Evening Star Newspaper, March 7, 1926, Page 65

RUBBER SHORTAGE ISBLAMEDONU.S. Britain’s Advantage Due to Foresight, Chemical Society | Journal Says. American complaint against the British rubber monopoly is not justi- fied; it is asserted editorially by Indus- trial and Engineering Chemistry, offi. cial journal of the American Chemical Soclety, of which Dr. Harrison E Howe is editor. Great Britain's advantage, it is de- clared, is due to foresight. Other countries, having let the British do it all, now have no real grievance, says the journal, pointing out that “the application of technical information obtained by the chemist would make 1t possible to use annually enough re. claimed rubber to replace ‘100.000.000 pounds of crude rubber, the product of 200,000 ac This, it is ates the neces. sity of continued reses and experi ment, to the end that compounds may he based upon a corract evaluation of the ingredients and their hehavior under service condi § 11 quan- tities of selenium, it led, have a lecided effect unon resistance of rubber compounds to abrasion Explains Monopaly. that those who talk loudly of repri; against Great Brit. ain hecause of allezed manipulation and monopoly of rubber do not mean much of what is eredited to them,” the journal sayvs. - “Monopolies are either bestowed by nature in the form highly concentrated or unique posits or are created by far- constructive working policies. “Many vears ago Great Britain foresaw the coming Importance of rub. ber and took steps to insure an ade- quate supply. Others, satisfied with their source of supply, let Great Brit- ain do it all. We cannot see that we have any real complaint to make urely our course is not to sit about and complain, but to,take legiti- mate steps to break that’ monopoly. With a very few notable exception: those who depend upon crude rubber have heretofore made no effort grow their own supply. and, ointed out previousiv, many ave delayed progress in resea svynthetic rubber “It must be de. s we ors h on Great Shortage Predicted. “The statistics presented before oongressional committee indicate ths en the most cor we shall see shor 35,000 tons of rubber four or five years The rubber industry is encourag ing a buyers’ strike among the users of its products. The tire users are to he encour: d to get the nost out of their tires. “Organizations that might have be- gUn years ago to plant rubber are now taking steps to provide for the future There is renewed activity in substi- tutes and in recovered rubber, and we may expect these developments to take a normal course. “If experience hears out in practice at now se robable in the use med ru then the Steven- an mar ‘ove to have heen in_di e. 1t has encour of rubber ve b of more within the next in hlessin proper m-inte 14 plantations “tor. of | | to T than !'“Inability | Before one gets a permit to operate jan automobile in Switzerland one | must man. Here's the test. The police examiner plants himself concernedly in the middle of some unfrequented thoroughfare and orders the potential motorist to drive swiftly down upon him, with the injunction to stop and stop only when the rim of | the bumper touches his waistband. Many have had their nerves shat- tered and fail in this feature of the test There are no reports of what hap- pened to the policeman in these fail- ures. DANGER FROM SPARK. Running Lever Up and Down May Cause Backfire. Few drivers know that | danger in running the spark control | iever up and down from retard to | reverse while the ignition is switched on, eve cuz the starter motor is | not beng used at the time. The | ammeter will show that in doing this the movement of the spark | may make and break the ignition cur . with the result that an induc k is sent to one of the spark Whether a backfire upon whether t ark reach a cylinder that is under sion or on its intake stroke. char are 10 times as gre: engine is warm to Kill” Swiss Driver’s Test For Auto License | v there is com- The if the | | | | | | iy in the hands of her chemists and technologists. what of There the rubl “ e %0 many examples of monopolies broken as a result of research that it would seem reason- able to expect some results from this quarter. India’s indigo monopoly was broken by Ge an research. and Ger- monopoly in synthetic organic has been broken by research in other countries, among which America is by no means the least. Japanese camphor has iost much of lits world importance with the perfec- tion of synthetic camphor. f “The advantage which abundant raw mater given the United ates and Canada in the production of methanol from wood 1= threatened by synthetic methan: ‘nthetic nitrates are the so much con | cern to Chile, which has.for