Evening Star Newspaper, July 15, 1923, Page 64

6 AARYLAND T0 CUT AUTOTAXINHALF 1924 Tags to Be Issued on Charge of About 26 Cents: Per Horsepower. Because of the effectiveness of the rasoline tax in Maryland, registra- tion fees for uutomobiles in that state in 1924 will be reduced from 60 cents per horsepower to approximately 26 cents per horsepower. The Maryland motorist in getting = 1924 tags for a thirty horsepower car will, therefore, pay, instead of his customary $18, only about $7.80 The remainder will be made up in the 2 cents per gallon additional which he will pay for gasoline Figures to Vary Little. These figures may not be exact, but according to John N. Mackall, chairman of the state roads commission, they are approximately correct, and probably will prove to be not more than a cent or two out of the way in either direction. They are_computed on the returns to the automobile commissioner’s office for i s from June 1, 1922, to | 923, and on the returns from | the gasoline tax of 1 cent a gollon for he same perfod. The 1yent tax on gas- for the deficit in e fund. yielded for the year which ended May 31 a_net re- turn of $632,143 to the state. For the same period the receipts of the automo- bile commissioner’s office from registra- tion fees amounted to $2,228.,999. Would Yield $1,264,286. Allowing for no increase in the num- ber of automobiles, although there was an increase of 24 per cent in 1923 over 1099 the gasoline tax at 2 cents a gal- ' Frescnt e caving 44 per cent to be provided for through registration fees. On that basis, the registration fees will 25 cents per horsepower, instead of 60 cents, the gas tax providing the re- | maining 34 cents. the registration of automo- although revenues have been used for other state The amount of money needed maintenance is recommended by the road commissioners to the gov- ernor. The governor places the amount the budget which he sends to the leg- ad maintenance require- were §1.850,000, and the requirements’ were about it is figured the roads sion should have received nce and reconstruction, § tead, by the end of the vear, it received $2,100,000. With the 2-cent gas tax and a regis- tration fee of 26 cents per horsepower for automobiles, approximately the same amount the roads commission will get in 1 for malintenance will be yielded for the same purpose in 1924. Will Need More, He Says. | | need more money than that | tenance and reconstruction in id Mr. Mackall, “for there is | a constantly Increasing demand for the | g of roads. The state was wise | & comparatively narrow roads when we embarked upon a r ing policy, for the motor cars were not numero d_the roads were ample to carry the traffic. “But now the traffic is getting heavy for them and we will have to widen them by building shoulders on each side | of the most seriously congested roads. | The automobilists of the state are per- | fectly willing to pay for this work in their gasoline tax and in registration fees, provided they are assured that no part of the money will be diverted to other purposes.” ! HINT FOR REPAIR WORK. | Method Outlined for Tightening In- accessible Nuts. Nuts set into inaccessible places can | be tighened or removed by the use of | two wrenches ¥ or pipe | T es are joint- e nut and the key wrench then clamped to THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, John Smith and His Car PY FREDERICK C. RUSSELL John Smith is a character whom every motorist should welcome. He is not selfish; rather he is a motoring martyr, 8 chap willing and glad to have exploited, in an interesting wa: his experiences for the benefit of the other 10,000,000 or more members of the motor clan. No. 2—The Car Is Ordered, Smith phoned me the next morning to say that he had had a wonderful demonstration in a car which he would have bought on the spot had he not valued my advice. I knew this car to be one that literally walks up hills because it is geared so low. I knew, too, that such design s not always economical, and that the en- gine is frequently noisy because of its high speed. So I went right over to the salesroom, met Smith and gave the salesman a cross-examination. The car was a neat job—from ap- pearances. But it was a new make, with which I had not had actual ex- perience. We quizzed the