Evening Star Newspaper, May 24, 1925, Page 63

1. ROAD YSTEN PXTENSIN RAPD Upward of 500,000 Miles Now Hard Surfaced, Fed- eral Authorities Estimate. Approximately 500,000 miles of sur- faced roads span the United States from coast to coast, and almost 40,000 miles are being added to the total each Year. These figures are based on esti- mates made by the Department of Agriculture. The last complete survey of the road | improvement situation was made four years ago, when the tot surfaced mileage was fi~ured at 387,760 miles. While the exact state of road improve: ment in the United States at the pres- ent time is not known, reports to the Department of Agriculture in the last few years of road activities warrant the conclusion that the total mi is close to 500,000 miles. In announcing these figures, the de- | partment calls attention to certain er- | roneous ideas current about road im Pprovement. Economy, Not Luxury. “Improved roads, just issued, “are not luxuries. movement of every vel there is a certain cos if the road be improv left in a state of nature. Logically, therefore, the only limit that should be placed on expenditures for road im provement is the amount that c in vehic erating This amount, , depends upon the number of vehicles using the road The country loses more in increase cost of operating vehicles by not proving roads than it costs to prove them. “Another common error should be har cing with concrete, brick, t, stone or wood blocks is an expensive proce: i is that suggestions, n be | the {and will readily discover U. 8. Court Fixes Responsibility of Cars at Crossings The United States Court of Appeals in_ Philadelphia_recently decided that automobiles have the right of way over pedestrians on streets set aside for them, but at street crossings, even when traffic signals are set for them to proceed, they must have their ma- chines under control for quick stops. The decision was made in uphold- ing a $10,000 verdict against a taxicab company, the beneficlary being a widow. ~Her husband started over a street crossing and the signal changed when he reached the center, permit- ting vehicular traffic to proceed. He was killed by a cab which, witnessez testified, was running between 35 and 40 miles an hour. . CAR DEPRECIATION PREVENTABLE, CLAIM D. C. Packard Dealer Says Auto Should Last at Least Three Years. Believing that a large percentage savs a statement | of depreciation in motor cars is pre- For the | ventable, Oscar Coolican, president of e over a road | the Packard Washington Motor Car . which is less|Co., has listad for the benefit of car 1 than if it be |owners a number of ventiv suitable pre- Any vner who follows these three he contends, will catch spirit of depreciation prevention many pre- ventives that are applicable to his own particular case. According to Mr. Coolican, the simplest of the preventives is that which eliminates the cost of first-year depreclation. . “Buy a car with the idea of being entirely satisfied with it at least three years from date of purchase,” he recommends, “and the matter of first-year depreciation will the ment, It is p them, and quite_effective in travel “When vehicles using a road are| e An unsurfaced, but compar: zraded and maintain. is faced road continuous good condition Wwith stone, sand-clay though more costl: ing, will generally the greater ating when gravel ro nnot vehicles over it. traffic is greater applied. It is not necessar: one of the hard-surfaced the traflic becomes very dense. is necessar Prine and economical. e Is Definite. All roads should be improvez, says maximum_de- gree that the traffic on them justifies, | the deparfment, to the but no road should be improved be apacity. rved, t xpenditure for any within the yearly of operating the vehic it carry. 1In other word: the ‘public in type the worth of road improvement. say that all roads should be hard-sur tment points out, way of urging expen- diture in excess of income. Still another common mistake is the idea that there is such a_thing as a his delusion, says has been responsible main- e highway ny longer har- hroughly agncies regardless of type, grad- out under and the action permanent road. the department h_disregard of Non, t artments, however, rbor this error. derstood by all road: depreciate i r the wheels of veh road It is no these pul | against educing the cost of | trouble. or ‘gravel, al-|sell and buy a new car. than simple grad. e compensated b; aving in the cost of oper Similarly than d will carry, a bituminous, macadam surface can be economically to use pes \n\!l!