years dic [ tated the world’s nitrate policies. Aids to Synthet | shemi Producti knowledge of petroleum A raw material indicates that it will vield a as by-product mirably as r thesis of rubber. We may have here | an entirely new and promising attack on a problem of a long-standing diff- | | culty. which may serve ad of achievement, rubber associa th this record should not the prove one’s inability to kill a | | | | | control | making more money results depends | happens to | he sarch on synthetic |1V _keen. | months in discussions of car riety of olefins and diolefins | w materials for the syn- | | | ot | production and ac T "THE SUNDAY MOTORIST An Abridged Magazine for Car Owners. EDITED BY WILLIAM ULLMAN The man who used to appraise a car by kicking the tires now slams the doors and strokes the upholstery. Penny Wiu—e: "l;o\md Rash. Students of automobile trends are a bit alarmed over the drift toward cheaper cars and are squarely back of the few manufacturers who are crying out for higher prices and bet- ters cars. The reason is not so appa ever simple it may seem, has assimilated the facts. In order to understand why cheaper models of famous cars may not produce de- sired results, it is necessary to know why manufacturing concerns elect 1o | develop lower-priced models. The big profits in the industry have heen in the quantity production fleld. A manufacturer sees that the builder a low-priced car attains recor mulates a fortune for stockholders. The manu who decides to follow this rainbow sets out with the avowed purpose of | He cannot pos- | e thinking of pleasing his own clientele, for ke knows that as soon 4 he sponsors a cheaper product he makes eremies of the people to whom | has sold better cars at higher | prices. . What upsets his caleulations in an unusually large number of instances is the fact that most of the fortunes have been lost as well as made in the quantity production field. The manu- facturer that is lured into big produ tion finds the competition unexpected He finds there is a public terence for the cars already well And, finally, He has rent, how when one sihly prei established in this field. he discovers a painful fact: lost his original customers. Very few people who can afford $3.000 for a car are going to be con- tent with a $1,500 one. The misgulded manufacturer thinks that if his plans | do not work out as anticipated at least he will be able to pleasé his original customers with the new models at the new low prices. He learns his lesson only ton late. | When he goes back to his old fo lowing he finds it rolling around in some other make of car in the price class he abandoned! A Word to Remember. “Recourse” is a word that motori will hear often during the next few finane posted. The simply, that ing. It well to be “recourse” plan means, the automobile dealer 1s the note for the car he sells, rendering him- If liable for its repurchase and sa if the customer fails to meet the pay- ments. Both Devices Needed. Bureau of can be di- ine e discovery through Standards tests that oil luted excessively with gas. | tions, the National Automobile Cham- | out engine wear, provided water and | ber of Commerce or all the rubber-us: | dirt are excluded, and that if there is |ing companies in co-operation suppsrt | no dilutent no wear will develop if «n | |a joint effort toward the synthesis of | a mater | sury properties of rubber, even if it | is not a molecular duplicate? “We venture the opinien that re. | search, adequately supported, in this | field could produce resnlt= in less time | n it would take to bring trees into | iring on the contemplated plantations Let us not quarrel with Great F 41 that will have the neces- | through {and filters, opera unusual amount of silica dust is fed | the intake, suggests the| necessity for using both oil rectifie ing simultaneously Always Use Foot Brake. Now that so many hand b Tibher | erate on a single drum just behind the hsm order Braking a car sion. a warni it i N th- | | brake should supplement it. This saves the foot hrake without endan- gering the propeller shaft. Did You Know That— After an engine has been rehored and new oversize pistons have been in- stalled the car should be able to run for a longer period before carbon will have to be removed? After reboring, an engine has a slightly greater pis ton displacement. More carbon is re- quired to reduce the displacement to a point where compression is raised enough to cause knocking. Rims sometimes squeak because they are too tight? In tightening the lugs too much a rim is often thrown out of line 8o that it does not run true. 1t isn't necessary to keep the crank- case entirely filled with oil where a pressure ofling