salesman on oil, gas and tire mileaze, where- upon he threw himself into “high" in his eagerness to cinch the sale. But that wasn't all we asked; one has to go deeper than this when buy- ing a car. I made a note of the length and the width of the rear springs. This we compared with spring specifi- cations of another make of car of the same welght. They seemed to be light for the job. I stood on the tirc carrier and found that the rear of the car sagged more than it should for the weight of one person. To my attention from the he salesman raised the hood an oration on the accessi- billty of everything. Just to verify this I went through the imaginary procedure of removing the cylinder head for the purpose of cleaning car- bon and grinding in the valves. T found that to do this {t was necessary to remove the carburetor, vacuum tank. horn, exhaust and intake mani- folds, water pipe. ete. It was very accessible! In going over this another fact came to light. The salesman had in- formed us that included in the price of the car was a complete tool kit We assumed that these tools fitted any nut or stud on the car. Upon actually trying the implements. how- ever it developed that there were not enough tools to remove the cylinder head. Then we asked about the service facilities. Some people who have bought what they considered first- class cars have discovered that they have been obliged to walt weeks for a part, or have had their cars tied up in ‘the dealer's ineficient repair shop. Of course, the salesman as- sured us_that no such conditions ex- isted in his firm So when he had finished we went around to the office and looked up & chap who had been driving one of these cars for a year. We found that the salesman had exceeded the speed limit as to oil mileage and a certain mechanical specification. The service facilities were laughed at Later we saw a car of this make at the curb and asked the driver what he thought of it. He told us. The list was thus narrowed down to a choice of two cars, both selling for about $1,800. I had driven both, and, s while no car is perfect, there were no serlous objections to either. Had the service facilities of one been notoriously better than the other a choice would have been easy, but the agencies were both reliable. This just about led Smith to the conclusion that he couldn’t decide upon anything. “It would be just my luck to pick the wrong one and get stuck.” he grumbled. At this T walked him over to the restaurant and let him buy me a lunch. “You can't get ‘stuck’ with any of the modern cars,” I retorted. “Any car will overrun you with trouble if you don’t drive it properly and care for it regularly, but when you've got a chance to select the best car at the price vou can pay then study the market carefull on a par mechanically, well suited to vour needs and sponsored by respon- sible companies. It seems to me that now is the time to consider trimmings, extra equipment and style. And the ‘Goit' is surely the better looking. What do you say?™ Smith spread out the catalogues and compared the two touring models Concentrating immediately on the cu of the ” He wi chauffeur. t it 81" he agreed “That is—TI'll say it's the car for me. Let's hurry back and place the order.” Next week—First Principles. (Cppyright. 1023, by the Ullman Feature Bervice. STANDARDIZED TRAFFIC LAWS IN CITIES SOUGHT Tourists Can Be Confident About Regulations if Program Is Accomplished. One of the outsanding features of the program of the National Motor- ists’ Assoclation, the working out of | fundamental and more nearly uni- form principles for ‘handling trafic in the larger cities, is being given full consideration, and steps looking to the carrying out In detail of this important work are being taken. The standardization of trafc reg- ulations is just as important as standardization in connection with industrial activities. Uniform regu. lations are needed as to general t fic laws, to the end that tourists may enter a city with confidence and not in fear of violating regulations. Naturally, there are some local reg- ulations suggested by the physical conditions in different cities which apply only to the one city. MONTFORD CORDS ng Mileage—Short Price In our experience of over 30 years in business we have never seen a tire stand up in service like the Montford. The selling prices we uote are business build- ers and reputation builders for the house. 