Automobile club

“ The annual of the Automobile Club de France marks with a little silhouetted knife and fork those establishments which deserve mention for their cuisine, and even marks good beds in a similar fashion. Clearly the makers of old-time guide-books must wake up, or everybody will take to automobiling, if only to have the right to demand one of these excellent guides. ”

“ The difficulty which has presented itself has been how horse-owners may obtain opportunities of training their horses to meet motor vehicles. The Automobile Club has already given demonstrations at the Ranelagh and other clubs near London of how horses may best be made tractable, and has advertised these opportunities. If any owner of restive horses will apply to the secretary of the Automobile Club, that gentleman will doubtless be able to arrange that some motorist in the neighbourhood will drive his car to the horse-owner's establishment and there train the restive animals. ”

“ The club conducts races for automobiles and balloons, and fortnightly tours. The annual subscription is 50 frs., with a like amount as entrance fee.
Nice.—Of provincial clubs the Automobile Club de Nice is undoubtedly the most active and important. It was founded in 1897 as the Auto-Velo Club, but changed its name in 1900. From its foundation the Club has annually held races, competitions, and tours of an international character, with a view to popularising the new means of locomotion and improving the vehicles themselves. ”

“ The American Club has chiefly devoted its efforts to obtaining reasonable legislation in reference to the use of the highway by motor vehicles; the carriage of gasoline motor vehicles on ferries; and the furthering of the good roads movement throughout the country by the circulation of literature and by the arduous work of a 'good roads committee' of the Club. The encouragement by the Club of the manufacture of motorcars has taken the form of two successful automobile exhibitions held in Madison Square Garden in November of 1900 and 1901 respectively ”

“ The United Kingdom has been particularly fortunate in its Automobile Club, the exertions of whose numerous committees have been continuously arduous and self-sacrificing ever since its formation in 1897. By legitimate methods of propagandism it has gradually worn down a considerable amount of the prejudice and opposition to a new movement that were inevitable in a conservative country, and by its demonstrations of the practical utility of the motor vehicle it has entirely removed the evil but long-remaining impression of the appallingly abortive run to Brighton on November 14, 1896. ”

“ 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. ”

“ The labour, the forethought, and the tact that must have been put out cannot be measured. Mr. Claude Johnson, Secretary of the Automobile Club of Great Britain and Ireland, who originated the scheme, and his subordinates deserve the place of honour in the history of Automobilism in this country up to the present time, and they will be wonderful contestants that succeed in wresting it from them in the future. ”

“ Of foreign automobile clubs the number is already considerable; if the various provincial clubs are taken into account a total of about one hundred and twenty is attained. The most representative organisations of Europe and America are enum-
The Automobile Club of Great Britain and Ireland, 119 Piccadilly ”

“ The event was inaugurated during the present year by the French Automobile Club, under pressure from the French manufacturers, who, dissatisfied with the conditions attached to the annual Gordon-Bennet Cup race, decided to abandon the latter, and hold a speed event which would enable each maker to be represented by as many cars as he chose to enter. ”

“ In 1911 began a new series of races for the Grand Prix of the Automobile Club of France in which each manufacturer was allowed to enter up to three cars, and there was no limit to the number of manufacturers of any one nation. ”

“ It will be seen, however, that the combined operations of the Royal Automobile Club, the Automobile Association and Motor Union, and the Road Board constitute, in effect—and more especially from the point of view of provision of facilities for through traffic under satisfactory conditions—a national road policy far in advance of anything this country has ever seen before.
These road improvements appeal to the motorist, delighting in cross-country journeys, still more than they do to the urban trader, whose road transport does not, generally speaking, extend beyond a certain radius. ”

“ It will be remembered that the French Automobile Club organized the present prize on account of the dissatisfaction caused in Franco by the regulations of the Gordon-Bennett cup match. In that race each country had the right to enter three automobiles. ”

“ I cannot think of anything else that would make it behave as an automobile in good health should, and I give you my word of honour that it is acting in perfect rhythm, never slipping a cog nor missing fire. Of course, with the machine behaving in that unaccountable manner, I would not dare to start for Port Lafayette, but I want to run you around to the Country Club. ”

“ The debt which the sport and industry alike owe to these bodies, in every country where they have been formed, is incalculably great, and, however far the aspirations of the enthusiast may yet be from their ultimate fruition, the present stage of progress would not even have been within measurable reach but for the fostering care of the Automobile Clubs. ”

“ One novel feature of the race is that all repairs to the competing cars must be made by the driver and his mechanic. No other persons will be allowed to approach the car during the contest for the purpose of lending mechanical assistance. The driver and their assistants are now taking lessons in the fitting of new tires in the shortest possible time. The race each day will be 375 miles.
It is also probable that American cars will be represented in the 3,000-mile touring event that is to be held under the auspices of the leading automobile club in Europe from July 29 to Aug. ”

“ THE owner of an automobile is able to entertain his friends in a pleasant way with comparatively little trouble. He can take them out for a spin without interfering with the machinery of the household or giving extra work to the servants. Almost every one enjoys motoring in warm weather, and it is easy to stop for luncheon at a country club or an inn or to have a picnic by the wayside, should the owner of the car wish to show more than mere “carriage hospitality.” The trip may be short or long, as he pleases, and as he thinks will be agreeable to his guests. ”

