Evening Star Newspaper, June 9, 1929, Page 57

THE SUXNDAY STAR., WASHINGTON, BY G. ADAMS HOWARD. CHARGES that the motorists | The man of this country is learn- | of the United States were |ing that that neighbor mulcted of upward of $20,- 000,000 in 1928 through re- ceipt of short gasoline measure, made by Ernest N. Smith, general manager of the American Auto- mobile Association, before the Na- tional Conference on Weights and Measures, meeting here last week, puts the issue of this long-suspect- ed leakage of fuel directly up to the motorist class, which comprises by far the largest single class in the country. Smith's charge does not sug- gest, it commands, that something be done about the situation, and | if anything is done, the motorist will have to do it. Suggestions Made by Smith. For the correction of this al- leged situation, Mr. Smith sug- gests the following: ¢ Adoption of new legislation on weights and measures where the existing law is inadequate; Changes in the set-up of the State and local enforcement or- ganizations with personnel able to administer the law; Procurement of sufficient ap- propriations by Legislatures to enable the State organizations to enforce the law. Smith also took occasion in his paper, which was read before the conference by M. K. Kimball of the research department of the A. A. A, to score the national code of practices adopted about a | year ago by the American Petro- leum Institute. which is before the Federal Trade Commission for approval. Code Means Little. He declared that adoption of the code means little toward the elimination of undesirable prac- tices in the industry, conditions that have militated against the purchasing public. The code, he declares, makes no mention of the stabilization of prices, or the uni- versal adoption of standard me- chanical facilities to insure exact ;manmy and the quality asked or. Mr. Smith based his figures on the short gasoline measure on a survey conducted by the A. A. A. investigators in several large cities of the country, where the investi- gators actually obtained convic- tions of gasoline sellers on short- measure charges. ‘The motorist’s duty to himself and to his fellow motorist is plain. He should take precautions to as- sure himself full measure of fuel at the time he buys it, and should report any discrepancies in the measure he has received to au- thorities able and willing to take action. The A. A. A. headquarters here has urged the member organiza- tions throughout the States to | take an active part in forcing gasoline dealers to pour to the top, and to have a strict regard for the quality of the fuel theyf are selling. American Motors Elsewhere. Through virtual motorization of the world, the United States| has taken a long forward step in the Americanization of the world. _Movement of the great automo- bile manufacturers, now so far in the lead in this great world in- dustry as to be beyond any chance of being overtaken, into the manufacturing fields of all of the great nations of the world rapidly is making the American car the standard for the world, and, by the same token, is making the American standard of living, so long now tremendously influenced by the automobile, the standard of living, if not attained, to be sought for by the entire world. The automobile has wrought ! vast changes in the United State: | The industry of making automo. biles has created lucrative em- | ployment for millions. The prod- | ucts of the automobile factories | have intensified the activities of the people in their business hours | and thus have vastly increased | the individual power to do busi- ness. Developing Outdoor Life. In the development of the out- door life of the people, the auto- | mobile is without peer. It has brought the woods, which were gradually receding from the ken of the people of the cities, almost 1o their back doors. It has opened vast wonder-spots of nature to the man who in business hours sits at his desk in the city. It has opened the lungs of the pent-up city worker, and shown him the wonders of nature with full play for her powers. This same change in the status of the people of the United States is going to thousands upon thou- sands of persons in the other countries of the world as ship- ment after shipment of thousands of American cars goes out over the seas and the railroads to other nations to open up for the other peoples of the earth the wonders of their own countries and to help them do a little more business so that they can buy more American motor cars. An Even Greater Mission. An even greater mission is being performed by the automobile. It is shuffing up the people of the world as cards are shuffled in a ‘dnrk‘ and a good deal is the only I result which might be expected. about | |whom the old fear and distrust| |of the “foreigner” hung heavily | |in times gone by is another | human being, and a pretty good | |fellow after all. So it goes in jevery country, with the world jawheel in American cars, seeing jand fraternizing with the neigh- |bor. Who