Evening Star Newspaper, December 6, 1931, Page 63

THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C., DECEMBER 6, 1931—PART FOUR. In the Motor World BY G. ADAMS HOWARD. HE distribution of the new automobile tags is on Everything is being done to facilitate the procuring of them, but the procrastination of the public continues. Even those in a seeming hurry to get their 1932 licenses, who hurry down to the offices in the old Ford Building, on Pennsyl vania avenue, before the tags can be distributed by mail, ar ng the authorities in any e: ditious manner. Many have their unope signed application in an envelope d the application un- the necessary checks not r out. All these matters delay a quick transaction and the waiting lines continue to grow 80,000 Cars Titled. A few days ago, the director of traffic reports, 80,000 certificates of title have been given out. At & ma um of 1,000 a day not F 40,000 additional ones be had by the first of the 3 means that about 15,- 000 m nes will be prevented from being driven on the streets of the city January 1. A time ex- 1sion may be made, but by the refusal to co-operate there will be many a car owner just out of luck Procrastination will not be the thief of time, but of the privilege of driving The A. A. A. has a thought upon the subject. The familiar line “Do your Xmas shopping early” might well be extended to in- clude 1932 license tags, and mo- torists will save themselves con- siderable inconvenience d an- noyance by avoiding the last- minute rush, according to the District of Columbia division of the American Automobile Asso- ciation. It was declared that in this day of national economy the wise motorist will do well to include the 1932 license fees in the holi- day budget and secure the tags at the earliest moment Aids Orderly Distribution. “In addition to saving his own time,” it was pointed out, “the motorist who secures his 1932 tags early helps to make possible a more orderly distribution. In almost every locality A. A. A. mo- | tor clubs assist car owners in pre- paring the application and aid the License Bureau in distribut- ing tags “In connection with the pur- | chase of new tags, the car owner would do well to check over his registration card or title to de- termine that the official record of it is straight. It frequently happens that serial or engine numbers are registered incor- rectly, through clerical or oth error, and then, in case a car is stolen, recovery is made much more difficult “It is a wise precaution to check over this information every year. In doing so, the car owner almost invariably will come across marks and numbers which facili- tate identification of the car in case the need ever arises, as, for instance, when the most promi- nent numbers are removed orde- faced by a thief.” Eighty thousand, one hundred and forty-two was the total of passengers cars, trucks and taxi- cabs sold by the factories during the month of October, according to a preliminary report of the Bureau of Census. This brings the total for the 10 months of this year up to 2,199,330 cars, but about 30 per cent under last year. W. A. T. A. Dinner Scheduled. However, the Washington Au- tomotive Trade Association, com- posed of the city's leading dealers and salesmen, is able to take its troubles on the chin and still smile. Accordingly, it is to hold its annual dinner and entertainment features December 1 at the Mayflower. Being its 13th annual affair, it is described by officials in charge as the “Hardluck dinner.” Under that heading invitations are be- ing out. But the future looks brighter, and here’s hoping the next banquet will be the ccess dinner.” ngton is not the only with traffic problems. E. L d irman of the Street and affic Committee of the Nation- Automobile Chamber of Com- merce, says that urban traffic seriously in need of first-aid treatment. He continues: “Retail trade of all kinds, of- fice building owners, re centers, restaurants, theaters all agencies of urban transporta- tion struggling against the ng meshes of congestion ‘Lack of co-operation between the street paving department and the police in closing off streets for repair without regard to com- 2 provision for traffic s illustrative of what hap- pens when eet traffic authority is divided among half a dozen different city departments. Less than a score of 195 cities with more than 50,000 population have a centralized traffic engineering department with a trained traf- fic engineer in charge “This fact alone seems to me rather a severe indictment of our boasted genius for organization and co-operative work. Instead, the traffic congestion problem 1rvmams the foot ball of city pol- tics MOTOR DON'TS DONT RACE Your CoLD ENGINE! i I\'! i It is A Grear misTAKE TO WARM UP ACOLD ENGINE BY RUNNING IT AT HIGH SPEED . TRY STEPPING ON| THE STARTER FOR TEN OR TWELVE SECONDS WITH THE IGNITION-TUBNED QFF AND THE CHOKE OUT. THEN OPEN INSTANTLY. ON VERY YOUR MOTOR MAY"DIE ONCE OR TWICE. BUT REPEAT THE OPERATION fathers “Until city decide to stop arguing over the traffic problem and call in the doctor— in this case the traffic engineer— there are some first-aid meas- ures through which energetic and active clvic organizations can se- cure some degree of immediate traffic relief and prolong the pa- tient’s economic life. Recently one of the committees of the Na tional Conference