Evening Star Newspaper, July 14, 1929, Page 52

In the Motor World BY G. ADAMS HOWARD. ARYLAND has gone into the beautification of its highways in a large, con- | structive way, and the backing of practically all those who travel the roads of the Old Line State, either on business or pleasure bent, is assured the movement, which is sponsored and being pushed with vigor by the garden clubs of America. Ever a potent force in move- ments for the preservation of scenery for the motorist, the gar- den clubs have taken the bit in their teeth and plan a fight to the finish against unsightly billboards lining the motor roads of the State. Not only do they want the un- sightliness of the billboards re- moved, but they go further and advocate a general cleaning up and beautification of roadsides, to allow much-abused nature to again paint the views along the rights of way in her natural arxl beautiful colors. Here and there they plan to lend nature a hand, with judicious planting of hardy shrubs and flowers along the em- bankments of the State’s roads. A boycott of products adver- tised on unsightly roadside bill- boards is offered in the nearby State as a means to end the nui- sance. The garden clubs of the Nation plan to make the cam- paign a national one in scope. Pledge Cards Given Out. Pledge cards already are being distributed in Maryland by the garden club members, which read: “As a practical protest against the abuse of our countryside by advertising, I shall give special favor to products not advertised on the landscape.” Battle lines for the campaign have been drawn up by Mrs. Ed- ward McKeon, chairman of the billboard and roadside committee of the Greenspring Valley Garden Club. She took the suggestion of pledge cards to the meeting of the garden clubs of America at the annual meeting last May in Phil- adelphia, and the idea was re- ceived with hearty favor by the representatives of clubs all over the country. No hopes of doing away with outdoor advertising entirely are entertained by the garden clubs, Mrs. McKeon explains, but they do hope to discourage the erection of obnoxious billboards on patches of landscape that should remain natural. It is chiefly on the long stretches of pretty rolling country, where nature lends a lovely touch to the scenery on every side, that the garden clubs aim to wage their war against the roadside signs. They see little hope in eliminating outdoor advertising in the metropolitan areas, but de- clare that it would be a great achievement to dress up these sec- tions also. Movement in West. Mrs. McKeon hopes that Mary- land can catch up with the anti- billboard movement which has moved along at a great pace in the Western States. Out there there has been a genuine wave of resentment_against billboards along the public highways, and, as a result, there are actually bill- boards along rights of way which bear no advertising, the purveyors of the roadside advertising space being unable to find takers.: The Maryland fight is being waged by seven member clubs of the Garden Clubs of America. They are: The Hardy, Catons- ville, Halten, Harford County, Amateur and Greenspring Valley and the Garden Club of Twenty. Great hopes are entertained by the clubs for the pledge campaign, but the members all point to the State Legislature as the only final cure for the evil. Maryland’s present State law prohibits the placing of billboards on private property without the consent of the owner, or on the highway rights of way without the consent of the city, county or State authorities who may have that particular jurisdiction. In a recent bulletin of the Bu- reau of Public Roads of the De- partment of Agriculture, a wide- spread movement among the States to control the erection of unsightly billboards and to en- hance the scenic beauty of the country traversed by well sur- faced highways, was disclosed. Virginia Regulations. Virginia’s regulations along this line are about the same as Mary- land’s, but there has been started recently a concerted movement, along with the ambitious road- building program of the State, to have the highways of the Old Do- minion lose none of their much- vaunted scenic beauty through the placing of unsightly billboards along the rights of way. In this same connection, the District might well study the re- sults of the movement started by about 2,000 public-spirited citizens of Lynchburg, Va. Set down in the Blue Rid Mountains, its streets literally climbing up the