Evening Star Newspaper, December 15, 1929, Page 76

USUAL DROP FOUND IN SALE OF AUTOS October Registration Figures Dispute Rumors of Large Declines. Complete registration _figures _for Ootober, covering the 48 states and Dis- trict of Columbia, dissipate recent ru-{ mors of unusually marked declines in passenger car sales in that month, ac- cording to B. H. Cram, president of Cram's Automotive Reports, Inc. Final figures reveal no more of a Tecession than is usual during this month, Mr. Cram declared. New pas- senger car sales in October showed an increase of 14 per cent over sales in the same month of 1928 and a decrease of only 5.1 per cent from the volume of September, 1929. In October, 1929, Tegistrations totaled 288,786 cars, as compared with 284,653 in the same month last year and 304,362 in Septem- | ber, 1929. +Ford registrations in October totaled 103,690 cars, as compared with 112,449 in September. The October figure ex- ceeded the number of registrations in the same month of 1928, however. Chevrolet registrations in October to- taled 64,245 cars, an increase over the 61,003 cars registered in September and above the total for October, 1928. The decrease in October registrations from the September totals did not hold true for all sections of the country, however, as the East South Central and West South Central State groups showed marked increases. October registrations in the low- priced field totaled 223,996 cars, a de- Ccrease of 9.608 units, or 4.1 per cent, from the September volume, but an increase of 18,602 cars, or 9.1 per cent, over October, 1928 Sales of medium-priced cars also showed & decline, totaling 53,032 for October. This was a decrease of a little more than 10 per cent from the previous month’s volume and 21 per cent below the October. 1928 figures. High-priced car sales showed a slight increase over the September to- tal, but were slightly below the Octo- ber, 1928, volume. In October, 1929, registrations totaled 11,349 cars, as compared with 11,095 in September and 11,673 in October, 1928. MILADY’S MOTORING By Frederick C. Russell Checking up the garage bill each month convinces many a man that woman herself is the orginal super- AMERICAN | | THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHI 1929—PAR FOUR. NCE upon atime there was a ORepublw of Florida and here,not fr- from Jaek sonville, the traveler ouse” built wi 1 shetls a i by Johm By Veintash 25 president from 1812 tolB813. The tree before the fiteplace shows Nature's disregard of fatlen fortune. HISTORY BY MOTOR—via the Old Spanish Trail = RS Florida about 1765. Ford, has been atmost reclaimed. by thcscmi—ttwl stones throw of the Atlantic Goastal }flgmp.a 2 20th nhuy travel. © Avericn Righway Bducational Bureau, Washington, D.C. N gy s ERF 1an the old Kings Roads Sz made dugi the Briti is stretch near (Title registered U. 8. Patent Office.) wll&mw@c% ithina. ] 13 wil century —BY Coce a3 Cow of ent: toad filled with, JAMES W. BROOKS. (Sketches by Calvin A. Fader.) CF A TR, Se G4, mote ofce Andvew Jackson with. is political misbehavior. - NEXT:. Through Western. Flovida ROAD POLIGIES BRING PROTESTS Move to Extend Federal Aid to Local Improvement Held Encroachment. BY JAMES W. BROOKS, Director, American Highway Educational Bureau. Protests have arisen during the last week against the possibility of Federal activity being drawn into the construc- tion of purely local roads. The impres- sion seems to have gotten abroad that the principle of Federal aid in highway improvement is likely to be wheeled around to the barn door, so to speak, to the probable neglect of badly needed main routes which have not yet been improved, and where increased Federal charger. A reader of these weekly talks with the woman motorist tells me that she nearly had a serious accident with her car when cranking it the other morn- ing simply because another member of the household had left the gears in low. The incident suggests the im- portance of a better understanding be- tween all members of the family who ive. ‘There should be an agreement where- by each promises to leave the car, or cars, in a strfictly “neutral” condition. ‘That is, the wheels should be set straight ahead, the hand brake on, the gears in neutral, the gas control set for idling, the spark fully advanced and the choke pushed in. This would eliminate the confusion, mistakes and accidents which some- times happen in the garage during the starting process. “Will you please explain why it was that I couldn’t open the windows of my car the other day?” a reader has in- quired. “I had had no mechanical work done to it—just a washing. Fortunately it was a very cold day and I did not mind having the windows up. ‘The next day I had no difficulty wha soever. That's what seems so strange. ‘That