Omaha
A PAPER rOR TlIK ROMX
OMAHA BEE
BEST IN THE WEST
UNDAY JKEE.
AUTOMOBILES
TAQTU On TO ZIOXT.
The
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VOL. XLNO. 2.
OMA1LV, SUNDAY MORNING, JUNE 20, 1910.
SINGLE COPY FIVE CENTS.
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W1IAT good can: come from, a heart
breaking tour of more than 3,000
miles, covering the roads of sev
eral states, .trying out Some of
the worst excuses for "highways' that may be
found anywhere in the world, as well as some
of the best?
This question in some one of many forms is
asked by the many who know; of the Glidden
Tour only by name. They
know that it is an event of
importance to the automobile
world, hut nn wlmt. dnf9 its iir?S"i
builder; he must produce a power plant for his
machine that will meet the requirements under
any sort of actuaVuse. It must not only develop,
but transmit energy cheaply and efficiently;
must show the maximum of strength and capac
ity to the minimum of weight and bulk. It must
be reliable, too, and simple, so that it may be
depended upon at all times, and that its adjust
ments will not present any difficulties beyond
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f the comprehension of the owner,
whose mechanical knowledge is
F necessarily limited to few funda
f mentals. When this engine is
I (built, it is connected up with a
P series of similar- problems, deal-
ing each with its own separate
i. function in connection with the
! .whole.
It' Transmission "and control are'
studied carefully; the chassis
gets its care, the shape of the ton
neau, the construction of the
j wheels, the tires, and a host of
' other little, things are all factors
in the one great proposition be-,
fore the builder, and when he has
each worked out in detail, he is
face to face with the still greater
any one of the multitude of things that
may happen to a car while running on the
road, is set down against it, and u penalty
assessed according to the enormity of the
offense viewed from the standpoint of per
fect service. This means that a car that
goes through the Glidden Tour ordeal with
a clean record is a. machine that deserves
its distinction. It' may "notjbe , perfect in
'itself; the test may develop many points' on
which improvement is possible, but it has
proven reliable and roadworthy, and the
owner of that make of car is given a sub
stantial guaranty that his machine may bo
depended upon.
Nor is it machines alone that are tested
by the Glidden Tour. Tires and oils, lamps,
brakes, speedometers and all the myriad
of accessories that enter into the equip
ment of the perfectly-appointed automo
bile, are tried out in this same way. The
actual conditions of service are there, and
the test proves which one is worthy and
which one fails. Makers and dealers in
these articles have a deep interest in the
tour, as well as the men who build the cars,
for everything depends on the verdict at
the end of the long grind.
The farmer along' the route, once the
implacable enemy of everything akin to
motordom, is experiencing a change of
heart and is, as general rule, inclined to
extend welcome to the passing tourist, and
a general interest is shown in the propo
sitionin fact, the farmer himself is turn
ing to the motor.
For the men who go on the Glidden
Tour is also reserved a test. They may
look upon it as a lark, in a way, but the
hardships they must endure and privations
they must patiently put up with, makes it
quite as much a trial for the hardihood and
capacity of the men as for the staying qual
ities of the machine. Two hundred miles
isn't such a long ride to take in an auto,
when the miles are reeled off over fine
"roads, paved or macadamized, but when
the 200-mile daily grind is taken over all
sorts and conditions'of roads, of bridgeless
creeks, stretches of sands, unchartered hills
and under skies that blaze from sun-up till
sun-down, the pleasure of the Glidden Tour
may well be questioned. But the veterans
of the tour never quaver; they know the
game, and they know the prize they are
playing for, and it is the rigor of the con-
. test that gives it zest.
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importance rest! Can not as
much be accomplished under less stressful
conditions! Is it not possible to test machines
and demonstrate their capacity in a manner
that does not require so much expenditure of
time and energy!
Machines and their equipment may be
tested under a variety of conditions. From the
experimental stage of their construction up to
the day they are put on the-'niarket, or even
into the hands of the "ultimate consumer,'' the
automobiles are given every conceivable test
and examination, to determine just what may
be expected of them; to find out how near the
designer has come to solving the problem; to
determine the success of the mechanics in car
rying out the plans of the builder, and to find
out under what sort of service conditions the
various parts give the best results. And no con-
1 -dition for test is quite equal to the test ofactual
use. When a machine has been "on the road"
for a sufficient length of time, it begins to tell
its own story. Mistakes that might be over
looked in the hurry of shop inspection then be
come known. Adjustments may be made in the
factory that will not hold in use, and these show
up when the machine is in Actual service. Struc
tural weaknesses may become apparent; for it is
. easy to design a perfect car on paper, and quite
unother thing to get it mounted on wheels, and
actually running. So many, many factors enter
into the problem that it would be tedious to
undertake a catalogue of them.
r Engine efficiency is the first study of the
fit:
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problem of aseemblicg his individual units into
a harmonious whole, and making it work suc
cessfully. If this can be done under 6hop condi
tions, well and good. The next thing is the serv
ice test, and here the assembled car is tried
under conditions that test it in such ways as
will disclose any inherent weakness in design or
construction.
Thus the maker discovers the faults in his
design and sets himself about to remedy them.
For the Glidden Tour tests the car. That is
its primary purpose and for which it alone ex
ists. It is intentionally made severe, in the view
of sounding the merits of the competing cars.
Each car entered in the contest is there under
exactly the same conditions as the others. All
must traverse the same roads; they start in the
morning from the same point, 'and they layup
over night at the same "control," which is the
technical word for the night stopping place,
being derived from the fact that the cars are
parked together for the night, and the machines
are actually under control white their drivers
are not in them, this being done to prevent sur
reptitious adjustment of mechanical failures.
Along with the cars travel expert observers,
whose sole business it is to notice the action of
the machine under way. Any failure, from a
loose nut or bolt to a broken axle; a missed
cylinder, a clogged carburetor, an over
heated engine, a defective tire, a hot box.
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