knows but that to cold | steel mechanism as exemplified by the automobile, might not be at- tributed, in vears to come, a great | deal of the credit for the estab- lishment of universal peace? Crossing Campaign Is On. Through distribution of posters and pamphlets throughout their | systems, the railroads of the| (country are co-operating in the | ‘ninth “Careful Crossing” cam- | paign, which is sponsored an-! nually by the American Railway | Association during June, July, August and September, when most of the country is motoring. | The object of the campaign, of ! course, is to bring to the attention | of both the motorists and the rail- roads the need for exercising the | | greatest possible care to avoid) !injuries resulting from collisions | between trains and automobiles. Millions of “Cross Crossings Cautiously” pamphlets and post- ers depicting the dire results of motor-train collisions are being distributed now by the railroads and motor associations of the | country. Railroad posters draw attention | of the motoring public to the fact that last year 2,568 persons lost | their lives as the result of acci- , dents at railroad crossings. EQYPTIAN HIGHWAY SYSTEM IS PLANNED {Road Will Be Built From Dan to Beersheba to Cairo. By the Associated Press. From Dan to Beersheba to Cairo will | be a motor highway. If the section Egypt now plans to | build from Beersheba to Suez had been | constructed a long time ago it would | have saved Moses and the children of Israel one of the longest detours on record. Instead of taking the direct road out of Suez across the desert to the promised land, they took a side trip around the Sinai Peninsula. Modern detours may seem long; the weary Israelites spent 40 years reaching their destination, Custom of Centuries Flouted. The proposal to build a Beersheba- | | Suez road is revolutionary, the National | Geographic Soclety points out. It | flouts the custom of centuries. It! threatens to discard one of the oldest | things known to man. Such a highway | promises to scrap the ancient caravan Toute between Syria and Egypt. Baby- lonians, Assyrians, Egyptians, Mace- | donians, Romans, Turks and British | Tommies, every one except the Israelites, used the Mediterranean seashore road | as the tides of invasion have set now | toward Africa and now toward Asia. But the Israelites, when they fied | from the slave pens of Egypt, sought no traveled highway. The wilderness was their refuge. The Sinai Peninsula, | even today, is one of the most im- | penetrable wildernesses on the face of | the earth. Tourist companies have attempted to start auto trips to the| Mount of Laws from which Moses spoke, | yet camels still rule the sand jammed | | ‘and boulder barricaded trail. The Sinai Peninsula is a triangle of old sun| | bitten mountains, and the children of | Israel in the exodus went south around | the point and then north to Mount Hor, | which is only 40 miles southeast of Beersheba. The road Egypt plans to build from Suez to Beersheba takes a middle course between the Israclite detour and the hoary caravan shore trail. From Suez, at the south end of the Suez Canal, the Toad for 75 miles to Nakhl Oasis is the “haj” route—the pilgrim trail loyal Egyptian Moslems take to Mecca. ‘ Motorists must stop here and study the signs. “Beersheba, 115 miles,” will | be the one to follow. Up stark hills | and down into barren valleys it goes. | Ghost rivers have cut the desert of | Tih into a forbidding land. i Watch the automobile sections of the Sunday papers for the announce- | ment of the roed’s completion. Some- | thing like this: | “The opening of the Suez-Beersheba | road offers s new tour for the family | | through a region of many historical | associations. With steady driving | Jerusalem can be reached from Cairo | in two days. The distance is 425 miles, | All cars should carry extra tanks of | water, gasoline and oil for desert emer- | Cairo the motorist ! | gencies, “Just _outside passes the famous Egyptian ruins at Heliopolis. Lunch at Suez (160 miles) on the canal. Travelers will probably spend the night at the Oasis of Nakhl | (75 miles) but they are advised to take | thelr own tents, since no modern hotel has been built | “It is well to make an early start for | | Beersheba (115 miles) next morning | | because the noonday sun scorches. Five | of the seven wells of Beersheba still are | fn ‘use. Abraham camped here also. | Elijah fled to Beersheba. For centuries | it "has been considered the southern | boundary of Palestine, hence Dan, in | the north, to Beersheba, in the south. | | Here the desert stops and sparse vegeta- | | tion begins. Jerusalem is 75 miles north | of Beersheba. The road runs through | | Hebron (45 miles) and (105 miles) to | Cuba Opening Sectio the ‘little town of Bethlehem.'” l 1 | n of Big Highway As a Feature of Machado Inaugural HAVANA, June 1.