Evening Star Newspaper, November 6, 1921, Page 66

l"4 ©., NOVEMBER THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON., 6, 1921_PART 3. 30,046 AUTOMOBILES STOLEN IN 28 CITIES OF U. S. IN 1920 Total of 21,273 Recovered, According to Annual Compilation Made by National PLAN COMMISSION Maryland Body Would Be Em- STATES GIVEN SURPLUS MOTOR VEHICLES BY U. S. RLAWS {Nearly All Turned Over by Army ! for Highway Work Are Distributed. Virtually all the surplus motor ve- hicles turned over by the War Depart- AUTO DEATH RATE INDISTRICT IS LOW City Stands in Tie for 56th higher than in the capital, while in|ualty list of 773 death, while Philadel- ten cittes the death rate is lower and | phia had 226 fatal accidents for & in one city, Indianapolis, Ind., the|death rate of 12.3 per 100,000 popula- same, 11.3 per 100,000 population. tion. it £ a “atalities resulting from automobile Fomnavigen in Lesd |aceidenta aro steadily mounting, the oungstown, Ohio, led the sixty-SiX|figures show, there having been 9,103 cities in the death rate per 100,000 | dcaths from such accidents within the population resulting from automobile | resistration area of the United States, accldents, with a rate of 26.7 per 100,- | which comprises $2.2 per cent of the 000 popufation, with Memphis, Tenn., |total population of the country. This 1in second place, with a rate of 26.3,|figure I8 equivalent to a death rate | New York city, with {ts thousands of |of 10.4 per 100,000 population, and } rushing taxicabs and scores of thou-|shows an increase as compared with {sands of other automobiles, had a|the preceding yecar, when the rate {death rate of but 13.6 B 9.4. Since 1915 when the death rate was 6.8 per 100,000, it has nearly doubled. New York state showed the largest number of fatalities among the states, with a total of 1.410. Pennsylvanie was in second place, with » tota! {atality list of 1,042, and there wer: 54 persons kifled in Massachus during 1920 in automobile accld 3 The death rate from such accldents in the District last year was 13.4 per 100,000, when fifty-cight persons m death, while in 1919, fifty-four perso: were killed in auotomobile acciden for a rate of 12.8 per 100,000 pepul tion. Dealers’ Association. ST. LOUIS, Mo.. October 3.—Thirty thousand and forty-six automobiles ‘were stolen in 1920 in twenty-eight *“in- dex' clties of the country and 21.273 of them recovered, according to the an- nual compilation of the National Au- tomoblle Dealers’ Association, with neadquarters in this city. The num- -er stolen was 8,012 less than the number stolen in 1919, but was 2.601 more than the number stolen in 1918. in 1918 cars unrecovered were 21 Der, cent of the number stolen; in 1919 chey were 26 per cent, and in 1920, 29 Der cent. > * Chicago Takes the Lead. Chicago took the lead from New York with the number stolen, al- though a higher percentage of cars| red in New York.| 9 stolen; Chicago, ! recovered ‘only 2,717 . while Chlcago re- her stole ered 4.310. Dayton, Ohio, had the unusual record of having recovered more cars than she had stolen. The Pacific coast cities kept up their yearly good work of recovery. There were 4,877 cars stolen In Los Angeles, San Francisco, Oakland. Portland and Seattle, and 4,175 re- covered. The unrecovered cars were 6.4 per cent of the total stolen, or ap- proximately 50 per cent of the aver- age for.the country. Figures From Official Sources. The figures, compiled from officlal sources for the twenty-eight cities for which the N. A. D. A. has three-year statistics, are as follows: Portland, Ore. Denver .. | department. ha As is shown by this compllation, the number of trefts in these cities de- creased 1919-1920 about 10 per cent. while the general increase in the' number of automobiles throughout the | country was about 20 per cent during the eame period. The decrease in the | number of thefts, therefore, is ma~ terially greater than would be indi- cated by the percentages. A consider- powered With Enforcing All Regulations." Special Dispatch to The Star. BALTIMORE, November 5.