Evening Star Newspaper, February 3, 1929, Page 61

TOURS IN GERMANY - PROVE EXPENSIVE But Trips by Motor Car Through Historical Coun- try Are Delightful. BY EDGAR ANSEL MOWRER. By Cable to The Star and Chicato Dally iews. Copystght, 1020, BERLIN, Germany, February 2—A motor tour through Germany is a rare deli{‘r:., but despite official statements {? ghtt contrary it is an expensive de- Some of the joy is human. One meets & good-natured, healthy, essentially friendly end hospitable people whose manner of life is probably more like that of America than any other Euro- pean nation. Accommodation 18 good and plentiful,and on the whole hotel- keepers, garage owners and policemen ltbekmpt to please. English is generally en, e of the pleasure is historical. Medieval buildings stand side by side with the most up-to-date factories and modern architecture of an astonishing- ly modern type—far more revolutionary than anything that exists at home. ‘There are fewer first-class antiquities than in France or Italy, but there are enough to satisfy any one. And mod- ern Germany is far more substantiaily interesting in modernity than either of the two other countries. Country Is Impressive. ‘There are great opportunities for es- thetic pleasure. East Germany is rather fat and monotonous, only dotted with pleasant cities and occasional old mon- uments. But the south and west are not only historically more lmPrcsslve. but topographically more varied and beautiful than the rest of the country. ‘The Rhineland and parts of Francon! and Bavaria, not to speak of the south- west corner of Germany, are extremely e. Nearly everything possible has been done to make American motorists com- fortable and a great many formaljties have been simplified. The roads, while not exceptional, are all tolerable and being rapidly improved. There are no national motor highways plowing a bee- line across the country. But who wants such roads for a vacation trip? It is far moré interesting to wind back and forth and turn sharp corners around the stone walls and farmhouses, bullt ‘when Columbus was young, with a troop of traditional German geesc ambling across the road at the cries of a bare- footed goose girl. The wise motorist obtains an inter- mational “triptyque” from the A. C. A. or the A. A. A. before he leaves America. With it he can enter Germany and leave it again at any point as often as he chooses without paying anything. If he forgets he can write and obtain one from the Allegemein Deutsche Automo- bile Club for $12.50. Otherwiss he will have to denosit the customs duties on his car at the place of entry, but can recover the sum when he leaves. Up to 60 days foreign cars are taxed only 1 mark (24 cents) per day. License Valid in Germany. An American driver's license is valid fn Germany if stamped by & German consulate and the German steamship companies and tourist agencies will do this service gratis. Maps can be had enywhere in the world. Excellent ones can be obtained by writing to the Verkehrsbureau of the German Auto- mobile Club, Leipsiger Platz, 16, Ber- Iin. The continental handbcok is a wonderful help and can be bought in the first German town. Information concerning hotels and ces can be had in Boedecker, and er guide books along with a world of other-information. Garage space is rather small, but sufficient. Most German mechanics bhave become familiar with American cars frcm experience with those pwned by Germans. Notable for those interested in testing gheir cars on the hardest motor course in the world is the Burburgring in the Rhineland. This strange knot of road offers in its 18 miles no less than 172 curves, and has rising grades of 27 per cent and descents of 14 per cent. There 18 said to be no equal in the world. In ;e!cmle #rip a car climbs about 2,200 According to the Germans, the finest glp st:ru at gdremftn mmu to Ber- n, where modernity r supreme. ‘Then from the capital back the to Cologne via the Tz with their charming old . Then the Rhineland southward to Frankfort, th> birthplace of Goethe and of Rothschild (the two poles of German cuiture). Then Heidelberg and, Baltimore Suburb Installs Device to Aid Pedestrians Walkers Can Halt Auto Traffic Merely by Pressing Button. BALTIMORE, February 2.