Evening Star Newspaper, December 9, 1928, Page 81

WORLD FIGURES ' BEFORE D. C. PASS IN PARADE TRAFFIC POLICE EMen Who Direct Flow of Autos Here Get : First-Hand Opportunity to See Notables From All BY R. J. ALLEN. Member of Metropolitan Police Force. To a person interested in people and things a trafic policeman’s work holds forth many desirable aspects. | Probably no other city in the world equals Washington as a ‘“‘Mecca” for From all over the world they as well as the entire United S \ flates. A celebrity visiting these shores al- ways includes the National Capital in his or her itinerary. Kings and queens, famous stars of stage and screen, the | latest transoceanic aviator, mighty | statesmen, triumphant politicians, etc: come and go in a never-ending proc: |sion. The faces of the world's grea and near-great are familiar to W: ington policemen from actual observa- tion at close range. Tourists often come ! from far points just to view the peopie and things who have become by sight commonplace to the citizens ington. easily recognized as such by the eager- ness which they manifest in peering into every passing car, or as they turn to follow some distinctive figure with | their eyes. Doorman Taken for Borah. An amusing example of this occurred one night while I was detailed to con- trol traffic in front of one of our lar, hotels, in which was being held a diplo- _ matic reception. & quite a crowd of tourists had gath- ‘ ered in front of [ 3! the entrance to ,{f‘ watch the guests alight from their |===1 cars. Many specu- [[| lations were rife among them con- cerning the identi- || tv_of “tne various peoole who en- ~y tered. Soon there came swinging up thestreet, dressed in civilian clothes, the tall, distinguished- looking form of the relief “doorman,” who was just ar- riving to report for duty. The other doorman, then on duty, observing his colleague’s approach, and being some- thing of a wag, quickly whispered to several of the people standing nearest him, “Quick! Look! Here comes Bill Borah. He’s very bashful, but he loves to sign autographs. He will probably deny who he is, but don't let him fool you.” Then the fun began. To make the incident more amusing, the “real” Mr. Borah did arrive just about this time, and he passed into the hotel com- pletely unnoticed. Whenever a “real” celebrity arrives in Washington there are always detailed a certain number of policemen to smooth their way through traffic and to keep back the crowds of the curious. Probably the most notable example of this was when our own beloved “Lindy” landed here on his way back from Europe. after his epochal non-stop flight to Paris. Practically every po- liceman in Washington was on duty and many soldiers as well, but many times the traffic and the crowds got out of hand in spite of their combined efforts. ‘The traffic officers were to be envied by all that day. Space on bal- conies, roofs, windows, and even door- ways, was being auctioned off to the highest bidder. But, of course, the po- licemen directing traffic and engaged in holding the crowds back held a place of perfect vantage for the pur- pose of viewing “Lindy” at close range. In {’ylml JDSIer 8 mm& pé)lk:eman rarel get a perfect oppor- ‘tunity for a closesup. view - of -famous visitors. k Will Rogers once sald that the Re- | bub party was in debt to Mrs. g:udn to the tune of a million dol- } for the practical benefits they de- | rived from her “smile.” He claimed ! her jousness and charming per- | ‘were worth that much to any man’s party. Chats with Tourists. Her love for children and pets is too well known to need any additional comment here, but an incident occurred one day while I was directing traffic at the intersection of West Executive and Pennsylvania avenues which afforded me a practical opportunity of viewing her essentially human qualities. The President and Mrs. Coolidge had evi- | dently been out for a quiet drive. I did not notice their approach until they ! were within about 20 feet of the corner | where I was standing. As is the invariable custom of Dis- | brict policemen where the President’s car is concerned I immediately mo- | tioned the rest of the traffic to halt ,and in turn motioned the President’s oar to proceed. Then as luck would (have it a street car motorman and ® big truck driver both misinterpreted | my signal. Both moved on to the intersection at the same time and, of course, the President’s car had already started forward. There they all met. In the