30x3%; . 32x3Y2 34x4Y; . CHAS. E. MILLER, Inc. the end of the second end wrench, Then by careful ing the nut| can be tightened or loosened.—Auto- | mobile Digest. Franklin 3684 $10.95 812 14th St. The way the good Maxwell is increasinfi it is clim onthestreets—the way ing higher and higher in public regard—speaks volumes more for its finer performance and economy and for its easier riding than anything we can say. H. B. LEARY, JR. 1321-23 14th Street Main 4105 SMALLER PLATES FOR AUTOS URGED ‘Washington motorists will be inter- ested In the new license plate system [to be allopted by Connecticut for 1924, & plan which will offer a smaller and less unsightly plate for all cars, regardless of whether the driver takes out a license early or late In the season. Oscar Coolican, local Packard @ealer, who has been advocating a neater plan of distinguishing cars. reports that by using letters of the alphabet for different sections of the state and limiting the numerals to 9999, -figure, eighteen-inch plates will no longer mar the appearance of Connecticut's cars, nor tax the mem- ories of those who would like to re- member their license numbers with- out being obliged to resort to their stration card n the District, ays Mr. Coalican, “while the registrations have just exceeded five figures, our cars are further disfigured by reason of our Maryland plates, which run as high as Connectleut's. Any plan, therefore, which would shorten the plates and simplify them should be greatly fa- vored by the officials as well as the public. The step taken by Connecticut will be watched with interest by motorists JULY 15, AUTOITS FGHTIG RALERUSSING BL Would Force All Drivers to Stop Before Going Over Tracks. All operators of motor vehicles in the state of New Jersey must stop their vehicles at the approach and before driving over a railroad grade crossing. This is the “Wade bill" (H. 445), which requires all persons driving vehicles to “stop, look and listen.” It was passed by the last legislature and is now a law, says Lynn M. Shaw, assistant general man- ager Natlonal Automoblle Dealers’ | Assoctation. This same legislation has been at- tempted in many states. Simlilar bills were introduced in fourteen states this year. It was last introduced in Florida fn June. It previously had been attempted in Ohio and Indiana. 1923—PART 3. pending in California, where it ap- plies only to common carriers, Flor! da, Illinois and Pennsylvania, where it ‘applles to all cars, and in Wis- consin, where there were two bills, one covering common carriers and one | covering all cars. Protects Railroads. Such legislation has generally been regarded as fostered and supported by the steam and electric raflroad in- térests, as measures to protect those transportation lines in event of ac- cidents on grade crossings. In New Jersey, the bill was restricted “Jitney” cars and particularly applied to interurban trafic. However it gov- erns all grade crossings and the pas- senger carrying bus must come to a full stop before proceeding to cross the railroad. Automobile clubs generally have combatted such A, | the burden of | industry to | i i fully. A few years ago in Ohlo there were several such bills_introduced. The automobile clubs and dealer or- ganizations attacked them on the ground that they were fostered by the railroads and would put all of loss or responsibility on the owners of motor vehicles in event of accidents. Demands Vigilance. It is the bellef of the automobile that such measures will continue to be a part of every legis- lative program for many years and that if the automobile owners are to escape this and other legislation, that they must depend on eternal vigilance. It has been noticeable that when one particular form of legislation is established in one state, that it ofteh infects other states and that some- times there is a legislative stam- legislation success- | pede to provide similar legislation in | every state. Compulsory grade-crossing stops have been prominent bills in legislatures for six years. Compul- | sory lability insurance has beew in | the list for the last four years. Com- | pulsory equipment bills have geen | coming to the front with great regy- |1arity in the last ten years. The certificate of title bill Is gatn- ing every time there is a flock of legislatures in session. In 1925, f¢ | can be pretty well accepted, there will {be from one to a_half dozen states enact such bills. It is a statute se ceptable to the automobils owner Some others might not be as acceptable. | A REVELATION IN ROAD GUIDES; spE. | Clatly deigned pages Tor recording-oit, "1 s and mileage; directions for natinnal | bhighway, Chicago’' and return; sent free: | patented holder attaches to steering column: ” 00: moues back if dissatisfied. THE | AUTOMAC 'COMPANY, P. 0. Box 1 ‘Washington, D. C. ‘ “POURSIME,” WITH DISC Ok WOOD WHEELS, acys; WIRE WHEELS, uugs throughout the country, and partic- | This year it was defeated in Alabama, ularly by District motorists, who al- | Colorado, Iowa, Minnesota and Utah ready have more in the way of license | In Minnesota the bill applied only to plate nuisance than the average car|common carriers. In all others it ap- owner. | plied to all vehicles. The measure is Highest Quality—Lowest Prices Automobile Equipment Spring Bar Bumpers (Nickel), with fittings for every car. §28 STURDY BUMPER... ..$21.00 $23 SAFETY BUMPER ... Those first wind-swift demonstration miles proveit. Modish coloring in fawn gray and black, with apple-green wheels —special, hand-fashioned sport body— rich upholstery—captivating appoint- ments—definethe Stephens“Foursome™ as the smartest “sport” car of the year. The 59-horsepower motor, with intake manifold inside cylinder head, gives per- Distinction— power —vigorous beauty mark this brisk sport-type “Foursome” formance a new meaning Numerous niceties: tonneau clock on rear of front seat; engine-heat meter on dash; toilet kit; marine-type cowl lamps; wind- shield wings; touring trunk; three- quarter running boards; slide-guards over curtain-rod anchorages. See this beauty in action today. Try to match its value at the Stephens price! $7.50 Vizors, Blue, Green, Amber. = .' Batteries for every car guaranteed 2 years. Goodrich Silvertown Cord Tires For Chevrolet, Ford and Star Cars f [ Speedometers Tiltlock Spinning Steering Wheel.$11.00 Best Motor Horns, 6 v. $ 425 ..$12.50 National Automobile Parts Co. Jesse Brooke, Mannger 219 John Marshall Place Across From Ford Bullding Telephone Main 2045 CIRCULATION City. . . . millions of miles a month Country. . millisns of miles a month Suburban . millions of miles a moath Jewett Six Prices: 1127 14th St. N.W. Max Wiehle Potomac Sales Co. Phone Main 2500 TEPHENS Finer Motor Gurs |G At Lower Prices ’Phone or send for color catalogue AN PP PP PO P PP P g JEWETT SI PAIGE BUILT JULY, 1923 Touring $1065 Roadster $1065 Coupe $1475 Sedan $1495 Special Touring $1220 Special Coupe $1625 Special Sedan $1695 WEATHER Predition . . always fair weather for driving a Jewetz Siz. Prices at Detvoit. Tax Extra A FIFTY MILLION DOLLAR CAR MOSE SAYS, “SHOLY SIXES DO BEAT F0’S” Mose Meant Dice, But Owner of 6-CyL Car Won Argument. Two-south side residents had a regular “gasoline alley” talk-fest over the backfence recently. One owns a six cylinder car and the other a four. Mose, the caretaker of the neighborhood, dritfed along the alley. Suddenly he stopped. He heard “sixes DO beat fours” and Mose's left hand went to the pocket where his gallopers re- posed. “Ah's jes got time for a 111 game dis mawnin’,” said he to himself. \ ‘When Mose reached them the two neighbors stopped talking and Mose, thinking to display hia superior knowledge, announced, *“Sholy, boss, sixes do beat fo's.” A laugh was his answer and the six owner said, “See, Bill, even Mose knows that.”” But the argument favoring sixes was sound. It was appar- ently clinched when the six owner said “Let's see you drift around corners at 2 miles an hour on high—then accelerate from 5§ to 25 miles an hour in 7 seconds, in high. My Jewett Six does these things. Can your car?” Thousands of motorists like the owner of the six in the discussion, graduated from the ownership of four cylinder cars when Jewett Bix appeared priced around a thousand dollars, Not only is Jewett a powerful car with mar- welous performance, but it is a heavy, staunchly built car, good for several seasons of hard serv- ice. Countless motorists were satisfled