Evening Star Newspaper, July 23, 1922, Page 46

DECLARES D. C. MOTORISTS IGNORE LIGHT REGULATIONS Dimmers Given Little Attention. Pleads for Courtesy. BY WILLIAM ULLMAN. While the District of Columbia pos- ses its quota of reckless speedeT: thoughtless motor spooners, careless drivers, jaywalkers and flivver boobs. who operate twenty-four hours every day to make life lively for the timid and a burden for the traflic thers fs still another who appears, here and eisewhere only at night and who constitutes a strect and highway danger possibly greater thun all the others. He s the glaring headiight demon He is the highway thief of the night, and his toll is mounting higher and higher. Death, injury, smashed cars, jangled nerves and pounding headaches are some of the penalties he imposes on other after-dark use of the roads and stree Because his selfishness and meanness man automobilists will not venture out at night, denying themselves freshing coolness that comes with a evening's spin in the open and there- by giving up one of the chief delights of motor car ownership. Whether this dazziing 1!ght motor- fst be salfish or thoughtless—for all are not Intentionally mean—a day or night of reckoning is coming to him Because he iz responsible for many mocidents, near-accidents and gens complaint from other motori special campaign is to be inaugurated by the District of Columbia trafl squad and the Marvland state police golden rule of the road is ignored. jght Rale Ignored. While both the Maryland and Dis-} trict trafic regulations forbid the use of headlights “blinding and dazzling’ 1o other users of the streets and highways, in the past there has been more or less leniency on the part of the police. This leniency due to the belfef on the part of th. oficials that where lamps might have worked loose from the required legal adjustment. the usual road courtesy would prevail when cars approached each other at night. But_the common road rule of “dim vour lights when the other fellow sig- nals for it by dimming his lights” is he- ing ignored by too many automobllist so_consequently night driving is ng only marked with a growing number of serious accidents, but fllled with terror for many motorists. According _to Inspector Albert Headley, head of the District traf- fie force, complaints against glar- ing and daszling headlights are be- coming so numerous that henceforth his men will halt all cars showing seemingly over-bright lights and make an examination of the adjust- snent. The District regulation cover- ing_headlights reads: “It shall be unlawful for the driver ot any motor vehicle to use any headlight or sidelight upon any street in the District of Columbia that is blinding or dazaling to per- sons using the streets; provided. that said lights shall be so adjusted an arranged that the beam shall not rise at a greater height than forty-two inches from the und at seventy- five feet in front of the vehicle.” Prompt Action Urged. Unquestionably there are many cars running over the roads at nixht whose lights do not conform to the District regulations. Hence, it would m to be wisdom on the part of the owners of these cars to do their ad- Justing promptly. - But even bringing into strict én- forcement the District headlight regu- Jation will not cure the chief evils of night-time motoring. There are times when bright and powerful lights are very necessary to the safety of those who go a-touring. That is why the law allows such Jights. And as yet no state has been able to frame a headlight law that would at once safeguard the legili- mate user of bright lights and be free from abuse by the selfish or thouglit- less motorist. Dependence on a certain amount of courtesy seems to have been found necessary whenever headlight regula- tions have been made, and the news- papers and motoring magazines have evoted countless columns of space to making the fact known and Tn pleadings to motorists to extend of dard arranty. Sterling Fabric 30x3, $8.65 Air-bag Cured. List Price. force, ) the re-| al | 1o make the law operative where the | has been | Sterlit The Prices Quoted Below courtesy to their fellow-drivers. But still drivers come roaring down nar- row roads with thair strongest lights a-glare and pay not the slightest at- tention to the frantic signaling of the almost blinded driver in the ap- proaching car. The dramatic editor when asked by an irritated theater patron why he did not print a thing editorial against talking in the theater during the performance replied that he had done so frequentiy, and that it no longer necessary. The point be- Ing that intelligent newspaper read- {ers do not talk and make unnec sary noises during a theater perform- ance, and that he couldn’t reach those who do. It's a sad commentary, but true, and it doubtless applies to the fellow who knows nothing of the burtesy of the road at night—or day, for that matter Courtesy Needed on Hills. Particularly on hills should the dimming courtesy prevail, for in as- ending, descending and at the crest do all lights well within the pre