Evening Star Newspaper, May 17, 1931, Page 54

In the Motor World BY G. ADAMS HOWARD. NE of America’s principal pleasures is Not every one will admit it, but it is so, just the same. The mania, if one wants to call it that, starts in early in the hu- man life of this country, and con- tinues through old age. As a mat- ter of fact, the extremes are shown nowadays in many instances when there is a race to the hospital to be born and another one to the cemetery to be buried. Becomes Won Over. The you child becomes won over to the fondness for speed be- fore he or she is many years of age. After the fast use of limbs | becomes an established fact comes the kiddie car, roller skates, veloc- ipedes, tricycles and finally bicyc- les. Many falls are no deterrent, and the delight in fast traveling increases. en the rides in the family automobile come. Never is it unusual for the small young- ster to urge the driver to go a little bit faster. ‘The child grows up and now is the owner or driver of a car. What a thrill there is in seeing just what that bus will make. In the comparison of cars it is not the price or looks, but the speed that ers required varies from 50,000 in Pennsylvania to 650 in Delaware. Wide differences in the estimates of money and workers required for highway projects are evident in various States, but these in many cases are attributed to local conditions, the necessity of fre- quent bridge building, and grad- ing problems. ‘ourteen States will spend $20,- 000,000 or more each on new high- ways this year. Leading these is Louisiana with appropriation of $75,000,000, plans for 3,500 miles of road and 12,000 workers. Others include Pennsylvania, $60,000,000, 1,400 miles and 50,000 workers; New York, $57,000,000. 700 miles and 11,000 workerst Texas, $45,.- 1 000,000, no estimated mileage and 115,000 workers; Illinois, $45.000,- 1000, 1,500 miles and 20,000 work- | ers; New Jersey, $37,000.000. 100 | miles and 10,500 workers; Michi- | gan, $31,000,000, 400 miles and no | estimate of workers required; Mis- | souri, $30,000,000, 1,700 miles and | 7,000 -workers; California, $30,000.- | 000, no mileage estimate and 6,000 | workers; Ohio, $22,000,000; West Virginia, $21,572,000, 650 miles and 9,000 workers; Kentucky, $21,500,- | 000, 300 miles and 5,000 workers; | South Carolina, $20,000,000, 1,090 | miles and no labor estimate; Iowa, $20.000,000, 700 miles and 8,000 workers. Programs of Other States. counts. Manhood or womanhood is reached and the zeal for speed remains. Some impetuosity may be gone, but few men or women | will resist from trying the car out | Ten other States will spend at times. Cars are traded in, new ' from $10,000,000 to $20,000,000. ones bought, but the desire for a These include: Indiana, $18,000,- car capable of making high speeds | 000, 400 miles and 6.000 workers; is ever constant. Wisconsin, $18,000,000, 1,200 miles There are many, of course, who and 14,500 workers; Oklahoma, do not like to go fast, but these | $17,000,000, 1,450 miles and 25,000 are in the minority. The parents, workers; Virginia, $17,000,000, 600 now grown old, often talk about|miles and 9000 workers; Con- the foolishness of going so fast, necticut, $16,000,000; Washington, but even they at times, grin and | $15,620,000, 1449 miles and 2,000 are pleased when the offspring | workers; Arkansas, $15.000,000, hits it up along a good stretch of | 450 miles and 5,000 workers; Min- road. Dugllte their maturity they | nesota, $13,175,000, 747 miles and enjoy the thrill of it. 4,000 workers; Florida, $11,000,000; A New Speed Angle. grown man the other day, satisfied with fast driving in | Colorado, $10,000,000, no estimated | mileage and 5000 workers. | Programs of other States are: | Alabama, $5,000,000, 200 miles, = 12,500 workers; Delaware, $2.000,- m %%m%':‘d,f,fi“&‘i_“fi'; 000, 70 miles, 650 workers; Idaho, sat on a fence along the roadside | $7.800.000, 700 miles. 1,800 work- while wife turned the car|®rS: Kansas, $5,000,000, 563 miles, around and went back a few miles | 3,500 workers; Maine, 89'.445,000. and then came onward again with | 488 miles, 15,000 workers; Mary- “throttle” wide open. Her husband wanted to see from an- other angle how his car looked coming along the highway at full What an opportunity the car of today offers for speed. How undeniable it is that those in the United States crave it! . The first speed event of any im- portance since the successful trials at Daytona Beach, Fla. will be| the Indianapolis Swee kes this zoproaching = Decoration day. ‘There the pick of the high-power demons of speed and demon speed drivers will be assembled, all eager to make new records for speed: Thrills for the operators and thrills for the Jects of the Alothgr Advantage. Besides furnishing thrills and £hortening the time distances be- treen 2ny two given points, speed c- racing has another advantage. Fzst driving, and continuous fast driving especially, cause a terrific £irain uj the motor, the whole conztruction of a car, and partic- ularly the tires. The weakest rarts give out first, and by the .'