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Chapter III
On The Road By The Rhine
We had followed along the lower reaches of the Rhine, through the little land of dykes and windmills, when the idea occurred to us: why not make the Rhine tour en automobile? This, perhaps, was no new and unheard-of thing, but the Rhine tour is classic and should not be left out of any one's travelling education, even if it is old-fashioned.
At Nymegen we saw the last of Holland and soon crossed the frontier. There were no restrictions then in force against the entrance of foreign automobiles, though we were threatened with new and stringent regulations soon to be put in force. (1906. A full résumé of these new regulations will be found in the appendix.) Legally Germany could demand eight marks a hundred kilos for the weight of our machine, but in practice all tourists were admitted free, provided one could convince the official that he intended to return across the frontier within a reasonable time.
As we crossed the railway line we made our obeisance to the German customs authorities, saluted the black and white barber's-pole stripes of the frontier post, and filled up our tanks with gasoline, which had now assumed the name of benzin, instead of benzine, as in Holland.
Emmerich, Cleves, Wesel, and Xanten are not tourist points, and in spite of the wealth of history and romance which surrounds their very names, they had little attraction for us. For once were going to make a tour of convention.
It is a fairly long step from Nymegen to Düsseldorf, one hundred and one kilometres, but we did it between breakfast and lunch, in spite of the difficulty of finding our way about by roads and regulations which were new to us.
The low, flat banks of the Rhine below Düsseldorf have much the same characteristics that they have in Holland, and, if the roadways are sometimes bad as to surface – and they are terrible in the neighbourhood of Crefield – they are at least flat and otherwise suited to speed, though legally you are held down to thirty kilometres an hour.
You may find anything you like in the way of hotel accommodation at Düsseldorf, from the Park Hotel on the Cornelius Platz, at Waldorf prices, to the modest and characteristic little German inn by the name of Prince Alexanders Hof, which is as cheap as a French hotel of its class, and about as good.
It is at Düsseldorf that one comes first into touch with the German institutions in all their completeness. Immediately one comes to the borders of the Rhine he comes into the sphere of world politics. The peace of Europe lies buried at the mouth of the Scheldt where the Rhine enters the sea, and not on the Bosphorus. "The Rhine is the King of Rivers," said a German politician, "and it is our fault if its mouth remains in the hands of foreigners." This is warlike talk, if you like, but if a German prince some day rises on the throne of Holland, there may be a new-made map of Europe which will upset all existing treaties and conventions.
Düsseldorf is a veritable big town, for, though it shelters two hundred and twenty-five thousand inhabitants, it is not "citified." It is one of the most lovely of Rhine towns, and is the headquarters of the Rhenish Westphalian Automobile Club.
To Cologne is thirty-seven kilometres, with the roads still bad, – shockingly so we found them, though we were assured that this is unusual and that even then they were in a state of repair. This was evident, and in truth they needed it.
The twin Gothic splendours of Cologne's cathedral rise high in air long before one reaches the confines of the city. Cologne is the metropolis of the Rhine country, and besides its four hundred thousand inhabitants possesses many institutions and industries which other Rhine cities lack.
Of hotels for automobilists at Cologne there are five, all of which will treat you in the real tourist fashion, and charge you accordingly, – overcharge you in fact. We did not have time to hunt up what the sentimentalist of the party always called "a quaint little inn," and so we put into one almost under the shadow of the cathedral (purposely nameless).
The sights of Cologne are legion. "Numerous churches, all very ancient" describes them well enough for an itinerary such as this; the guide-books must do the rest. The Kolner Automobile Club will supply the touring automobilist graciously and gratuitously with information. A good thing to know!
The beer and concert gardens of Cologne's waterside are famous, almost as famous as the relics of the "three kings" in the cathedral.
At Cologne the pictured, storied Rhine begins. A skeleton itinerary is given at the end of this chapter which allows some digression here for observations of a pertinent kind.
