Evening Star Newspaper, June 27, 1926, Page 55

OBSTACLE RACING GAME k CHECKS AUTO ACCIDENTS Motorists Tested A Reveal Driving De able Anywhere BY W Safety is taking on the spirit of obstacle racing as a means of gainst Impediments fects—Idea Adapt- as Safety Move. ILLIAM ULLMAN. of a game with the introduction measuring the ability of automo- bile drivers in meeting emergencics. The new “game” is simple enough to be adaptable anywhere, and is expected to be a high- light in safety campaigns of the near future. In obstacle racing the contestants are required to compete against time over a prescribed course of many impediments. The obstacles can be boxes or barrels and obstructions. The course can be over any is customary to hold brake tests or examine applicants for licenses. The idea was tried recently i developed some interesting, as well as or anything to represent dangers side street where it n the city of Seattle, Wash., and important, facts. Many could not judge distance well enough to avoid collisions, others were slow to think or to make tunit Eyesight. judgment and nerve ining are the objects of the new . Those who play the game auto- v fortify emergency. themselves again Since only a few ge of drivers that might be inclined to feel too sure of themselves as a result of such a test i8 necessarily small. Promotes Better Driving. Falllnz by other methods to en- courage daily practice at the wheel, safety advocates are turning to the medium of the “game” as the only alternative in the fight for better driving. Something about human nature seems to offer the motorist no &pecial inducement to spend a half hour daily trying to zet hetter con- trol over his car, but_competition might interest him. This is the psychological angle of the new plan Public recognition of a neighbor superiority as a driver furnishes s new incentive to practice through competitive effort. The ‘“game” is interesting as a game, aside from the practical value. Many drivers who enter the test go all to pieces after a few minutes, while others reveal remarkable con trol of themselves as well as their cars. » damage is done to «¢ that to dodge the obstacles, and | since race is one against time | there no interference between | drivers Many car operators can learn fine points of driving by watching their | competitors ething they could not do if the es were run simul taneously. \Where the average driver falls down is in failing to grasp the | idea that the first rule of =kill in driving is complete understanding of the car. This point is developed in such a race when most of the contestants reveal their ignorance of how the rear of an automobile is steered. They do not know that the rear wheels have to be placed in order to steer the whole car the way it should go. They tug at the steering | wheel, trying vainly to make the | front wheels steer the whole ecar in | or out of a tight place, only to find themselves getting hopelessly en tangled. Classified by Wheel Base. In any test of this sort, the me- chanical limitations of the cars must be taken into account. In Seattle three clas based upon wheel base, were considered in the race. Cars under 110 inches raced under one class, another class being composed of ¢ s from 110 to 125 inches. The third group took in the cars of 125 inches and over. T however, was only a rough classifica tion and must have worked injustice to many. | A number of long cars can more easily than shorter « be- cause. in general, longer cars are high-grade products and re bettei designed. There are inst as well | where a long wheel base and a short turning radius go together. At present, there is enough varia- tion in the Stopping ability of cars to warrant dividing’ cars into groups with two and four wheel brakes. Part of the course of the contest should be wet o that prevention of skidding would have to be considered. Obviously the power, flexibility and zear shifting of the various cars should be graded, otherwise many motorists who need the lesson which such a contest teaches would not even enter the race Such contests are lessons to auto- mobile manufacturers, dealers, car buyers, safety advocates and officials alike, for they tell many facts about cars as well as their drivers. Some times the inherent shortcomings of th rs_are_mistaken for bad judg- fail the is turn | rs SERVICE service of dependable Champion Spark Plugs, which have been standard Ford equipmentfor15years. CHAMPION BDependable for Every Engine by running in second gear, the time while there was an oppor- ment or lack of experience on the art of the driver. The obstacle race demonstrates vividly