also is what holds the answer to the puzzle. The windows simply froze. It's a common thing in cold weather and can be avoided by opening them a little before going out into the cold directly after a washing. Details of the British cars displayed at the recent Olympia motor show in London reveal something of special interest to women who motor in all kinds of weather. The new feature is a holder for a short handle umbrella and is attached to one of the lower door posts within easy reach of any one stepping out of the car. If American women woild ask for the umbrella holder when shopping around for mew cars it wouldn’t be long before the feature would be standard equipment here. Women al- ready have done nobly in encouraging engineers and body builders to make it possible for some 25 of us to go along “singing in the rain.” One of the things that make it more difficult for a woman to get along when ice is forming on the windshield is the great amount of advice offered during the period of emergency. She is told to do most evex‘yl,hinfi1 from pouring alcohol over the windshield to rubbing it with an onion. Very few ever think to recommend rubbing the glass with a small bag of salt. This will not involve the risk of damaging the lacquer finish o¥ ");El cowl as in the case when using alcohol. “Why does an engine stall? asks a woman who is finding the automobile a very fascinating piece of mechanism. “It seems to me that a highly explosive fuel like gasoline would drive an engine even if the pilot did make a few mis- takes, How can a high-powered en- gine be so helpless when you happen to start off by mistake in high gear?” To understand the peculiar nature of the gasoline engine it is necessary to consider for a moment the steam engine and the electric motor. Steam and electricity are what might be called continuous forces. Their drive is con- stant, once released and of sufficient intensity or amount. Gasoline is differ- ent. X’:.Qgroduces no driving effort until vaporized, mixed with air in the right proportion, compressed and ignited. Moreover, in an automobile engine the individual amounts of expanding gas vapor in each cylinder are compara- tively small and weak by comparison with an equal amount of steam. That is why we must run the gas engine reasonably fast so that a number of these explosions can occur in rapid succession. This also explains why modern multi-cylinder engines stall less frequently than the earlier power plants. It may help to explain the situation by adding that there is no supply of ready compressed and expanding gas to feed to the cylinders as one might feed steam. Hence there is no continuous force until the engine gets up speed. Hence also the tendency toward stall- ing. ‘There is a new psychology typified by the statement “She can do better whan she knows” and it seems to be very apropos of motoring. Too many women are trying to succeed with their driv- 1ing through sheer will power when their great need is self-understanding. I saw it illustrated recently when a friend who had for weeks attempted to shift gears by force and determination suddenly decided to see if she wasn't making some mistake that would ac- count for the difficulty. Taking this new slant on matters she quickly dis- covered the cause of the trouble her unobserved habit of failing to return the hand control of the throttle to the idling position after warming up the engine. This always makes for more difficult shifting. Men who volunteer to assist milady n«;:v is needed. i en the emergency approp $50,000,000 which has been_introduced to supplement the regular Federal aid appropriation for the coming fiscal year has been misconstrued as another attempted “raid on the ry,” fos- tered, it is assumed, by Western Btates against the interests of Eastern States, when the fact is that this amount has been asked for to aid in speeding up highway work in all states, and is in line with President Hoover's counsel for more energetic yet prudent activity in all public work. Also, in opposition to what is looked upon as another tendency toward Fed- eral encroachment upon local affairs, bureaucrats here are char of Federal authority over local roads is due, not to bureaucrats, but to the pestiferous activities of old man Demagogue, who is ever ready to sponsor selfish movements which come within the range of his vote-hunting proceli and whose desire for popular acclaim, however brief, seems never to be satisfied. Facts Are Outlined. Once more, as & means of kem the highway record straight, the follow- ing facts will not be amiss. At the very outset of Federal aid for highway im- provement, lative procedure was beset with selfish clamor. There must thing which no self-respecting repri sentative of the people would tolerate. But there had