Evening Star Newspaper, January 11, 1931, Page 50

‘In the Motor World BY G. ADAMS HOWARD. HE thirty-first annual auto- mobile show in New York, which came to an end last night, has had a marked stimulus in the automotive world and has buoyed up to a consider- able degrée the spirits of the manufacturers, dealers and sales force throughout the Nation. Enthusiastic crowds surged their way into the Grand Central Palace, the scene of the mammoth exhibit, throughout the entire week, marking up new records for total attendances. These figures were augmented, too, by the Sun- day throngs, who took full ad- vantage of the first Sabbath showing of the automobile in the metropolis. The voice of Presi- dent Hoover resounding through the giant loudspeakers in every section of the hall added to the importance of the exhibition. Upward Trend Seen. Timed to the right psychological moment came the announcement that evidence of an early upturn in trade activity was supported by the monthly production report submitted at the regular meeting of the board of directors of the National Automobile Chamber of Commerce. According to the re- port production of passenger cars and trucks in December amounted to 155,185 units—an increase of 24 per cent over the output in De- cember of 1929, and 15 per cent over the corresponding figure for November, 1930. December production, according the National Automobile Chamber of Commerce, fixed the total domestic output of the auto- mobile industry for the year at 3,505,061—38 per cent below the record year 1929 and onl T cent under the corresponding fig- ure for 1927. Additional encour- agement to the motor industry was contained in statistics reveal- ing that current inventories of new-car stocks are 25 per cent under what they were a year ago. Co-operation Essential. Co-operation of Government and industry to restore confidence of capital and labor in the Na- More than 1,200 representatives of all divisions of the automobile industry attended the banquet, which was staged in connection with the automobile show. Mr. Barnes, who is also chair- of the board of the U. ported Emil mmt of the Royal Automobile trade revival,” the speak- “In the quarter £ hich cenf whic! marked the dflelougnem of the automobile as a symbol of higher living dards Milady'’s developed the Nation's economic structure of entirely different ideals,” he said. “We believe, for example, in high wages, justified by increased production and ac- companied by the enlarged buy- ing power necessary to sustain other industries.” Mr. Barnes then brought into sharp relief the picture of America, with its 27,000,000 auto- mobiles, 20,000,000 telephones, its $28,000,000,000 of savings accounts as indices of the country’s ad- vanced standards of living. Stabilization Need. Referring again to the neces- sity for stabilizing employment, Mr. Barnes expressed himself as oi)posed to any form of State em- ployment insurance. “In other lands the resort to state insurance against unem- ployment is manifestly tending to degrade the worker—to create a working class supinely accepting unemployment and public charity as a natural condition,” he ex- plained. “Too, it is tending to create a class of employers with no sense of responsibility to their employes. Such a program would be productive of general laxity in business management and would substantially retard national progress.” Measures suggested by Mr. Barnes whereby the Government might expedite the return to normalcy were: 1. Relaxation of regulatory | legislation that encourages de- structive competition by prohibit- ing trade practices and fair agree- ments. 2. Revision of tax rates with a view to eliminating those which tend to suspend normal business judgment in buying and selling real estate and securities. 3. Consideration of the protec- tive tariff as an economic and not a political issue. 4. Readjustment of tariff sched- ules to equalize America’s higher wages and not to suppress or dis- courage international trade. Plan Foreign Expansion. Plans for an early expansion of world consumption of automobiles were discussed by 150 foreign rep- resentatives of American auto- mobile manufacturers and foreign automobile organizations insession earlier in the week. Optimistic outlooks on the prospects for 1931 were expressed by many of the foreign dealers in attendance. e ss, which was hel Washington recently, done much to stimulate appreciation for the e:onomlc beel:lifijc t.st of high- ways and motor Vi ranspor- htgn was reported by delegates from many countries represented. Conditions in Sweden, as re- by Salmson, vice of Sweden, are typical of those in other nations. comprehensive paved roads