Produced by Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed
Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was
produced from images available at The Internet Archive)









                         THE WOMAN AND THE CAR

                            [Illustration:

                 _Photo by Foulsham & Banfield, Ltd._

                            DOROTHY LEVITT

                      _Her favourite photograph_]




                               THE WOMAN
                              AND THE CAR
                       A CHATTY LITTLE HANDBOOK
                        FOR ALL WOMEN WHO MOTOR
                         OR WHO WANT TO MOTOR
                           BY DOROTHY LEVITT
                       EDITED WITH INTRODUCTORY
                       ARTICLES BY C. BYNG-HALL
                      ILLUSTRATED BY PHOTOGRAPHS
                            SPECIALLY TAKEN

                  LONDON: JOHN LANE, THE BODLEY HEAD
                  NEW YORK: JOHN LANE COMPANY, MCMIX


                  Printed by BALLANTYNE & CO. LIMITED
                Tavistock Street, Covent Garden, London




INTRODUCTORY


In presenting this book to the public the publisher is acting largely on
the request of some hundreds of ladies, some already motorists, others
would-be motorists. Miss Dorothy Levitt, last year, wrote a short series
of articles for the _Daily Graphic_ on the subject of Motoring for
Women. These articles attracted a great deal of attention and Miss
Levitt was inundated with letters from all parts of the United Kingdom
and also from abroad, asking her for further information on various
points and also begging her to publish the articles and additional
information in volume form.

Miss Levitt was also asked to contribute articles on the same lines to
many magazines and weekly publications and further received requests
from a number of distinguished women to give them personal instruction
in the art of driving and managing the mechanism of their cars.

As the simplest way out of answering all these requests Miss Levitt has
revised and enlarged her former articles and has added new chapters and
a great deal of matter which she believes every woman motorist or
beginner will find of use.

There has been no attempt to make this volume a formal text-book on
motoring for women but rather a chatty little handbook, containing
simple and understandable instructions and hints for all women
motorists, whether beginners or experts.

The facts contained in the various chapters are not those gathered from
any standard manual of motoring but are from Miss Levitt’s own practical
experience of six years’ daily driving, in all sorts of cars, in all
sorts of weather and under all sorts of conditions--pleasure trips,
long-distance tours at home and abroad and in competitions.

There may be points here and there which she has overlooked. Miss
Levitt, however, will answer such questions or furnish such further
information as readers may properly desire, either through the medium of
his Majesty’s mails or, perhaps, in a later edition of this volume.

The photographs, with which the several chapters are illustrated, were
specially taken for the work by Mr. Horace W. Nicholls.

     _London, February 1909._




CONTENTS


                                                                    PAGE

INTRODUCTORY                                                           v

DOROTHY LEVITT: A PERSONAL SKETCH                                      3

THE WOMAN AND THE CAR

CHAP.

   I. THE CAR--ITS COST, UPKEEP AND ACCESSORIES                       15

  II. THE ALL-IMPORTANT QUESTION OF DRESS                             23

 III. THE MECHANISM OF THE CAR                                        31

  IV. HOW TO DRIVE                                                    41

   V. TROUBLES--HOW TO AVOID AND TO MEND THEM                         51

  VI. HINTS ON EXPENSES                                               62

 VII. MOTOR MANNERS                                                   69

VIII. TIPS--NECESSARY AND UNNECESSARY                                 77

DISTINGUISHED WOMEN MOTORISTES                                        85

THE COMING OF THE SMALL CAR                                           93

CAR INDEX-MARKS AND THEIR LOCALE--IN BRITAIN,
FRANCE AND GERMANY                                                   101

THE MOTOR WOMAN’S DICTIONARY--BRIEF EXPLANATION
OF TECHNICAL TERMS                                                   111

INDEX                                                                123

ADVERTISEMENTS--SPECIALLY SELECTED AS BEING
USEFUL TO WOMEN MOTORISTES                                           129




ILLUSTRATIONS


                                                                _To face
                                                                    page_

Dorothy Levitt. Her favourite photograph. _Photo
by Foulsham & Banfield, Ltd._      _Frontispiece_

“Drive your own car.” _Photo H. W. Nicholls_                          14

It is accessories that bring up the cost--you must
have a hood. _Photo H. W. Nicholls_                                   18

One of the most important articles of wear is a scarf
or muffler for the neck. _Photo H. W. Nicholls_                       24

Remember to twist the veil before tying--this prevents
the knot working loose. _Photo H. W.
Nicholls_                                                             26

“The useful overall.” _Photo H. W. Nicholls_                          28

This little drawer is the great secret. _Photo H.
W. Nicholls_                                                          30

Unscrew the cap and peep in. _Photo H. W. Nicholls_                   32

Test the quantity of oil in the tank by inserting a
piece of stick. _Photo H. W. Nicholls_                                34

Pull up this small rod to enable the “used” oil to
run out of the base-chamber. _Photo H. W.
Nicholls_                                                             36

The adjustment of the foot-brake is a matter of
seconds. _Photo H. W. Nicholls_                                       38

In front of your car you will notice a handle. _Photo
H. W. Nicholls_                                                       42

Release the foot from the right pedal and throttle
slightly with the left foot on the left pedal.
_Photo H. W. Nicholls_                                                44

Your next move is to take off the side brake. _Photo
H. W. Nicholls_                                                       48

It is a simple matter to remove a faulty sparking
plug. _Photo H. W. Nicholls_                                          52

It is a simple matter to adjust the trembler or screw.
_Photo H. W. Nicholls_                                                56

Be sure that all nuts and bolts are tight--a rattle is
annoying. _Photo H. W. Nicholls_                                      60

“Be sure that the petrol tank is full.” _Photo H. W.
Nicholls_                                                             62

This is the switch. _Photo H. W. Nicholls_                            66

This lever is used for changing gear. _Photo H. W.
Nicholls_                                                             68

First advance the spark and give more air. _Photo
H. W. Nicholls_                                                       72

The Automobile Association scouts will, if necessary,
stop your car on the road and give you information.
_Photo H. W. Nicholls_                                                74

The engine will start easily if you first flood the
carburettor slightly. _Photo H. W. Nicholls_                          76

The lubrication of the De Dion is extremely simple.
_Photo H. W. Nicholls_                                                80

Miss Isabel Savory, who not only drives, but repairs
her own cars. _Photo Elliott & Fry_                                   84

Baroness Campbell de Lorentz, the first lady in
Britain to drive her own car. _Photo by Keturah
Collings_                                                             86

The Honble. Mrs. Assheton Harbord. Drives a
Rolls Royce car, owns her own balloon, “The
Valkyrie,” and has competed with it in seven
races                                                                 88

Mrs. George Thrupp, originator of the motor
christening. _Photo by Arthur Rouselle_                               90




DOROTHY LEVITT: A PERSONAL SKETCH


It is not considered difficult for mere man to write about a pretty,
young woman. Yet in the case of Dorothy Levitt it is difficult. There
are so many things in her delightful private life which would have a
vivid interest for the public. But I am forbidden to tread too deeply in
that direction.

Dorothy Levitt is the premier woman motorist and botorist of the world.
And she is ready to prove and uphold her title at any time.

In the United Kingdom, in France and in Germany, she has achieved
distinctions, won success and carried off trophies such as no woman and
few men can claim.

Five years ago Miss Levitt won the Championship of the Seas in the great
motor-boat race at Trouville, France, defeating all comers.

Three years ago at Brighton she won a race and created a world’s record
for women of 79¾ miles per hour. The following year she broke her own
record and created a new world’s record for women of 91 miles an hour.

Looking at Miss Levitt one can hardly imagine that she could drive a car
at such terrific speed. The public, in its mind’s eye, no doubt figures
this motor champion as a big, strapping Amazon. Dorothy Levitt is
exactly, or almost so, the direct opposite of such a picture. She is the
most girlish of womanly women. Slight in stature, shy and shrinking,
almost timid in her everyday life, it is seeming a marvel that she can
really be the woman who has done all that the records show.

And the way in which she came to be a motorist--it is a story in itself.
She was from childhood a good cyclist, a good driver of horses, a rider
to hounds and an excellent shot with rifle or gun. Fishing was her
favourite pastime. She was quick of eye and sure of hand and nerves
troubled her not at all.

A friend, owning a motor-car, paid a visit to the family in the West
Country. In a very few days Dorothy Levitt had become well acquainted
with the intricacies of that motor. She handled the wheel as well as the
owner or his chauffeur. She attended, as a spectator, a county
competition, driving the car with such skill that the attention was
attracted of the manager of a big motor firm. He secured an introduction
and asked her to drive one of his cars in a competition. She agreed and
thus became the first Englishwoman to drive a motor-car in a public
competition.

Her first prize was won a month later, and since then she has steadily
mounted the tree of her chosen profession. Yet she has remained an
amateur, accepting no money prizes, only medals and cups and such like
trophies.

In hill climbs, endurance and speed trials she is alike invincible. At
the first aerial hare-and-hounds race of balloons this year she was
selected as the umpire. The most careful, as well as intrepid and
fast-driving motorist, was wanted. Miss Levitt unerringly followed the
hare from London to near Arundel, Sussex, and was on the spot when the
first balloon among the hounds descended near the hare.

Miss Levitt has been offered many enticing professional engagements on
the Continent and in the United States but prefers to remain at home and
an amateur.

In appearance Dorothy Levitt looks partly French, partly Irish, with a
_soupçon_ of American. Yet she is wholly English. Of medium height, her
figure is slim and very graceful. She has a very girlish but expressive
face, large eyes that are brown and grey and green in varying lights,
brown hair that curls, a straight nose that has the bare inclination of
a saucy upward tip and a mouth which is too large. It is a charming,
winning face.

The one fault of Dorothy Levitt is her modesty, almost amounting to
bashfulness. One cannot get her to tell much of her many exciting
adventures, particularly those of which she is the heroine. She is
immensely popular, has been toasted by Royalty at German motor banquets,
elected honorary member of many of the first automobile clubs in this
country and on the Continent, and has a host of friends, some in the
sacred circles of society, others distinguished men and women of the
more Bohemian circles of art and literature, music and the drama. She is
an inveterate first-nighter, wears simple but ravishing clothes and, to
those who do not know her, passes as a bright butterfly of fashion.

In a flat in a quiet but fashionable neighbourhood in the West-end of
London, Miss Levitt lives the life of a bachelor girl. There she has a
housekeeper and maid and a tiny Pomeranian, one “Dodo,” to keep her
company. The flat contains, as its feature rooms, a Louis XIV.
drawing-room and a Flemish dining-room, the latter the scene of many
little luncheon parties for which Miss Levitt is also famous.

Hers is a busy life, involving many thousands of miles of travel in the
year. She is to be seen at Ascot, Goodwood, Cowes, at Henley, at
Ranelagh. To-day she may be in London. Next week you may hear of her as
in France or Germany taking part in a motor competition; the week
following she may be in Scotland or of a house-party in the Shires or
botoring in the blue waters off the Riviera coast.

It is little wonder that her ambition is to leave the gay whirl and to
settle down quietly in the country, with her motor, her dogs and a
fishing-rod and a gun.

Of her public records I can do no better than quote extracts from her
diary, for Miss Levitt, unlike the generality of women, is most careful
in keeping a very businesslike diary. Here are the extracts:

_April 1903._--First Englishwoman to take part in public motor-car
competition. Did not win. Will do better next time.

_May 13, 1903._--Glasgow to London Non-stop Run. Drove 16 horse-power
Gladiator. Gained 994 marks out of possible 1000. Marks deducted for
tyre troubles.

_August 1903._--Won Gaston Menier Cup at Trouville, France. Value of
cup, 350 guineas.

_August 8, 1903._--Drove motor-boat _Napier_ at Cowes. Won the race.
Afterwards commanded to go over to Royal yacht by the King as his
Majesty wanted to see me put boat through its paces. King thinks such
boats may be useful for despatch work.

_September 1903._--One thousand miles Reliability Trials. Sixteen
horse-power Gladiator. Won. Did fastest time in class.

_October 2, 1903._--Southport Speed Trials. Drove 16 horse-power
Gladiator. Won silver cup for speed.

Won Championship of the Seas, Trouville. Napier motor-boat. Boat
afterwards bought by French Government for £1000.

_September 1904._--Light Car Trials. Successful. Drove small De Dion, 8
horse-power. Entirely alone. No mechanic attended to car. Did everything
myself. Had non-stop for five days but small difficulties on sixth and
last day.

_October 1904._--Southport Speed Trials. Drove 50 horse-power Napier.
Won two medals.

_February 1905._--Did Liverpool and back to London in two days,
averaging a level 20 miles per hour throughout for the entire 411 miles.
Unaccompanied by mechanic. Eight horse-power De Dion.

_May 1905._--Won Non-stop Certificate at Scottish Trials. Ran over very
rough and hilly roads in the Highlands. Eight horse-power De Dion.

_July 1905._--Won Brighton Sweepstakes on 80 horse-power Napier, at rate
of 79¾ miles per hour, constituting the woman’s world record. Beat a
great many professional drivers. Drove at rate of 77¾ miles in _Daily
Mail_ Cup.

_June 1906._--Shelsley Walsh Hill Climb. Was only sixth at finish. Fifty
horse-power Napier. Mine was only car competing which was not fitted
with non-skids. Car nearly went over embankment owing to this and greasy
state of roads.

_June 1906._--South Harting Hill Climb. Won medal on 50 horse-power
Napier. Also presented with silver casket for winning private match on
same hill.

_July 1906._--Aston Hill Climb (Tring). Third on 50 horse-power Napier.

_October 1906._--Broke my own record and created new world’s record for
women at Blackpool. Ninety horse-power six-cylinder Napier. Racing car.
Drove at rate of 91 miles per hour. Had near escape as front part of
bonnet worked loose and, had I not pulled up in time, might have blown
back and beheaded me. Was presented with a cup by the Blackpool
Automobile Club and also a cup by S. F. Edge, Limited.

_May 1907._--Bexhill, Second Prize, Appearance Competition. Eight
horse-power De Dion.

_June 1907._--Germany. Won Gold Medal Herkomer Trophy Race (1818
kilometres). Fourth out of 172 competitors. In hill climb, fifth, and
tenth in Forstenrieder Park Speed Trial out of 172 competitors. Was
first of all women in all competitions. Sixty horse-power six-cylinder
Napier. There were 42 cars with much larger engines than I had.

_October 1907._--France, Gaillon Hill Climb. Forty horse-power
six-cylinder Napier. Won in my class by 20 seconds. Gradient of hill 1
in 10 average.

_June 1908._--Prinz Heinrich Trophy, Germany. Made absolute non-stop run
on 45 horse-power Napier. Won large silver placque.

_July 1908._--Aston Hill Climb, Aston Clinton. Made second fastest time
of over 50 competitors on 60 horse-power Napier.

_August 1908._--France. Trouville, La Côte du Calvaire.




THE WOMAN AND THE CAR

[Illustration:

_Photo. H. W. Nicholls._

“DRIVE YOUR OWN CAR”]




THE WOMAN AND THE CAR




CHAPTER I

THE CAR--ITS COST, UP-KEEP AND ACCESSORIES

     Motoring as a Pastime for Women--Patience of more Value than
     Nerve--Selection of a Car--Single-cylinder the best for Women who
     are going to drive themselves and attend to the Mechanism--Cost of
     a Small Car--Necessary Accessories and their Cost--Expense of
     Up-keep--The necessary Licences and the Cost.


Patience, the capacity for taking pains, is of more value than the most
ponderous nerve. You may be afraid, as I am, of driving in a hansom
through the crowded streets of town--you may be afraid of a mouse, or so
nervous that you are startled at the slightest of sudden sounds--yet you
can be a skilful motorist, and enjoy to the full the delights of this
greatest of out-door pastimes, if you possess patience--the capacity for
taking pains.

Motoring is a pastime for women: young, middle-aged, and--if there are
any--old. There may be pleasure in being whirled around the country by
your friends and relatives, or in a car driven by your chauffeur; but
the real, the intense pleasure, the actual realisation of the pastime
comes only when you drive your own car.

