Evening Star Newspaper, April 20, 1924, Page 50

John Smith and His Car BY FREDERICK C. RUSSELL. Jobn Smith is 2 character whom is not selfish: rather be is a2 motering martyr, a chap have exploited, in an interesting way, his experierces for every motorist should welcome. He benefit of the other 19,000.000 or more mcmbers of the motor clan. ~No. When 42—“DOWN HILL. a driver gets to the point where he imagines that he handles the car just about as well as he| ought to, that is the logical time for | him to invite a more experienced | driver for a ride with him and learn otherwise. Just such a situation de- | veloped when Smith recently asked me along for a ride, but with a slight variation. Smith was a littlo worried about | his gasoline mileage. He had per- | sonally ground in the valves and| cleaned out the carbon. He had seen to it that the car was thoroughly | greased all over and that the brakes did not bind. The carburetor mix-| tures seemed just right, yet gasoline! consumption was too high. } “And you will note,” he said, when | be started down a steep hill, “that 1 ~oast whenever possible.” | Manipulating the Brakes. T was watching how he handled the | ‘ar, and wasn't quite ready for my | newer. About half way down the il he decided that the car was going | too fast, #0, with the clutch still dis- engaged, he began applying the foot | brake. Then, satisfied that he was | down to a safe speed agair, he re-| leased the brake pedal slightly, keep- ing just enough pressure on it to hold the car at a constant speed. But | Just as we neared the bottom a car hot out from a side road in such a way that Smith was given the choice of stopping voluntarily or involun- arily. He ided upon the wiser | ourse of action by ing on b the foot ond the emerg Now. while this w smashing into the a long way fro aneuver. = Smith overlookad the couid have been used to do calf the braking work. Had he si: ply let in the clutch and shut off t ignition the car co have been trought to a stands by a paratively slight appl service or foot brake. better than er car, it was logical driving had comple that his Expensive and Dangeroow. i “In YOUr eagerness 1o s: th,” 1 said, ore money the brakes only expensive When a car is coast tts own in unus cently tind it pretty difficult to get t under control again if vou have it coast. There are hills, where you can see ahea to know the chanc to make a quick &top ar likely. It {s permissible der these circumstances. “I've tried shutting o when going downhill “but I don't 1 Smith en 1 reach i the ignition ®ccause you have throttle open when vou turn on t ignition,” 1 explained. “The ex unburned gas vapor in the ex i manifold takes fire and virtually ex- | plodes.” | Could I save much gas by down hill with the ignition Smith asked. With Ignit “Very little,” I replied, “though is popularly believed otherwise. ut for vourself. turni it goir off it | Rea- | If the engine | st be suck- ' |ing in gus vapor and expelling o 13 it through the exhaust. If, however, the ignition were left on and the vapor fired—even with the throttle closed off as far as possible—the tendency would be for the engine to increase in speed, with a consequent loss of brake lining through trying to keep the car slowed down." 0es opening the throttle wide n going down hill with the igni- Shut off help to hotd the car w tion b ? Theoretically it should.” I replied, because the more gas you feed the ngine the higher the compression The tendency ix to slow up the pis tons on their mpression stroke, but I find that in practice the slowing a lot more gas than if you drove down hilli with the ignition on and the throttle closed off. When the throttle ing over the engine the pistons are retarded just about s much as when the throttle is wide open, because the pistons are then doing the work of creating a vacuum in the intake man- ifold due to lack of gas vapor. doesn’'t cost as mueh to vacuum as to create pression.” mith became =0 interested in the various ways of going down hill that he forgot about his task of discover- ing the reason for his high gasoline onsumption. Sometimes a motorist an solve a problem quickest by try ing to forget it. Next week: The Ignition Syste (Copyright, 1923, by the Tllman Feature Bervice.) create a a BIG TRUCKS RE§'FORED. Indiana Again May Allow Use on Roads of State. d-a-ha von f-ton and try diana as the result of dizna state supreme court declaring iovalid the motor veh fee bill by the 1923 leg Ope provision of the bill imited the maximum load and vehi- cle limit at 2 case of speciai permits. Truck fees now xo hack to more moderate costs, a maximum of $7 for five and seven-and-a-half ton ve hicles. ‘During the fall of 1823 the saie of trucks of this capreity prac tically stopped, as it was feared that permits could cases be btained for their operation. Well-Cared-For Auto Owner's Standing. ie from being a source of satis faction a clean, well-cared-for car i also an excelient argument in a recent In- 1 s s favor when he has been 0! to have been Involved It is like being able | vour card showing that mogul locally. ting