Evening Star Newspaper, September 11, 1927, Page 62

OTORING BY WILLIA It's a poor horn that doesn't blow somebody some good. UPERCHARGING for passen- ger automobiles is a lively sub- ject in automotive engincering circles. Whenever engineers meet and the conversation saround to “shop,” the supercharger +comes into the discussion. With cars becoming faster and faster and with manufacturers try- ing to outdo each other in building speed into their products, it s nat- ural that the next step in carbu- retion should be considered. Nat- wrrally, the speed of any automobile is limited by the cfticiency of the carburetor. 1f the gasoline vaporiz- ing device cannot supply fuel to the fast moving engine, then, obviously, the engine must slow down to a point where it can receive enough Here is where the supercharger steps in Thus far, the device has not been | periected io the point where it can | ' be put into general service. Race | cars use superchargers, but the at- tention and care they get is far be- »yond t given to the finest pas- ssenger automobiles. And vet, in the “Indianapolis race, of the 21 cars that | “'went out duc to mechanical faults, | ¢opercharging weaknesses were | more prominent than any other sin- | gle fault. | It must be remembered that the drive mechanism of the supercharg- | “er turns at terrif speed. 'I‘hu1 means tremendous strain and ex- | ¢essive heat. But, the engincers are busy and they probably will find a on for the supercharger prol)-{ lems. And they may do it quickly, so ‘quickly, in fact, that some observers ““jorecast the appearance of the first | supercharged passenger car at the | pext national :New York. automobile show in | | g X = Automotive observers here, pro- fessional as well as amateur—and the latter:includes about 99 per cent of Washington's motorists—are find- ingplenty of enjoyable occupation these days in inspecting the latest products of the engineering labora- tories of the industry as, sometimes one by one and sometimes in batches, they emerge from the mystery of preparation into the limelight of public attention. The scason has been replete with announcements of | extraordinary interest in all price cl s, from the lowest to the high- | est. Tt may be said with certainty | that the public generally is showing | almost unprecedented interest in the | newest models, and showrooms are becoming increasingly more active. . Considerable interest attached dur- ing the week to announcements made by two makers in the fine car field. Both revealed new and impressively improved automobiles, and the one, presented in a rather markedly al- tered dress, caused distinct surprise by incorporating into its product the largest engine it ever has made. But these two cars are just part of a rocession which has been growing length with each passing week and which has been of definite en- couragement to economic observers in the number of materially inter- ested: spectators it has been attract- ing. - From this point, it seems a| suréty that the Autumn and early Winter of 1927 easily will outstrip the quietude of the corresponding periods of last year. * Xk X X With September well under way, Washington motorists have entered what promises to bce the most de- lightful driving period of the entire vear. If present indications may be accepted as a criterion, the remainder of the present month and the four weeks of October should give to car owners of the National Capital a season of motoring unexcelled in charm and general attractiveness. Those motorists fortunate enough to have been out on the road last Sunday, or some other days last week, are fully aware of the almost irresistible lure which the highway offers at this season. All the charms of Summer are there with their splendid appeal, and yet the sun is slightly tempered, the breezes cooler and more refreshing. and the driver more stimulated when he returns home, even after a long and some- what arduous circuit. For the most part, weather condi- tions thus far have been ideal for spirited jaunts through the country- side. Should they remain so, those The Old Mechanic Says: Proper brake adjustment does not begin and end with manipulatin’ the orakin’ mechanism on the car. It goes a whole lot further than that. Goin’ to work and jackin' up the car and makin' the necessary adjustments is only half the job. The rest is knowin’ sorethin’ about the drive That may seem queer to some mo- torists, who believe that a repair man only needs to have the car and. his tools to do the job. Why should he know anything about the person who drives it? How could that make the car different from any other? But just stop to think of what this idea of knpwin' the driver does mean. It means that when you know the driver, vou know how the car is used, how fast it is being driven and how well or how poorly it is handled. Knowin' that, a repair man can prescribe a remedy for car trouble much better than if he only has the car before him Take the case of an elderly gentle- man who brings his car to me regu larly for servicin'. He never drives it faster than 15 or 18 miles an hour— anywhere. And he likes his brakes real tight. Of course, 1 give them to him tight, because T like to have them as near 1o his likin® I can. But do 1 make any difference between takin' up his brakes and those of a voung fellow who brings in a_snappy roadster?” You bet 1 do. The car might even be of the same make and power and weight, but there is the dif- ference in the human fac is! where one big cause of trouble lies in_motorin’ The voung chap drives faster, and if hix brakes took hold as positively as the oid gentleman’s when the car | was goin', say 35 miles an hour, it would almost throw the driver through the windshield. 