—Pedestri- ans will have their first chance to function as traffic directors with a new signal device to be installed at a busy crossing in one of the suburbs. A button will be attached to the signal by which a pedestrian can turn a red light against a motorist while the person on foct crosses the road. For motorists, the signal is expected to respond to the horn. In that re- spect it is similar to one previously tried which did not prove & success. The sound recording mechanism is now perfected, police said, and can be relied upon. North and south trafic will retain the right of way, and the red light will only be flashed in that direction when a motorist or pedestrian wishes to cross. After a brief interval has been allowed for the crossing the signal will flash green “go” signal. Tests made with the light have been satisfactory, according to Police Com- missioner Gaither. DRIVERS INCREASE DAY RUN AVERAGE (Daily Mileage of 234 Is Gain of 134 Miles in Ten Years. The average day's run of motor tour- ists is now 234 miles, as compared with about 100 miles a day 10 years ago, ac- cording to the national touring board at the ‘American Autemobile Associa- on. ‘The question, “When touring what is your average dally miledge?” was ad- dressed to thousands of motorists in every State of the Union in an effors to secure definite data on motor touring. Out of every 100 persons who answered the questionnaire 30 reported 200 miles for their average daily run, 25 advisea 250 miles, 16 averaged 300 miles per day and 15 said they traveled 150 miles a day. The average daily run was 239 miles. Five Main Reasons Cited. Outstanding among the reasons ad- vanced for this decided increase in the mileage covered by motorists were the following: Better highways, improvement of the motor car, more adequate mrkmf of highways, improved motoring facilities, a nation-wide tendency to liberalize :&e:a laws and the passing of the road- ustice of the peace courts. " questionnaire,” says the A. A. A. national touring board, “has revealed in a convincing way that car owners of the Natlon are ever looking areas and that the national pros) following In the wake of the motor tourist is being more evenly distributed. that motor touring in any section hinges largely on the character of the roads, the ease of travel over them and the motoring services available. The fine character of present-day automobiles has not discounted the tremendous im- portance of these factors. i “It is apparent that the ‘move on’ policy of speeding up traffic in congest- ed areas has been taken up by motor- ists on the open road. Desiring to visit new sections in possibly the same period of time formerly devoted to visiting points in the car owner's home State, it has been necessary to speed up the motor vacation. - Better highways, im- proved cars, adequately marked roads, standardized moulmng servlg:‘l’ l'l\fl more liberalized speed laws, grou] 3 have made this pousm‘:? Signs Standardized in 28 States. “More than 615,000 miles of surfaced m s, with approximately 90,000 s of important interstate routes, now beckon the motorist. Moreover, these interstate roads have been completely marked in 28 States with standardized in the same methodical manner that formerly marked the railroad or steam- ship journey. ""’l‘hu tendency to liberalize speed laws is seen in a striking way with the ve increased bending eastward, through the pleasant Neckar Valley to Hellbronn and pic- turesque Nuremberg, thence to the totally medieval village of Rothenburg and Dinkelsbuehl, which is just cele- ‘Then Munich, Friedrichshafen, on Lake Constance, the home of all Zeppelins, by ‘way of Ulm, and then back to Strasburg through the Black Forest. The traveler who sees this knows Germany as well as one can without staying a consider- able time. Delightful—But Not Cheap. German prices are high. German ho- tels rate themselves a class higher than Americans would rate them. A “first- ciass German hotel” is fair, a fine ho- tel is “extra class.” Fine things are expensive. The quoted price is gener- ally reasonable, but it does not include any number of things Americans expect, which are classed as-extras. For ex- ample, a table d’hote dinner does not include bread or coffee and there is: ysually a charge for “tablecloth,” In some hotels the obligatory cumFenufion for the abolished tips is as high as 15 &nd 20 per cent of the bill—and not all this money goss to the employes. Auto repairs are expensive. Generally. there is a tendency to believe that “Americans can pay anything” and those who re- sent this are not always well treated. On the whole, however, the condi- tlons are good. For one who can re- member that he is visiting a country which has been impoverished by & lost war and is still smarting under