I have hunted--and was one with those who declare that the most glorious
of all out-door life is in the saddle, on a fast, clean-jumping hunter;
but when, by accident, I took up motoring I found the exhilaration, the
delights of the gallop doubled. It fascinated me, and it will fascinate
any woman who tries it.

I am writing this little book not so much for those women who have
already taken up motoring, but for those who would like to, but either
dare not because of nervousness, or who imagine it is too difficult to
understand the many necessary details.

In the following chapters I will endeavour to explain everything in the
simplest possible manner, without lapsing into confusing technicalities.

The first thing to discuss is the car. There are scores of makes, good,
bad and indifferent. I have tried many different makes and have come to
the conclusion that the De Dion is an ideal single-cylinder car for a
woman to drive. It combines simplicity with reliability--two very
important items to the automobiliste.

For your own driving, if you are going to attend to the mechanism
yourself, you should purchase a single-cylinder car--more cylinders mean
more work, and also more expense as regards tyres, petrol, oil, &c. The
single-cylinder car is the most economical to run. Being constructed in
a much lighter manner the weight on the tyres is less, consequently the
tyre bill is smaller, a matter of great importance in the upkeep of a
car.

The horse-power of a single-cylinder car is usually 8 h.p. or less. As
regards carriage work, of course the purchaser can suit herself, but the
“Victoria” type of body has the most graceful lines. Colour, also, is a
matter of one’s own selection. Dark blue, brown, green, red or cream,
they all look well, and can be picked out with lines to match the
upholstery, or further embellished with a top panel of basket-work, as
is the car in the photograph.

Such a car as I have described will cost, new, from £230. This price,
however, is for the car itself, upholstered and complete as to seats and
side lamps. It is the accessories that bring up the cost. It adds
greatly to one’s comfort to have a hood, made of either black leather or
khaki-coloured canvas, with nickel or brass mountings to match the
finish of your car. Such a hood will cost, in leather, about £20, and in
canvas £18. I am quoting for the best quality in every instance, for
with motoring it is quality that counts in the long run. A folding glass
screen, with nickel or brass fittings, framed in stained wood, will cost
£10. The front lamps will cost about £6 per pair, and the rear lamp £1
to £1 5_s._ A waterproof rug can be bought for £1 to £2.

The car will, of course, seat two, but it is often advisable to have a
third seat. This should be constructed so as to fold down when not in
use, and would cost £15. You can have a stationary seat fitted for £10,
but these do not look so nice (though quite as comfortable)

[Illustration:

_Photo. H. W. Nicholls_

IT IS ACCESSORIES THAT BRING UP THE COST--YOU MUST HAVE A HOOD]

as those that fold down. In addition to these things it is necessary to
carry a tyre repair outfit, which will cost about £1, also the following
tools and spares:

     Ammeter, jack, pliers, spanners, carburetter jet key, large and
     small screw-drivers, hammer, oil-can, grease injector, tyre-pump,
     sparking-plug, inlet and exhaust valves, trembler blade and screw,
     some washers, split pins, file, very fine file for platinum points,
     emery-powder, insulated tape, and some waste or swabs.

In buying your car you will probably find that the last car you were on
is “the best.” It is liable to become somewhat confusing if you go for
many trial runs; but one thing to bear in mind is that the car that will
do five miles an hour faster than the one you previously tried is not
necessarily the best car--it may be faster while it is running, but it
may not run for long--therefore take my advice and pin your faith on the
car with the reputation for reliability, the one that will not entail a
big expenditure every few months for repairs. Nearly all of us,
nowadays, have some motoring friends, who have probably had experience
with different makes of cars: their experience should benefit you in
your choice. There are some very inexpensive cars on the market, but
inexpensive only as to initial outlay--they are likely to prove
themselves sorry bargains before many months have passed. One of the
chief joys of motoring is to feel that you can rely upon your car.

In regard to housing the car, if you are not fortunate enough to possess
a stable or garage of your own, one of the following courses is open to
you: Hire a stable, or garage, and a man to attend to the cleaning of
the car; place it at one of the many garages, public and semi-private,
now in existence--or you can stable it at the nearest mews and arrange
with the ostler to do the washing. I cannot give the exact cost of the
first and last of these, as they would naturally vary, but if placed at
a regular garage the cost would be from 8_s._ 6_d._ to 12_s._ 6_d._ per
week.

Another outlay is to be found in “tips.” The men at a garage are always
hungry for “tips,” and your car will be polished with greater zest if
the “tips” are frequent or generous. The advertisement of the “no tip”
garage is a fallacy. The proprietor may consider this principle the
right one, but if you act according to his ideas your car will probably
suffer.

Petrol varies slightly in price, but is usually from 1_s._ to 1_s._
4_d._ per gallon. As, with the car illustrated, you are able to run 28
to 32 miles on one gallon, you will see that petrol is not a great item.

The next duty that devolves on you after becoming the owner of a car is
to procure your licences. There are two--one a licence for the car (the
same as a carriage licence), the cost of which is governed according to
the weight of the car, probably near two guineas; the other a driving
licence, costing 5_s._ Both of these are to be obtained from the London
County Council offices in Spring Gardens, London, S.W., or in the
country at the various County Council headquarters--though the carriage
licence can be obtained, after due application, at almost any post
office. Your driving licence is an official printed paper with your name
and address written in.

To obtain a number for the car it is necessary to apply to Spring
Gardens, or any of the Registration and Licensing authorities in the
United Kingdom. If one writes to a County Council, the letter should be
addressed: “Clerk to the County Council of ----, County Council
Offices, ----,” and if to a county borough, to “The Town Clerk, Town
Hall, ----.” The registration fee is 20_s._ You will have to fill up a
form and will then have a number registered.

This number you must have painted on two tin plates, white on a black
ground. The figures must be 3½ in. deep. These number-plates must be
affixed to the back and front of your car. The back one must be so
placed that the light from the back lamp is thrown on it and thus the
number distinctly seen at night. It is also necessary for part of the
rear lamp to show a red light.

You should never go in your car without this licence--your driving
licence, for you must produce it when asked by the proper authorities or
pay the penalty of £5. But more of this later.




CHAPTER II

THE ALL-IMPORTANT QUESTION OF DRESS

     The All-important Question of Dress--Masks and Goggles are usually
     unnecessary--“Nothing like Leather” is a False Cry--The best
     Head-gear--A Neck-muffler is of the greatest Importance--Beware of
     Rings and “fluffy” Things--The Question of the Overall--What the
     Secret Drawer should contain--Hints about all Garments--Suggestion
     anent carrying a Revolver


An all-important question is dress. Automobilists are nowadays more
careful in the choice of their attire, but there are still a goodly
number who seem to imagine it is impossible to look anything but hideous
when in an automobile. On a closed-in car, limousine or landaulette, any
kind of attire is permissible as the conditions are precisely the same
as being driven in a carriage, but with an open car neatness and comfort
are essential. When racing, or when in countries where speed is not
looked upon with such horror as in England--on the long, straight
seemingly never-ending, military roads of France, one can travel at a
speed that makes goggles or masks a necessity, but for motoring under
ordinary conditions there is no reason why one should wear them. It
might be borne in mind that I am writing this book for the woman who is
desirous of being her own driver and owning her own car; yet perhaps my
advice will be applicable to the whole sex. I average about 400 miles
per week--in all conditions of weather--all sorts of cars and all sorts
of places, and therefore speak from experience--in many instances dearly
bought.

Now, as to ordinary garments, dress for the season of the year exactly
as you would if you were not going motoring. I would advise shoes rather
than boots as they give greater freedom to the ankles and do not tend to
impede the circulation, as a fairly tightly laced or buttoned boot would
do, but this is a matter of individual taste. In winter time it is
advisable to wear high gaiters, have them specially made, almost up to
the knee.

As regards a frock--the plain “tailor-made”

[Illustration:

_Photo. H. W. Nicholls._

ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT ARTICLES OF WEAR IS A SCARF OR MUFFLER FOR THE
NECK]

with a shirt blouse of linen, silk or “Viyella” is without doubt the
most comfortable--and the wearer has the advantage, at the end of a
days’ run, of appearing trim and neat. Under no circumstances wear lace
or “fluffy” adjuncts to your toilette--if you do, you will regret them
before you have driven half a dozen miles.

Regarding coats--there is nothing like a thick frieze, homespun, or
tweed, lined with “Jaeger” or fur. The former has the advantage of being
lighter in weight than the latter and is just as warm and much less
expensive. In England in winter one can wear a coat of this description
right up to the beginning of summer. For summer itself, the ideal coat
is of thin cream serge. It retains its freshness and does not crease
like alpaca, linen or silk. The serge looks, and feels, smart all the
summer--the silk or alpaca, after its first hard day, begins to look
creased and shabby.

Do not heed the cry “nothing like leather.” Leather coats do not wear
out gracefully. At first they may be delightful, but when they have been
caught in two or three showers they begin to have a hard, stiff feeling
which is far from comfortable. I have, however, seen very pretty
costumes, coats and skirts, made of thin glove kid, or _suède_, but
these are luxuries, as they cost from twenty-five to thirty guineas
each.

As to head-gear, there is no question: the round cap or close-fitting
turban of fur are the most comfortable and suitable, though with the
glass screen up it is possible to wear an ordinary hat, with a veil
round it. However, if you go in for caps, see that they fit well--there
is nothing more uncomfortable than the cap that does not fit. It is a
good plan to have caps made to match your costumes. When fixing the cap,
pin it securely, and over it put a _crêpe-de-chine_ veil, of length
a-plenty. These can be obtained from most of the leading drapers, and it
is quite a simple matter to make them yourself with a length of _crêpe_
or washing silk. Before tying the veil, twist the ends. This prevents
the knot working loose and is very necessary, as the veil, in addition
to protecting the hair, helps to keep the hat securely in place.

[Illustration:

_Photo. H. W. Nicholls_

REMEMBER TO TWIST THE VEIL BEFORE TYING--THIS PREVENTS THE KNOT WORKING
LOOSE]

One of the most important articles of wear is a scarf, or muffler, for
the neck--and the manner of wearing it is also important. Fold it, then
wind round the throat, beginning at the front, bringing the ends round
from the back, and fold over in front. See that the throat is covered
closely, and not too loosely. Wearing this properly will save you all
manner of colds, sore throats and kindred sufferings.

Regarding gloves--never wear woollen gloves, as wool slips on the smooth
surface of the steering-wheel and prevents one getting a firm grip.
Gloves made of good, soft kid, fur-lined, without a fastening, and made
with just a thumb, are the ideal gloves for winter driving.

It is not advisable to wear rings. If you do not want to leave them at
home, or in a hotel, but want to wear them when you are indoors, during
your ride or tour take them off while on the car and stow them away.
Rings, when you are driving yourself, hurt terribly, and also the stones
are loosened. Bracelets and bangles are irritating unless secured by a
sleeve or glove from working up and down.

Indispensable to the motoriste who is going to drive her own car is the
overall. This should be made of butcher-blue or brown linen, to fasten
at the back--the same shape as an artist’s overall. It should have long
sleeves. You can always slip off your coat and put on the overall in a
moment--and it is necessary if you have anything to do in the car.
Remember it is better to get grease-spots on your washable overall than
on your coat or other clothes.

While there are several little repairs that it would be impossible to
remedy if wearing gloves, the majority of work on a car (filling tanks,
&c. &c.) can be done just as well if one’s hands are protected by a pair
of wash-leather gloves. You will find room for these gloves in the
little drawer under the seat of the car.

This little drawer is the secret of the dainty motoriste. What you put
in it depends upon your tastes, but the following articles are what I
advise you to have in its recesses. A pair of clean gloves, an extra
handkerchief, clean veil, powder-puff (unless you despise them),
hair-pins and ordinary pins, a hand mirror--and

[Illustration:

_Photo. H. W. Nicholls._

“THE USEFUL OVERALL”]

some chocolates are very soothing, sometimes!

It is also advisable to carry a tablet of “Antioyl” soap. If it has been
necessary to use bare hands for a repair you will nearly always find
some grease on your hands, and this it is impossible to remove with
ordinary soap. Of course it is possible to remove it with a little
petrol, but I have found that petrol roughens the skin and that the
“Antioyl” soap is much better.

The mirror should be fairly large to be really useful, and it is better
to have one with a handle to it. Just before starting take the glass out
of the little drawer and put it into the little flap pocket of the car.
You will find it useful to have it handy--not for strictly personal use,
but to occasionally hold up to see what is behind you. Sometimes you
will wonder if you heard a car behind you--and while the necessity or
inclination to look round is rare, you can, with the mirror, see in a
flash what is in the rear without losing your forward way, and without
releasing your right-hand grip of the steering-wheel.

If you are going to drive alone in the highways and byways it might be
advisable to carry a small revolver. I have an automatic “Colt,” and
find it very easy to handle as there is practically no recoil--a great
consideration to a woman. While I have never had occasion to use it on
the road (though, I may add, I practise continually at a range to keep
my eye and hand “in”) it is nevertheless a comfort to know that should
the occasion arise I have the means of defending myself.

If you are driving alone a dog is great company. The majority of dogs
like motors and soon get into the habit of curling up on the seat by
your side, under your coat.

[Illustration:

_Photo. H. W. Nicholls._

THIS LITTLE DRAWER IS THE GREAT SECRET]




CHAPTER III

THE MECHANISM OF THE CAR

     In which a Practical Introduction to the Car is given with Simple
     Explanations of the Details of the Machinery--The Importance of
     Lubrication--The Testing of the Brakes--The Six Levers and their
     Various Functions--The Electric Battery


“Be sure you are right, then go ahead.” This good old motto is just the
thing to remember when one is going in for motoring. Remember, I am
discussing the woman who drives her own car, and does all those things
that ordinarily a chauffeur would have to do.

I am constantly asked by some astonished people, “Do you really
understand all the horrid machinery of a motor, and could you mend it if
it broke down?” but it really is not a very difficult matter. The
details of the engine may sound complicated and may look “horrid,” but
an engine is easily mastered. A few hours of proper diligence, provided
you are determined to learn, and you know all that you have to know.
Again, I must remind you that I am discussing the single-cylinder car,
which is by far the simplest for a woman to drive and attend to alone.

I have made it a rule never to allow any one to drive my own little
car--and this is a rule that every one will find useful. All cars have
their individual idiosyncrasies, and if you alone drive, you get to
understand every sound; but if you allow any one to drive you are
ignorant of what strain the car has been put to. As a matter of fact, a
strange hand on the wheel and levers seems to put the car out of tune.

Before starting out for a ride your first duty is to see that the
petrol-tank is full. It is unpleasant to be stranded on the road, miles
from anywhere, minus petrol. The petrol-tank is, in many instances,
under the seat. Lift the cushions, unscrew the cap and peep in. If it is
dark it will be necessary to hold a piece of stick in to see how much
petrol there is, but when there is occasion to do this, be very careful
that there is no dirt on the stick,

[Illustration:

_Photo. H. W. Nicholls_

UNSCREW THE CAP AND PEEP IN]

or a choked petrol-pipe or carburetter will result. The slightest atom
of dirt in the petrol will cause trouble. If you are going for a very
long run it is a wise plan to take an extra can with you. It is,
perhaps, unnecessary for me to warn you not to take a light near the
petrol-tank while it is being filled up. Many cars have been wrecked
through carelessness in this direction. Remember it is not actually the
_petrol_ that catches alight, but the vapour that arises from it. If
your petrol-tank runs dry there is no danger--the car will simply come
to a standstill.

The chamber in which the petrol and air mix and vapourise is called the
carburetter, from which the vapour is carried to the cylinder head by
means of a pipe, and is there exploded by the tiny electric spark from
the sparking-plug, the explosion forcing down the piston and causing the
crank-shaft to revolve.

Having examined your petrol-supply, being sure to replace the screw
quite tightly, your next duty is to see that the water-tank is full.
This tank is situated behind the engine, close to the dash-board.
Unscrew the top and if you cannot see without uncomfortably bending
over take a twig or stick and poke it in, and the wet portion will tell
you how much water there is; though on some cars there is, affixed to
the screw tops of both the petrol-and water-tanks, a metal rod which
shows the amount of petrol or water in the tank. When you are refilling
the water-tank you can tell by the “overflow” when the tank is
full--there is a special outlet, so as to prevent the surplus from
flowing over the top of the engine. Be sure to screw the top of the tank
on again.

