several years ago. The appearance of motor cars in the cities of Poland may perhaps be explained by the fact that these cities are nearest to western Europe.
It is also interesting to note that the importance of the motor car was appreciated by large land owners. In the southern part of Russia, where most of the large estates are located, the landowners purchased several cars at a time. About the same time the sport of automobilism began to be introduced in Russia, and until very recently automobilism has been largely regarded in Russia merely as a sporting occupation. The motor car has very seldom been regarded in Russia as an important industrial factor. As a general thing it can be said that only the highest aristocratic circles in the largest cities were interested in the automobile.
The first indication of the automobile being regarded as an important means of locomotion was the fact that the large landowners began to use it more and more. The reason for this was that their estates are usually located at a considerable distance from the railroad station. Being so far apart and so far away from industrial and commercial centers, these estates were often compelled to stop work for a considerable length of time whenever some piece of machinery would break, and it would be impossible to replace it without purchasing new parts. In a case of this kind the automobile is found to be almost indispensable.
One large landowner in southern Russia conceived of a rather interesting plan of overcoming the difficulty of the bad roads. He had three or four cars always ready for service and whenever he had occasion to go anywhere he) had them stationed along the road and ready for use in case of emergency. Of course, a plan of this kind is not feasible in every case, but the fact itself is a very interesting indication of the main obstacle that lies in the way of the automobile industry in Russia. This obstacle, as has been indicated, is the impassibility of Russian roads.
In 1913 the first Russian magazine devoted to automobile industry, "The Automobile" asked its readers to answer the following question, "What make of automobile would you like to own?" The replies received are very characteristic. Instead of answering directly the question put to them, most of the readers of the magazine wrote about the bad condition of the roads in Russia. Very little information was obtained as to the preference of the Russian automobile users, but most of them were agreed on the fact that no matter what make of automobile