foreign Pmancial pressure a motor trip to Ger- many is a rare treat. T S America's Longest Tunnel. ‘The recently opened tunnel of the Great Northern Road through the Cascade Mountains is just 8 miles in length, the longest on this continent. ‘The tunnel will expedite the flow of somemrce, contribute to the comfort of travelers and assure to both year- around dependability and safety. Pas- senger trains will cross the Cascades in one hour less time, while all freight movements will save three hours. It will shorten the crossing 9 miles, fower the summit 502 feet, eliminate curvature equivalent to more than 10 complete circles, reduce the mileage of maximum 2.2 per cent grade crossing the Cascades by 18 miles, eliminate nearly 8 miles of massive Snow- shers, and reduce the mileage running through tunnels and snowsheds by more than 2 miles. By reason of the fact that the new approach will have no serious snow problem while the new tunnel will carry the tracks under the zone of the heaviest snowfall on the entire Great Northern system, these improvements will eliminate for all time delays incidental to snow and slides on the mountainsides and wipe out the heavy expense of keeping the tracks open in the Winter time. The original crossing of the Great Northern over these mountains in the early 90s was in that day a most unusual feat of engineering. On January 1, according to compila: tions of the American Motorists’ Asso- ciation, there were in existence in the United States 51,600 public garages, report that 23 States the speed laws within the past three years and many judge recklessness of the driver on the facts in the case rather than on the mere question of ADVERTISING HELD AUTO TRADE FACTOR Newspapers Lead ii Upbuilding Industry in U. S, Is Sales Manager's View. ‘The newspapers of America have un- doubtedly been leading factors in rapid rise of the automobile industry from compgrative insignificance to the greatest single business in the world. This is the statement of R. N. Mosher, general sales manager of the Peerless Motor Car Corporation, who has been affiliated with the industry for the past 23 years. “Even in the early days” says Mr. Mosher, “the newspapers were quick to see the news value of the automobile. They realized that their readers were v ufly interested in the doings of the automobile world, in new records, new stunts, new proofs of motor car de- pendabllity. They willingly :rproprl- ated a large proportion of their space to automobile news. “The manufacturers in turn realized the necessity for telling their own storles ifi their own way through the medium of the advertising columns of the newspapers. “It is safe to say, with the vigorous competition that has always been part and parcel of the automobile business, no manufacturer making cars today could have survived if he had not been a liberal user of advertising in the | newspapers. “Not only has it proved a very neces- sary investment from the standpoint of ‘selling the public, but an equally necessary one from the standpoint of the dealer organization. “Automobile dealers know the value of newspaper advertising. They would not long continue as outlets for the manufacturer who failed to realize the need. They expect, and rightfully, too, that their own personal efforts will be backed up by a definite fixed schedule on which they can count for help in stimulating interest in the cars they sell.” Lighting the Train's Exterior. After some tests and experimenta- tion, the Indian government is about to make use of a system by which the trains are lighted on the exterior for the purpose of intensifying the fllum- ination at country stations as a safe- guard against trespassers. ~ Several lights are placed on either side by each car and these are automatically switched on when the train is running below a certain speed and off again when: the prescribed limit is exceeded. Thus the lights are on as the train slows down to enter or pass a station, 95,400 service stations and repair shops, 79,000 mm stores and 317,000 gasoline filling stations, N but on the road the presence of the lights is not essential, “At the same time it is clearly shown | ga 8| 3 i"Fl'l.;hg motor tour of today is planned | w the | similated into the civilization of THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, DOWN THE ROAD—The Acid Test. WHAT NEW ZEALANDERS BECOMING MODERN Native Customs Dying Out as Youngsters Abandon Bar- barous Habits. New Zealand, that far-away group of islands of Australasia, has