HOMK AND FARM MAGAZINE SECTION Automobiles and Good Roads A Department Designed to Help Farmers With Progressive Road Ideas. ~ IV E N eom pleto d a ta as regards location, tr a ffic and all o th er conditions, th e ex p ert in high w ay construction can advise inOelli- g en tly as to idle kind of pavem ent w h ic h ' will m ost nearly m eet th e re ­ quirem ents in a given case, b u t w ithout th e complete info rm atio n he cannot ho|x) to give any sa tisfacto ry answ er, says Good Roads, Before the a d v en t o f th e autom obile, when th e tr a ffic consisted of horse draw n vehicles, equipped fo r the most p a r t w ith iron tires, w ater bound m ac­ adam was th e stan d ard construction fo r practically all roads ex cep t those carry in g the h eav iest tra ffic . B ut pres e n t tra ffic conditions are d iffe re n t. The vehicles using th o roads consist not only of horgo draw n vehicles equipped w ith iron tires, b u t also o f m otor d riv ­ en vehicles equipped w ith ru b b er tires. M oreover, these tw o d issim ilar kinds a re found in v ary in g proportions. A t present there is no sta n d a rd ty p e of construction. Roads or stre e ts c a rry ­ in g lig h t tr a ffic can be sa tisfa c to rily paved w ith ce rta in m aterials, those carry in g a h eav ier tr a ffic can be paved properly w ith ce rta in o th er m aterials, and those carry in g the h eav iest tr a ffic requiro still o th er kinds of pavem ents. C onsidering theso facts, the logical conclusion is th a t tr a ffic is th e chief fac to r in determ in in g tho ty p e o f con stru ctio n to bo adopted. i t is also known th a t th o tw o d iffe re n t types of vehicles now using tho highw ays re ­ quire d iffe re n t surfaces. I t may bo In ­ ferred , th erefo re, th a t so long as the tr a ffic is mixed, and mixed in v ary in g proportions, a p avem ent th a t w ill be universally sa tisfa c to ry will not be found unless th e am ount o f ono or tho o th er o f tho tw o kinds of tr a ffic b e ­ comes small enough to be negligible. We can bo ce rta in th a t m otor driven vehicles will n ev er become negligible facto rs, so th a t th o n ex t step to be ta k e n is to consider w hether or no t th e ra tio betw een m otor driven and horse draw n vehicles will ever become bo g re a t a9 to elim in ate tho la tte r from consideration. I f th is does happen the situ atio n will be sim ilar to th a t before tho adv en t o f th o autom obile, and we shall have a tr a f f ic v ary in g only In in ­ ten sity . In th a t caso somo certain p avem ent may be evolved which will be as u n iv ersally accep tab le as was tho w ater bound m acadam pavem ent u n d er form er conditions. U nless this change in tr a f f ic does come about it seems probable th a t the selection of fhe ty p e of pavem ent to be p u t down will rem ain a problem w hich has to be solved for each p a rticu lar road, having duo regard to local consid­ erations. G DON’T TINKER. NE of the most im portant th in g s for the autom obilist to learn is n o t to “ tin k e r.” T here is no m ystery concealed under th e hood of a car, th ere is n othing th a t should be k ep t secret from tho owner. In fa c t th e progressive man n fa c tn re r is v ery much g ra tifie d when his custom er shows a desire to learn, because th e well inform ed is usuallv th e satisfied ow ner. But the d ifficu lty arises a fte r th e control o f th e car hus been m astered and a slig h t knowledge acquired of the care and a tte n tio n th a t th e car should receive. In stru c tiv e lite ra tu re accom panies th e c a r; m ag­ n eto tim ing it studied and th a t the ca rb u re to r som etim es needs ad ju stin g is learned. E nthusiasm prev ails and the tem p tatio n to “ ti n k e r ” usually b e­ comes too g re a t; a d elicate ad ju stin g •crew is turn ed or a w ire is discon­ nected and th en — trouble begins. N early •11 m anufacturers eao t.o n th e ow ner • g a in s t “ tin k e rin g .” Talk to the repairm an, stu d y th e In ­ stru ctio n s, learn all you can, and then, w hen the em ergency comes, y o u ’ll be prepared. B ut w ait fo r th e em er­ gency. Do n e t tin k e r. D o n ’t tr y to m ake ad ju stm en ts when th e ear is al read y in a d ju s tm e n t D o n ’t begin te a rin g down u n til you have loeated th e trouble. Don *t try to im prove th e tim in g of th e valvee or th e ig n itio n ; th e m an u factu rer kuow s b e a t T re a t your car as you would an ex pensive w atch. A lot of tro u b le may be avoided by h aving an ex p ert exam ino the car a b o u t eaw t every two m ouths, T here hre many little wrongs O PREMIER Relation of Good Roads to Rural Schools “Non-Puncture” Auto Tires Guaranteed 7,500 Miles Service Tho rural population is more w illing to support b e tte r schools to d ay th a n a t a sy previous tim e. I t is b eing realized th a t all educational a c tiv itie s or ag en ­ cies m ust be more or less correlated, and, more th an all else, th a t th ey m ust be made accessible to th e children. In many countries w here bad roads p re ­ vail, most ot tho schools are of the a n ­ tiq u ated one room v ariety . T hey are usually located along bad roads which, during th e w inter, when th e schools arc usually in session, become so n early im ­ passable as to m ake it d iffic u lt fo r the children to reach them . T his condition causes irreg u lar atten d an ce and re stricts tho educational o p p o rtu n ities of the child. N ot only this, b u t it o ften impedes tho economic consolidation of these sm aller schools into larger, strong er graded schools, w ith high school courses, d irected by a com petent p rin c i­ pal and corps of teachers. On the other hand, in counties which have im proved th eir roads, tho schools are easily reached, the average a tte n d anco g re a te r, the efficiency largely in ­ creased and economic consolidation made possible. R egular atten d an ce a t school m eans consistent and regular gTowth of both tho school and pupil, and consolidation of schools m eans a maxim um of efficiency a t a minimum of cost. I t is also notew orthy th a t there is a m arked tendency fo r the consoli­ dated school to become th e social and in tellectual center of the com m unity. Most m odern ru ral school houses arc so constructed as to serve tho commun ity as g ath erin g places for various kinds o f public m eetings, and where vans are used to convey the children to school during the day. The consolidated school becomes a sort of com m unity cen ter to w hich all educational and so­ cial a c tiv itie s converge, and in order th a t it m ay properly perform th a t func tion all o f the highw ays leading to it should be so im proved as to render it readily accessible throughout the year. Dr. Charles P. S teinm etz, th e em inent electrical expert, expressed his view s on th e fu tu re o f th e autom obile a t the recent convention of tho N ational Elec trie L ig h t A ssociation. A ccording to Dr. Steinm etz, th e large gasoline-driven tourin g car, m anned by an ex p ert ch au ffeu r mechanic, and the electrically driven ro ad ster, coupe and tru ck aro to handle the p riv a te m otor vehicle tra n s p o rtatio n requirem ents of tne next d ec­ ade. In his P h ilad elp h ia address upon th e electric vehicle, th e speaker said th a t insido of ten je a r s a t least a m il­ lion electric autom obiles, costing not over $500 each and w eighing not in ex ­ cess o f 1000 lbs., w ith a m ileage per charge o f a t le a st 30, a maximum speed of 20 m iles p er hour, and a m ain ten an ce cost o f $10 p er m onth each, will be in service, th e steam driv en autom obile will have disappeared an