Let the traveller not be disappointed with the first glance at the river as he sees it at Cologne. He is yet a few miles below the banks which have gained for the stream its fame for surpassing beauty, but higher up it justifies the rhapsodies of the poet.
"A blending of all beauties; streams and dells,
Fruit, foliage, crag, wood, corn-field, mountain, vine,
And chiefless castles breathing stern farewells
From gray but leafy walls, where Ruin greenly dwells.
"And there they stand, as stands a lofty mind,
Worn, but unstooping to the baser crowd,
All tenantless, save to the crannying wind,
Or holding dark communion with the cloud.
There was a day when they were young and proud,
Banners on high, and battles passed below:
But they who fought are in a bloody shroud,
And those which wav'd are shredless dust ere now,
And the bleak battlements shall bear no future blow.
"Beneath battlements, within those walls,
Power dwelt amidst her passions: in proud state,
Each robber chief upheld his armed halls,
Doing his evil will, nor less elate
Than mightier heroes of a longer date.
What want these outlaws conquerors should have?
But History's purchas'd page to call them great?
A wider space, an ornamented grave?
Their hopes were not less warm, their souls were full as brave."
The scenery, the history and legend, and the wines of the Rhine make up the complete list of the charms of the river for the enthusiastic voyager on its bosom or on its banks.
It is enjoyable enough when one is on the deck of a Rhine steamboat, or would be if one were not so fearfully crowded, but it is doubly so when one is travelling along its banks by roadways which, from here on, improve greatly.
The history and legend of the Rhine are too big a subject to handle here, but some facts about Rhine wine, picked up on the spot, may be of interest.
The true German is not only eloquent when speaking of the quality of the Rhine wines, but he claims for them also the honours of antiquity. One may be content to date their history back merely to the days of Probus, but others declare that Bacchus only could be the parent of such admirable liquor, and point to Bacharach as the resting-place of the deity when he came to taste the Rhine grapes, and set an example to all future tipplers. It would not have been out of place to call the Rhine the country of Bacchus. The Rhine, Moselle, Neckar, and Main are gardens of the vine; but the Germans have not been content with cultivating the banks of rivers alone, for the higher lands are planted as well. From Bonn to Coblenz, and from the latter city to Mayence, the country is covered with vineyards. The Johannisberger of "father" Rhine, the Gruenhauser or the Brauneberger of the Moselle, and the Hochheimer of the Main, each distinguish and hallow their respective rivers in the eyes of the connoisseur in wine.
The vineyards of the Rhine are a scene of surpassing beauty; Erbach, enthroned among its vines; Johannisberg, seated on a crescent hill of red soil, adorned with cheering vegetation; Mittelheim, Geisenheim, and Rüdesheim with its strong, fine-bodied wine, the grapes from which bask on their promontory of rock, in the summer sun, and imbibe its generous heat from dawn to setting; then again, on the other side, Bingen, delightful, sober, majestic, with its terraces of vines, topped by the château of Klopp. The river and its riches, the corn and fruit which the vicinity produces, all remind the stranger of a second Canaan. The Bingerloch, the ruins, and the never-failing vines scattered among them, like verdant youth revelling amid age and decay, give a picture nowhere else exhibited, uniting to the joyousness of wine the sober tinge of meditative feeling. The hills back the picture, covered with feudal relics or monastic remains, mingled with the purple grape. Landscapes of greater beauty, joined to the luxuriance of fruitful vine culture, can nowhere be seen.