scribed regulations play of drivers and frequently cause con fusion and bewllderment that results in mishaps Attempting to pase a car ahead at a curve in daytime i€ ona of the most repreh. in the eye: to do so of at irregu- even regularl tamps on almost this is attempted achieved every night at many dan- | gerous curves on the Condult road That more accidents do not result is due to the extreme cautiousness of other drivers who know so well the malpractices and foolhardiness of some motorists that they practice a brand of cautlon that rigidly takes all the joy out of their night-time trips and causes them to abandon after-dark motoring altogether. Unless steps are taken by thome in- terested to curb selfish and thoughtless drivers. time to going to bring regula- tions so drastic that the automotive industry may } impaired and many persons deprived of an enjoyable and healthful recreaton. | Those primarily interested should be the motorists t ves and the men who sell motor cars. Plan of Edueation. In Washington the sellers ara organ- ized in the Washington Automotive Trade Association. The buyers have two organizations—the newly-formed National Motorists’ Association and the Amerfcan Automobile Assoctation. It would seem to be the duty of the ex- perts In motoring affairs who officer these organizations to get together and devise and put into operation a plan of education that would reach and en- lighten every selfish and unthinking automoblle driver who is contributing to the already too many hazards of the road and. perhape. to the downfall of a great and necessary Amerlcan in- dustry. GERMANS SEEK MEXICAN TRADE IN SMALL TIRES criminal and frequently Ye petition, However, Says Consul General Dawson. German competition In the market for smaller sizes of automobile tires has been noted in some of the citfes of Mexico, says Consul General Dawson, in & report to the Department of Com- merce. Main competition is between American makes of tires and a cheap grade German-made tire in ths 30x3 inch size. This competition has strongly felt in Mexico C mediate environs, it is stated. An American firm which handles large quantities of tires in Mexico City has sold only two German-made tires in the past year and this sale was made because no American tires were on hand at the time, says the report. —_—— The oil resources of the world are estimated by the United States geologi- cal survey at 63,000,000,000 barrels. not been or its im- Tires Sterling Fabric 30x33, $9.22 Five-ply of fabric instead of the usual four, and over- size. Bale Price. Size. v - FAN GAINS FAVOR | William Ullman Finds Rules Regarding{ was | adjusted | American Firm Not Feeling Com- | Why buy a “Gyp” tire that you have never heard of before, when we are offering in this special sale STER- LINGS at a price never before equaled for a nationally known standard product. Every Sterling offered in this sale latést construction. Every tire is sold under Special sale is for a limited time only. an entire set at these unheard of prices. a brand-new F; First. Mufldnrw’u Stan- Are for STERLING CORDS " THE SUNDAY, STAR, WASHINGTON, D. OTORS and ARIABLE SPEED | *F==="====== CHARGE GASOLINE Cools Engine at Times When Most Needed, Autoists Are Told. OPERATION IS EXPLAINED Conventional Belt Drive Diffioulties Obviated in New Method. BY FREDERICK C. RUSSELL. The day s not far distant when fans in the better grade of water- | cooled—and perhaps all-cooled—au. { tomobile engines will be driven by | electricity instead of by means of the conventional belt drive from the crankshaft. The advantage of a variable spced fan driven by an elec- tric motor will be readily seen by the ar owner who studles the following ons for. rigging up such a de- j vice on any machine. | The first step s to buy a second- hand electric horn and remove every- {thing but the horn motor, its ex- | tended shaft and its covering. A | pulley should then be attached to the | end of this shaft and should be wide enough 1o accommodate whatever size fan belt 18 used on the car. The horn frame should then be bolted to a small block of wood, which in turn should be bolted to the front end of the frame directly to one side and beneath the fan. With this done it is only necessary to run the belt from the fan pulley to the electric motor pulley, to tight- en the belt by adjusting the position of the fan and to see that the pulleys are in line with each other. Grounding of Wire. A wire from one connection of the horn motor should be grounded; the other should run to a rheostat or varlable resistance unit placed at any convenient position around the driv- |ing compartment where the dri can operate it. From the second post of the resistance unit a wire should be joined into the ignition wire oir- cuit somewhere between the ignition switch and the fuse box. Thus, when the ignition is turned on and the en- gine is started only a portion of the current which is diverted to the re: sistance unit passes through it and reaches the electric fan motor. Regulation of Switch. While the engine is