how handicap- ped a motorist is when he is pilot- ing a car that is slow to start, slow to Twp and hard to manage in gen- eral. Taking Safe Opportunities. Motorlsts who find that in touring they never make good time and who are tempted to take chances in or- der to match the speed records of an acquaintance would discover from the obstacle test that time is lost at the very point where it can be gained. It is in failing to take ad- vantage of safe opportunities and in misjudging hazards for safety that so many tourists lag behind and nar vowly escape serious accidents, A policeman stationed at tersection of two prominent high- w found that at least 50 per cent of the tourists came back to the crossing to read the direction signs after having raced past. Their loss of time was quite aside from the possible loss of time, money and life through an accident at the intersec- tion. Usually a better average sp: be maintained on steep down grades afety feature of such action being obvious to those who think. Watch the man who speeds down a steep without “taking the trouble to shift to nd” and almost invariably he an in- will be found standing beside the | road at the bottom of the hill wait ing for his brakes to cool. With the development of the ex- tremely low car and the lengthening of the hood it is difficult for the un skilled driver to tell just how far his front wheels are from striking obstructions. Many who have learned how to drive the cars of 1920 will have to learn some new s to achieve equal finesse with the cars of 1926. Obstacle tests are one way of doing it. The biggest obstacle to safety, ac- cording to those who are in a posi- | tion to know, is the assumption that it will be time enough to prove a vy imcompetent when he has had dent. So the obstacle race has uggested for national use. It often can prove incompetency before it is too late. (Copyright. 1926.) TOURISTS SAVE ENERGY. Use Left Foot on Brake Pedal as Relief in Driving. Anything that will save expenditure of energy when taking a long trip is welcomed by the tour Much is done to make passengers comfortable, but the dr eems to feel that he must apply himself to the job at hand without a moment of relaxation One of the reliefs discovered by in- genious drivers is using the left foot to operate the brake pedal when keep- ing the car under control on down grades. The muscles of a motorist's left leg are somewhat stronger than his right leg, because they are accus- tomed to pressing out the clutch against fairly heavy spring pressure. It is easy to press the brake pedal ith the left foot. Try it sometime. incline | THE ROUTES TO s | MOTOR TOURS SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, JUNE 27, 1926—PART 3. MARYLAND CAPITAL AND BAYSIDE RESORTS - e == Cinders § Dirt. Since week end touring for Wash- | | ingtonians and their neighbors is not | | gomplete nunless it includes an ocea | sional excursion to the Chesapeake. The Star's motor tours department this week offers a few hints on going to the bay for the enjoyment of the bathing and fishing that makes it the mecea for thousands. It might truly beusaid of the routes to the Chesapeake that all roads lead to Annapolis, since all the three going out of the National Capital finally converge at the seat of government of the State of Maryland. They con- nect with other routes up and down the bay and are given prominence jon the accompanying map because {they will get the motorist to the Chesapeake resorts. The present route which is best for travel to Annapolis {8 the so-called Marlboro road. Tio other ways will be available when they are finished, but both now have portions that are in poor condition. and of these two, only one, the Defense highway, has any assurance of being completed in the near future. Mariboro Route Best. Any one going to Annapolis_this Summer will do well to use the Marl- road if he desires the route which offers the most comfortable go. |ing the entige way. This road is fully mproved and will permit of fast vel. 1Its length is 41 miles from | Washington to Annapolis. Tt a bituminous road to a point about 2 | miles beyond Marlboro. From there it is oil and gravel until the South River s crossed. To reach the Marlboro road from The Star Building, the starting point of the tours, a motorist should con- tinue out the full length of Pennsyl- vania_avenue and across the bridge over the Anacostia River, then to the top of the second hill, where a sharp turn to the left is made. Thereafter the route passes through Oakland, Pz s MAKES OLD CARS LOOK LIKE NEW L. TURVILLE 5536 Connecticut Ave. CRAVEN & CO. 1919 Pennsylvania Ave. C. C. PAINT CO. 829 Ninth St. MALONEY BATTERY, TIRE & ACCESSORY CO. 1303 6th St. N.W. . R. WALLS 8th S.E. LOUIS HARTIG th & K Sts. ). {ENNY & SON 3124 Georgia Ave. M. GOLDSTEIN H St D V. PULLO & 305 H St. D GEO. D. STEPHENS 2331 Nichols Ave. S.E. CROSSTOWN AU SUPPLY CO. 1801 14th St. N.W. 0. W. BENSON 5008 Conneeticut Ave. W. R. WINSLOW 1322 New York Ave. O'DONNELL PAINT C0. 