TOURING WITH RAYMOND SPEARS 
By RAYMOND SPEARS 
In continuing his valuable series of articles 
on auto touring this month, Mr. Spears gives 
us a comprehensive insight into the cost of 
making the transcontinental trip. He also 
makes many valuable suggestions concern¬ 
ing the varied conditions with which the 
tourist may expect to meet in different states. 
I he seasoned and prospective tourist alike 
cannot fail to profit by reading this article. 
N O one can figure ahead 
exactly what a trip is 
going to cost. There are 
some things that simply cannot 
be foreseen. Yet the chances 
are that a little figuring will 
help everyone to block out his 
trip within the limits he wishes 
—and a trip can be made often 
for a good deal less than the 
plans call for. Certain things 
are inevitable, as gasolene, oil, 
food, and “extras.” Repairs 
may constitute an enormous 
share of the outgo. It all depends. 
Each car has its gasolene, oil and 
tire mileage. An automobile driver 
ought to know about how many miles 
he is making on a gallon of gas, or a 
filling of oil. He should know, too, 
how far his tires will go. For a tour, 
the car should be put at the minimum 
for all mileages. If the car rolls fifteen 
miles a gallon around home, on a tour 
it is likely to go only twelve or thirteen 
miles a gallon. Tires may go only 
12,000 miles, instead of 16,000 miles. 
That is, expenses may be higher if 
one is away from home 
than near home, in familiar 
surroundings. The reason 
is that driving over strange 
roads a man hasn’t quite 
the same confidence, nor yet 
the same ease of driving. If 
one is used to driving 
strange country, there will 
be no difference in the mile¬ 
age which is not accounted 
for by the differences in 
road bed, as gravel instead 
of concrete, hilly country 
instead of long levels, city 
streets with frequent stops, 
instead of straightaway 
runs of fifty or a hundred 
miles without a stop. One 
burns twice as much gas¬ 
olene stopping and starting 
often, as on the long, 
straight ways. 
One car with four peo¬ 
ple—my own—costs about 
$12 a day. The car is old, 
and more than half the cost 
is running and up-keep ex¬ 
penses. A new car, well 
broken in, and on an eco¬ 
nomical basis, ought not to 
cost more than running ex¬ 
penses, up-keep being lim¬ 
ited to punctures, carbon 
removal, and perhaps re¬ 
placement of grease cups, 
burrs and other things that 
Page 495 
shake loose. No two cars cost alike. 
A driver, keeping track of his car-ex¬ 
penses, knows something of what he 
should expect. 
The trouble is, however, when a fam¬ 
ily start touring, they enter conditions 
of which they never dreamed. Even 
an old timer at camping is surprised, 
and often caught napping. How can 
one estimate the cost of touring, then, 
except by experience? 
The highways of the country have 
improved marvelously since the war. 
Coming in from Texas, via El Paso, 
Raton Pass, Cheyenne and the 
Lincoln Highway, I was able 
in some measure to judge of 
conditions. East of the Mis¬ 
sissippi and north of the 
Potomac and Ohio one goes 
anywhere and everywhere on 
highways built for automobile 
traffic. Even the detours are 
often over stone highways as 
good, or better, than the closed 
sections. With this condition 
there is no question of high¬ 
ways to deter the tourist. 
And the roads of Illinois or Ohio 
are like the roads of New York or 
New Jersey. Those who live in hilly 
New England will find mileage per 
gallon increased acoss the levels of the 
Middle West to the Mississippi. 
West of the Mississippi on the Lin¬ 
coln Highway to Cheyenne, on the 
Omaha-Lincoln-Denver Fork from the 
Missouri, on the National Oil Trails 
from Kansas City to Trinidad, Colo¬ 
rado, dry-weather driving will cost but 
little or no more than through the 
White Mountains, or across Pennsyl¬ 
vania. Here and there are 
apt to be a few miles of 
rough going, but nothing to 
deter the ordinarily compe¬ 
tent driver. 
The trip from the Atlan¬ 
tic to the Pacific is a good 
measure of expenses. The 
journey will take from 
twenty - eight days’ hard 
driving to two months’ lei¬ 
surely rambling. It is made 
by all kinds of cars in from 
twenty-eight to thirty days, 
or at an average of 110 
miles a day, say. Without 
repair expenses, new tires, 
or extras, tourists go across 
for from $100 to $200 in 
many kinds of cars. This 
means food, as well as car 
expenses. We came more 
than 4,000 miles on $450, 
with more than $200 re¬ 
pairs and car expenses in 
unfavorable conditions on 
600 miles of highway, mud 
and rough desert being in¬ 
cluded. That is to say, each 
one of us traveled four 
thousand miles, from May 
1st to June 12, for $112.50— 
food and all—and traversed 
ten states. 
In discussing expenses, 
one ever confronts the va- 
(Continued on page 529) 
IN CROSS-COUNTRY WORK, HIGHWAYS ARB NOT ALL BROAD 
AND SUNNY. DETOURS LIKE THIS ARE A GOOD REASON FOR 
HAVING THE CAR IN FIRST-CLASS CONDITION 
