Evening Star Newspaper, March 3, 1929, Page 38

6 CLUB IN MARYLAND BACKS 5 MEASURES Bill Proposes Drivers Must Sign Financial Responsi- bility Statement. Bpecial Dispatch to The Star. BALTIMORE, March 2. — Five measures which would make important additions to or changes in the present lavs affecting the motorists of this State are included in the legislative program of the Automobile Club of Maryland, as it was announced by Judge H. N. Abercrombie, chairman of the club’s legislative committee. The proposals which the organization will sponsor at Annapolis during this session of the General Assembly are: 1. Elimination of the horsepower rate in securing registration cards for motor cars with pneumatic tires, and the sub- s;fll;!z‘lon therefor of a nominal charge of $2. 2."A plan whereby each operator who obtains a driver's license would be re- quired to sign a statement of financial responsibility for any final judgment to the extent of $1,000 for property dam- age or $5000 for personal injury or death; his license to be revoked unless the judgment is satisfied. 3. County treasurers to issue tags, as well as the commissioner of motor ve- hicles, so that county residents will not have to s2nd or come to Baltimore for them. 4. Inspection of measuring devices and pumps, used in the sale of motor fuels, to stop any short-measuring of gasoline. 5. A “boulevard” bill, providing for the designation of through streets and boulevards, upon entering or crossing which a driver must bring his car to & halt, The Automobile Club, Judge Aber- crombie explained, is not backing a compulsory insurance measure, which, wherever tried, has proved a failure. ‘The bill which it will advocate is one which would make the driver sign a statement for the commissioner of motor vehicles that he will hold himself finan- clally responsible to satisfy any final Judgment rendered by a court of com- petent. jurisdiction for property damage or personal injury, resulting from his operation of a car. His responsibility for property damage would be to the extent of $1,000 as provided in the statement, and for personal injury or death. to that of $5,000. Without signing such a statement no one could procurs a driver's license, and in case he failed to meet the judg- ment his license would be revoked, not to be reissued until he had satisfied it. The reason for the proposal to allow county treasurers to issue registration tags as well as the commissioner of motor vehicles, Judge Abercrombie ex- plained, was one of convenience. “It does not seem right,” he said, “that in Allegany or Somerset County motorists should have to come to Bal- timore for their tags when they could cbfain them practically at their own door.” The county treasurers, he added, | would have at hand all information as to the payment of personal taxes on | the cars, thus avoiding a great amount | of confusion and delay in having the | application blanks perforated. THIRTEEN COUNTIES LIST MILLION CARS Southern California Has 7.5 Per Cent of Total U. S. Auto Registration. Southern California has passed the | million mark in numb{r of motor ve- hicle registrations, acCording to the | touring bureau of the Automobile Club | of Southern California. The check shows that in the 13 southern counties there are 1,077,482 vehicles registered out of a total of 1,859,432 in the State. ‘This is 7.5 per cent of the entire regis- tration for the United States. These registrations include pleasure cars, trucks, motor cycles and trailers, Unless the population of the State is | more than 5,500,000, it is indicated | that California will retain first place in the number of motor vehicles per | capita in the United States, as it will | have one registration for every three | persons, or probably a fraction less than | ree. This huge registration at the begin- ning of 1929 indicates that residents of the State have made an enormous investment in motor transportation. Assuming that the average investment per car is $800, which is a low esti- mate, it is indicated that California has spent nearly $1,500,000,000 in automo- biles that are in operation now on the highways. | Californians last year used more than | 1,000,000,000 gallons of gasoline to| operate their cars, on which they paid | more than $30,000,000 in gasoline taxes. ‘With all this showing, it is indi- cated that 1929 will be a big year in the automobile industry. Announcements from manufacturers are in effect that more cars will be made than ever before, indicating that during the present year California’s consumption of new cars will be the greatest in its history in spite of the fact that it already leads e Nation in number of automobiles per capita PEKING-TO-KALGAN TRIP LOG PROVES AMUSING Motorist Crosses Trenches, Rivers, | Mud Holes in 125-Mile Drive. ‘The log of a trip from Peking to Kal- gan contains so many interesting and | amusing incidents that listed below are | & few of the “high lights.” 00.0—(Trip adometer.) Premises Peking. | 23.7—Sunken road. { 25.4—Horses bend around sunken road | —mud. 27.0—Ma P'u Shoe—village, | 30.2—He Ma T'uer Village—in river bed (dry). 82.2—Cross Kuominchun trenches. 