.:u:': of l?l-‘ ve:kdnefldel &e parts are strengthened and made more durable and safer. The safety of the modern auto- mobile is in many ways dependent upon these tests. Producers of automobiles provide proving grounds for ous models are run at high speeds until they wear out. These worn- out parts are examined and gone over in every detail. Experienced mechanics work out plans, some- times new inventions, whereby these particular parts can he so ¢ constructed that they will last longer and give better service. us the automobile is im- proved year after year. Increased Road Mileage. Uncle Sam will be the possessor of more than 30,000 miles of new highway and 300,000 workers throu; - of the 1931 road building program in the various States, according to the American Research Foundation which has just com- pleted a Nation-wide survey. Expenditures for new highways in the 48 States will total approxi- mately $1,000,000,000, the founda- tion estimates on the basis of ob- tainable statistics. More than $550,000,000 in revenue derived from gasoline taxes will be avail- able for road building during the year. Forty-three States from which 1931 estimates were obtained re- grtod a probable expenditure of 80,696,226 for new highways this year,” the survey says. “Five States, including Arizona, Georgia, Massachusetts, New Mexico and Vermont, were unable to furnish estimates on expenditures, mile- age or working forces. Five others, including Connecticut, Maryland, Ohio, South Dakota and Tennes- see, provided estimates on high- ‘way expenditures, but no data on leage or workers required. ‘To motorists, the advantage of h:;'n.:s a greater mileage of im- & highway will be a spur to creased touring. Good roads mean better operating efficiency, lower costs and Improved per- formance, in an automobile whether the motorist uses ordi- mnary gasoline, high compression, or aircraft fuel. To Start Earlier. Many States highway construction work will start earlier this year than last to workers with employment as early as possible. In New York State, w.w_;).ooo of the State’s ,000,000 expenditure | fi already available and highway work has been started in April this year instead of May as is cus- The highway budgets of the various States from which figures trere obtained range from $75.- £90,000 in Louisiana to $2,000.02) In Mevads. Th» new mileage r~n ed ranges from 3,500 in to 40 miles in New Hm"g and the estimate of - spectators. All sub- l godspeed. their cars. There vari- | there out the country will bei provided with jobs as the result indicated that land, $9.450,000; Mississippi, $3,- | 000,000, 150 miles, no estimate of | workers; Montana, $6,000,000, 300 | miles, 3,000 workers; Nebraska, ,400,000, 650 miles, 2,000 work- | ers; Nevada, $2,000,000. 230 miles, |no estimate of workers; New Hampshire, $5,800,000, €0 miles, no estimate of workers; North Carolina, $7,000,000, 225 miles, no estimate of workers; North Da- kota, $9,000,000, 795 miles, 6,000 workers; Oregon, $7,500,000, miles, 3,000 workers; Rhode Is- land, $3,000,000, 64 miles, 800 workers: Eouth Dakota, $9.000,- 000; Tenno-roe, $8, ; Utah, | $5,520,000. "25 miles, no labor es- timate; Wyoming, $6,150,000, 800 miles and no estimate of workers required. i Lol MOTORISTS COVERING GREATER DISTANCES ause of Better Driving Ease and Lower Costs. | Improved Roads Motorists of today are covering two- thirds more distance in a year than they Gid a decade ago. ‘The U. S. Department of Agriculture | recently announced that in 1930 the | total usage of gasoline increased 31, per | cent over that of 1929, even though were only a few more cars. In 1930 the average consumption of ,nw]lncr vehicle was 556 gallons, as compared with 533 gallons in 1929. Estmating that the average car travels | 15 miles per gallon, motorists in 1930 !averaged 8340 miles of travel. Ten s ago motorists averaged little more n 5,000 miles vearly. This sharpened appetite for travel has come about through improved roads, | which motorists themselves have paid | for through vehicle license fees and | gasoline taxes. Although road incomes |are augment>d from other sources, | funds contributed