Evening Star Newspaper, August 30, 1925, Page 61

PROSPERITY REFLECTED IN AUTO-BUYING WAVE Saturation Point, Talked of in 1920, For- gotten in Sale of 16,000,000 Cars Since That Time—>5.,000,000 Junked. BY WILLIAM ULLMAN. | Despite the fact that every one seems 10 own a motor car, production and =ules of automobile continue un abated, and the question naturally | arises “Who's buyving them An analysis of the situation indi cates the a obile s un covered an entire fever which promises to tive statements of terday. Since the saturation cussed In 1920 approximately 16, automobil been produced in sold here and abroad. It ficant to record s pictured the mation as having absorbed all the mo. tor vehicles it was capable of, approx mately 5,000,000 automobiles have been Junked. Where does all the buving power originate? Or, which is more perti nent, where do et the money? The general impression is that while salaries and wages high, livin costs are proportionally high, which would naturally leave no more th the pre-war margin of income to Y applied to the purchase of motor car. That this impression is a far ery from the facts, however, is merely a matter | of consulting the figures from the | United States Bureau of Labor statis- | ties, Wage Average Gain Great. | Since 1913 the average union wage | rate per hour has increased 128 per | scent, while the corresponding increase in miscellaneous cor es is only | 17 per cent. Fuel . while increasing 70 per cent, have not as & the increase in wages. | g prices, which represent | reases, are still | n howeve 1 this margin of inco through the entire war and post-war period, which accounts for the new and somewhat unexpected buying power just now coming into evidence. The American wage earn. er has fought to obtain a wage that would be in keeping with living cost and now that income is safely above expenditures he finds he has some- thing to spend for the things he al ays has wanted and needed, in ad dition to setting something aside for | a rainy day. i Wage earners are, therefore, either | buying their first cars or are buying v to take the place > discarding. Added | pulse is t have mnot | e over ax- those the: th na venience of t not to me e prices and high values of cars | Among business executives much | the same situation exists. The man | who formerly earned $10,000 or $15,- | 000 & vear has forced his salary up to $20,000 and $25,000. There has heen a recent and extensive gradu- ation of the five-thousand-a-vear men into the salary group just under the five-figure class. These people have money to Invest, as the long continued *bull market” of the stock exchanges will show, and they are ready to in- vest in more modern motor transpor- tation. Are Keeping “Spare” Car. 4 These are the people who are keep. ing a “spare” car. These are the peo. ple who prefer a new each year to the annoyance of repairing and re- painting. These are the people who buy new models in order to stimulate | and enjoy the advance in engineering principles. In between the wage earner and the executive comes the avarage salaried man and the American farmer. They are both buying cars freel though investigations show that they are buy- ing for different reasons. Their rea. sons also differ materially from those behind the purchasing power and de- sires of the earner or the executive and p s merchant. extremely low | | aims high | keen betwee | turers | as_he pictures them off the | ently labor is | which AUTO REPAIRING Coties Veies T. J. CAMFIELD 22nd and M West Conveniently Located on Fourteenth Street o Hawkins Nash Motor Co. Sales and Service 1337 14th St. Main 5780 | As EBONITE "Strings™ o a Stick, SotWinds/Z2 > Around the Gears TR. MOTORIST We originated and especially designed EBONITE as the correct lubrication for the Transmission and_ Differen- tial gears of vour Motor Car or Tru It cushions the gears, takes asut the extra play and grind, and one filling is enough for | all season. No other gear lubricant is ike it. Buy with your mind made up. Demand EBONITE. Take no substitute. At dealers’ in_ five-pound cans, and at service stations from the EBONITE checker- board pump onls. "EBONITE (1T SHREDDED 0IL) FOR TRANSMISSIONS AND REAR AXLES BAYERSON DILWORKS -COLUMBIA 5228 ‘ The avarage salarled man {s not making as much as he wants, nor is | he making as much as he needs in| many instances. But he is aiming for | the exi ive post and in buying hi as he does in buying anything else that helps him get along. Competition is such people. Frequent- Iy a man will buy just be cause he does ant to be out classed by Automobile manufacturers report a trend toward better cars, pointing out that the average motorist is making | it plain that he aspires to distinction | in ownership. That the manufac are catering to this new de- mand is merely a matter of noting | the number of companies now making | better and higher-priced models, well as the high-grade companies | making popular versions of their ca in order to assist the motorist in reaching the higher grade cars in easy farmer is buying cars because tes are paving the roads to rsteps and because the auto mobile is his means of getting back on his feet. It is not a luxury matter h the farmer as vet. He in the for zood u ars as well as the popular priced new ones. He helps the market in either case. State Furthers Buying. In one State the governor and in fluential business men are giving new | life to the annual State fair with the idea of discouraging the abandon- ment of farm milar movements elsewhere are giving the small farmer | new hope and are