auto for them to a Ahe | SEIAC Way or'othar The owner 1 r always gets the benefit of the doub KEEP THIS IN MIND. * ember that after the n has boi cooling over there is le e radiator, and that even f the causes of the overhcating are removed t may still be a new 1use for overheating in the lessenes imount of water. up is almost negligible, and it wastes | is closed and the car is turn- | Tt | lot of com- | five-ton | ks may he again sold ahd used In | decision | 000 pounds, except in | Reflects SEES BIG INCREASE IN AUTO DELIVERIES and May Will Exceed Marks of Previous Years. | Deliveries of motor cars during the months of April and May will exceed by & large margin the deliveries for corresponding menths in any previ- ous year in the industry, according to Edward §. Jordan, president of the Jordan Motor Car Company. This will be due to the fact that [ for the first time In the history of | the business dealers throughout the country have been able, through the assistanee of their factories and fin- ancing corperations, to accumulate o uficient stock of cars for spring de- |livery so_as to avoid the shortage | whi ha% prevailed during those months in every other year. An interesting pbase of the auto- ! mobile industry which has been high- the past two | Yeurs is illustrated by thie condition. | I «eveloned during 1 Finance “wa Stoek.: Tntil the past winter practically every dealer in the United States had { heen forced to completely finance his | own stock of cars through arrange- | ments with local banks. | In many cuses he was unable to| stock a sufficient number of cars to| take care of his deliveries in the spring. This brought about a hectic condi- tion which developed early in April and continued through May and in- volved a great expense through he necessity of overland driving of rs from the factory and the loss | | of money as well to many dealers Who when they could not deliver im mediately wers forced to watch the | Lusiness go across the street. RUBBER PARLEY HERE. Experts to Discuss All Angles of | Subject. Representatives of the rubber in- tustry, federal officials and research workers in the university laboratories | of the United States and Canada will address (he rubber division of the American Chemical Society in Wash- ington, D. C., April 23, 24 and 25 at the sociely's spring meeoting. Sixteen papers describing the prog- resg in this field will be presented, cording to the program of the di- | announced by the chairman, E. | . Spear of Ak Committee | reports on_ phy ng_methode | and crude rubler testing will be sub- | . i cakers at the three sessions will | include: Irene C. Diner. United States of standards, Washington; C. d, H. A. Endres, Stanley % Christensen and W. J. Kelly. all of Akron: Dr. G. S Whitby, | MeGill Uniyersity, Montreal; Dr. H. E Simmons, Buchtel College; John B. | Tuttle, New York of C. C. Davis, | Boston, and J. M Bierer, Cambridge, | | Mase. - i TOO MUCH REPAIRS. ! In considering the advisability of | making extensive repairs in order to | remedy one particular trouble always figure on the amount of new trouble | | that wmay be occasioned by the “opera- | { tion.”" One car owner recently had the | camshaft removed and when the job Was completed he found that he had acquired set of noisy timing gears hat was thrown slightly out of line the change. ARMORED AUTO USED. { Armored cars are the latest bandit | chasers in Gen. Smedley D. Butlers clean-up drives in Philadelphia. The ar body is lined with one-eighth- {inch steel, while armored plate also ~overs the cowl up to wind shield. “CHERRY BL:)SSOM TIME” The members of the cast constituting the double sextette shown above are (read- ing from left to right): Marguerite Petit, William F. Raymond, Edward C. Halbach, Dorothy Wilson, Gayle Hunt, G. Larry Zuch, Elsie Schulze, H. R. Hendley, Victor Russell, Eva Fridell, Gladys At National Theater Week of April 21st Hunt and Wesley B. Peckham. Gentlemen’s attire by D. J. Kaufman. In this truly new model, the Auburn English Coach, which is making its debut on the stage to gladden your eyes in “Cherry Blossom Time,” during Easter week we are introducing to you the only DISTINCTLY DIFFERENT body style of the present season. Photograph by Brooks-Stevens. After you have seen the English Coach you will wish to ride in it. Then only will you have a true conception of real automobile luxury and comfort. The English Coach, as are all Auburns, is FULLY EQUIPPED. Its unique and unprecedented feature of DUAL VENTILATION is in itself well worth close inspection. We take this opportunity to extend youa most cordial invitation to visit our show- rooms to view the English Coach and the rest of our somplete line of Auburns at the POTOMAC SALES COMPANY 11.