directly by motorists have been largely responsible for the construction of continuous interlocking | highways which allow the motorist to cover lengthy mileages at will Last year the net revenue from the | gasoline tax was $494,683,000. The aver- | 2ge gasoline tax rate was 3.35 cents per gallon. Road builders consider this a | bargain price to pay for motoring facili- | ties because of the lowered cost of op- erating automobiles. increased speed, | driving ccmfort and the lowered road | maintcnance cost; a cost borne in one or another by taxpayers At mobile license fees the country | over averaged $13.41 annually, and this, added to the average gasoline tax pay- | ment of $18.62, brings the total to | $32.03. The average motor car owner can figure out for himself what he gets for his motor tax expenditures. | 5 According to the widely accepted Towa | tate College figures, hard-surfaced pavements save more than 2 cents a | mile in car operating costs over roads of intermediate types. The motorist, therefore, who in 1930 drove 8.340 mjles over eoncrege rather than over interme- diate typs roads saved $33.40, or more than $50 over his motor tax outlay. 0ld Car Menace. Of the 28000.000 automobiles rej istered in the United States, 8,000,000 are rated by the American Automobile Association worth only $25 aplece, and are called a menace to safety by the association’s president. (MOTOR DON'TS | |DON'T LET Your O Run Low! | | | | o KEEP A CLOSE CHECK ON YOUR OIL DON'T LET IT GET BELCW THE HALF FULL MARK,OR SERIOUS AND COSTLY DAMAGE MAY RESULT. THE ¢ CF YOUR MOTOR DEPENDS ™! A SU"I‘CIENV AMOUNT OF MIGH-GRAD: CL Ol Al oL T i GET SOME THE TIME YOU VOLUNTEERED TO INFORMATION ON A HIGH-PRICEL CAR FOR YOUR BOSS, AND A FEW FRIENDS HAPPEN 8Y. HIM 75, -, //%f/: BUYIN ©19% N TriBUSE, 1 EUROPEAN DRIVIN EASIER ON'TOURISTS Cost of Sightseeing Cut Down and Good Roads Are Abundant. In recognizing driving licenses and other credentials granied by each other the countries of Europe have | been responsible for an increase in the !ing the automobile as a means of 200 | transportation. While other European conveyances provide excellent transportation to ‘the better known centers, the motor cir has since proved to be the one speedy method of sightseeing in equally fa- mous but more remote regions of Eng- l2nd and the Continent. ‘The tourist with ideas of his own as to what to see and do in Europe now finds at his disposal reliable “drive- yourself” automobiles which he can rent in one country and drive into any other without the former burdensome necessity of leaving a cash deposit at each frontier. Now a paper called a “Carnet de Pasage en uzne” is recognized in lieu of deposit. American driving license experiences no dificulty in obtaining foreign li- censes at small cost, it even being pos- sible to secure an l:n,nah license be- fore leaving this country. Roads Are Excellent. For the most part European roads are excellent and much less congested our own. Not only do the roads ‘ovide comfortable ition, t none of the large cities offers any problems to the motorist. Guide books and road maps are unusually explicit, one particular serles of books hiving plans of nearly every eity and town in Europe, with directions as to the casiest means of traversing them. Jand, automobile clubs have men sta- tioned every few miles to assist their members. In triveling by automobile the tour- ist finds he is enabled to visit many places otherwise not easy of access— the famous and beautiful chateaux of the Loire Valley in France, the Py- renees, the mountains separating France and Italy. and a road in Spain that wanders along a cliffside from San Sebistian to the Atlantic where The motorist's exclusive paradize 1s found in the Italian hill towns between Rome and Florence. And. except for the traveler with an indefinite period of time at his disposal, the charming countrysides of England and Germany, with their multitude of quaint towns, can be visited only by motor car. Costs Are Low. The cost of automobile travel in Europe, however, is little or no more than usual modes of transportation, ance averaging zbout $8.50 per day. Rental of an sutomobile for a month (allowing unlimited mileage and full insurance) is $154. Ad amount is the expense of maintenance, greasing. for to about $80, or 3 cents a mile, and the cost of $14 for license and “carnet.” | Wnhile the total coet of motoring for | one month is $256, or $8.50 per day, the expense per individual in a group is proportionately less. ‘Touring in a group of four, for example, the cost to the individual would be $2.15 for trans- portation. And. since