‘l When that point is reached, hard-surfacing When this prin e required annual | of road is| avings in the cost has the return to the form of economic transportation is the sole measure of | detour s of the weather. To keep a road in y good order, it is neces- sary to start maintaining it the day its construction is completed. TIP TO CAR OWNER. owner knows whether his d or pulled under its own asked this' question he v imagine he was being > truth of the is, however, that an automobile is pushed. The “drive” is transmitted the turning axles and rear s to the chassis and body either through the s gs or by means of tubes, rods or braces. The method of pushing, through the s dri $10.00—SPECIAL—$16.00 STUDEBAKER BRAKES Relined with Genuine Thermoid BRAKE SPECIALISTS FREE TEST AND ADJUSTMENT Champlain Motor Service Co. Rear 1420 K St. N.W. Not ever: Champion is better because of its gas-tight, two-piece construction, which allows it to be taken apart for cleaning. Champion X for Fords 60c. Blue Soxforallothercars, 73¢. More than 95,000 dealers sell Cham- pions. You will know the gen- Mine by the dowble-ribbed core. Champion Spark Plug Co. Toledo, Ohio Windsor, Ont., London, Paris not play any part in .the financial side of your motoring. Systematic Service. “The second most effective weapon depreciation is systematic servicing of the car. 1 have made a careful study of why the average motorist changes from one make of car to another so frequently and I find that it is largely because tnere has been no provision for preventing serious car ailments. Just as soon as anything goes wrong with the car the owner fears he is in for a streak of Immediately he wants to “Many losses are taken by motor- ists just because they feel that every new innovation in car design means that his model is obsolete. The wise motorist keeps in mind that some of the most obsolete cars of today were the most advanced just a short while ago. He does not take a depreciation loss on his car until he feels that it is out of date as judged by the average of representative cars, and by that time he has enjoyed full use of it.” HOW TO CHOOSE DETOUR. Rule Given When Road Lacks Proper Markings. an apparently well marked idenly will become devoid of all markings and, worst of all, at a fork in the road. Here is where definite directions are needed most, and motorists have a legitimate com- plaint against highway officials for neglect. But the experienced detourer selects the roadl that seems to be best from a paving standpeint, knowing that often direction signs are elimi- nated when either road will take him where he wants to go. As EBONITE “Strings" to a Stick, So I Wind Around the Gears Often MR. MOTORIST No matter what the weather conditions are—hot or cold —No matter how heavy the load, or how strenuous the duty, EBONITE does its work silently and efficiently. It follows the gears, always forming a filmy cushion of oil between metal parts, pre- venting noise and wear. Buy with your mind made up. Demand EBONITE. Take no substitute, At dealers in cans, " and at tions from _the EBONITE checker-bourd pump onlx. (ITS SHREDDOED OIL) FOR TRANSMISSIONS AND REAR AXLES BAYERSON OIL WORKS -COLUMBIA 5228 THE SUNDAY - STAR, ‘WASHINGTON, .D. John Smith and His Car BY FREDERICK C. RUSSELL. John Smith is a character whom every motorist should welcome. * He is not selfish; rather he is a motoring martyr, a chap willing and glad to have exploited, in an interesting way, his experiences for the benefit of the other 10,000,000 or more members of the motor clan. No. 99—More Engine Mysteries. Smith gradually caught on to & new idea. He found that every time he took the car to a repairman he always learned a lot more about it, even though actual work might not be necessary. He noticed that mechanics, like other people, enjoy talking about thelr work. Wby not spend a dollar now and again for mechanic’s time, and get in on the free discussions? All of which explains why the fol- lowing Saturday afternoon found Smith delving into more engine mys- teries with Joe, a_genlal mechanic of the old school. The pretext for the trip to the shop was the loss of en- gine power, which had bothered Smith on_his most recent long trip. Joe decided the first thing was to look over the carburetor to make sure the mixture was not too lean. The way the motor responded to quick acceleration without popping back, however, was proof enough that the trouble ran deeper. Compression was the next consideration, particularly since Smith's car was getting to a point where the cylinders might pos- sibly have worn a bit oval. Smith Grows Apprehensive. This time Smith feared he had gone too far with his plan, and that the inspection would ‘cost him more than he would gain in information. Natu- rally he was surprised to find how sim- ple a matter it is to test for compres- sion. Joe simply opened all the petcocks except the one for cylinder No. 1. Then he cranked over the engine and noted how much resistance piston No. 1 offered when it came up on its com- pression stroke. Hach cylinder was tested in this same manner, namely, by closing its petcock and opening all the rest. “I don’t quite understand how that tells you anything about the com- pression,” Smith said. “As a matter of fact, T don’t know what compre: sion has to do with the motor anywa If you find it so difficult to crank the engine by hand why doesn’t this com- pression act as sort of a drag on the motor?”