3228 M St. N.W. Gi a glosay, el finish that will never peel, chlx or crack. Not affected by sun, ice, boiling water or acid. Easy to apply..flows smoothly and leaves no brush marks. Dries over night. 1 Quart covers small or medium care CENTRALAUTO SUPPLY CO. 1004 Pa. Ave. N.W. J. JOSEPH CATLOTH 308 415 St. S.W. ' MANHATTAN GARAGE AND 17068 3th St. N.W. DENEKAS & 50N 3610 Georgia Ave. N.W. W. F. ANDREWS CO. i804 14th St. N.W. L. RAULERSO} 1408 P St. N.W. RURAL WALTER W. FATRCHILD Damacus, Md. WM. A. CHAPMAN Kensington, Md. THE WHEATON SERVICE STA. ‘ Wheaton, Md. A. B. BEALL Ashton, Md. BROOKEVILLE GARAGE Brookeville, Md. A. GLOYD & SON Gaithersburg, R. F. D. C. T. JOHNSON Germantown, Md. Other Dealers Write for Attractive Proposition Di Rep., L. E. Edgecumbe, 2820 26th St. N.E., Pot. 3152.W Washington, D. C. Totedo, Ohio THREE WASHINGTON LEAD TO RESORTS ON BAY Marlboro Route to Annapolis Is Only One in Good Condition for Auto Travel at Present— Others Are Bad. ROADS WEST VIRGINIA NOW BUILDING 660 MILES OF GOOD HIGHWAYS Road Building Spread Throughout State—Hard Stretches Added to Old Established Routes of State, West progr Virginia i making rapid|burg by way of Pennsboro. West in road construction, having [ Union and Salem. a distance of 43.62 60 miles under way. This road build | miles over paved road. ing is spread throughout the State.| From Clarksburg - to Bridgeport while hard-surfaced stretches are | there is a stretch of 4.67 miles of re- heing added to highways already es- | construction, making it necessary to tablished to provide more improved)detour from Clarksburg by way of travel conditions for motorists. Grasselli to Bridgeport over five miles Of interest to car owners in and|Oof paved and cinder surface; thence to around Washington who extend their | Grafton over 13 miles of paved road. trips into West Virginia is the recent | For two miles after leaving Grafton completion of a paving project be.|the road is paved, but for the next tween the Ritchie County line and|12.19 miles the grading is passable West Unlon. on the Northwestern |but rough. Thereafter there are 7.84 turnpike. The new stretch of con-|miles graded to Macomber. The road crete is 8.14 miles long. This leaves | then continues to the Maryland line only one unfinished gap between Par-|by way of Erwin and Aurora over kersburg and Grafton—seven miles|14.3 miles being paved, making it between Dallison and Nutter farm. [necessary to detour through Rowles- This is under construction and will|burg and Lance Ridge to Aurora; be completed in the near future. East [thence by way of Carmel and Rhine of Grafton paving is under way on|Creek road to the Maryland line, a 14.3 miles of the Northwestern turn- [ stretch which is in fair condition. pike, from Macomber to the Mary- Nine Miles of Dirt Road. land line, and in the countles east of the Maryland line rapid progress| The going acréss Maryland to Gor- is being made on three paving Jobs|mania is over nine miles of dirt road, totaling 20 miles. dragged and in fair condition. From Gormania to Difficult there are four Condltions From Parkersburg. | . %64 ving open to trafic; thence As a result of work on the North-|to Hartmonsville, 10.25 miles of good western, conditions on that highway | graded shale; thence by way of Me- eastward from Parkersburg to the|chanicsburg and Romney to French- Virginla line are as follow burg, 4.67 miles of paving open for Parkersburg to Pleasant Hill, 13.6 | trafic, and 6 miles paved to miles paved: thence to Nutter farm. | Frenchhurg: thence to Hanging Rock miles of paving project, detour to|over 9.5 miles of shale, - good at all right one mile east of Dallison by | times, and on to the Virginia line over way of Volcano and Petroleum to 1136 miles being paved, open to Nutter farm, 21 miles of dirt road, | raffic. fair in d weather. ~This detour| snother heavily traveled road is may be avolded by golng from Par-|route 3, which is paved from Hunt kersburg by way of Willlamstown. | ington through Charleston o White arietta_and ferry to St. ; b Bl as 3 EHe 1 1o Bl AnBOFG O ver Fontml: Mol R e naw BEICKR At lane ington connecting with the roads of Nutter farm to Ellenboro take State gl S i routes 31 and 16 by way of .Calro| oo e orcrinE Aloy a0 e