living exnenses, including room and board and inci- dentals, average from $3 to $4 per day, depending upon the class of hotels used. the total expense to the indi- vidual tourist would be about $5 to $6 | per da |0IL VISCOSITY GAUGED BY NEW NUMBER SYSTEM Present Vague Classification to Give Way to Improved Method, Engineers Believe. | A sert»s of numbers ranging from 110 to 70 to denote the viscosity of lubricating ofl, or its body, has recently | been developed by the Society of Auto- motive Engineers in co-operation with | ng automotive and ofl manufac- turs:s to take the place of the old gen- classification of light, medium, | heavy, extra heavy, etc. ‘These numbers will not in any wa: refer to the quality of the ofl. but will define only its or viscosity. Just | as the size or number on a man’s ¢ does not in any way indicats the quality of the linen of which it is made, so the new numbers will not refer to th quality of the oll, but only to its con. sistency of body, or viscosity. Ths new classification, which has ! baen called the 8. A. E. Vis-osity Num- berirg 8ystem, is very simple. It v bitrarily divides motor o'l six _pumh ging fro=1 very light oil n 8. A. E. Viscosity No. 10 to ext.2 h which 8 marked 8. A. E. No. 16 'BUILDERS RECOMMEND | GREATER HIGHWAY WIDTH 120-Foot Minimum Urged by Engineers, ‘ Who Would Make Roads Safe for Even Reckless Drivers. | number of American tourists employ- | ‘The traveler with an | In Eng-| the total cost for one month's convey- | led to this a | J Road widening feet i3 recommended in States and | counties in a ecommittee report of the | American Road Builders’ Association by C. E. Burleson, county highway engi- neer, Clearwater, Fla., chairman of the Committee on Road Widening. Rec- ommendations are aiso made as to when and how roads should be widened. “The population in urban and sub- urban sections has grown so rapidly and such a large percentags of the own automobiles that the widen! |old roads must be carried forward rapidly,” declared Mr. Burleson. Future Traffic Demands. Future trafic demands as to width of pavement should be anticipated for | 10 years, the committee says, and right of way should b> wide enough for con- | Highways for | | ditlons 25 years hence. | two lanes of traffic should be paved at | Jeast 20 feet wide with 6-foot shoulders | for parking. Intersections should | widened to four traffic lanes (40 feet) for 300 fest in each direction from the corner. | hicles & 10-hour day, or frequent | loads in excess of 800 vehicles an in one directicn exists, a three or four lane road is needed. The salva of the old pavement should be to improve the alignment or to provide | clearer vision over hills. | _In widening an old pavement a nar- | row, but substantial, widening strip ‘'ven with the old surface on both sides improves the aj ance of the road, gives definite limits for pavement main. tenance and guides traffic. A few feet to one side is less tve than widening both sides, but the new | track of vehicles may change the heavy ;lo.dtm.'e‘k point on the pave- | men Extra Width on Curves. committee, should be rvln from 1 to 6 feet extra width, and they should be ;magod down the center to separate traffic. | _“Based on facts collected from nu- merous States and counties, the com- mittee lays down rules for road widen- ing which, while not ironclad, give a consensus of enginesring opinion as to when and how the work sheuld be done,” ztated Charles Grubb, engineer Milady’s no othér means of transportation exists. | BY FREDERICK C. RUSSELL. i One way you can lose standing | quiekly is by your behavior while sit- | ting at the wheel of the car. Mot:rdom is abuzz with stories of women who have tried to learn to manipulate an automobile and who have failed—until today. Something bout the new transmissicns has en- couraged them to buck up and make ia second attempt. Invariably they find hhe going easier, and on the dotted ‘“Mia It’s milady’s year in the motor | world. Driving tips offered by the men fclk are not always to be trusted. Consider, for instance, the case of the |ated after every {urn the steering wheel would spin around to the straight-ahead position more easily. She tried the idea and nearly upset the car. Her machine was equipped with the type of gear that does not |right itself. It is necessary to swing | the wheel manually to return it to | the straight-ahead pcsition, and the | faster the ecar travels the quicker the {driver must be about it. | sl | Ladies who like to step on the gas— and what woman doesn't—should be | interested in high-speed steering pro- cedure as