The glorious season of fruition – the Vintage– is the time for the visit of a wine-lover to the Rhine. It does not take place until the grapes are perfectly mature; they are then carefully gathered, and the bad fruit picked out, and, with the stalks, put aside. The wine of the pressing is separated, most vom ersten druck, vom nachdruck. The more celebrated of the wines are all fermented in casks; and then, after being repeatedly racked, suffered to remain for years in large fudders of 250 gallons, to acquire perfection by time. The wines mellow best in large vessels; hence the celebrated Heidelberg tun, thirty-one feet long by twenty-one high, and holding one hundred and fifty fudders, or six hundred hogsheads. Tübingen, Grüningen, and Königstein (the last 3,709 hogsheads) could all boast of their enormous tuns, in which the white wines of the country were thought to mellow better than in casks of less dimensions. These tuns were once kept carefully filled. The Germans always had the reputation of being good drinkers, and of taking care of the "liquor they loved." Misson says in his "Travels," that he formerly saw at Nuremberg the public cellar, two hundred and fifty paces long, and containing twenty thousand ahms of wine.
The names and birthplaces of the different German wines are interesting. The Liebfrauenmilch is a well-bodied wine, grown at Worms, and generally commands a good price. The same may be said of the wines of Koesterick, near Mayence; and those from Mount Scharlachberg are equally full-bodied and well-flavoured. Nierstein, Oppenheim, Laubenheim, and Gaubischeim are considered to yield first growths, but that of Deidesheim is held to be the best.
The river Main runs up to Frankfort close to Mayence; and on its banks the little town of Hochheim, once the property of General Kellerman, stands upon an elevated spot of ground, in the full blaze of the sun. From Hochheim is derived the name of Hock, too often applied by the unknowing to all German wines. There are no trees to obstruct the genial fire from the sky, which the Germans deem so needful to render their vintages propitious. The town stands in the midst of vineyards.
The vineyard which produces the Hochheimer of the first growth is about eight acres in extent, and situated on a spot well sheltered from the north winds. The other growths of this wine come from the surrounding vineyards. The whole eastern bank of the Rhine to Lorich, called the Rheingau, has been remarkable centuries past for its wines. It was once the property of the Church. Near this favoured spot grows the Schloss-Johannisberger, once the property of the Church, and also of the Prince of Orange. Johannisberg is a town, with its castle (schloss) on the right bank of the Rhine below Mentz. The Johannisberger takes the lead in the wines of the Rhine. The vines are grown over the vaults of the castle, and were very near being destroyed by General Hoche. The quantity is not large.
Rüdesheim produces wines of the first Rhine growths; but the Steinberger, belonging to the Duke of Nassau, takes rank after the Schloss Johannisberger among these wines. It has the greatest strength, and yet is one of the most delicate, and even sweetly flavoured. That called the "Cabinet" is the best. The quantity made is small, of the first growth. Graefenberg, which was once the property of the Church, produces very choice wines which carries a price equal to the Rüdesheim.
Marcobrunner is an excellent wine, of a fine flavour, especially when the vintage has taken place in a warm year. The vineyards of Roth and Königsbach grow excellent wines. The wine of Bacharach was formerly celebrated, but time produces revolutions in the history of wines, as well as in that of empires.
On the whole the wines of Bischeim, Asmannshäusen, and Laubenheim are very pleasant wines; those of the most strength are Marcobrunner, Rüdesheimer, and Niersteiner, while those of Johannisberg, Geisenheim, and Hochheim give the most perfect delicacy and aroma. The Germans themselves say, "Rhein-wein, fein wein; Necker-wein, lecker wein; Franken-wein tranken wein; Mosel-wein, unnosel wein" (Rhine wine is good; Neckar pleasant; Frankfort bad; Moselle innocent).
The red wines of the Rhine are not of extraordinary quality. The Asmannshäuser is the best, and resembles some of the growths of France. Near Lintz, at Neuwied, a good wine, called Blischert, is made. Keinigsbach, on the left bank of the Rhine, Altenahr, Rech, and Kesseling, yield ordinary red growths.
The Moselle wines are secondary to those of the Rhine and Main. The most celebrated is the Brauneberger. The varieties grown near Treves are numerous. A Dutch merchant is said to have paid the Abbey of Maximinus for a variety called Gruenhauser in 1793, no less than eleven hundred and forty-four florins for two hundred and ninety English gallons in the vat. This wine was formerly styled the "Nectar of the Moselle."
