Evening Star Newspaper, July 18, 1926, Page 54

TTAPALIGRIT = 1rv—".‘ AUTODEATHS GRO Study of Drivers” Reactions Urged as Way ta Cut Annual Toll. . Natural ' abilities of automobile, drivers and their . reactions, both Jphysical and mental, to their re- sponsibilities while operating auto- moblles must come in for more in- telligent and closer scrutiny in the battle to keep down the number of dighway accidents, in the opinion of €ol. E. Austin Baughmah, Maryland motor vehicle commissioner. 2+ “The Importance of the automobile as a cause of vehicular traffic acci- dents is evidenced by the fact that last year over 22,000 people were . killed_in automobile accidents, said Col. Baughman. The worst of it is that the number of automobilés is steadily increasing, and the death tol] is continuing to grow at an ap- palling ra says Col. Baughman, “Two factors are involved in every mecident: First, the purely inani- * = mate, including the machine and the gondition of the highway, and second, the animate, pedestrian or other contributors to the accident. . Driver to Blame. “A careful analysis of over 15,000 sutomobile accidénts recently shows that 10,694, or about 70 per cent were tors; 8,464, or 22 the fault of fother persons; 0 fent, were attributable to defective quipment, and 413, or about 2, per ent, were due to all other causes. n other words, approximately 93 per. nt of these 15,000 accidents, were he direct result of deficiency in the uman factor. “These figures leave no doubt as o where we must center our efforts f we are to -expect any considerable eduction in the number of traffic ataliti In the past nearly all ef- ort been given to the physical ide of the trafic problem. The echanical engineer has done such'a orough job in perfecting the auto- mobile that the word ‘unavoidable’ has practically been eliminated from the category of accidents. He has | so standardized and perfected brakes, lights and steering apparatus that . such a _thing as the sudden giving away of any of these is almost un- heard of. Sharp Curves Efiminated. “The civil engineer has likewise oontributed his share to the reduc- tion of accidents. Sharp curves and blind corners are rapidly being elimi- nated. Narrow bridges have heen replaced by more adequate ones, To- less than 2 per cent of all acci- dents can be traced to the condition of the roadway. “It is obvious, therefore, that the traffic experts must shift their em- phat and begin paying attention to the element that offers the great- est possibility of improvement—the human factor. “Many authorities on the traffic problem state that a very large pro- portion of all accidents are caused by a particular cjass of drivers who compose a verk small percentage of the total number of drivers op- erating motor vehicles. One of the first things undertaken by trathe directors should be to devise some means to discover those who are especially prone to cause aceidents, and to take the necessary precau- tions to prevent them from being ntrusted with the operation of such & deathi-dealing machine as the auto- mobile, Results of Survey. “A survey of the present conditions shows that practically nothing is being done on this phase of the prob- lerh. Only about 20 States require a driver's license of any kind, and se eral of those that do require a license make no pretense of examining th who apply for licenses, but issue licenses as a routine procedure to all who purchase license plates for their machine. In many of the States where examinations are required the questions are of such a superficial character as to indicate little or nothing of the applicant’s fitness to operate a motor vehicle, “It defies contradiction that in motor car driving nothing is more important than quick and accurate reaction in an emergency.” Assume, for example, that a motor car is trav- eling at the rate of 30 miles an hour. If under such conditions it takes the driver.one and one-half seconds to transfer his foot from the accelerator to the brake in a moment of danger, the car will have gone 65 feet before he began to apply the brake. But if| he can transfer his foot from the ac- celerator to the brake in half a sec- ond, the car only goes 22 feet ‘from the moment he observed the impend- ing danger until he applied the brake. Obviously a difference of 45 feet may very readily mean the diffgrence be- tween an accident and safety, Requirements for License. “If an applicant has a very slow reaction in an emergency, but rates high on judgment and information, 80 that he would be more able to keep. out of an emergency, he could be granted. a license; but if in addition to his slow reactfon in the face of danger, he showed by other tests that he had poor judgment and little information which would aid him in keeping out of danger, it would be proper