recommended by E. W. Sea- holm, cne cf the leading automotive engineers, | _ “For the best control at high speed.” | he says, “the two hands should grasp | the wheel at points _l!g‘prmdm;uly mA | posits each other. e palm of the | left hand should be under the rim, with | the fingers gripping upward, thus al- | lowing the left arm and hand to serve |as & brace. The palm of the right | hand should be on top of the rim, with | the fingers gripping downward, thus | affording the greatest and most quick- ly available leverage. | when told by a dealer for & fairly priced car that he could not possibly | meet the allowance offered by a com- | petitor, if he expected to stay in busi- ness, a woman shopper asked what dif- erence did his business securit; , | th service | easing off as to & migimum of 20| Frgvor | Where traffiz exceeds 4,000 ve- | our | ge value | d | Pavements on_ curves, comments the | woman | who was informed that if she acceler- | | immediately start cut cn 2 trip. S executive, in charge of fact collection. “Numerous campaigns hav> bren be- gun to encoursge safe drivinz and to | reduce the number of accidents. Safety, | however, is best provided for by build- ing enough safe roads so that there | will b> no congestion,” declared George Sowers, commissioner of engineering and construction, Cleveland, an officer | of the Road Builders' Association. | “Most_accidents occur as a result of | congestion and poor visibility at inter- | sections of both roads and streets.” “The railroads, with a record of only seven passenger deaths from train ac- cidents 1n 1933 — 101,570,000 persons hauled for each death—furnish an ex- cellent example of the importance of providing a safe roadbed and careful operation by trained me continued. “The care used in selecting engine driv- | ers is hardly possible for automobile drivers, but, with such care the operation | of motor vehicles on the highways would | be | be infinitely safer. The use of auto- | mobiles, however, weuld be materially | reduced. A similar condition now ex- | ! ists in the handling of airplanes. Long | nd relatively expensive training is nec- easary before one is permitted to fly an airplane. ~Licensing of motor vehicle | operators is a big step forward.” | Safe for Reckless Drivers. Obviously, safety on the highways wi' not be achieved to any great exient until roads are built so that even o reckless driver will be safe. To achieve | this it “many existing roads mmt" be reconstructsd—safety must be built into them”—stated Stanley Abel, ue-J retary of the County S | | ciation of California, another officer of the Road Builders' Associaticn. | “What are the essentials of -in | safety? Adequate width of surface is| probably the first requirement,” he as- | serted. “Then follows freedom from | sharp curves with clear vision around | curves and over the tops of hills, which should be rounded so that a driver can see well ahead a car g on the opposite hillside. e | elevgtion and non-skid surfaces are de- | siral Safety demands full width of | bri and culverts so that the driver | hardly notices their existence as he passes. In addition, courtesy and cau- | tion on the part of individual drivers ' are needed.” | Motoring || Any woman who has difficulty back- out of the garage should bs care- the front wheels are | set straight ahead before starting off | |in the mcrning. The straighter the | car is run into the garage the lel!} chance there will be of taking off a | door on the way out. ‘Women with roadsters will be in- | terested in the new-type auto wardrobe trunk which stands in an upright pc- sition on the running board just back of the left door. Dresses are hung on hangers and k2ep remarkably free from wrinkles even on a long trip. For rear | trunk equipment it is best to place the | grips on top of each other rather than | to sct them in the usual position. Ex: cept in tho erse of a wardrob: trunk, ‘)fl'm:r clothii:; will keep better it lying at. | | ful | If you are one of the many American | women now breaking in a new car there are some points you may profit by observing. Women have a natural | |advantage in a job of this sort, but | | very few cf them know why. Briefly, it's because of your desire to step on it. If you bear in mind that you should not drive the new car fast, and keep cutting down the car's speed whenever think of it, you prabably will make a good job of the | breaking-in f peed are beneficial to the motc newer cars, because of pressure lubri- cation. Just so long as you don't maintain speed or try to exercise the upper range of the speedcmeter you probably will be doing right by yourself and the car. Too many man drivers make the mistake of poking along with a new car, actually thaking the engine labor on hills and on slight upgrades. If the car is kept at its rolling speed it can operate more easily. Also because women stiil are a bit skeptical of the gears, and try to shift to high as soon as possible, they are less lkely to overspeed the engine in a lower gear. Deliver a new car to a8 woman and she will also want to spend a week shopping around for a new trousseau, whereas a man 1 runs are better for the brand-ncw Clr.