Evening Star Newspaper, May 10, 1931, Page 48

SUNDAY Bd1A WADHING N. 5 MAY 10, 1931—PAR/ P |INDIANAPOLIS SWEEPSTAKES In the Motor World BY G. ADAMS HOWARD. N impressive pamphlet has been published recently by one of the large insurance companies. It is entitled “worse Than War,” and contains | - interesting statistics on 1930’s loss | of life and limb in automobile ac- cidents. According to the publica- tion 32,500 were killed and 962,325 injured in 835,250 automobile ac- ‘cdents last year. It is pointed out that 50,510 members of the Ameri- can Expeditionary Forces were ) killed in action and died of} wounds during 18 months of the World War, and that 50,000 were | killed in automobile accidents in | the past 18 months. Drivers of automobiles were re- | 8] ible last year for more than| tm times as many motor vehicle accidents in this country as pedestrians, more than two times the number of fatalities and for| cpproximately four times the| number of persons injured. While | the major portion of the blame is| thus placed upon motorists lo;i the country's automobile accident | toll which last year cost the lives| of 32,500 and included the injur- ing of more than 960,000, the| strian is more often at fault| n the accidents involving him-| self, according to an analysis ot} State reports extended mrough‘ mathematical calculation to cover| the entire country. } Responsibility Divided. 1 Out of a total of more than| £20,000 accidents between auto- mobiles and pedestrians, the ac-| tlons of drivers were definitely responsible for around 50,000 of the mishaps, and the pedestrian | for nearly 160,000. In the remain- | ing 110,000 accidents between cars | and pedestrians the responsibility | was shared jointly. More than 7,000 pedestrians met | death during the year primarily | through their own fault, while| approximately 2,300 other pedes- trians were killed because of the| actions of drivers. In the death of | more than 5,000 other pedestrians | the responsibility was shared| ointly. " ‘The injuring of more than 150,- | 000 ns was found traceable to the actions of pedestrians, and more than 45, to motorists, | with more than 110,000 injuries| due to the actions of both. In all other motor vehicle ac-| cidents, ‘excluding pedestrians, it | was found that the driver was| responsible for around 460,000 mishaps, or nearly nine times the number in which the extent of responsibility was doubtful. The fatalities resulting from the mis- haps caused by drivers nu bered{ nearly 15,000, or nearly five times the deaths caused by the mishaps of doubtful responsibility. The injuries traceable to motorists numbered more than 580,000, as against 58.000 involving doubtful responsibility. Wrongs of Pedestrians. The things which pedestrians| ds that are wrong include crossing murnmm nman llgdl;ll ug-r}lu, cossing rsections diagonally, in the middle of a block, darting out into| thoroughfares from behind parked cars, and walking with instead of a the traffic stream on dark highways after sundown. Such 2ciions caused the death of more than 8,000 last year. Actions of motorists which place the responsibility upon them in- volve driving into pedestrians crossis intersections with the &ignal their favor, hitting per- sons fefl. on or off street cars or waiting in safety aisles, hitting persons engaged in work on road- ‘ways or roadways. In such instances as when persons are | walking in roadways, crossing in- | tersections without signals, get-| ting on or off vehicles other than automobiles and street cars and | e g of children in the responsibility is not fatal eccidents and in 4 per cent of the mishaps producing injuries. Records indicate that men were behind the wheel in 93 out of every 100 cars in accidents, with women being the drivers in the remaining seven. While these fig- ures may or may not be indicative of the ratio of man drivers to | woman drivers, male drivers were behind the wheel in 94 per cent of the cars in fatal accidents and | women in the remaining 6 per cent. Men operated 93 per cent of the cars in_non-fatal accidents and women 7 per cent. Whether the better record of woman drivers as to fatalities is due to better driving, or not being behind the wheel gor as many miles as men on the everage, is not indicated by the records. Approximately 77 per cent of all the motor vehicles in accidents were cars of the private passenger type, though such cars represented 87 per cent of the total motor vehicle registration in the country. Private passenger cars last year were involved in more than 78 per cent of the fatal accidents and in 77 per cent of the non-fatal mishaps. The commercial car, ex- cluding the taxi and omnibus, comprised 11 per cent of all motor vehicles in accidents, and with its ercentage of total registration ess than 13 per cent, it was in- volved in 15 per cent of the fatal mishaps end in 11 per cent of the non-fatal accidents. Principal Violations. Three specific driving