— The power of enforcing all laws and reg- ulations pertaining to motor vehi- cles of every character on the state highways will be vested in the office | of the motor vehicle commission by ment to the Department of Agricul- ture for distribution among the vari- ous states for road-building purposes have been distributed through the bureau of public roads. Up to July 1, last, a total of 22,677 motor vehicles ! had been so distributed. | These vehicles, conslsting for the most part of trucks, are a part of the war materials originally intended for use in France and distributed under the Wadsworth-Kahn bill among the various states, the sole condition at- able part of this decrease is attrib-|{a bill which is now being prepared!tached to the distribution being that ted by the N. A. D. A. to the de terring effect of ihe national moto vohicle theft law (the Dyer law), which was put through Congress at the instance of the N. A. D. A and by more stringent laws in the states for | the punishment of motor-car thieves | However, a good part of the better | showing is due also to vigorous ac- tivity of the Deace authorities, such | as In Buffalo, where Chief of Police | Higgins, known as tho “voungest po lice chief in the United States' is! making a determined drive against| the automobile thieves, and in St.| Louis, where the oflice of the circuit: attorney, co-operating with, the police | -1 { virtually put the au- | tomoblle thieves in the state peniten-} tiary. Most of them convicted here re- ceived long terms, and it is expected that thefts in St. Louis will show a steady decrease from now on. The subject of theft s being ‘watched vigorously by the N. A. D. A. because of- the theft Insurance rates now having become so high as to prove a big factor in the resistance to sal of automobiles. It is realized that until thefts are materially checked little progress can be made in the matter of insurance reductionas AUTOMOBILES. 1918 tolen: i) 7 404 Totals ... 27445 33503 30046 21673 24740 21,273 Darecovered—1918. 5.772—21 per cent of number stolen; 1919, 8,765—26 per cent of number stolen; 1920, 8.773—20 per cent of number stolen. PLANS OF A. A. A. TO GIVE TOURIST INFORMATION Bureaus Established to Supply Re- liable Directions as to Roads Throughout Country. Because of th~ huge increase in mo- tor touring during the past few years,, -hich has resulted in a tremendous de- ! .nand for reliable road information, recently announced policy of the Ameri- can Automobile Association to extend and increase the scops and amount of its service. Not only is the association expauding its touring service, through the instrumentality of more road maps and other guides, which will be per- fected in time for the next touring sea- son, but also it s arranging several other features designed to ald its mem- bers. “All things considered,” states Sec- retary Willlam Uliman, “it may be con- fident!y announced that the American, Automobile Assocration wiil start the the { new year better equipped than ever be-| ing,” said Smithkins. fore to render the service for which American Automobile Association has |t is already justly famous.” found it necessary to establish a num- ver of eonveniently-located branches of ite travel and transportation bureau in the larger cities. These take the form of service stations in the larger ho- telm, such as has been established in ke New Willard here in Washington. The newest branch of the American Automobile Association has been estab- lished in the Hotel Astor, Broadway and 45th street, New York city. This ‘nformation dcpot Is conveniently locat- od on the mezzanine floor of the hotel, and a touring expert will be found in attendance daily, up untll a late hour in the evening. Although the New York headquarters of the American Automobile Assocla- tion are centrally located—at the cor- ner of b6th avenue and 424 street—it was recognized that another u on Broadway would be of great service to members because of its nearness to “Automobile row.” ‘Fhe project is in accordance with the Beauty-Six Result of Twenty-one Experience in g Today’s Aubum is the i Years’ { g 24th and M Streets N.W. ‘Telephone West 710 In good condition are truly worth RETREADING They give service equal to new SPECIAL PRICES [ ear, All Non-! Tread Including ‘Weather, 3xels $14.00 E o e e e . Three Day Service if Desired “The REEBILT TIRE Co., Inc. 1623 14th Strect N.W. AUBURN | Chalmers Now Reduced to *1295 Motor Car Building. Motor Company . by the council of the public service )" |commission for submission to the legislature. The bill, which will be all-embrac- ing in its centralizing.of police power over automoblles and traffic of the state, including the motor bus lines and taxicabs, has been carefully drafted, representuatives of the vari- ous departments interested partic: pating in the work, and, while more fore the bill is finally shaped for the legislasure, the measure, if enacte will at least have the efiect of “pu ting teeth” in the public service to enforce the various regulations which control bus lines. It also will give the-police a more active part! to play in the enforcing of atate roads commission regulations of the size of truck tires, overloaded