system is ised? Three quarts of good oil will enable the pres- sure ofled engine to operate just as well us 8ix quarts, burring hot weather or mountain climbing. A greater ofl Supply is @ protection wgainst running with too little oil. A larger oil supply also means better lubrication since a little oil will thin out or heat up quick r than a larger amount Points in Their Favor. Nowadays it is the rule to poke fun at every convention in automobile design. Some carry it to extremes and prove themselves poor judges of design. Everything now cherished as necessary in design may perish in the evolution process, but #t present it is well to consider the points that are still in their favor Possibly engines would be more ef ficient if placed cioser to the rear axle, but the forward engine has one outsanding advantaze from the stand- point of safety. It is a good bumper. Wooden bodies are heing displaced in a measure by steel, but there are those who will admit a wooden body is easier on one's nerves in a bad electric storm. It seems there is something to be said for everything. Closed cars are safe in that they prevent pasxengers | tection from being thrown out in event of a collision. Open cars offer the convenience of getting out quickly in the same situation. Even smelly and poisonous ex- hausts have their value. They keep careless drivers from tagging on be hind and are much more effective pro- against rear-end collisions than the signs that inform tne man behind when he Is too close Lawful If Necessary. Drivers who think ahead finding themselves trapped in a carious position are reasonably in assuming that they will not charged with negligence if, in at- tempting to avoid an accident, they re found to have violated rome tech 1 road rule. This pomnt is cov when pre. safe be. ered in a recent court decision in Mississippi. To avoid colliding with an oncom- irz vehicle he driver went over to the wrong side of the road, where his car was found after the accident oc- curred. Tt was held that he was justi fied in violating the rule in order to avoid the mishap. even though he was unsuceessful his attempt at safety. in Now You Have It. Traffic Rules and Violate Those French taxi drivers, who use the accelerator instead of the brakes, according to common rumor, are reported to be ultra-conservative when compared with the car oper- ator in Turkey. Constantinople has few, if any, trafic laws, and the native motorist takes every advantage of the situation. The Turkish motorist goes through the town at 40 miles an hour, passing street cars on either side, careening corners and vio- lating every ryle that is supposed to make for highw fety. SOME HELPFUL TIPS. Grades Oftr:"ste!‘p:‘Than First Glance Indicates. Grades are often actually steeper, than they look ,over couniry roads This is due largely to humps, or “thankyoumams,” which often double the grade at a time when the engine has enough to do to make the aver- | age grade of the hill. If you would he straining the engine at 15 miles an hour in high over a macadem road of the same average grade you would he training it at 20 over a country road Cars that are used extensively over country roads should he examined fre quently to see that the wheels are in | alignment and secure on their axles, | Those ruts spell wheel strain, even if | you are eareful not to swing in and out of them recklessly When a wheel starts sinking into the mud, stop. The longer vou try to | get out, without doing something to | give the wheel hetter traction, the | deeper it will dig its way into the mud. | SHOW DANGER OF AUTOS. Police as Educators Patrol Rural Schools in Michigan. A wafety education campaign in all | rural schools on trunk lines in | Michigan is being conducted by 40 uni- | formed motor cycle policemen under the supervision of the State depar ment of public The officers | are visiting the W giving personal instruction in the necessity for safe play on school grounds and d dunger on public high- | mpaign has been indorsed hy department of public in struction and the State Teachers' As sociation Flush the Crankcase. Alwayvs flush when changing fresh oil, not kerosene. more at the start but saves repair | bills because it obviates the possibility of oil dilution | ont the oil, with crankea quart a of be bad knockers, depending upon the crude and the refining proces: All makes of cars have air-cool- | ed engines. A majority. however also equipped with water-cooling tems, 3. 1t is advantageous hand throttle in traffic loss of precious time required tranefer the right foot from rator to brake pedal when stop is demanded 4. The amount of gasoline wasted | in stopping a car on the level can he m ured by the amount required to | t the car into motion again at | to to use 1void the | to ele- | quick | | mental, | whole story | &ine the | ple Costs a little | ¢ HE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C., MARCH 1, 1926—PART 3. 