its sociologi- cal problems like Europe and America, as is evidenced by the heated contest over prohibition that attended the re- cent elections there. Press dispatches reveal that political science is a game which the New Zealanders play with the same finesse a8 older nations of the rth. “Doubtless there are some Americans who still picture New Zealand as a rath- er primitive country with its tattooed Maori much in evidence,” says a bulle- t§nt from the National Geographic So- clety. Maori Are Moderns. “Instead modern New Zealand is just as modern as Main Street and as pro- saic to the adventurously inclined. True, the Maori is still in New Zea- land, but his number is depleted and he is much changed. The warrior of today has forsaken his war canoe for a motor boat and his tribal wars for law suits. The Maori woman ) replace her ceremonial cloak of kiwi feathers with the histicated of the even the famous haka nces threaten to disappear be onslaught of modernity. “It is only ai the elders tribes, who stay within the confines of their ‘pas’ or settlements, that the cus- toms of the past have been retained. Even these are modified t! avoidable contact with the pah hite man. People Rub Noses. “One old custom, strange to Western eyes, is that of ‘hongi’ nose rubbing. Among the Maoris this dispenses with kissing and han@shaking. custom, forsworn by the the tattooing of faces. In form: the well dressed Maori had his face chiseled in artistic designs, and the lincs filled in with blue pigment. Patches of black around his eyes gave a final touch of swagger. The ‘women of the t understood that tattooing of the ips and chin greatly enhanced their appeal. Intermarriage Countenanced. “';w;x'ga mtermn;lm bet-‘lvleen whlu; ipon, reas censuts atiaches 10 th no great censure attacl to the white New Zealander who takes a Maori wife or husband. The better class na- tives occupy much the same status as the whites.” There are Maori members of Parliament and Maori doctors and lawyers, plumbers and grocers. “The Maori gradually are be! un- eks, the as- the overwhelmingly larger white population. In the cities they drive the same kinds of cars, go to the same churches, see the same movies and receive the same radio programs as do the English-born New Zealanders.” R CENSTP ROAD BUILDERS’ EXHIBIT SETS NEW WORLD RECORD More Than 30,000 Participants in Cleveland Show—Outline the Benefits Accomplished. As the doors closed last week, and the twenty-sixth annual convention jand road show of the American Road Bullders’ Association in Cleveland, Ohio, passed into history at Public Auditorium, there was a consensus of opinion among the 400 machinery exhibitors and the 30,000 road builders present that it had set a new world record from many standpoints. Actual facts and figures proved this conclusion insofar as show floor space and attendance were concerned. The intangible good accomplished in spread- ing the gospel of good roads around the world will reach an amazing total in the results of the coming year, accord- ing to association officials. More than 30 nations had representatives here to learn new ideas in highway planning, the newest developments in American machinery and road building equip- ment. From every State in the Union came highway officials, engineers and contractors to exchange ideas and ex- periences. ‘The commercial benefits as the out- wth of the exposition will be a big factor in American national prosperity of the immediate future, declared Charles M. Upham, association secre- tary-director. Upham's statement that the com- munity which would invest in its future and create wealth for tomorrow, be it State, city or county, must invest in hways to permit the easy flow of trade and commerce, made & most. profound jon upon Cleve- landers, since this regional area plans to spend $63,000,000 in the next 10 years for just such an investment in the future of the Cleveland territory, based on a highway planning survey by Federal experta. of the | Parts road construction and maintenance and | ¢, e i i / V7, == Copyvight 1929 by Prush M Bock. Trode Mot Reg V. $ Pak. ORY D. C, FEBRUARY 3, AUTO JOURNEY THROUGH ITALY HAILED AS RICH EXPERIENCE Car Is Necessary if Visitor Would See Glories of Ancient Roman Cities. BY CARROLL BINDER. By Cable The Star and Chicago Daily lews. Copyright, 1029. ROME, Italy, February 2.—A journey in Italy is one of the richest experiences that can befall a traveler. He who tan make the tour in an automobile i8 thrice fortunate. On'- the motorist has access to quaint towns like towered San Gi- migngno, which has changed but slight- ly since the poet Dante visited it as Ambassador of the Florentines 600 years years ago and which has been profaned by neither railroad or factory. There are in Italy scores of isolated churches, gardens and castles contain- ing gorgeous frescoes, rare tapestries, lmcfless wood carving or statuary or andscapes of sublime beauty which only an automobile can hope to visit. A motor car is necessary if one is to see such glories of the anclent Magna Graecia and the modern Italy as the Sila forest in Cglabria, where shepherd lads who might have stepped out of the s of Theocritus tend their flocks and pursue their tranquil existence. Far be it from me to decry a rail Jjourney through 1taly. No rail travel could be more agreeable or profitable. But he whose voyage is circumscribed by iron tmkl‘ mufi'tn forego tuh:um:“emna experience of glimpsing e places off the beaten tracks. are of the world where most of the worth-while places are touched by the steam or electric railway, but Italy, happily, is not one of these. ‘ Home of Venerable Civilization. ‘What is now Italy has been the home of successive civilizations extending so far back into history that there are countless towns which today can lay no claim to railway service, but which once were of such importance as to occasion the erection of some building or object of great beauty or historical significance. If one takes the pains to visit the spots by automobile one will be amply repaid and incidentally one will discover how little touched by machine civilization is & large section of this storied country. I can imagine no more felicitous time than the present for a mowr journey. There are many thousands of miles of roads quite suitable for motoring. ‘Wholesome food and comfortable lodg- ing may be had at convenient stages of the journey. And yet the road is not overcrowded by fellow motorists who de- cide to make the same journey at the same time. Such a spectacle as one sees on the main thoroughfares leading out from an American city on a week end—endless streams of recreation-bent motorists breathing each other’s gasoline—is al- most inconceivable in cotemporary Italy. One must enjoy unusual position to possess a motor car in Italy. Italy Frowns on Imported Cars. ‘The readers will be asking about the flies in this ointment. They exist. There are certain formalities about bring a foreign-made and particularly an American automobile into Italy. It can be done, but the motorist will have considerably more trouble than it he brings in an Itallan-made car. The government wants assurance that the foreign-made car will not be sold while in Italy and exacts deposits at the frontier. These can be recovered when the car is taken out of the country. Any one contemplating bringing his car to Italy would do well to consult the nearest office of the “C. I. T.” (official Italian tourist agency) regarding regu- lations. An American license is not valld in Italy. The services of the C. I. T. should be invoked in the procuring of a license for the car and also a driver's license if one expects to drive one's own car, The car owner who expects to drive, but does not possess a reasonable | command of Italian, can hardly expect to have the maximum utufactlc:p:ut of his .visits to out-of-the-way places. English is spoken at the principal hotels along the main traveled highways and one may hear English in the most un- expected places, but there is no assur- ance that it will be possible for the non- | Italian-speaking motorist to ask a direc- tion or understand the explanation of custgdlnn at some shrine %fl the be:m: rack. Simplest to Hire Chauffeur. ‘M‘i"tw::m}:lbe motorists will find it simples re an English-speaki licensed Italian chauffeur to drlmh‘:li car. It will be even more convenient to hire a_car from some reputable :finey with the agency assuming responsibility for the car, driver and such accidents as may befall. There is then less pos- sibility of being held up in some town while the authorities are determining the extent of damages inflicted upon a chicken killed or a pedestrian injured and less lkelthood of detention over vio- lation of some local traffic rule (there are “traps” for the motorist in Italy as well as in America, though my own ex- femnu has been that supervision is less rigid here than in many parts of the United States). Gasoline costs 2.30 lire a liter, which means about 55 cents a gallon. A