meantime, several cars following Countries. the truck, which had blocked their vision, moved forward. One of these cars, which bore an Iowa license num- | ber,’ was forced to halt parallel and slightly in advance of the President’s car, The Towa car was occupied by |a man and woman In the front seat and by a small boy aad girl in_the rear seat. In the midst of my efforts to untangle the jam I glanced up at the President’s car, expecting to en- counter a pair of stern glances, but instead I was to observe an incident which I shall treasure in my memory Coolidge, apparently oblivious of the traffic delay, was leaning out the window on her side of the car, en- gaged in animated conversation with the two children in the Iowa car, The little girl was busy showing her some picture post cards, evidently depicting scenes in and around Washington, while the little boy questioned her eagerly about the beautiful white dog in her car. Meanwhile the father and mother up front remained in ignorance of their children’s famous acquaintance. ‘The man was busily blowing his horn and glaring at me, while the mother was engaged in beseeching her husband to please be calm. Evidently she was afraid I might arrest him. Anyway, she entirely disregarded her small son's entreaties to “Please lonk in the next car at the beautiful white dog the nice lady had.” The President seemed to be regarding the whoje situation, I thought, rather quizzically. I imagine that secretly he got quite a “kick” out of it. Probably the well olled smooth- ness with which the White House car usually traverses the streets becomes sort of monotonous after a while. Wonderful Opportunity Lost. The Towa car drove off without the two in the front seat ever looking back, and no doubt to this day the occupants remain unaware of the identity of the lady who seemed so friendly to the children. What a cholce opportunity they missed of having a magnificent tale to carry back to the neighbors in Towa of how their little Beity and Junior had talked with the First Lady of the Land. Names, famous names, which are to be seen on the “front page” almost daily, their owners world figures, are but dim unrealities to puople who have never seen them in the flesh. We are prone to surround famous people, whom we have never seen, with all sorts of fanciful qualities. Even though we see their pictures often, we nevertheless may visualize their appear- ance as something enfirely different from what it actually is, I was reared in a_very quiet locality, where famous people rarely penetrated. I still never fail to get a thrill upon seeing some great person come riding past my cor- ner when I am directing traffic. That spirit which prompts small boys to run after fire engines and chase down to the circus Iot to see the elephants unloaded is still strong within most of us. Like the tourists from out West, I, too, scan each passing car, and loiter in front of famous old houses, dreaming and visualizing. in my mind's eye, the many great social func- tions held there in the days gone by. I love to watch for “Andy” Mellon’s car when he comes to the office in the morning, also Charlie Dawes, and I always glance to see if he is smok- ing his famous pipe; and Col (Will Bill) Don- ovan: as he rolls -| past in his straight eight roadster, and who never fails to wave me a cheery greeting. (Once he was “my” colonel.) Senator Smoot and Tom Heflin on way to pay a call ‘The wife of the Japanese Ambassador and her charm- ing. family ride by enjoying the morn- ing air. They and a host of others serve to make up the never-ending pro- cession of famous figures for which ‘Washington is noted. “It's a Great Life.” Here live the President, the members of the Senate and House of Repre- sentatives, all the foreign Ambassadors, their families and members of the vari- ous embassies. In any one day & traffic policeman on a downtown cor- ner, if he pays attention to the occupants of the varions cars which pass his corner, will see at close range more famous and celebrated men and women than some people in distant localities get to see in a whole lifetime. Soon a traffic policeman learns to know them all by sight, learns to rec- ognize even the cars they drive. Yes, to a person interested in people and hl}lngs, a traffic policemen has a great e. 