1 Turks Have Few 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 have exploited. in an ‘interesting way. the other 20,000,000 or more members of the motor clan. No. 140—Valve Gear Variety. Valve gear is the engineer's term for the valve action of an automobile. Even in its simplest form the mechan ism that opens and closes the ports in | the cylinders is complicated. Tf there | doesn't appear to Be much by way of | operating mechanism the motorist soon comes to know that metallurgy and design play an Important role in keeping the valves functioning prop- | erly. Smith was heginning to there still is consider: to the proper kind of 7 an automobile engine. This idea t more more definite shape as he he came famillar with the several va rieties. Briefly elassified, he found the following examples of action Poppet. Sleeve-valve. Rotary valve, Piston valve. Slide valve. Pressure | valve. These were found in four-cycle engines and were applicable to any number of cylinders | Poppet and sleeve.valve arrange ments were the only ones in general nse. The remainder were experi with every possibility, how pid adoption. partienlarly int kinds of poppet valve had figured he knew the when dividing them into the I head and valve-in-head varfety, but he still was to become familiar with the overhead camxhaft type. Duty of the Camshaft. | “All poppet valves,” 1 explained, | “need some mechanism to raise them or to push them down, depending upon whether they are in the pockets at the sides of the cylinders or in the heads of the cylinders. This arrange ment calls for a camshaft, which is a | smaller shaft run by and paralleling | the crankshaft. This smaller shaft has knobs on it. or eams as they are called, which raise the tappets and, in turn, actuate the valves themselves. If the valves are at the side of the en tappets can he very short and the valve gear comparatively si In the T-head type, where the in take valves were on one side and the exhaust valves on the other, two cam shafts were necessary. However, this i« an antiquated arrangement and you need not consider it “When the valves head xeveral arrangements are pos sible. The most common is to put rocker arms on the top of the engine. operating th from long push rods which ride on top of the tappeis, The nshaft is just where it would be in » simpler [.head arrangement A ystem that is growing in popularit because of its success in aviation ines is the overhead camshaft. Here the camshaft runs parallel the crankshaft but on top of tl ine This gives more direct action for the overhead valves find that ever, of their : ested in He © 16 be in_the | also provides for excellent lubrication but such valve gear must be carefully | designed and made in order to prevent | camshaft vibration and knocking. | Sleeve Gear Differs. leeve valve r Knight type engine. Here the gear is | all inclosed in the crankecase and en- gine base and is well sealed st | exposure. The sleeves, which slide up | and down between the pistons and | their evlinder walls, and which apen nd close the two ports in each eylin der at just the right moment for prop und in the | | pet type the more freakish it seems to | £ Counts martyr, a chap willing and glad to . his experiences for the benefit of gle sleeve proposition. In this type, however, additional mechanism is re- quired to turn the sleeve of each cylinder into new positions while it is working up and down “There are many kinds of rotary e but the idea hehind each is the same. Rotation of the valves pro- vides entrance and exit for the gases In some cases the valves rotate in- dividually with mechanism to accom plish this, while in one arrangement the valves all are a part of the re. volving valve shafts. In other words, valves and camshaft are one Now the Piston Valve, “The farther you get from the pop. hecause we are Way down the find the piston is connected in which a It opens and closes the port of the cylinder and provide - the entrance and exit of the “In all of these there is the constant be., not famili line of ne valve with piston travels but that is only s with it. elties you eylinder eylinder | | Tz SAFETY AS “GAME’ LURES CHILDREN Safeguard in Attractive Form Is Being Tested With Success. Making safety a game is the most effective way of teaching its vital les- sons to children and parents should make capital of this fact, reports from all parts of the country where the method has been tried reveal. H. M. Lucius, secretary of the Automobile Club of