to refuse him'a lcense. In other words, it is suggested that the granting or withholding of the license would be on the basis of a compre- hensive sizing up of the individual” R il SPRINGS CUT TRACTION. Bave Work of Engine by Keeping 2 Car op ‘Ground’ Automobile springs are supposed to ~reduce traction ‘resistance. - This sounts technical but it really is very simple. If a spring is resilient and the car strikes a bump in the road, the body of the car is less likely to be thrown into the air.than if the spring were mnot .so .elastic. If the whole car is lifted on every bump, it is evident that the engine will have some extra work to do. ) This means a loss in power. Automoblle buyers ini Spain are finding it difficult to" decide just which kind of product they want, in the face of a much Keener competition this , se the; ion generall; ¥ i 'ELECTRICIAN. Julius H. Rieley 656-58 Pas Ave, S.E. including the driver, |. PUNCTURES ARE QUIET Rear Balloon hn,( Go fii'l poruln‘,’bollll the pune- oon tire on @ year mpanfed by any par: ticular excitement, are many instanees where rear seat passengers in good cars have hot known a rear tire was flat, The driver h to be ooled because the escaping’air will not make as muck of a hissing sound. A punctured high pressure rear tire is much more quickly detected. The ‘| situation is somewhat more compli- cated and quite different with respect to front wheel punctures, EETY SIX STANDARD SIZES FOR RIMS APPROVED !'ochty of Automotive finglnnn 0, K.’s Table for Use With Balloon Tires. A restricted list of six standard rim sizes for low-pressure or balloon tires has been approved by the stan committee and couneil of the Society of Automotive Engineers. The step vas taken to reduce confusion and the multiplicity of sizes of this tyr of tire. = The approved sizes, in inches, are as follows: 4 rim for 20x4.40 and 30x4.75 t . v ires 20xd rim for 29x4.75 and 30x5.25 tires. , lzlxc rim for 30x4.95 and 31x6.25 tires, 5 20x4% rim for 30x5.77 and 32x6 res, 21x4%5 rim for 3236.20 and 33x6 and 83x6.20 tires. 21x6 rim for 33x6.76 tires, The tire sizes are not part of the Society of , Automotive Engineers’ recommended practice, but are given to show the regular sizes of tire that can be mounted on the several imi It is also recommended that the d tailed dimensions of the rims conform with the standards of the Tire and Rim Assocjation of America.. No ae- tion. was taken regarding high- pressure tires, as they have been superseded so extensively by low- ressure tires on new I Cars. either was any action taken on low- pressure tires or rims for motor coaches, as these are regarded as still subject to much further development. MOTOR WILL HELP, Vibration Will°- Run Water Off Whéh Radiator Drain Is Open, It frequently happens that when the radiator drain cock is opened there will be enough iment in th® system to keep the wi from drai ‘While the drain plug us n be opened and closed by means of a gtick or rod, removal of the sedimen a more laborious job, that requires ching under the front axle and insexting a,match stick or a nail through the plug opening. This annoyance can be obviated by run- ning the eéngine With the plug open. Vibration and pressure of the circu- lating water usually will suffice to disturb the’ sediment and start the water flowing-out. th WHY GAS TANKS FLOOD. Usually No Provision Made to Al- low Air to Expel. Gasoline tanks usually overflow be- cause no provision is made for allow- ing the air to expel as. the gas i pumped in. This usually can 'be avolded by seeing that the nozzle isn't jammed down into the neck ef the tank, but "another precaution advisable where the neck is provided with a special section to act as an air vent. { In this type of neck there will b two divisions, one very much larger than the other. nozzle directs the gasoline into_the larger one, otherwise ingoing gaso- line and outgoing air will meet and cause an overflow of the former. Wik | MAIL RIDER’S TRAIL NOW LURES AUTOIST TO BOSTON POST ROAD| Month Required for Round 'l"fip Fril’l_n,Néw York in - :Sights for \Associated with the first: small be- ginnings of this Nation, a vital con- necting link between important col- onies of the Atlantic seaboard over which mail riders for many years pushed a weary way, and now, aft more than two centuries, a motor higl way attractive to thousands of. 