INSIDE A COTTON MILL-"DRAWING THE COTTON."

tleton. and Rochdale, none of which is smaller than Galveston, and all of which are supported by the weaving industry.

The settlement of the great strike has resulted in a unique agreement between the employers and employed. It is known as the "Brooklands Agreement," the. terms of which seem to render future strikes out of the question. The labor leaders have access to the books of the employers; and so the sliding scale of wages that has been arranged, can easily be determined without friction or suspicion.

Women and children as well as men suffered untold hardships from the depression in England alleged to have been brought about by the American speculators. More than half the employees of the cotton mills are women and children dependent on their earnings for their daily bread.

All the mills, by an agreement, worked on short hours during the crisis, and

OUTSIDE A COTTON MILL-DINNER TIME.

unabated persistence; but the native bears. the downpour with cheerful equanimity, because he knows that the humidity of the climate renders Lancashire unrivaled in the manufacture of the finer grades of cotton goods. Besides, the workmen of Lancashire are probably more skilled than those of any other country.

The manufacture of textile machinery is also a great industry in Lancashire; and where Lancashire is unable to sell her cotton goods, she does the next best thing, and sells the machinery by which these goods can be produced. Thus she levies a profit even on her rivals.

W

HAT are the principal hindrances to the enjoyment of a cross-country automobile tour taken purely as a pleasure pursuit under existing conditions in America?

To answer this question, so pertinent at this time, when Americans are vying with the French and English and Germans in long overland trips — amusements that have become exceedingly popular in Europe-and when entirely new types of automobiles have been constructed to meet the new demands, Mr. J. F. Miller of the American School of Correspondence at Armour Institute of Technology, made a 2,000-mile trip from Chicago to Syracuse, N. Y., and return, taking careful notations and gathering information from various sources along the route. That the answer might not be formed from conditions as viewed by masculine eyes alone, Mr. Miller took with him a lady companion-his wifeand their joint opinions on the subject will doubtless be interesting to America's growing army of women automobile enthusiasts, as well as to the men.

After a two months' outing and observations made in nearly all kinds of weather, on roads good and bad, and among the varied classes of people that are necessarily encountered in the heterogeneous population of the East and Central West, Mr. and Mrs. Miller have given their answer to the important question. Following is a summary of the objectionable conditions mentioned by them, arranged in order of their importance:

FIRST-The animosity of the rural and urban populace toward automobiles and automobilists, resulting from vituperative newspaper comments, which are ever taken seriously by the countryman.

SECOND-The unjust, partial, and prejudicial laws of many States, counties, and towns, attributable solely to the ignorance of the lawmakers regarding the automobile, its perfect control, and its great benefits to the people in general.

THIRD-Bad roads and bridges, and poor laws that prevent the building and maintenance of better ones.

FOURTH-Difficulties, in sparsely settled districts, of obtaining supplies, and the inferior grades of those that are obtainable.

FIFTH-Parsimony of automobile agents, repair men, and supply houses, manifested in their charging exorbitant prices to automobilists on tour.

SIXTH-Ignorance of rural residents regarding automobiles and the persons who operate them, caused by the scarcity of automobiles owned by persons outside of the cities.

SEVENTH-Improper provision for long trips by the tourist in not selecting a car best adapted to his needs, and in not providing the necessary supplies and provisions before starting.

Threats of being shot; their way blocked; many times impeded by obstructions wilfully placed in their road; insulted and uncivilly treated in innumerable instances - these were occurrences of the trip that go to prove an unfriendliness toward the automobilist on the part of the traditionally kind-hearted farmer. Of course this treatment was rather the exception than the rule; but it was the tourist's mission to note the principal hindrances to the enjoyment of a cross-country automobile tour, and, therefore, he must give prominence to the hindrances. They were encountered, too, without seeking them in any way, but in the course of an ordinary crosscountry trip such as any owner of a motor car might take purely for pleasure.

There have been many "endurance" runs that have truthfully tested the endurance of man and vehicle; there have been short- and long distance speed runs, "continuous" runs of thousands of miles, mountain climbing, rough road contests, and every other kind of automobile test that minds could devise, save the simple one of determining, for the information. of others, just what conditions are apt to be encountered in an ordinary longdistance pleasure tour. With this object solely in view, Mr. Miller did not try to drive his automobile through raging

torrents or over trembling trestles spanning them; nor did he attempt to scale mountain peaks, or leap from precipices, or bear down trees in his path by forcing his way through the jungles, as do the heroes of the modern automobile tours. He sought to experience no more difficulties than would be unavoidably encountered, and, if possible, to determine why such trips cannot be made as enjoyable and popular in America as they are in Europe.