with their four cylinder cars until Jewett Six came out, but Jewett's ®remendous sales show thousands are buying this “six at the price of a four. HIGH PRICED BRAINS MUST NOT BE JOLTED Chicago Board of Underwriters Pick Roadsters for Staff Nine roadsters, all of one maks ‘were recently chosen by the Chi- cago Board of Underwriters for its engineering staff, mainly be- cause of the easy riding properties of these particular cars. Careful investigation was made of all makes of roadsters coming within certain price range and the first points, regarded as funda- mental, were strength of the car and freedom from repair diffcul- ties as shown by the various his- tories. But the final decision was made because of the comfort. Efficiency demands that these staff engineers, who are all high priced men, must be enabled to cover & lot of ground without fa- tigue. It is the belief that hard riding cars reduce the working efficiency materially, wherea comfortable cars add much to the quality of the work the users can perform each day. The choice of the Board fell on Jewett Six roadsters. e WASHINGTONT{;IRGINIA MOTORS, Inc. 2N BORN %2y MARCH 1922 ‘:\g&lw [ /r///% AT THE AGE OF 3 MONTHS MOTORISTS, WATCH YOUR STEP; COPS GET NEW CARS Sheriff to Equip Deputies With Fleet of Jewett Sixes Sheriff Owens says that speed isn't the only thing needed to catch speeders. “Get-away” is equally important to the officers patrolling this important highway and on the many occasions when several officers are required to move and act promptly, motor- cycles were not practical. “I am confident,” says he, “that with the Jewett Sixes we can out- maneuver and out-guess many of the ‘smart Aleck’ type. All I can say is they'd better look out.” OFFICER REILLY LEARNS A NEW PICKUP TRICK Officer Rellly, on tra¥ic post at the Boulevard viaduct, had a sur- prise yesterday and learned some- thing new to him about cars. Miss Mary Adams drove up to the crossing watched over by Officer Reilly. His whistle was against her and she dutifully stopped. Traffic slowly untangled and then Reilly, with the majestic air that has made him famous in these parts, blew two blasts. ° Then came the surprise. Before Rellly’s hand with the whistle had lowered, Miss Adams' car was al- most abreast of him. “Hold on there,” exclaimed Reilly, and the car stopped promptly, just beside him, “Say, Miss, how come you beat me whistle? How many tolmes liev’ I got to tell yes that—" “But, officer, I didn't beat the whistle. I don't have to, to get way first,” with a pout and a shake of her head. “This, if you please, is a Jewett Six!" “Well, I'll be ....,"” exploded Rellly. “Excuse me, Miss. Drive on. That's some car, or I miss me guess entoirely.” NOVEL BONUS GIVEN BY LOCAL COMPANY Entire Sales Force of Central Mfg. Recelve Jewett Sixes—Combine Business and Pleasure Central Manufacturing Com- pany closed its fiscal year yester- day, the usual 8 percent dividend being declared. A surprise was sprung by the directors in the way of an unusual bonus for their sales force. i For years Central Manufactur- ing has declared a bonus for all their employes who have been with them five years or longer. Yesterday announcement wa made that instead of a cash bonus, affecting the sales force, each man would be given a Jewett 8ix car as his bonus. President Maxwell, {n a formal statement, sald: *This may seem an unusual way of expressing the company’s appreciation of the ef- forts of our men, but it is, we be- lieve, a modern combination of business and pleasure. Most of our salesmen live on their terri- tory, returning home for the week-ends. With a Jewett Six they can work to better advantage during the week, and their wives and families can enjoy the car Saturdays and Sundays. We se- lected the Jewett Six after inves- tigating many cars In’ the thousand| dollar fleld, and judging from the expressions .of our men. we struck & popular. chord when we chose Jewetts” Twenty-six Jewett Sixés have| been ordered' ‘by ‘the Central Manufacturing Company .as “bonus cars.’ FIRE AND THEFT INSURANCE COSTS LESS ON JEWETT Class A insurance rating is rai on cars of Jewett's price. It means quality construction, first class electrical apparatus, theft proof lock. Bumpers on Jewett Specials also reduce collision in- ‘his experience, “and’'I went back JEWETT SIX SALES DURING FIRST 17 MONTHS SUBJECT OF COMMENT IN INDUSTRY Detroit, July 8.