82.5—Cross Kuominchun trenches— | second line. i 83.9—Cross Kuominchun trenches— ! third line. | 89.3—Chu Jung Kuan—gate in inner Great Wall. Tax office in charge | of Fengtien military. 402—Ford with bad boulders—bad place if water is high. 445—Ford—go upstream short dis- tance. |or for-hire vehicles,” said Mr. Schmidt. fgroup Mr. Schmidt delivered over 14 |tures in Japan. THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C. MARCH 3, 1929—PART % Complex Dashes \Kept Women From Taking to Autos A multiplicity of dials and knobs | scattered over the instrument panel iwag one of the factors which in prior ars kept women from becoming auto- i mobile drivers. They balked at having to learn the uses of “all those doodads.” Instruments have been reduced in num- ber and artistically grouped in the pop- ular cars of today. HIGHWAY PROGRAM ADOPTED BY IAPAN Auto C. of C. Representative| Reports on Progress Found in Far East. - Adoption of a national road program by the Japanese government is one of the many signs of progress in motor transport observed by Walton Schmidt, representative of the National Auto mobile Chamber of Commerce, who re- {turned this week from a year's trip in the Far East. This highway program { will be built from bend issues, with {the maintenance charges cared for by | motor vehicle taxes. | Record sales of cars in New Zealand, | the adoption of a uniform motor code in the Dutch East Indies and growth |in the motor bus business in most Far | East countries are among the new I trends which Mr. Schmidt noted. Mr. Schmidt's tour, which is the sec- ond in that territory, was undertaken {at the request of automotive groups | | abroad seeking data on the methods | which have been used to develop motor transport in the United States. He ap- peared before Government officials and motor elubs of most of the large cities in Japan, Manchuria, China Phailippine Islands, Malaya, Java, Australia and New Zealand. His lectures embraced the latest information on road building, taxation, regulation, finance, accident prevention and traffic control. Wide Usage by Public. “About 90 per cent of the motor cars operating in Japan are used as busses “Because of this wide usage by the pub- | lic, taxation on common -carriers 'Si lower than on private cars. There is a simila® heavy bus patronage in Man- churia. “In China there are now about 18,000 miles of roads over which cars can travel in favorable seasons of the year. The new government is busy with reconstruction and road building as one of the major means by which it is| hoped to unify the country, bring back prosperity and prevent famines. At Shanghai there are more than 12,000 passenger cars and trucks, while many individual operators are establishing bus lines into the interior. “Sales in Manchuria in 1928 were 50 per cent in advance of the previous year, with markets especially active in Dairen, Harbin and Moukdin. In | Harbin there is a good technical school | for motor car mechanies, operating under the auspices of the Y. M. C. A. “Though markets were relatively quiet in Malaya during the past year because of the rubber situation, both registrations and road building are on the increase. Singapore, the chief city in this country, is notable for its good roads, and road building is going ahead rapidly all through the Malay Peninsula., Australia Outlook Improves. “Labor difficulties have hampered prosperity in Australia during the past year, but the outlook is brighter for 1929. Heavy taxation on commercial vehicles is an obstacle to commercial motor transport, though this country is one of the largest buyers of motor, vehicles in the world. “During 1928 the Government spent more than ten and a half million dol- lars on roads and bridges in the Philip- pine Islands. These highways are opening up entirely new sections for cultivation, into which hundreds of thousands of persons are moving from sections which were overpopulated. There are more than 3,000 motor | busses in this country of a total of about | 32,000 motor vehicles of all kinds.” In Japan the motor vehicle, tire | and accessory dealers have united to form a national league motor organi- zation. Under the auspices of this lectures illustrated with motion pic- ‘There are about 60,000 motor vehicles in that country, which is adding yearly to its registra- tion figures. A major problem at the present time is the need for facilitie® for buying cars on time payment and for better protection of finance com- panies. Tokio is a leader of the world in its highway policies, Mr. Schmidt pointed out, as it is building 200-foot roads radiating from the city in various directions, not hesitating to tear down whole blocks of buildings in | order to create these avenues. New Law Asked Congress. An effort is being made to have Con- gress enact a national stolen property law, modeled after the national motor vehicle theft act, says the American Motorists' Association. This law would be designed to abolish so-called “fences” which cost large communities $500,000,~ 000 annually. . DOWN THE ROAD—Actions You Instantly Regret. JUST AS YOU START TO SPEED BY A .STREET CAR THAT'S STOPPING, YOU SPOT A COP GETTING (QFE {(Copyright 1929 by Frusk B Beck. Trade Mark Rez U S Pat 06} —BY FRANK BECK |RECKLESS DRIVING NOT ALONE SPEEDING Baltimore Magistrate Declares Many Motorists Miscenstrue Meaning of Charge. Special Dispatch to The Star. BALTIMORE, March 2.