The machine Mr. Miller regarded as best adapted to his usage on such a trip was a Rambler-the largest make of Rambler-a 16-horse-power two-cylinder car, with canopy top, glass front, and side curtains. Such a machine, Mr. Miller thought, would give him the greatest amount of pleasure and comfort on the trip, and, as stated, it was pleasure and comfort he was seeking. Both of the tourists found the car all they had expected. The jolting, under general conditions, was scarcely perceptible; and the car was roomy, substantial, and easily operated. When the movable glass front and side curtains were all up, the occupants were as secure against the storm as if riding in a Pullman parlor car.

In their tour, Mr. and Mrs. Miller had an opportunity of experiencing the conditions in Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York. They found those of New York and Illinois the worst, as regards the unfriendly laws, bad roads, and uncivil treatment. Just as they were entering New York State, the automobilists accidentally turned into a side road. There they encountered a farmer with a shotgun who told them. that if they did not immediately turn round and go back he would shoot, as they were traversing a private thoroughfare. The tourists obeyed.

In Illinois the automobile was stoned by hoodlums near the Indiana state line, and a missile fell in the machine at Mrs. Miller's feet. Along a seldom traveled road in Pennsylvania, where automobiles are rarely if ever seen, but where farmers have provided themselves with a private telephone line, news of the tourists' progress was telephoned ahead, and some farmer youths further on placed a mound of obstructions in the road, in the hope

of halting the machine, possibly for the purpose of inspecting it more closely. Mr. Miller climbed over the obstructions with his machine, and from the underbrush a dozen heads bobbed up in bewilderment. The couple stopped for lunch at a farm house beyond. While they were dining, another hill of timbers and trees was thrown across the road, which forced the occupants to alight while Mr. Miller cleared the way. In passing through small towns, vile epithets were often hurled at the travelers when they chanced to pass drivers of horses, without recognition of the care manifested by Mr. Miller to prevent scaring the animals.

Mrs. Miller said:

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"In many sections we traversed, the people seemed to look upon some horrid monsters whom all should hate. We could not get a civil response to our questions, and in one district in Pennsylvania the people began to sound the alarm of our coming as if the territory had been invaded by a real dragon or by outlaws. They gathered about the car, intercepted our progress by various methods, and really for a time we considered ourselves in peril.

"One particular instance well illustrates the horror with which the people seem to regard motor cars. It was in the benighted district between Bryan and Kendleville. The road was a narrow turnpike that would not permit a team and automobile to pass without danger of frightening the horses, especially in this section where an automobile was probably never seen before. Two women driving a span of horses approached us, and the horses showed fright. Fearing for the women's safety, Mr. Miller stopped the car, but still the horses displayed nervousness and acted as if they would become unmanageable. Then Mr. Miller turned off the power entirely and went to the assistance of the women, offering to lead the horses past the machine. The girls shrieked in horror when he started to touch the animals, and would not permit him to lay hands on the harness."

In New York State there is a sparsely settled, low, marshy district whose inhabitants are called "Swamp Angels." The "swamp" part of the term is very appropriate, according to Mr. Miller's statements, but he could not say so much for the "angels."

"While traversing a road in this territory," said Mr. Miller, "we came upon a man and woman driving in the same direction. The road was not wide enough for us to go by them on either side, without probably striking the vehicle or horse, unless they would drive to one side and stop. This they absolutely refused to do, and the horse moped

along in front of us with the occupants all the while jeering at us. You have got plenty of time,' the man remarked when we asked him to let us pass. 'Don't be in too big a hurry; it might injure your health,' and the woman laughed until she almost fell from the buggy

"Well, we endured this derision for probably two miles, barely being able to glide along behind the moping horse. Finally, as neither pleading nor threats seemed of avail, and as the hour was getting late and we were anxious to get out of the swamps before dark, we saw

"We met with much kinder treatment in other cases, however. As a notable exception, I might mention an instance when we stopped to avoid frightening a team of two splendid looking colts that had been left standing in the harness. We waited for the owner to come and move them away. For this kindness he was profuse in his thanks. He invited us to dinner, and said that he would not have had the colts get frightened for a fortune."

