Evening Star Newspaper, June 22, 1930, Page 51

In the Motor World BY G. ADAMS HOWARD. HE vanguards of the great- est streams of motor traf- fic in history across the Northern -and Southern boundaries of the United States already have begun trickling |cross and bid fair to make 1930 motor touring on the North Amer- 4Jcan continent reach the highest Point in history. Canada and Mexico, with their unlimited appeal to the motor tourist, for hunting, fishing, sports and sightseeing, are gaining in favor by leaps and bounds, with @ consequent return of the favor by the motor-minded folk of %these two countries evidenced by an ever-growing traffic of tourists across our borders in cars bearing Canadian and Mexican license plates. It is conservatively estimated by tourist experts, basing their fig- ures on those of the Department ®f Commerce for preceding years, that upward of 5,000,000 American | automobiles will bear thrice that number of persons into the Do- touring months this Spring, Sum- mer and Fall, there to spend up- minion of Canada during theicharged with the suggestion of can dollars. Canadian Cars Expected. On those same Department of Commerce figures it is conserva- tively estimated that from Can- ada will come this year 700,000 machines (mostly American made) bearing thrice that many | Canadians to return the favor by | spending more than $45,000,000 in | (this country. | This interchange of tourist| travel is regarded as a natural one, but it has reached a magni- tude in the past few years that the motor manufacturers, the| merchants and even the govern- ments of the two countries have seen exceed their fondest dreams. ‘There is a great deal in common between the United States and Canada. Speaking the same lan- guage and living under almost identical conditions, the Ameri- can and Canadian are the best of friends and the closest of busi- ness associates. Hand in hand, in . a spirit of co-operation seldom equaled between two great coun- tries, the Canadians and Ameri- cans have come down the years. Back of the estimated figures for tourist traffic back and forth across the Mexican border, how- ever, lies more significance for the future tourist of this continent. Down on the Southern border of the United States there is opening up a vast territory full of scenic wonders, a paradise for the huntsman and angler. It is not a seasonal affair, this traffic across the Southern border of the United States. Year round | the cars go across and a road| 2 program that is gathering mo- mentum with every month is stretching beckoning arteries to link with those of this country, opening up the gorgeous country that Cortes discovered for the Western World. Mexican Road System Growing. Across the Mexican border this year are expected to go more than 6,000,000 persons in motor cars, to travel over the growing Mexican road system. These motorists will | leave in Mexico approximately $45,000,000, a portion of which will be used to further extend the highway facilities of the country to the south, these roads to at- tract, as the months go by, an ever-increasing flow of tourist| traffic into the very heart of Cen- tral America. To the motor tourist the coun- | tries to the south of us are an un- plumbed depth, luxuriant in tropic almost totally without roads. What roads there are are good only for | ox-carts and horse-drawn ve- | hicles. But as Mexican traffic ciation has added a campaign against the mysterious poster of the obviously homemade signs that dot the main highways of this section reminding the mo- torist in ghoulish, half-religious manner of the dangers that lurk in the path of the motorist. | The A. A. A, in a statement, |urges the State highway officials | of neighboring States to launch | immediately an investigation of | the signs erected evidently by a | religious fanatic or fanatics along ' heavily traveled roads. | The campaign comes as a re- | sult of receipt by .A. A. A. head- quarters here of many letters in | which strong disapproval is ex- pressed of the signs which sug- gest “violent death” lurking be- hind each telephone pole, tree, curve or other obstruction on the highways so signed. “These signs,” says the motor- ing body, “apparently are erected by cranks who take ghoulish glee in spreading, not a gospel of peace and good will, but a message sur- violence and disaster. “Our information shows that the ward of 300,000,000 good Ameri-|signs against which we are pro- testing are broadcast all over the | United States, and particularly on | some of the most heavily traveled {and most beautiful | such as No. 1 between Washington {and Richmond and the Redwood | Highway, in California; in other words, from coast to coast. Wordings Vary Little. “The wordings of the signs vary but little, while the ghoulish sug- gestion is always there, to wit: ‘Death Awaits You Around the Corner,” ‘Judgment Day is Here,’ ‘Make Your Peace With God,’ ‘You Will Meet God at the Next Turn.’ “The question of religion is not involved. Many of the protests reaching us come from people who preface their disapproval with a statement regarding their reli- gious affiliation and their great re- spect for religion. An invariable comment is that these signs mar the pleasure of motor travel and, at the same time, prove disturb- ing to the peace of mind of many motorists, particularly people of a nervous temperament. “In the interest of highway safety, one of the crucial problems of the day, the perpetrators of these atrocities should be stopped. Public sentiment will support whatever action officials of the various States may deem prac-| tical to enable them to reach owners of private land and tim- ber used for the display of these | signs. “Activities of this character are inevitably hastening the day when there will be a showdown on ad- vertising signs of all kinds along our highways. Considerations of safety as well as the maintenance of the Nation’s scenic resources | and historic shrines are gradually foreing a recognition of the fact| that signboards must be subject to constructive regulation.” NEW SCENIC ROUTE DEDICATION JULY 4 Highway Running Through Tun- nel Mile Long Enters Zion National Park. By the Associated Press. SALT LAKE CITY, June 21.—A new- ly completed scenic highway between | Mount Carmel, Utah, and Zion National Park will be dedicated July 4 in the | presence of governors from a score of beauty, balmy of atmosphere, but gu - tes. Within a rock-ribbed tunnel a mile long, through which the Federal-State highway runs, dedication exercises will | be held | This ceremony is to follow the annual arteries reach out, there are indi- | governors' conference in Salt Lake City, cations that there will come, in|where the State executives whil meet for | the next few years, arteries up to|three days before starting a tour of the the north roads to meet them. | Wests natural wonders in Utah and | and the much-discussed Pan-| American Highway is regarded as a development of the not-too-di tant future. ‘ The United States will not be hout its Mexican either. It is estimated that ap- proximately $7,000,000 will spent in the United States this| year by motor tourists from Mex- | ico. | Jersey Plans on Action. | Close on the heels of the rec- ommendations by the National Conference on Street and High- Arizona. After the highway dedication at Zion | Canyon the governors' itinerary will in- | clude the Grand Canyon of the Colo- rado in Arizona, Cape Royal, the Bryce Canyon national monument and the bourists,‘ced“ Breaks national monument in Utah. The conference will adjourn | formally at Zion Canyon Park July 4. be | Busis iness sessions will be interspersed with sight-seeing trips. The conference program is to include discussions of old-age pensions, led by Gov. Franklin D. Roosevelt of New York; Prison-made goods, by Gov. Henry . Caulfield of Missour!; the sales tax, by Gov. William G. Conley of West Virginia: public lands, by Gov. Frank C. Emerson of Wyoming, and bank | way Safety, that more care be ex- | taxes, probably by Gov. Clyde M. Reed ercised by the States in assuring|of Kansas. the motor traveler that the car he meets on the road shall be in 2 safe condition, the State of New Jersey has taken a hand to re- might be regarded as unsafe. Harold G. Hoffman, New Jer- sey hicles, declares that his State’s decision to remove the mechan- ically unsafe machine from the highways is “in line with the most advanced safety thought of the country He says: “It is within the province of every motor car owner to become acquainted with the requirements of mechanical safety and to see that his car meets the specifications through intelligent maintenance. If the car, as a re- sult of age or use or any other commissioner of motor ve- | ———— Closed Cars Gain. Eighty-nine per cent of the - to 10 per cent in 1919, ac- cor division of the American Automobile tation. 