These wines are light, with a good flavour. They will not keep so long as the Rhine wines, but they are abundant and wholesome. Near Treves are grown the wines of Brauneberg, Wehlen, Graach, Zeitingen, and Piesport. The wines of Rinsport and Becherbach are considered of secondary rank. The wines of Cusel and Valdrach, near Treves, are thought to be possessed of diuretic properties. In about five years these wines reach the utmost point of perfection for drinking. They will not keep more than ten or twelve in prime condition.
The wines called "wines of the Ahr" resemble those of the Moselle, except that they will keep longer.
The "wines of the Neckar" are made from the best French, Hungarian, and even Cyprus vines. The most celebrated are those of Bessingheim. They are of a light red colour, not deep, and of tolerable flavour and bouquet.
Wiesbaden grows some good wines at Schierstein, and Epstein, near Frankfort. The best wines of Baden are produced in the seigniory of Badenweiler, near Fribourg. At Heidelberg, the great tun used to be filled with the wine of that neighbourhood, boasted to be a hundred and twenty years old, but it gave the wine no advantage over other Neckar growths. Some good wines are produced near Baden. The red wines of Wangen are much esteemed in the country of Bavaria, but they are very ordinary. Würzburg grows the Stein and Liesten wines. The first is produced upon a mountain so called, and is called "wine of the Holy Spirit" by the Hospital of Würzburg, to which it belongs. The Liesten wines are produced upon Mount St. Nicholas. Straw wines are made in Franconia. A vin de liqueur, called Calmus, like the sweet wines of Hungary, is made in the territory of Frankfort, at Aschaffenburg. The best vineyards are those of Bischofsheim. Some wines are made in Saxony, but they are of little worth. Meissen, near Dresden, and Guben, produce the best. Naumberg makes some small wines, like the inferior Burgundies.
With these pages as a general guide the touring automobilist must make his own itinerary. He will not always want to put up for the night in a large town, and will often prefer the quietness and the romantic picturesqueness of some little half-mountain-hidden townlet and its simple fare to a table d'hôte meal, such as he gets at Cologne or Coblenz, which is simply a poor imitation of its Parisian namesake.
The following skeleton gives the leading points.
Generally speaking, none of the hotels above mentioned include wine with meals. The trail of the tourist accounts for this. All have accommodation for the automobilist.
From Strasburg one may continue to Bagel, if he is bound Italyward through Switzerland, but the chief distinctive features of the Rhine tour end at Strasburg.
From Strasburg one may enter France by St. Dié, in the Vosges, via the Col de Saales, the douane (custom-house) station for which is at Nouveau Saales.
The following are some of the signs and abbreviations met with in German hotels catering for stranger automobilists.
THE END
Appendices
Appendix I
Appendix II
A SHORT ACCOUNT OF SOME FAMOUS EUROPEAN ROAD RACES AND TRIALS
In December, 1893, Le Petit Journal of Paris proposed a trial of self-propelled road-vehicles, to end with a run from Paris to Rouen. The distance was 133 kilometres and the first car to arrive at Rouen was a steam-tractor built by De Dion, Bouton et Cie, to-day perhaps the largest manufacturers of the ordinary gasoline-motor. A Peugot carriage, fitted with a Daimler engine, followed next, and then a Panhard. There were something like a hundred entries for this trial, of which one was from England and three from Germany, but most of them did not survive the run.
On the 11th of June, 1895, was started the now historic Paris-Bordeaux race. Sixteen gasoline and half a dozen steam cars started from the Arc de Triomphe, in Paris, for the journey to Bordeaux and back. It was a Panhard-Levassor that arrived back in Paris first, but the prize was given to a Peugot which carried four passengers, whereas the Panhard carried but two.