on Street and Highway Safety suggested 16 such first-aid measures, none of them spectacular. There is no master plan or key to the problem “The marking of traffic lanes alone at intersections will do | more than almost any other sin- gle item to organize traffic and speed up movement through these control points. Traffic here can never exceed 50 per cent and may not handle 30 per cent of the combined capacity of the two in- tersecting streets “Better observance of the uni- form traffic laws, accompanied by public co-operation with strict enforcement, will be a big step forward in saving the economic | as well as human life of the city. “Among other suggestions made are those for adequate control of traffic at important intersections, standardization of rules govern-| ing turns, properly posted traffic | regulations, restriction of loading | and unloading on main steets, during rush hours, prevention of | unnecessary street openings and roadway repair during rush hours. establishment of arterial streets, by-passing of through traffic and separation of traffic by allocation of different thoroughfares. ““Till the doctor comes’ might well be the slogan of all public- minded citizens in urging the adoption of these temporary remedial measures,” suggests Mr. Cord, “pending the establishment by all the larger cities of ade- quately staffed traffic engineering departments.” From the above one would gather that the director of the department of motor vehicles and traffic, William A. Van Duzer, is looking after things here pretty well Well, one could not go much further without a little more dis- cussiog regarding the oncoming New k show, which officially opens the 1932 auto year. New Accessories Listed. With literally scores of brand- new products to be displayed in the accessory sections of the Na- | tional Automobile Shows this season, the displays promise to be colorful and highly interest- ing. Probably there never has been a year when manufacturers have revealed such a variety of really novel things to increase the | comfort, convenience and safety of car owners. This applies to| | mechanical devices and im- provements designed to be in- | corporated in new models and also things applicable to those | already in use. Many of these ad- vances mean extended life for the car, for the buyer of todav is | interested only in purchasing the | type of vehicle which will last| for a number of years. no matter | what its price class. The thought of a car growing old-fashioned | \receives but little consideration, and the fact that modern paint |and lacquer and chromium plat- ing keep a car looking well for | several seasons—quite a contrast ! to the automobiles of a decade ago—means that external ap- pearance is not the important factor these days. In short, buy- |ing habits and motives have | changed in the past two years. Surprises in Store. There are surprises in store for visitors when the first of the shows opens in Gand Central Palace, New York, January 9 to 16. Two weeks later Middle Westerners will view substantially the same offerings at the Coliseum in Chi- cago. There are many improve- ments which are highly practical. Take the case of anti-freeze solu- tions, as an example. The water in them evaporates, or the solu- tion itself may evaporate, leaving |the car owner with little or no | protection. Along comes a man- | ufacturer with a simple condenser which attaches to the top of the radiator, catches the condensed water or anti-freeze solution be- fore it can escape or be lost and then returns it to the cooling sys- tem. This also prevents loss of water by evaperation in Summer, eliminating the need for frequent | refilling. And, speaking further of anti-freeze solutions, there is |a new hydrometer type of instru- ment that may be used to test any and all of the dozen or more standard solutions on the market. Not only does it gauge the freez- ing point, but it incorporates a thermometer and an automatic conversion chart, so that the read- ing obtained will be absolutely ac- curate regardless of the tempera- ture of the solution Even cigar lighters of the elec- trically operated variety have been improved. One of them “en- joys a good smoke” and auto- matically takes the first few puffs so that the cigar or cigarette is delivered lighted and ready. An- other, designed to clamp on the steering column, goes to the ex- treme of combining a clock, memo pad, pencil and holder for a standard package of 20 cigarettes, so that the driver need not un- button a couple of coats to as- certain the time or to locate a | smoke. | There are several types of new | heaters, but, perhaps, the most ingenious is a portable hot-water device that need not be attached | to the car in any way. It is elec- | trically operated and consists of |a miniature hot-water radiator ‘Lhrough which a draft of air is | directed by a small electric mo- | tor, making the whole thing truly | portable. | Somewhat like the radiator | condenser previously mentioned is a crankcase ventilator and oil economizer that attaches to the breather pipe of the engine. Its function is to provide ventilation, and at the same time prevent the EN JOYED THE RIDE... ITS QUITE COMFORTABLE FOR A SMALL CAR. 7/, TOOK THE IN YOULR @193/ Ay TRIBUME . NG NEIGHBORS FOR A RIDE DOWN THE ROAD—Actions You Later Regret. —By FRANK BECK IT SEEMS