The next for examination is the oil-tank. This supplies the oil to
lubricate the engine and gears. There are several different types of
lubricators, force or drip feed, according to the type of car. It is
necessary to lift the bonnet to refill the oil-tank. The “bonnet” is the
metal covering to the engine. When the bonnet is lifted, metal supports
will be found each side to hold it up. It is important that you have
plenty of oil, for it is the lubrication that keeps your machinery in
working trim. Without oil your engine and

[Illustration:

_Photo. H. W. Nicholls._

TEST THE QUANTITY OF OIL IN THE TANK BY INSERTING A PIECE OF STICK]

gears would overheat and probably “seize.” The lubricating oil is
forced, by a small hand pump, to all the different parts of the engine
and gears requiring it.

With the car illustrated, it is necessary to pump a charge of oil into
the engine about every twenty miles. This is an easy matter and it is
not necessary to stop the car to do it. Before starting out each day you
should allow the “used” oil to run out of the base chamber. This is done
by lifting a small rod you will find on the left-hand side of the
commutator. If you pull this up it releases the oil, which you will see
running out. When it is all out do not forget to press the rod into
place again, as failure to do this would mean serious trouble, as the
fresh oil, when pumped into the engine, would simply run right through
on to the ground. After this stale oil has been released, two charges
should be pumped into the engine before starting. This is done by
turning the pointer on the pump handle to “Reservoir,” then pull up
slowly, turn the pointer to “Moteur” and press gently down. To lubricate
the gear, fill from “Reservoir” as before, turn the pointer to
“Vitesse” and press down in the same manner.

Apart from filling the various grease-caps occasionally, on the
steering, &c., and greasing the wheel bearings, this is all that is
necessary in the way of lubrication. The wheels, however, only require
greasing about every 400 miles.

Your next duty would be to test the brake. Get into the habit of doing
this every time you go out. It is no trouble to run the car a few yards
to ascertain whether the brakes grip or not. If all motorists, no matter
how expert, were to spend a few moments in taking this precaution, there
would undoubtedly be fewer accidents. We often read that “the
steering-gear went wrong,” but I am right in saying that, in many cases,
the accidents are caused by the failure of the brakes when applied
suddenly on an emergency. The brakes may be in a satisfactory condition
when you lock up the car after a day’s run, but when the car is
stationary there is the slight possibility of a little oil dripping on
to them during the night, rendering them practically useless. If there

[Illustration:

_Photo. H. W. Nicholls._

PULL UP THIS SMALL ROD TO ENABLE THE “USED” OIL TO RUN OUT OF THE
BASE-CHAMBER]

is oil on the brakes, however, it can easily be burnt off by running the
car a little way and applying the brakes several times--the friction
will gradually burn it off. The brakes sometimes slacken and need
adjustment--an easy operation. Types of brakes may vary slightly with
different types of cars. On my single-cylinder car the brake is very
simple. To adjust, you will find a small handle underneath the frame
towards the back of the car, on the off-side. Half a turn one way or the
other if the brake is too slack or too fierce usually suffices. It can
be adjusted one way or the other in about a second or two.

We now come to the various levers and their different functions. There
are six levers, the change-speed, or gear-lever, on the left-hand side
of the steering-column, under the steering-wheel; the ignition-lever and
the air-lever, both to be found under the steering-wheel on the
right-hand side of the steering-column; the hand-throttle, underneath
the steering-wheel; in centre of column, on a small ratchet, the
hand-brake lever and the first-speed lever. In this chapter I shall
only deal with the first four.

It is the gear-lever that sets the gear in motion--practically puts the
“muscles” of your car into play. It is imperative that it be in neutral
(or central) position when starting the engine, or when applying either
the hand-or foot-brake. This gear-lever, when in neutral position,
disconnects the engine and gear, thereby allowing the road wheels to be
brought to a standstill. When first learning to drive there is a
tendency to suddenly apply the brake without bringing the gear-lever
into neutral position, consequently a great strain is put upon the
entire mechanism, as rival forces are brought into play, viz., while the
engine is pulling, and through the driving-shaft turning the gears and
propelling the wheels, the action of the brake is to make the back
wheels stationary. As an example, the shock on the mechanism in the
event of this happening can be compared to taking a watch and banging it
on the ground.

With regard to the other levers, always

[Illustration:

_Photo. H. W. Nicholls_

THE ADJUSTMENT OF THE FOOT-BRAKE IS A MATTER OF SECONDS]

be quite sure that the ignition (top) lever is retarded, and that the
air-lever is in correct position. It is impossible to exactly give the
correct position for these as it is a matter of adjustment and liable to
slightly vary with different cars. However, when once you have found the
correct position it is impossible to get it wrong.

The next thing to do is to switch on the electric current. The car
carries a battery on the dash-board, where is also the coil. As it is
possible to run 2000 or 3000 miles on one battery, the replacing is not
an expensive item. The cost of a new battery is 15_s._ 9_d._ The switch
is on the coil and the current is set in motion by moving the switch
from “A” to “M.” Having done all these things you are ready to start up
the engine, and after that, drive.

It has taken a long time to explain the preliminary things that you
should do before starting off on a run, and the non-motoriste, and even
perhaps the intending motoriste, will say, “If I have to do all those
troublesome things it will take up all my time, so I think I had better
have a chauffeur”; but let me assure you that while it has taken some
little time to explain these things in the plainest possible language,
it will take you but a few minutes to carry them out.




CHAPTER IV

HOW TO DRIVE

     Starting the Engine--How to hold the Steering-wheel--Various Speeds
     and Gears--How to start the Car--The Art of Throttling--The Use of
     Foot-pedals--Changing Speed--How to climb Hills--Running Downhill
     and on the Level--How to use Brakes--Skidding--Driving Backwards

    “_Fire in the heart of me, moving and chattering,
    Youth in each part of me, slender and strong,
    Light and tremendous I bear you along._”


These lines, I feel sure, appeal to every motoriste as they exactly
describe the little car in motion.

Starting one’s engine is not the nicest thing about motoring when a
woman is acting as her own driver and mechanician, but with the little
cars no strength is required; it is only the big cars that need a
swelling of muscle. There is a great knack in starting an engine, but
this, once overcome, ceases to be hard work.

In front of the car you will notice a handle. Push it inwards until you
feel it fit into a notch, then pull it up sharply, releasing your hold
of the handle the moment you feel you have pulled it over the resisting
(compression) point. Unless starting a car fitted with magneto ignition,
on no account press down the handle--always pull it upwards, smartly and
sharply. If it is pressed down the possibility of a backfire is
greater--and a broken arm may result. This, however, is not a common
occurrence, and is one that is brought about entirely through
carelessness on the part of the would-be driver.

If the car has not been used for some hours it will sometimes be
necessary to turn the starting handle two or three times--speaking from
my own experience, three times is the maximum; it will usually start on
the second turn. Of course in the winter it will take two or three
turns, as the petrol freezes and takes longer to vapourise.

The moment the engine is running you can get in the car and start
driving. Hold the steering-wheel with both hands in the

[Illustration:

_Photo. H. W. Nicholls._

IN FRONT OF YOUR CAR YOU WILL NOTICE A HANDLE]

manner and position in which it is most comfortable to yourself. Keep a
firm hold of it all the time and do not get into the habit of driving
with one hand on the wheel: use both except when it is necessary to use
either for changing speed, &c. Advance the ignition-lever forward and
give more air by pulling back the “air” lever. When you have tried the
car once or twice you will easily be able to gauge the distance these
various levers should be moved. Remember the faster the engine runs the
more air she will take, though when climbing a hill it is necessary to
drive on a richer mixture (less air, with the regular supply of petrol)
and cut off the air inlet almost entirely.

You will soon understand the different sounds of the engine--and their
prevention, or cure.

When the car is stationary (and the engine running) always endeavour to
run it as quietly as possible. It is sometimes annoying to people to
have the noise of an automobile outside their door and no good can
accrue by allowing the engine to run on unchecked. Underneath the
steering-wheel, on the steering-column you will notice the
throttle-lever, mentioned in the preceding chapter. Its function is to
regulate the mixture in the carburetter. When you wish the engine to run
very quietly and slowly, you move this little lever from right to left.
When starting to drive again do not omit releasing the throttle,
otherwise the engine may stop owing to insufficiency of gas.

Your next move is to take off the side brake. You will find this lever
on the right-hand side of the car. Now you are absolutely ready to
start. Always remember that a car should receive careful treatment, so
therefore do not attempt to move anything by jerking it roughly--take
everything very quietly.

You will notice two pedals on the left and right respectively of the
steering-column, on the floor. The left-hand pedal acts as a throttle
(shutting off gas) in exactly the same manner as the hand-throttle
explained above, that is, when it is pressed down half-way--and the
throttling process acts according to the amount of pressure put upon the
pedal.

[Illustration:

_Photo. H. W. Nicholls_

RELEASE THE FOOT FROM THE RIGHT PEDAL AND THROTTLE SLIGHTLY WITH THE
LEFT FOOT ON THE LEFT PEDAL]

If it is pressed down still further it acts as a brake. This
foot-throttle and foot-brake are more frequently used than the
hand-throttle and hand-brake.

The small pedal on the right-hand side of the steering-column is brought
into service when first (or lowest) speed is required. Thus, to start
the car you press down this pedal as far as it will go, at the same time
pressing lightly on the throttle (left-hand pedal), and take hold of the
change-speed (or gear) lever and push it as far forward as it will go,
at the same time releasing the left-hand pedal and keeping down the one
on the right. You are now travelling on first speed. You will soon tell
when this speed has reached its maximum power as the engine will be
running very fast. It will then be time to change to second speed. This
is done by releasing the right-hand pedal, throttle slightly with the
left foot and bring the gear-lever towards you as far as it will go, at
the same time slowly lifting your foot off the throttle. You will now
find the car moving much faster and will be able to tell, as in the
former instance, when the maximum speed is obtained. When you hear the
engine beginning to “race” (run very fast), slightly throttle again and
push the gear-lever into third speed--away from you, the same position
as for “first,” though, of course, in this instance it is unnecessary to
touch the right-hand pedal, which, you must remember, is only used for
lowest speed. You are now on third (or top) gear and will find that
unless the country is very hilly you will usually be able to keep the
car running on this gear for a long time, varying the speeds from 10 to
28 miles an hour by deftly manipulating the ignition, air and throttle.

Changing speed on the car illustrated is an easy task, and that is why I
have taken the De Dion car as an object-lesson. With the majority of
cars there is a deal of “arm work” necessary, and in many cases not a
little strain, this strain very often counteracting the benefits
otherwise derived from the driving.

In changing speed always remember to throttle slightly, whether in
changing from first or second to top, or in slackening speed, from top
to second or first.

Never change from first to top speed, or from top to first without using
the intermediate speed. The first speed on these little cars is from
zero to 9 miles an hour, the second from 9 to 18, and the top from 18 to
28. I should advise you to get thoroughly used to the steering while on
second speed, and at first drive very slowly. Do not expect to be able
to control the car in a few minutes. Take your time and get in sympathy
with your motor as you would the horses you drive or ride. Gain
confidence slowly. Once you have confidence in yourself the battle is
nearly won. Bear in mind that when riding or driving a horse it is only
partly under your control. As it has a brain and will of its own it can
bolt if it wishes to--but with a motor-car you rely upon yourself
alone--you are master (or should I say mistress?) of the situation.

When it is necessary to drive backwards, push forward the small lever
you will find at the side, by the hand-brake, push the change-speed
lever forward (same position as for top speed) and steer exactly the
reverse way to what you would do if you were going forward. This will
no doubt prove awkward at first, and will necessitate a little practice,
but when once mastered you will find it equally easy to steer the car
either in a backward or forward direction. When running on any speed, if
you allow the car to gain impetus and then put the change-speed lever in
neutral position, the car will travel on in the same manner as a
free-wheel bicycle, the action of the gear being neutral temporarily
disconnecting the engine and gear.

If you see an obstacle in the road do not go up to it at full speed and
suddenly put on the brake. The sudden application of the brake will
hasten the end of the life of your tyres--and if you are not driving on
non-skid tyres a bad accident may be the result if the road is at all
wet. Of course occasion may sometimes arise whereby it is absolutely
necessary to apply the brakes very suddenly--for instance, if a car
makes its appearance from a side turning that perhaps you had not
noticed, or an individual or dog attempts to cross the road a few yards
in front of your car--but in cases of this kind you must rely on your
own judgment.

[Illustration:

_Photo, H. W. Nicholls._

YOUR NEXT MOVE IS TO TAKE OFF THE SIDE BRAKE]

You will soon understand how far the car will run with a given impetus
and learn to use the brakes gently and sparingly.

Never get into the habit of using only one brake. It is more convenient
to use the foot-brake, but if you do not sometimes use the hand-brake,
when an emergency arises you will find yourself looking for the
hand-brake instead of your hand instinctively going out to it in the
fraction of a second.

In travelling uphill run as far as possible at top speed--meanwhile
listening to the throb of the engine. When the top speed drops to about
the maximum speed of the second, it is time to change back to second,
but do not allow the engine to run too slowly before changing, otherwise
it will not “pick up” and it will be a great strain on it. If the hill
is a very steep one it may be necessary to change to first. There is
always a correct moment for changing speed, both on the level and on
hills, but this is a thing that can only come with practice.

If you have a long decline to negotiate, turn the switch off so that the
engine is not running, allowing the car to roll down on its own
impetus, controlling with the brakes, but remember, on the car slowing
down, after passing the foot of the hill, to put the top gear in and
switch on again, otherwise the engine may stop.

If you are driving in a very hilly or mountainous country you must give
the engine a charge of oil more frequently than every twenty miles on
account of its having to be on low gear, when the engine runs much
faster and is liable to get over-heated--and if it does become
over-heated you will soon notice a nasty “knock”--regarding which I will
explain in a later chapter, on “Troubles.”




CHAPTER V

TROUBLES--HOW TO AVOID AND TO MEND THEM

     The Battle of Motor Woe--Various Troubles which may happen at any
     Time--How to diagnose each Trouble and how to repair it--Prevention
     better than Cure--In spare Time, Practice in Repairing is
     Valuable--Simple Instructions from the Tightening of a Nut to the
     putting on of a Tyre


Your troubles with a car may be _nil_--they may be a-plenty. You may be
at fault, and again, the trouble may simply be one of ordinary
misfortune or due to the idiosyncrasies of your car: but to whatever it
is due, learn quickly to mend matters and laugh at them rather than
weep. I well remember the first time I started out alone without a
chauffeur. Somehow or other the car stopped (cars in those days were not
so reliable as they are to-day--and the one I had lent me had done good
service). For several hours I could not make out what was the matter,
wept bitter tears and was so down-hearted that it took me a day to get
over it: but most of the little troubles that arise are easily overcome
on a modern car, when once one understands how to locate them. Train
your ear to distinguish the slightest sound foreign to the consistent
running of the engine. A single misfire means that there is some little
thing needing attention; but always remember to switch off the electric
current before touching anything--if you do not you will get a shock.

There is only one trouble regarding which you are really justified in
feeling angry--that is a punctured or burst tyre. It _is_ possible for a
woman to repair a tyre, but I am sure I am correct in saying that not
one woman in a thousand would want to ruin her hands in this way.
Nowadays there is a repairer in nearly every village, and the best plan
is to drive very slowly on the rim to this nearest repair-shop. With a
small, light, single-cylinder car it will do no harm, but if you drive
too fast, or far, the inner tube may be damaged. However, it is
advisable to carry a “Stepney” wheel. These wheels are really
indispensable and should have the place of honour on a woman’s

[Illustration:

_Photo, H. W. Nicholls._

IT IS A SIMPLE MATTER TO REMOVE A FAULTY SPARKING PLUG]

car. This “Stepney” wheel is an ordinary wheel, fitted with flanges to
fix on to the existing wheel, and carries a tyre already pumped up--and
can be affixed to your car in less than ten minutes. No strength is
required to put it in place.

In regard to tyres--there are several good makes, such as Dunlop,
Continental, Michelin, and several others. The stock car you buy from
the maker will probably be fitted with one of these makes, but will have
plain or corrugated treads. As there is such a great danger through
skidding it is advisable to pay a little extra and have non-skid tyres
fitted. In addition to preventing the car turning round on a greasy
road, being steel-studded they will obviate puncture to a great extent.
I use them winter and summer, for although the country roads in summer
are dry and the danger of sideslip very small, when you reach a town you
will nearly always find the tramlines (if there are any) have been
watered, and it is really in towns where the non-skid tyres are a
necessity.

There are a dozen little things that may occur to you at any time, and
which you can easily remedy yourself, but before starting on a lonely
ride it would be well for you to practise the remedying of the troubles,
in fact, give yourself lessons in them. As I have already stated, you
may go almost a year without troubles of any kind; still, you should
know all there is to know about them.

_Sooted plug._--This is caused by the engine getting too much oil. If
the plug is “sooted” it will appear to be very black and oily-looking.
It is a matter of a minute to loosen the sparking-plug with a spanner,
and replace it with a new one; but if you are not carrying a spare plug,
and are not in a hurry for a few minutes, the dirt is easily washed off
with a little petrol.

_Faulty plug._--If the engine misfires it may either be owing to the
above-mentioned trouble, or may be caused by the porcelain becoming
cracked or loose in its seating. As this cannot be repaired a new plug
is necessary.

_Gap on sparking-plug badly adjusted._--If the engine is not pulling
well it may be owing to the fact that the two tiny points across which
the spark leaps are either too wide apart or are set too closely
together. If you get a good spark with the points in a certain position
it is a good plan to insert the blade of a small pen-knife before
finally replacing the plug, making a mark on the knife where it was
inserted. On a future occasion this will be found useful, as if the
knife is again inserted between the points of a new plug and the points
either opened or closed, to meet the marked portion of the blade, the
correct adjustment will at once be arrived at.

_To test battery._--It is necessary to do this periodically, as if the
battery is not showing a sufficient number of ampères the car will run
badly. The test is made with an ammeter (provision for which has been
made in the list of spares), the positive points making contact with
those corresponding on the battery, the ampèrage being registered on a
small dial. It should always show four or over. When it gets below this
point it is advisable to carry a spare battery, as a stop on the road
through a battery giving out is annoying, and a battery cannot be
procured at every repairer’s.

_Empty petrol-tank._--If the car comes to a standstill after a few
misfires, it may be caused through the petrol-supply being exhausted on
account of the tank having sprung a leak or the petrol merely being used
up. The former is a very unusual occurrence, rarely occurring on a car
with the petrol-tank under the seat. Where the tank is placed at the
back of the frame of the car it is often punctured by a sharp stone
striking it. Always, if going any distance, carry a spare can of petrol
and a funnel, and before filling the tank be quite sure that there is no
dust in the funnel or on the top of the can, as the smallest quantity of
dirt will choke your petrol or carburetter, and this takes a long time
to remedy.

_Choked petrol-pipe or carburetter._--You may possibly believe at first
that this trouble is caused by the petrol running out, so look in the
tank, and if it contains petrol you may be sure that the flow is checked
in some way. “Agitate” the float of the carburetter and it will most
likely be found that there is no petrol coming through, therefore there
must be a stoppage between the tank and the

[Illustration:

_Photo H. W. Nicholls._

IT IS A SIMPLE MATTER TO ADJUST THE TREMBLER OR SCREW]

carburetter. At the bottom of the carburetter there is a little joint,
connecting the carburetter with a small tube through which the petrol is
carried. See first that the petrol-supply is turned off, then loosen the
joint and take out the pipe, then turn on the petrol and see if it comes
through as far as that. If it does, the trouble must be in the
carburetter jet. It is a simple task to remove this with the carburetter
jet spanner, and an ordinary hairpin would then remove every obstacle.

_Water in carburetter._--This may sometimes cause the engine to run
badly, and is not an unusual occurrence. On the top of the carburetter
being removed the water will easily be noticed. It is heavier than
petrol and the little drops of water in the petrol look like drops of
lead. In order to guard against suspected water you can filter the
petrol through a handkerchief laid in the funnel.

_Sticking valves._--With the inlet valve this trouble may be caused by
oil and dirt. If this is the case it can be taken out and washed in
petrol and replaced. The car may not run as it should do on account of
the inlet and exhaust valves being pitted and needing grinding in. To
grind in use a little emery-powder and oil, and plenty of “elbow grease”
until you succeed in eliminating all the little pits and making the
surface quite smooth. (Be careful to clean off all traces of the emery
after grinding.)

_Platinum point and screw adjustment._--The platinum point on the
trembler blade or screw occasionally gets worn uneven. When contact is
made, if the adjustment is not correct, the point will get worn down on
one side and the engine will probably develop a “knock” and you will not
be getting the maximum horse-power out of it. It is a simple matter to
smooth the points, but a delicate touch is necessary. The filing must be
done with your finest file, and a very few touches are necessary. Should
you not happen to have a very fine file with you, the points can be
smoothed with emery-paper, but care should be exercised in its use.

Again let me warn you to have the electric current switched off before
making any of these repairs or adjustments, and particularly before
removing the trembler blade, screw or plug. When the trembler blade and
screw are replaced they will require readjustment. When you think they
are set at the proper point, switch on, and give the starting-handle a
few turns as if to start the engine, at the same time hold down the
inlet valve, by pressing down the small button on top of cylinder. While
turning, watch the spark between the two points. If it is feeble the
adjustment is not correct, the screw is either tight or too loose. After
a few attempts you will be able to adjust very quickly and almost
unerringly.

See that the points are kept free from oil.

_Loose terminals._--The car may run badly on account of a loose terminal
of the wires on the sparking-plug or battery. This is simply a matter of
thoroughly tightening up the various little nuts with a spanner. It is a
good plan to just look over these occasionally, for when the terminals
once begin to work loose they will gradually get worse and you will
probably have a stop on the road.

_Irregular petrol-supply._--If the carburetter is getting too much or
too little petrol, it should be remedied by readjusting the needle valve
in the carburetter. When once it is properly set it will sometimes go
for years without readjustment.

_Punctured float._--I mention this trouble as I have personally
experienced it, but it is very rare and may not occur in the whole life
of a car. The float is a hollow cube, for the purpose of regulating the
height of petrol in the carburetter. The float, if punctured, allows the
petrol to enter, causing it to remain at the bottom of the carburetter,
gradually taking in more petrol. The effect of this is that the float
does not perform its office, as it becomes weighted with the petrol, and
this holds open the petrol inlet, which overflows out of the
carburetter.

I believe I have now enumerated all the troubles that you are likely to
meet with, and which you can look after yourself, but because the list
is long do not think for one moment that every time you go out in your
little car you are going to experience them. You may drive for weeks,
months, almost years, without

[Illustration:

_Photo, H. W. Nicholls._

BE SURE THAT ALL NUTS AND BOLTS ARE TIGHT--A RATTLE IS ANNOYING]

a tiny bit of trouble, if you are careful. The looking after the little
things saves a heap of trouble. The testing of this thing, the dusting
of that, the tightening of a nut, the loosening of a screw--all these
may be commonplace trivial matters, but if attended to will pay in the
long run.

Prevention is better than cure, and the careful motoriste who looks
after her car as she looks after herself will have little use for the
hints in this chapter of mine.

Above all, whatever may arise, try to forget to weep and remember to
laugh. Then you will have won half the battle of “Motor Woe.”




CHAPTER VI

HINTS ON EXPENSES

     Motoring need not be an Expensive Luxury--Two Hundred Pounds will
     go a long Way if properly spent--The Second-hand Car--Motor
     Clubs--The Ladies’ Automobile Club--The Automobile
     Association--Motor Schools and Driving Lessons


By the time you have read and thoroughly digested the preceding chapters
I feel sure you will be able to take your car out for a spin without any
misadventure.

There are but a few points which I want to impress upon you in this
chapter. Do not let what you may think the great expense debar you from
the pleasure of motoring. There is no great expense unless you want to
make it so. In my first chapter I spoke of the price of cars and
accessories. I gave a total of £300 as the average probable outlay. By
no means do I want to revise these figures, but wish to remind you that
the figures quoted

[Illustration:

_Photo. H. W. Nicholls._

“BE SURE THAT THE PETROL TANK IS FULL”]

are, in every instance, for articles of the very best quality.

There are now being made several small cars by big firms, many of these
cars being eminently suitable for a woman to drive. It is possible to
procure a car at £120. The accessories, also, such as the hood and
screen, need not be plated or expensively enamelled. Cape cart hoods
which have the iron-work painted instead of plated are quite as
serviceable, require less cleaning and the cost is considerably less;
and so with other things--but it is wise to always get the best.
Durability and reliability is what you want, especially if you are
limited as to expenditure. I particularly mention these matters because
only the other day a friend spoke to me about the expenditure, and said
that she could not possibly afford three hundred pounds. She proposed to
buy a second-hand car for a small sum and have it repaired.

My advice to her was “Don’t.” And then I ran over a list of expenditure
in getting a new car and everything necessary new. Taking the same
quality as mentioned in my first chapter, but not as expensively or so
well finished, I found my total less than £230.

One could, of course, go much below this by buying a second-hand car;
but I would not advise this. If you know the people who have a
second-hand car for sale, and can thus be assured that you will not in
any way be tricked, then it might be worth while buying. But from the
experience of people I know, I would rather warn you against the cars
which are advertised “as good as new,” and for sale for a few pounds.
You would probably have to spend in repairs in the first year as much as
a new car would cost.

So soon as you are the owner of a car, licensed and ready for the road,
become a member of the Ladies’ Automobile Club of Great Britain and
Ireland. Its headquarters are situated at Claridge’s Hotel, in Upper
Brook Street. The club has a suite of rooms there. Send in your
application to Miss K. d’Esterre Hughes, the secretary of the club.

By joining the club you have many advantages. For instance, there is, of
course, the convenience of using the club rooms and the club garage
when in town, and in getting a percentage off your hotel bills. But
there is the greater advantage of getting all the necessary information
you may want regarding hotels, roads, and such like when you want to go
for a tour. There is, in fact, scarcely any information appertaining to
motoring which you cannot get at the club. It is always good for a woman
car-owner to belong to the first motor club in the kingdom.

Every big town has an automobile club affiliated with the Royal Club,
with which the Ladies’ Club is also affiliated, so that by membership in
the Ladies’ Club you have a standing at once with the other clubs
throughout the country, and also abroad.

Every motoriste should become a member of the Automobile Association. It
is an association formed for the purpose of placing scouts on the
different main roads to warn motorists of police traps--and the
expenditure of £2 2_s._ a year in this direction will perhaps be the
means of saving you four or five times that amount within a few months.
You will be given an “A.A.” badge to fasten on the front of your car,
and on seeing this the scouts will always stop you if there is any
danger.

With regard to learning to drive, you must do so on quiet country roads
or at one of the many motoring schools in and around the big cities; but
know something of the school before you decide on it. There are many in
which your money would be thrown away.

If you do not go to a school choose a road where there is little or no
traffic. One is not allowed to learn in the parks. In fact there is
quite a heavy fine imposed on inexperienced drivers who use the parks.
Do not go into a street of heavy traffic until you have thoroughly
mastered your car, and then drive first some half-dozen times with an
expert friend as chauffeur and thus get used to the crushes and the
twistings and turnings.

In traffic use your own judgment. Ladies are usually bad at judging
distances, and it is well to keep as much toward the middle of the road
as possible and not try too many “near things” until you have reached
the expert class.

Do not be afraid to sound your horn, yet

[Illustration:

_Photo. H. W. Nicholls._

THIS IS THE SWITCH]

do not use it more than necessary. At cross streets or roads and when
approaching corners sound the horn and slacken speed by throttling.

There are numberless little things which, after you have graduated to
the ranks of the experienced motoriste, you will buy, not because they
are absolutely necessary, but because of their convenience. For
instance, a speedometer. All the half-dozen makes are good ones. A
speedometer is a very interesting accessory, for it tells you exactly
the pace at which you are travelling, and in some instances has been
known to influence the decision of a magistrate when deciding a charge
of exceeding the speed-limit.

For winter driving they are now making a fur and leather arrangement
which covers the steering-wheel; but I would suggest that, to the
beginner at any rate, this is superfluous. Soft kid gloves, fur-lined,
are much better.

Novelties of all sorts are always coming on the market; but the beginner
had better let some one else try these first. It is an expensive thing
to keep on experimenting with every new device for a car or the
motoriste. Let others try them, and if they should prove of real use you
will soon know.

[Illustration:

_Photo. H. W. Nicholls._

THIS LEVER IS USED FOR CHANGING GEAR]




CHAPTER VII

MOTOR MANNERS

     Things which Motoristes should and should not do when out in their
     Car--Laws governing the Highways--Pedestrians have the Right of
     Way--Points and Times at which to drive slowly--Corners and the
     Danger of cutting them--When to sound the Hooter--The “Courtesy of
     the Road”


It is, of course, quite unnecessary to teach the well-bred woman
manners. The well-bred woman, with her innate courtesy and
unselfishness, should she take up motoring, no doubt would act as all
motoristes should act when at the wheel of their car or out on the road.
So that while I have headed this chapter “Motor Manners” I desire merely
to bring to the notice of readers, as prominently as possible, those
things which they should do and those which they should not do when out
in their cars. I can safely give this advice, for personal experience
has been my teacher. For want of a better term I call these warnings
and suggestions “Manners.”

If every woman and man who drove a car followed these suggestions there
would not be an outcry against the motor-car. Unfortunately the great
majority of motorists have to suffer for other people’s faults--the
disgraceful driving of the few.

The laws now governing motoring have increased largely in the last few
years and will probably continue in the making. I will not go into these
various laws except to point out that because a person owns a motor-car
the ownership of the roads is not necessarily included.

Pedestrians, according to the law, practically own the highways, not to
the exclusion of other traffic, but judgments in recent cases declare
that it lies with drivers to keep clear of pedestrians and that all
persons have a right to walk on the highways at their own pace, whether
paralytics or cripples. Dogs, chickens and other domestic animals at
large on the highway are not pedestrians, and if one is driving at a
regulation speed, or under, one is not responsible for their untimely
end.

It is, therefore, especially advisable to drive slowly through all towns
and villages. Drive slowly past all school-houses.

Always pass vehicles and bicycles on the proper side, and pass large
vans, ’buses and electric tramcars very carefully, as some one may be
crossing the road and suddenly appear from behind.

Drive slowly past any one driving or riding a restive horse and, if
necessary, especially if it should be a lady or child riding or driving,
stop the engine. This is an act of courtesy that will always be
appreciated and may prevent a bad accident.

If the road is wet, give pedestrians and cyclists a wide berth so as not
to splash them with mud.

Again, if the road is wet, you may be safe enough on account of your car
being fitted with non-skid tyres, but in this respect the cyclist is
perhaps not so fortunate. He may have a side-slip and fall perilously
near your car wheels. For this reason, too, give cyclists plenty of
room.

Do not fail to sound the hooter and slacken speed when coming to a
cross-road, side-turning or bend. Many accidents may be averted by
taking this precaution.

Never take a sharp corner at full speed. A walking pace would be much
better.

Never pass or try to overtake a pedestrian, cyclist or vehicle at a
corner.

Avoid the bad and perilous habit of trying to squeeze through doubtful
openings in traffic either in town or country.

Never drive the engine downhill.

Do not leave the engine running when stopping outside a house. The
noise, though it may be slight, may be annoying to the inmates or
neighbours.

If you have a syren fitted to your car, do not sound it in a town or
village. A syren is really only necessary for Continental driving.

Remember that mail-vans have the “right of way,” and that ordinary
traffic is supposed to give way to them.

