Page:Motors and motor-driving (1902).djvu/104

74, made of a dust-coloured material and fitted with a high collar, will then be found useful, as after a dusty drive it may be taken off, and the ordinary clothes are left unsoiled. A light silk handkerchief tucked in over the collar is necessary to prevent the dust from working in around the linen collar and marking it.

Capes should be avoided, as more than one bad accident has arisen from a cape blowing up in a driver's face and thus temporarily blinding him, with the result that he has driven his car into the ditch. At the same time it is recognised that the best garment for protection from rain is that which most closely approximates to a bell tent. A coat is apt to let in water at points where the fabric is stretched; for instance, at the elbow. A tent-shaped coat on the other hand is not stretched at any point; consequently the water runs off it.

An English firm has made a clever adaptation of this bell-shaped garment by turning out a coat made of waterproof Melton cloth, which is in the form of a long cape reaching down below the knees, and very full in the skirt. It is fitted in the front with short sleeves, through which the hands are placed, and in which the wrists rest; so that the hands are free to deal with the steering-wheel and speed-levers, at the same time the arms and elbows are thoroughly protected, and the cape-shape is maintained.

Many drivers object to using rugs, for fear that, inadvertently, the tail of the rug may work underneath the clutch or brake pedal. An automobilist will recognise at once that very dire disaster might result if he were suddenly to find himself unable to release his clutch.

A Parisian tailor who has specially studied motor clothes, recognising this danger, has designed a very ingenious rug, which is split in two, the two halves being so devised that each wraps round the leg, and is fastened at the bottom so as to form a fairly tight outer covering to the leg, with a rug-like wrapping round the body.

A London tailor has also recently made an excellent