1 know the old gentl NASH BRAKES "3 Wheels, $9.50 4 Wheels, $17.00 Guaranteed One Year Auto Brake Service and Ford Band Co. 425 K _St—Fr. 8208 Brakes for all cars at Great Savings veers | | shout, and, to, his amazement, the or and that | M ULLMA | car owners who view the passing of | | Labor day as something of a signal | to confine their driving to the city { limits should lose no time in getting out into the open, if only | afternoon. Then they will under- Lmud why veteran motorists declare Autumn to be the finest motoring | time of the year. | ke This story points no moral; it isn't | supposed to be funny;: but it may Ivrl‘ interesting, and it may serve to in- dicate once again that you just never | can tell. A local car owner started off nv; | | New York at 12:15 am. last Sunda At 3:30 a.m. he was halted by a fat tire and the discovery that he had | (There is a moral, at that!) | He hailed a passing motorist, who, evidently afraid that he was a high- wayman, whizzed by without even diminishing his speed. This happened several times, and that, added to the fact that a fog had descended and was getting heavier every minute, in no way cheered him at all. There he was, stalled, fog-bound. | apparently friendless, hungry—and | t 4 o'clock by the watch. By that time he was getting to that precarious mental state which means absolute helplessness, and | when the sound of the exhaust of another car away up the road came faintly to his ears, he just about de- cided to let it go by. “What's the use of being taken for a thug still another time?” But, when the car was a stone's | throw away he mustered up his drooping spirits for one more try. He gave vent to one last, despairing | : | nothing to repair it with, | passing motorist slowed down long enough to look at him. t It was his next-door business neighbor ! : * X % % “Dangerous curve ahead”; “Steep hill, descend in low gear”; “Caution, road under repair”; “Do not park op- posite white line"—these and similar signs ‘along the tourist's strange route merit his respect and obedi- ence. They are placed there, in most cases, because experts who have made a study of the existing situa- tion know it to be dangerous. Unfortunately, it is not always re- spect and obedience that are accord- ed the warning signs. Whatever the reason, one does not have to travel far to see a fellow motorist attempt to take the “dangerous curve” at 45 or 50 miles an hour or to go down the steep grade in high gear. ‘And. furthermore, one sees this foolhardy motorist “get by” with his indiscre- tion. The point is. they do not always get by. - Here is an illustration: “Where’s the steep hill that I wa supposed to descend in second gear?” asked a motorist as he pulled up to a filling station located in the Alle- gheny Mountains. “You just came down it," said the station attendant. “Well, what's stecp about hill?” asked the motorist. Nothin',” replied the attendant, enigmatically, “except that five peo- ple were killed in a car that over- turned on it last night. The driver prob’ly wondered what was steep about it, too.” * X X X that Some interesting facts from the automotive history book: Motor cars have been approxi- mately vears in the process of being lowered to a reasonable dis- tance from the ground. Few car owners of today realize that once high cars were considered necessary because of the influence of horse- drawn vehicles. All wagons were high in order to afford the occupants an opportunity to look over the horse and see the road ahead. Back in 1895, when pioneers were experimenting with the first and the most crude of gasoline-propelled horseless vehicles, there was no such thing as a carbureter. The gas tank itself was relied upon to convert the fuel into a vapor. When the fuel wouldn’t vaporize, a tankful of a dif- ferent variety was substituted. Some of the pioneers used to util- ize trolley tracks as a roadbed, pre- ferring them to the mud and mire of the early roads. An automobile in those days was a sufficient nov- elty to make a street-car motorman stop when he found one of the con- traptions in his way. man's car is not goin’ to have to stop so suddenly at such speed. His gets the tighter adjustment. Now if I didn't take into account the difference in ages and drivin’ habits, I would be causin’ the older driver all