{ After a serles o that I'm going to rick a Vhy, fair lady, r 10'l b2 ints % 7 vptll n trafi-? Cw't car with the hand brake s e S| bi*. o and accelerate AVERAGE WLEAGE FORYEAR SHOWN |Each Motorist Traveled 8,019 | Miles in 1930, A. M. A, Reveals. Each motorist in the' United States last yeir traveled an average of 8,019 miles, according to figures juet an- ncunexd by the American Motorists’ ton. “This figure, of course, is an averags, but may be regarded as being fairly | accurate,” declares Thomas J. Keefe, | general manzger of thz A. M. A, in explaining the method of calculating the average mileage. “Eath State last year, for the first time, collected a gasoline tax for the full year; The gasoline tax receij from" the various ‘States and the trict of Columbia, showed that a tax had been collected on 15,759,000,000 gallons of gasoline. Assuming each rogistered vehicle to use the same amount of gasoline, this would mean hat each used an average of 594 gallons during 1930, the ge being computed on a basis of 13.5 miles per gallon of gasoline. Using this figure, the A. M. A. placed the total number of miles trav- eled by the 26,523,000 cars and truecks during 1830 at 212,687,937,000 miles. MUCH ROAD WORK PLANNED IN BRAZIL Present Development Is Halted by Depressed Economic Situation. The world depression called a halt to % ite program of road build- !r!o Brazil, according to a survey of motor roads in that country which the Commerce Department has just issued. Previous to 1920, the survey reveals, littls attention was paid to road de- velopment in that country, with the exception of the areas in or near the populeus ccast cities. Beginning in that year the federal irrigation service undertook the con- struction of new roads and the im- provement of existing highways as part cf an elaborate scheme of ition and hydroelectric development. About 3.400 miles of road were completed by this service. State Governments Help, ‘The federal highway law of 1927 greatly stimulated road-building throughout the whole of Brazil. Under its provisions plans were drawn for a nation- network of roads, and tome financial aid was provided . for those to be constructed by the state governments. This utlvit& in road building came the ee crisis in the with the to an end wi latter half of 1929, b political unrest jn 1930, was respensible for the suspension of work both on the federal and the state highways. ‘The new roads which are projected will be built to uniform specificaticns s to width of roadway, width of sur- ace, materials used, radius of curves, tangent between curves, and grades. according to the survey. The new bridges will be of reinforced ccnerate |or wood on concrete piles; cuts and fills are now being made to make the roads more nearly permanent. Obstacles to Overcome. There are many natural obstacles to the construction of good roads in Brazil, it is pointed out. In the first place, the country is very large and the population sparse in most of the area. Most of it is tropical, with defi- nite rainy seasons. In those seasons dirt roads are washed away or, if they remain, are impassable. have not been built extensively, and when the ms are swollen the fords can- nct used. roads cut through the jungle will be entirely overgrown in a very short time unless the vegeta- tion is constantly cut back. Al much of the road-building in Brasil is still done with pick and shovel, an increasing tendency is evi- dent toward the use of modern road- buil machinery. The federal government and a num- ber of the more progressive state gov- ernments are using a greater amount of mechanical equipment, and the same is true of a number of the larger °:.°°"“‘f.‘i|' vnn{m nmlu n\;:pmmt gene ly preferred, although some European equipment has been pur- ;l;l!ed.dpflnemlly from Germany and in Authorize” Distributors Delco Baiteries CREEL PPOTHERS 1811 14th St. N.W, Decatur 4220 |BENEFIT FOR MANUFACTURERS SEEN FROM AUTOMOBILE RACES |Auto Designer, Whose Many Advances | Underwent Initial Development Through . Racing Practice, Makes Claim. Special Dispatch to The Star. DETROIT, Mich.. May 16.