substituted for the mvd"on which they have been In other countries, it was re- ported, highway systems are being extended and improved as a basis for widing relief to local un- ung&u)t problems. ion of American install- ment selling methods on a larger scale in the export markets was advocated by Eugene Prince of Berlin. The organization and functions of automobile associations were Ernest N. Smith, president of the American Auto- mobile Association. Motoring BY FREDERICK C. RUSSELL. Perhaps one reason why women @ay are less nervous at the wheel because they are less ruffied. With that flair of intuition , & woman recently told me helping to bolve the used car by making every possible use to- is Every week or so, it seems, one reads hears about a woman driver whose , but I wonder if women in simi- ir predicaments ever consider that a horn has to be loud and generously tooted to command attention. In re- verse a truck or delivery car engine is & fair imitation ol a stonecrusher. Make yourself heard. ‘Windows steam In a cold rain because of the difference between inside and outside temperatures. This annoyance can be lessened by trying to let as much air enter the car as possible. Some of the cowl vent 'ators can be ned without admitting water. Usu- iy 1 s possible to lower windows a little on the side the rain is not strik- | a rear window busy again. Unem- ployment and unrest augment the ranks of those who would make a few dollars Why women especially? That is be- cause are more apt to leave the car with the key in the ignition switch. ‘Women usually keep the car key on & out m’:tlnwmm and can't get trac- a operates a valve that closes off the air carburs ‘Thus inlet of the etor. when the engine is cranked the moving pis- tons suck raw gasoline from the carburetor, and no air. mixture. ‘N happens is pulled out the engine is not be- ing cranked. On some cars the act of pulling out the choke button now also sets the throttle for the most efficlent position. 1t is one of the newer conveniences and represents a in the right direction. an e e needs alr to run on, y | Because it is evident that the choke valve must be opened the minute the engine starts. Not wide open—just enough to prevent choking the engine to a stall. As the motor warms, it will take more air un- til after a couple of blocks, when it will run on the regular mixture Every choke valve has a definite t at which it is closed. This may e before the button is all the way out. Fallure to realize this and to study the car a little accounts for many a wom- an's difficulty in starting. One of the smartest timepieces found in luxury cars is one combined with an attractive rear-view mirror. only the numerals 12, 3, 6 and 9. Sur- prising how much easier it is to tell the time at a glance. Door catches and hinges still need a little lubricant in most cars, if squeaks are to be banished. Women especially should remember to give their coats the prima donna pull-in when getting into the car. It will save grease smudges on fine cloth. MOTOR DON'TS DON'T BE A ROAD-HOG! THE MOTORING WORLD HAS NO USE FOR THE FELLOW WHO WILL NOT MOVE OVER ! IF THE CAR. BEHIND YOU WANTS TO PASS, LET HIM GO AHEAD - AND ALSO,-GIVE THE GACHING DRIVER 'MiS THE ROAD | It shows | THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, JANUARY 11, 1931—PART FOUR. DOWN THE ROAD—Life’s Little Tragedies. —By FRANK BECK USING YOUR NEW CAR AS A - RE A Zz_ i Zz, y ,,, % 277 = YIRS, e REPAIRING OF AUTO AIDS UNEMPLOYED Spending a Little Money on Family Car Is Declared z2d) 88 it T i g3v £ § % | ; I gas i 4 ElEee | ! g ; g i : 3 ; g 2 E 1 H gE fels 5§ gat i ; i ;‘E’ A : i : i it g . e £ i g P 8 EEE E 38 3 L : i i EEfEe L L 2 rod bearings should igh ofl consumption. be leaks past the oll retainin around the crankcase. Only a thor. ough check-up chanic will cure ity | of whack quicker and more often. Authorized Service Harrison Radiators CREEL BROTHERS 1811 14th St. N.W. EVERY AUTO OWNER IS ADVISED TO OBTAIN MAXIMUM MILEAGE Idle Car Deteriorates, So Nothing Can Be Gained by Restricting Its Use, Says Writer. BY H. CLIFFORD BROKAW, Automobile Technical Adviser. ‘There seems to be a great difference in the amount of use automobile own- ers give their cars. It is estimated by some competent authorties that the average motorist travels in his car, or at any rate his car travels 6,220 miles a year. This is only at the rate of 17 miles a day. It seems increditable that the average motorist would invest a con- siderable amount of money, in many cases & very considerable sum, and only drive the vehicle an average of 17 miles a day. Olywune. it is conceivable that the owner himself might not have occasion to drive 17 miles a day, although there must be thousands of people who mc- through the Winter free of that kind of trouble. Does the engine fire unevenly, par- ticularly on a pull, and does it miss at idling ? There are many causes for tl from a bad plug to bad distributor points. On most cars the action of the distributor shaft, circling in a bushing, opens the points working against a spring which tends w them together. Sometimes that ing wears until the shaft wobbles and then the distributor points do not open and close evenly. will open wide sometimes and at other times will open at the correct the points. Wide valves might cause a miss, do not completely seat ne the estimate of 17 mil tually need more mileage than this on most days of the week. But 17 miles a day is only 120 miles a week, and that is a small amount for even an ordinary week end. This would be 518 miles a month in the average. It 1s estimated that the average mo- torist gets 12.5 miles per gallon of gasoline. Probably the number of miles per gallon is on the increase, as the builders of cars find ways through their research departments to improve the efficiency of the automobile engine and s interesting to know if the t woul to know e motorists in the Southern parts of the United States average more miles per day than those residing in the Northern part of the country. It would seem logi- cal that the Southern motorist should have a larger number of miles to his credit. He has the climate in his favor, very little if any snow is on the high- ways to handicap his progress. He is not bothered with excessive cold weather to give him any possibility of a frozen radiator. On the other hand, there is a very large use of automobiles during this time of year by folks who live in the Northern States. In spite of ice and snow and frigid temperatures they ven- ture forth in their cars. The roads are kept clear of snow and anti-freeze mix- tures protect their radiators. When the weather is cold and not so enjoyable for walking there is all the more need for using the car. And, the Northern- ers do use them a lot. Family Standpoint. But getting back for a moment to a day on the average, let us consftder the matter from the standpoint of the entire fam- ily. Even if the husband found only a little use for his car most days of weak | the week, perhaps no use at all, Valt are of special , but that steel works under extreme conditions of heat and at tremendous speed. Some mathemati- cian has figured out that at 10,000 miles hat ipressed Imagine the rate of compression at 60 miles an hour, hour after hour. Spark Plug Care. look at the spark plugs lately, and they every 10,000 miles? Plugs wear out, just like any- else about the motor, and some high-test fuels have a tendency to cor- rode the porcelain insulation, which per- mits the spark to jump into Lht;ebodyu?f steer] mechanism and checked up lately? Do the brakes go and smoothly, or do they take push of the foot? Possibly your connections have gotten a bit it ] i . the steering 18 not filled with the right grade grease driving. 1f it ‘wobbles perhaps the springs do not line up correctly, or there may be a king pin somewhere along the line. There are a million and one things that may get wrong about that finely adjusted piece of machinery. Traveling at comparatively high speed and under 0T i temperatures and road conditions, the marvel is that it does not (le!..gu: uf @ little intelligent care from time to time will keep it running like the splen- did plece of machinery it is. Why not have that little repair job done now, when the car is not as useful as it is in the touring months and when the mechanic will appreciate the job? MOTOR OlL_ “BEST OIL IN THE WORLD" Autocrat Motor Oil pen- etrates and adheres to the wvery grain or pores of the metal—becomes an integral part of it, so that every moving surface, every bear- ing always has an oil film on it. From the first turn of the starter there is per- feet lubrication — oil roll- ing against oil—not metal against metal. 