—An important part of the program of festivities with which Cuba is now celebrating the in- auguration of President Machado's sec- ond term, to which he was elected without opposition at the last election is the opening of the Havana-Matanzas section of the Central Highway, which will traverse the Island from one end | to the other. and in the construction of which the government has been en- gaged for some time. The Cubans are very proud of this “Great Highway,” which will be one of the longest and best constructed in all the Americas, and which, by aiding the material progress of Cuba, will con- tribute toward the development of ocm- mercial interchange with the neighbor- ing countries, and afford better trans- portation facilities for forelgn capital invested in Cuba, especially the Ameri- ‘can Interests, which constitute three- fourths of the capital operating on the island. The already famous secretary of pub- Jie works of Cuba. Carlos Miguel de Cespokes, to whom the country owes fuch monumental undertakings as the new $20,000,000 capitol, and who initi- ated this great highway, states that the highway will have a total length of 1,144 kilometers, composed of the fol-| lowing sections: From Pinar del Rio 0| Havana, 173.1 kilometers: from Havana | to Matanzas, 107.8 kilometers; from | Matanzas to Santa Clara, 193.2 ki meters; from Santa Clara to Camaguey, 12705 kilometers; and from Camaguey | to Oriente, 399 kilometers. CD]].\ll’uC-‘ | tion was bégun simultaneously all along | | this central road and is being carried {on very rapidly, with many laborers ‘Work was begun on March 2, 1927, and | 4t is hoped that it will be finished, un- | less unforeseen dicultics arise, in ‘Feb- | ruary of 1931. At present several sec- | tions are already in use, such as the | Havana-Los Palacios, the Havana-Col- | iseo, Santa Clara-Jicotea, Camaguey- | Guamaro, etc. The total cost will be | elghty million pesos, a small amount, in the opinion of the secretary of public works, when compared with the enormous benefits to Cuba of this great | highway in the increase in values of | the lands It crosses, and in the lower- | ing of the cost of living in the clties | which will naturally result. 624,000 DURING MAY | world record! | equippedwith AC Spark Plugs. D . 9, 1929—PART 4. THE HAND-RAISING TYPE, AMUSING BUT VERY AGERAVATING AS HE STROLLS IN FRONT OF 7 OUTPUT OF MOTORS Figure Is 36 Per Cent Above 1928 Period and 6 Per Cent Below April. Production of 624,000 motor vehicles in May, estimated from factory shipping statements, was reported to the di- rectors' meeting of the National Auto- mobile Chamber of Commerce at New York headquarters yesterday. This_is an increasc of 36 per cent above May last year, and a decrease of 6 per cent under the April output. Trade conditions throughout the coun- try were reported active, in response to warmer weather, and export outlook continues good. Alvan Macauley, president of the chamber, presided at the meeting. Maintaining that badly located bill- boards are a detriment fo the roadside and a menace to safety, the directors adopted the following resolution: “Advertising billboards erected in large_number along and adjacent tof the highways unnecessarily mar the appearance of the countryside and de- tract from the pleasures of motoring. “Such signs are in many cases erect- ed at points, such as curves, and rail- road and highway intersections, where they are a positive menace to the safety of operators and users of motor ve- hicles. By distracting the attention of drivers they may be a contributing cause to accidents. “The National Automobile Chamber of Commerce indorses civic efforts to improve this situation in the public in- terest and specifically and emphatically disapproves of any and all advertising along our rural highways which may Dependability sets another 172hours 32 minutes1 second —more than 7 days and nights —is the World’s endurance record just established by the monoplane”Ft. Worth”piloted by Robbins and Kelley— Another endurance record added to AC’s long list of fa- mous flights. Every successful non-stop flight across the Atlantic from America to Europe has been made by planes equipped with AC Spark Plugs. You, too, will find that AC’s will give you better engine performance. AC SPARK PLUG COMPANY FLINT, Michigan © 1929, AC Spark Plag Company Distributors Southern Wholesalers, Inc. 1519-21 L St. N.W. Decatur 130, You. THE HORN- FIEND, ENJOYS GIVING L CALIOPE SERENADES IN DOWNTOWN [~ TRAFFIC JAMS . [iisd i ! THE GREASE-HOUND SMEARS UP YOUR CAR WHILE PUTTING IN ONE QUART OF OIL.. WHOLE —By J. T. BERRYMAN THE PEST WITH THE QUICK- STEPPING LIGHT CAR , USES 16 St.JusT To ANNOY_OTHER DRIVERS. il P [V ) 5 /AUTO CALLED IDEAL VEHICLE | FOR TRAVEL ON HONEYMOON barrassments That BY H. CLIFFORD BROKAW. This June, as usual, will be a month | of many weddings, in spite of the fact that numerous expositors are predicting the collapse of the marriage institution. Any many honeymoons will be taken | in “automobiles. ~In spite of the fact | that a Lindbergh may prefer an air- | plane to travel whither he and his bride | may want to go, the auto is still pre-| ferred by most brides and bridegrooms to_the less crowded air