encouraging him to invest in a car, if only to satisfy that | longing to be in the swim of things | farm How long will it last? An authority | writing on the subject of continua- | tion of high wages, sa collecting back dividends on the lean years between 1914 and 1921, and it may be expected to stretch | this collecting period at least until 1930.” | This is, however, assuming prices of commodities and living costs £o down and that wages will follow. But the general tone of business in the country today suggests no such reduction in living costs The automotive industry seems to feel that it has settled down to a stable business, buoyed up for the present by the cheapness of money, | but intrenching itself so rapidly in| the life of the Nation that even a sudden desire on the part of the public to make each car last much longer would not affect the situation materially. Furthermore, there is the inc volume of export business many believe will serve as stabilizer on the industry, eventually taking factory production in periods | when domestic conditions flourishing. Clearly, everybody is buying auto- | mobiles. Psychologists would say that was reason enough for the con- tinued and growing popularity of the motor car. The average person fol- lows the crowd, and the crowd today rolls on balloon tires behind throbbing motors. (Copyright. 1925.) that | are not | - Dopee ODROTHERS COMMERCIAL CAR With the following improvements in the Panel Commercial Car, Dodge Brothers have gone beyond current practice both in point of smart appearance and greater THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, AUGUST 30, AFTER HONKING AT A CAR TO LET You BY ON-A NARROW ROAD YOU STALL YOUR ENGINE JUST AS HE PULLS OVER 50 YoU CAN PASS— HOT-WEATHER HINTS. Shock-Absorbing Devices Must Be Made Tighter. Inyhot weather the devices which control the rebound of your springs may need a tighter adjustment. Heat expands parts, a fact which not merely affects the adjustment with some devices but makes for too free action of the control mechanism. One type of spring control uses a steel cable, instead of a_strap, to attach the spring to the coil. 1f this length ens a_little, due to expansion, the r will be likely to bound too much n another popular device there are two small interacting members in the | center of the coil which are inclined | to work too freely in hot weather. Another device uses graphite inserts to lubricate the brakes of the coils, tighter adjustment being recom- mended to offer this freer action in hot weather. The balloon tire has three distinct qualities: Low air pressure, broad surface and extra resillency. comfort for the driver: A closed cab is now provided, steel through- out, with a full-length and extra wide steel door. The windows, operating in noiseless runways, are raised and lowered as in passenger cars. | freeze in Winter the engine is gettin’| It'samusin’ to me to see how few car owners around here make any effort to keep their engines runnin’ cool in Summer. All Winter long they cover the radlator with special fronts, and every time they stop they wrap the hood In the robe. The car is stored in the warmest place they can find. A lot of owners even pour a little hot ater Into the radiator ®en starting off In the mornin’ just to boost efii- | clency. | So long as the engine doesn’t over- heat to a point where the radiator boils over in Summer, however, the wverage motorist seems satisfied. 1t is just about as logical as figurin’| that so long as the radiator doesn't all the attention it needs. How many car owners try to find cool places to store their cars in the Summer? How many know that the cooler thelr engines run in hot weath- er the more efficiency they will de- liver and the more power they will develop? 1 know one chap who always at- cause, as he says, atin’ temperature.” four winds. where it coolin’ won't stem. gine runnin’ usin’ the choker. space? The seat is deeply cushioned and equipped with a spring back, hinged to fold forward, assuring exceptional riding comfort. The tire carrier is under the rear, freeing the full areaof theside panelsfor dis®lay advertising. Attractive and practical in design, this sturdy car offers the additional advantage of complete, year-round protection from rain and cold. Panel Commercial Car $995. f. o. b. Detroit. $1 8 DUPONT CIRCLE ‘Snr(’quea (ofie Bty | Phone 14 RAPHAEL SEMMES, PRESIDENT AND, 1707 14th ST. N.W. 50 deli SEMMES MOTOR COMPANY Main’ 6660 ered taches his license place on a bar in front of the radiator in Winter, ne-] Industry. “4t all helps to| shield the radiator from cold air and | keeps the engine at a higher oper-| But when mer comes he throws logic to In Winter car owners le: when parkin minutes just so as to keep the tem perature up and prevent the need for But why don't they shut off the engine in Summer every time they can coast ‘Why don’t they plck out s 1925—PART 3. Akron, centenntal memorated Ohio, recentl: anniversary the progress the of the car WHI She oot s tho. hinaien Akron's industrial pageant required m hours to pa: in it many in days in the o owth. ve the en itan for a few a parkin’[to park the'car? Why ady spots f. 0. b. factory | how | within a few d: | during the ear i AKRON STAGES PAGEANT. lPictures 100 Years of Growth in observed its and 0 that has Sum- heen made there in the world's trans- 4 portation through the development of He doesn’t seem to see | ro rubber industry, why he should remove the license tag | T to some place on the front interfere One of- the features of the celebra- tion was a pageant of progress which