cold the driver regulates the switch on the resi ance unit so as to reduce the curreht to the fan motor to a minimum. The fan revolves very slowly or, due to slipping of tha belt. perhaps not at all. This aids in warming up the i motor. When the motometer reacnes a point which indicates normal tem- perature, resistance is reduced and the fan is made to operate a little ister. When the car is climbing a steep hill on & warm day or is idling in congestion and overheating, the fan may be driven at top speed, thus cooling the engine very rapldly. With the conventionai belt drive the fan increases in speed and cooling capacity as the engine increases in speed. This tends to aggravate ogol- ing difficulties, for an engine fre- quently overheats at low speed and runs too cool high speed. The electrically driven fan if used in con. junction with radiator shutters, thermostat and a motometer would glve a motorist complete control of the cooling system and would result in greater efficlency of operation. (Copsright, 1922, by the Tliman Feature Bervice.) i HAS 1,600 SAFETY ZONES. London has 1,600 safety traffic zones. reports Inspector Edward H. May, chief of the division of trafic, Cleveland, Ohio, police department. In a recent is- sue of the National Safety News. In- spector May believes that the London custom of having street cars stop on the near side of the street, a practice observed in many American cities also, is helpful to traffic. Fresh stock It will pay you to buy Sterling Fabric 31x4, $12.98 Atr-bag Cured. List Price. Sale Price. 12%t Po Aves DStV MAIN&S You cen remember the _nfihd—fl—-m,——my_m-.n”*.- $25.50 $15.70 B4x4% $43.90 $25.70 32.40 18.95 35x4% 45.20 33.40 1952 | 36x4 % 46.15 84,35 _2040 | 33x6 53.15 %0 24.50 3635 54.75 43.35 2510 | 3728 57.60 anmummmudtnummy. Telephone and Mail Orders Given Prompt Attention RUDN]C T HENRY 8. WOOD, . 1502 14th Strest N. W, i ) | | ALBERT RUSSELL ERSKINE. Albert Russell Erskine, preaident of the Studebaker Corporatios born January the 34, 1871, in Huntavi sehools until inte a raliread office offered and aceepted elerk, at their ofiee as gemeral manager of Ala. He attended pul ¢ was Sfteen years of age. when he entered a: Leuis office, and, in 1900 he proceeded to their New York he operating department, supervising 300 cotten gins ia the south. After this he filled various important positions and in 1911 he came to Studebaker ecommittee. s to the present plant facilities have been preportion. Mr. Erakiae, as the eounselor, owi Ais b treasurer and a member of the exeentt In 1913 Re was made first vice president of the organisa- the corporation, time, = _position which The Studebaker in uable friend and a wi ix comprehensive knowledge, just mind and generous heart. ®1922 by Bert Cobb. RULES ARE LISTED FOR INSPECTING AUTOMOBILE PRIOR TO LONG TOU. Knowing that the joys of auto- mobile touring depend largely upon the service his car gives him, the tourist should give it a thorough examination before starting on an extensive tour. As an aid to owners who desire to condition thelr cars for summer touring, the Chandler Motor Car Company has fssued a list of hints and suggestions (hat should be of value to those who drive cars of all makes. Among the more important points to be checked up are the following: Examine the electrical equipment to make sure that the generator and ammeter are fumctioning properly and that lighting circuit, starter and horn connections are secure. Lamps should have bulbs of equal candlepower, have clean reflectors and be properly focused. Test the streeting gear to see that 1t does not bind at any point and is thoroughly lubricated. Examine the brakes. Determine that they are free and do with lever and pedal that they hold with uve even when pedai s depressed or lever drawn back. Brakes should be so adjusted that the car can be brought to & #top without grab- bh}\{ eep the radlator clean. Flush the water-circulating system to remove any rust or sediment de- as these tend to heat the t wheels carefully and note any damage. Do they run true? Are the flange bolts tight? Inspect alignment of front wheels. With tha wheel camber approximately correct the wheels oint straight ahead. The distance etween the fellon bands of the front wheels in front of the axle should be from one-eighth to one- quarter of an inch less distance than between the wheels back of front axle. Examine all spark plugs. Clean and ret all points at about the thickness of a ten-cent plecefand in replaciing be sure they set tight in cylinders, Look over water cooling system and determine that there are no s heck timing of motor. Note operation of clutch and whether there Is excessive play in clutch pedal. U. S. AUTOMOTIVE EXPORTS. The United States leads the world in the export of motor cars and motor trucks. Forty per cent of 1921 auto- moblle exports came directly from fac- tories in the U. 8. A. Ten per cent more were exported from U. S. branches in Canada and the bulk of the 25 per cent exports from France were re. ported U. S. war vehicles. Nine per cent of this business was done by Italy, 7 per cent by Germany and 4 per cent by England. —_— The average annual pay of rural post- men using motor vehiclas is $2,57 compared with $1.830 for those g horse-drawn vehicles, according to the | latest report of the postmaster general. 