routes. | The automobile is the ideal vehicle | for enjoying a honeymoon. Before this sort of conveyance became commonplace the usual procedure was to take a train | to some desirable destination. One trouble with this procedure lay in the fact that trains go only on schedule. After the ceremony, couples must wait | | around for the train to arrive. This | gives all the friends a chance to collect at the station, throw rice and generally make the newly-weds uncomfortable. As they board the train everybody learns that here comes a bride, and more embarrassment is likely to prevail. The marriage service ought to be a dignified procedure and the people who have made their vows ought to be al- lowed to proceed on their honeymoon in a dignified manner and with a mini. | mum of rowdyism. The automobile makes this possible. If friends persist in tying old shoes on to the car, it is an easy matter for them to stop after a few miles and remove these features. They can then proceed as any other two human beings, unembarrassed by any comments of other persons. The | automobile makes this possible. In the pre-automobile age it was rather customary for people to go to a certain place, engaging accommodations ahead of time and arranging to remain for a certain number of days or weeks 1f on arrival the couple did not enjoy the environment thoroughly, it was with some difficulty that they could cancel their arrangements and proceed to some other place. The automobile has_eliminated all this sort of incon- venience. People on honeymoons nat- urally wish to follow their own whims as to where they will go and not to have themselves restricted by time | tables and schedules. The automobile enables newly wedded people to have the ideal honeymoon from the stand- point of avoiding such restrictions. By the use of the motor car these people can procéed as far as they wish on any | full of interest. particular day, and when taking accom- Use of Car by New]y-chs Prevents Em- Usually Followed Train Journeys. modations for the night they need re- main only as long as seems highly de- sirable. Those many persons along our Amer- | ican highways who now hang out “Tourists Accommodated” signs form links in a huge chain of lodging places which provide satisfactory accommoda- tions for newly-weds. There is a sort of romance about securing different ac- commodations each night at whatever place one finds one's self, which is in keeping with the general idea of honey- moons. The automobile certainly makes a honeymoon trip more than ordinarily Driving through thz country presents many _opportunities for visiting and seeing places that are very enjoyable. There should never be any dull moments on a honeymoon by automobile. It is possible to go where one wishes and when and how. It is possible to do this at a reasonable cost, in the main less expensive than the older type. By camping on the way | the cost of the honeymoon can be still further reduced and at the same time the real enjoyment of the experience may be enhanced. While some persons may think the automobile in connection with a honey- moon would be a distraction which would keep the newly-weds from think- ing about themselves and their new relations, this, if true, need be mno handicap. As a matter of fact, probably one of the advantages of the automobile as a factor in honeymoons is to help | create a divergency in activity which will bring the couple back in a nor- mally happy frame of mind. For two persons to become too much absorbed in each other, even on a honeymoon, may have its unfavorable aspects. Cer- tainly the automobile prevents that. While June is a popular month for marriage ceremonies and honeymoons, these important events are taking place during all months of the year. Fortu- nately the automobile is now usable throughout the 12 months of the year. People living in the Northern States find a tour through the South during the Winter an excellent honeymoon plan. On the other hand, there are to be found throughout the Northern States honeymooners from the South who have motored away from the ex- cessive heat of their native localities. Whatever the season or whatever the destination desired, the automobile makes good as an excellent vehicle to use for honeymoon transportation. Announcing DISTRICT MOTOR COMPANY Potomac 1000 1337 14th St. N.W (INCORPORATED) WASHINGTON, D. C. dealer for DE Soro S1x @ CHRYSLER MOTORS PRODUCT FIRST SHOWING Ta the newness of its style, in the luxury of its roominess and riding ease, in the tliorougl: fineness of its quality, in its superb power and performance—the new De Soto Six presents the kind and degree of value which the public expects and receives in a Sunday, June 9 DE SOTO MOTOR CORPORATION, DETROIT, MICHIGAN Diwision of Chrysler Corporation Ll Chrysler Motors product. % s % You are invited to see this remar‘(able new six and confirm for yourself our belief that nothing approaching the new De Soto Six in appear- ance, performance and value llas ever before appeared in the field of low-priced sixes.