kinds of worry and scares and the young fel- low would be comin’ into my shop of- ferin’ to lick me because I nearly made his car turn over. That's why I say the repair man must know somethin’ about who's drivin’ the car. for an| THE SUNDAY SMOKING IN HIS SMOKES IN HIS THE GENTLEMAN STAR. WASHINGTON, D. C. 15 MERELY FRIEND’S PARLOR IN THE SAME MANNER HIS FRIEND CAi'Q ~—— 2 z/ 7222 A7 2 24 //////// SEPTEMBER 11, DOWN THE ROAD—What’s Wrong With This Picture? i PROGRAMIOF A.M.A. OUTLINED BY BECK Eight Features Enter Into Ac- tivity, Including Promotion of Good Roads. Fight fgatures, dealing with a wide variety of motoring subjects, make up | the program of the American Motor- ists' Association, which was organ- ized at a national convention held here a few weeks ago. According to Raymond Beck, general manager of | the association and secretary of the Greater Washington Motor Club, one of the leading organizations in the new motoring agency, the program of | the A. M. A. stresses the following items: 1. Promotion of good roads on a nation-wide scale. Throughout the coming year great emphasis will be placed on more adequate highway fa- cilitiex. This must be done in order to catch up and keep pace with the radical increase in the number of motor vehicles coming into service, Ploneer Safety Efforts. Support and extension of pioneer safety efforts of all of the local auto- mobile clubs, looking to the elimina- tion of traffic hazards through the injection of practical methods, this to include the abolition of railroad grade crossings, as well as the improvement of community streets; also the promo- tion of constant, sane regulations as an alternative to spasmodic safety slogan campaigns of days gone by. 3. Standardization: of highway marking systems and rules of the road. 4. Correlation of antitheft work through closer co-operation among the hundreds of affiliated motor clubs throughout the country and the enact- ment of certificate of title laws in all States and the District of Columbia. 5. The advancement of uniform traffic laws by States and municipali ties whenever applicable. Ald in Emergency. 6. Vitalizing the country-wide sys- tem of emergency mechanical and touring aid, to the end that motorists on tour may at all times be assured of prompt and efficient service from official garages in the various States. 7. Strict standardization of head- light regulations for motor vehicles, based upon requirements which will guarantee a maximum of safety in driving and at the same time minimize the glare danger to the approaching motorist. In this connection simplifi- cation is needed in the problem of the manufacturers in_seeking to comply with the wide variety of headlight re- quirements demanded by the different States. 8. Exposure of questionable mer- chandising and services offered motor- ista by unreliable agencies. “In all phases of its work the A. M. A. has consistently recognized the im- portance of planning for the motor- dom of tomorrow, as well as providing remedies for the problems of today,” said Mr. Beck. “Hence our desire 1o co-operate with all civic agencies hav- 2 A car on the ! | | they sell. SEMMES MOT Edward B. Semmes, Inc, Alexandria, Va. CARS THAT RUN two in the shop—if it's run- ning on the road. The safest way to get to the running kind of Used Car, is to buy where that’s the only kind RAPHAEL SEMMES, President 8 Dupont Circle. 613G St. N.W. 1424 Florida Ave. N.E. 2819 M St. N.W. Main 6660—Night Phone, Main 1943 A USED CAR IS ONLY AS DEPENDABLE AS THE DEALER WHO SELLS ing the same purposes in mind.” road is worth OR COMPANY Associate Dealer H. C. Fleming Motor Co. Hyattsville, Md. T C New Substitute Can Replace Para Product inManufacture of 30,000 Articles, 11-Year Tests Show. ilxperiments carried on at Los An. |grow without cultivation on arid lands geles with the common American cac- | tus, with a view to obtaining a rubber substitute, are reported to have been successful. The substitute, which has been developed after intensive re- search lasting over a period of some 11 years, may be produced at a cost of from 3 to 4 cents a pound, and is usable in virtually all rubber products excepting tire casings, according to the report. In this manner Para rub- ber, which is used in the manufacture of some 30,000 separate articles, would be released and could be used entirely for the manufacture of autarobile tires. Large Amount Avallable. From the extracted juice of a ton of cactus between 500 and 600 pounds of rubber substitute may be manufac- tured, and it is esti ed that there are upward of 150,000,000 tons of cac- tus available in the United States to- day, from which could be produced 75,000,000,000 pounds of rubber sub- stitute, Tests of the new rubber substitute in rubber heels, matting, insulating materials and tire vulcanizing mate- rial proved fully satisfactory, it is re- ported. Considering rubber heels alone, more than 350,000,000 were manufactured in the United States last year. By using cactus rubber the Para formerly used can