violations by operators of automobiles were responsible last year for 68 per cent of the accidents due to im- proper driving, while the actions of pedestrians crossing thorough- fares were contributing factors in more than 57 per cent of the mis- haps involving themselves. A total of 32,500 persons were Killed and more than 960,000 hurt in automobile accidents last year. The three specific violations by drivers, according to an analysis of State reports, were exceeding the speed limit, driving on the wrong side of the road and fail- ing to grant the right of way. | The actions of pedestrians at in- tersections and on streets added to the confusion of traffic condi- tions in busy districts. Exceeding the" speed limit, or driving too fast for existing con- ditions, was responsible for 21 per cent of all automobile accidents due to improper driving. Sixteen per cent of the mishaps were due to driving on the wrong side of the road, while failure to grant right of way caused 31 per cent of the accidents. The same three violations fig- ured in nearly three-fifths of the automobile deaths caused by im- proper driving. Exceeding the speed limit was responsible for 31 per cent of the fatalities, driving on the wrong side of the road, 12 per cent, an- failure to grant the right of way, 15 per cent. The same viclations caused around 69 per cent of the total number of persons injured as a result of the actions of drivers. Exceeding the speed limit was responsible for 21 per cent of the injured, driving on the wrong side of the street, 16 per cent, and failure to grant the right of way, 32 per cent. Average Age of Victims. More than twice as many chil- dren between the ages of 5 and 14 were killed in automobile acci- dents last year in the United States than under the age of 5, and of the total number of child fatalities, nearly a sixth of the victims were the occupants of cars at the time of the accident, it is revealed by an analysis. Eighteen per cent of the chil- dren under the age of 5 killed in automobile mishaps were riding in cars at the time of the fatality, while in the age group of 5 to 14 the percentage. was 14 per cent. In more than 80 per cent of the ys clear-cut. The fault is indicated as be-| child fatalities in both age classi- DOWN THE ROAD—Look Before You Speak HEY, MISTER! DIDJA SEE A BALL —By FRANK BECK GROWING FATALITY LISTS ANALYZED American Road Builders’ As- sociation Urges More Highways. Motor vehicle accidents in the United States ere on the increase. 1In 1930 there were 32,600 killed by motor ve- hicles, 960,000 injured and almost a billion dollars in property damage. There are either too many vehicles or too few rcads. Some alleviation of the death toll is possible through the universal enact- ment of the uniform vehicle code, in- cluding a driver’s license law with m! datory examination cf new drivers, as prepared by the National Conference on Street and Highway Safety. been found that the accident hazard in cities with modern motor vehicle laws is 25 per cent lees than in cities in States without such laws. The loss due to congestion and delay on the highways is roughly estimated at $2,000,000,000 annually, & sum equal to about 20 per cent of our total tax bill—Federal, State and local. Much of this loss {s occasioried at intersec- tions where long lines of vehicles can often be seen waiting an opponunlt{ to pass. The disciplining and control of traffic will accomplish much, but ade- quate roads must a'so be provided where the traffic demands. Limiting the use of vehicles, except in the case of incom- petent drivers, merely serves to limit the usefulness of the roads. Comprehensive studles of trafic con- trol to reduce congestion have been made by the American Road Builders’ Association, and the results of these investigations appear in the proceed- ings of that assoclation. Perhaps the greatest relief from traffic congestion can be obtained by a con- certad effort on the part of the motor vehicle driving public to observe traffic laws and -s(mlg designed to facilitate traffic. Observance of the law must follow the will of the public to comply . with legal provisions. Many l;bendu fications the children were walk- Jonging to the motorist in the col- | ing or running across or in streets lision of cars, the collision of cars or highways when fatally injured. with fixed objects, and in non-| Among persons of 15 to 54 years ‘tollision mishaps. The fault is of age nearly 30 per cent of the not clear-cut in the mishaps in- | death victims were pedestrians, ‘volving the collision of cars with while more than 67 per cent in. animal-drawn vehicles, trains and volved occupants of ears. The three Btreet cars, motorcycles and b'\~ principal types of accidents in the cycles. death of the 67 per cent were col- Nine out of every 10 of the 32.