trucks and road protection. Long-Needed Law. “We have needed such a law In this state for a long time,” said Willam Cabel Bruce, who is prepar- ing the biil ample laws to regulate, through the public service commission, the utili- ties, the transportation lines and the motor bus lines that operate on fixed routes, but our control over the free-lance buses, taxicabs and ve- hicles which have no fixed routes and which operate on no fixed schedule, has been weak. “It would be Impossible for the public service commission to at- tempt to enforce regulation of all these free-lance vehicies uniess there is some constituted police power of sufficient force to aid. What is need- ed is a force which will pick them up and land them before a court. With a law which would give the ! o { jconferences will have to be held be-! o i 1 police this power this tratic problem / would be solved. As it stands it is a disgrace that commission is so powerless. Present Regulations Faulty. “Under present conditions 2 bus operator, for instance, could operate over a route for weeks without any interference so long as he has com- plied with the motor vehicle commis- sion laws and no one reports him to the public service commission. A bus operator can without interference, so long as the public service commission knows nothing about it. With state police control these regulations would be enforced by the police. The taxicab regulations would also be enforced.” One Better. From the London Weekly Telegraph. “I always make it a rule to tell my wife everything that happens,” said Brown'ng. “Oh, my dear fellow, that's noth- “1 tell my wife of things that never happen at lot: all” reduced prices. ithey should be used only for road- ! building purposes. | The total number of vehicles so far jallotted to the states approximate 525,000. Up to July 1, last, there had | been distributed " 21,124 trucks and 13,229 automobiles. “We have always had | the public service | g0 off his route ° | | i November 14to 19 ' Inclusive I | Washington AUSPICES Trade Association Place Among 66 Cities ! Tabulated in Census. | Notwithstanding that there were/ fifty deaths from automoblle acel-| dents in Washington during the cal- | endar year 1920, the death rate in thie | olty from such accidents is low as compared with other ‘cities, accord- ing to flgures made public today by the census bureau. Washington stands’ in & tle” for fifty-sixth place in a list of sixty-six cities tabulated by the bureau accord- ing to deaths resulting from automo- bile accidents. In fifty-five cities the death rate from such accidents 1is Automotive Nothing in the field—either six or four—can compare with Chalmers value at its newly The quality which gives it downright superiori. ties in performance, in economy, in riding and driving, clearly entitles it to be classed with cars which cost a great deal more. Get the truth about the Chalmers—about its low costs, its durability, itssoundness as an investment. Ride in it, drive it, and see how splendidly it . performs. * Reduced Prices in Effect Now Roadster = = = - $1245 §-Pase. Touring Car, 1295 Prices §.O. B. Factory, War Tau te bs added—AR Medsls Equipped with Oerd Tires H. B. LEARY, Jr. 1321-23 14th Street “Telephone Car = - - - $1445 Coupe = = « = = e g Car,” 'l SuRr s zio: Main 4105 —— C A D and a total cas- | Was Cadillac Suburban Type 61 The .New Type 61 Cadillac Sub- ‘urban suggests nothing so much as the quick litheness of a living thing in its instant acceleration and eager response to every call for power. Many marked improvements in , such as lowering the center of gravity—with no les- sening of road clearance—have wrought wonders in emphasizing the buoyant floating qualities for which the Cadillac has always been celebrated. The lounging comfort of the seats themselves, the restfulness and convenience of the new steering wheel, and instrument board, Il‘d the completeness of the new winde shield and ventilating arrange ment, all conduce to a sense of comfort and well being that is delightful, The new type Cadillac Suburban is a delight to the eye, but the real revelation will come to you, in your first ride in the car, in the marked increase in riding ease and roadability and swifter accel- eration. A delightful experience is in store for C-‘di.l.hl: o?;rr‘s and non-own. ers alike. The Washington Cadillac Company 1138-40 Connecticut Avenue Telephone Franklin 3900-3901 Member Washington Automobile Trade Associstien. I L L A The Standard of the Warld C The first cost is practically the last SEMMES MOTOR COMPANY 1132-34 Connecticut Avenue . Yelephone Main 6660 Donse Bromiers SEDAN