16 Minimam Age to Drive. Sixteen years is the minimum age for securing a license to drive a car in | virtually every State, according to the District of Columbia Division of the American Automobile Association. THE SUNDAY STAR., WAS HINGTON highways, cars | | man osed | move from its roads cars that;mm‘“m ottt il e (TS il aeth ,‘./ No matter how you stretch the trouble you can’t lengthen a short circuit. A woman who used to drive quite ex- tensively 10 years ago recently took the wheel of a new car in an effort to brush up again. Quite to her dismay she found it difficult to start without spinning the rear wheels and giving every one in the car a bad case of strained neck. Her discouragement vanished, however, when she discovered the trouble was merely the result of failing to note the tre- mendous increase in engine power. Most_modern engines will start the car in low gear with just a little more gas than is needed for idling. Ten years ago unless you gave it quite a bit of gas the engine would simply stall. ‘Two gentlemen at a table of bridge | were talking about high priced automo- biles and competing with each other in an effort to boast familiarity with one | that cost the most. Presently one of the wives spoke up and announced that she had personally driven a machine costing its owner $41,000. It sounded like a genui.ne whopper, but when they had inished deriding her she explained that though the car had cost so fabulous an amount it wasn't even a’custom-built creation. 4 The owner, she explained, had carried liability insurance to the extent of a $5,000-$10,000 policy, but a jury had awarded a child, permanently injured by the car, damages to the extent of $45,000. Some of the world's most expensive automobiles are among the least con- spicuous on the highways. Even automotive picnics are chang- ing. Ice cream now usually comes packed in “dry” ice and, as children Wwill experiment, it is well to know what to do if one of them attempts to swal- low some of this solidified carbon diox- ide. The child should be fed warm wa- ter immediately and be kept on the move in order to vaporize the dry ice as quickly as possible. Any one actually eating this substance should not be per- mitted to lie down. The charred remains of an erstwhile luxurious, serviceable automobile always is cause for meditation. “It's too bad,” said an observer in looking over the ashes of a car owned by a woman who did not appreciate the importance of un- derstanding a little something of the mechanism of automobiles, “some one hadn't warned her to disconnect one of the battery wires when a fire in the wiring is discovered. Because waxing the car has been a Pprocess requiring a considerable amount f hand labor the rates on this sort of “finish insurance” always have been high. To catch the bargain hunter many firms have pared down the labor in or- der to cut the cost, but there have re- cently been introduced electric polish- ing machines which may easily justify lower rates. The situation has changed to a point where it is no longer possible to tell what sort of work you are going to obtain merely through a consideration :; how much you are going to be asked pay. ‘When you crank the car a half dozen times a day it isn't a bad idea to have mental picture of what you actually ;io. Briefly, the process is apout as fol- jows: ‘You complete an electric circuit from the battery to an electric starter-motor, when you press the starter switch or pedal, as the case may be. This motor | starts to rotate the shaft of what is ing to the District of Columbia | known as the Bendix drive on which there is a small gear capable of moving forward and backward to mesh with or part company with a gear band fitted around the edge of the engine’s flywheel, The starter-motor is then capable of cranking the engine mechanically. As soon as the engine starts the small gear on the starter drive goes out of mc 1 with the fiywheel automatically You must be careful not to force it D. C, JUNE &< e RV g 7 P PART PO DOWN THE ROAD—Things OQur Forefathers Missed. —By FRANK BECK THE THRLL OF SNEAKNG UP ON PEDESTRIANS WITH A PARALYZING HORN ~2 25 MILADY’S MOTORING BY FREDERICK C. RUSSELL back into mesh until the engine comes to rest, if the latter fails to keep going. Not all starters were of this type. In some the starter-motor cranks the en- gine with a chain and two sprockets very much like junior’s bioycle. One advantage to the gear drive for starting is greater safety. In an emer- gency you can step on the starter-but- | ton (while in gear) with greater assur- ance that the battery will pull the car out of danger. The small starter gear meshing with the very large fiywheel gear provides a higher degree of me- chanical advantage which is just an- other way of saying that a weak battery 1s enabled to impart surer movement to the car. Many persons have used start- ers to pull cars off railroad tracks when the engine stalled. The greatest need for hand signalling is to warn drivers of approaching cars what you intend doing, an experienced woman pilot declares. She is right. Any observing driver can come pretty close to telling exactly what the driver ahead is going to do, but it is difficult to read the mind of approaching drivers from the behavior of their cars. (Cepyright, 1930.) The automobile and its allies pay | freight bills