- | lisions of automoblles, the collision 500 persons killed in automobile of cars with fixed objects and accidents in this country last year non-collision accidents. Among ‘were the victims of drivers who persons over the age of 54 fatali- had more than a year's experience | ties included pedestrians to the behind the wheel, and 97 out of extent of nearly 65 per cent. every 100 fatalities involved a| More than a fifth of all persons driver over the age of 18, accident | injured statistics disclose. . [ {15. The victims by number in- Exprioicen: st Fait. |cluded more than 45,000 children From reports of States compiled | under the age of 5, and more than data shows that persons with less | 170,000 over that age but under than three months of driving ex-|15. Nearly a third of the children perience were involved in only 2/injured under 5 years of age were per cent of the fatalities and not | the occupants of cars, while in the quite 2 per cent of the non-fatal Broup of 5 to 14, slightly more accidents involving nearly 1,200.- than a fifth were the occupants 000 cars. Operators of cars with ©f cars. experience between three and six hSeven out of every 10 persons months figured in 1 per cent of urt from 15 to 54 years of age the fatalities. and 1 per cent of Were riding in automobiles, while the non-fatal mishaps. Drivers 2Mong the injured victims over with from six months to a year of | &)e Egp of 54, fewer than half experience were involved in ap- P‘ée he occupants of cars. proximately 2 per cent of the edestrians suffering injuries in fatalities and also the non-fatallthe ages of 15 to 54 numbered 23 accidents. per cent, against 50 per cent in the ages over 54. More than 29,000 of the deaths| “rpg analysis shows that persons gtfé?' ttxo{::a‘.'&?e;:lo&neg‘;’!efls |under the age of 15 and over the ence, while more than 1,100,000 SF¢ Of 54 comprised 67 per cent cars in non-fatal accidents were | oroPeaciiiian deaths numbering operated by experienced drivers.! motor vehicle or“atiolgu‘nwltn?zneaao: ?;:n“ltz‘; n':):gs'o'!w: p:rl;l&};‘rezqupl:g'.;gnong t}wi p‘edes!nans_ injured cent of t':e .g‘elthl 1flvolved drlivurl‘: | undxgrnc]:n“: ot" hlg ::_lc‘;.u;l:"w‘e}x;: unable ow a license, w! age of 54. per cent of the cars in non-fatal gf‘og every child killed under the accidents also lulé"umngdunllunnd age of 5, there were 22 injured in operators. ords indicate that|automobile accidents. Thirty- one out of every 50 cars involved |three were injured on the aver- in deaths were driven by a person | age for every child killed in the not a resident of the State in age ¢rongeul 5 to 14. Among the which the accident occurred, while | victims between the ages of 15 |last year were under the age of in automobile accidents | three out of every 200 cars in non- fatal aceidents also involved non- resident drivers. Drivers between the ages of 18 and 24 last year figured in more than 30 per cent of the accidents in which persons were killed end in about one-fourth of the mis- haps resulting in injuries. Oper- ~tors between the ages of 25 and 54 figured in nearly 60 per cent of the fatal accidents and in an- proximatey seven out of everv 19 cf the non-fatal mishaps. Drivers cver e of 55 were involved n x gm 6 per cent of the yand 54 there were 36 hurt for every fatality, while among per- sons over the age of 54 the Injured averaged 12 for every death. Time of Accidents. The peak of accidents during a |day of 24 hours occurred from 4 !pm. to 9 pm., as 38 per cent of |the accidents which resulted in ! deaths happened within those five I hours. Thirty-seven per cent of the non-fatal accidents also oc- |curred from 4 p.n. until 9 p.m. I The fon of travel was straight in more than 85 are now trying to educate the public to the need for trafic observance. The surest way to reduce accidents is to | avold congestion and consequent delays | and accidents by roads. I AUTOMOTIVE BRIEFS ' ) | Announcement is made by Fred L. Haller, president of the District Motor Co., dealers of DeSoto automobiles, of | its removal from the old locati®n, at 1337 Fourteenth street. Sales rooms, | service station and offices will all be maintained under one rcof at the new Iocation, 1529 Fourteenth street. per cent of the fatal accidents and in 78 per cent of the non !fatal mishaps. More persons were killed and injured in left-hand turns of cars than in right-hand {turns. The backing of cars was responsible for 14 deaths out of }every 1,000, and for 17 injured out of every 1,000. Skidding was the cause of more than 6 per cent of the deaths and for more than 5 {per cent of the injured, which {than 960,000 victims. The report gives a very com- prehensive study for those inter- ested in traffic matters and should prove helpful to those in insur- ance business or not. There can- not be too much said or written about the deplorable record of motor fatalities. The ever-growing numbers must be reduced. MOTOR DON'TS DON'T” STEP ON" AN EIGHT ToO QUICKLY ! JAMMING DOWN THE ACCELERARR OF AN EIGHT CYLINDER AUTOMOBILE CAUSES OVERLOADING OF THE MOTOR AND IT TAKES