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AUTOS IN PLACE OF RUNNERS. There is no rivalry between the thoroughbred horse and the power-driven vehicle, but on several of the race courses the place ot the one has been taken by the other. The carefully kept tracks prove satisfactory for the purposes of speed contests, while for testing grounds they are ideal. It is an almost invariable rule of automobile manufacturers to test their completed machines in runs that aggregate hundreds and in some cases thousands of miles, in order that any possible defect may be developed before the car is placed on the market. Some of the companies prefer country roads for testing, taking the ground that they offer the exact conditions under which the cars will be used by their purchasers. To an extent this is true, hut the opportunity for sustained speed is lacking on tho highways, while it is always present when a race track is available. Two of the tracks now in active use for testing pin-poses are the Fair Grounds in St. Louis and the Grosse Point course at Detroit. Over both of these, until dark days fell on the sport, the thoroughbreds contested, and the only sign of invasion by the automobile was when they were parked back of the grandstand. Nowadays it is different. The horses arc no longer in evidence and their patter along the homestretch has given way to the "chug" of tltc automobile engines as the cars spin along in preparation for tho market. The crowds of the old days arc gone, and along the lawns stand a few experts, who scan closely the products of their labor, listening intently for signs of motor trouble. Both the Fair Grounds and Grosse Point tracks were in active use by horsemen up to a few years ago. Until recently the plants have been practically idle. Tho Moon Company now uses the Fair Grounds course and it is regularly used for testing its cars as they are turned out of the factory. The Grosse Point track, at Detroit, is in active commission for the preliminary running of Chalmers-Detroit machines. This course was also, in its time, used for the trotters. It Is still owned by racing men. but the factory secured permission to do Its testing over it. and nearly all times cars can be seen speeding around, carefully watched by experts and drivers for traces o defects or trouble.
