Vol. LXVIII, No. 3099. NF^W YORK, JUNE 19, 1909. weekly. $i.oo per year. 
THE PANTING OX AND PUFFING AUTO. 
Both on the Increase. 
Fifteen years ago, when I left Cadillac, Mich., io 
live among the New England hills, automobiles and 
ox teams had never jostled each other in the streets 
of that busy little northern city: for autos or “horse¬ 
less carriages” as they were first called, had hardly 
been heard of then, but oxen daily plodded through 
the heavy sandy roads to town with loads of all 
kinds of produce. The accompanying illustration 
Fig. 259, which shows the patient oxen standing side 
by side in the street with the panting auto, pausing 
like a reckless thing of life by the slow ox team, 
reminds me of the fact that not even the powerful 
machines can do away with man's faithful servant, 
the ox; and the picture also reminds me that here 
in New England we do not see many of the sciuare 
store fronts and the detached store buildings as 
shown in the illustration; nor are the streets of the 
New England factory towns as broad and pleasant 
as those of the lumber towns of Michigan. New 
England sees the effects of the automobiles in this way. 
The roads are repaired and built with an eye to the 
passing of the heavy machines. Many are gravel¬ 
ed or macadamized and land owjters and towns 
are cutting away the outside brush along the roads, 
thus presenting a more tidy appearance, as well as 
giving a clearer view of the highway, making them 
both pleasanter and safer for travel. 
Our roads are not laid out north and south, east 
and west, as they are in Michigan, but go winding 
in and out among the hills and valleys, often turn¬ 
ing sharp corners; and when one comes face to face 
with a machine running at the rate of 20 miles an 
hour and probably more than that, he is quite lucky 
if his horse does not mount the stone wall; but it 
seems to me as if much of this danger might be 
overcome if there were danger posts placed at these 
sharp corners, marked “Slow Down” or “Give Way.” 
But considering such dangerous turns in nearly every 
road it is no wonder that many women are yet 
afraid to drive alone, and that many horses are 
still mortally at raid of the machine when it dashes 
on them from around the corner. Scorchers are fre¬ 
quently met with, and a local resident quite well de¬ 
scribed his experience in the following manner: 
“I was coinin' home from town one day when I 
sec an auto coinin’ towards me. I happened to be in 
a good place to turn out, but that machine come on 
us iest like lightnin’. My boss went on top uv the 
stone wall and bust the harness saddle right in two. 
Talk about takin’ their number! You might as well 
try to catch the devil flyin’! By the time I got 
turned around they was ha’f way to the city.” 
But in most cases the drivers of the automobiles 
are gentlemanly and obliging; willing to aid women 
with their horses when .they are afraid, though often 
the drivers are more afraid than the horses are. 
There is a story of an automobile approaching a car¬ 
riage and seeing the old gentleman helping his wife 
out of the carriage, the driver stopped his machine 
and hastened forward, offering to lead the horse by. 
The old- man thanked him, but said that he could 
manage the horse if some one would manage the old 
lady. Still another story is told by a chauffeur of 
slowing down at the sight of a horse standing uncon¬ 
cernedly in the road browsing on the trees, and pay¬ 
ing no attention to the machine as it passed him, 
while two women were frantically running from the 
carriage across a nearby field for safety. The auto 
made quite a sensation when it first found its way 
into our rural community; at least it did in the life 
of an old Irishman who had never even heard of one 
until one Sunday morning, when standing in the door, 
he saw one coming up the hill. He shouted excitedly 
to his man: “Did you see it? did you see it? There 
it goes; there it goes, wind-splitting up that hill, and 
with two men in it and no hoss to draw it;” and k 
is doubtful if the old man to-day really understands 
the automobile yet. 
If you have read the book, “Nell Beverly, Farmer , 1 ” 
you remember that Bob attends a camp meeting 
where the people have assembled, some coming in 
automobiles and some with ox teams. This seems to 
have awakened quite a little interest. What we are not 
accustomed to sec appears strange and unusual, but 
in this locality we have become accustomed to see¬ 
ing ox teams at the place of worship. On the old 
Flartford and Providence turnpike, where automo¬ 
biles speed by many times a day, there stands a little 
quaint church, and it is to this church and in a near¬ 
by grove where camp meetings are held, that the 