SEVERAL SECONDS TO RECOVER. -- BETTER _PICK-UP AND SMCITHER PERFORMAKCE WILL| RESULT FRCM FEEDING THE GAS MORE _GRA It has | bullding adequate {numbered during the year more Meeting An array of problems that are caus- ing serious concern to the car owners of the ccuntry will be aired and reme- dies will be ested at two confer- ences of organized motordam to be held at West Baden, Ind., June 1 to June 4. | On Mcnday, June 1, according to an announcement, from the national head- | quarters of the American Automobile Association today, the secretaries and | managers of A. A. A. clubs from all sec- | tions of the United States and Canads will convene for a two-day conference, | the main purpose of which is to | cuss touring and travel problems and the betterment of facilities for the effi- cient handling of the tourist caravan at home and abroad. ‘Will Elect Officials. | The thirtieth annual convention of | the association will follow immediately | on the heels of the secretaries and man- agers' conference. The annual conven- | tion, it was stated, will, in addition to the consideration of pressing motoring | problems, elect mational officers for the | year 1931-32. The officers to be elected are presi- dent, seven vice presidents, secretary, treasurer, members of the Executive | Committee and 28 members of the board of directors, which consists of 100 members. | Thomas P. Henry of Detroit, Mich., | who as president of the A. A. A, has | plloted organized motordom for many | years, said today that he expected the West Baden meeting to make a new record for attendance, as well as for | clear-cut statements of policy on mat- | ters of vital concern to the motor ve- hicle owners of the country. “The fact,” he said, “that the annual Deccration day race at Indianapolis comes on Saturday, May 30 while our first meeting etarts on Monday, June 1, | will afford our people an opportunity to | see & unique spectacle, and will in turn | augment our attendance. SAFETY PROBLEMS AND TAXES | TOFEATURE A. A. A. GATHERING |National Highways and Road Beautifica-| tion Also to Come Up at West Baden June 1. “At the same time West Eaden is | centrally Jocated from the standpeint of the United States and Cancda. This | should assure the conferences of better | than average representation from every | section.” | While | cuss policies | the agenda for the annual convention, | Mr. Henry stated that he considered the develcpments of the last 12 months as | offering a serious challenge to highway expressing reluctance to dis- dis- | transportation in America. Subjects Under Consideration. “It is too early as yet to speak of the matters that our annual convention will take up or of the policies that will be formu'ated,” he said. “However, the last 12 months have been most impor- tant from the standpoint of motordom. The toll of highway accidents has con- tinued to rise. e Legislatures have continued to pyramid the taxes levied on the car owners. Conditions pertain- ing to safety, sanitation and decent ap- pearance along our roadways have not materially improved. The great objec- tive of a system of national express .mflinyfl has not advanced beyond the talking stage. Programs for highway widening in congested urban areas are still the exception rather than the rule. Few States have adopted a scheme for grade crossing elimination. “We may as well realize now that the rrro:rss of highway transportation will n the final analysis depend on the solu- tion of three major problems—the oper- ation of the motor vehicle with safety; the operation of the motor vehicle without in undue burden on the owner or the user, and the provision of such facilities as will make ownership and use profitable and pleasurable. Our convention, I trust, will examine each of these prob- lems from the standpojnt of the present ! and the future.” 'FUTURE CAR DEPENDS | Bulletin of American Research | Foundation Makes Prophecy. Revolutionary steps forward in auto- moebile construction and driving speeds of the future will be largely dependent on the abllity of the driver to adapt | himaelf to them, according to a bulletin iflssaed by the American Research Foun- | dation. | “The ability of the man-at the wheel,” says the bulletin, “must keep pace with | the increasing skill of the automobile | manufacturer. That the driver of today |1s automatically preparing himself for | the car of tomorrow is evident from the | fact that mile-a-minute speeds and | been driving conditions that would have | considered hair-raising 10 years ago sre taken for granted by the 1931 automo- | bile owner. Unquestionably the driver |of today has speedier reactions, a quicker eye and more instinctive judg | ment in handling a car than his prede: cessor of a decade ago. “As th e driver's facility in handiing progressed, his knowledge of its mechanics, operation |and care also has increased. He has learned that there is a definite rela- | tionship between the type