mountain slopes, Lynchburg, old and historic, is a veritable jewel among cities. It could be made the Southern ter- minus of a tour from the Capital not surpassed in scenic beauty by any stretch of road of similar length in the country. Straight down the Shenandoah Valley, through the cave country, on {o Natural Bridge, then across the mountains into the city, goes the route. In the Spring, following a “Beautify-Your-City” newspaper campaign, Lynchburg declare holiday for a couple of days, and men, women and children, led by the clt{nomdnls, swarmed upon the hilisides lining the road ap- proaches to the city, and there- upon they planted thousands of plants. Rhododendrons and laurel for the wooded hillsides, hardy, perennial flowers for the open country, and in the low places a profusion of lilies. Everybody Got Out and Helped. Every one able to do so got out and dug, and, at a comparatively small expense, the town became, almost overnight, a garden city. Care was taken to see that those plants were put in their proper places and planted properly. Hor- ticultural experts in automobiles went from one road approach to another, supervising the planting. lending a little assistance here and there, and when the two-day flower-planting fiesta was over they offered the opinion that the city would have beauty of ap- proach second to no_city in the country, “not even Washington, D. C.” was the way they put it. Essentially a garden city, the Capital has not paid the attention it should to its outlying road ap- proaches. Inside the city the gar- den-city designation is well de- served, thanks to the efficient ad- ministration of the Office of Pub- lic Buildings and Public Parks. But the roads into the city from Maryland and Virginia could not, in the majority of cases, be called beautiful, and in many cases could be called downright unsightly. The smooth, broad motor road, of course, is the first considera- tion, both of the motorist and the authorities who build them with the money sugplled by the motor- ists. Many of these ns to the driver of the automobile have come, and many more are to come. The line after line of au- tomobiles coming out of the fac- (838 tories in deflance of all old the- ories of auto saturation point must have a place to roll, and roll they will. The very building cf these roads leaves scars on the countryside which take a long time for nature to heal. The con- stant repairing they need and the ever-present need for building up shoulders and widening reopen these wounds to leave them eye- sores on the landscape. & Nature Works Hard. Nature works hard to overcome all these obstacles, and almost as hard, it seems, does man labor to put more in her way. If man were to be a little more helpful to nature and a little more far- sighted in the matter of road building the motorist could have a finer time of his jaunts through the country. ‘Who, even now, does not wonder why the hard-surfaced roads can- not have the scenic beauty of the old country roads one occasion- ally gets on these days, off the beaten track, where grows in riotous profusion the honeysuckle, heavily laden with fragrance? ‘Who, touring, would not rather, if the time and the road permitted it, take the mountain dirt road, along which the mountain laurel and other wild flowers grow, than journey along the smooth-sur- faced highway lined with unsight- ly scars of road building, their view of rolling hills and moun- tainsides obstructed by unsightly billboards, tin and wooden signs tacked against trees, and aban- doned road machinery? AUTOS USE RAILWAYS. Industey’s Freight Bill Is Third Largest in U. 8. From a transportation standpoint the automobile industry was the third largest user of raiflroad equipment, shipping nearly 1,000,000 carloads of automobiles, trucks, parts and tires, aside from the raw materials shipped into factories. Last year 515,000 units were exported from the United States, 242,000 were manufactureed by American plants in Canada and 67,000 were assembled in 68 foreign plants owned by American manufacturers. These cars were valued at more than $500,000,000 and were exported to 107 countries throughout the world, In this connection, however, it is in- teresting to note that of the trucks ex) , al Kl per cent were ;:r u:!ltongruke.-,vhmonlya cent were icks over 215 capacity. . A CAR FOR $35 IS SIGN USED MACHINE IS PROBLEM BY DAVID J. WILKIE, Associated Press Correspondent. DETROIT.