'W: ingtonians , driving northward, e Boston i'os\ Road remains a pathway filled with historic interest, possessed of an ample quota of natural beauty and a direct routé spanning the’ter- ritory lying before great centers of population. No other road in the entire United States is more laden with the charm of things old, is more redolent of other.years and other times, and is more closely allied with stirring events of colonial and revolutionary history than the Boston Post, this year to a greater extent than ever before a mecea ' for Washington . motorists. Linking as it does two such outstand- ing American metropolises -as New York and Boston, this highway always has been of the most primary im- portance—in fact, one must go back to before the third quarter of.the seven l:e:nh century to find first mention of it. Important Back In 1668. The region between New York and Boston was relatively - as important in 1668 as it is in 1926, and for that reason in 1668, during the reign of Charles the Second, Francis Lovelace was, upon becoming Governor of New York, instructed: by his king to do all in his power to promote friendly inter- course with the other colonit par- rcularly the New England ones. With this-end in view, it is brought out in asketch of the subject made by the Automobile Club of America, Gov. welace visited Gov. Winthrop of necticut and the two colonial lead- ers discussed at considerable length the blishment of a post road to connect 'New York and Boston. It was not until 1672, howeyer, that the plan was put into execution and that the road which now connects the two citles by way of Tarrytown, Dan- busy, Waterbury, New Britain, Hart- ford, Springfleld and Wor . ethoed the flying hoofs of the il carrier’s steed. In that year the Gov- ernor of New York wrote the follow- ing messake to Gov. Winthrop; and as- surance is here given that the eyent was hailed in colonial America a8 a milestone of the ytmost significance. He wrote: ; “L here present you with two rari- Colonial Days—Many Historic . Tourists. ties—a_ pacquett of ‘th gence I could meet wi By the first you wi been acted on the sta by ‘the latter. you ‘will monthly & fresh supply.” Sworn to Deliver Mail, He further made knmown to Gov. ‘Winthrop that the messenger was sworn to deliver the mall, which was sent gratis, and that he expected the same courtesy for the return letters. The plan of Gov. Lovelace was to thave @ . messenger start from New York each Monday and return within 8 month with the return mail, using Hartford as the first istopping place for a _change of horse: The Boston Post Road today is a fine plece of highway, passing through prosperous and thriving towns, quaint villages and _ intensively cultivated farm lands. In 1668 the Boston Post Road, for the most part, through an unbroken wilderness, and the road itself was a trail, heset by dangers of one sort or another. The wmotor tourist finds the road perfectly ned in every way, and in a letter 'rom far-seeing Goy. Lovelace to Gov- ‘Winthrop one reason is clearly shown. Said the governor: “It would be much advantageous to our designs if, in the intervgl, you dis- coursed with some of the most able woodsmen to make out the best and most facile way for a nat which in process of time would best highway.” Course of Post, Rider. It will be interesting to follow the course of the first post rider as he left New York. He started out from Manhattan on a cold Winter day, January 22, 1673, His way led from the fort at the lower end’ of Broad- way north over.the highway—through the land gate in the Palisades at Wall street—and thence over the cow path to the flejds, the present City Hall Park. Here the rider turned the nose of bis mount east, around the rec- ngular pasture land of the city, into the Bowery Lang Village, and o Then. he u the ferry at !'gufl‘!l Du; ‘where he put up for the night at thé tavern: of one Johannes Vervelen. The Washington motorist driving the present Boston Post Road will do perhaps 200 miles a day—the first. snfl rider tumbled into one of Herr Ver- velen's enormous beds thoroughly worn out after having riden for 15 see what has ‘of Burope; meet with Scores a Genuine Triumph .. 'The enthusiastic welcome given the G-BOY, Graham Brothers new one-ton truck, has estab- lished this fact: * . It is re ttibutlo‘;ogo So great Brothers newest ate triumph. commercial haulage. ' nized at once as a real—a majof-—con- the need for a light truck to trans- port the average load swiftly, easily, safely—yet at lower cost than ever before—that Graham product hnq scored an immedi- The revolutionary improvement in balance effected by a new system of weight distribution oundly impresses every man who has ever ad experience with the haulage problem. The comrlct wheel base, ease of handling, gen- erous body capacity, the advantages of the ever- dependable ‘and always economical Dodge Brothers engine—all these important factors enter into the G-BOY’S marked success. And then the ‘price! So low that only Graham' Brothers; the largest .exclulitvh:u'u ! % e buy machipve t, verage lmfl.théu is nothing with For the and .G-BOY. We are eager to show you contribution to commercial haulage. . ‘bullding capacity, could % . {stopping. - . 't 1 was the king's |l ‘brake bands is not always lete cure for faulty brake ac- hers cars have had extensive ", “particularly where they have been abused, it may be necessary to install new brake drums, The cost of new_ drums is the Emmy for yun- ning’ with the brake linings so badly worn that the rivets scrape the drums every time the car is in prozess of 7 milles, His horses must be rested, the inner nmn must. be sustained—a mp of ‘horses/ was waiting only at Travel resumed, from Eastchester the post rider followed the Indlan Friasmabare: e thentooi ihe Mo rg. He e hican Indian Trail, stopping at ‘might. The next day [journey led him. thrqugh the sett along the sound. And from l'h- l-hl;onmon| :o Hartford -.rg pringfiel e _intrepid carrier precious, words found his way fairly " Fwo Weeks On Road. At Springfleld the Connecticut River # a. : 'h.lhhos..d';nm;:flle urned eastward over the In # which the early settlers used in 1633 when they came into the Conmecticut Untogany Foxbury he rods and into rough; ry and into Boston. just two weeks after leaving New York. 2 . ‘The return trip was easier for the post rider, for he had mapped out hi way and within a month of the he hit the trail northward the return mall bags were handed over to the rnor’s secretary in New York. thrilling history clusters around this highway. When New York was taken by the Dutch in 1673 the post was abandoned because they did not care to keep in communica- tion with_their northern neighbors. In November, 1674, the English again regained control of New York, but Boston follow numeral No. 1 marked on the telegraph poles in yellow and black from New York to New Haven; No. 2 to Springfield ahd No. § to tol \ The'way from Washington to New York is too well known to bear d scription here. An increasing nu ber of Washington motorists are tal ing the Boston trip this year; going up by way of the Post and com- the post road was abandoned after King Philip's War, in 1675, which dev- astated large portions of the country between New York and ton. In the year 1685, however, Gov. Dongan revived the post. Far different is the present-day motorist’s trip from that of the first it rider who, in addition to ali el to piek his way across country, map routes and find directions. Now those wishing to take the Post Road to ing back over a different route— through Walpole, North _Attleboro, Providence, New London, Saybrook, Guilford, Branford and New Hav The Boston Post Road offers miotorists desiring a trip of reasonable it is about 246 miles from New Yark to the Hub—a highway re- plete with picturesque besuty. dotted with fine old towns, modern in every detail yet glorying in tradition and legend, flanked by colonial homes and ancestral farms, perfect mechanically and fdeal in varied interest. ' - Jor Econo /CHE? “Smith and His Car | BY FREDERICK C. RUSSELL John Smith fs u character » other No. 159-DRIVING BACKWARDS. ‘whom ev is not selfish; in.a motoring RS Y, s oby motoist sbould fin 8 chap. iy by of the motor clan. 7 Did you ever ignore.a detour sign|peed oh . the strength of the hope tha maybe the highway départment was only fooling about the construction work ahead? Smith followed this policy the ather | day and found to his surprise that be had to back up for a half mile in order to get back to where he could | obey the wayning sign. And Smith ‘was not so good at backing. * “This- 18 a fine- affair’’ - he ex- claimed, after having- struggled for the first hundred yards or so. “I thought I knew how 'to back up. T'll be it the ditch in a minute."” “Your experience in reverse cér- tainly is Umited,” I agreed. theré 1s no time Ilke the present. Let's get down to businéess on a sub- ject thagt should have had attention Jong fore this. Foftunately, you are in nobody's way- and. you don’t need to get rattled. Just take it easy. This will be good practice so you can shine some timé when you've got o go an elaborate backing stunt {n trdf-] Smith stopped thé car a moment to cool off. The big proplem before him was to_keep on the road. He did not know whether to lean out the win- dow and follow the center of the road or to judge distances from what he could see by looking into' the rear view mirror. : Watch Center of Road. 1 agvised watching the center of ‘the road. The big thing is to know where the rear are heading. mith could watch . the Jeft rear wheel easily enough by looking out the window. “But I'm taking a big risk on the de of the read,” Smith wor- { y left rear wheel may be going straight emough, but how do. I know the other one is keeping on the It. was a natural question. I sug- gested a, plan. “Stop every so often and look back through' the rear view mirror to make sure there are no objeets in the pdth of the right rear wheel. Then back up with the ‘left one al- ways as close:to tfe ‘center of the road as possible, you _came through forward: you ‘can do the same in reverse. That's a pretty good rule to follow.” Smith tried this, but seemed to be annoyed because the car jerked. He did not realize that he was trying to go too fast in reverse and that the uneven action was largely. a matter of the wide variation in engine speed which is characteristic of running in so low a gear as reverse. Miles Never Recorded. This caused him to look at the speedometer and note that it did not register all, Immediately, of course, hé appreciated that this was natural, for a speedometer does not register when the car is in reverse. The discovery led to something more important. It told him plainly how many “But | lg(h‘fl tbm nowHhere. “One ‘queer things business,” T told him during one of the frequent rest mflm.. “is that the best of drivers seldom have to back up. Almost invariably it's the novice who doesn't know a thing about operating a car in reverse who has to back. Just“es in your case tn: backing is an admission of poor ) } ‘“Well, anyway, I'm learning,”” he retorted. ‘And as he spoke he slam- med on the brakes, fearing he had steered a bit off line. The car came to a smart stop that made him spec- ulate as to why. the brakes should seem 80 much more effective going ‘backward. Power of Reverse Gear. “Your brakes get a better leverage action in reverse,” 1 explained. “Doesn’t work for all cars. Also you gave the brakes encugh of your energy to stop the car dead still from 30 miles an hour. That was because the faster running engine made you think in termis of higher speed. “While you're going backward just recall that this is the way they used to climb steep hills im the old days with gravity feed and when the gas supply was low. Youwll never have to try this trick with vacuum feed, but it’s well to know these wrinkles, They make you more resourceful. Remember, you can climb a bad hill easier {n reverse, because in that speed the engine is geared lower. “And here's a little tip you don’t want to forget: Suppose you were shopping for a new car and rather sus that the gas was doped? Suppose you ' suspected that the doping was the explanation for the abnormal ' power on hills? All you have to do is reverse for a few min- utes and catch the smell of the ex- ™ Smitn was actually = sorry. the backward course hadn't been longer. He felt that he had never made bet- ter progress in all of his motoring. Next wesk, No. 16 & 0—Change as a (Copyright, 1926.) SOCIETY IS POPULAR. Increasing Interest in automotive engineering is manifest in the num. ber of applications for membership be- ing received by the Soclety of ‘Auto- motive Engineers. An average of about 76 agpl{uumu monthly is re- ported by the soclety. G During the first three 'months of 1926 more than 280 applicants were elected to membership, bringing the total to 5,668. This is an increase of more than 300 over a year ago. mical Transportation HIGHER EFFICIENCY Cost No More to Produce Than Present Spiral Bevel Type. “Hypold”’ gears are the neweet thing in final drive for automobliles. Lowered frame and quister operation are the major advantages claimed for this type by A. L. Stewart and Er- nest Wildhaber of the Gleason Works, who described the gears and the new method of forming the teeth in ad- dresses before the Society of Auto- motive Enginders last week. These s, ch g:rn e _engineers were told, have onditions a uccesstully car- tled overloads while continuing to op- evate with an unusual degree of quiet. Have Offset Axes Hypolid gears are tapered gears hav- Ing offset axes. In general, it was explained, they look like spiral bevel gears, but the pinion can be placed below or above the center line of the ring gear from 14 to 33 inches, de- pending upon the diameter of the gear ring and the gear reduction ratio between it and the pinion. They dif- fer from spiral bevel gears in that, for the same size of ring gear, the pinion is considerably larger than the bevel pinion and has a greater loads carrying capacity. Moreover, the teeth in the hypold gear ring-have a small spiral angle, while those in the pinion have a large angle. This dif- ference in tooth inclination wesults in a combination of rolling and siding tooth contact that has an impsetant bearing on the quietness of operi&fon. Because ‘of the larger size of ihe pinion and the form of the teeths a smaller gear can be used to transmfi a fl{cn horsepower, and this incret.ses the road clearance and also allows floor of the car to be lowered the rear axle. Cost Very Little, Hypoid gears can be cut like spiral hevel gears on existing gear gemerat. ing machines and the pinions can be cut on machines of the same general design, hence the set of gears will cost. very little, if any more, to pro- duce than the present spiral. bevel rdia g «