In the following year the new locomotion was evidently believed to have come to stay, for the first journal devoted to the industry and sport was founded in Paris, under the name of La Locomotion Automobile, soon to be followed by another called La France Automobile.
In 1896 was held the Paris-Marseilles race, divided into five stages for the outward journey, and five stages for the homeward. Twenty-four gasoline-cars started, and three propelled by steam, and there were five gasoline-tricycles. Bolée's tandem tricycle was the sensation during the first stage, averaging twenty miles an hour. The itinerary out and back, of something like sixteen hundred kilometres, was covered first by a Panhard-Levassor, in sixty-seven hours, forty-two minutes, and fifty-eight seconds. The average speed of the winner was something like twenty-two kilometres an hour.
In England a motor-car run was organized from London to Brighton in 1896, including many of the vehicles which had started in the Paris-Marseilles race in France. The first vehicles to arrive in Brighton were the two Bolée tricycles; a Duryea was third, and a Panhard fourth.
In 1897 there was a race in France, on a course laid out between Marseilles, Nice, and La Turbie. The struggle was principally between the Comte Chasseloup-Laubat in a steam-car, and M. Lemaitre in a Panhard, with a victory for the former, showing at least that there were possibilities in the steam-car which gasoline had not entirely surpassed.
Pneumatic tires were used on the Paris-Bordeaux race in 1895, but solid tires were used on the winning cars in 1894, 1895, and 1896.
Another affair which came off in 1897 was a race from Paris to Dieppe, organized by two Paris newspapers, the Figaro and Les Sports.
The event was won by a three-wheeled Bolée, with a De Dion second, and a six-horse-power Panhard third.
In 1898 there took place the Paris-Amsterdam race. It was won by a Panhard, driven by Charron, and the distance was approximately a thousand miles, something like sixteen hundred kilometres.
The "Tour de France" was organized by the Matin in 1898. The distance was practically two thousand kilometres. Panhards won the first, second, third, and fourth places, though they were severely pressed by Mors.
The first Gordon-Bennett cup race was held in 1900, between Paris and Lyons. The distance was not great, but the trial was in a measure under general road conditions, though it took on all the aspects of a race. It was won by Charron in a Panhard.
In 1901 the Gordon-Bennett race was run from Paris to Bordeaux, perhaps the most ideal course in all the world for such an event. It was won by Girardot in a forty-horse Panhard.
The Paris-Berlin race came in the same year, with Fournier as winner, in a Mors designed by Brazier.
In 1902 the Gordon-Bennett formed a part of the Paris-Vienna itinerary, the finish being at Innsbruck in the Tyrol. De Knyff in a Panhard had victory well within his grasp when, by a misfortune in the parting of his transmission gear, he was beaten by Edge in the English Napier. Luck had something to do with it, of course, but Edge was a capable and experienced driver and made the most of each and every opportunity.
Through to Vienna the race was won by Farman in a seventy-horse-power Panhard, though Marcel Renault in a Renault "Voiture Legere" was first to arrive.
It was in 1901 that the famous Mercédès first met with road victories. A thirty-five-horse power Mercédès won the Nice-Salon-Nice event in the south of France, and again in the following year the Nice-La Turbie event.
In the Circuit des Ardennes event in 1902, Jarrot, in a seventy-horse Panhard, and Gabriel in a Mors, were practically tied until the last round, when Jarrot finally won, having made the entire distance (approximately 450 kilometres) at an average speed of fifty-four and a half miles per hour. There were no controles.
In 1903 the Gordon-Bennett cup race was held in Ireland, over a course of 368 miles, twice around a figure-eight track. Germany won with a Mercédès with Jenatzy at the wheel, with De Knyff in a Panhard only ten minutes behind.
In 1903 was undertaken the disastrous Paris-Madrid road race. Between Versailles and Bordeaux the accidents were so numerous and terrible, due principally to reckless driving, that the affair was abandoned at Bordeaux. Gabriel in a Mors car made the astonishing average of sixty-two and a half miles per hour, hence may be considered the winner as far as Bordeaux.