of gasoline (he uses and the performance of the en- |gine. He has learned whether regular | gasoline or -the high-compression or | aircraft, types are best suited to his | Individual car. He has learned, too, that the maintenance of power is de- pendent largely on lubrication and that 2s piston and cylinder walls wear & | heavier bodied ofl is necessa the widening space between prevent losses of . _He has learned that this change to a heavier oll is de- | sirable in the average car after 3,000 to 5,000 miles of average driving. “The experience orv.ha past decade, | in which, year by year, zing im- | provements in automobile constructio: and longer life have been achieved, is eimply & forerunner of improve. ments probable in the next 10 years." PG ON ABILITY OF DRIVER| |STORY OF GASOLINE SHOWN IN PICTURES | New Educational Film Released by U. 8. Bureau of Mines. “The Story of Gasoline” from the | drilling of the wells for the production of the crude ofl to the filling of the automobile tank at the service station, | is visualized in a new educational mo. | tion picture film prepared under the | supervision of the United States Bureau of es, Department of Commerce, in co-operation with an industrial concern. ‘The open!.nf scenes consist of pano- ramic views of typical ofl flelds furnish- ing the crude oil from which the gaso- line is distilled. Next are given views of a large oil tank farm, where the crude ofl is stored after coming from the wells. From the tank farm the crude ofl begins 1ts long journey through pipe lines lead- |ing to the storage tanks near the re- finery. Pumping stations located about | 60 miles apart force the oil through the | pipe lines under pressure of 400 to 600 pounds per square inch, and views of the powerful machinery used in these | pumping ope-t'ons are shown. A map {!Ml a portion of the 90,000 miles of r!p. line by which crude ofl is dis- | tributed to refineries throughout the | United States. Next are nflven scenes showing a mod- ern ofl refinery, covering many hun- | dreds of acres and employing a grea variety of mechanical equipment for completely processing the oil. In addi- tion to gasoline, crude oil contains many other products and a diagram shows the | percentages of napthas, kerosenes, gas | obtained from a barrel of ofl. SKIDLESS BRIDGE BUILT BY CHICAGO ENGINEERS A new bascule bridge goes up and down in Chlcl&;: as boats steam their way through the Chicago River. To all outward appearances this bridge is just another bridge, but there is some- hing different about this Wabash Ave- | our widely distributed motor c'ubs in | pending the completion of | | oils, lubricating ofls, fixed gas and coke | SPEED LIMIT RAISED ridge. | ADJUSTMENT NEED. American Association of State Highway Officials i Urges Simplicity. | Simplification in levying motor license |fees and gasoline taxes for highway | construction and maitenance is being | called to tne attention of 44 legislative bedies now in 1931 sessions. ‘There is a tendency, according to & bulletin issued by the American Asso- ciation of State Highway Officials, to reduce the registration fee and make up the reduction on the gasoline side of the ledger by increasing the fuel tax. In the judgment of highway officials, | this is wrong in principle, because the | total income from both sources is needed | to maintain the highway bank account | at a safe and satisfactory working level. | Moreover, the tendency to lower one | and raise the other does not necessarily mean an increase, but In some cases it | will mean an actual decreasé in the | total amount coming in for construction | and maintenance. No Standard Form. “In the matter of needed uniformity a comparison of the receipts from li- | cense fees throughout the country,” the builetin continues, “shows that among States using the same method or meth- ods in determining how the fee shall be tecured there is no standard form. There are 14 States, for example, which use horsepower alone as the determin- ing factor, and yet the schedules of rates are so different that the maximum amount received per motor vehicle in | this group is $19,88, while the minimum | is $6.8¢—a difference of $13.04 per ve- | hicle. Four States use horsepower and | net weight as the factors, and their re- ceipts vary from $15.69 to $6.67. | “Two States use horsepower and gross weight. The schedule of one is 25 | cents per horxe&ower and 25 cents per 100 pounds, while the other is 121 cents per hecrsepower and 55 cents per 100 pounds. They enter the financial hop- | per at different rates. but one comes out at $17.73 and the other at $17.72. “Six States use gross weight only, and the treasury is helped $19.94 per car in cne State, and the least must be | eatisfied with $8.91. A dozen States use net weight only, and they range from $8.90 to $26.68. Two States use a flat rate and get the same income—$5.65 per car. Methods All Their Own. “Seven States each have a method all