chauf- feur's wages, howsever, are less than in .America. If one rents & car the serv- ices of the chauffeur are included. The tariff is from 3.50 to 3.75 lire a kilo- meter for & good car—higher for a de luxe, of course. In American terms this would be about 30 cents a mile for & first-class_closed car (or open, if you like, which in most seasone is the way in which to enjoy Italy's beauty to the fullest). In the SBummer there will be quite & bit of dust on some roads, but there are many miles of dustless roads and more are being built. April, May, June and October are the favorite months for motoring, but any month is possible. Good Roads aud Bad. At present Italian roads are varied. There is no finer auto road in the world than that from Milan to Stresa in the Italian lake region, or than that from Rome to Ostia, the Roman seaside re- sort. In Calabria, at the very foot of the Italian boot, are to be found some excellent motor roads, though Calabria is rarely visited by foreigners and its hotels have not yet prepared themselves for ministering to foreign tourists as can Bicilian, Tuscan and Umbrian or Rome hotels. On the other hand, some of the worst roads are near Rome. Portions of the road between Rome and Naples have been very bad. The government has done & F“ deal to remedy this situa- tion and is engaged in a large scale road building program which will soon have notable results. Twenty thousand men are employed in the preparation of 1,000 miles .of roads for motoring purposes. They are modernizing every road lead- Infi out of Rome for a distance of 30 miles, every road leading from the frontiers into Italy and the stretches between Naples-Rome; from Fano on the Adriatic coast through Bologna and Piacenza; important Sicilian roa¥ls and a great highway from Turin to Trieste. Pompeli Route Improved. Of speclal interest to forelgners 1s the news given me by the “Enit” (of- ficial Italian tourist propaganda agency) that the world-famous “Amalfi drive” may now be made from Naples in greater comfort than was formerly pos- sible. The stretch between Naples and the ruined city of Pompeil, which used to deprive many motorists of the serene frame of mind necessary to enjoy the beauties of Borronto, Amalfi and Ra- vello, has now been improved. The government even hopes to build a mo- tor road up the sides of Vesuvius, but meantime one can pleasantly motor to Pompeii and then proceed on the Amalfi drive, which is without superior as a scenic ride. The popglhr “hill towns” road from Rome to Florence via Orvieto (of the famous wine), Perugia, Assisi (Shrine of St. Francis) Sienna and (don’t miss it) San Gimignano is in excellent con- dition and every tourist should save at least four days for this trip. He will wish he had 10. For the traveler who has the time to spare a motor trip in Tripoli is a rare experience, because this beautiful outpost of the Roman empire is little known and just open to tourists, therefore unspoiled. The f:umey.lnm the desert should be made the specially built de luxe busses just put Into service there. Italy’s charms are so numerous and 80 varied that they cannot be more than hinted at in a single article. A million foreigners, of whom 140,000 were Amer- fcans, came to see them last year and most went away determined to return at the first opportunity. Cut Glass. When you are viewing a pice of “cut glass” you cannot take it for granted that it has been cut by hand. A con- siderable amount of glass cutting is done by machinery. The genuine hand-cut article is far more beautiful than that turned out by a machine, but at the same time it is far more ex- pensive. The reason for this is obvious. Hand-cutting requires great skill and is attended by many risks. Skeleton of a ilarse in Action. For the purpose of investigation and observation by scientists and horse breeders, there is being prepared for exhibition at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. the skeletons of a racing horse and a run- ning dog. These are to be mounted side by side as in action, offering op- portunity for comparison of the re- spective gaits of the tWo animals. Be- fore starting the work on the horse Dr. Chubb devoted a great deal of time | to studying the anatomy of the horse, flrflcullrly while the horse was in ac- fon on the track, but this was not mmed as thorough enough and cer- questions arose in the doctor's mind which he concluded could only be settled by a series of pictures taken from a point over a horse’s back while the animal was in motion. It was im- possible to do this at the race tracks, so various experiments were tried at the museum. By means of ropes stretched from the museum roof to the base of a tree some 70 yards away, a block and fall, Dr. Chubb hoisted himself up 50 feet into a, painter’s 1929—PART 4.’ -—BY BECK chair, from which point, with his camera wedged between his feet he took several photographs of a race horse speeding over a roadway below. (@ hitePrinc Baltimore Finds It Cheaper to Hit People Than Pets| Hit-and-Run Drivers Get Away After Striking Pedestrians. Special Dispatch to The Star. BALTIMORE, February 2—It is cheaper for a hit-and-run driver to kill a human being in Baltimore than to kill a dog or cat in a similar accident, according to a report of the Baltimore Safety Council. Or at least this was true during the first six months of 1928, it was said. Six persons were killed during that time. Only one driver was convicted and he was placed on probation imme- diately after his conviction, the sta‘e- ment continued, while the average fine for ki'\ng a domestic animal in the streets f Baltimore in a hit-and-run accident was $18.33. The average penalty when there was property damage but no personal in- jury was a fine of $28.15, and where there was both injury and property damage the average penalty was $34.37. These facts were brought out by the council in connection with a report of the 385 hit-and-run cases that oc- curred during this period, analysis of which has just been completed. The report shows that 47 per cent of the hit-and-run drivers escaped ar- rest, 2 per cent had warrants out for their arrest, 5 per cent had not been tried, 21 per cent were dismissed and only 25 per cent were fined. The aver- age fine for all types of such cases was $35, it was stated. Of the 70 hit-and-run cases between automobiles and pedestrians, resulting in 73 persons being injured, 43 of the drivers were not arrested, 16 were ar- rested but were dismissed on all charges, 1 was awalting trial and 10 were fined. Of the 10 that were fined, the higest penalty was $50 and the lowest was 85 on the hit-and-run charge, although some were assessed additional amounts on reckless-driving charges, the report revealed. it Closed cars manufactured in the United States last year were equal to 85 per cent of the total passenger car production, figures gathered by the American Motorists’ Association dis- close. Of the 4,044,000 passenger cars manufactured, 3,441,000 were of the ? ERSCASTAES TOTAL B0 Fund Enables Motorists of U. S. to Get Permanent Highways Built. Spending in excess of $2,000,000,000 for gasoline in 1928, motorists alsa contributed more than $280,000,000 te the country’s highway building funds through the gasoline tax, conservative estimates show. This gas tax money was largely used for constructing firste class highways which, it is claimed, re« duced the car operating costs by an amount greater than the entire gas tax outlay. The gasoline tax rate, varying throughout the country from 2 to 8 cents a gallon, averages 3.2 cents. Withe out this tax the mileage of hard pavee ments would be far less than at - ent, for the gas tax represents a lai share of the money available for high- way improvement beyond the gravel stage. Although the total gas tax collection figure of $280,000,000 seems like an im- mense figure, it actually averages less than $6,000,000 for each State. It rep- resents but a small portion of the total annual cost of motoring, which been variously estimated from $1,000,- 000,000 up. The gasoline tax is now well stabilized as an equitable means for collecting road money. In 1923 only three gas tax changes were made, two of them upe wlu'd, while in 1927 22 changes took place. A 15 per cent gain in the total gas tax _income is estimated for 1928 over 1927. A survey of the figures indicates that although more cars were in oper- ation the gain for the most part was due to increased use of the automobile. The old belief that the gas tax would lessen travel has been dispelled, as tabu- lations have shown that motoring in- creases with the mileage of improved roads, largely made possible by the tax, ‘The gasoline tax counteracts the bad roads tax. A. E. Smith, executive direc~ tor of the Wisconsin Good Roads Asso- ciation, recently declared that the un- improved roads of his State exacted a toll equivalent to a gasoline tax of 10 closed types. NORES - gallon. indsor DISTRICT MOTOR COMPANY 1337 14th St. N.W. INCORPORATED Potomac *1000 Washington, D. C.