1906 
June, 
AMERICAN EROMES AND GARDENS 
39! 
The Use of the Automobile in Town or Country 
By Stanley Yale Beach 
T THIS season of the year, when it is the 
well-nigh universal desire of all city dwellers 
to get into the country, if only for a brief 
space, the automobile finds its greatest scope 
of usefulness. From the giant touring car 
g with its express-train speed to the tiny runa- 
bout with its (comparatively speaking) snail-like pace, the 
automobile is pressed into service for the conveyance of the 
wealthy man and his less rich but not altogether unblessed 
neighbor into the country. Be the distance great or small, 
the automobile of to-day can be depended upon to cover it 
with regularity. 
For the business man, as a means of rapid, pleasurable 
and healthy transport daily from his home in the country to 
his office in the city and back again, some form of automobile 
will be found most convenient. ‘The type chosen will depend 
altogether upon the exact service desired, the distances to 
be traversed and the condition of the roads. 
Taking first the case of the man of wealth who owns a 
large country estate fifty or even seventy-five miles distant 
from the metropolis, and who is obliged to go to the city 
two or three times a week. Such a man, in order to enjoy 
automobiling in all its luxuriousness, would doubtless own 
a couple of high-powered cars, one of them a closed Limousin, 
to be used in inclement weather, and the other an open car 
with folding top, for use when the weather is fair. With 
these cars driven by a competent chauffeur the owner is 
pretty certain of reaching his office in from two to three 
hours from the time he steps into the machine in the porte- 
cechére of his country home. Should his wife go to town 
with him to shop, she can be driven direct to the stores she 
wishes to visit, and thus carry on her morning’s shopping 
just as comfortably with her own private equipage as she 
has been accustomed to do when living in town in the win- 
ter. In the afternoon she may be driven in the car to some 
theatre to attend a matinee, or, if she prefers to be out of 
doors, she may take a ride through the park before calling 
for her husband. The return journey will be begun around 
five o'clock, in order that home may be reached before dark. 
If one’s country place is inaccessible by rail, better time 
can frequently be made and the journey accomplished with 
greater comfort in the manner just described than by the 
usual dusty parlor car of an express train. No doubt one 
of the reasons that most of our large railroads are electrify- 
ing their lines is the fear that the grimy conditions in the 
summer time of a ride in a parlor car of a train drawn by 
a steam locomotive will drive all those who can afford it to 
the much pleasanter mode of travel found in the automobile. 
Another class of summer dweller in the country is the 
man of moderate means who goes to the city almost daily 
and who is fond of experiencing the joy of living by taking 
his turn quite frequently at the wheel of his own car. Such 
a man will employ a chauffeur to care for the machine and 
to do the repairing in case a breakdown occurs or a tire gives 
out while on the road. His car will consequently be a roomy 
four-cylinder side-entrance tonneau of 20 to 30 horse-power 
and 2,000 to 3,000 pounds weight—a car capable of making 
40 miles an hour and upward under favorable conditions. 
If he should be a very enthusiastic automobilist, doing most 
of the driving himself, he might use one of the new two- 
seated semi-racing bodies, with rumble seat. on weekdays, 
and put on the regular touring car body on Sundays. This 
would enable him to make faster time when getting to and 
from his business during the week, without making him in- 
capable of taking his family for an outing on Sunday. 
Still another class of business man is the one of even more 
moderate means, who can not afford a chauffeur, and who 
consequently looks after his own car and does his own driv- 
ing. This man will doubtless content himself with a double 
or single-cylinder light touring car or runabout. With such 
a machine of from 16 down to 8 horse-power, and ranging 
in weight from 1,600 to 900 pounds, he can count on averag- 
ing twenty miles an hour on good roads, besides traveling 
almost as fast on roads which are not of the best. This car 
will enable him to enjoy two long rides daily in the invigorat- 
ing, fresh, country air, when the weather is pleasant; and 
on unpleasant or stormy days, he can make use of the train. 
By ordering his car equipped with a special type of corru- 
gated cushion tire, that has demonstrated its good qualities 
during the last two years, he will dispense with all tire 
trouble, yet will have a car that on all ordinary roads rides 
as easily as if shod with pneumatics. On a light car a set 
of shock absorbers for checking the rebound of the body 
when passing over a ‘“‘thank-you-ma’am”’ will also add much 
to the comfort of the occupants, besides reducing somewhat 
the wear on the mechanism and tires. 
If our one time commuter does not live more than twenty- 
five miles out of the city, and if he has a wife or daughter 
who is captivated with the idea of running a machine her- 
self, a modern electric Stanhope will be found a most useful 
car. Capable of traveling seventy-five miles on one charge 
at the rate of fifteen miles an hour, or about sixty miles at the 
twenty-mile rate, this type of vehicle offers many advantages 
to be had with no other type of car. So simple to operate 
that a child can be taught to run it in a short time, this 
noiseless vehicle, if the battery is kept charged, will always 
be found ready to operate at its master’s or mistress’ bidding. 
On account of its cleanliness and ease of operation, and be- 
cause of the fact that no cranking has to be done to start 
its motor, it is a particularly suitable vehicle for ladies. At 
Newport and other fashionable summer resorts numbers of 
these little vehicles can be seen in daily use by ladies for call- 
ing, visiting the Casino, the golf links, or the bathing pa- 
vilion, and for meeting friends arriving by train. 
Purely for city use the electric is the vehicle par excellence 
Although the light electric runabout or Stanhope operated 
by a woman is not seen very often in the streets of our east- 
ern cities, in some of those of the West, notably Cleveland, 
it is a common sight. In large cities, like New York or 
Boston, ladies prefer a private electric brougham operated 
by a competent chauffeur, or, barring this, an electric cab 
hired by the month. Gasoline cars having closed bodies, 
the windows of which can be lowered in warm weather, are 
also in vogue. ‘The type of car one uses in the city, how- 
ever, is largely determined by what one wants for country 
use, and hence the majority of machines seen on city streets 
are standard touring cars. These answer very well the re- 
quirements of city work, and yet can be held in readiness 
for a long jaunt into the country at a moment’s notice. Be- 
sides the gasoline touring cars, mention should be made of 
those driven by steam, of which a well-known make, fitted 
with a compound engine and flash boiler, is one of the most 
successful examples. The steam car is notable for its quiet- 
ness, speed and great endurance. Next to the electric it 
is the easiest car to drive, and its troubles are not of as ob- 
scure a nature as are those experienced with a gasoline engine. 