—“Good transportation as low as $35; never before such bar- gains!” “A good car for $75 and less; mew tires and new battery!” ‘The first statement is part of a dis- play advertisement by one of the lead- ing automobile dealers. The second is a radio announcer’s contribution to the effort of automobile dealers to dispose of traded-in machines. ‘Taken together, the two statements indicate a condition that seemingly re. futes the contention voiced in some usrters that the automotive industry oes not have & serious ‘“used car problem.” An Amasing Fact. It is one of the truly amazing facts bf the automotive industry, ver, that some of its products “go on for- ever.” WS _numerous ‘‘cre- ations” of the early 90s still capable of locomotion; it shows further that the power plants of many early day motor cars are now doing service on farms as power plants. Nevertheless, that a vehicle of the present generation can reach the con- dition suggested by a price of $35 and still be capable of operation is a trib- ute to the automotive fus of today, ;elcll.rdlm of the condition of the ve- icle. Drive Goes On. Regardless “used prob- ‘fem,” the luwl mu;"mm- 44 ues its drive for the product 5,000,000 units in 1929. l”l’hueuwol'l‘l :: added to the 32,028,584 motor vehicles registered throughout the world Janu- ll'{ 1. A certain portion of the to- tal, naturally, will be relegated to the scrap heap during the year, but the percentage seemingly will be small if & machine that will bring no more than $35 can still furnish transportation. One of the industry’s leading author- itles has estimated that if a day’s pro- duction of cars were placed end to end there would be shown from 35 to 40 miles of automobiles. The used-car problem bothers him not a bit. Demand Still Great. “The export demand for a million vehicles and other factors of prosperity in and outside of the indus ves promise of a continued prosperity,” he says. “At mo :’,T,Z, have the da- mentals been Some of the most interesting legisia- tion affecting motor cars that came from 1929 sessions of the various State assemblies was produced in It was directed at promounfi safety ari at State control of motor vel u"’vuhe ‘The new laws definitely hold reckless motorists finapcially responsible for damage to life and {l.ol:h . trol and ite ay patrol and create new - sions for the State motor S that. it is believed, will promote safety, facilitate traffic and standardizsed forcement of the vehicle 03¢ 7 NEXT MORNING AT 2 AM. MILADY’S MOTORING By Frederick C. Russell Safety first has been practiced in {nfl:ny a family by the wife learning to ive, If you have run out of don't let some old-timer make a big fuss over the matter by offering to refill the vacuum tank manually. Probably the car hasn't even got & vacuum tank. At any rate the thing to do is to put in the rear tank and then operate the starter for a few minutes, keeping the throttle closed, the choker in and the ignition switch off. Then start in the usual way. If the car carries a fuel pump, & little cranking will draw fuel to the carburetor. If it is vacuum equipped the cranking will refill the vacuum tank automatically. Takes a little longer for the latter. ‘The idea that because you are going slow when driving past a grou ?: chology in this, too. You figure cause the stopping is so remarkable at 40 it should be even more effective at low speed. i) A rather dangerous situation in driv- ing during wet weather is to have two well-worn tires on the right side of the the left. There is then a serious lack of “trac- tion balance,” due to the smooth treads on the one side. Three simple things often unnecessarily Failure to turn the ignition switchi. to the fully “on position, forget! o open the throttle part way and - ing the spark. The latter mistake'was necessary it has no place in modern motoring. No woman can afford to entrust wheel work to any but the most compe- tent of mechanics. I refer particularly to front wheels, which, because they seem to be so easy to remove and re- place, often are handled by those who do not appreciate what accuracy must be employed in an operation of this sort. A bearing carelessly dropped to the hard floor, a cotter pin left out, the wheel nut drawn up too tight and falle ure to lubricate the bearings when re- placing them are among the risks. g That familiar summertime article, the garden hose, furnishes & handy means for any woman who is interested to understand the operation of the pressure regulator in the engine olling