In 1904 the Gordon-Bennett race was run over the Taunus course in Germany, with Thèry the winner in a Richard-Brazier car.
In 1905 Thèry again won on the Circuit d'Auvergne in the same make of car, making a sensational victory which – to the French at least – has apparently assured the automobile supremacy to France for all time.
The 1906 event was the Grand Prix of the Automobile Club de France on the Circuit de la Sarthe. The astonishing victories of the Renault car driven by Szisz, which made the round of 680 kilometres in two days at the average rate of speed of 108 kilometres an hour, has elated all connected with the French automobile industry. It was a victory for removable rims also, as had Szisz not been able to replace his tattered tires almost instanteously with others already blown up, he would certainly have been overtaken by one or more of the Brazier cars, which suffered greatly from tire troubles.
In 1906 another event was organized in France by the Matin. It was hardly in the nature of a race, but a trial of over six thousand kilometres, an extended tour de France.
Forty-two automobiles of all ranks left the Place de la Concorde at Paris on the 2d of August, and thirty-three arrived at Paris on the 28th of the same month, twenty of them without penalization of any sort. No such reliability trial was ever held previously, and it showed that the worth of the comparatively tiny eight and ten horse machines for the work was quite as great as that of the forty and sixty horse monsters.
The following tables show plainly the value of this great trial.
COUPE DU MATIN
LIST OF AUTOMOBILES ENGAGED
CLASS "ROUES" (SPRING WHEELS AND ANTI-SKIDS)
CLASS ENDURANCE
1st Category
Motocyclettes, vitesse maxima, 25 kilomètres à l'heure
2d Category
Tri-cars, vitesse maxima, 25 kilomètres à l'heure
3d Category
Voiturette 1 cylindre, alésage maximum 110 millimètres
4th Category
Voitures 2 cylindres, alésage maximum 130 millimètres, ou 4 cylindres, alésage maximum 85 millimètres
5th Category
Voitures 4 cylindres, alésage maximum 105 millimètres
6th Category
Voitures 4 cylindres, alésage maximum 126 millimètres
7th Category
Voitures 4 cylindres, alésage maximum 140 millimètres
Appendix III
Appendix IV
Appendix V
SOME FAMOUS HILL CLIMBS ABROAD
ENGLAND
Birdlip Hill. – Near Gloucester. Length, 2 miles; average gradient, 1 in 8; steepest gradient, 1 in 7
Dashwood Hill. – Near High Wycombe. Length, 1,180 yards; average gradient, 1 in 16; steepest gradient, 1 in 10.9.
Hindhead. – Near Guildford. Length, 2 3/4 miles, rise, 520 feet; average gradient, 1 in 24.4; steepest gradient, 1 in 13.
Porlock Hill. – North Devon. Length, 3 miles; rise, 1,365 feet; gradient, 1 in 6 to 1 in 8.
Shap Fell. – Near Penrith. Rise, 1,886 feet, gradients, 1 in 11, 1 in 15, 1 in 16, and 1 in 20.
Snowdon. – Mountain in Wales. Steepest gradient, 1 in 7.
Westerham. – Length, 2,940 feet; average gradient, 1 in 9.4.
FRANCE
Château Thierry. – Near Meaux. Length, 1,098 yards.
Côte de Gaillon. – Near Rouen. The scene of the most famous hill climbs in France. Length, 3 kilometres, rise, 10 per cent. for the greater part of the distance.
Côte de Laffray. – Near Grenoble. Length, 4.13 miles; gradients, 1 in 15, 1 in 11, 1 in 10, and 1 in 8; average, 9.3 per cent; many bad turns.
La Turbie. – A rude foot-hill climb in the Maritime Alps just back of Monte Carlo.
Mont Ventoux. – Near Avignon. Length, 20 kilometres; rise 1,600 metres.