'Says Oil Industry Deserves Better Treatment From American Public The ofl industry, if only for what it has done for the automobile, in the belief of H. H. Brooks, general sales director in the automobile industry, deserves better treatment from the public than it has received. If the United States leads all other nations in automobile production and | Tegistration, he pointed out, it is large- 1y because of our control of the world's Jargest natural ofl supply. However, even this supply would be inadequate for the needs of America’s motorists, ‘were it not for the efficiency methods ! introduced by the big oil companies, | | he added. “Gasoline is still our cheapest motor fuel” Mr. Brooks states, “apd it is cheaper in America than in Europe. While the retail price here is around 18 cents, it is 27 cents in Antwerp and Copenhagen; cents in Berlin; 32 | cents in Paris and Brussels, and 47 cents in Madrid and Belgrade. Gaso- line comes to 70 cents & gallon in | Bogota, Colombia; in Guatemala City | and Teheran, Persia, and in Europe it | is cheapest in Kovno, Lithuania and in | Stockholm, where the motorist pays 25 cents, | “In no other country are stations so convenient anc so well equipped. Our motor tourists, ac- customed to finding such a station filling never more than a few miles from the | most isolated spot, perhaps do not ap- preciate the service they fill their tanks with gas, their tires with air and their radiators with water, and drive out of the station without further trouble. “America’s 90,000-mile system of "buried railroads,’ or subterranean givers of oll, are largely responsible for holding down retail gasoline prices and making possible a new leisure for the enjoyment of sports and the pursuit of culture. Without this transcontinental system of pipe lines, carrying crude oil from the wells of Texas, Oklahoma, Wyoming and California to refineries on the Paclfic Coast, the Gulf of “Mexico and the Atlantic seaboard for shipment both to inland cities and to European ports, the world at large would be unable to enjoy the benefits of cheap fuel. Such organizations as the Sinclair and Standard Oil com- panies maintain thousands of miles of 'trunk lines which are connected with the individual wells by other thousands f miles of feeder lines. ever, are engaged in a desperate race to keep gasoline production abreast of the increasing demands made by the automobile and the airplane, That the supply has not falled is due to the efforts both of the oil and auto- motive industries, the one in perfecting high-compression fuel and superior grades of lubricating oil; the other in improving motor engines that require less fuel. At the time the automobile was invented, gasoline was regarded as a waste product. But the internal combustion engine, finding a use.for it, revolutionized the oil industry and led it from the kerosene lamp days to the_automobile age. “In 1909, when only 300,000 cars were registered in the United States, there was enough crude oil on hand to supply 588 barrels per car. Today with a ten-fold increase in oil pro- duction, and with 23,000,000 automo- bile registrations, the available supply of crude oil is hardly more than 20 barrels to the car. “While formerly & barrel of crude oil yielded only four gallons of gasoline, scientific methods have increased that yield to 23 gallons. The automobile industry, on its part, has developed engines that are squerzing the last inch of mileage out of every gallon, “Without the aid of nce and im- p ed distribution facilities, the supply | of oline would long ngo have been inadequate even for the nceds of the motor vehicle. With the airplane tak- ing its place in the transportation scheme, the ofl industry has a new problem to face, but i; meeting the challenge as recklessly as if the natural supply of oil would last indefinitely,” 1929 TAG SALE STARTS. Nearly 375,000 Application Blanks Are Mailed at Beltimore, Speclal Dispatch to The Star. BALTIMORE, December 8.—The sale of 1929 automobile license tags started { this week and will cont!nue until De- cember 31. Clerks have mailed nearly 375,000 application blanks, Although motorists may obtain their 1929 license plates now, they are not permitted to_display them until De- cember 15. Tt is expected that 25,000 Y. N ) 7 b/ ACCESSORY BUSINESS SETS NEW RECORDS Association Announces Most Pros- perous Year in History of Auto Industry. The automotive parts and accessory business is enjoying the greatest fourth quarter the industry has ever had and will olose 1928 with the new high rec- ords in production and sales, according to the Motor and Accessory Manufac- turers’ Association. In October suppliers of orginal