A hooter is meant to give warning, not to startle people or wake up
sleeping inmates in

[Illustration:

_Photo. H. W. Nicholls._

FIRST ADVANCE THE SPARK AND GIVE MORE AIR]

their houses at all hours. Do not sound your horn oftener than
absolutely necessary.

Remember, however, that it is necessary to sound the hooter when coming
up behind and intending to pass a pedestrian or a vehicle. But do not
wait until you are within a few feet of a pedestrian or cyclist who is
already doing his utmost to get out of your way and then sound your
hooter. If the cyclist be a novice or at all nervous such conduct might
cause an accident.

Keep within the legal limit of speed all the time except on a good and
clear stretch of road, where there happen to be no “blind” corners or
dangerous cross-roads or traffic. Then there is no real harm done to any
one in trying to see what you can get out of your car for a short spurt.

I cannot give you any special advice on the dust nuisance, but if you
follow my suggestions, as already given, you will cause the public as
little inconvenience from dust as is in your power.

There is a little thing I specially want to warn motoristes against, and
that is taking corners on the wrong side of the road. Ordinarily you
would not think of doing so. But wait until you come to a few corners
which you can see well around. There is nothing in sight and so you skim
the curb for the fun of it.

But do not keep on cutting corners--sooner or later it will become a
habit and be done without thinking. Then comes the possibility of
another car, a vehicle of sorts, a motorcycle or, worst of all, a cycle
with a woman or child pedalling. You may not lose your presence of mind,
but how about the cyclist? Don’t cut corners on the wrong side of the
road and there will be no need to worry about the answer to my query.

That one can show a great deal of courtesy to other cars and to general
traffic on the road is assured, but that few people do is also a fact.
Here is a case worthy of attention. Every motoriste has or will
experience it. On the road in front of you is a covered car with noisy
engine. It is a landaulette or limousine which rattles more or less. The
noise of the engine is also magnified by being closed in. The car is
taking up the best part of the road

[Illustration:

_Photo H. W. Nicholls._

THE AUTOMOBILE ASSOCIATION SCOUTS WILL, IF NECESSARY, STOP YOUR CAR ON
THE ROAD AND GIVE YOU INFORMATION]

and though you are anxious to pass it you cannot, because of the noise,
attract the attention of the chauffeur and get him to draw out enough
for you to make a safe pass. It is very annoying and may go on for some
time.

See to it, therefore, if you have a closed-in car, that there is a
mirror attached to the dash-board so that the chauffeur can see what is
behind him and instruct him also to keep a watch, from time to time, for
coming-up cars so that you can extend to them the courtesy of the road.

One other matter may be included in “Motor Manners” and that is, leaving
the car on the road or in the street unattended. In the first place the
law says that you cannot leave your car unattended whether the engine is
running or not. It is within the discretion of the police to summons
you. They, however, do not interfere unless the engine is running
noisily and the exhaust is smoking.

But in leaving one’s car unattended on the road or street, care should
be taken, as an act of courtesy to general traffic and pedestrians, that
the car does not block the way. If on the curb in town, and it be
possible, leave it on a side-street or, if in front of house or shop,
give other people a chance to drive up to the front door. At the same
time do not stand your car deliberately in front of some one else’s
house instead of your own or your friend’s, if you are visiting.

[Illustration:

_Photo. H. W. Nicholls_

THE ENGINE WILL START EASILY If YOU FIRST FLOOD THE CARBURETTOR
SLIGHTLY]




CHAPTER VIII

TIPS--NECESSARY AND UNNECESSARY

     Motoring now so general that an Owner of a Car is not any longer
     considered to be necessarily a Millionairess--Tipping should be on
     a sensible Basis--While the Motor-car has emphasised Tipping,
     nowadays the modest Shilling receives quite a Welcome--When to tip
     and when not to tip explained from Personal Experiences


If there is one thing more than another which the motor-car has revived
and intensified it is the habit and practice of tipping. I need not give
a lecture on tips. All of us agree, more or less, that the present-day
tip is one of the banes of existence. But there are two sides to the
question--one we as the givers of tips know a good deal about. Few know
much about the other side--the side of the worker for and receiver of
tips.

Tips must therefore be divided into two classes--the necessary tip and
the unnecessary. There are more of the latter than the former. Under
the head of necessary tips I would place the garage tip, whether the
garage be a public one or a private one at the house of a friend. There
are a few other necessary tips, such as when a friend lends you a car
for a drive or a tour or when your friend’s chauffeur drives you to the
railway station at an unusual hour or in very bad weather.

Luckily the motor-car is coming into such general use to-day that those
who may possess one are not necessarily put down as millionaires. The
chauffeur, attendants and servants generally are beginning to realise
this and no longer expect a handful of money from every motoriste.

The amount of tips which should be given, in the numerous cases which I
am going to mention, should depend on your income and ability to afford.
That millionaires are not usually generous tippers is a well-known fact.
Generally it is from the woman or man who is not very well off and who
can ill afford it that the biggest tips come.

To those who count their half-crowns as worth a full thirty pence and
value them accordingly, I would say--Do not be afraid to accept a
friend’s invitation to visit them with your motor-car because you cannot
afford to do much tipping. Be sensible about this matter and I can
assure you that your friend’s chauffeur, or groom, will also be sensible
and welcome the modest shilling or half-crown you give him.

Tipping at a public garage, if you keep your car there, has already been
touched on in a previous chapter. If you go on a tour or a little trip,
driving yourself, and put your car in a public garage or the one
attached to your hotel or roadside inn, your car will not be touched
unless you so order. Then for cleaning it, furnishing petrol, charging
battery or anything else which may be wanted, there are regulation
charges and these will be put down in your bill. The attendant at the
garage may or may not be the man who did the work, but if he is it would
be quite the proper thing to give him a small tip, just as you might tip
the waiter or the chambermaid had they done any satisfactory work for
you. But this need not be more than either waiter or chambermaid
receive, and if your car has not been cleaned it is scarcely necessary
to give the attendant even sixpence unless he has done some service for
you.

Some hotels and wayside inns nowadays clean cars which stop with them
overnight without extra charge, yet the fee they charge for the garage
really covers this. In such case a shilling to the man who did the work
would not be amiss. Your car may come into his hands again and he may do
better work on it because of the little tip.

If stopping just for lunch or tea at an hotel or inn and, for
convenience’ sake, you run your car into the yard or garage, a small tip
is necessary.

If you stop the night at a friend’s house and your car is placed in your
hostess’s garage, you will find it spick and span in the morning with
water in the tank and your petrol-tank also replenished. Perhaps this
petrol has been supplied from the spare can you carry, or it may have
come from your friend’s supply.

You can quickly find out this. Naturally you will test your tanks and
you can question

[Illustration:

_Photo. H. W. Nicholls._

THE LUBRICATION OF THE DE DION IS EXTREMELY SIMPLE]

the attendant. Should the petrol-tank not be filled up and should you
have used all yours you would naturally ask for enough to fill your
wants. Pay for this, for in most garages nowadays a careful account is
kept of petrol and other expenses. A five-shilling tip for the man is
quite enough.

If your hostess should have a stable only and not a garage, and the man
is only able to clean your car as he would a carriage and you have to do
the filling of the tanks and the starting of the engine and so on, a
smaller tip is all that is necessary.

In staying a week-end at a country house, if your car has not been used
during your stay the tip of five shillings is quite sufficient. But
rules on such points depend on circumstances. If the weather has been
bad and the car is in a very muddy state the man will probably have had
considerable extra work to bring out your car clean and shining.
Remember what you would have had to pay at a public garage and act
accordingly.

If you merely pay a call or go to lunch or tea with a friend, and your
hostess has a chauffeur who takes the car from you and brings it up to
the front door at your departure, a little tip, perhaps two shillings,
should suffice.

But such a tip is quite an unnecessary one. The man has done nothing but
what he has been paid to do by your hostess. He has done no special or
extra work especially for you.

It is always a good thing to keep this in mind whether or no a man whom
you are about to tip has performed any direct service for you, extra in
any way to what he is paid his wages for, in connection with your car.
If he has, a tip is not out of place, if you can afford to give one.

Do not let the idea run away with you that simply because you own and
drive a car you must be handing tips to everybody. More than half the
tips given are absolutely unnecessary.

There are dozens of cases where people foolishly tip. If your hostess’s
groom drove you in the dog-cart to the station to catch a train you
might think a two-shilling tip all-sufficient. Yet when her chauffeur
takes you to the same place in a motor-car you wonder whether he will
think five shillings is enough. It is really very absurd. If we have to
tip, why not treat the motor-car as we would any vehicle and the
chauffeur as we would any groom or coachman?

There are some people who feel justified, if sent up to town in a
friend’s car, in giving the chauffeur as a tip the amount of the
first-class railway fare for the distance. A tip decidedly should be
given, but certainly not so large a one as this, in most cases, would
figure out.

If taken to town from a country house, or _vice versa_, and one travels
in the car with one’s hostess, certainly no tip is necessary; nor should
one be given if one goes for a drive with one’s hostess.

Should a friend lend you a car for a day or a drive, a small tip is
properly given; but if a friend lends you a car for a tour of some days,
the proper thing is to offer to pay the chauffeur’s wages for the week.
A tip on the top of this should depend on the manner in which the man
serves you.

I have mentioned all these different points because at some time or
another they may be actual experiences of the woman who owns and drives
her own car.

I do not claim to be an authority on tipping. I distribute a good many
gold and silver pieces during a year, but I tip for services rendered
and use common sense about the amounts. I get the best of service
everywhere.

If every woman who drives her own car followed my rule in this respect
the tipping nuisance would not be such a terrible thing after all.

[Illustration: /* _Photo_ _Elliott & Fry_ */

MISS ISABEL SAVORY, WHO NOT ONLY DRIVES, BUT REPAIRS HER OWN CARS]




DISTINGUISHED WOMEN MOTORISTES

     The Englishwoman at the Wheel--Her Skill in Mechanics and
     Map-reading--The Ladies’ Automobile Club--Some Noble Women
     Motoristes--Successful Competitors--Lady Racers at Brooklands--A
     “Motor Christening”


There is no country in the world--not even France, where the motoring
movement received its first real start and its keenest pursuit, nor
America, where the fair sex is supposed to receive and to exercise its
largest freedom--there is no country in the world in which woman may be
seen at the helm of a motor-car so frequently as in England. Whatever
the cause--whether it be due to a greater sense of security from
annoyance on public roads or simply to superiority of pluck, the fact
remains that women in England excel their sisters in other countries as
greatly in motoring as in horsemanship.

Almost every woman who can afford it is, of course, a motoriste in the
sense that she owns, or has at her disposal, a motor-car. It is not,
however, with the ladies whose experience of the pastime is limited to a
seat beside or behind the driver that this chapter deals, but rather
with those who are accustomed to the task of driving and caring for
their cars, and who find a healthful recreation in doing it. Twenty or
thirty years ago, two of the essentials to a motorist--some acquaintance
with mechanics and the ability to understand local topography--were
supposed to be beyond the capacity of a woman’s brain. The supposition
was simply due to the fact that woman’s brain had never had occasion to
approach these subjects. Fifty years ago a satirical writer--a man, of
course--averred that although instruction in “the use of the globes” was
part of the curriculum of every girls’ school, no woman could
understand, or would try to understand, a road map. If the remark was
true when it was written it is

[Illustration:

_Photo by Keturah Collings_

BARONESS CAMPBELL DE LORENTZ, THE FIRST LADY IN BRITAIN TO DRIVE HER OWN
CAR]

certainly not true to-day. The school-room globes have long been buried
in the dust of disuse, but the pastimes of cycling and motoring have
made the understanding of maps a necessity to every active gentlewoman;
indeed the average woman is probably quicker than the average man in
gathering from a map the information which it has to offer.

So with mechanics. If a woman wants to learn how to drive and to
understand a motor-car, she can and will learn as quickly as a man.
Hundreds of women have done and are doing so, and there is many a one
whose keen eyes can detect, and whose deft fingers can remedy, a loose
nut or a faulty electrical connection in half the time that the
professional chauffeur would spend upon the work.

Incontestable evidence of the practical interest which Englishwomen are
taking in motoring is afforded by the existence and prosperity of the
Ladies’ Automobile Club. This institution was established in 1903. The
annual subscription is five guineas, and there is an entrance fee of the
same amount. There are nearly four hundred members, most of whom are
fully competent to drive their own cars. The club has successfully
organised a number of tours in England and on the Continent as well as
driving competitions at Ranelagh.

The president of the Ladies’ Automobile Club, the Duchess of Sutherland,
is the _grande dame_ of automobilism in England. The Duchess is an
accomplished motoriste, and although in cold weather she prefers to be
driven by somebody else, in summer she may often be seen at the wheel.
Her latest car is a Mercédès.

Another peeress who drives, and drives well, is the Countess of
Kinnoull. The Countess shares her husband’s fondness for sport, a great
variety of which is provided in the neighbourhood of their beautiful
Scottish home at Dupplin Castle, and she finds the motor-car an
indispensable adjunct to the full enjoyment of country life.

Lady Wimborne, whose energy and industry are as inexhaustible as those
of her brother, the late Lord Randolph Churchill, finds the

[Illustration: THE HONBLE. MRS. ASSHETON HARBORD

_Drives a Rolls Royce Car, owns her own balloon “The Valkyrie,” and has
competed with it in seven races_.]

motor-car an invaluable aid to her useful activities as well as a means
of recreation. She has three or four cars, and is an able and confident
driver.

Lady Viola Talbot, daughter of the Premier Earl of England, is like her
father in the love of sport. Like him she is almost as fond of motors as
of horses. She is mistress of the car and its appurtenances, and has
driven some thousands of miles at home and abroad.

Among other titled ladies who count their miles by the thousand may be
named Lady Beatrice Rawson, a devotee of the small car; Lady Muriel
Gore-Brown, the Hon. Mrs. Maurice Gifford, of Boothby Hall, Grantham;
Lady Plowden, and the Baroness Campbell de Laurentz. The Baroness has
the distinction of being the first lady in Britain to drive and manage
her own car. Cars in those days were patterned like high dog-carts and
were mostly steamers. The Baroness possesses several photographs of
herself and husband, with a groom in the tiger’s seat, of the
old-fashioned car. To-day these pictures have a very queer look.

A complete list of the ladies who have taken part in motor-car road
trials and club competitions would be wearisome to the reader, but a few
names may be mentioned. Miss Muriel Hind, one of the few women who
favour the motor-bicycle, has won many medals in long-distance trials.
Mrs. Herbert Lloyd, who is not only an expert driver, but the inventor
of some very ingenious appliances for motor-cars, has done well in open
competition with professional male drivers. Miss Daisy Hampson has won
prizes with her 120 horse-power Fiat. Mrs. E. Manville has taken part in
the Herkomer competition.

No list of distinguished women motoristes would be complete without the
names of those who took part in the first race for ladies upon the
Brooklands course. The race, which was called the Ladies’ Bracelet
Handicap, took place in July 1908. There were five starters: Mrs.
Locke-King, wife of the founder and owner of Brooklands Racecourse; Miss
Muriel Thompson, Miss Christabel Ellis, Miss N. Ridge-Jones, and Mrs. J.
Roland Hewitt. Mrs. Locke-King, who started from scratch,

[Illustration:

_Photo by Arthur Rouselle_

MRS. GEORGE THRUPP, ORIGINATOR OF THE MOTOR CHRISTENING]

finished a length in front of Miss Muriel Thompson, her speed over the
course being at the rate of fifty miles an hour.

There are few lady motoristes who take a keener practical interest in
their cars than Miss Isabel Savory. Miss Savory, who has driven many
cars, is loud in her praises of her 10 horse-power Cadillac. This car
she has always driven and attended to herself, never having employed a
chauffeur. She has done all the oiling and adjustments and has put on
many a new inner tube by the roadside. She has driven long distances
without any companion, and has dealt single-handed and successfully with
every emergency that has arisen.

Mrs. George Thrupp, of Cadogan Square, has been driving ever since 1896.
Her favourite cars are the Renault and Mors, in which she has toured in
Great Britain and on the Continent. She has won prizes in driving
competitions. She was, in fact, one of the pioneers of motoring for
women, and her youngest boy, Roger, was the first baby to have a “motor
christening.”

Other names of motoring women that occur to one are those of Mrs.
Edward Kennard, the novelist, who is equally at home at the wheel of a
40 horse-power Napier car and in the saddle of a motor-bicycle; Miss
Hunter Baillie, of Cirencester; Mrs. Mark Mayhew, Miss Schiff, Mrs.
Claude Paine, Mrs. Nicol, Mrs. Weguelin, Mrs. Charles Jarrott, and Mrs.
Edge. No doubt there are other names which at the moment have slipped
the memory but which have as good a claim as these to inclusion in the
catalogue of distinguished women motoristes. The list is long enough,
however, to show the ardour and success with which women have applied
themselves to the mechanical details of automobilism.




THE COMING OF THE SMALL CAR

     A good Car at a low Price--Lessons of the “Small Car Derby”--Some
     notable Small Cars and their Cost--Comparatively low Running
     Expenses--The Car of the People


One of the latest and most notable developments of the motor industry is
the prominence of the small car. It is obvious that the number of
individuals who can afford to pay from £150 to £230 for a motor-car for
purposes either of pleasure or business is enormous in proportion to the
number of those who can afford to pay more. Motor manufacturers have
never been blind to that fact. It is only in recent years, however, that
they have seen their way to meet the demand with satisfaction to their
customers and profit to themselves. The small car has come, and its
merits are so considerable, the pockets to which it appeals so many,
that its popularity is assured. It is not a very rash prophecy to
declare that in a few years’ time it will be the vehicle most commonly
met with on the high road, and its manufacture the mainstay of the motor
trade.

In France, where the possibilities--commercial and practical--of the
small car were first foreseen, the great motor race of the year, the
Grand Prix of the Automobile Club de France, is now preceded by a Grand
Prix des Voiturettes, and the result of the 1908 contest is a striking
illustration of the speed and reliability of which some of these little
vehicles are capable. Of the forty-seven voiturettes which went to the
post, twenty completed the course of 286 miles in a little more than
seven and a half hours. The winner, a car driven by a single-cylinder De
Dion engine and weighing little more than twelve hundred-weight, covered
the distance in five hours and three-quarters--an average speed of
nearly fifty miles an hour; while the second car, a single-cylinder
Sizaire, which was only six minutes behind at the finish, covered one
of the laps at an average speed of more than fifty-three miles an hour.
Speeds such as these are happily not lawful on English roads. I point to
them only to illustrate the power that the motor manufacturer has
succeeded in obtaining from a single cylinder of less than four inches
bore, and the excellence of design and material which has enabled him to
produce a little vehicle, weighing a good deal less than a ton, yet
capable of withstanding the shocks of rattling over 286 miles of country
road at racing speed.

The race for the Grand Prix des Voiturettes and other recent trials have
amply demonstrated the speed and reliability of the small car. They have
shown that for sums ranging from £150 to £230 the manufacturer can make
a car which, for all practical purposes of everyday use upon the road,
is the equal in speed and trustworthiness of a car costing from three to
five times as much. The 8 horse-power De Dion, which costs £225 15_s._,
went through the International Touring-car Trial of 1908 with flying
colours. It covered 1800 miles of arduous road work in capital style,
and by shedding one of its passengers it even managed to climb the
terrible two-mile slope of the Kirkstone Pass. The 9 horse-power
Sizaire, the engine already referred to as having accomplished the
fastest lap in the Grand Prix, costs 190 guineas. There are many other
cars, British and foreign, not less reliable and equally moderate in
price: the Phœnix, for example, a twin-cylinder car, costing £140; the
Jackson De Dion, costing £220; the Pick, a four-cylinder 14-16
horse-power car, costing only £165; the Rover, costing from 100 to 200
guineas according to engine-power and finish; and the Vauxhall. When it
is remembered that cars can often be bought second-hand but in
first-class condition for about two-thirds of their original cost, it
will be recognised that motoring need not be the exclusive privilege of
the very rich.

It is not, however, in the comparison of first cost so much as in that
of the cost of maintenance that the small car appeals to the man of
moderate means. Generally speaking it may be said that as compared with
a full-powered car the small car uses little more than one-third the
quantity of petrol per mile travelled, and that its tyres cost only half
as much and last twice as long. A gallon of petrol, which will propel a
big car 12 or 15 miles, will propel a little Rover or Phœnix from 30 to
40 miles. Here is a statement of the actual cost of running a 6
horse-power Rover for eleven months over nearly 6000 miles of country
roads:

                      £    _s._    _d._
Tyre Repairs          2    2     9
Petrol               12    0     0
Oil                       18     0
Sundry Repairs        4   12     5
                     -------------
  Total              19   13     2
                     =============

The car belonged to a doctor who had to make frequent stoppages on the
way, so that the consumption of petrol was higher than it would have
been with continuous travelling. Nevertheless, the cost of running the
car works out at about four-fifths of a penny per mile--less than
third-class railway fare for one person. This is, no doubt, an
exceptionally low figure. Another user of an exactly similar car has
found the cost of running 3400 miles to be as follows:

                          £    _s._  _d._
Tyre Repairs              2    13   0
Petrol                    6    19   0
Oil and Grease            2     6   0
Sundry Repairs            1    10   0
Charging Accumulators          18   0
Brushes and Waste              10   0
                         ------------
  Total                  14    16   0
                         ============

--almost exactly a penny a mile. To these figures must, of course, be
added the cost of licences, insurance, garaging, and an allowance for
the depreciation of the car--that is to say, the difference between its
first cost and the price at which it could be resold.

In every respect but one the advantages of the small car over its big
brother are enormous. Its one drawback is that its accommodation is
necessarily smaller. The typical small car is a two-seater; but that is
the essence of its economy. Extra seats and extra passengers mean extra
weight, and extra weight requires larger engines and more petrol, and
entails more wear and tear on tyres, machinery and chassis. It is the
weight that runs up the maintenance bill and the prospective purchaser
should bear this in mind if he hankers after an extra seat. I may point
out, nevertheless, that some of the small cars in the market can be
fitted with a detachable rear seat for £6 or £7, and that others have
sufficient space for the accommodation of an extra passenger upon the
floor. A friend who owns a “two-seater” Sizaire, tells me that it often
carries four passengers to the railway station.

It is as a two-seater, however, that the small car bases its claim to
popular favour. In the majority of journeys by any sort of private
vehicle two is the number for which accommodation is most frequently
required. Many owners of large cars have discovered that the occasions
on which a two-seater would not serve their motoring purposes are
comparatively few. Obviously it is gross extravagance to employ the
voracious eater of petrol and rubber upon a service which can be
accomplished at a quarter of the cost by a smaller car, at the same
speed, with less strain upon the driver and with equal comfort to the
passenger. For these reasons the time is at hand when every motor-car
owner; however many big cars he may possess, must add to his fleet at
least one two-seater for run-about purposes. The large car will be a
luxury, the small car will be a necessity--and not only for those who
are ordinarily described as wealthy. The time is coming when every man
who can afford to go out of town at week ends will find it worth his
while to be a motorist, when every suburban house with a rental of over
£60 will have its motor shed, and when the small car will be as
prevalent upon the country road as the bicycle is to-day.




CAR INDEX-MARKS AND THEIR LOCALE


One sees every day on the streets and roads cars bearing numbers and
letters quite unfamiliar. It is advantageous, in many ways, for the
motoriste to be fairly well acquainted with some of the more important
index-marks. One can easily remember in the United Kingdom that
Ireland’s index-letters all contain the letter I and Scotland’s all the
letter S (with two exceptions). England and Wales to date, with very few
exceptions, use up the letters A, B, C, D, E and F. London has now four
distinct index-marks and no doubt will add to them as the increase in
cars may demand.

All motor-cars must have an index-mark and a registration number,
excepting those owned personally by his Majesty the King.

White letters and figures on a black plate are for privately owned cars.
Trade vehicles use coloured figures and letters, usually red on a white
plate. Trade vehicles usually also have additional letters which are
granted them as a trade-mark or for trade purposes. But the index-mark
or letter of their locale must, in all instances, be placed first on the
plate.

Registration need not be effected in the same district in which the car
is owned, so that, with some trouble, an owner can have practically any
letter she likes on her car.

The fee for registration, £1, need be paid only once on any one car,
excepting on change of ownership, when a fee of 5_s._ is payable. But
with this change of ownership the index-mark and registration number
remain the same. If a new index-mark and registration number are wanted,
the existing ones can be cancelled and the car re-registered, in any
locality, on payment of the full fee.

The following are the index-marks in use in the United Kingdom:


ENGLAND AND WALES

INDEX-MARK.  LOCALE.

A    London (also LB, LC and LN)
AA   Southampton County Council
AB   Worcestershire
AC   Warwickshire
AD   Gloucestershire
AE   Bristol
AF   Cornwall
AH   Norfolk
AJ   Yorkshire, N. Riding
AK   Bradford
AL   Nottinghamshire
AM   Wiltshire
AN   West Ham
AO   Cumberland
AP   Sussex, East
AR   Hertfordshire
AT   Kingston-on-Hull
AU   Nottingham
AW   Shropshire
AX   Monmouthshire
AY   Leicestershire
B    Lancashire
BA   Salford
BB   Newcastle-on-Tyne
BC   Leicester
BD   Northamptonshire
BE   Lindsey
BF   Dorsetshire (also FX)
BH   Buckinghamshire
BJ   Suffolk, East
BK   Portsmouth
BL   Berkshire
BM   Bedfordshire
BN   Bolton
BO   Cardiff
BP   Sussex, West
BR   Sunderland
BT   Yorkshire, East Riding
BU   Oldham
BW   Oxfordshire
BX   Carmarthenshire
BY   Croydon
C    Yorkshire, West Riding
CA   Denbighshire
CB   Blackburn
CC   Carnarvonshire
CD   Brighton
CE   Cambridgeshire
CF   Suffolk, West
CH   Derby
CJ   Herefordshire
CK   Preston
CL   Norwich
CM   Birkenhead
CN   Gateshead
CO   Plymouth
CP   Halifax
CR   Southampton Borough
CT   Kesteven
CU   South Shields
CW   Burnley
CX   Huddersfield
CY   Swansea
D    Kent
DA   Wolverhampton
DB   Stockport
DC   Middlesbrough
DE   Pembrokeshire

INDEX-MARK.  LOCALE.
DF   Northampton Borough (also NH)
DH   Walsall
DJ   St. Helens
DK   Rochdale
DL   Isle of Wight
DM   Flintshire
DN   York
DO   Holland, Lincs.
DP   Reading
DR   Devonport
DU   Coventry
DW   Newport, Mon.
DX   Ipswich
DY   Hastings
E    Staffordshire
EA   West Bromwich
EB   Isle of Ely
EC   Westmorland
ED   Warrington
EE   Grimsby
EF   West Hartlepool
EH   Hanley
EJ   Cardiganshire
EK   Wigan
EL   Bournemouth
EM   Bootle
EN   Bury
EO   Barrow-in-Furness
EP   Montgomeryshire
ET   Rotherham
EU   Breckonshire
EW   Huntingdonshire
EX   Great Yarmouth
EY   Anglesey
F    Essex
FA   Burton-on-Trent
FB   Bath
FC   Oxford
FD   Dudley
FE   Lincoln
FF   Merionethshire
FH   Gloucester
FJ   Exeter
FK   Worcester
FL   Peterborough
FM   Chester
FN   Canterbury
FO   Radnorshire
FP   Rutlandshire
FR   Blackpool
FT   Tynemouth
FX   Dorsetshire (also BF)
FY   Southport
H    Middlesex
HA   Smethwick
J    Durham, County
K    Liverpool
L    Glamorganshire
LB   London (also A)
LC        “
LN        “
M    Cheshire
MN   Isle of Man
N    Manchester
NH   Northampton (also DF)
O    Birmingham
P    Surrey
R    Derbyshire
T    Devonshire
U    Leeds
W    Sheffield
X    Northumberland
Y    Somersetshire


SCOTLAND

All cars bearing on their index-marks the letter S can, at a glance, be
put down as Scottish, for Scotland alone has a right to the use of this
letter:

INDEX-MARK.  LOCALE.

AS   Nairnshire
BS   Orkney
DS   Peeblesshire
ES   Perthshire
G    Glasgow
HS   Renfrewshire
JS   Ross and Cromarty
KS   Roxburghshire
LS   Selkirkshire
MS   Stirlingshire
NS   Sutherlandshire
OS   Wigtownshire
PS   Shetland
RS   Aberdeen City
S    Edinburgh
SA   Aberdeen County
SB   Argyllshire
SD   Ayrshire
SE   Banffshire
SH   Berwickshire
SJ   Buteshire
SK   Caithness-shire
SL   Clackmannanshire
SM   Dumfriesshire
SN   Dumbartonshire
SO   Elginshire
SP   Fifeshire
SR   Forfarshire
SS   Haddingtonshire
ST   Inverness-shire
SU   Kincardineshire
SV   Kinross-shire
SW   Kircudbrightshire
SX   Linlithgowshire
SY   Midlothian
TS   Dundee
US   Govan
V    Lanarkshire
VS   Greenock
WS   Leith
XS   Paisley
YS   Partick


IRELAND

The inclusion of the letter I on a car’s index-mark stamps that car at
once as Irish, for the use of this letter is confined to Ireland:

INDEX-MARK.  LOCALE.

AI   Co. Meath
BI   Co. Monaghan
CI   Queen’s County
DI   Co. Roscommon
EI   Co. Sligo
FI   Tipperary, North
HI   Tipperary, South
IA   Co. Antrim
IB   Co. Armagh
IC   Co. Carlow
ID   Co. Cavan
IE   Co. Clare
IF   Co. Cork
IH   Co. Donegal
IJ   Co. Down
IK   Co. Dublin
IL   Co. Fermanagh
IM   Co. Galway
IN   Co. Kerry
IO   Co. Kildare
IP   Co. Kilkenny
IR   King’s County
IT   Co. Leitrim
IU   Co. Limerick
IW   Co. Londonderry
IX   Co. Longford
IY   Co. Louth
IZ   Co. Mayo
JI   Co. Tyrone
KI   Co. Waterford
LI   Co. West Meath
MI   Co. Wexford
NI   Co. Wicklow
OI   Belfast
PI   Cork
RI   Dublin
TI   Limerick
UI   Londonderry
WI   Waterford


FRANCE

In France the index-numbers are divided among sixteen sections,
including Algeria, which are called _Arrondissements minéralogiques_.
Some of these sections contain as many as eight departments or counties.
The majority have single letters. Paris has five sets of single letters.
It is necessary for a motoriste from the United Kingdom, when taking her
car into France, to affix a French index-mark above her British one.
This mark and number will be given her at the point of debarkation on
registering the car and on passing a pleasant and easy little
examination in the art of driving. This test consists in driving round a
square or up and down the street for about a quarter or half a mile,
turning a few corners _en route_. The French index-marks are as follows:

INDEX-MARK.  LOCALE.
A    _Alais_ (Gard, Hérault, Lozère, Ardèche)
A-L  Algérie
B    _Bordeaux_ (Départements du sud de la Garonne, Charente-Inférieure,
         Dordogne, Lot-et-Garonne)
C    _Châlon-sur-Saône_ (Côte-d’Or, Jura, Ain, Doubs, Yonne, Saône-et-Loire)

INDEX-MARK.  LOCALE.
D    _Douai_ (Nord, Aisne)
E    Paris (also G, I, U and X)
F    _Clermont-Ferrand_ (Puy-de-Dôme, Haute-Loire, Cantal, Allier, Nièvre)
G    Paris (also E, I, U and X)
H    _Chambéry_ (Savoie, Haute-Savoie, Isère, Drôme, Basses-Alpes)
I    Paris (also E, G, U and X)
L    _Le Mans_ (Sarthe, Départements de la Bretagne, Mayenne)
M-V  _Marseille_ (Départements de la Côte, Corse)
N-O  _Nancy_ (Départements de l’Est, including the Aube)
P-K  _Poitiers_ (Départements du sud de la Loire, including the Loiret)
S    _St.-Etienne_ (Rhône, Loire)
T    _Toulouse_ (Languedoc, including Tarn and Lot)
U    Paris (also E, G and I)
X    Paris
Y { _Rouen_ (Seine-et-Oise, Seine-et-Marne, Eure, Eure-et-Loire,
      Seine-Inférieure, Orne, Calvados, Manche)
or{
X {


GERMANY

The motoriste from the United Kingdom can take her car into Germany and
drive it there without having to put on a new number. Germany willingly
accepts the British index-mark already on the car. Index-marks in
Germany are allotted in twenty-six different sections, one of which,
Prussia, is sub-divided into twelve provinces and the city of Berlin.
In nearly all the distinct kingdoms and duchies an attempt has been made
to utilise the initial letter of that section, thereby making
recognition of the locale of the car quicker.