Mont Cenis. – Near Turin. The "climb" begins at Susa, on the Italian side of the mountain, at the 596 metre level, and continues for 22 kilometres to the 2,087 metre level, a 100 h.p. Fiat climbed this in 1905 in 19 minutes, 18 3/5 seconds.
Appendix VII
THE AUTOMOBILE INDUSTRY IN FRANCE
Appendix VIII
HOURS OF MOONLIGHT
Appendix IX
THE LENGTH OF DAYS
After the method of M. Carlier, Ingénieur des Arts et Manufactures.
Figured for the latitude of Paris, but applicable so far as the automobilist is concerned to most of continental Europe.
The deeply shaded portions represent night.
The lightly shaded portions twilight.
The white portions daylight.
Generally speaking, lamps must be lighted at the hour indicated by deeply shaded portions in the respective months.
Appendix X
THE TOURING CLUB DE FRANCE
The Touring Club de France is the largest and most active national association for the promotion of touring. It is under the direct patronage of the President of the French Republic, and the interests and wants of its members are protected and provided for in a full and practical manner by an excellent organization, whose influence is felt in every part of France and the adjacent countries.
The membership is over 100,000 and is steadily growing. It includes a very considerable body of foreign members, those from the United Kingdom and America alone numbering 5,000, a circumstance which may be accepted, perhaps, as the best possible proofs of the value of the advantages which the club offers to tourists from abroad visiting France.
The annual subscription is 6 francs (5s.) for foreign members. There is no entrance fee and the election of candidates generally follows within a few days after the receipt of the application at the offices of the club in Paris.
The club issues a number of publications specially compiled for cyclists, comprising: a Yearbook (Annuaire) for France divided in two parts (North and South) with a list of over three thousand selected club hotels, at which members enjoy a privileged position as to charges; an admirable volume of skeleton tours covering the whole of France, from each large centre, and by regions, and supplemented by some three hundred card itineraries with sketch maps; a specially drawn cyclist's map of France, and a monthly club gazette, all designed to facilitate the planning and carrying out of interesting tours with comfort and economy.
INSTRUCTIONS TO CANDIDATES
Fill in the application form and enclose it with the subscription (6 francs) to M. le Président du T. C. F., 65, Avenue de la Grande-Armée, Paris. The applications of lady candidates should be signed by a male relative– brother, father, husband – whether a member of the club or not.
Notice of resignation of membership must reach the Paris office of the club not later than November 30th, failing which the member is liable for the following year's subscription. Those who join after October 1st are entitled to the privileges of membership until the close of the following year for one subscription.
Post-office money orders should be made payable to M. le Trésorier du T. C. F., 65, Avenue de la Grande-Armée, Paris, France.
The addresses of the representatives of the Touring Club de France in England and America are as follows; further information concerning this admirable institution for all travellers whether by train, bicycle, or automobile will be gladly furnished. They can also supply forms for application for membership.
DELEGATES
Appendix XI
MOTOR-CAR REGULATIONS AND CUSTOMS DUTIES IN EUROPE
GREAT BRITAIN
Certain regulations are compulsory even for tourists. You may obtain a license to drive a motor-car in Britain if you are over seventeen years of age (renewable every twelve months) at a cost of five shillings.
You must register your motor-car at the County or Borough Council offices where you reside, fee £1.0.0. You must pay a yearly "male servant" tax of fifteen shillings for your chauffeur. In case of accident, en route, you must stop and, if required, give your name and address, also name and address of the owner of the car and the car number.
Every car must bear two number plates (the number is assigned you on registration), one front and one rear. The latter must be lighted at night.
Speed limit is twenty miles an hour except where notice is posted to the effect that ten miles an hour only is allowed, or that some particular road is forbidden to automobiles.
In England one's car can be registered at any port on arrival, or, by letter addressed to any licensing authority, before arrival. The regulation as to driving licenses is as follows:
