Evening Star Newspaper, August 1, 1926, Page 67

" HEADLIGHT GLARE STILL BIG MENACE Enforcing Laws Difficult Be- cause of Car Faults, Baugh- man Says. Traffic officials are yirtually help- less in the battle against glaring head- lights because illuminating engineers themselves still are far from a so- lution of the problem. This is the opinion of E. Austin Baughman, Maryland motor vehicle commission: er, who points out that a vast ma Jority of automobilists and safety ad- vocates are viewing the situation from an tllogical perspective. “The effort toward clearing the highways of this admitted menace in- « volves three distinct angles,” says Commissioner Baughman. “Glaring lights remain the menace they are because illuminating en- gineers are still wrestling with a puzzle not easy of solution, under the system of rapid production of popular- priced cars. YOUR CAR and MINE A Weekly Department of Helpfulness, Information and ’ Entertainment for Motor Car Owner: By WILLIAM ULLMAN. A soft touch of the accelerator turn- eth away much wrath on the high- ways. Pessimists Foiled Again. Those pessimistic persons who fear for the future of the automotive in dustry as a matter of course should be careful not to read statistics too closely. They might discover there is some hope for the future. Up until the first of this year the industry had made 26 94" cars, of wisich number 6,170,047 had . been definitely scrapped, leaving close to 20,000,000 still running. To replace this 20,000,000 at the present rate of production, which is record-breaking, it would keep the domestic car in dusiry busy five years. In other words, if no cags are sold to the millions who come of age, to newly-weds, to the new!ly rich, to pres ent owners who will want an extra car and to those persons generally who finally can satisfy the desire to own an automobile, the indust; light, including reflector and lens, when only a new “bulb” is wanted. Mixing Booze and Gas. Drunken drivers make many twists and turns, but here's one a Washing- ton drunk has to his credit: Driving down a northwest street about 3 o'clock one morning recently this gentleman, apparently far beyond all understanding of time or space, swerved gracefully from one side to the other, he and the car carrying on hilariously. Near the next intersection stood a milk wagon. There's the setting. Next morning car owners came down to find one car, an innocent bystander, sprawled on the sidewalk, its buck pushed in like an opera hat, milk all over it like dew on the front lawns and fenders looking like blots on foolscap. Other cars, also Innocent minor injuries. The offending car, one fender poised high in the air, looking for all the world like a thumbed nose—or, per- REPORT CITES CURVES AS FATAL TO DRIVERS Bends in Roads Account for 124 Auto Accidents in Maryland. Special Dispatch to The Sta BALTIMORE, July 8 dents in Maryland occur frequently on straight, level roads, statistics show that the curve in the road is the one spot where motorists should exercise the greatest care in driving, according to H. D. Williar, jr., assist- ant chief engineer of the State roads commission. Mr. Williar's report for 1925, which does not cover mishaps in Baltimore or the other incorporated cities of Mar; occurred on the State highways, kill- ing 46 persons and injuring 297. Two hundred and fifty-three of the acci- dents occurred in daylight and 102 in darkness. Summing up the location of acci- dents the report shows they happened as follows: At crossings, b; at inter- secting highways, 45; on leve! straight | roads, 181: on curves, 124; on grades, | at bridges, 9. he report points out that reckless. ~—While accl- nd, shows that 356 accldents | o WHITE LINE ON ROAD FOUND TO SAVE MONEY | Motorists Drive Away From Edge, Thereby Reducing Chipping % Expense. Dividing highways with a whits line is a eafety precaution of the most productive type, but it also has its financial -aspect in that it serves to | reduce road repair bilis Because drivers feel greater assur- ance that they will not be side-swiped by opposite traffie, they drive farther from the outer edge of the paving, thus eliminating a great deal of chip- ping and breakage of the pavement W otherwise result, aceord. . Schlesinger, Ohio highway dire | As a result of this roud forces m Ohio’ are marking as much pavement s possible, including all hill crests, curves and other points of danger on State highways SPEED AFFECTS TAPPETS. ;Fut Driving in High Gear Less , Harmful Than in Low. | st driving In low gear or second will loosen « more readily than fast driving high gear. So far as v still Ty —1 haps, a hat awry—rested against the | ness and carelessness of frivere oo e concerned. it is more “The interests which have been A R = 1 ppets studying the elimination of headlight '“x:\\b‘;m‘”:' i'}:g‘!lll;'ml‘!:‘r;h'mw"t actory g fl’;‘ltea’nielnitri:)n?;fih? and in a | sulteg in 247 accidents and 102 were | to be raced while the car is in glare have been working along the g the LG erally. dec: e on. due “to “willful violati raffic n when it is traveling fast on cy| And at the end of that period it| What about the milk wagon? Badly |jaws. iolation of traffc spectic 1 aborat gon? Badly o i | igher tappet spe Y e o mpection A oY | would be necessary to start in building |damaged. The firstmentioned in. | pars: 5 LXCes8ive speed caused 66 mis- P et rih s e tests followed by approval or rejection haps and intoxicated drivers, 20. | nocent bystander? Also badly dam- more cars to replace the first vea of lenses. i s 5 hioh | A Lighyiih oy The careless pedestrian w: N g appets have “This work, done through labora. | batch ‘nmn:e..:m;irp.:l(l\ Which aged. What about damages? Try o[ with having gt e m‘x:;;‘f;“g;g. § 5 - , Loy ” an_opportunity adjust themselves tory tests and act night-driving “';"" 4 '_*‘r"}("j e e-,:“; e Collect: 16 were due t ; other miscellaneous / to better advantage. Lubrication may demonstrations have established the bl e i ® ¥, * also be better fact that certain lenses, with intel-|1ast so long. in vears. They will last Poor Test for' Oil et . ] g « . longer in miles but people will concen- 2 et. slippery or fcy pavements re- That times have changed considerably with regard to racing and passenger automobiles is evidenced by this | S - et sl L e Uit |trate their transportation from the | It is 4 mistake to”judge ofl by its|Sulted in 25 accidents and tre blow- | photograph of the ploneer Peeriass Green Dragon with Barney Oldfleld at the wheel. The old car appears as it | Motor cycle exports from the o SR nla e time standpoint. Besides, there are |Comdition after being removed from |Outs caused 3. i was in 1901, when Rarney broke all world speed records for distances from 1 fo 50 miles. This car could do a mile | United States 1 increased 17 rnr.(. !m":e: ;1::\.: r‘l:“:len‘x‘\;":“‘,-‘:',,“5 the frequent style and mechanical |the crank case unless consideration is | '"'}7“' Wwho drove or parked their | pds and 50 miles in less than 50 minutes. In the background is a passenger automobile of the type that | ver cent, as compared with 1924, \h;:'\f that nen mount of attempted |changes. Just as no woman wears |Siven to the conditions under which It [ &rs Without lights were charged with 0 yer | Britich_exports jumped 13.2 per cent. B e Ty il elimibate |@ last year's hat any more, and even |hus been used. Dilution is almost di-(5 crashes. Faulty equipment was| S o 3 houses go out of date, so automobiles cannot escape the trend of the day, which is toward newer and better things all the time. Henes it would - that the pessimist’s “saturation point” in the automotive industry is just a plain myth. Did You Know That— In the 1926 German automobile show, to be held in Berlin from October 29 to November 7, there still. will be no foreign makes of cars represented? The automobile association favors the exhibition of foreign makes, but must await the decision of the international association, with headquarters in Paris, as to whether German cars shall participate in foreign automo- bile shows. In automobile Taces the rule is to ss to the right when overtaking an- oth ry In 15 years of glare. Some Lamps Jar Loose. “It has heen found, however, that with even this system of outlawing certain lenses ‘which cannot be ad justed properly mechanically so as not to glare. and the approval for use on the highways of others that can be focused properly, the glaring lens remains a grave menace. This, in a measure, is due to the that manufacturers r ef 1o market ‘popul cars turning out of s0 eco 1 a type of construction that the various parts of the lamp assembly will r loose tinuall due to vibration, particularly over 1ough spots in th® highw This jar and vibration, sometimes within a few blocks or a few miles after the light had been so focused as to eliminate glare, upsets the ad v Justments and again creates a glare. “The Eastern Conference of Motor Vehicls Alministrators, which has been doing good work through co operative effort and action. some time since determined not to approve her after only lenses. It is r that the entire lamp assemb mitted for test. In fact, the entire machinery for illuminating the high ways now must stand or fall in seek . ing legal approval upon a test given it as a single and complete unit Too Few to Enforce Law, “At the same time there remain on the highways hundreds of thousands of cars which were registeredand li censed prior to the acoption of the new ruling. “While the facts outlined do mot look cheerful, especially in those of which Maryland is one— State: where insufficient corps of officers ts available for continual and inten: sive drives