 Illustrative matter will also be acceptable. • 



THE VANDERBILT CUP RACE. 



In this country there has been little auto- 

 mobile racing except speed contests on 

 horse tracks. There have been hill climb- 

 ing contests, one of the most successful of 

 these being the recent competition at Mt. 

 Washington ; but we have had no such 

 sporting events as those long distance road 

 races held on the beautiful roads of Eng- 

 land, France and Germany. Since 1895 

 these road races have been popular in 

 Europe, and they are growing in impor- 

 tance. At first these events were not limit- 

 ed as to entry, and the race consisted of 

 a headlong flight of automobiles, large and 

 small, motor tricycles, motor bicycles and 

 the like from some one large city to an- 

 other far distant. Paris-Bordeaux, Paris- 

 Vienna, Paris-Madrid, were some of the 

 big^ races. Some of these picturesque and 

 thrilling contests have been of great value 



to the foreign builders, not only as adver- 

 tisements but as a test of machines. 



This year Mr. William K. Vanderbilt, Jr., 

 has given a cup for a yearly contest similar 

 to the now famous Gordon-Bennet contest 

 which was held in Ireland last year and 

 this year in Germany. The first race for 

 the Vanderbilt Cup will be held in this 

 country October 8th, probably over the 

 roads of Long Island. Next year the race 

 also must be held in America, but there- 

 after in any country w r hose representative 

 may succeed in winning the event. The 

 distance is to be not less than 250 miles nor 

 more than 300 miles on some regularly used 

 highway. This contest will be watched 

 with the greatest interest by automobilists, 

 as it is expected that a number of foreign 

 cars will be entered in addition to a large 

 number of American built racers. It will 

 be the most important automobile event in 

 America this year. 



MAXIMUM SPEEDS DIFFER. 

 The following paragraph from an- auto- 

 mobile journal" hits the nail squarely on the 

 head : It is obvious that what might be 

 a safe speed for a train would be dangerous 

 for a horse and carriage. Similarly, as there 

 are all kinds of automobiles they can not 

 all be run fast with equal safety. Every 

 type of motor car has its particular critical 

 speed. It is erroneous to suppose that every 

 motor car is capable of withstanding all the 

 speeds that special circumstances may com- 

 municate to it, such as those that result 

 from the effect of down grades and wind 

 in the rear, added to that of the motor. 

 One car may be perfectly stable at 50 miles 

 an hour, while another may vacillate ; that 

 is to say, will have exceeded its critical 

 speed at 30. The result is that if the par- 

 ticular critical speed of a carriage is ex- 

 ceeded the least disturbance that occurs in 

 the already disordered running of the 

 vehicle, such as that caused by a small dog, 

 a stone, or even a hen, will bring about a 

 catastrophe. With still greater reason may 

 the bursting of a tire, which may cause no 

 damage to a carriage running at 60 miles 

 an hour, but keeping within its critical 

 speed, prove disastrous to one running at 

 30 but exceeding such critical speed. These 

 facts are taught by the experience of the 

 road, and lead to the following recommen- 

 dation : If you have not sufficient experi- 

 ence to perceive it for yourself in driving 

 learn from your manufacturer the maxi- 

 mum speed that your car is capable of tak- 

 ing, and never exceed it under any pretext. 



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