system. Ordinarily it would seem that the oil pump itself ought to control the vressure, but th’;rle is where the garden hose proves useful. Thgulh the water may be forced through the pipes and the hose, if you remove the nozzle you get merely & sickly stream of water that won't reach the nearest rosebush. Attach the noz- zle and turn it around until there is quite & bit of resistance to the force of the water, however, and the water will squirt out with surprising force. ‘The pressure r:flnflm on the engine works in very much the same way, pro- viding resistance that works with the ump to build up higher pressure. us if prm\:‘ra bl;ec&mu chmnl?:’l; lower as indica! e the dash it might be wéll to 8 your repairman and mention sible need of adjustment of the regu- lator. sound the horn in close traf- fic.“s,aec:nme car and shift gears while turning a corner if you hold the wheel near the top and strike the horn but- ton with your arm. hoto of milady driving a “double lmAe Emnnu" car of 1905 vintage odd- Iy enough reveal, e e ngaine he lc‘lelrmlfan o “'Whnn wrong with this | picture? - = Sim that in 1905 as in 1929 ‘rid- m:l{:luwh pedal” was & habit dim- cult to break even when posing as a 1 _driver. pressure :‘:‘:dl;n%gz clutch pedal, no matter how eventually to clutch trouble. #l:")nl in the early picture wore skirts to her heels and a hat that looked like an orchard in full blos- som, Why borrow any of her antedi- luvian ideas of driving? gauntlets, California, | E tion. above L . Address Box 414.D. Siar Ofice. ‘when cranking by handsbut| - MOTOR CAR BUILDERS SET RECORD FOR SIX MONTHS 1929 Period Exceeds 1928 by 45 Per Cent, Automobile Cham- ber Reveals. ‘With June production of approxi- mately 536,309 cars, trucks and busses, the National Automobile Chamber of Commerce announces that the motor industry established a new record for and up at the factory Sedan de Lujo AU prices at factory - HEY,JOE., \ ANOCTHER t1AC DISTRICT LINE WITH TORE OFF TWO BUMPER AND JusT SMASHED (INTO HINE ACROSS THE YOUR CAR- DERS, LIGHTS, ENT . THE RIGHT pooR-THE CQPS wAaNT You - YO \DENMTIFY ME- : any six-month period, with & total out- put of 3,380,088 machines. This exceeds the same period of 1928 by 1,053,579 vehicles, or 45 per cent. June production for N. A. C. C. mem- bers is estimated at 321,309 cars and trucks, based on shipping reports, which is 25 per cent less than May and 12% per cent under June a year ago. For the entire industry the estimate for June is 536,309, a new record for the month, and 26 per cent over June of last yea It is, however, less by 99,219 than May production. The decline is now following the high pace set by the industry dur- ing the first five months of the year. M Flonitod B o LOW-POWER CARS. More than 65 per cent of all cars registered’ in Great Britain are less than 14 horsepower, according to an analysis made by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, Ltd, of London for 1928. Of all the cars in use in the United Kingdom 26 per cent have 12-horse- power engines, the next largest class being the 14-horsepower cars, which constitute 12.6 per cent of the total number. Nearly 2 per cent of all the cars are 7-horsepower or less. Cars England Lave a heavy horsepower tax. Flight With New Design Engin;r Is Foll-;:i lowed by Hundreds of Letters Asking Information. BY E. Y. WATSON. m&zt'mon. Mich., Juz 13.—Since a s plane powered with a Pack- nrd-bu?{t Dfllel engine of new and se- cret design several weeks Motor Co. has been recelving of letters daily from people inquiring if Diesel engines eventually are to be used in motor cars as well as in planes. An answer was sought from Col. J. G. Vincent, Packard vice president, in charge of engineering, who three weeks ago received from the University of ichigan the degree of master of en- 7lneennl in recognition of long years in the automotive industry, including a share in the design of the Liberty motor. ‘The reason the Packard Co. has been recelving the inquiries is that a Tt got abroad Diesel - engine use might revolutionize automobile operation be- cause of large economy through the use of crude oil instead of gasoline as fuel. When the plane flight was madg it was said the cost of the ofl consumed was only 25 per cent of the cost of gasoline for the same distance, Col. Vincent expressed large doubt that there would be any such result as far as the motor car is concerned. “Pirst,” he said, “fuel economy is of secondary interest to the man who buys