intentionally wandered to side issues, I have three sets of tyres, ordinary pneumatic, steel-shod safety, and solid. Each has its advantages. The pneumatic are obviously the most comfortable and the speediest, but they puncture easily and are prone to side-slip. The solid are much heavier and slower, but they do not puncture and are less liable to side-slip. The Gallus tyres are, I think, heavy, and do not look as though they would stand very long journeys at high speed, but they are very much safer, if costly. Still, I presume that those who are able to indulge in the somewhat expensive amusement of land yachting, which is, however, economical by comparison with the humblest kind of ocean yachting, will not hesitate at a few pounds in order to secure the comfort of safety. On such a tour stringent economies are not wise, though it is not necessary to be extravagant.
It would be grossly unfair to many excellent makers if I attempted only to support the Daimler and De Dion types of engines. Other good ones are in existence, and the next few years will doubtless see further developments. The danger to be faced by beginners is that they should be over-persuaded by enthusiastic inventors and makers to purchase a machine the description of which reads excellently on paper, which makes a very good trial trip, but which is of no real practical use. For this reason I would always urge that the actual purchase of a motor-car should be deferred until the last possible moment, until by experience and by enquiry real knowledge has been gained. For this purpose membership of the Automobile Club of Great Britain is a practical economy. Many automobilists have saved their entrance fee and subscription again and again by the opportunities offered by the Club of gleaning information. Other practical advantages of membership are pointed out elsewhere in this work, but I consider that in the present chrysalis state of the movement the opportunity of receiving unbiassed information such as is ungrudgingly accorded by one member of the Club to another is of the greatest possible assistance. Among its enormous