“ In addition to these central organisations in London there are now Associated Automobile Clubs throughout the United Kingdom which show a great deal of local activity and offer many advantages to their own members. ”

“ Garage men, too, wishing it known that millionaire automobile owners patronize their shops, often are willing to tell of battered cars repaired by their men. All such sources are fertile with stories. Many a rich man's automobile crashes into a culvert or a telegraph pole and nobody knows of it but the mechanic in the repair shop. Many a prominent club-man indulges in orgies of revelry and dissipation of which none knows but the caterer and a few chosen, non-committal friends. ”

“ The annual subscription is 20 frs. The Swiss club is a very active body, and is doing its utmost to increase custom-house facilities and to render homologous the various regulations in force in the different cantons concerning automobile traffic. ”

“ By joining the club you have many advantages. For instance, there is, of course, the convenience of using the club rooms and the{65} 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. ”

“ The Motor-car Club is dead. It was not a club in the proper sense of the word, but an organisation promoted and financed by the company-promoters who were interested in advertising their schemes. The run to Brighton was itself intended as a huge advertisement, but the unprepared condition of many of the cars entered, together with the miserable weather prevailing on that day, resulted in turning the whole thing into ridicule. ”

“ THE R.A.C. is the oldest motoring organization in this country, and the only one catering exclusively for the private motorist.
The Road Service provided by the Club offers exactly that assistance every private owner is certain to need at some time or another in connection with his or her motoring. ”

“ The characters of the boys are widely different. Bob Somers is strong and athletic, while stout Dave Brandon, inclined to take his ease on all possible occasions, can be remarkably active when circumstances demand. Tom Clifton, a trifle self-conscious, and sometimes allowing his enthusiasm to carry him away, is really not so vain as many think.
[4] Dave Brandon, poet and historian of the club, who is chronicling the various incidents and adventures that befall them, feels that their present motor car trip will add but little to his book. ”

“ The master generally drove the team, often a nobleman of high rank, who commonly copied the dress of a mail coachman. The company usually rode outside, but two footmen in rich liveries were indispensable on the back seat, nor was it at all uncommon to see some splendidly attired female on the box. A rule of the Club was that all members should turn out three times a week; and the start was made at mid-day, from the neighbourhood of Piccadilly, through which they passed to the Windsor-road,—the attendants of each carriage playing on their silver bugles. ”

“ When organized into congenial outing parties, almost every fine day they may be found, seated in the luxuriously appointed motor carriages which belong to the club, ready for a lively spin away to the woods. ”

“ It must guarantee a certain number of riders to the railroad every trip, so the membership of the “club” is kept high enough to allow for a reasonable percentage failing to use the car daily. Some railroads go at the thing in another way. They supply the car and its attendants and make a monthly extra charge, in addition to commutation. The car is entirely filled with regular riders, so it is in a sense a club car. ”

“ In the city there are fifteen or twenty miles of asphalt pavements as smooth as glass, block asphalt excepted, besides miles and miles of fine park roads, and with such drives it is not strange that the club is outgrowing its old club house—old only in name—and is moving into a very large two-story building on the main street, which will soon be nicely filled up with everything that such a genuine riding, working, racing, hospitable club needs. ”

“ The door was thrown open, not by servants, but by a merry, curious crowd of ladies and gentlemen, anxious to see the arrival of the belated, no doubt much talked of, automobile. Light streamed out from a great hall, which seemed, at first glance, to be half full of people in evening dress, girls and young men, gay and laughing. Everybody was talking at the same time, chattering both English and French, nobody listening to anybody else, all intent on having a glimpse of the car. ”

“ The men are not far behind the womenfolk in their love of display, good looks, and luxuriant habits, although of late there is a disposition among the younger men to go in for the sports and pastimes generally associated with Englishmen and Americans. The Jockey Club owns and runs the racecourse, and its enormous wealth is derived largely from that institution. Horses and motor-cars are the passions of the rich, as the long line of automobiles of latest types that line the boulevard outside the racecourse testify. ”

“ This Club, by reason of its large pecuniary resources, and also of the liberal and scientific spirit which animates the encouragement it gives in every way to the new industry, is certainly to-day one of the most useful and commendable institutions in France. ”

“ I am not a travelling salesman (except in so far as all men are) so I do not often travel in the Club Car. But when I do, irresistibly the thought comes that I have strayed into the American House of Lords. Unworthily I sit among our sovereign legislators, a trifle ill at ease mayhap. In the day coach I am at home with my peers—those who smoke cheap tobacco; who nurse fretful babies; who strew the hot plush with sandwich crumbs and lean throbbing foreheads against the window pane.
But the Club Car which swings so smoothly at the end of a limited train is a different place, pardee. ”

“ The club will go to the dogs if all the members get buzz-carts.”
“Don’t you fret,” returned Dan, laughing. “As long as we can keep Captain Chance Avery in bounds, you fellows who ride bikes will not be neglected in club affairs.”
“Remember how Dan fought for you at the meeting following the Barnegat run,” said Jim. “And he and Billy owned their motors then.”
44“But an auto is different,” grumbled Wiley. “Look at Burton Poole—and the Greenes. They don’t care about going on the club runs at all any more because the autos have been shut out.” ”