—Jewett Six|epoch was marked in automobile sales of $50,000,000 in its first seventeen months, as announced by President H. M. Jewett of the Paige-Detroit Motor Car Com- pany, has caused interested com- ment in motor circles. In the opinion of many it shows the public’s willingness to invest in extraordinary motor car value whenever offered. Rarely has this sales record of Jewett Six been equalled. In the first nine months 21,980 Jewetts were sold. As the Paige factory facilities were increased, de- liveries went up until the ,000- car-per-month mark was reached and held, starting in April this year. The end of the seventeenth menth showed 46,780 Jewett Sixes sold, representing over $50,- 000,000. Analysis shows that artificlal sales effort could not have pro- duced such a demand for a new car; value alone was responsible in the opinion of those experi- enced in selling automobiles. When Jewett Six, having fifty horsepower, was produced to sell around a thousand dollars, an and ested H. and fleld as to ports parts Sixes clates had care- fully gauged the lihood ot ove: merchandising. Such a six, have ing all the dis- tinguishing per- formance of more costly cars, costing much less, com- manded inter- attention wherever cars ‘were sold. M. Jewett his asso- HARRY M.JEWETT President Paige-Detroit T otor &, awaiting such a car but their estimates were over-run. The appeal of great power, amazing performances and big car riding eass at moderate price, the “runaway” demand that bas marked Jewett's record. Supporting the predictions of men well versed in the industry, created Jewett's success, come re- from Jewett dealers in all of the country. Even when the Palge factory gets on a pro- duction schedule of 500 Jewett a day there seems no like- roductio “OLD DAYS ARE HERE” Motor Dealer Stages “Come- Back” in 16 Months . Ole Johnson of Wisconsin had been in-the automobile business for three years when the slump came. His limited capital was not sufficient to tide him over and he was forced to discontinue. Later, in March, 1922, he found himself with about a thousand dollars—and with the opportunity to take a new car, the Jewett Six. looked like a winner to said Johnson in recounting drive liable me, into the business again to see if I could ‘come back.” “Right from the jump I realized that the ‘old days were here.” I didn't have to work to sell Jewett Stxes. It seemed to me all the motorists in my territory wanted one.. I turned my first car the day 1 unloaded it from the freight car. I took two more orders, talked a littlé turkey to my bank and or- dered a car load. By the time they came I had sold the third ol From then I branched out. ‘Now I'm in a fine brick garage. 1 owe money on it, but I've a com- fortable balance in the bank, a line of credit—and I'm selling away over my allotment of Jewetts right along. “In this case the ‘old days' came back merely because of the value I could offer my customers in the Jewett.” miles noise point 1028 Connecticut Avenue Nerve Specialist Makes Business Men” Handle Car Now comes the nerve specialist who advocates that his patients soothing. at first until my curiosity was satiafied by investigation. “In the first place there's noth- ing to worry about when driving a flexible, powerful, active car like the Jewett Six. There's never any DOCTOR SAYS “DRIVE” “Tired to sooth their nerves. He explains his theory by saying motor car manufacturers have progressed to such a point that cars nowadays really quiet the nerves, whereas not so long ago the driver of the average car was to be & nervous wreck after a few miles, “I first noticed this in my own case,” said the doctor. chased a Jewett Six, my sixth car. Immediately I found that a few “I pure around the boulevard was I confess I was pussis$ when shifting gears. One doesn't have to think, really, th operation is so simple. car adapts itself to any desired pace, easily, quietly. I practically forgot the fine plece of mechanism I was handling, and the ride or the trip took on an interest—furnished a fresh view. ‘Then the I found that to the mind. I'm telling business men to ‘drive’ and you'd be surprised the success of this treatment.” 480-A