in amount more than equal | to all rafiroad dividends. Operating Cost Per Mile. The average operating cost per mile of a five-passenger car is 61 cents, or one-third cent per mile per rson, according to the District of Columbia division of the American Automobile Association. . | 385 B. B. Crossings Eliminated. ‘There were 385 railroad grade cross- ings eliminated from the Federal-aid highway system in 1929, according to the District of Columbia division of the American Automobile Association. The United States has 152 manufac- turers of automobiles, as compared to 101 in France and 98 in the United according to the District of ivision, an A. A. A. unit. CHRYSLER MOTORS DRIVING MORE FUN IF TRIVIAL DIFFICULTIES ARE OVERLOOKED Major Units of Modern Carsr Perfected to Point Where Driver Can Stop Worry- ing About Little Things. BY H. CLIFFORD BROEAW, Automobile Technical Adviser. The automobile operator who is go- ing to get the most enjoyment out of his motoring experience should adopt the policy of minimizing unimportant troubles which may arise. The pastime of projecting molehills until they come to look like mountains may be a good | way to grow old rapidly, but it is en- tirely out of place if one expects to ‘This matter of being concerned nbout‘ trivial matters which characterize the soned are less inclined to worry. The reason why there is little to worry about lies in the fact that manufacturers have thoroughly perfected the major units of the Auwmogfie to the point where one | now buys a car, uses it a few years, trades it in for a new one without hav- ing any trouble at all that could be considered major. Those Days Are Past. ‘The days when the carburetors were considered funny if they did not leak, and when a broken spring was taken for granted once or twice a season, have gone forever. The principal business of a motorist nowadays, in addition to the simple_process of driving a car, is to enjoy himself thoroughly. In the good old days of automobiling it was the custom for the owner of a car, if he had some little trouble, to put on a pair of overalls and take a day off to See what could be done about repatr- ing it. Perhaps they complain that the car suddenly seems to ride poorly. They try to find the reason for this and have no luck. They drive to the serv- ice station and find that the whole trouble lies in the habit they have formed of driving too fast over rough roads. The seasoned automobile owner would know in the first place why his car seemed to ride less comfortably than usual. In the second place he wouldn't be driving in a way to produce the un- desirable effect. ‘The veteran driver has through his experience gained considerable knowl- edge which helps to remove a lot of the worries which the less informed man might experience. For example, if a driver happens to travel for a very long time without changing the speed of the engine, it is possible for vacuum tank to go dry. This causes the engine to stall and the amateur driver would wonder what the trouble was all about. The experienced driver knows that when the radiator is completely filled a con- siderable amount of the overflow will be lost as soon as the engine warms up. | | Consequently when he puts some anti- | freeze substance into the radiator at the beginning of the cold weather season, he will avoid filling the radiator clear to the top. { Idling Screw May Loosen. |, Once in a while it happens that the idling set screw on the hrottle comes loose, thus allowing the throttle to close. ‘Conse uently the engine stalls every | time the driver throws out his clutch would understand the real cause. | Not so long ago a motorist had to give | considerable®attention to his olling sys- |tem Whenever he bought gasoline he , Was tempted to check up or the amount | When he raised the hood to see whether oil was needed, he might be surprised to find the indicator sho a crank case only throe-qunrma"hfif | This would lead the new automobile owner to suspect an ofl leak. He sees | drops of oil on the garage floor under the car. He noticed that the breather tube is sm & little, not kno that a little smoking is nothing uni . By this time he is ready to suspect that his engine is wasting & lot of ofl. He thinks that a couple of quarts of new oil will kee) things going till he can get to & ser: station. The experienced driver would have noted that when he stopped at the filling station to get fasoline, the car was rest- ing on an incline. The contents of the crank case had naturally flowed to one side away from the oll level indicator. Suspects Rear Axle. Much has been said about the Joy which is taken out of the life of a motorist by the so-called back-seat driver. There is another kind of back~ | seat driver