° 14th St. N.W. Max C. J. Wiehle Main 2500 AL V. Wiehle C. Jack Warnick, Director of Sales Expert Declares Business for April|U€ 0f 32-Candlepower Carbon Lamps Urged When Insufficient Batteries in Line to Take Up Full fhe method of charging the bat. teries will vary in accordance to the number which are to be handled. When only a few are to be taken eare of, and direot curreat is availa- ble, a bank of lamps In conmection with a fused double pole switch will answer all requirements. For such charging, a number of lamp sockets are mounted on a board and are con- nected in multiple, the entire group belng connected in series with the switch and the battery. As many lamps as may be found necessary to obtain the correct charging rate are then screwed into the sockets. As a thirty-two candlepower , carbon lamp allows practically one ampere to pass through, such lamps are gen- erally used. If they camnot bLe ob- tained, however, two sixteen candle- power carbon lamps may be used in the place of each ome of the larger sise required. If direct current is mot available, some means of rectification must be provided. The method most com- monly used is basxed on the mercury arc principle, though the medinm em- ploved varies according to the type of rectifier. Such rectifiers use the current on but one part of tic wave and their eficisncy varies from 60 to 3 per cent, though some manufac- turers ciafm a higher percentage. Of such rectifiers, the Tungar is perhaps the most popular. As they take up no floor space (being attached to the wall). and are exceedingly simple in operation, they have enjoyed a long reign of popularity. In the methods outlined in the foregoing the bat- tories must be connected in series if the most oconomical charging cost i8 to be obtained. Series charging. however, is wasteful at its best; and it the least expense is to be incurred, the line must be kept filled to its capacity at all times. The difference between the 118-voit | charging line and the 6 to § volts equired to charge a singls 6-volt battery represents just so much waste, as the difference in the voltage must be dissipated through a resist- ance and therefore serves no useful purpose. When connected in series, ten or twelve batteries may be char; Power. ed from the line at a much lower cost per battery than would be re- quired if only, ‘one battery were to be charged. The Tungar, for instance, will charge ten batteries at one-third of the cost per battery when the line is practically full. In such cases the ten batteries receive practically all the current, leaving none to be wast- od through a resistance; while if only one battery is being charged the bat- tery will recelve but a part of the total current and the resistance will receive the rest. 110 CHRYSLERS DAILY. Output of 150 Cars Expected Be- fore April 30. Production Teports from the Chrys ler Motor Corporation indicate that the company bas not omly been able (o maintain ts recent rate of 100 cars o day, but has betterod this mark in the past week, with every sign point- | ing to capacity production by the end of_April. ’ For the last’several weeks of March {the Chrysier plant was tarning out 1100 cars every day. iIn the past six working days the average has been 110 cars a day. J. E. Fields, general { sales manager of the company, xaid in'a statement yosterday that capac- | ity production of 150 cars dally wiil undoubtedly be reached before April 30. - ! e | OBSERVATIONS. | Biowing the born is the one fcuture | of driving that & new operator picks up |and forgets quickest. | The man who votes for the prohibi- | tion of parking is usually some one who | |hasn’t been able to “make” the space he was after. More people are killed worrying about whether high speed is safe than are | actually deomed through disaster. | | Those who don't worry don't speed. | Naturally motordom will be all up in the air over balloon tires for the time being. “DRIVE” the new Test the remarkable efficiency of Cadillac Four Wheel Brakes—which assure maxi- mum safety in fic, in an emergency, or on the open road. THE WASHINGTON CADILLAC COMPANY Radolph Joue, Prexident. 1138-1140 Comn. Ave. T. W. BARRETT, Associate Dealer, Z4th and M Sts. CADI “STAN NN\ 2228 congested traf- SAFETY DEVICES URGED FOR CARS| More Necessary Than Improve-| ments in Body Lines or “Refine- ments,” Expert Declares. CHICAGO—Devices 1o increass safety, ruther than improvements in “refinements,” | body lines, moter or must cccupy tho attention of auto- mobile manufacturers if this industry is to continus to thrive, Richard E. Kropf, supreme regent of the Royal| Arcanum, deolared in an address hero. Motoring accidents are the only elass which shows a marked in- crease each year, he said, and this is partly due to the fact that braking and accelerator comtrol hsve not been rendered safe in cmergencies. “The sensitive accelerator is, I be- lieve, the cause of 60 per cemt of our autoniobile amceidents.” said Mr Kropf, who has made a sudy of safety appliances in connection with the nation-wide accident prevention campeign of the Royal Aremnum among its 1,300 councils in the United States and Canada. “Until a less sensitive mubstitute is invented or a braking mystem with which it inter- locks, I fear we cannot expeot our motor accidents to fall off in num- ber. Compress'on brakes or shaft brakes have not received the atten- tion they deserve in America. Foult ldes tn Theory. “The fault lies in the theory