* ‘It does to a certain extent,” Joe replied, “because the cylinders that are being fired have to do the work of compressing the mixture in the others, but the advantages of high compression more than offset this power loss.” Joe stopped abrupt FREE Tube Repair Kit with every purchase amounting to one dollar or more, exclusive of gasoline (Until June India Tires “They Keep Down the Upkeep” Easy Credit Terms realizing that 1925) Potomac Tire Co. 28th and M Sts. Announcing Our Appointment as Distributor for D. C., Maryland and Virgini oatilige Reflectors & Head Lamps NO EXCUSE FOR POOR LIGHTS Throw away your tarnished reflectors and your dingy lens. Flatlite Makes Plain Glass Legal A Beautiful Non-Glare Driving Light Legal in D. C. and Every State. Other motorists will appreciate your FLATLITE as much as you do. The cost is low, $3 to $7, plus installa- tion for reflectors installed in your own headlights. New Lamps Complete $6, $8, $10 and $12 Per Pair CREEL BROS. Distributor and Official Service for Delce, Klaxon, Remy, Eisema Robert Bosch, Stromberg Carl 1312 14th St. Basco, Connecticut, Atwater Kent, retor, Stromberg Shock Absorber. .Main 7539 We move our automotive department about Ma; 14th St. N.W. 27th to our new location at 1811-13-15-17 Smith did not know anything at all about genpression, and hated to ad- mit it. “Before 1 explain another point or two I want to ask you something,” he sald. “Where do you think the com- pression occurs - Smith hesitated. “I don't know ex- actly,” he admitted, “but it would seem to me that when the gas mix- ture in a cylinder is fired by the spark from its plug the downward action of the piston would compress the air be- low it—in the chankcase, in other words. That's why I should ¢hink compression would be a handicap to the engine. Joe was not at all surprised at Smith's idea of compression, because it is simply a summary of the aver- age motorist’s belief. Pointers for the Notebook. “Now that we're down to brass tacks I'm ready to give you a few pointers for your notebook,” Joe re- plied. “The sort of compression: you speak of does occur in every internal combustion motor, but it is not what mechanics refer to as compression. The back pressure in the crankcase due to action of the pistons is very largely relleved by insertingbreather tubes. One of these is usually used for the oil filler pipe. “The real compression is found in the cylinders themselves. Here's the situation: A piston has sucked in a mixture of gas from the carburetor. Both intake and exhaust valves close. The piston is carried upward by the rotation of the shaft and the momen- tum of the fiywheel, due in turn to the firing of the other cylinders. The gas vapor in the particular cylinder occupies—in your motor—48 cubic inches of space. As the piston is forced upward this gas is compressed until i occuples a very small space between the top of the piston and the “Motorist’s Eye,” New Optic Ailment, Held Due to Strain “Motorist’s eye” is a new optic all- ment said to result from strain by fixing the eye on a gray-white road surface. Opticians have found that minor eye troubles are found among motor- ists which they attribute to the con- stant strain of looking at the white- gray road, especially on bright days. This condition has been recognized in England and the suggestion has been made that the surfaces of all roads be painted green to protect the eyes of automobile drivers. cylinder head. The pressure of the gas vapor at this point is known as the cylinder's compressfon. The high- er the compression at this point the more the gas there will be to fire and do work when the spark plug ignites it. The reason why old engines lose power is usually because the pistons do mot fit snugly into the cylinders. and the compressed gas leaks around into the crankcase, “But. that isn’t the only reason for low compression. If the valves don't seat properly compressed gas can leak out ‘thete. Small leaks also occur if the petcocks or spark plugs are loose. In a Iot of cases the piston rings are worn or bad. If this is the case the engine will also pump ofl into the cyl- inders.” “But_this’ engine’s very economical on ofl,” Smith explained. “Then the trouble is with the valvek,”” Joe retorted. “Isn’t that log- ical? T've located the weak cylinder as No. 4. Perhaps there’s a lot of car bon around the seat of its exhaust valve. Try pouring a little kerosene into this cylinder tonight through the tecock. See if that doesn’t help.” ‘When Smith started off on his Sun- day trip with a motor running lke