equip- ment of the motor vehicle makers and replacement parts and garage equip- ment to the trade did virtually the same heavy volume of business that they had in September, and during the first half of this month maintained opera- tions only a little below the October level. The grand index of shipments to the car and truck manufacturers and the wholesale trade by a large and repre- sentative group of M. & A. M. A. mem- bers in October was 188 per cent of the January, 1925, figure, compared with 202 per cent in September, 212 per cent in August and 129 per cent in October a year ago. Since last March, when the index for all divisions first reacl 200 per cent, operations have not de- clined below an index figure of 187 per cent for any month. Business of original equipment mak- ers in October was 200 per cent of January, 1925, as compared with 218 per cent in September, 230 per cent in August and 124 per cent in October a year ago. In only the first two months of this year has the index of this group been below 200. October shipments to the wholesale trade last month by manufacturers of service parts were at an index of 184, as compared with 185 in September, 176 in August and 174 in October a year ago. The September figure was the highest on record for the service parts manufacturers. Shipments of makers of service equip- ment, that is, garage machinery and tools, last month exceeded September, the index standing at 141 as compared with 140 in September and 120 in Oc- tober a year ago. Accessory sales to the wholesale trade in October were 91, as compared with Dirty 0il means Wear Renew Your 04l Filter Cartridge every 10,000 miles MERICA’S leading makes of cars are equipped with the| AC Oil Filter. Engine insurance! But in time an oil filter becomes, filled with dirt taken from the| oil. Dirt in oil means wear. Bo fair to your engine. Putinan |ACRenewalCartridge after10,000 miles. That makes your AC Oil Filterasgoodasnew. Your dealer can do the job guiekly at small cost. See him today. 122 in September, 147 in August and 103 in October last year. Schedules of original equipment mak- ers indicate largely expanded car pro- duction for the early part of 1929. —_—————— Never again wil! there be a saloon on every corner—not with filling stations there.—Detroit Free Press. POHANKA NG TO AROUSE THE WIFE'S NTHUSIASM OVER A CAR YOU CRETLY INTENDED AS HER ORIV 77 p How to Change 0il. In changing oil do not flush crank case with kerosene. Use a light lubri- cating oil for flushing oil. Start motor for a couple of minutes, then drain. In force-feed olling systems nearly a pint remains, and, if kerosene is used, it dilutes the new oil. PRESENT, s e l AUTOMOTIVE BRIEFS ' Si Hawkins of the Hawkins Nash Motor Co., announces the removal of his showrooms and sales headquarters l{omt 1509 14th street to 1520 14th street. Philadelphia Builds World’s Largest Bus Maintenance Shop ‘With facilities for handling all re- pairs on 1,000 motor busses and for servicing 75 vehicles simultaneously, the world’s largest motor bus main- tenance shop has been completed in Philadelphia, Bus Transportation re- ports. The plant will make repairs on the fleet of 570 musses operated by the Philadelphia Rapid Tran- sit_Co. Built at a cost of $500,000 and containing equipment costing $100,- 000, the weekly production schedule of the shop calls for completely overhauling 14 busses and painting 10 of them, rebuilding 14 engines, relining 62 sets of brakes, overhaul- ing 40 power motors, 20 power gen- erators, 11 steering gears, 14 front axles, 14 rear axles, and rebuilding 40 universal joints. This will be ac- complished by a force of 181 men. LOUIS MEYER IS NAMED A. A. A. SPEED CHAMPION Keech Rated Second and Moore Third in Points for Speed- way Awards. Louls Meyer, a virtually unknown rac- ing driver until he won the Indianapolis classic in May, has jumped into na- tional prominence by winning the American Automobile Association speed- way championship for 1928. This statement was issued by the Contest Board of the A. A. A, on the basis of total awards in the major events run under the sanction of the na- tional motoring body, which supervises and regulates official racing in the United States. At the same time the A. A. A. gn- nounced that Ray Keech of Philadel phia, who captured the world speed rec- ord from Capt Malcolm Campbell at Daytona Beach, won second place on the championship list, and Lou Moore, who placed second at Indianapolis, was third. Meyer accumulated 