that the movements of the hand and foot aceslerator to foot brake and of hand to emergency are performed auto- maticaily in the twinkling of an eye As a matter of fact, when danger looms, the body stiffens, the oot is thrust more firmly on the accelerator while the nervous hand grips the Provides a wheel. The car leaps forward and another crash with its toll of killed { and maimed resulte, “AN American braking systems rely primarily on brute force and friction. No _system aflects the spark or gas. T am informed by ex- perts that a brake which will auto- matically eut off gas and spark at given point is practical. The'possi- bilities of some cases of tromble and the trade tendency agaimst ‘clutter- ing up the car has undoubtedly pre- vented these elaborations of real gafety to get a fair showing Aserican meda WILLYS OUTPUT 24,091 Strong Position. Surpassing all previous monthly production records with a production position of the past few weeks is now shown to be fully warranted The company also exceeded any previous guarter with a total of 68,451 cars for the first quarter of this year. Willys-Overland production for the first quarter of 1923 was 44,470 cars, | which in itself was a very large in- previous year, but this vear's pro@ue- tion is an increase of 54 per cent over the same period last year. Shipments reached their high point on March 31, when the total was 1,585 cars. CITES SWEDISH AUTO LAWS. Pedestrians in many American the United States’ laws controlling the issuance of automobile licenses will become ax strin, e in S den. Therd one must not only be a good driver, but show proof of being 2 mechanic and of having an excel- | 1ent character and physicality. Taxation relief on automotive gonde voted by the House of Represemta- | tives will amount to $24,000,000. Quick Getaway — sluggishness. There’s a Filling Station Near You—Look for the Sign Showing for March Held Proof of | of 24,091 cars for March, tho strong | Willys-Overiand during | |crease over the same perind for the | | cities are wishing for the time when | we- | |BAD WEATHER HOLDS | | DOWN AUTO SALES | | Conditions in March Affected Motor l Car Industry—Rrisk Busimess Foreseer by Expert. cond: in| ons are funds 1> permanent tactor g | w ounter that would militate motor car sales at least as last year o7 unseasonable weather ef | March, which hus probably been more | nation-wide than in vears, is the onlv | outstanding factor that prevemtsd as. |1arge a sale in this month as wus ex- Dected “We now expect brisk, gu! - ing from now on.” g aad C. J. Nephler, general sales mana- ger of Oakland, who has retgrned with (eorge H. Hannum, presidant of the company, gave these conclusions Rfter a three weeks’ trip through the large cities of the northwest and west “When we arrived in Minweapelis on Gur return trip,” Mr. Nephiler ez~ plained, “we found fourtesn inches of #snow. Tk mdition has been pre Beneral throughout the counmtry.’ ‘ar dealers made tremendous! large sales in January and Februar: | many of them for delivery in March. | The unseasonable March weather pre | vented delivery in March and alwe |ftopped a cousiderable number of ';Buln= in this month | _“No branch or distributor in the widely scattered territory complaimed ‘nr lack of business—their whole story was their inability to deltver ars until the weather warmed up. | "The lumber industry of the north- west has been good; the varied crops {and industries on the Pasific coast are good; Texas is aptimistic over the | proepects of a good cotton crop: males ‘ In Florida have been good during the entire winter, the chief sell | tn that section.” NG Mexat: 'MOTOR FUEL AS ft.xggishM otorIsanA nhoyance ¥very driver wants his car to respond quickly to the throttle. A poor grade of fuel is ofttimes the cause of motor Lighting wickly, giv the moment of ignition. Motor Fuel, because of its ability to vaporize an instantaneo and powerful explosion at Try Lightning and Become a Regular Usef PENN / Rossivn, Va. OIL CO. Phones West 166, Main 6608 EXCEPTIONAL RIDING [OMFORT Frank. 3900, 3901, 3902 West 2880, LLAC DARD" The Greatest Invention Since the Self-Starter Orie authority has stated that Ethyl Gas is the gréatest invention known to the automobile industry since the development of the self- starter. This is because it makes possible greater power,smoother operation,the elimina- tion of harmful carbon and a greater fuel economy.For years the world has waited forthe development of a more efficient fuel. “Stand- ard” Ethyl Gas meets this expectancy. You should use “Standard” Ethyl Gas in your car. GENERAL MOTORS CHEMICAL CO., DAYTON, OHY0 “Standard” Ethyl Gas at any gsawlddfli"www Owners continue to comment on ‘the marked riding comfort of Dodge Brothers Motor Car. - Increased chassis length, low- swung body and generous seat depth have much to do with this. Primarily, however, it must be accredited to the greater buoy- ancy of the new spring equip- ment. The rear springs are ten inches longer, and underslung. P . 1375 7. 0. . : ‘;’l‘i"‘b 3 1. o. b. Detroit; SEMMES MOTOR COMPANY 8 Dupont Circle Main 6660