a hlther-prlned car today. If it were possible at once to equip all cars with Diesel engines I doubt if there would be much, if any, difference in the cost of oil as fuel. It might not prove any cheaper than gasoline, due to distribu- tion conditions. Many of us can re- member when gasoline was considered merely & by-product of kerosene, with small value commercially. “Then, as another phase, we must re- member that the Diesel engine is & high-compression motor in which the compression is constant at g like 500 pounds to the square incli. One of the difficulties in Diesel use for mo- tor cars as we have them now, with fast acceleration and smoothness through an entire speed range, would be to this compression variable and flexible enough to allow for start- ing and stopping interference at low speeds. Frequent Changes Demanded. “With the frequent changes demand ed by modern traffic, the average gaso line engine operating at slower speeds requires only 30 to 50 pounds to the square inch of compressiop and runs up as high as 90 at full speed.” In an airplane, with the speed much higher but more constant, Col. Vincent explained, the compression at 500 pounds an inch largely sustains itself. “Then,” he added, “there is engine odor, which has been a fault in Diesel power plants we have had. The Diesel in | in starting gives out a puff of oily smoke which in the airplane is quickly dissi- A larger income may make it possible for the Joneses to have a much finer home than the Browns have— but the Browns can own just as fine a car. For it does not require a big income to own a De Soto Six. And with a De Soto Six the Browns have the pride and satisfaction of driving a Chrysler-built auto- mobile—with the ability to out-perform most other cars on the road. . De Soto Six is obviously smart and stylish; up-to- the-minute in mode. And it has not taken the motoring public long to find that De Soto Six is also exceptionally comfortable and easy riding, $845 845 845 845 885 885 955 powerful, ‘speedy and safe. Record- breaking sales figures for a first-year car are proof enough of its established and growing popularity. Combine these qualities with low price, low mainte- nance cost and assured long life. Then the reason is plain why those who insist on smartness and per- formance, but must consider economy, are finding De Soto Six the most satisfactory car. ES0oT0S1X @ CHRYSLER MOTORS PRODUCT gine to get balanced flexibility, Lack of flexibility is of no great moment in a boat or airplane engine, but it is vital to the car.” Another point Col. Vincent made was the comparatively slow crank shaft YTIM for Diesels. He said in the Diesel the revolutions per minute had been built up to range between 1,800 and 2,000, which is fast for this type of engine. The swerage :la':o)nmm‘):: mlnl'l: demanded for present- motor car engine is 3,600 to 4,000. i4 o Erecting $500,000 Bullding. S0 _much for the present status ot the Diesel in relation to automobiles. The airplane a; is something else. The possibilities of Diesel use in air- it may be judged by the fact that this hnncgeo( the eebv;pmyl'; activities will soon housed itself in ! . Vincent was asked to discuss front-wheel drive and the chance it is to have in cars for next year and those to follow. His answer was based on an examination and trial of a front- drive racer he made in 1926, after he had bought for the Packard Co, the front-drive Miller car which scored a near victory in the Indianapolis race that year. This car came in second, the closest any front-drive ever came to winning on the Indiana speedway. Col. Vincent said the front-drive principle for passenger car work might prove of some value to the sport car division of the business, but that its possibilities were pretty well limited to that fleld. Such cars bullt for passen- ger work require 10 to 12 inches more Wwheel base than the rear-drive cars, Col. Vincent said, and their turning radius is lengthe: their angularity make the engine ex- ert four or five times the torque or ::hfln‘u force exerted by the rear-drive ), scope o ve to the larger wheel base division and cut it off from the small car fleld and mfm vollm‘n‘e‘ :;I t. concedes actor of ef turning, due to less likelihood to skid, but he questions front-drive ab to cope with rear drive in either climbing or in trav- eling rough or tortuous roads. eeping up with the Joneses DISTRICT MOTOR COMPANY (INCORPORATED) 1337 14th St. N.W. WASHINGTON, D. C. Potomac 1000