vears | the momentum of the c ziven point, and had relics of early don't they in ice water when they 'FEW CAR DRIVERS KNOW HOW TO OPERATE ENGINE Proper Methods of Starting Save Repair Bills and Prolong Life of the Average Car. BY FREDERICK C. RUSSELL With nine out of ten drivers clash. ing gears, stalling their source of power and starting off like a shot from a cannon, the question arises How many motorists actu know to run thelr engines? The as- sumption seems to be that the engine is a thing of fixe like the brakes or the st and tl 11 one has fo do is use need matter of fact 1gine ¢ any automobile is a highly compli ted plece of mechanism, und if the af first” advocates were more al they would urge all State motor vehicle departments to examine the applicant for license as to his ability to handle his engine hefore considering his ability to handle the car. This is aside from the many other advantages accruing to a c owner as a result of handling his en- ine_ to best advant Starting in Cold Weather. It would seem that with all the practice drivers get in daily use of the car they would soon learn how to start and stop their e nes effec but such is not the case. They ictice mistakes. It was sev: years before one owner caught on to a little plan for a quicker start, vet he could have discovered this s' time had he prac- ticed intelligently. He discovered that if he cranked the engine a few ,seconds before switching on the ignition the cngine would start quicker on a cold morn- ing. The reason was this: When he cranked with the ignition switched on the spark was feeble because maxi | mum current was being drawn from the battery for the r and the mixture in the cylinders was so poor as to burn but weakly, even if ignited v stages of the crank- When he kept the igni- tion “off” the cylinders loaded up with a good rich mixture and current went to the starter, so that it could give the engine a smart spi thus increasing compression. S ing on the ignition then sent a better spark to each cylinder at the more appropriate time. There is considerable variation in ing proc the operation of engines, but certain | rules serve in most cases to help the driver get better results from his power plant, so that, In turn, he can get better results from his car. For instance, every driver should know how to crank his engine by letting r do the work of the starter, not merel a means of saving the battery when such sa ings are in order, but mainly as means of avoiding the danger of b ing caught with r and a weak battery in a hazardous loc: tion. If the driver is eager to get out of the way as quickly as possible, when his motor has stalled, he should leave the car in gear and step on the The New ADVANCED SIX SEDAN 4-wheel brakes, full balloon tires and 5 disc wheels included at no extra cost Nothing in the world will convince you more quickly of the greater quality of this new Advanced Six Sedan than to look at it—then look at any other car in its field. WALLACE MOTOR CO. Distributor Retail Sales Room, 1709 L Street—Main 7612 | diately the engine maximum | | starter. And he should do more, if desires the quickest possible ac | tion. He should open the throttle by means of the hand control on the | steering post. Many drivers will pro ceed regularly up to the point of opening the throttle, and the result i 1 the engine starts 1t will use the car is in hi - and rolling at such a low speec This is one of the things a motor ist should know out his engine fc safety’s sz om the economy he must con points. He would figure that to star the engine off with a lot of gas would mean to cause a lot of strain in the | clutch, universal joints and rear axle |So he would feed but a moderate mount of zas and declutch imme rted and before t would have & chance to stall again "| by reason of pulling the car at suck {low speed When these with a m in high gear. iatters were discusse who had been driving with moderat success fo sever: rs he wanted to v Wi le matter couldn’t be more cor veniently solved by shifting into “sec 1" when the engine stalled, thus re vealing his painful ignorance of some of the first principles. With the en gine dead it is not possible to shift down to “second” with the average transmission without bringing the car to a nea¥ standstill. If you are going to kil the car’s momentum in order to make such a shift the advantage of letting the car crank the engine has been sacrificed, unless the machine happens to be on a downgrade at the time. Avoid Repair Bills. Have you ever tried to familiarize yourself with the various speeds of Yyour engine under different cond tions? Do you know at wh: en gine speed the engine delivers it greatest horsepower, and at abou what position of the gas throttle Do you know that torque is not same as horsepower, though it technical term used to express pull ing power, and that the torque of your engine may be particularly high at a fairly low engine speed? Knowledge of all these factors about your engine has much to do with your abllity to operate it to best advan tage, 8o that you can save repair bills glve’ your passengers a comfortable ride and not be puzzled when things don’t go so smoothly as vou expect |Many a driver shifts gears unneces sarfly just because some other driver strafned his engine running so slo in “high” a2 ting too often ir second.” The other driver may ¢ {a motor less torque and w maxim power that does n | develop unti ne is running |at very I { Thus m their rear axl 't gine. Othe (Continued on ny owners are wearing ou thelr gears and their foolish effort to save reversing the