In Prussia the mark is the number I in a Roman figure followed by
letters of the alphabet. In many other provinces numbers in Roman
figures are also used, the figure in most instances being followed by a
letter of the alphabet.

The following are the German police index-marks for cars
(_Kraftfahrzeuge_):

INDEX-MARK.  LOCALE.

      _Prussia_

I A   Berlin
I C   East Prussia
I D   West Prussia
I E   Brandenburg
I H   Pomerania
I J   Posen
I K   Silesia
I M   Saxony
I P   Schleswig-Holstein
I S   Hanover
I T   Hesse-Nassau
I X   Westphalia
I Z   Rhine Province

Figures }
II and  }
letters } Bavaria
A, B,   }
C and   }
so on   }

Figure  }
only, I }
II, III,} Saxony (Kingdom)
IV      }
and V   }

Figures }
III and }
letters } Würtemburg
A, B,   }
C and   }
so on   }

Figure  }
IV  and }   Baden
letters }

Figure  }
V and   }   Hesse
letters }

M I   Mecklenburg-Schwerin
S     Saxony (Grand Duchy)
M II  Mecklenburg-Strelitz
O     Oldenburg
B     Brunswick
SM    Saxe-Meiningen
SA    Saxe-Altenburg
KG    Saxe-Coburg-Gotha
A     Anhalt
SR    Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt
SS    Schwarzburg-Sondershausen
W     Waldeck
RA    Reuss (old line)
RJ    Reuss (young line)
SL    Schaumburg-Lippe
L     Lippe
HL    Lübeck
HB    Bremen
HH    Hamburg

Figure }
VI     }
and    }
letter }  Alsace-Lorraine
A, B   }  (Elsass-Lothringen)
and so }
on     }




THE MOTOR WOMAN’S DICTIONARY


     ACCELERATOR.--A device, operated by a pedal, for increasing the
     speed of the engine, either by suspending the controlling action of
     the governor or opening the throttle.

     ACCUMULATOR.--An apparatus for storing electricity. _See_ Battery.

     ACETYLENE.--An inflammable gas giving a brilliant light. It is
     commonly produced by adding water to carbide of calcium.

     AMMETER.--An instrument used for measuring the number of ampères in
     an electrical circuit. _See_ Ampère.

     AMPÈRE.--The unit of measure of the quantity of current flowing
     through an electrical circuit. _See_ Volt.

     AXLES.--The horizontal shafts or girders by which the weight of
     carriage is transferred to the road wheels and at the ends of
     which the wheels revolve. A “live” axle is one which revolves
     with, and by which the power of the engine is communicated to, the
     driving-wheels.

     BACKFIRE.--A premature explosion of the gaseous mixture in the
     cylinder. When it occurs while the starting-handle is being turned
     its effects are distinctly unpleasant to the operator.

     BATTERY.--An arrangement of two or more cells either for the
     production or the storage of electricity. In the former case it is
     known as a primary battery; in the latter case it is known as a
     secondary battery, a storage battery, or an accumulator. _See_
     Cell.

     CELL, ELECTRICAL.--A chemical apparatus for the production or
     storage of electricity. Two or more cells electrically connected
     constitute a battery.

     CIRCULATING PUMP.--The pump which forces the water through the
     radiator to ensure rapid cooling.

     BEARINGS.--The cradles or surfaces upon which the moving parts of
     machinery are supported. They always require lubrication.

     BELT.--A flexible band sometimes used instead of gearing to
     transmit the power of the engine to the driving-wheels.

     BEVEL GEAR.--A gear consisting of cog-wheels with bevelled or
     sloping surfaces.

     BIG END.--The end of the connecting-rod which grasps the crank.
     _See_ Connecting-rod.

     BRAKE.--A device for stopping or checking the motion of the car by
     the application of friction to one or other of the moving parts. A
     motor-car should have at least three good brakes applicable by the
     hand and foot of the driver.

     BRAKE HORSE-POWER. _See_ Horse-power.

     CAM.--A revolving disc of irregular shape designed to impart a
     variable motion to some other piece of mechanism--such as the
     spindle of a valve--in contact with it.

     CARBIDE OF CALCIUM.--A compound of chalk and coke which, when
     brought into contact with water, gives off the acetylene gas used
     for lighting.

     CARBURETTOR.--The apparatus for regulating the rate of evaporation
     of the petrol and the proportions of its mixture with air. It
     consists generally of a float chamber and a mixing-chamber.

     CHAIN.--In motor-cars chains are sometimes used, as in the bicycle,
     for the transmission of power from one part of the mechanism to
     another.

     CHANGE-SPEED GEAR.--The arrangement of shafts and toothed wheels by
     which the speed of the road wheels is altered without alterations
     in the speed of the engine.

     CHASSIS.--The entire framework and mechanism of the car--engines,
     wheels, axles, &c.--without the body or seating accommodation.

     CLUTCH.--A device for connecting the motive machinery with the
     driving-wheels at the will of the driver.

     COIL.--_See_ Induction Coil.

     COMMUTATOR.--An appliance for enabling the driver to advance or
     retard the spark which ignites the mixture in the cylinder.

     COMPRESSION.--This word in motoring invariably applies to the
     compression of the gaseous mixture in the cylinder. The efficiency
     and economy of the motor depend greatly upon the degree of
     compression at the moment of ignition.

     CONNECTING-ROD.--The rod which connects the piston with the crank
     of the engine.

     CUT-OUT.--A device for diverting the exhaust gases directly into
     the air instead of compelling them to pass through the silencer.
     The “cut-out” is seldom used except in racing. It accelerates the
     engine at the cost of an appalling noise.

     CYCLE.--_See_ Otto Cycle.

     CYLINDER.--The cast-iron chamber in which the petrol gas is
     compressed and exploded and in which the piston travels to and fro.

     DENSIMETER.--An instrument for testing the specific gravity
     (_i.e._, the weight as compared with water) of petrol.

     DIFFERENTIAL GEAR.--The gear by which power is communicated to the
     driving-wheels in such a way that it is taken up automatically by
     either or both of them according to their respective requirements
     at the moment.

     DRY CELL, OR BATTERY.--A cell, or battery of cells, which works
     without liquid. Dry cells are generally used for motoring purposes
     in preference to cells containing solution.

     DYNAMOMETER.--An instrument for testing the amount of power
     expended by mechanical or animal effort. The dynamometer used for
     testing motors is often called the “pony brake.” _See_ Horse-power.

     ELECTRIC IGNITION.--The ignition of the explosive mixture in the
     cylinder is effected by an electric spark caused by forcing an
     electric current through the sparking-plug. The current is obtained
     (1) from an accumulator or a primary battery, in which case its
     pressure is raised to the required voltage by passing it through an
     induction coil; or (2) from a magneto-electrical instrument--which
     is very much like a dynamo on a small scale, and is driven by the
     motor.

     EXHAUST.--The gaseous products of combustion expelled from the
     cylinder during the scavenging stroke of the piston.

     FAN.--A rotary fan, driven by the motor, is often employed to
     increase the current of air passing through the radiator and thus
     to assist in cooling the water.

     FEED.--The method of conveying the petrol from the main tank to the
     carburettor. If the tank is higher than the carburettor, the petrol
     will pass by gravity. Otherwise it must be lifted by pressure. The
     exhaust is generally employed for this purpose, a hand-pump being
     fitted to furnish the necessary pressure for starting.

     FLY-WHEEL.--As only one of the four strokes of the motor is a
     working stroke, a heavy fly-wheel is necessary to carry the piston
     through its cycle and promote easy running.

     FRAME.--The structure which carries the machinery of the car.

     GARAGE.--A stable for motor-cars.

     GEARS.--_See_ Bevel Gear, Change-speed Gear, Differential Gear.

     GOVERNOR.--The appliance which automatically regulates the speed of
     the engine, usually by checking the volume of mixture admitted to
     the cylinder.

     GRADIENT.--The inclination or slope of a road.

     GRAVITY FEED.--_See_ Feed.

     HORSE-POWER.--Boulton and Watt calculated that a London dray-horse
     was capable of work equivalent to lifting 33,000 lb. one foot high
     in one minute, and this task--technically described as 33,000
     foot-lb. per minute--has been accepted as the “unit of horse-power”
     for the measurement of mechanical work. The power of a petrol motor
     depends upon many factors--diameter of cylinder, speed of working,
     quality of mixture, compression, cooling-surfaces, &c.--some of
     which vary from moment to moment in practice. The only real means
     of measuring it is by the dynamometer or pony-brake, which records
     the power actually available for useful work. Horse-power so
     measured is called brake horse-power. For purposes of competitions
     the Royal Automobile Club use the following formula for rating the
     comparative power of petrol motors. Multiply the diameter of the
     cylinder in inches by itself and again by the number of cylinders.
     The product divided by 2¼ is the nominal horse-power.

     IGNITION.--_See_ Electric Ignition.

     INDUCTION-COIL.--An apparatus for intensifying the pressure of the
     electric current. Used in motor practice as a part of the system of
     high-tension ignition.

     INSPECTION PIT.--A pit or well, generally situated in or near the
     garage, to facilitate the examination and repair of the chassis of
     a car.

     LICENCES.--Licences must be taken out (1) by the owner of a car.
     This licence costs from two to five guineas according to the weight
     of the car; and (2) the driver of a car. This costs five shillings
     only.

     LIMOUSINE.--A large covered car.

     LIVE AXLE.--_See_ Axles.

     LUBRICATION.--The application of oil, grease or other substances
     suitable for the reduction of friction between sliding surfaces.

     MIXTURE.--The explosive charge of petrol and air admitted to the
     cylinder. _See_ Carburettor.

     OTTO CYCLE.--Nearly all petrol motor-car engines work upon the
     system invented by Otto in 1876 and known as the Otto Cycle. The
     cycle consists of the successive operation of induction,
     compression, explosion and scavenging, there being thus only one
     working stroke in four--that is in every two revolutions of the
     fly-wheel.

     OVER-HEATING.--An accident generally resulting from deficient water
     circulation or insufficient lubrication. Unless speedily remedied
     it may result in serious damage to the motor. _See_ Seizing.

     PANNE.--A French word, meaning “a breakdown.”

     PETROL.--A highly inflammable and volatile spirit distilled from
     petroleum. Seven pints of petrol weigh about as much as ten pints
     of water. Its vapour is heavier than air.

     PISTON.--The disc which slides up and down in the cylinder, and
     communicates the force of the explosion to the connecting-rod and
     crank.

     PISTON RINGS.--Cast-iron split rings, fitted in grooves round the
     piston to make a gas-tight joint between the piston and the walls
     of the cylinder.

     PONY-BRAKE.--_See_ Dynamometer.

     PRESSURE FEED.--_See_ Feed.

     RADIATOR.--A device for cooling the water circulating round the
     cylinders by exposing it to a large surface in contact with free
     air.

     SIDE-SLIP.--An accident liable to occur on greasy roads, but of
     less frequent occurrence since the introduction of “non-skidding”
     devices.

     SILENCER.--A box or chamber designed to reduce the noise caused by
     the escape of the exhaust gases.

     SPARES.--Duplicate parts of machinery carried in case of a
     breakdown.

     SPARKING-PLUG.--A porcelain plug, carrying the electric wires,
     which is screwed into the combustion chamber of the cylinder. At
     the end of the plug within the cylinder are platinum points in
     connection with the wires. The current jumping from point to point
     makes the spark which fires the charge.

     THROTTLE.--The control of the volume of mixture supplied to the
     engine.

     TIMING-GEAR.--The gear which controls the times at which the valves
     of the engine open and close, and at which the charge is fired.

     TORQUE.--The twisting effort of rotation.

     UNIVERSAL JOINT.--A flexible joint which permits the transmission
     of power from one shaft to another in any direction.

     VOLT.--The unit of measure of electrical pressure. It is the
     measure of the quality of the flow as compared with ampere which is
     the measure of quantity.




INDEX


Accelerator, 111

Accessories, cost of, 18, 39, 67

Accumulator, 111

Acetylene, 111

Air lever, 37, 43

Ammeter, 55, 111

Ampère, 111

Antioyl soap, 29

Automobile Association, 65

Axles, 111


Backfire, 42, 112

Battery, electric, 39;
  to test, 55;
  to adjust, 58;
  purpose of, 112

Bearings, 112

Belt-transmission, 113

Bevel gear, 113

Big end, 113

Bonnet of car, 33

Bracelets and rings, 27

Brake horse-power--_See_ Horse-power

Brakes, testing, 36;
  adjusting, 37;
  applying, 44, 48;
  number of, 113

Brooklands, race for ladies at, 113


Cadillac car, 91

Cam, 113

Campbell de Laurentz, the Baroness, 89

Car, choice of, 17, 19;
  care of, 20;
  cost of, 18, 62, 93, _et seq._;
  registration and numbering of, 22, 101;
  body of, 17;
  advantage of single cylinder, 17, 32, 94;
  horse-power of, 17;
  how to start, 42;
  changing speed, 37, 45;
  reversing, 47;
  braking, 48;
  learning to drive, 49, 66, 69, _et seq._

Carbide of Calcium, 113

Carburettor, 33, 113, 117, 119;
  troubles with, 56, 60

Chain-transmission, 114

Changing speed, 37, 45, 114

Chassis, 114

Circulating-pump, 114

Clutch, 114

Coats for motoring, 25

Coil--_See_ Induction Coil

Commutator, 114

Compression, 114

Corners, how to drive round, 72, 74

Cost of the car and accessories, 18;
  of motoring, 62, 93

Cyclists, rights of, 71, 74

Cylinder, single, advantages of 17, 32, 94


“Daily Graphic,” Miss Levitt’s articles in the, v.

De Dion car, 17, 46, 94, 95

Densimeter, 115

Dictionary, the Motor-Woman’s, 111, _et seq._

Differential gear, 115

Distinguished woman motorists, 85, _et seq._

Dog, as companion, 30

Drawer under the seat, uses of, 28

Dress for motoring, 24, _et seq._;
  shoes, 24;
  gaiters, 24;
  frocks 24;
  coats, 25;
  head-gear, 26;
  muffler, 27;
  gloves, 27, 28, 67;
  rings and bracelets, 27;
  overall, 28;
  toilet accessories, 28, 29

Dry cell, 115

Dust nuisance, 73

Dynamometer, 116


Edge, Mrs., 92

Electric ignition, 116--_See also_ Ignition

Ellis, Miss Christabel, 90

Engine, overheating of, 50

England and Wales, index-marks of cars in, 103

Exhaust, 116


Fan, rotary, 116

Feed, 117

Fiat car, 90

Fly-wheel, 117

Foot-brake, 44, 49

Foot-throttle, 44

Frame, 117

France, index-marks of cars in, 107

Frocks for motoring, 24


Gaiters, 24

Garage, 20, 79, 117

Gear lever, 37, 38 pedal, 45

Gears, 117--_See also_ Changing Speed

Germany, index-marks of cars in, 109

Gifford, the Hon. Mrs. Maurice, 89

Gloves for motoring, 27, 28, 67

Gore-Brown, the Lady Muriel, 89

Governor, 117

Grand Prix des Voiturettes, 94


Hampson, Miss Daisy, 90

Hand brake-lever, 37

Harbord, the Hon. Mrs. Assheton, 89

Hats and head-gear, 26

Hewitt, Mrs. J. Roland, 90

Hill-climbing, 49

Hind, Miss Muriel, 90

Hood, waterproof, cost of, 18

Horn, when to sound, 67, 72, 73

Horse-power, 118

Horses, care to be exercised in passing, 71

Hotels, tips at, 80

Hunter Baillie, Miss, 92


Ignition lever, 37, 38, 43
  troubles, 52, 54, 58

Index-marks of cars,
  in England and Wales, 103;
  in Scotland, 105;
  in Ireland, 106;
  in France, 107;
  in Germany, 108

Induction-coil, 119

Inspection pit, 119

International Touring Car Trial, 95

Ireland, index-marks of cars in, 106


Jackson De Dion car, 96

Jarrott, Mrs. Charles, 92


Kennard, Mrs. Edward, 92

Kinnoull, the Countess of, 88


Ladies’ Automobile Club, 65, 87, 88

Ladies’ Bracelet Handicap, 90

Lamps,
  cost of, 18;
  position of, 22

Leather coats, disadvantages of, 25

Levers of car, 37, 38

Levitt, Miss Dorothy,
  her motoring record, 3, 8, 9, 10;
  interest in aeronautics, 5;
  personal characteristics, 6;
  private life, 7

Licences, 21, 119

Lloyd, Mrs. Herbert, 90

Locke-King, Mrs., 90

Lubricating oil, cost of, 97, 98

Lubrication, 33, 34, 35, 50, 119

Lubricators, types of, 33


Manners for motorists, 69, _et seq_.