3 A QUART BAYERSON OIL WORKS, is the wife to consider. She has ping to do, social functions to attend and other places to go. There are the children to take to school if they are young. If the children are old enough to drive the car themselves there are their own needs to consider. And young folks usually have a considerable line of excuses or reasons why they should 80_here and there in the family car. ‘Well, it doesn't take long to add up 17 miles on the speedometer if three or four persons are catering to their automobile requirments. Even if there happens to be two cars in the family, which is increasingly the case, still the average of 17 miles per car per day seems to be a bit conservative as esti- mates go. One point which may be brought out t, |10 this connection is the fact that there is some economy to be realized by using an automboile as much as is in keep- ing with the family’s needs. There is a certain overhead expense which is going on all of the time, whether in use or not. That is if a car 1,000 and is calculated to last as long as five years, there is a cost of $250 a year w;:euhe:. the car travels one miles. Travel Coats. If the car travels 1 mile the cost per mile of this overhead expense $250. If the car travels 10,000, for in- stance, the cost per mile of this over- head is reduced to 2}; cents s mile. This is quite some difference. Yet the car itself may not be much worse off for wear with the 10,000 miles to its credit than it would have been with its single mile, good care being taken for granted. When a car stands still tires deteriorate more or less. The battery runs down, even the machinery doesn’t get on 50 well when idle. Consequently, there is much to be said in favor of get all the use ible out of an automobile while ve it. Today i5 today and n can tell whnwmumwh;lmbe. MI&'A;ILM use your car when you need it, for little will be saved by ymm any of pleasures or conveniences that the automobile brings You will drive longer upon ;UT!?‘S:::T myvu have ver to drive upon any other oil, and it drains from the crankcase with all the “look” and “feel” of an oil that has gone hardly 100 miles. SIFFRRRAT RO Al TIAEY Beware of Substitutes Try Autocrat the next time you need oil, and judge its advantages for yourself. At the Better Dealers 0¢ AMIT WO. 5" AUTO SHOWS HELD W US 10 STAY Automobile Official Defines Them as an American Institution. Special Dispatch to The Star. NEW YORK, January 10.—As an American institution the automobile show is with us to stay, in spite of criticisms that have been leveled at it. This conclusion is based on the sup- port given to the Thirty-first Annual National Show by the automobile indus- try held here during the last week. There are reasons for it, in the belief of the automobile magnates. Reasons Summed Up. A few of the reasons were summed up by R. H. Grant, vice president of General Motors Corporation, in an in- terview after he had seen the New York show, which ended today. Recently National Automobile Chamber of Commerce decided to find out if new models are being introduced too frequently for the good of the in- dustry and the . ‘The question interlocks with t of the status of the automobile show, because surveys made independently indicate that be- tween 40 and 50 per cent of the new Jobs are brought forward during auto- mobile show 3 In talking about these matters, Mr. Grant from the light of experi- ence that goes back through the years that he served as head of the Chevro- let merchandizing tion. Prior to that Mr. Grant his initial train- ing in the cash register field, from ‘which he came to General Motors. “Yes,” he said, “I am a bellever in the automobile show, and icularly the national exhibitions held annually in New York and Chicago. This is be- cause the attendance has indicated from NEED OF UNIFORM TRAFFIC SIGNS AND SIGNALS STRESSED Motorist of Today Confronted With Mul- titude of Rules and Regulations Requiring Standardizing. BY L. W. WALLACE, Executive Secretary. American Enginsering Gouncil. Every motorist, and especially every tourist, knows the value and the need for uniform traffic signs, signals and markers on the streets and roads. The simple rule of “Keep to the right,” though essential, can no longer be solely relied upon for safety. ‘The motorist in his travel today is confronted with a multitude of rules and regulations that are often as varied and different in character as the very conditions they are designed to correct. This is likewise true of signs, signals and markers in use on the streets and Makeshift Markers, Often these “signs” are makeshift pleces of board, inted by an amateur or maybe the village wit. They have little or no similarity to other like signs and can be expected to attract the at- | gr tention only of an alert or ingenious- minded motorist. At an im t road intersection in North Carolina, near a village called Horse Shoe, there is a board nailed to a fence with only the burned imprint of a horseshoe and a directional arrow on it to inform the motorist of the name of the place he is approaching. He is left to surmise whether it is a road sign or the adver- tisement of a blacksmith. In 10 years the deaths from automo- bile accidents have increased 147 per cent and when the record of 1930 is compiled the percentage of increase may even be greater. The