70-YEAR OLD TOURIST CROSSES U. S. ON BICYCLE

AN ORDINARY bicycle with a special baggage support above the front wheel is the equipment used by M. C. Plummer of Portland, Maine, in touring the United States. Mr. Plummer is 70 years old but he covers from 50 to 150 miles every day on his bicycle, depending on the weather and the nature of the country to be traveled. Read the rest of this entry »

NEW PLEASURE CRAFT

A LOS ANGELES man has invented a new type of pleasure boat. The boat has a round, metal air-filled pontoon to keep it afloat. There are twin paddles to control the boat. One of them furnishes the motive power while the other steers the odd craft. The interior of the boat is shown here with three young ladies engaged in giving it a trial spin. The boat is built to carry four persons comfortably but a maximum load of eight people can be safely handled.

There is an inverse relationship between the likeliness that a design will be produced and the triviality of the items included in the diagram. In this case someone felt the need to point out the landing lights, but neglected to include fuel tanks.

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RUMPLER Designs Largest Plane

Herr Rumpler, famous designer of Germany’s war time fighting planes, is turning his peace time activities to good account in developing the world’s largest airplanes. Rumpler, shown above in a characteristic pose at his drafting board, is now building an enormous monoplane which will have wings large enough to place staterooms in. A new blunt-nosed wing section is used to effect this design. Read the rest of this entry »

NEW MOTORCYCLE CAN ATTAIN SPEED OF 100 M. P. H!

RECENTLY the Ascot Paulhan Co.. of London, announced a new model motorcycle that is attracting wide attention.

This machine is of the conventional type but has been vastly improved both in appearance and in mechanical make-up. The most noteworthy of these changes is the new panel of instruments that is placed neatly between the handle bars. The windshield is formed as a part of the front panel and is divided into two parts. The upper half can be adjusted to fit the height of the rider. A windshield wiper is standard equipment.

Pad Relieves Motorist Eye Strain
A SPECIALLY designed eye pad, recently introduced, needs only to be moistened and worn over the eyes to give relief from eye strain due to long motor trips or sun glare. The pad comes in a convenient form for carrying in a small
space and can be applied easily.

Punctured Auto Tube Seals Itself

A NEW tire tube contains specially compounded plastic rubber which flows into a puncture, quickly closing it and preventing loss of air.

Unlike previous devices of this nature, the new tube gives unusual comfort in use and is light in weight. It can be used on the smallest car without jolting the passengers.

In a recent test an awl was driven repeatedly into one of the tubes; but the plastic rubber effectually sealed each of the holes with virtually no loss of air.

World’s Smallest Auto Demands Traffic Equality

TRAFFIC regulations have made no qualifications concerning the size of a car. Here is the world’s smallest car taking the right of way in Brooklyn, N. Y. Officer Thomas Hallman was rather surprised when Master Bernard Muller and his playmate, Miss Adele Wallack, rolled up to the corner. Read the rest of this entry »

Novel “Driver-Seat Shop” for Motorists’ Convenience

SOMETHING distinctly new in the way of ideas for merchandising automotive equipment is represented in the “Driver-seat Shop,” a steel and glass display cabinet that can be placed in all filling stations for the convenience of motorists who wish to make purchases without alighting from their cars. Read the rest of this entry »

Richard Du Pont—Millionaire Glider Fan

ONE would expect to find a Du Pont in a Washington drawing room or on the sands at Newport; but young Richard Du Pont, son of the industrial magnate, reverses the procedure by spending a great part of his time in a workshop.

Out in the San Fernando valley, a short distance from Los Angeles, stands a small laboratory. There young Du Pont and his co-workers are daily experimenting to make the air currents safer for glider-conscious America.
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The last section of this article (Buying Hats by Radio) seems like a weird addition. Apparently television and radio advertising are the only thing that can save the world.

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What Will Happen to Flying?

by CAPT. EDDIE RICKENBACKER

Commander of the First A. E. F. Air Squadron in the World War.

GIANT dirigibles a mile in length, airplanes capable of flying at 500 miles an hour—these are only two amazing developments which Capt. Rickenbacker predicts are waiting just around the corner of the new air age in which we live. Being the greatest of America’s war aces as well as a motor car engineer of national reputation, Capt. Rickenbacker’s predictions are those of a recognized authority.
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Articulated Bus Shows to Advantage in Traffic and on Narrow Roads

THE size of the motor-bus seems to be limited only by traffic conditions and the roads over which it is to operate. Finding it impossible to widen the German roads or to thin out traffic, a manufacturer of that country has introduced the articulated bus, which permits the largest of the species to wind its serpentine way through traffic or narrow roads.

In this vehicle the driver’s seat is placed immediately over the front wheels, the bus being jointed behind this point.

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Rockne Plane Crash Inspires Safety Inventions

FOLLOWING the recent tragic crash of a tri-motored airplane in which Knute Rockne, Notre Dame’s famous football coach, and seven others were instantly killed, a new impetus has been given to the invention of safety devices designed to prevent the recurrence of such catastrophes in the future. It will be remembered that one wing of the Rockne plane was torn off in mid-air.
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