Maryland, commenting on the results of this type of training, says: “Boys and girls—particularly boy used to think it was ‘smart’ to dodge vehicles in traffic and to swing aboard street cars while they were still in motion. Some of them still do, as a matter of fact, and that is one of th | greatest dangers the parents must guard ag: Sample “Game" Cited. | “One | kinder; me taught in a Midwestern ten comes to my mind, since striving for silence and freedom from adjustment. But there has been so much progress in the poppet Knight types, however, that the others are being neglected. In one of the overhead tappet arrangements. for i stance, the hollow camshaft shoot cushion of oil on the valve tappet just before strikes it. This 1s providing for quick er opening of valves without noise and extra wear, and means more power 1 concluded with the remark that it isn't always the idea behind a of mechanism so much as the is worked out. Some of the quietest gines embody poppet valve gear de spite the fact that this is recognized as the noisest type Next week, No. 111: Where Quality (Copyright, 1926.) EXHAUST GAS KILLS RATS. Warning Motor Running. The United Agrienlture’s with the exhaust onght to he a reminder to the motor- ates Department kill the snggestion to from gas 18t not a few leaving the claims that hose from the rat hole the pe nated. Yet motor even when the gar and wender why th the rest of the day. de The running exhaust te can piece pipe to he extermi ge de v don't engines : is open feel right and | way it | to Drivers Not to Leave| to run the engine more than | minutes when entering and | artment | of | the | heen declared so suecessful children walk on sidewalks and each point where they must ross the street they line up on the avement with the curb lin E | mark. Tt is the beginning | The flash of the green lizht traffic tower starts competition |the dash is for the opposite curb, | The contestants may not start with | the flash of the sig hange, or {they will he disqualified. The green | light is the sign: ‘Other kin | school grades | songs with catchy ‘ ir impression on th es the t kes up an appro parody on some popu | day. ‘but it carries safety. Sometimes prizes {ed for the best safety v ten by the « themselves. Tt can be seen readily that the child | must see the danger on which the verse is hased or the sense will be Jost it _has The and ns and lower teaching safety tunes which make singers. In her merely of t age of offer writ song me: is Traffic Signs. have Use Miniatu rs made up signs, marked off streets and sent the children along their ws the me being that the child who in a given length of time ses along the “street” without failing to observe every sign wins the contest “These or ‘Some teach miniature trafilc could 1 similar 1 hy parents where to good s of these schemes has ind work: 1y | suce s will run their |their worth, and each mother | realize that this direction while in the ident to_her AUTO REPAIRING Expert service and repair- ing for all makes of cars HUDSON and GARDNER SERVICE A SPECIALTY T.J. CAMFIELD whatever her the n poss ch Ree “Tt is conceivable erude rubber from th influenced almost to the point of eon trol by the extent to which reclaimed rubber niay be employed, thus leaving 17th and V Sts. NW. Pot. 5446 Tires and Acces rifie 1 the propeller | Cars which vice brakes at this | point use steels built for this strain. | but many manufacturers have not | taken xo much care at this point. If | the hand hrake is to be used the foot the speed at which It was traveling | er operation of the engine. are ac- before the stop. | tuated by rods connected with a 5. The hest way to keep brakes | smaller crankshaft that paraliels and equalized s to keep them clean. | is geared to the main crankshaft. One (Copvright. 1926 of the newer arrangements sin ain over a wellearncd advants There must he a better way ou No-knock ™ high-test g gas is not the same The latter is a mat of test or quality. while the for- is a matter of detonating char- Some high-test gases may of he that the price troes mav EFFECTIVE NOW 1605 11th St. N.W. Pot. 1633 ter mer acteristics. ft t ries “Tires built on the flat tread principle are claimed to give longer wear. GENERAL MOTORS CORPORATION THE CADILLAC BROUGHAM BODY BY FISHER 7995 f. 0. b. Detroit, Tax Extra Here is the new Cadillac—vastly different from its predecessors—yet implicitly trusted by a larger section of the public than ever before to possess all ; those superiorities which have made Cadillac the exhaust capacity. A sturdier “Standard of the World” for a quarter-century. engine, because of its improved Monobloc unit construction. 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