nection between White Sulphur and and Harrisville, 20.75 miles paved to | e Gh TW0omn TUn S DO e Vi Ellenboro; thence going_to_Clarks- [ g%, Meadows. Upper Marlboro. Marlboro Mount_Zion, Birdsville and Parole. At Mount Zion one may leave the Annapolis road for the Chesapeake Bay resorts to the south. Chesa peake Beach is about 15 miles. Solo- mons. where the Patuxent flows into the bay, is about 45 miles from the Marlboro road at Mount Zion, with many pleasant bayside resorts not far off the main road. Tdlewild and Shadyside are reached over a road which branches off the Marlboro pike about a mile and a half beyond Mount Zion. Will Save 10 Miles. The Defense highway when com pleted will be the most direct route to Annapolis. but in its present con- dition {t is not recommended for com- fortable riding during the entire trip. The completed highway will cut 10 miles from the Marlboro route and bring the distance to the capital of Maryland down to 31 miles. This road may be reached by following Pennsylvania avenue to the Capitol, then going out Maryland avenue to the Bladensburg road. At Bladens- burg a right turn is made at the large war memorial cross. At present there are about seven miles of the Defense highway un- paved. This break in the paved road way begins four miles before reach- ing ‘Priest Bridge and continues for three and a half miles beyond that point. With the exception of about a mile and a_ half of macadam near the District line, the remainder of the road is concrete. The four-mile stretch this side of Priest Bridge is a cinder road. It is narrow and motorists will find some difficulty in passing other cars. An average of about 22 miles an hour can be maintained, however, over this stretch. The portion bevond Priest (Continued on Ninth Page.) How far do you intend to drive your CAR? Don’t judge a motor car by its first 10,000 miles. Almost any car will go that far in a fairly satis- P fashi The miles from then on will show you the dif- ference between Buick and a lot of other cars ‘that sell for the same money. Buick cars are built for future, as well as for pres- _ent use. Big volume makes it possible to build them without a quality compromise, and still keep the pricelow. Comeinandlook them over. cThe Better BUICK STANLEY H. HORNER EMERSON & ORME 1015-1017 14th St. N.W. 1620 M St. N.W.- 1220 19th St. N.W. 1016 Conn. Ave. Main 5800 Franklin 3860 Made by STEELCOTE MANUFACTURING CO., St. l;.uio. Mo. BETTER AUTOMOBILES ARE BUILT, BUICK WILL BUILD THEM fi\ . X | Spanish Trai! || ALLURING ROUTES OPEN | TO WEST FOR MOTORIST ‘\ Transcontinental Choices Flanked for Most Part by Beautiful Scenery and Possessing Historical Interest. Transcontinental motor tourists of 1926 have at their disposal several alluring highway . flanked for the most part by beautiful scenery and maintained in a fashion designed to delight the eye of the most critical driver. These highways are well marked practically the entire distance from coast to coast. are cfficiently organized and afford tourists using them a definite protection. Officials of the great East-and- West routes are anxious that no unfavorable comment of any kind or description should get abroad, effort to make the long passage as pleasant and as eas and for this reason bend every as possible. The best known transcontinental routes lead into Southern California, writes Percy Gomer in a recent issue of the New York Times. The three direct feeders are the Old Spanish Trail, the Bankhead Borderland and Gomery states: “The first named may not on the map look like a regular ocean-to- ocean road, but inasmuch as it com- mences at Augustine. Fla., and terminates at San Diego, Calif., it ful fills the conditions. It touches New Orleans, Houston, San Antonfo, El| Paso, Tuceon and Phoenix. While re- lable in the sense of being across al- most entirely flat country and sub- ject to few hazards other than local | storms, it can scarcely be classified as belonging to seenic America. It suited the original Franciscan priests and their Spanish followers who ganted to get there, and it appears 1o bé suiting several thousands of people imbued with a similar ambition. Has Historical Interest. “The companion route is the Bank head, which has its birth at Wash- ington, going southwest through Nashville, Memphis, Little Rock, Dal ias and Fort Worth to El Paso, where | it becomes one with the Old Spanish Trall, shortly leaving the Rio G to wander across the barren or by the National Forests of Arizona and passing the top of Gulf of Cali- fornia, never far from the Mexican border. The Bankhead, however, con- tinues to Los Angeles. The