—Automo- bile this year will derive more benefit than ever before from automobile racing. T'h's is"!.he belief of Fred 8. Duesenberg, himself an auto- mobile manufacturer, designer of racing cars' and pioneer of such automotive advances as the straight eight engine, valioon " fires four-wheel brakes and which, with other improvements under- went development through racing e. His observation is prompted by the | fact that the 70 odd cars entered for the Indianapolis race two weeks hence are coming all parts of the United States. The Detroit section, Seciety of Automotive s, braught Mr. 2rg hore from Indianapolis this ;v;;xk to give a talk on the racers of The veteran engineer speaks whereof he knows because cars of this design and | named for him won the speedway con-4 tests of 1924, 1925 and 1927, and have ml‘l among the contenders ever since In 1927, the American Automobile | lation honoted him with a bronze tablet in recognition of the part he has played in inventing and perfecting automotive improvements. Before the Detroit group, Mr. Duesen- | both these jobs are of the rotary-valve | type, and are said to have two-cycle raotors of the double-piston variety. One of the other sixteens 15 to be ple ioted by Earl Cooper. a track veteran. The car with more power per pound of weight than any cf the others to It is credited with developing 300 horsepower to make the 200-miles-an-hour maximum clatmed for it. Rebuild Old-Timer. One of the real old-timer power plants to be rebuilt for this = the Mercedes, of German mal which Ralph De Palma won the ““500” back in 1915. It is being put in by Dick Woods of Noble. Pa. /No driver is named for it. Do Talma, in this contest. may b a wheel cf & al ed by Ven By Miller-Wehr Tpe.ial Caussen. In the elass of revamped stock cars appear the names Ford, Fronty-Tord, Etudebaker, Hudson, Buick, Stutz and Lyc 3 3 Also there are 14 of what are k:m as Model A Duesenbergs. The carry engines that were ed in 1920, and none were mdi‘l:,fim 1925. Most he berg talked from data on the 1931 cars compiled by himself and Harold Blanchard, chairman of the A. A. A. Technical Committee. At the outset, he explaimed that the rules of 1931 re- quire the two-man cars to weiza r- less than 7! pounds per cubic inch of cylinder displacement with a minimum weight of 1,750 pounds. means that a car with' 100 cubic inches of-tombustion space will be re- quired to carry 17'; pounds cubic inch, which a car that has, for instance, 233 cubic inches may weigh only 1,750 pounds and still meet the rules. For this reason certain cars with power plants of small may be n’u the form of lead plates 25 jockeys do under the handicapping system used in horse racing. Largest Displacement. From Mr. Duesenberg's data it ap- pears that the largest displacement of | any car entered is that of a froni drive Coleman entered by the Colem: displacement ired to add poundage, m| the 1] inal axles. Several have had frames built fcr them, and for new h hav> been made. (Copsright. 1531. by North American Newsw Paper Alliance.) 'HIGHWAY ENGINEERS SHOULD LOOK AHEAD | | | Automotive Leader Urges Roa§ Builders to Study Traffie Needs of the Future. | | “Taxpayers are well within thel§ | righ's in demanding that highway exe ecutives and engineers in charge of th§ Cevelopment of road programs, tie i their present-day plang with those tl l Motor Corporation. It has an eighi cylinder engine with 364 cubic inches of combustion space, which is 2 inches under the limit. The maximum al- lowed by rules is 3668 inches, and this car must weigh 2,730 pounds to qualify. By official count there appear to be 6 front-drive cars among the entries, the remainder—some 65 in all—being ren.rl drive. ia “It was expected,” Mr. Duesenberg u“i:'.u”mn 1931 would see a larger r of front drives on account of | last year's race being won by a front- (the Hartz)—Miller with Arnold up—and becauze it had so little competition from the rear-drive entries. “It is an scknowledged fact that front drives have to be well engineered in order to have a reasonable oppor- tunity to win. When this type of car is correctly built, it has quite some advantages on ths lis track, where normally 13cny of the cars have | to slow up goirg round the turns, | while the front drives are czpable of taking the turns fastes Ancther new phase of 1931 racing that | Mr. Duesenberg disclosed is the pres- | ence among entries of three or | more independently ng rear-wheel | cars. Little information on them is available. qubo( them, however, are entered by P. G. Clemons of Indian- | apolis. The