—Many mo- torists who are charged with reck- less driving construe it as meaning only that they are driving at a high rate of speed, according to Magistrate Alva |Lamkin of the Traffic Court, who said that it is almost impossible to convey to the mind of the average driver that he may be flagrantly guilty of reck- lessness and yet his speed may be very low, As an instance of reckless driving when the motorist was traveling at a very slow speed, Magsitrate Lamkin re- ferred to a case which recently was before him. “It was an accident involving the automobile driver and a pedestrian crossing the street” said the magis- trate. “The pedestrian was within her rights. The automobilist was approach- ing the intersection and saw the wom- an. He blew his horn and continued on his way, with the result that he struck the woman and seriously injured T, “The driver testified that he saw the pedestrian crossing the street, and as he was going at a very low rate of speed and sounded his horn, he could not comprehend why he was charged with reckless driving. He further testi- fied that he thought the pedestrian would stop and permit him to continue on his way. Here is another case of taking something for granted: In this particular case the pedestrian had the right of way and she took it for grant- ed that the automobile would permit her to continue on her way. While the pedestrian might have reasonably taken it for granted that the motorist would give her the right of way she should not, from a common-sense standpoint, have insisted upon it to the extent of subjecting herself to injuries and pos- sible fatality. “However, the automobile driver was reckless, or, rather, he was heedless. “Speaking of taking it for granted that the pedestrian is going to stop have several hundred blind men going to and from thelr work. A majority of these toilers make their way alone and while they are able to negotiate their journey under normal conditions, they are not able to cope with the sit- uation which by reason of the automobile driver assuming the blind man is going to swg. “Don’t conclude that any pedestrian is going to stop and permit you to pass along. When you pass a street car standing at a safety zone always think of the possibility of a blind man cross- ing the street directly in front of you.” Accidents Decrease 20 Per Cent. Figures gathered by the American Motorists' Association show that motor vehicle accidents have been reduced by 20 per cent in States having automobile drivers’ license laws. ON DISPLAY CHRIS-CRAFT MODELS for 1929 | A AMERICAN-MADE AUTOS POPULAR IN NEAR EAST mobiles cover the Near East like desert | sands. | And shieks, robed -tribesmen and | keen Oriental traders buy their motors | on the installment plan, just as the|there are 6,000 cars. Many people there ascribe the economic erisis from which Lebanon has been suffering since ing so rapidly that the railway fare | no peginning of 1928 to the craze for i American office worker or farmer. In Palestine motor traffic is develop- on the extensively used Jerusalem- | ALEXANDRIA (#).—American auto- | Faifa route has been cut in half in automobiles. order to compete with automobile| transport. In the Lebanese Republic, with popu- lation estimated at abo > Tre AIRPLAN New AIR-COOLED A rwafutionary, com- Dpletely different of performance other is recognized instantly by peo- ple who have driven the amazing new Franklin, A wealth of reserve power—eager pick-up — zooming road speed — soaring smoothness—a supreme, type — superior to any The One-Thirty cars being crowded from K,I////’ % /, Y/, Vi, Greatest Recen PN s < I~ "*{@%I”/R UMPH 4 ; oS 22N &"/\ [ \'i\\\ —~ [ Ny N £ EF restful riding comfort and effortless control! The new Franklin has the driving feel of an airplane. *The air-cooled motor has made this astonishing performance possible. Air-cooling is responsible for the tre- mendous progress of aviation and an {Fanciful Names I Marked Early Day | American Autosi | Some fancitul names were given many | of the early makes of motor cars. A , long out of the picture, | namic, in 1901; Buckmo- 3 Brownickar, in 1908; Ben Hur, in 1917; Comet. in 1908: Dixie | | Flyer, in 191 y 1901 308~ !mobile, in 19 mith, 1911; | Gearless, 1920: Mercury, 1904: Motor-, ette, 1911; Mighty Michigan, 1913; U. 8. | | Long Distance, 1903, and Vogue, 1921, | | 'GAS-ELECTRIC CAR | " TESTED BY RAILWAY Western Line Plans to Supplement Steam Train Service if Ex- i ‘1 periments Are Success. | | | Tests are being made by the South- | ern Pacific Co. of a new type of trans- | portation equipment—the gas-electric | car—with & view to determining how and where it can be used to best ad- | vantage in public service. | _If the tests are successful, the Brill- | | Westinghouse car just received from the |East will become the forerunner of | other cars of this type to be operated by the company. | “'The