to be a beginning some- where, as all agreed. Already the road building job had been neglected so long that it took all hands to get it under way upon a modern basis, which ac- counted for Uncle Sam’s stepping into the work. All - through the hearings before House and Senate road committees in Congress and lined and interlined in the correspondence which ran between wise and sincere leaders in the new roads movement, there was that vexing problem of how to get roads for every- body. The result was that much lati- tude was given in the first Federa! hignway act, passed in 1916. Ald was scattered to disconnected projects, which was clearly not in the true in- terests of the public, since a modern road terminating in mud at both ends was not moredhan 50 per cent efficient. Under this scattered program, one- half the highway capital invested in this manner was idle, while interest on the full amount continued to be added to vehicle operating waste caused gyutlhe disconnected state of roads thus uilt. ‘This policy of carrying on the work was followed up to 1921. By that time, | experience had clearly proved that a| change must be made, that in the in- terests of the public, main route proj- ects must be more closely linked to-| gether and construction effort concen- trated more definitely upon state and interstate systems. Accordingly, the policy of building widely separate and loosely connected sections of road was changed to the present plan of build- ing a closely joined system of main routes first, over which, as scientific traffic research shows, from 75 to 85 per cent of the country’s traffic finds its way. This change was made in the in- terest of the motorist and other tax- payers, in order that their highway in- vestment might yield full returns in- stead of only half, as in the case of the previous locse distribution of con- struction capital. The people are now being asked, in some uninformed quar- ters, to return to this wasteful and dis- carded policy. Some Repairs Enormous. Another reason which compelled the change to more’ concentrated effort on main routes lay in the dangers of ex- cessive maintenance. The fact is not 50 widely known as it should be that there are some roads in this country | on which repair bills are enormous and | unless proper checks are placed upon | maintenance, repair costs eventually would engulf new construction. This | situation is already perilously near in | some states. It is to prevent this disastrous re- sult in the nation’s road building pro- gram that the present policy of main route construction first is being adhered to as the only practical way to release the flow of highway capital to back- roads, after the main roads have been built beyond the reach of excessive re- pairs, and should there be any return to the previous ineffective and_ waste- ful policy, it will not be to the best interests of motorists and the public at arge. No Imagination. From Sta Nebr. “See here!” said the gzealous traffic cop. “Keep on the proper side of the white line.” “What line?” inquired the motorist. “I can't see any white line.” “Well,_ain't y got any ination when she is struggling to extricate her car from a snow pile or slush frequently are so gallant as to overlook the action of the differential. That is why they— the men, that is—place newspapers or burlap or whatever is handy usder only one rear wheel instead of under both of them. As manager of Tocess mi- AUTOMOBILE PRICES GOING UP, DESPITE EXPECTED DECREASE ' IS SAFETY MEASURE Raises Already Made Are Laid to Increases in Cost of Manufacture—New Models Ready. Special Dispatch to The Star. DETROIT, Mich, December 14.—Automobile prices are going up. been led to expect that there would be a drop as the result of the In the last month, persons have stock slump and its effect on business conditions in general. however, increases have been made by Studebaker, Cadillac and Buick. The Buick change added $25 to $75 on the list prices of 1930 models, including the recorded the rises are laid to increased costs of manufacture, It has been conceded as true that 1930 cars as already introduced in appearance, performance and materials “from body And the buyer Marquette cars. In the three instances thus represent better values roof to wheel base,’ must pay. Gone is the amount a maker could get for action or a loss. Profits Hinge on Volume. ‘The mode{go ec%namfic law ‘o:e mmxl; facturing, althoug] unwritten, for strict adherence to cost calculation, competition being so intense that profits not only have to be built up by every possible” economy on the one hand, but they depend almost solely on volume and quantity output on the other. If output expands there is a chance for price reduction. If it recedes, the cost of manufacturing thereby is