=Pleasure Passenger Traffic.=--Vast and important as may have become the business passenger motor traffic, purely pleasure travel by automobile probably exceeds it. Of the more than ten million motor cars licensed in the United States perhaps 80 per cent of them were purchased not for their use in the business of the owner, although that might have been the final excuse that consummated the deal, but for the pleasure the purchaser and his family would get from owning a car. The great car industry which has sprung up like a mushroom during the past quarter century may thank the people’s desire for personal pleasure for its tremendous prosperity. The movie picture industry is another instance of the same character; likewise the newest epidemic to attack the people--radio. It is not claimed that these have no economical uses. But the business and economical uses have followed rather than preceded the pleasurable uses. There are many who think the automobile fad, like the bicycle fad, will eventually wear out and the whole automobile question settle down to a purely business basis. Such a thing is not likely to occur, however. The automobile is a much more perfect pleasure machine than is the bicycle. The knack of riding a bicycle has to be learned and requires considerable muscular exertion. It is not the thing a tired person eagerly turns to for recreation and rest. Anyone without exertion and with complete relaxation may ride in an automobile. Soon there comes a desire to drive the machine; then complete relaxation while no longer possible is replaced by a mental effort which drives out all thought of business, all care and anxiety regarding the ordinary affairs of life. The mind for the driver’s own safety must be confined to his effort to manage the machine and make it go where and as he wants it to go--change of work is often better than complete relaxation, although the latter has its beneficial effects in the treatment of diseases. For these reasons then, if for no other, the use of automobiles to cater to the pleasure propensities of the people will continue. There are very few persons who do not enjoy an automobile ride--they are only the timid who fear accident. The recreational and pathological benefits to be derived cannot be overestimated. During the recent war the Government gave much attention to the entertainment of the soldiers and endeavored in many, many ways to divert their minds from the serious side of war. So with the people generally. They are much better off for pleasurable diversions and the automobile furnishes these in a very high degree. [Illustration: THE EVOLUTION OF THE GASOLINE MOTOR CAR 1. Panhard & Levassor Carriage--1895. 2. Duryea Motor Wagon--1895. 3. The Benz Motocycle. 4. Hertel’s Gasoline Carriage--1896. 5. The Olds Horseless Carriage. 6. Winton’s Racing Machine. (Courtesy of the _Scientific American_.)]