be released for other uses, and the lower production costs of cactus substitute will save more than $80,000,- 000 to the peopls of the world in’ this one item alone, it is stated. Acts as Binder. Unlike rubber, the cactus substititte can be “loaded” to the limit with pumice stone, magnosite, infusorial earth or elaterite, for mats, insulating materjals and thousands of other rub- ber commodities in use today not sub. ject to very great wear and tear. By ‘loading” is meant the mixing of rub- her or a substitute with another sub- stance. Cactus rubber, being very ginous in nature, acts as a binder, and will hold together more of the “loader” than rubber gum. Rub- ber curdles when mixed with too great a percentage of this material, and the resulting product crumbles. By-products from the manufacture of cactus rubber are varnish, alcohol, fodder and a pulp from which the higher grade tissue can be produced. The varnish is of exceptionally high grade, and will sell for about $20 a gallon. The fodder contains all the elements producing the rich milk whieh led Burbank to evolve the spine- less cactus as cattle food, it is said. crops to supply future de. the industry will be the ideal When I'm burning up the miles—everycylinderwork- ing overtime at tremendous temperatures—there’s at leastone thing Iknowwon't go wrong—and that's spark plugs. TinsistonChampions! Champion ls the better % o i mite core — its two-plece ind its gt o4 Champion X = for Fords 60f CHAMPION Spark Plugs TOLEDO, OHIO ACTUS RUBBER SUCCESSFUL. EXPERIMENTERS IN WEST HOLD For your protection be sure the Champions you buy are in an hour at 240 degree Fahrenheit. This releases the gummy, mucilagin- ous sul which is richest next to the skin of the plant. The gummy juice | out in “concentrated form | and consistency of molass |is treated chemically formulae which have not been divul cactus rubber compound is ready for the manufacturer. nee, the color duced from cabbag weed and other production bananas, milk- but the cost of s heen too high to make it practical, as the plants could not be produced cheaply enough. Evel since thousands of sheep died in“Mexico a few ye ing guayale, a cactus, and an examining chemist found a rubber-like substance clog- ging the digestive organs of the dead animals, scientists have known these desert plants contained a rubber-like substance, Rubber substitutes made te y from this plant and from the Harvest will simply mean cutting off the lobcs from the plant, leaving the stalks. Within a year another supply will be ready for the harvesting knives, with no care nor worry in be- tween. No plant is better able to fight the elements single-handed and to wrest a living from the driest and poorest soils. The perfected process of manufae- ture of cactus rubber begins with the collection of the cactus lobes from the | is hought today at a pr stalks, it is stated. These are mace- | below the price of * 1 rubbe rated and placed in a steam-jacketed | cactus rubber contains no, res boiler, where they are cooked for half|ever, the report states. resin content. But the entire output , how- is then pressed Then it | of | d, and the | Rubber substitutes have been pro- | ago after eat- | kindred plant to the | ocotillo were frowned upon eight vears | ago by the industry on account of the | e a few cents | price tier. iFIGHT FOR POWER AND BEAUTY MEETS SUCCESS IN LATEST CARS Character of Many Popular Makes Changed; Pioneer “Eight™ Now Has Real BY FRANK J. CARMODY. Ever sin: 1927 automobile purred acefully time's high- | into the affections of the motor- public the has been busy prophesying and the guesser ac | tively guessing just what the next step would be in motor car improve- ment. Today the prophet may check the accuracy of his prophecies and | | the er the correctness of his| Tres: Ior the next step in motor car improvement has been taken, and may be seen by the large host that follows the on's largest and most active industry An analysis of the new models that | have heen introduced during the Sum- | mer reveals that not only one but many strldes have been taken toward production of the perfect automobile. | And impressive and significant in the | s successful onslaughts on stofore unscaled heights are the wges in character that have heen | t in the cases of some of the | most popular and most sub- wtial motor cars. | High Compression Arrives. 