their own. One uses value in pounds net weight; one, value; one, cost price; one, cubic inch displace- | ment; one, anufacturer's list price; | one, net weight horsepower and times | registered; and, finally, one uses a com- | bination of factory price, net weight, | horsepower and times registered. And | yet after all this trouble the amount | received per car is only $8.29. The way | some of the schedules are made would | gesm to justify the conclusion that sim- | plicity in method and schedule used is |gremy 10 be desired. “That there is justice in the argu- ment that, with the retention of the | motor license and gas tax, the motor ehicle should be exempted from per- sonal property taxation is shown when | that argument, is accepted by 13 States. | While there may be a few cars which | for a time escape the licelnse fee, none | can escape '.he's‘ll tax. Moreover, it is a notable fact that the property tax is very unequally administered, and in | many instances is entirely ignored. En- tire elimination of the property tax, | which in most cases does not go for road purposes, should be recommended to the States which have not already abandoned this ylln of taxation. “All of which,” the bulletin concludes, ‘should be done during the coming ses- | sions of State legislative bodies as a | means of simplifying the levying of | revenue for highway construction.” AUTO RATIO SHOWN |One Car Registered to Every 3.7 | Persops in Washington. | _'The ratio of automobiles to the total pulation of the United States shows | that there was one registered vehicle | for each 4.6 persons during the calendar year of 1930. The District of Columbia | has a percentage of 3.7. The figures, compiled by the Ameri- can Motorists’ Association, ‘are based upon rer of the United SEEN N INCONES 45 Miles an Hour Permissible in West Virginia After May 29. | Bpeeial Dispateh to The E | 5 Va, Motorists in this Stas {miles an hour on May 29 on the open | highways. The new spesd law, enacted by the 1031 Legisiature, becomes ef- | fective on that date. | _ Copies of the n-w law, whi~h a'so ¢a- fin-s recklss driving. are heing dis- tributed to 2ll State trocpers jus fi.c,:;; of (&: ps:c-m't;‘he p"":'i '}Sfi"‘ on 0 ways 18 es lln ‘hour, iy May 9.-— may drive 45 nue B Its floor is of & new type of con- struction that is likely to exert a wide influence on future bridge construction. One of the annoying bridge problems has been that of obtaining a light, per- manent and skid-free bridge floor for bascule bridges—the type of bridge that rears back on its haunches and lifts its driveways into the air. The motorist who drives onto the Wabash Avenue Bridge in wet weather finds that he 15 on a safe surface— when he throws on his br: he doss not gkid, for the fioor Is made of a spe- cial esnecreta cof Lght weight. Large elabs of conerete, 534 inches thick, cast | before placed ony the bridge, are 'hhgmwamu % States Census Bureau, lhnwinql 7%:;‘ DSO%; | ulation as of 1930 to be 122, the United States, exclusive of outlying {mmluna. and upon revised figures of he various States, showing the total motor vehicle registration last year to have been 26,523,779 passenger cars amd_trucks. Battery and Ignition S=rvice Delco Batteries Creel Brothers 1811 14th 86 N.W, Decatur 4220 TO BE POWER-PLANT BATTLE New Records Expected to Be Broken at Nineteenth Racing Classic on Decoration Day. Special Dispateh to The Star. ! DETROIT, May 9.—Automobile rac- | ing's annual test of brains, skill and rformance, otherwite known as the ndianapolis 500-mile sweepstakes, is going to be another battle of the power | plants this year. The contest to be run off on May 30 will be the nine- teenth in succession. | Ecventy-One Cars Nominated, | For places at the starting line no fewer than 71 cars have been nomi- | nated. These include new cars and | rebullt cars of virtually every class| that the conditions will permit. There are 50 per cent more of them thln‘ were entered for the race of last year. ' Behind the wheels will be many of the pilots who have made the history | of track speed, and numerous new ones. Only 40 cars will be allowed to start and this means that by the time | the elimination trials are over thm{ will be a hand-picked group of the fastest racers that can be produced | Detroit racing official, who is in charg: of the annual contest operations fo: the A. A. A. on this event. “Given any kind of good weather,” is | his view, “this year's winner should break the record.” | Billy Arnold, 1930 winner and | A. A. A. chympion for the year, is of | the same opinion, and qualifies it with the assertion that the 1931 racers will be 8 to 10 miles an hour facter than before. Arnold's mark of last year was 100.448 miles per hour and only 068 below the existing record of 101.13 miles per hour credited to Peter De Pwlo'a‘ Duesenberg spectal back in 1925. Arnold, whose Hartz-Miller special front-drive car, built and owned b Harry Harts, made a