in- creased. Less volume means added ex- pense of production, for which the pub- lic_has to pay. ing a new year in which the indi- cations point to lessened output of cars from the extreme level of 1929, the makers have been figuring out and the boosts in the price lists are the result. They calculate that production will have to be held either within or below the limits of the last 12 months, therefore the list es will have to go hl;.k to the basis of 1928 estimates for 1929. Alvan Macauley, head of the National Automobile Chamber of Commerce and P in stating the position of the automobile industry to President Hoover a week ago, intimated that 5,000,000 cars are ample for any normal year. Other offi- clal estimates for next year have been based on a replacement demand of 3,000,000 units for the United States, in which 25,000,000 cars are now on the roads, and export requirements of 1,000,000 cars for foreign countries. Basic demand for 4,000,000 cars there- fore appears to be a reasonable mini- mum and to assure production on a scale that in other years has been suffi- clent to keep factory workers busy for the greater part of 12 months. Introduce 16-Cylinder Model. ‘The Cadillac Co. has let it be known that the new 16-cylinder model will be introduced at the National Automobile Show in New York on January 4. The new car is to be known as the “V-16." Announcements say thst the power plant, coloring, fittings and upholstery are to be designed to fit the individual requirements of those who can afford to buy cars in the top price class and 'Shluttthe models virtually will be custom- uilt. ‘The week has been productive of sev- eral pre-views of new models that the public will see at the first of the year. Marmon at Indianapolis gave an ad- vance showing of four lines of eights that will constitute its 1930 line. Two other companies have made private showings of brand-new 8-cylinder mod- els, details of which are being held back until January. One of these is a V-type eight that will be offered in the moderate price class. It has been produced by one of the largest makers, whose output up to now has been conflned to 6-cylinder cars, A statement of the factory officlals points out that only a relatively few of the more costly makes of cars until now have been powered with V-type engines. “The designers of this new V-typc car have developed new features that enable them to build not only a V-type eight at a moderate price, but also the first one of this type that will be built and sold on the same basis of manu- facturing costs as the “in-line” types. Develops Great Horsepower. “The new V medium wheel base anc medium weight develops 1 horsepower for every 37 pounds of car weight—a power ratio said to excel that of any other American car. “'High compression and a new cylin- der-head design are responsible for large power output. Gasoline consumption is said to be about equal to that of the average 6-cylinder car.” ‘The new car is said to be capable of 50 miles an hour without effort and to have reserve power for a maximum of 75 to 85 miles an hour. The design is sald to represent three years of develop- ment work, during which 12 different V-type engines were built and tested. (Copyright, 1920, North American Newspaner ) Will seal the pistons ' against fuel leakage, and ' will function as a good oil is expected. Nothing is m i than t&ufwn l:’b:l;ftfi:"t AUTOCRAT—THE OIL DIFFERENT FROM Au.‘:'"rfirll‘: Beware of Substitutes. 1f your dealer can't supply you, le‘{pfinu us, and we lfill’tafl you the dealer’s name convenient. ly located to you. Bayerson Oil Works minder in time. (Copyright, 1020.) lady should remember to offer the re- l Columbia 5228 as onc factory executive has phrased it. day when the price ticket on a car represented the it, although it possibly meant a no-profit trans- Many HIGHWAY COURTESY | 3 Facilitation of Flow of Traffic Also Gained, Says A. A. A. Official. Highway courtesy in its simplest form provides one of the most effective ways of facilitating the smoother flow of traffic and preventing accidents, accord- ing to George E. Keneipp, manager of the District of Columbia Division of the American Automobile Association. Keneipp pointed out that the A. A. A. is now engaged in a gigantic national safety program, and the co-operation of every car owner in extending reason- able courtesy to other users of the high- ways will make it an immediate suc- cess. “Take the question of signals for stopping, making turns and backing,” said the A. A. A. club executive, “as an GRAAAM 1-Main Plant Detroit. 