car introduces to the West a re- {cent development in modern transpor- | tation, designed to meet special require- ments. It is one of the most powerful units of its kind and embodies all the latest features of its line. | Manufactured at Philadelphia, the | car is equipped with electric generators and motors from a plant in East Pt burgh, Pa. The motive equipment in- cludes two gas engines developing a to- | tal of 600 horsepower. | | Each engine drives a large electric generator. "The electric current is sup- |plied to four traction motors, each | ‘rn!vd at 150 horsepower, geared to the | car axles. | Specifications call for the car to be| used as a unit or to haul two standard | | day coach trailers at a maximum speed | of 60 miles an hour. | 1 The car is 73 feet long. weighs 151,280 pounds and has a seating ca-| pacity of 55. In appearance it con- forms to the standard steel coach on Southern Pacific lines. ‘The company is testing out the car n its peninsula lines to supplement steam train service providing the gas- There is no indication of American | electric equipment demonstrates its ca- the Near | pacity to stand up to the compan Eastern market, despite the efforts of | standard of service, safety and com 000,000, ' British and other makers. S Motori ng TN\ R EEL VIRGINIA TRAVEL BAINS 15 PER CENT Auto Census Shows 17,835 Average Entry From D. C. Every Day. Special Dispatch to The Star RICHMOND, Va. March 2 —Traf.c over the highways of Virginia averagel more than a per eent ingrease dur- ing 1928-over 1927, the Virginia State Chamber cf Commerce announces af a study of the 1928 trafMic census ducted by the Virginia State highw department, This census shows average of 17,836 automob Virginia every day C., during 1928, or a total for year of 6.510.140. In 1927 the d average from Washington was en' 10,386 automobiles per day. or a total for the year of 3.790.890 automobiles. Between Fredericksburg and Wash- ington the number of automobiles pass- ing over the highway every day totaled 1573 in 1927, compared with 2,138 in 1928, or an increase of 380,350 auto- mobiles during the year. Credit Is Placed. Between Lexington and Harrisonburg on the Shenandoah Valley Pike the daily increase was from 1,088 to 1,295, |in comparing the two years. Cars en- tering Winchester from West Virginia | during the year totaled 898.265, or a daily average of 2461. The daily average for the preceding year was only 2,019. Phenomenal increase in the good road mileage of Virginia is credited with being responsible for most of this in- crease, for during the last year Virginia cgmpleted its third through State high- way and increased its highway system to 5.245 miles of road. Of this amount 48 miles of road is hard surfaced, while almost 2,000 miles of the remain- der is in first-class condition and more than 1,050 miles of this road has a temporary hard surfacing. During 1929 almost all of the highway system will hava this temporary surfacing applied. This will mean the practical completion of all State highways in Virginia for practical purposes. Statistical Information. * Some ides of the development of Virginia highways may be gained by the following statistical information on the -construction of Virginia's roads. 1925 the total State highway mileage was 3,616. It had risen in 1926 to 4,113 and in 1927 to 4,620. This year sees 5,244 miles in the system. of the air-cooled car—the Franklin—holds every major American road record today. We invite you to see the new beauty of Franklin—consider the fine quality model for 30 minutes The One-Thirty-Five and low price—and then drive any . The airplane feel of driving a Franklin will com- pletely surprise aad thrill you. SENSATIONAL NEW LOW PRICES th justifiable pride we invite your inspection of these beautiful boats. We are showing open and closed models to suit every hoating need. See our Richardson double cabin boat; a complete home on the water for $3.985. As fine a little cruiser as anyone would want. Penn Yan outboard hoats and dinghys are also on dis- play with motors. Longer wheelbase; 1 ies; more owerful. Sedan— 456—Turn to right—switch back to L left 46.0—Through Great Wall at Pei Menssuo_Yien i 47.4—TLeave Ch'a tao—bad stone post | in center of gate. Must build up with rocks. 49.7—Dry wash | 58.1—Small stream | It water is not high follow sandy | bed of stream | 58.2—Ford—mud hole—use boards. | 634—Well to left of road almost end of heavy sand —110 feet deep. 80.7—Mud hole 100 yards. Cross run- ning stream 80.8—1In river bed—wet. quicksand 94.0—Concrete breakwater to cross Step: of 3 feet height. Use ! d boards to build incline | 101.8—Hi Ho Tze—large village. (Held | J up by military transport 39 !} minutes. Detoured.) U 124.9—Arrive—Kalgan, itional Franklin ality; high compres- sion_motor. Sedan— 2 $2180 at the factory, 2485 at the factory. FRANIKLIN FRANKLIN MOTOR CAR CO. HARRY W. BURR SALESROOM—1517 CONN. AVE. N.W, horseshoe bend. See This Display of Boats Any Day Except Sundays Open Daily From 11 AM. to 11 P.M. Washington Motor Boat Sales Agency 1134 Conn. Ave. N.W, Next to Lincoln and Cadillac showrooms Watch for SERVICE—1909 M ST. N.W.