Cummins-Diesel ofl burner, sole | entry of this typ:, has four cylinders | and 361'; ‘nches of cisplaccment, The axles and irame are of Duesentepg con- structon and the c=r weighs 3,150 p-unds. This is th> same car that made 101 miles an hour at Daytona Beach. In grouping them,” Mr. Duesenberg dllvidld the 70-odd entries into four classes. The first is a “professional” class tak- ing in cars that have been built as purely racing machines under the rules calling for two men instead of only one driver in a car. In this class, come 14 cars with average piston displacement cf 242 cubic inches. Five of this group have 16-cylinder engines, six of them eight cylinders, one of them six cylinders and there are two fours. Comprising Second Group. A second group comprises one-man cars revamped to carry two men. There are 23 of them in all, mostly of the “midget” class cperated on the spe2d- way for several years prior to 1930. In ent, they average 159 cubic inches. A third and the largest, class, is composed of revamped stock cars, with 24 entries averaging 274 inches dis- | placement. { The fourth class is Diesel with the Cummins car as the lone entry. | Among the sixteens will be two of | new engine construction for Indian- apolis. They are owned by Cliff Durant. One will be driven by him and the’ cther by Leon Duray, holder of the single-lap record on the speedway of may be in effect 10 years from now,% | states H. H. Franklin, an executive 1§ | the automobile world. Franklin has been one of the {in a demand that highway tion should look to future trafie |as well as to provide safety for present | day au‘omcbile users. | Mr. Franklin believes it is |larly important that highway execue | tives_and engineers of A and Federal governments should mal | a careful and detailed study of the | sible traffic requirements for the nexy | 20 years, or for a period to the |life of the average well built highway, | This is especially necessary in the more | populous States. | _“It should be recognized that it Iy ‘yur‘h: ptu ;u‘::r.v‘:ith increasing safety. | 0 g0 safety. | To b prepared to meet this develop- ment is the job of our future highway | system. Any current program that would be made radically cut-of-dat: by :helfihuo'mlm!!nbeflwh termed_as poorly engineered,” - ing %0 Mr. Pranklin. “Millions and millions of dollars have been spent in the past on con- struction and many millions mor: will be spent in the futare. It 15 highly es< sential that all forthcom e tures should return maximum to the public which foots the bilis either directly or indireetly. htecness for | engincers and highway comm: to select their present routss o paraliel highways of this kind will possible when the need develops. would reduce to a larg> e}mcflt'he pense sucl expansion an: a make-over or abandonment of | roadways. our roads ars thoroughly it will b> commonplace to travel speeds of 90 miles an hour, and m« with greater safety than we have lesser paces today.” WOULD RESTRICT LIGHTS ‘The New York State Automobile As« sociation has indorsed a bill which will prohibit the installation of traffic sige nals on the State cr county high without the written approval ot':g: superintendent of public works. Ill-feeling 'has been aroused by the indiscriminate erection of fixed-time traffic signals. Motorists point out the fact that traffic authorities say thas 124.01 miles an hour. The engines in the country is annually losing ”,000,000.0‘3’0 unnecessarily m‘”: traffic congestion and delay. CLOSING OUT BUSINESS STAR SERVICE STATION BARGAINS FOR AUTOISTS > Pegular Price $5.00 Prestone Anti Freeze.. $5.00 Puritan Anti Freeze. $1.50 Ford Spark Starters.... 75¢ White Tire Enamel...... $1.75 Gal. Cans Mobile.......$1.25 $2.00 Northeast Cigar Lighter $1.25 $1.00 Duco Top Dressing 30c Pound Cans Veedol Grease : $1.25 Day & Night Mirrops. ... $1.75 Lockheed Brake Fli $1.00 Bijur One-Shot.... .75¢ $650 Ford Alemite Outfits...$4.5) $35.00 Lorraine, Spot-Light. $22.50 $25.00 Lorraine Spot-Light. $17.59 $2.50 Foot Accelerators AND MANY OTHER BARGAINS The closing of this station will several experienced, well trained, 'station manager. If interested in and ask for superintendent’s office. BARGAINS FOR GAS STATION AND GARAGE OPERATORS Worthington Air Compressor. Portable Jacks. Overhead Rail Overhead Car Washers. Idezl (Coal) Hot-Water Heater, Sizes 2, with large Storage Tank. Gr Auto Hoisting e Rack, Type. Nine Special, ible, Oil Dis- ic Sign, “Gas.” pensers. Electr 1 :uko nvalihbu. (e{ -np’l:’% flm. operaf personnel phone NAtional ony > . ERVICE STATION gad C Streets N.W, elow the Avenue at Twelfth.