against this menace, there remains the hope that improvement may be gotien if every driver will sume his just responsibility in this matter. “The operator and owner should be as careful in his inspection of his lights as he is of the inspection of his tires, etc. Many drivers almost in variably take a look at their tires be fore starting out. In this way the oft-heard excuse, ‘I did not know my lights were glaring,’ can be relegated to the background in large measure. “If a driver, after testing his lights by looking into them himsel{ before starting to drive and after observing when out on the highways whether or not the beams gre thrown high up so as to illuminate branches of trees and hand roadside objects, still is un ain about his proper focus, there remains one other common-sense test. e “When r< approaching you dim dnd flash their lights in signal to you, you may know that your lights are causing them trouble through glare. “One nervous driver may mot be a clear indication of this, but when car after car approaches you in this man- ner it is safe to assume that your lights are a menace to the other users of the highway, as well as to your- seif. because a glare-blinded operator is just as likely to drive into you as into the diteh. “Don’t kick about the ‘other fel- low’s’ lights until you are sure that your own are non-gfaring.” INATTENTI\;E‘DRIVING HIT FOR CAUSING 29 DEATHS One of Largést Causes of Fatalities During May—Speeding Next . in Responsibility. Inattentive driving is the largest single cause of motor fatalities and during May this year resulted in al- most many highway deaths as speeding and other forms of reckless driving combined. This interesting insight into highway fatalities is re vealed by figures compiled by the National Automobile Chamber of Commerce. Of the fatal accidents during Ma in which the faut of the motorist was a major factor inattention caused 29 deaths. Speeding caused the loss of 20 lives, while 10 fatalities resulted from driving which violated rules of the road. Interesting also in the figures were those which showed that confusion was the third largest factor in motor vehicle deaths, causing a loss of 15 lives during the month. Inexperi- ence resulted in nine and intoxication five fatal accidents. ONE GUESS REMOVED. If Both Headlights Die at Once Bulbs Are Not to Blame. Much “trouble shooting” about a car is guessing. One often has to ex- periment quite a bit before stumbling over the right answer. But you can save one guess if the dimmers or head- lights of both lamps go dead at the same time. Don't bother to remove the lenses to see whether the lights are burned out. The trouble is due to a short somewhere along the line, to poor switch contacts, blown fuses or to interruption of the current by rea- son of the circuit breaker. PROTECTION FROM SUN. Protection against the searing rays of sun can best be taken by keeping the hood and fenders well polished. The brighter they are the more heat they reflect and the less they absorb You can sometimes shield ihe hood by raising one side of it. If using the curtains to protect the upholstery of the closed car pull them all the Y way down. A half-faded shade is no asset to the car. appes p xperiment and ex- perience the increase in track speed. revealed by the records of the In ianapolis races, has been but ap- roximately 25 per cent? This year there was a slight setback due to mechanical difficulties resuiting from the radical reduction of piston dis- placement to 911 inches. Tt must be kept in mind that the real speed. way records ave of an engineering na- ture. Greater speed as the vears roll by, but accomplished with the aid of smaller engines. One is justified in speculating, however, as to what would happen to speed records if en- gines were increased in size again, |- now that so much more is known about efficiency. It is danger of a storage tery by the light of a match? Always use a searchlight, The sort of polish a motorist can expect to give his car depends upon the weather more than on the kind of polish used or the energy expend- ed? Dry days are best for polishing. The go-called sensiiiveness of an engine often nothing more than the sensitiveness of the accelerator? Some accelerators are too quick to feed gas: others have to be pushed too much to open the throttle and get results. A different accelerator will make a different engine. Bad News About Locks. On and after January, 1927, in- surance companies that are members of the Natlonal Automobile Under- writers Conference wiil give no credit for cars equipped with locking de- vices. The trouble, it seems, is not ith the locking devices, but with the owners, who forget to lock them. According to an insurance journal, of 86 cars parked on the lake front in Chicago, 54 were left unlocked his will be unfortunate news