clockwork he knew it had paid in a dozen. ways to spend 10 minutes with Joe. Next Week: The Timing Gears. (Copyright, 192 Every Time.It'’s Called to Bat—It Makes LIG HTNING MOTOR FUEL L, MAY 24, 1925—PART HARDING HIGHWAY NOW DEFINITELY LAID OUT Route From Washington to Den- ver Passes Through Marion; Escapes Big Cities. The Harding Highway, a_memorial to the late President, nitely laid out Denver and plans are being made to push this road through to San Fran- cisco, according to L. M. Vaughn, ex- ecutive secretary of the Harding Me- morial Assoeciation. Most of the road between Washing- ton and the Indiaha-Ohio line is paved; in Indiana it is either paved or good gravel, and in Illinois it is partly paved. The route escapes the larger cities and passes through Marion, Ohio, and the smaller towns in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri and Ne- braska. The officers of tise association are: Carl J. Gugler, Galion, Ohio; William Holverstott, vice president, Marion, and L. M. Vaughn, secretary, Marion. KEEP CHAMOIS IN WATER. Precaution Keeps Cleaner Free of Lint and Dirt. A chamois should always be kept in clean water, never allowed to dry out and get stiff. If this precaution is taken there will be no annoying lint to collect on the hood and the win- dows after you have washed and dried off the car with the chamois. Always keep the best chamois for the windows and rub off the glass with a clean cheesecloth duster after using the chamois. WHOLESALE RIMS FOR ALL WHEELS Rundlett Rim Co. 1336 14th St. N. A Lightning Filling Station Near You 5 t035% MORE PEP-MORE POWER- MORE MILE EPENDABILITY is one of the principal characteristics of LIGHT- NING. It is equal to all you ask it to do. Quick to get into action, powerful on the drive, instantly responsive to the driver’s control. There's not a traffic emergency conceivable that can tease LIGHTNING into strik- ing out! FUEL OIL Our Fuel Oil Department specializes in quick service. 01l for all type burners—Phone Franklin 891. PENN OIL CO. Rosslyn, Va. Franklin 391 has been defl- || from® Washington to|| Announcing OUR Removal To better serve our patrons we have moved from” our old .quarters at 1517 Connecticut Avenue to our new and more spacious show rooms— 1605-1607 14th St. N.W. _ Drop in any time—inspect our new quarters and the luxurious display of New Flint models. Washington-Flint:Co. 1605-1607 14th St. N.W. Potomac 1673, NOTICE: TO FLINT! OWNERS i 1acwd in ‘ot it Our service' station is now service building, 17th and V Streets ) Telephone North 8418 Finer Performance—Lower Costs Make Contented Owners Touring Car, C. Clab o 3895 t0 $109S. All prices f.0.b. Detreit, tax extre. We are pleased to extend the convewience of time-payments. Ask about Maxwell's attracnive plan. Maswell dealers and erior Maxwell service rywhe It's a great delightto own a gas- oline economy of 25 miles to the gallon. There arestillother reasons for the genuine content- ment that distinguishes all good Maxwell owners. Their car rides with greater comfort and ease than any other four. Operating and maintenance charges are amazingly low—an advan- tage Maxwell owners have because of the built-in quality of a car that is com- pletely manufactured with- in its own great plants. Good judgment suggests that you get the Maxwell facts before you buy your next car. Owners will tell you of its economy, but a single demonstration will show you how it performs and rides. H. B. LEARY, JR. AND BROS. Distributors MAXWELL—CHRYSLER North 4296 Chrysler Showroom ral Offices and Service 1612-22 You St. N.W. Maxwell Showroom 1321-23 14th Street N.W, Bring Your Car to Us_ For the Wonderful New Lacquer Finish— y hy Finish’ Drive your car into our shop and it will take us much less time to put on “Mur- cote.” Moreover, this new kind of finish pos- sesses amazing durability, hardness, toughness and imperviousness. Nothing seems to harm it—dried mud, bifing sleet, baking sun. . We know how it should be used to get a job you will be proud of. Bring us your car and talk it over. Or phone us. Semmes Motor Co. “We Paint While You Ride” 613-617 G St. N.W. Main 6660 & One Car—the Finest Possible The V-63 Cadillac of today is the climax of ten years of concentration on the de- velopment of this one eight-cylinder car. Powerful, vibrationless, long-lived, un- failingly dependable, it stands out as America’s finest automobile. ¢ APDTL 1LAC New Cadillacs may be purchased on the . time payment plan: - - The ‘Washing.ton Cadillac Company RUDOLPH JOSE, President 1138-1140 Conn. Ave. apparent in‘a casual inspection of the C.‘.tfr%:':‘,:‘ is the result of more than two decades 8%2; automobile experience. Sat}ist’nctory SeryA ice is further assured by authorized Buiék maintenance- departments; -wheréver’ gou may motor. Stanley H. Horner __Retail ‘Dealer 1015 14th St.- Main 5296 ““Cowvenient to Downtown”