2-B 4-Service and Export H. C. Fleming Motor Hyattsville, Md. Plant,Wayne.Michiy ing Plant, Detroit. example of courtesy. Inquiries con- ducted by the A. A. A. indicate that many drivers do not consider the giving of signals primarily as a mark of cour- tesy. Many who claim to give signals always asserted they did so from a motive of self-preservation. They were frank to admit they never had con- sidered the matter from a safety angle, yet it is the very basis of courtesy. “Careful parking, with the idea of utilizing only the necessary space, is also an important phase of courtesy. The motorist who never tries to beat another to a crossing, remains a rea- sonable distance behind cars ahead, sig- nals when overtaking, gives his fellow motorist a just share of the road and stays out of the fender-brushing class is doing much to promote safety on the highways. Such drivers are also entitled to the rating of courteous motorists.” Drive On! From R. C. Jones, St. Augustine, Fla. An American newly rich touring nerthern France, spoke to his chauffeur. “James, take that wonderful St. Mihiel drive we have been hearing so much abou MOTORISTS SAVE TAX. Maryland Ruling Results in Econ- omy for Driver. As a result of a ruling just obtained from the Bureau of Internal Revenue motorists of Maryland will save the Federal income tax on approximately 45,800,000 gasoline tax, according to Geor E. Keneipp, manager of the District of Columbia division of the American Automobile Association. This important change in the rule which has existed in Maryland in the past was secured because of new pro- visions of the State law relative to the gasoline tax, which now imposes the tax upon the consumer and not upon the dealer. —_—— Keep Fuel Supply High. It is not enough to avoid running out of gas. Don't let it get too low in the tank, because se t and water, which sink to the bottom, are sucked into the feed line and carburetor from a low tank—and trouble results. MAGHNERY CUTS COSTOF REPARS Time Required for Work on Cars Also Is Reduced by Modern Methods. It is not surprising, perhaps, that the -ar-owning public spent so much time | end took such an interest in the spe- cial shop equipment section of the na- tional automobile shows last year, for, after all, it is to the perfection of mod- ern garage and service station ma- chinery that the owner must look for | lowered costs in the maintenance of his car. The shop equipment display at {this season’s show in Grand Central | Palace, New York, beginning January |4, will be larger and more complete than any of its several predecessors. Today the average service station employs three men. According to a survey recently completed, there are, roughly, 116 cars for every service sta- tion in the United States. From this it is aparent that without modern shop equipment the task of the garageman in keeping pace with service demands would be very nearly hopeless. Man Doxv;er, alotlx‘e‘. y::nomd u?ot cope with u.h sim) g the garageman's la- bors, mmfern shop zqm‘;menb also has materially reduced the car owner’s bills for service, for the garageman now can do three times the work he could do without the proper tools. Labor costs to the car owner have been cut to a fraction of what they were a few years ago and it is no longer necessary to lay up a car for a week at a time. Routine Jobs are done in a day. Heretofore, installation of new piston rings, coupled with valve grinding, of course, has been considered sufficient cure for loss of power resulting from compression leaks. Now, however, it is considered better practice to recondi- tion the cylinder walls at the same time and perhaps fit new Y“wm as well by way of doing a really thorough job. Thanks to the development of modern equipment to do the work, all of this can now be done in the time it took to grind the valves alone a few years ago, and the cost is very little more for a renewal of essential parts. Keep Tire Pressure Up. Low pressure in the rear tires may make easier riding, but low pressure in the front tires makes harder steer- ing—and low pressure in any tire re- sults in expensive damage to the side W The introduction of Graham - Paige sixes and eights,two years ago,was followed by a dollar volume of sales that still stands as a new first year record for the industry. Sales for this, our second year, are substantially greater. The dealer organization. now world-wide, has tripled in these two years ; manufacturing facilities more than doubled, and daily pro- duction capacity increased over four times. We shall continue to build into every motor car that bears our name the quality and value which, we believe. have contributed so much to this progress. Sixes and Eights On Display—Prices From * oot 9855 to 52495 at factory SJoarph SEMMES MOTOR CO., Inc. 1526 Fourteenth Street N.W. Phone Number: Co. 518 10th St. E. B. Frazier Motor Co. " ASSOCIATED DEALERS N.E. 1812 Logan Motor Co. Potomac 0772 E St. N.W. 3 B Hatke National Auto/ Sales New York Ave. N.E. 1378-8)