for conscientious owners who lock their cars and who are entitled to a credit. All motordom always has paid the penalty for the acts of the ir. responsible, Saying What You Mean. they' mean. Say ‘“wheel bearing."” When discussing the mechanical features of the car with a repairer or when ordering spare parts it is highly important to be specific, There are many parts of the automobile bearing similar or identical names. A car owner might speak of having burned out or damaged the ‘resist- ance.” But that does not help the re- pairer nor the parts department. There is a resistance unit in the primary cir- cuit of the ignition systemgand an- other resistance unit for dimming the headlights. The word “hearings” is too loosely, used. Car owners should say whi nnecting rod bearing” or “main en- gine bearing,” depending upon circum- stances. It saves mistukes. The small lever on the steering post with which one can feed gas 1o the engine is not the “throttle.” It is one of two “throttle controls.” The ac- celerator is the other: That big mem- ber supporting-the rear of the car is not the rear axle. It is the “axle housing.” Tn each such housing there are two “live axles. The panel upon which are mounted the various gatiges and meters is not the “dash.” 1t is the ‘“instrument board,” The dash is the wooderd por- tition separating engine compartment from the driving compartment. Don’t say “gears.” There are all kinds of gears. Say “timing gears,” “transmission gears,” “pinion gear. peedometer drive gear” or whatever one is referring to. “Cam shaft” and “Jack shaft” mean the same thing. But headlight “lamp” is too loosely used. One might order a lamp and receive a complete. head- at us to inspect the cells It Only Takes a Day to Paint Your Car —with CRAWFORD QUICK COAT. We paint it ALL OVER—giving it that smooth, even finish & you want. Price according to size-—beginning Drive by and let us show you some of our work 2424 Crawford Quick Coat Col. 18th St. " Mt. Pleasint Garage rectly dependent upon engine use, al- though temperature may play an im-. portant part. Some cars are used con- stantly w out in cold weather, never being parked for more than a few minutes at a time. Others run short distances with long waits in be. tween. The latter will show a high percentage of dilution even with the best of oil, while the former may lead one to believe that poor oll is good oll. Even mistakes in operation have much to do with oil condition. The driver who cranks for several minutes before discovering that he hasn't switched on the ignition is certain to find his oil not so good when he comes to have it drained off. It’s an I Rain— Most - drivers find it easier to park cars in wet weather than in dry. The reason is wet tires make steering much less difficult. When Indicators Err. Instrument board indicators are de- signed to tell one when something has Zone wrong with some.working part of the automobile. Occasionally, how ever, the indicator itself develops an ailment and causes the motorist a great deal of expense and trouble, be- cause he looks in the wrong place for the defect. Take the ammeter. When it show: discharge with all lights and the igni- tion off, the chances are that the re- lay, or generator cutout, points are stuck The battery is discharging back into the generator. Suspecting such a condition, a motorist started to remove the generator cutout and then, remembering he was taking & chance of blowing out the fuses, decided first to disconnect the battery. When he had done this the ammeter continued to register discharge even though there was no current in any of the wires. The pointer had been thrown off center, but it was only by chance that it was discovered. The indicator itself had been above suspicion. Those Puzzling Noises. Some of the most annoying noises in a car have the simplest of origins. This is particularly true of the acces- sories to the body, such as seat cush- lons, window lifters, door handles, robe rails and similar fitments. If a seat cushion is not in place it may develop a squeak. Furthermore, it may bear upon the cover of the tool compart- ment in such a way as to create most perplexing noises. Foot rests sometimes come loose enough to cause odd noises, and if a little oil is not applied to the hinges a squeak may be expected as an obbligato. Ash trays and match bhoxes rattle occasionally, and many an an- noying tap is nothing more nor less than the flapping of a window shade that is not rolled up tight. When Knocking Pays. If you can’t boost don't knock may be a good adage, generally speaking, but such a policy never helped a street repair appropriation bill pass. You've got to tell 'em where the ruts are. What's the Answer? 1. What is the essential difference between a magneto and a generator? 2. When is carbon in an engine an advantage? 