three-way clean- | up of the race championship last vear | by winning at Indianapolis and twice at | the sam=> job. His car will be teamed | mh a Duesenberg nominated by Hartz, | Second Entry of Interest. A second -enwty on which attention will bs centerecd is that of William (Bhorty) Cantlon, who is to be at the | wheel of a new 16-cylinder car that he and his patron, Bill White of Los An- | geles, claim can do 200 miles an hour. It is a Harry Miller special. ‘Two other 16-cylinder cars are on | the program. Leon Duray, an absentee in 1930. is to drive one of them, en- | tered by R. Clifford Durant, while the third is the Sampson special in which Louls Meyer got fourth place last year. Me‘m' also is to be represented by a Miller eight, for which the pilot will be Myron Stevens, new to the track. For the fist time a Diesel-engined | racer will essay the 500-mile test. This is the Cummins-Diesel, which runs on oil as fuel. It belongs to C. L. Cum- | mings, Columbus, Ind., engineer, and at Daytona Beach in March traveled at the rate of 100 miles an hour. Dave Evans, a veteran, is to drive it. As the conditions of 1930 call for two-man cars with a minimum of 366 inches displacement are retained for One thing you can say for the woman | with an automobile—she is always try- ing to start something. A writer tells me that she reads two or three of her favorite suthors every day before sitting down to her type- writer. She claims it puts her in a better mood for doing smart work. There's an idea! Why not occasion- ally accept an invitation to ride with some one you know is rated to be s sk;lu'{x’l manipulator of the steering whee! Does it ever pay to let the engine dle? 1 I think so. There is, for instance, the case of a neighbor who regularly drives to school to pick up the kiddies for lunch. She has only a few blocks to run, and the engine would not have sufficient time to warm up. By letting it idle while waiting for the children | she brings the engine’s temperature up to a more efficient point and forestalls | a lot of valve trouble. This may be the newest i labor saving, but when two young women | went to visit uncle in & new car they suggested that he ride back with them and allow the chauffeur to try out the | new machine. Not until the driver had | experienced a wild ride through New York did he realize that the ladies were side-stepping the ordeal of operating a car that wasn't percolating properly. Girls will be girls! While learning to drive a woman wanted to know why the manufacturer no longer marks the various positions of the shift lever on the floor mat. She thought this change was robbing new- comers of an_opportunity to make faster ‘ess. Her instructor explained that was done primarily to dis- courage the habit of looking down at the floor instead of ahead on the road. Many of the earlier drivers have never been able to break the habit of watch- ing the pedals when they should be locking where they are going. A husband who studies Einstein and the cosmologists has found a way to keep his wife from exercising the speed- ometer too freely. He told her that ac- cording to the theory of relativity the faster anything travels the greate- its mass omes. Its mass is, of - _rse, its weight. And the wife was reducing. One of the many women who fill my letter box with food for thought says that she is surprised how often service men will advise treatment of the car not menticned in the instruction book. ! This tis not difficult to explain. The | man who wrote the book thought in | terms of a perfect car. The men who | service the car are dealing with the human element as well, Valve gear comes near to sounding like headgear, but milady will find quite a difference. However, it is true that the mechanism known as the “gear” of the valves is invariably found near the head of the engine and often actually Altoona, Pa. is in again for 1931 with T3 this season, the entry list variety of new and from racers of other years. them are several four-cylinder one of them a model A special others have Buick and Hudson Tevamped, and in the lengthy list |lre "loura. sixes and eights of the older vintages. ‘This year's rules forbid super-charg- ers on the four-cycle jobs, but on two-cycle cars allow what the officials call a scavenging pump or positive- type super-charger, as well. Four valves per cylinder are permitted instead of two. One carburetor may be used for each pair of cylinders in place of two fl:‘n “om engine, which was the 1930 ‘The rules as now laid down, requiring two-man cars with a mechanic beside the pilot, are a contribution to safety, aceording to Mr. Edenburn. With the larger engines an4 sating capacity, they are heavier and siop if a track wall happens to be hit. They are less .hl, to n;ll !