1 the g down way prophet Fmphatically commanding one’s at- tention in the matter of performanc {is the arrival of the high-compression | engine, so long discussed as a trend. While the limit has not been reached | in this respect, and probably will not | be reached for some time, the high-| compression engine is on the m:n'l\exi in one form or another. It is standard on some makes, op-| tiona on others. Some manufac- turers employ a patented cylinder head to gain the advantages claimed | for this advanced principle in engine | design. Others have developed their | own design, while still a third group | have incre: d compression merely by lowering the head, thus reducing the size of the area above the piston. Thus is the desire for superior per- formance expressed in some prominent nches of the industry. till another obvious and important tribution - to greater power is an rease in the size of the engine it- any manufacturers in widely » classes have resorted to this practice, which is one of the | most effective answers to the question | of how properly to power cars th: just now seem to he growing larger | instead of smaller, as many were pre- dicting not many months ago. This| has been especially manifest in the | six-cylinder field. | Two “Sixes con Are Enlarged. For instance, the Summer has seen one of the fastest-selling light sixes| | held up for a few weeks right at the | height of the buying season in order that its engine might be enlarged to provide that excess of power which | the market demands. Another six cylinder car, more popular a few years ago than it is now, has been | redesigned in hoth body and engine, and is a larger car in both respects, although selling at a lower price. As further evidence that some of them believe emphatically that size is | what is needed, there is the case of three of the best sellers in the medium- All are larger, more pow- | | b st of innumerable refinements as a | | result of the intensive engineering | striving has been enhanced. | redesign Beau Geste. [;z»mus that has found its way to the market in the last few weeks. With all the improvement and gen- eral changes in character that have heen going on in virtually every motor car field, it has remaiged for one at the oldest Ights step farthes “out of character” than asy cec that has appeared within the last few vears. Attains Real Beau Geste. Fastablished as a fine performer, al- ways up to date, but somehow alwavs reflecting a restraint and dignity that set it apart, this particular car has tained a beau beste that puts it on a_parity with the most swagger cars of them all, and it apparently has heen done without sacrificeing any of its recognized virtu, As a definite part of the redesign and enlargement of the bodies und the chassis of this car, its unique and long popular en- gine has been made more powerful than ever hefore. No engine unit seems to have been %0 small that it has not come in for its share of consideration in the desire to improve performance. Valves have heen especially prominent, and soma i makers take especlal pride in new arrangements of these components, xome In the use of larger inlet valves to provide for a heavier charge ot vapor within the cylinder, and one at least in dove-tailing the two sets, that one may make the other more efficient in_its particular function. Valve springs. much tant units than they are credited with being, have been the subject of ex haustive experimentation during the last year. One company, manufactur- ing popular six and eight ecylinder models, now announces a great im provement in valve action, due to a superior spring. By the use of two smaller springs. coiled together, tha tremendous distortion which so v'tally affected valve action ie sajd to have disappeared. Better seating, less neces. sity for valve grinding, elimination of valve chattering at high speeds and practical elimination of breakage claimed for the new springs. Inci dentally, this same company offers a new type of crankshaft, similar in its construction to those used in aireraft more impor | motors Low, Fleet Effect Found. While hodies and chassis in soma cases have been increased in size and length and the latter in ruggedness and bracing as well, the low, fleet effect for which all manufacturers are Actual lowering of the body has been gained by underslinging the rear springs in some cases and by alterations in the frame in others, and apparent low | ness by the clever use of molding, tha of radiators making them high and narrow, and In other ways. Spaciousness of the passenger com- partments is another objective of the hody designer that has been achieved. Inches have been added to rear seats that in some cases already seemed the height of comfort, and in others that were sorely needed. One of the most popular “sixes” that has becoma still more popular since it appeared in its latesi version boasts of a con- siderably more spacious interior In The | erful, more appealing in design, and | both its open and closed models. The fastest selling of the big_eight. (Continued on Fifth Page) S1595 (CHASSIS F.0.B. DETROIT) or A TWO-TON TRUCK .+ CYLINDER ENGINE /] SPEED TRANSMISSION -4 WHEEL BRAKES ( LOCKHEED HY.DRAULIC)) This is the lowest price at which a 6-cylinder 2-Ton truck has ever been sold . . . hundreds of dollars lower than any other comparable truck ... Seeit... SEMMES MOTOR COMPANY RAPHAEL SEMMES, President 8 Dupont Circle 2819 M St. NW. Edward B. Semmes, Inc. Alexandria, Va. 613 G St. N.W. e 4 1424 Florida Ave. N.E. Main 6660—Night Phone, Main 1943 Associate De; H. C. Fleming Motor Co. Hyattsville, Md. RAHAM BROTHERS TRUC BUILT BY TRUCK DIVISION OF DODGE v