Mr. Miller attributes the greater part of the unfriendly disposition of the peo

that something had to be done. So I opened up the 'pet' cocks on the engine, and they responded with a vengeance, sounding like the firing of musketry. The horse at once took to his heels and displayed greater life, probably, than his owner had ever noted in him before. On down the marsh-bordered road the man and woman and horse and buggy went, and we directly behind them. The jests of the couple now changed to piteous pleas; but we replied that it was better to hurry a little as they were probably needed at home, and we urged them to go faster. Soon they turned into a cross-road, thinking to escape us; but the car with its 'pet' cock booming away went in behind them, and we followed them for two miles more, and until the horse was nearly exhausted. Then I gave the man a little lecture on how to be polite to automobilists in the future, and I don't think he will forget it.

"This might have seemed imprudent and malicious, but we were taunted and tried beyond forbearance, and were forced to resort to this or some other effective alternative.

ple encountered, to the newspapers, but a large amount of it to the politicians. A judge's advice to shoot automobilists has gained wide circulation in many sections of the country traversed; and from this and other such inflammable printed and oral utterances, the pliable-minded ruralist has come to regard the automobilist as something inhuman or an outlaw. In some places along the route he was told that the farmers had organized to hunt with shotguns for automobilists.

The next most serious hindrance enumerated by Mr. and Mrs. Miller is the unjust laws. They are as freakish as they are varied, and outside of Missouri, those of Illinois and New York probably lead the United States in point of capriciousness. In Illinois the speed limit

is 15 miles an hour unless otherwise provided by local ordinance. Drivers must come to a full stop on request of persons driving horses. The maximum fine is $200 or three months imprisonment, or both. The provisions of local ordinances always require a lower speed, and they are such as to form a network of the queerest complications to be found in any

RAMBLER, WITH CANOPY TOP ATTACHED.

civilized land. The law is such that every municipal corporation in the State may have a separate law requiring different numbers on the automobiles, and each charging an additional sum for the fee. Each may, and in most instances does, require a different rate of speed, so that the automobilists must have the most remarkable brain in the world to remember the different speeds permitted by the various towns and hamlets, and to run his machine accordingly so as to avoid being arrested. In the city of Chicago alone there are at least three separate and distinct municipal corporations having jurisdictions over the thoroughfares through which motor cars must pass. They include the City Government, the South Park Board, and the North Park Board. The City controls all the streets except the parks and boulevards; while the park boards have jurisdiction over all the parks and boulevards, and are at liberty, under the laws of Illinois, to make separate requirements regarding numbering and speed. Because an automobilist sometimes gets in the way of Mayor Harrison when he is out bicycle riding, that dignitary has begun. a most vigorous campaign against the

cars, adding to their persecution in the Western metropolis. The Mayor said:

"I go out on my wheel two or three nights a week, and jog along at eight or ten miles an hour. The automobiles go by me so fast I seem to be standing still. I'll bet there isn't one of them that doesn't run from ten to fifteen miles an hour. One automobile that passed me on Sheridan road was running at the rate of fifty miles an hour. I intend to compel the owners of automobiles to obey the law, if it takes every policeman in Chicago to do it."

So unjust are the Chicago automobile laws regarded that a judge of that city has granted an injunction restraining their enforcement. The automobilists in their bill charged "grave oppression of the people," "double taxation," "discrimination," "arbitrary legislation," and "disfigurement of machines." The law limits the speed limit of the city to ten miles an hour; requires numbers five inches high; charges a fee of $3 for a license, and an additional fee of $1 for the registration of the number allotted. Some of the suburbs around Chicago, when they need money to build a new sidewalk, stretch a rope across a thoroughfare, and arrest every automobilist that passes through, regardless of the speed he is making, fining each an amount necessary to make up the required sum. Of nine machines that passed through one of these suburbs recently, all but one were stopped and the operators fined, and that one escaped only because he got out and walked with his machine as proof indisputable that he was not violating the speed ordinance.

These are some of the conditions that caused Mr. Miller in telling of his trip, to say:

"I was glad when I was out of the city limits of Chicago in beginning my trip, and glad again when I had reached the State line and was free from the oppressive Illinois laws.

"In Indiana, there is no State automobile law, but all the towns through which we passed had local ordinances regulating speed. Valparaiso, for instance, limits speed to eight miles an hour. Lafayette taxes automobiles, and requires owners to register and number them.

"Somewhat similar conditions prevail in Ohio. Through that State our journey was the most peaceable and enjoyable of any on our tour, and I must congratulate the people of the State for their sanity, and lack of bombast. Were it not for the bad condition of the roads in portions of Ohio, that would he an ideal State for motoring.