208 .JULY 23, 1922—PART 3. ~ laveraged about 22.25 cents for the - PRICES JUGGLED National Auto Dealers Ask Federal Trade Commis- sion to Investigate. 30-CENT LEVEL FEARED Producers Accused of Plot to In- veigle Public to Believe Pro- duction Cost Is Higher. Declaring that a twelve-month comparison of costs of gasoline mt twenty-eight representative cities of the United States indicates the buy- fng public has suffered nothing more nor less than a “juggling of prices’” the ation Automobile Dealers’ Assoclation has called upon the Federal Trade Commission for a com- plete investigation into the motor fuel situation. The request for action on the part of the Federal Trade Commission was accompanied by papers setting forth the information thered by the dealers’ organization. Copies of these papers have been forwarded miso to Senators La Follette and McKellar, who have called for an investigation in_the Eenate. _ Prices of gasoline at the mervice station have risen a minimum of 2 to a mmximum of 7 cents, the assocla- | tion information shows. Some cities show, sharp decreases in one month and equally sharp Increases the fol- lowing months. In only one city was there any Indication of a price based upon competition, that being the city of Dallas, Tex. In Dallas gmsoline dropped as low as 14 cents in Septem- ber, 1921, while other cities were paying from 18 to 28 cents, but in June of this r the competition evidently seems to have been over- come, as gasoline went to 25 cents, and now remains at that figure. Increases fn Oftle: Some of the most important citi in which marked increases hve been shown are Kansas City, from 17. cents a gallon in July, 1921, to 24 in_ July, 1922; Detroit, 20.9 in_July, 1922; Bt. Louis. H w Orleans, 20.. sonville, 20 to 26 for the same period. New Orleans, in the eart of the ofl country, is puying 275 cents a gallon for her gasoline, vhile Boston, several thousand miles y, Is paying 28 cents. “There seems to be a pretty gen- eral movement among the gasoline producers to force the price of gaso- line to 30 cents a gallon everywhere before the automobile touring season is over.” according to a statement of C. A. Vane, general manager of the dealers’ association. “Recent press dispatches Indicate that the oil men are in general accord on ‘suggestions’ that gasoline should be two or three cents higher. They are basing these assertings upon claims that produc- tion costs have Increased to such an extent that they are no longer able to manufacture profitably. “Gasoline prices for July, 1921, country, as against 26.45 cents for July this year. This nearly a 20 per cent increase. The manufacturers of automobiles, on the other hand, have ateadily lowered the cost of their product to thefr consumers, and it ap- pears on the surface that there must be something fundamentally wrong with the oil industry if it cannot re- adjust its production costs to fit gen- eral conditions, in which all other business has reduced its costs simi- larl. y. 'he ofl industry apparently wants| to prolong the war forever. Her the end of the fourth year of D we find them ‘clamoring for & return to & system that is condemned by all economists and had its only justi- fication the fact that It was a war measure. “Twelve million motorists, who co ‘ sume on an average of about 400 g lons a vear each, would like to have some assurance that there really is competition in the oil business or whether the so-called ‘trust’ and the so-called ‘independents’ are not mere- 1y back door and front door names for | the interests controlling a very nec- essary commodity in American life. There has been solidly established throughout the country an active and intense allegiance to the Nash name and the Nash car. Underlying it and stimulating it is the spirited character of the car’s perform- ance; the restful quality of its travel; the sure ease with which it handles; and lastly, the superb reliability and econ- omy with which it serves. Prices range from Fouss #vd Sixes 8965 b0 $2390, 1 aiid. fuctory NASH HURLEY MOTOR CQOMPANY 1588 14th St. N.W. = Distribute: DEL-MAR-VA-NASH 'mn 00. Hamlil Va. ! BIRVON Telephons North 0463 $1.500000 IN CONTRACTS LET FOR LINCOLN HIGHWAY WORK Association Gives $100,000 Toward Im- proving of All Poor Spots From - Utah to Reno. NEW YORK, July 23.—Contracts it dicult to carry through tha pra involving the prompt undertaking of llr'llc'p oufl_ine;.m-nafl whal; .:e con- $1,500.000 worth of improvement on | rECl8 eXpire e first of this year ut one of the st N the Lincoln highway across Nevada STetchen towar whio the association had made funds aval have been signéd here by J. N. Gunn. |able had been undertaken, and that president of the Lincoln Highway As- gnrd:::'h;@lu‘thu‘lli y completed pim vl By ce w 16 terms of the con- soctation, following thetr approval by | {rIaincs, with tho terme, of the con- the association’s executive committee. The contracts which were negotiated automatically reverted 10 the aseo- clation January 1, 1923 ¢.