1,596 champion- ship points for the year, while Keech won 915 and Moore 406. ‘The A. A. A. Contest Board pointed out that in winning the 1928 champion- ship Louls Meyer takes the speedway crown from the head of Peter De Paolo, who won it both in 1925 and 1927. A product of the Pacific Coast dirt tracks, Meyer won the acclaim of speed- way fans at Indianapolis when he drove the entire distance of 500 miles without relief. He was also successful in win- ning the Altoona event on August 19 and annexing second place at Salem, N. H, on July 4. Announces the Opening of A NEW HOM 1126—20th Street, N. W. Due to unprecedented popularity, Oldsmobile has completely out- grown the sales and service facili- ties of Pohanka Service, a prominent member of Oldsmo- bile’s Metropolitan Washington dealer group. Mr. Frank S. Pohanka, who heads this organi- zation, has been prominent in Washington automotive circles for more than twelve years. To enable his organization to continue to render the highest type of Oldsmobile service to Oldsmobile owners in Washington, Mr. Pohanka has added a new up-to-date sales and service building at 1126—20th Street, N.-W.,adjacent to his present Service Station. These addi- tional facilities give Oldsmobile owners in Washington positive assurance of prompt, efficient and courteous Oldsmobile service. AC oil filter AC Spark PLue CompaNY Frint, Michigan ©1928, AC Spark Plug Company Distributors Southern Wholesalers, 1519-21 L St. N.W. Decatur 130 Automotive REPLACEMENT PARTS When you visit Pohanka Service, note the L ABOR TAKES MOST OF HIGHWAY COSTS Expense of Constructing Mile of Paving In lowa Averages $26,184. Where does money go when it is spent, has been a query on the tip of tongues since the invention of money some 3,000 years ago, according to E. E. Duffy, highway educational writer. In the case of roads, however, the Towa State Highway Commission has prepared an illuminating answer. All things considered, labor receives o trifile more than half of the construc- tion cost of a mile of pavement. The cost of stone aggregate, cement, re- inforcing steel, freight and other con- struction costs account for the remain- der of the charge. In Iowa the construction cost of s mile of pavement has averaged $26,184. Of this amount 52 per cent, or $13,706 goes to labor through various channels. Costs Distributed. Costs for a mile of highway are dis- tributed as follows: Stone, aggregate. $3,441; cement, $5,856; reinforcing steel, $850; freight, $5,520; grading, $2,000. miscellaneous contractors’ costs, includ- ing profits, $8,517. From these items labor receives the following amounts: Stone, aggregate. $1,032; cement, $3,116; reinforcing steel, $255; freight, $2,448; grading, $1,500; and the labor portion of miscellaneous contractors’ costs, $6,855. Like Flow of Blood. From these studies it is apparent that the circulation of money is not unlike the circulation of blood. Eventually it gets back to the starting point. The general citizenry of Iowa, for instance. through the recently passed $100,000,000 bond issue, will pay for the construction of some 3,400 additional miles of paving This program will mean that Iowa labor alone will be benefited by more than $50,000,000. With this. considerable pavement mileage, reducing car operating costs of Iowa motorists to a point where the bond issue charges will be more than compensated for, it is obvious that bond issues and 'i)g:rroved road programs are decidedly g¢ business. Some students of economics point out that this very progressiveness of State and local gov- ernments and the resultant wide dis- tribution of funds has in no small par' accounted for current prosperity. ERVICE cleanliness which predominates. All mechanics are uniformed in white overalls. Slipovers are placed over all steering wheels and seats of cars being serviced. A complete stock of genuine Oldsmobile parts is always on hand. There are enough Frank S. Pohanka OLDSMOBILE PRODUCT, OF .GENERAL MOTORS mechanics to assure quick and courteous service to everyone, The service shop is thoroughly equippedjwith tools and service equipment specified by the Oldsmobile factory. Whether you now drive an Oldsmobile or some other make of car, youare cordially invited to visit the new home of Pohanka Service and to inspect the unusual service facilities. See the new Oldsmobile. Check its features, one by one, against those of any car in its field. You'll find that you cannot match ' them at Oldsmobile’s low price,