“l’ld z;:..m"t:’e.;w o;_cnu at may be following at high spee In this connection, the mix. p in last year's race which brought six rs together in a heap, ic recalled. This was perhaps th® most perilous situation that has ever developed in speedway competition. In it no lives were lost, althouch at a later stage an- other car catapulied itself over the out- side of the track, resulting in two deaths. The six-car_jam was £o0 involved that it took the officials several days of lis< t>ning to stories of the participants to figure out what r*ally had happend. Last Year's Jam. was in ths twenty-third lap and It y | the haif dozen racers were smashed up s0 badly that all were eliminated. As explained in the records of the A. A. A. tapp, pass him on the final spin, ca K the tail of Roberts’ car and was thrown to the outside wall, Roberts going to the inside. Johnny Seymour, following elose behind, tangled with Stapp’s Duesen« berg end also hit the outside wall “Deacon” Litz, coming on, hit Stapp's car and then Seymour's, losing the left front wheel and sliding along the inside wall. Marion Trexler's car then plunged into_the mix-up with brakes set and hit Roberts. Then came Lou Moore, Seeing trouble ahead, he set his brakes, but released them, causing his car to skid and hit the outside wall beyond Stapp and Seymour. With this fwrv.km of the track s vir- tual heap of machines and men, along came Billy Arnold, the eventusl winner. Luck was with him. e slid through thé heap with no othsr damage than the loss of the Harts-Miller’s left rear hub cap. His car won a total of $50,300. This was the largest amount of money ever won by one car at In - apolis. It swelled above the $20,000 first prize total because the Hartz-Miiler led for 198 of the 200 laps. adding $100 for each lap so compieted. (Copyright. 1931. by North Amerfean Newse paper Alliance.) Milady’s Motoring BY FREDERICK C. RUSSELL. mon. Picture a toadstool and you have the idea of such a valve in a nutshell. In the most common type of engine— the L-head—each com chamber has a pocket ty one side in which the poppet valves gte. In lifting they uncover a port for ingress of gas vapor or for exit of exhaust fumes. In the overhead veive type the poppet valves work upside down, popping into the tops of the cylinders. Sleeve-valve engines have ports in the sides of the combustion chambers and in the sliding sleeves. When the ports match up during the various cycles of operation of the engine gas is either let in or let out. ‘There have been cars with rotary valves of several different types. There also are some engines with single sleeves. In the fuel oil, or Diesel, t{go cf engine fuel is in into e cylinders through & nozzle. The valve “gear” is considered to be the mechan- ism that composes this process of in- gress and exit of the fuel before and after combustion. If you have managed to wade through this and hear a knocking noise in your -engine, ¢on't be alarmed. Suppose you have eight cylinders under the hood and the engine is of the more common t valve kind. That means 16 valves, each openi: on every other turn of the e ft. iZ""' englne‘ llum\'!lllg% o:m revolu- ions per minute, or 16,000 possibilities for valve noise every 80 seconds. Can you tell when your car is slid- |ing? One observing woman says she can check it instantly by the fact that the speedometar dial drops to zero while the ear is still moving ahead. WORLD LOOKS TO AMERICA FOR TRAFFIC SOLUTIONS KANSAS CITY, May 9.—All the world looks to America for solution of the universal traffic problem, judging from requests received here for coples of “A Traffic Control Plan for Kansas City.” Duging the past three months 435 ore ders for copies have been received, com- ing from every part of the globe. The Teport was written after a comprehen- sive survey by Dr. Miller McClintock, director of the Albert Russel Erskine Bureau for Street Traffic Research of Harvard University. Analysis of the orders show that they were received from Phara, Csechoslo- vakia; Kito, Japan; Johannesburg, Af- rica; Gravenhege, Holland; Milo, Italy, and Stockhoim. Moscow, Berlin, Man- chester, Londcn, Honolulu and 15 Cana- dian citles. Of the 400 orders received from with- in the United States most came from governmental departments of various cities, and many came from libraries, street car and taxicab cham- bers of commerce, universities and busi- ness associations. The model traffic code contained in the report is appar- in_the head. Th the most com- focra MOTOR OIL_ i To keep your car in good condition, avoid haphazard buying of oll at 1irresponsible dealers. Use Autocrat Motor Oil and enjoy the great difference. It will save wear and tear on your motor and unnecsssary repzir bills., “"BEST OIL IN THE WORLD" ently the item of chief interest. You will drive lomger upon AUTOCRAT than you have ever dared to drive uponm amy other oil, end it drains from the cramkcase with all the “look ' and “feel” of aw eil that has gome hardly 100 miles. SRR PRt L TR Beware of Substitutes Try Autocrat the mest time you weed oil, end judge its advawtages for yourself. At the Better Dealers