|, Under the terms of the federa' early in the year between George W. |, 0t 08 GUTT0F, 00 the Zedera: Borden, state highway engineer of|worth of highway construction un Nevada and officials of the associa- tion, had been previously unanimous- ly approved by the Navada highway commisston and the attorney general of Nevada, under date of April 19. The closing of these contracts, which involve $100,000 of the asso- clation’s funds, required to assist the state of Nevada In meeting the fed- eral aid provided under the terms of the federal highway act for interstate highway construction, is of national interest, as representing another step toward the final completion of the Lincoln highway acroks the continent and the opening of a matisfactory through road to the Pacific coast. All through traffic reaching the Pa- cific coast north of the Colorado river | and gouth of the Columbia river must cross Nevada, a state half the size of | France, the niorth boundary of which corresponds with the nortd boundary of Tilinois. while its southernmost tip is on a line with the north boundary of Mississippi d Alabama. It is as dertaken on approved projects in M vada will entitle the state to $872.30 from the federal government, th state thue paying but $127.70 as ite share. Even this small proportion of the total coat of each road projact amounting to a little more than one- eighth, is a severe strain upon the finances of the state and the etate highway commisaion of Nevada, which has exerted every effort to bring about the early improvement of the road. earnestly petitionsd tha board of directors of the Lincoln Highway Association for extended ald this ju when it was particularly effec ti ue to the large amount of fed eral aid money it commanded —_— MOTORING BUILDS HEALTH. “Motoring i one of the most effective forms of health insurance that modern life has produced.” writes Royal & Copeland, M.D., commissioner of health of New York city, In a recent {ssue of J 5 s {Motor. Dr. Copeland says that fresh far across Nevada by motor as jt fs | I0GE | T & . neficial, and that driving i from New York city to Cleveland via [ AW %, bentfel ) and TRet dring Pittsburgh. and in this vast area are l16ss than 80,000 people. The Lincoln highway, traversing central Nevada, i the shortest and most direct link scross that state on the road from Sait Lake City to Reno. It Is of vital importance to the entire nation that this road be properly completed as soon as poseible. providing unin- terrupted service for that vast volume of traffic from every section of the Union headed to and from Pacific coaat points from Los Angeles to Portiand. builds up the muscles above the walst even though the effort necded is slight Motor cars are also an sssistance in enabling persons to live in subur! health commissioner notes, however. that motoring should be an aid to and not an entire substitute for other forms of exerciss Federal Ald Given. The Lincoin Highway Association has for years been conversant with the probiems to be met in providing the important Nevada link in the transcontinental road Previous to the recent passage of the federal highway act, which provided long- needed relief to the western states of large area and small population, the association had recognized the neces- sity of outside assistance if the old trail of the pioneers across Nevada, now the Lincoln highway, was to be put into proper for motor travel. In 1919 the association first offered the state of Nevada $115,000 to aid in the improvement of the worst sec- tions, which were serving as barriers Test the Quality Earl to ail through travel. Two of the Go over every detil directors of the association had 2 brought about through their interest of its design and con- the contribution of funds totaling 150,000 to ald the western states. W. >. Durant, then president of the Gen- eral Motors Corporation, was respon- sible for, jhe contribution of $100,000 to the afBciation from that corpora- tion and John N. Willys, president of the Willys-Overiand Company, made possible the contribution of $50,000 from that company. It was from these funds that the $115,000 was offered to Nevada, and the money was placed in escrow in Carson City to be paid over to the state as the work pro- gressed. Even with this aid, Nevada found struction. Then ride init, drive it yourself. Capital City Garage Co. 410 Sth Street Main 8778 e That the Durant is the outstanding buy in motor cars is proven by the large number now on the streets of Washington. Being the easiest handled car on the market makes the Durant the ideal car for the """ DURANT Just a Real Good Car HARPER MOTOR CO., Inc. DISTRIBUTORS R. H. HARPER, President 1128-30 Connecticut Ave., Washington, D. C. Franklin 4307 Open Evenings and Sundsy 6-CYLINDER Deliverod in Washington sevess $2575 e $2425 41795 9128