extent to which this increase can be attributed to inade- quate protection or to misinterpretation of signs, signals and markers, especially at intersections and sharp turns in the road, is of course unknown, but un- doubtedly this factor has been the cause for a large share of them. The American Engineering Council, through a special committee, has con- ducted a Nation-wide survey of exist- ing practices in respect to road signals and markers. This work been carried out in conjunction with the gj-‘u:nu sco}n{erem:‘e 3;1 Street and iway Safety af ‘ashington and other organizations interested .in the promotion of uniform rules, regulations and methods of control, and of reduc- tion of the hazards of highway travel. Information Analysed. Information covering the practice of more than 100 cities in 35 States, with a total population of 33,000,000 people, has been collected and analyzed. Upon the basis of this study a manual of uni- form street and road signs, signals and markers has been prepared, and has been accepted by the national confer- ence for recommendation to the States and cities for their adoption. year to year over a long period that the public interest is there. “Naturally, I am interested in the ublic interest, because I am interested selling automobiles, and it is easier to sell something that there is a nat- one does not have to go out as a salesman to create it. This is the hardest part of selling some types of products.” “To what extent,” Mr. Grant was asked, “can shows be credited with stimulating the manufacture and sale of cars?” “Well,” was his answer, “the ml reaction of the public, , indicates the extent to new interest has been rekindled in the industry from year to year. The an- nual shows have helped to increase au- tomobile manufacturing volume mate- rially, but by just what per cent no- body will ever know. “The shows, too, have the effect of renewing the energy of the engineer- ing, production and sales forces of the which other’s products and to draw inspiration therefrom. Dealer Stimulus. “The dealers as well feel the same e ot put_on dealer tions are a con- tribution to the constant stimulation the industry is given.” (Copyright, 1931, by North American News- paper_Alliance.) CHRYSLER enacted 1If | contain many sions. The fundamental underlying this manual is the same as that upon which the uniform vehicle code and model mun! traffic ordinance of the national ference is based—that of uniformity, and thus greater familiarity and increased observance, which un- questionably means fewer accidents and greater safety. The national conference aims to pro- mote uniformity not only in the traffic laws of the States and traffic rules and regulations of the towns and cities, but in signs, signals and markers as well. Thus the motorist on a sf road or in a strange place will not be doubt as to the of a sign or what he should do when he sees it. ‘The survey of the American eer- ing Council developed many int facts in the traffic situation, especially in relation to accident prevention. The automatic traffic light is found in almost every community, but subject to the home what interpretation he upon these lights, especially in turns. The variety of types, colors an meanings of these lights are and often confusing even to an expert. Each city has de;elovcd ’:ndwendenflv the majority of cases, as cance of size, shape or color. traffic standpoint this is resulting in an- noyance, confusion and accidents, and greatly increased hazards in travel. quately and exactly. means first instance that each sign stands for the same thing wherever it is found. be worded, of stand- tended. ite frequently a motorist in cross- q‘;flfromoncsuuhmot&rhm- ent al . a large number of towns have nmhm.»rmm-numm ual, and Gonnecticut, New York. and. Gelitorai have new traffic laws which of its important provi- Progress is being made in the direc- tion of unflaflnlz:nfllhm. With the majority of the States already alive and cf and towns adopting - tem, the time is when'g' anothe ?flcho--ndpfl' or one d_markers The shows | in STRAIGHT EIGHTS DUAL HIGH PERFORMANCE quiet, quick gear shift. One “high” is foc speinting in traffic and foe fast, easy hill-limbing—the other foe the open road. LOW CENTER OF GRAVITY An extremely low center of gravity, besides being an attribute of wnusual smartness, is & great factor of safety because of better steadiness, greater riding comfort and security at all speeds. SAFETY BODIES OF STEEL feeentive omes e+ B. LEARY, Jr. & Bro. and Service 1612-22 U St NW. Skinker Motor Co., 1216 20t 1612-22 Yu". N.W. and Distributors Metropolitan Deal. and H Sts. NE. Used Car Salesrooms 1321-23 14th St. N.W. NW.