interest of the route, both historic and scenic, is much greater than via the Old “The best used highway and_most widely is National Old institution from | to Los Angeles. To St more. Columbus and road is entirely faced. From Kan- | sas City westward it becomes the | traveling mate of the Santa Fe Rail road. There is no more pavement until within 125 miles of Los Angeles, at Victorville, but most of the road is developed and much of it gravel surface. “It is rich in scenic interest, espe- cially 'that made available by easy side trips. The road is over flat or rolling country until Colorado is reached, in which State the Rocky Mountain features in the Pike's Peak area are encountered. The Indian Pueblos of New Mexico, Petrified Forest and the Grand Canyon of the Colorado are usually visited by its tourists. The route finally passes Needles and San Bernardino Lincoln Highway Route. “The central transcontinental—cen- tral on the map, central in the public eye and in all probability central in ultimate importance—is the Lincoln Highway from New York to San Francisco. Founded as a national en- terprise, it is no respector of local prejudices. Practically all of the other routes are (on merit it may be) or- ganized to advance the interests of certain sections of country, or as ‘feeders’ for tourist resorts. The pub- spirited executive control of coln Highway is. and alw: been, in the field to construct Main Street of the Nation' wherever and however that may best be accom- n organized | Large amounts of money “The | plis! K earoiv.. ties neadduarters: ot ha highway association, is 80 miles off the route with no hope of ever being served, and Chicago is 18 miles off the trac “The present claim of the Lincoin way is a hard-surfaced road from New Incorporated 930-932 14th St. N.W. Main 620 the National Old Trails. Mr. York to the M, ippi. through Phila delphia, Gettysburg. Pittsburgh, then on through Des Moines, Omaha and Cheyenne to Salt L ity, being paralleled roughly a hundred miles south by the Ptke's Peak Ocean-to- Ocean Highway, and. west of Kansas City. by the Midland Trail. but having no rival to the north nearer than the Yellowstone Trail and National Park Highway, close to the Canadian border. “At Salt Lake the fight for trane- continental traffic from the Fast seems to begin in earnest. First the Arrowhead Trail invites the tourist directly south and finally west to spear the corner of Utah, Arizona and Nevada and finally to join the National Old Trails near Needles or, alternately, across the Mojave Desert and the Death Valley country from Las Vegas. Temptation To Digress. “From Salt Lake. also. branches northwest the Old Oregon Trafl to Seattle and Portland. The traveler loval to the Lincoln has his next temptation 30 miles long, where the Victory Highway beckons him across the Wendover cut-off and by a more northerly route back to the Lincoln at Reno. “The Victory Highway is a newer road and. west of Salt Lake. to have been favored by governments of Utah and tate Nevada. have im proved the route and excellent con dition is claimed for it this follows the Western Pacific and uthern Pacific Railroads and ed with good hotels. "wo hundred miles westward the last decision has to he made, at Ely, from which point the Midland Trail dratns off the trafic wishing to reach Southern California by the shortest ro se! As 2 matter of fact one of these diverging routes probably must be taken during the Winter, if indeed the Eastern tourist should have ar. rived so far on the Lincoln. Some of its elevations exceed 8,000 faet and snow lies deep and long in the passes. At Reno the Lincoln divides and Joins again at Sacramento, giving the traveler the option of golng north or south of Lake Tahoe. At Reno cne more diversion is offered between July and September 1, whereby the tourist, turning south via Carson City, mgy enter California through the Yosemite via Tioga Pass, an elevation of 10,000 feet, almost the highest motor road in America. Yosemite is a wonderful region, but it should be understood that it is no place for the timid driver in his own car. Oregon Trail Described. Although such roads as the Na- tional s and Theodore Roosevelt Highwa and an organization known the cier Trail have thefr termini in the State of Wash ington. the fa seems to be that the Northwest for its direct tern traffic, depends on the Yel- lowstone and the Old Oregon Traf “The latter {s somewhat of a study in terms and ambitions. On the face of it, rather in the face of histor Oregon Trail runs from Independence. (Continued on Seventh Page.) 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