BETTER CARS AND BETTER ROADS

WHILE the motor car has become, undoubtedly, an everyday necessity rather than a luxury, and while its strictly utilitarian use—to take one here, there and everywhere on short trips—has grown amazingly, still the tide of popularity for long touring by automobile seems to be emphatically on the flood. At no time is this tendency more noticeable than in the mid-summer season now upon us, for, although the roads are apt to be at their worst, from the point of view of dust, in August, other conditions for motor touring are most favorable.

The growing popularity of touring in this country can be traced to several factors. Chief among these is certainly the increased comfort of the cars themselves.

The men whose business it is to design automobiles have recently had the foresight to make them livable. Details of upholstery, springing, seat design and luggage carrying capacity, all have been improved greatly. In the matter of luggage, for instance, many touring models now provide roomy compartments under both front and rear seats, arranged to take one or two suitcases apiece, and carefully dust-proofed. As much of the enjoyment of a motor tour depends on one's independence of railroads and the annoyance of shipping trunks from point to point, these little matters are of more importance than they would at first seem.

The fact is that in the first decade of the mammoth automobile industry, manufacturers were far too busy producing cars to meet the pressing demand, to give much time to refinements, and it has only been in the last few years, and especially this season, that matters of this kind have received the attention they deserved.

The response on the part of the motoring public has been immediate, and cars of every race, color and previous condition of servitude are touring on the roads this summer, not only in such familiar haunts as the Berkshires, the White Mountains and the North Shore, but also much farther afield. Even the transcontinental journey by motor is fast becoming a commonplace, and the touring information bureaus of the automobile associations and motor clubs are busy answering questions on the transcontinental routes, both for those about to make the journey and for those planning to go by motor to the Panama-Pacific Exposition next year. Only a week or two ago a party of motorists arrived in New York from Los Angeles, having made the trip without haste in twenty-nine days.

ANOTHER important factor in the increasing favor of motor touring is the improvement of roads and of their posting. The amount of road building of the so-called permanent type now going on over the country is simply astounding. The authorities and the makers of guide books are beginning to realize, moreover, that a good road is of little use unless it is adequately marked. In New York State there has been a great improvement in this matter. It was the custom formerly, when a road was under repair, either to leave the motorist in blissful ignorance of the fact that he was running into a cul de sac or to put up the ambiguous sign, "Detour" with nothing to indicate the direction of the detour, its length or character. This pleasing custom has been changed, however, and accurate information as to the character of the turnout will now be found in nearly all cases where State road construction work is in progress in New York. Those who remember the delight of continental and, especially, of French roads in the matter of posting, will be thankful for the improvement on this side of the water.

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A PLAN of route marking, so simple and effective that it seems surprising that it has not been earlier adopted, has been established over a large part of the Middle West, and is now being exemplified on a route from New York to Seattle by the Automobile Trail Blazing Association, with headquarters in Minneapolis. In all possible cases the telegraph and telephone poles are used to bear the signs, which consist simply of three bands of paint, two white with one, the color of the particular route, in the center. Three letters only are used in the trail scheme, "R" for right turn, "L" for left turn and "X" for railroad crossing or other point of danger. The signs are also used for garages and hotels found worthy of endorsement. A circle painted in the color of the trail, surrounded by white denotes an efficient garage, and a square similarly denotes a hotel. For straight ahead running the three stripes, white, the color of the trail, and white, are used. It is easy to see how simple this plan is in operation. Provided with a key book, which, by the by, is both small and inexpensive, the motorist has simply to pick out the color of the trail which will take him to his desired destination and follow that color until he arrives. To avoid confusion, routes running north and south are chiefly given black as a trail color, and they may thus cross colored trails without danger of mistake.

Motorists who are thinking of taking their cars into Canada this season had best find out the local requirements well beforehand. Duty must be paid on cars under certain conditions and a bond for their return over the border within varying specified times be put up. The different provinces also have different periods of grace in which foreign cars may tour without taking out a local license. This information in detail may be easily obtained from the Bureau of Tours of the Automobile Club of America.

IN accord with the "annual model" disease which only just now is beginning to lose its hold on the automobile industry, some cars labeled "1915" are with us already. They show no striking changes from those of the present vintage, save that the campaign for reduction of weight, begun last year, has evidently been continued. Nearly all those 1915 cars out thus far are "light" sixes or "light" fours, with the emphasis upon the "light." So many pounds have been taken from the chassis, so many more pounds have been saved by the body design. This is certainly a tendency in the right direction, and the perfecting of materials, especially of the steels used in automobile construction, have made a material reduction in weight, and, therefore, in upkeep expense.

In view of the appearance of the 1915 models it is interesting to see what the experts think of the car of the future. At the Summer Meeting of the Society of Automobile Engineers, the "Ideal Car" was described by a number of technical men of high standing. It is remarkable how closely their estimates of what the car of one's dreams should be agreed. Some of the specifications which they demanded in the Ideal Car were, a four-cylinder motor —non-poppet valve preferred—of medium size and rather long stroke, capable of giving the car a maximum speed of fifty miles an hour and of running it as slowly as four miles an hour on direct drive; a runabout type of body with two extra disappearing seats and streamlines; four brakes to lessen the skidding danger, and a transmission system consisting either of a gear box giving four forward speeds, or of electric-gasoline control giving eight or ten forward speeds.

To any single department— motors, for instance—Vanity Fair can naturally allot only a very small portion of its pages. It is, however, always ready to take up in correspondence with its readers any matters of motor interest. We shall be glad not only to answer questions and secure catalogues, but if you desire, to aid you in the selection of cars and accessories, and to keep you informed of the latest innovations and developments in the automobile world. A postal card will bring you the name of the manufacturer of articles described in this or any other department of Vanity Fair.