The Touring and Information Board of the American Automobile Association has opened headquarters in Philadelphia, under the direction of Powell Evans, President of the Automobile Club of Philadelphia and Chairman of the Touring Board of the A. A. A. Arrangements have been made with the Philadelphia club to turn over a part of the clubhouse to the Touring Bureau.

The work of gathering and preparing for distribution touring information covering almost every portion of the country is already under way. All of the affiliated clubs of the A. A. A. are co-operating with the new board through their Secretaries, who are gathering and classifying information relative to local touring conditions, and the distribution of information and maps to the 20,000-odd members of the A. A. A. will begin before the 1909 touring season opens.

ouring in this country has been confined to beaten paths generally, and even the largest motoring clubs have never found it possible to supply a member with the information he wanted if his itinerary took him out of the regular motor highways and byways. It is realized by Mr. Evans and his associates on the board that numbers of excellent roads have been built in various sections of the country about which no first-hand information is on record. These roads are used, of course, by local tourists, but the stranger visiting these parts is still liable to follow the old, mapped route, missing altogether the new and better way.

Mapmakers have been set to work already; and a competent staff is busy, under the direction of Mr. Evans and his associates. It is the intention of the board, if it is possible, to gather together more detailed information concerning roads throughout the United States than has ever before been collected.