who is about as obnoxious as is the person who undertakes to direct the driving. This other joy killer is the one who is always sus- pecting that something is radically wrong with one part of the automobile or another and has no hesitancy in speaking his mind upon the subject. He calls to attention any little squeak or other noise which might seem to indicate that wmethln} WAS wrong. One of his favorite beliefs is that there is something wrong with the rear axle, that there is too much alr in the tires, or that the car is getting too much gas. He is the ty) rson the ex- Kf::nud motorist usually leaves be- The experienced automobile driver is of commendable composure under all circumstances. Consequently, he can- be bothered with lif . The best workers in x:‘pnlr shops are those mechanics who, without any sign of bluster, go about the business of fixing whatever needs attention. The (Continued on Sixt! PRODUCT IGHT-CYLINDER QUALITY NOW .- TALKS PRICE Eight-cylinder motoring used to run into money. Not so WORLD’S LOWEST-PRICED EIGHT D60 AND UP—F. O. B. FACTORY v WITH THESE FEATURES Unisteel# Construction of Chassis and Body Down-Draft Carbaretion Impulse Neatraliser all-Pressure Feed Labrication Mechanical Fuel Pump—Fuel Filier—Air Cleanee Thermostatic Heat Coutrol Hydranlic Brakes Hydrealic Shock Absorbers Double Cowl Ventilators today. The day of eight-cylinder economy is here. De Soto has accomplished a remarkable thing. De Soto has designed and produeed a Straight Eight of unmistakably fine quality at a record-breaking low price. It is an Eight of charming smartness, rich and roomy in its comfort and alive with thrilling performance—an Eight that brings the joys of eight-cylinder owmership within the easy reach of a very moderate income. As the world’s lowest-priced Eight, it proves that eight-cylinder quality at last can talk price. Today it’s De Soto for eight- cylinder value, as well as for six-cylinder value. The word among buyers is —see De Soto before buying any car. Non-Glare Windshield Rust-Proof Parts ®In the Unisteel type of construo- tion, the body and chassis are de- signed as a unit, eliminating body sills and all other wooden parts. The body is bolted directly to the chassis, %0 that the two become mumtually supporting and mutwally flexible. STRAIGHT . X»T» condition, cannot be made safe, then it has no place on the high- ‘ways of New Jersey or any other| State.” i Citing statistics to the effect that the mechanically uafit car figures in approximately 15 per cent of the accidents on the high- ways and city streets of the Na- | tion, he continues: gnorance of what constitutes mechanical safety on the part of the individual car owner can no longer be accepted as an excuse| for indifferent maintenance. There | is too much at stake. Therefore, it is distinctly up to the individ- ual to overcome any ignorance that he may possess on the sub- ject. He must learn what consti- | tutes safe braking efficiency, safe | headlighting, warning signals, | | steering equipment, tire equip ment and accessories that con-| tribute to the diminution of dan- gel Probe of Signs Sought. To its fight against the mutila- e tion of the countrg';ywenlcb:,u‘fi; | | % ways with unsigi . Auwmom Asso- Ssss>s EIGHT Copyright 1930 by De Soto Motor Corporstion DISTRICT MOTOR COMPANY (INCORPORATED) 1337 14th St. N.W., Potomac % 1000 NATIONAL AUTO SALES CO. O. R. Blanton, Prop. 33 New York Ave. N.E. Metropolitan 9225 ‘This ccestible_Trom borh che Geck er Cockpit. This boat combines One New Elco Veedette 1930 just launched for immediate delivery. Veedeite 15 the sportsman's boat, 20 miles ber 17 has the V. struction for speed, with the open cockpit in the and cabin. She has an exceptionally roomy s the best features of the runabout and cruiser. ur real berths and a big roomy galley which wives comfort if on P months st s time® With tne ElcooBuds bbb, Motr - aferds & speed i (ake you'to"your favorite fshing rounds wheré You can do your AShing and then return, ail in the same day. See this boat. ride in her and let us show you the finest combined speed and cruiser boat on the market today. And remember, this is an Eico Boat. Price $5,750.00 F. O. B. Bayonne, N. J. immediate delivers. Also we invite you to inspect the whols :\mu;x'lgz W oW Dout ‘club” ahy Gay, where we look alter Your bosts. ANl yeu o s ride THE WASHINGTON MOTOR BOAT SALES AGENCY ELCO and CHRIS CRAFT BOATS Foot of#fth and Water Sts. S.W. Garner Motor Co. Leonardtown, Md. Roney Motor Co. Frederick, Md. Macks Service Hyattsville, Md. . W. White Norbeck, Md. W. E. Moncure Quantico, Va. Moreland Motor Co. Waldorf, Md. 3590 up, £. 0. b. factory NOW ONE OF THE LOWEST-PRICED CARS IN THEW PLYMOUTH BY SOLD DE SOTO DEALERS EVE RHRYWHERE