MOTORING.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 14809, 12 October 1911, Page 9

MOTORING.

! While motorists in New Zealand are wondering if the motor waggon will prove itself a practical commercial vehicle, the more enterprising Yankee has put it to a testthat of crossing the North American Continent. a distance by the route followed of 5000 miles— "soul-trying undertaking that occupied five months." The "Pioneer Freighter,"' as the Saurer wag-con was called, was loaded, among other things, with camp equipment, timber for shoring up bridges, and making mud' holes passable, ' and - a powerful winch, which is operated by the engine of the car. and which proved of great assistance in hauling the truck out of bad spots. When it reached New York the truck looked the worse for wear, but it had no trouble in " keeping step" with an escort of 15 trucks, which met it on .the outskirts, and accompanied it into the city. Its appearance only mildly suggested the many times it had been hub deep in sand, or become mired in two or three feet of slimy mud, which covered many of the socalled roads of the "wild and woolly west." A terrible disaster occurred during a' motor race at Syracuse, New York State. An automobile, while travelling at high speed, suddenly uluntred off the track into a crowd of spectators. No fewer than 11 persons were killed, including several women, and many more were injured. The- track had been watered in order to lay the dust before President Taft drove •round the arena previous to the races, and it is thought that the wetness of the track was the cause of the disastrous accident. Notwithstanding the shocking nature of the tragedy the remaining competitors in the _ race did not abandon the contest, but carried it to a conclusion..,\ .