3. What is causing most of the car- Eon trouble in the modern cars of the ay? 4. Now can nickel be polished with- out using polish? 5. Jddow much tin really is used in the manufacture of American auto- mobiles? (Think these over during the week and look for the answers in this de- partment next Sunday. You may be wrong’) address speaks for itself 1419 Irving St. N.W. Col. 4467| == {Copyright, 1926.) =0 [NASH Nash-Rinker Motor Co. SALES and SERVICE 6 years at the same blamed In & number of cases, Defec- | tive brakes caused 4 collisions, glar | Iznx ;l&dllllh‘:l, 7. and lack of chains, 3 en mishaps were d . laneous brenkdnwn:. e Of the 13,731 accidents In citfs Surfes or deaths resulted in only 4 2ep Seraping Fan Belt. If the fan belt is slipping a l(nh’g and there are no tools with which to raise the pulley. it is a good plan to sandpaper the inside of the belt, This cleans off grease that might cause it to slip and gives it better traction. G 3 French automobile sales are under ! last year's record, but production still {s expected to equal that of 192! CLOSED CAR CONTINUES 70 GAIN IN POPULARITY One Maker's Sales for May Were 79 Per Cent of Output—Situation Far Different in 1922. indicates that are becoming of the closed car. Figures of one of the largest manufacturing groups in showed that 79 sold by the com- | the country per cent of all cars pany for the month were closed types. For the same month last year but of the aggregate sales 59 per cent figure was i1 and in 1923 it was 38.| The rapid increase jn the popularity of this dicated in the figures which show that in 1922 the open car outsold all other | types four to one | Clothes Make Motorist. Experiehced motorists urge care in | dress while touring. pointing out that it stalled a tramp appearance will malke help more reluctant. * Africa has doubled its use of motor | the bottom. vehicles in tle past four years. Regis-|at the sides near the top. The inside tration fn 1922 was 65,757; at the end|of the lamp is slotted at the points | to catch the two flanges in the rim. of 1925 it totaled 147,689, were of closed models. In 1324, the REMOVING LAMP R'MS. ! = | tvpe in the last few years is In-| Screw Underneath Loosens New Style of Lens Holder. Removing the rims from barrel | | headlights is a puzzle to many own- | ers who are accustomed to the old sa.les fashioned rim that vou took in your |hands and turned, if you could. In {the barrel type vou will find a screw on the under side of the lamp rim Remove this and the rim that holds |the lens in place will come loose at Now press the lens in | BATTERIES Service AUTO ELECTRICIANS Julius H. Rieley 656-58 Pa. Ave. S.E. Linzoln 7280 4 Greatest Success ina Qiarter Century of Fine Car Greation There have been many golden periods in Cadillac’s quarter century of pre-eminence among the fine cars of the world : —but never a time when Cadillac was so unmistakably 500 (olor Gombinations 50 Body Styles and Types e = Il =, the Standard of the World as now. How completely Cadillac dominates the high-priced field is conclusively proven by Cadillac’s unprecedented gain in the past 12 months —when sales increased 87.5% over the preceding year. ~ (Cadillac Now Offers 50 Body Styles and Gypes To its ‘su cy in the realm of value lnr} rformance, which of necessity will remain unequalled for long years to come, Cadillac now achieves pre-eminenceindistinction, luxury and individuality. 4 50 different body types and styles, many of them exclusive and nct to be duplicated, are announced for the coming year. In combination with the widest selection of body types and styles ever presented by one ianufacturer, Cadillac offers five hundred body color combinations and an unex- ampled range of upholstery selec- tions. Here is a manufacturing advance literally more important than any - other development since Cadillac introduced the 90-degree eight-cyl- inder motor. NYE W/£9.-.0 RUDOLPH JOSE, President Franklin 3900, 3901, 3902 DEGREE e b APl AC) DIVISIONFOFTGENERAL MOTORS™CORPORATION " The Washington Cadillac Company 1138-1140 Conn. Ave. Here is an achievement in indvid- ualized service to fine car buyers - which has never before been ap- 2 proached, and which only-Cadillacis today able to offer. t its years of leadership, Cadi has never accompli a greater feat than this solution of the problem of individual color selections. The complete Cadillac line—inclad- ing the standard models, the distin- : guished Fisher custom-built series, and the finest and most luxwrious exclusive creations of Fleetwood— surpasses anything ever before at- tempted. Cadillac today establishes itself on a new, high plane of skill and serv- ice which must inevitably add to the public acclaim that has reward- ed Cadillac, in the past 12 months with the greatest success in the his- tory of fine car manufacture, ’