Manville, Mrs. E., 90

Map-reading, 86

Mayhew, Mrs. Mark, 92

Mechanics, woman’s capacity for, 87

Mercédès car, 88

Mirror, use of, 29, 75

Misfire, meaning of, 52

Mixture, control of, 43

Mors car, 91

Motor christening, a, 91

Motoring
  as a pastime for women, 15, 85;
  dress for, 24, _et seq._, 67;
  cost of, 62, 93, _et seq._
  manners, 69, _et seq._
  troubles--_See_ Troubles


Napier car, 92

Nicol, Mrs., 92

Number, the, of the car, 22, 102--_See also_ Index-marks


Oil-tank, 33, 34

Otto cycle, 119

Overheating, 50, 120


Paine, Mrs. Claude, 92

Pedals, uses of, 44, 45

Pedestrians, rights of, 70, 72

Petrol, cost of, 21, 97, 98; consumption of, 21 tank, 32, 56 vapour,
inflammability of, 33, 120

Phœnix car, 96, 97

Pick car, 96

Piston, 120

Plowden, Lady, 89

Pony-brake, 120

Puncture--_See_ Tyres


Radiator, 121

Rawson, the Lady Beatrice, 89

Registration of car, 22

Renault car, 91

Reversing, 47

Ridge-Jones, Miss N., 90

Rings and bracelets, 27

Road, rights of the, 69, _et seq._

Rolls-Royce car, 89

Rover car, 96, 97


Savory, Miss Isabel, 91

Scarf motoring, how to wear, 27

Schiff, Miss, 92

Scotland, index-marks of cars in, 105

Screen, gloss folding, cost of, 18

Seat, extra, cost of, 18, 99

Second-hand cars, 63, 64

Shoes for motoring, 24

Side-brake, 44

Side-slip, 53, 121

Sizaire car, 94, 99

Small car, economy of, 17, 62, 93, _et seq._; capabilities of, 94, 95;
types of, 95, 96

Soap, Antioyl, 29

Spares, list of, 19

Sparking-plug, 54, 58, 59, 121

Speed, changing, 37, 38, 45, 46, 47 legal limit of, 73

Speedometer, 67

Starting the car, 42

Steering-wheel, how to hold, 42

Stepney wheel, 52

Sutherland, the Duchess of, 88

Switch, 39


Talbot, the Lady Violet (now Lady Viola Gore), 89

Thompson, Miss Muriel, 90

Throttle, 37, 44, 121

Thrupp, Mrs. George, 91

Timing-gear, 121

Tips, 20, 77, _et seq._

Tools and spares, list of, 19

Traffic, driving in, 66

Troubles: with tyres, 52; ignition, 52, 54, 58, 59; feed, 56, 59;
carburettor, 57, 60; valves, 57

Tyre repair outfit, cost of, 19

Tyres, troubles with, 52; cost of maintenance, 97, 98; types of, 53;
non-skid devices, 53


United Kingdom, index-marks of cars in, 101

Universal joint, 122


Valves, troubles with, 57

Vauxhall car, 96

Veil, how to wear, 26

Voiturette--_See_ Small Car

Volt, 122


Walker-Munro, Mrs., 92

Water-tank, how to fill, 33

Week-end tips, 81

Weguelin, Mrs., 92

Wimborne, Lady, 88

       *       *       *       *       *

1909

New NAPIER Models


MODELS from 2 to 6 Cylinders.

POWER from 10 H.P. to 90 H.P.

PRICES from £295 to £1,500.


Tourist Trophy, Isle of Man.

Four-inch Race won by the Four-Cylinder 26-h.p. Napier. Price £475.


_Napier Cars are Cheapest to run and last longest._


Every Chassis is Guaranteed for 3 years.

       *       *       *       *       *

“Viyella” FOR THE
MOTORIST

For Shirt-Blouses, Skirts, Costumes, etc.

For Nightdresses, Pyjamas, etc.

“The acme of comfort.”

To be obtained in the latest designs and colourings from _the leading
Drapers_, or name of nearest sent, on application, by =“VIYELLA” (D.L.)
25 & 26 Newgate Street, London, E.C.=

“VIYELLA” Hosiery Underwear, and “VIYELLA” Gloves, made from the same
yarns as the celebrated cloth. Specially suitable for sensitive skins.


THE COUNTRY HANDBOOKS

     A Series of Illustrated Practical Handbooks dealing with Country
     Life. Suitable for the Pocket or Knapsack. Under the General
     Editorship of HARRY ROBERTS. Foolscap 8vo (6½ by 4 inches). Price,
     bound in Limp Cloth, =3s.= net.

THE TRAMP’S HANDBOOK. By H. ROBERTS.
THE STILL ROOM. By Mrs. ROUNDELL.
THE BIRD BOOK. By A. J. R. ROBERTS.
THE LITTLE FARM. By “HOME COUNTIES.”
THE FISHERMAN’S HANDBOOK. By EDGAR S. SHRUBSOLE.
THE SAILING HANDBOOK. By CLOVE HITCH.
THE KENNEL HANDBOOK. By C. J. DAVIES.
THE GUN ROOM. By ALEX INNES SHAND.
THE COUNTRY COTTAGE. By G. H. MORRIS and ESTHER WOOD.
THE MOTOR BOOK. By R. J. MECREDY.
THE STABLE HANDBOOK. By T. F. DALE.
THE TREE BOOK. By M. R. JARVIS and HARRY ROBERTS.
THE INSECT BOOK. By W. PERCIVAL WESTELL.
THE PHOTOGRAPHER’S HANDBOOK. By CHARLES HARRISON and JOHN C. DOUGLAS.
THE VET. BOOK. By F. TOWNEND BARTON.
THE SMALL HOLDING. By F. E. GREEN.

John Lane, The Bodley Head, Vigo Street, London

       *       *       *       *       *

“It is giving us every satisfaction.”

OF THE THIRD

De Dion Bouton

owned by Mrs. CHESTER, Ashurst, Haslemere, her chauffeur, M. E. J.
JAMES, wrote in January 1908 as follows:

     “We have sold our 12-h.p. De Dion and have now a 24-h.p. car. It is
     giving us every satisfaction, as we have now done 5000 miles
     without any trouble at all.

     “I should like to mention that I have driven this 24-h.p. car now
     for seven months, before that the 12-h.p. for two years, and before
     I had an 8-h.p. for two years also, and during that time of just on
     five years I have never been hung up on the road, except, of
     course, for tyres, which I think speaks very well for De Dion
     cars.”


Models from 8 h.p. to 30 h.p.

Catalogue gratis on application.


De Dion Bouton (1907), Ltd.

=Sole Authorised Representatives= of Messrs. De Dion Bouton et Cie., of
Puteaux, France, for the United Kingdom and all British Colonies and
Dependencies.

10 Great Marlborough St., Regent St., W.

     Telegrams--“Andesite, London.” Telephone--Nos. 8160 & 8161 Central

       *       *       *       *       *

THE MOTOR BOOK

By R. J. MECREDY

With Numerous Illustrations (“The County Handbooks.”) Fcap. 8vo. =3s.=
net.


_PRESS OPINIONS_

SCOTSMAN.--“An admirable, succinct and clear account of the mechanism of
a typical petrol car. Contains as much information as the ordinary owner
of a motor is likely to want.”

ABERDEEN FREE PRESS.--“An exceedingly exhaustive account of how the
motor works. The machinery is described with the utmost clearness. It
should prove of the utmost value to all motorists who are not practical
mechanics.”

BIRMINGHAM POST.--“His work is very valuable. In addition it is a very
dainty volume, nicely printed, illustrated, and bound.”

MORNING POST.--“In any case the book will help inexperienced enthusiasts
to run their cars straight and to keep them in order.”

MOTOR-CAR WORLD.--“The book is the most satisfactory work on motor-cars
which we have perused. In the last two of these chapters Mr. Mecredy
gives many valuable hints on the care of cars, how to prevent trouble,
and how to remedy defects when they do occur. The book is profusely
illustrated by means of both photographic reproductions and diagrams.”


John Lane, The Bodley Head, Vigo St., London

       *       *       *       *       *

CASTLE
MOTOR
ACCESSORIES

[Illustration: CASTLE]

APPEAL
TO THE
LADY OF
TASTE.

AND THEY ARE AS GOOD AS THEY APPEAR.

[Illustration:

=L, M. Plugs.=
For Coil or Magneto.]

[Illustration:

=Simplex Speedmeter.=
Simplicity and Reliability.]

[Illustration:

=Lamps for all Cars.=
Gas or Oil.]

[Illustration:

=Castle Accumulators.=

Sold at actual Capacity by Society of Motor Manufacturers’ rating.]

[Illustration]

_Write
for
List._

[Illustration]

Ask your Motor Agent for “Castle” Accessories always.
UNITED MOTOR INDUSTRIES LTD.
(Oldest Motor Accessory Firm in the Country)
46 POLAND STREET, LONDON, W.

       *       *       *       *       *

NEW FICTION


     GALAHAD JONES. A Tragic Farce. By ARTHUR H. ADAMS. Crown 8vo, 6s.

⁂ Galahad Jones is a middle-aged bank clerk, with a family. One day, on
his way home, a letter falls to his feet from the balcony of a house he
is passing. It is addressed “To You,” and on reading it he discovers
that he is requested to meet the writer in the garden of the house at 10
o’clock that night. In a spirit of knight-errantry he decides to do so,
and learns that the writer--a young girl--is kept practically in prison
by her father, because of her affection for a man of whom he does not
approve. The chivalry of Galahad Jones plunges him into many
difficulties and leads to some very awkward and extremely amusing
situations.


     JOAN OF THE HILLS. A Novel by T. B. CLEGG, author of “The Love
     Child,” “The Wilderness,” “The Bishop’s Scapegoat.” Crown 8vo, 6s.

⁂ Mr. Clegg’s previous novels have given him a position as an Australian
novelist to be reckoned with. The present story opens in London, but Mr.
Clegg is soon back in Australia, describing the life on a remote
Australian station with its refreshing bush atmosphere. “Joan of the
Hills” should increase the reputation that Mr. Clegg has already
achieved.


     THE MEASURE OF OUR YOUTH. A Novel. By ALICE HERBERT. Crown 8vo, 6s.

⁂ A brilliant novel of modern life, by a new author. Its leading
interest is the eternal one of sex; but the treatment is particularly
fresh and fearless, and there is a sense of humour and of style that
will please the fastidious. The realism of the writing will be forgiven
for the sake of the delicate and poetic vein of thought that underlies
the story, which is full of interest for the psychologist.


     SIXPENNY PIECES. By A. NEIL LYONS. Uniform with “Arthur’s.” Crown
     8vo. 6s.

⁂ Mr. Lyons’ new book has for its central figure a “Sixpenny Doctor” in
the east end of London. The sketches are connected by a thread of
continuous interest as in Mr. Lyons’ former book, the now famous
“Arthur’s.” The volume is instinct with a realism that differs
altogether from the so-called realism of the accepted “gutter” novels,
for it is the realism of life as it is, and not as imagined.


     THE PRINCE’S PRANKS. A Novel. By CHARLES LOWE. Crown 8vo, 6s.


John Lane, The Bodley Head, Vigo St., London

       *       *       *       *       *

CONTINENTAL

Steel-Armoured Non-Skid

TYRES

“Are Greatly Appreciated by the Experienced Motorist.”


[Illustration: CONTINENTAL TYRES]

The improved construction (Model 1909) Non-skid pattern possess
exceptional non-skidding qualities, and are not subject to overheating,
therefore the danger of bursting is reduced to a minimum. Nail punctures
seldom occur, owing to the tread being protected to a great extent by
steel, the walls being of exceptional strength compatible with the
greatest possible resiliency.

The steel studs are deeply embedded in the rubber and canvas, securely
fastened, and therefore cannot tear out unless subjected to abnormal
strain.

In conclusion, “Continentals” have proved to be far and away the most
reliable and serviceable as well as the most economical Non-skid in
existence.


_Your inquiry would be esteemed._

CONTINENTAL TYRE & RUBBER CO.
(Great Britain) Ltd.,
102-108 Clerkenwell Rd., London, E.C.

       *       *       *       *       *

NEW FICTION


     CHIP: A Novel. By F. E. MILLS YOUNG, author of “A Mistaken
     Marriage.” Crown 8vo, 6s.

⁂ This is a story of the veld, of the lives of a small community of
Europeans dwelling far from civilisation amid the silence and solitude
of the swamps of East Africa. To the unhealthiness of the climate is
added another danger--the disaffection of the natives upon the farm,
caused by their fear and dislike of their employer, Mordaunt, the hero
of the tale. Reckless, holding life cheaply, and with a scorn of fear,
Mordaunt, a man of great strength of character, yet one who allows an
early disappointment to embitter his life, courts danger as he has for
years vainly courted death. Then across his path comes Chip, the heroine
of the tale, who, disguised as a boy, seeks and obtains the post of
overseer on the ranch. The story describes their daily life, the dangers
which they face together, and the great influence which the mysterious
boy-overseer exercises over the dissipated misogynist, his employer.


     LITTLE DINNERS WITH THE SPHINX. By RICHARD LEGALLIENNE. Crown 8vo,
     6s.


     DIANA DETHRONED: A Novel. By W. M. LETTS. Crown 8vo, 6s.

⁂ Phœbe Lankester, unconsciously to herself, is pledged to the old pagan
ideal represented by Diana the Huntress. Healthy in body and mind, Phœbe
stands aloof from the troubles and desires of humanity, until in her own
wrecked happiness she awakes slowly to the need of some power greater
and kindlier than ever Diana knew. It is only after the absolute
surrender of self and after the awakening of a greater, more maternal
love than she has as yet known that she finds peace. Love and death and
pity have conquered Diana, and the statue of the goddess that once
adorned the Lankesters’ hall is banished to a lumber-room.


     SOMEONE PAYS: A Novel. By NOEL BARWELL. Crown 8vo, 6s.

⁂ “Someone Pays,” though exemplifying a subtle train of cause and
effect, is not a novel with a problem or a purpose. The story is told by
means of the correspondence passing between a number of persons. We are
first introduced to the post-bag at a country Vicarage where Sir Bernard
Orr’s son is being coached. Later the scene changes to Cambridge, and we
watch the developments of a romance and an awkward entanglement which
arise at the Vicarage. Everything is smoothed out and ends happily for
all parties, especially for an unscrupulous triumphant cleric.


     THE ODD MAN. A Novel. By ARNOLD HOLCOMBE. Crown 8vo, 6s.


John Lane, The Bodley Head, Vigo St., London