A NICE LI JUDGE, AS MAKES. AUTO-LESS NEW CAR. 1., ROAD FUNDS HELD STABILIZNG Employment and Highway Needs Held of Utmost Importance. Federal funds for road building is one of the greatest stabilizing factors in the current business period,” W. C. Markham, executive secretary of Amer- ican Association of State Highway Of- ficlals, recently declared. Attention was called by Mr. Markham to the employment of over 350,000 men in bullding roads on the State high- way systems, in 1931, remarking that “although Federal aid embraces only about one-tentn of the money actually spent in State road betterment the ef- fect of this Pederal assistance was to stimulate the States to much greater actitity than if little or no Federal aid had been granted.” Need Held Acute. “The need for improved highways in the United States is so acute that every one should be in favor of the method that will bring the most roads,” said Mr. Markham “To those who have studied road buflding it is quite apparent that there is no betfer way than through Federal Government guid- ance as pronounced through Federal aid. Federal aid, therefore, is doubly valuable at & time like this'when men need work “It is indeed fortunate that Federal monies will be extended on a fairly large scale during coming years. Tho: sands and thousands of the men em- ployed in road work this year would have been out of jobs if these funds had been curtailed. The 350,000 road men at work in 193] represented, con- | sidering their families, some 1,500,000 individuals. Federal participation was responsible for the well being of at least a third of these people. Any Reduction Unfortunate. “On the other hand it would be dis- tinctly unforunate if Pederal co-oper- ation were to be reduced in any de- gree, for the history of State road build- ing shows that not only has Federal aid led the States to think in progressive terms, but also to throw more energy and devote more money to road build- ing than they would otherwise have done. Business conditions are such that public construction as a bulwark against unemployment is vividly re- vealed. To reduce Pederal funds would be to add materially to the Nation's jobless “It would be a different matter if the need for smooth travelways were not so great. But as it is, the cost and inconvenience of motoring must be reduced. Money properly spent on road improvement, as is ey nickel that_comes under the supervision of the Federal Government, saves as much or more for motorists. Further, bargain prices in construction work now pre- vail. Today's dollar is buying more roads. Magnificent Importance. All things considered, particularly from the standpoint of providing work for large numbers of men Government _participation assumes a magnificent - importance and the coun- try can be thankful that this plan is in operation,” concluded Mr. Markham. GASOLINE 'USE GAINS Increase of 4.5 Per Cent Seen Over| Last Year. Motorists In the United States used a total of 7,117,874,233 gallons of gaso- line during the first six months of this year, an increase of 4.5 per cent as compared to last year, according to the District of Columbia’ division of the American Automobile Association. “Car owners,” it was pointed out, “paid ges taxes on this fuel in the amount of $244.746,853. and with July, August and September the peak months for gasoline consumption, there 15 every indication that gas-tax receipts for the year wil soar to a new high figure of nearly $600,000,000 “This increase may be largely attrib- uted to higher gas taxes, the average for the country being 3.44 cents. Three States, namely, Arkansas, Georgla, North' Carolina’ and South Carolina. have a 6-cent tax.” * Dumb Dora. And then there was the sweet youn; thing, taking the examination for & driver's license, who was asked: “If vyour brakes suddenly fafled to work \vhll% ‘woul )'OI.I‘dO"" She Resitated only a moment smiled brightly and answered: = “ypn that’s easy; T'd just jump out and put loss of oil by being thrown out the breather and over the out- side of the engine. It also traps | the circulating oil long enough to | vaporize out of it any gasoline that may have seeped in due to condensation or excessive use of th; t‘!chollre.d llht‘l this wai' it pre- vents o ution and le; the life of the ofl. d’ e a big stone under the wheel ' No Mechanical Defe‘cts. By far the largest percentage of - sons injured in automobile gm{dl::;,s during the year were either the oecu. pants of cars or hit by ears that had no apparent mechanjcal defects, ac- cording to the District of Columbi lumbia. di- vision of the American Auto, 4 howm - ‘utomoble As. the Federal | you were going down hill, what | CAR ;, NEIGHBOR. . HOWEVER, I'M No NOT FAMILIAR® WITH THE SMALLER FRIENDS ALL DRIVE EXPENSIVE LIKE BITEE WE'RE OUR NEW MODELS BEING EASED IN BID 'FOR REDOUBLED SELLING EFFORTS 11932 Offerings Have Been Supplemented With Five New Lines Since Middle Special Dispatch to The Star. DETROIT, December 5.—Cautiously | but steadily the automobile factorie are easing in the new models in pre- paration for redoubled selling effort and re-intensified competition that will start with the national shows in Jan- uary. Since November 15, 1931, offerings have been supplemented by five new lines, starting with Buick and Pierc Arrow and adding during the last week Rockne, Chevrolet and the Lincoln 12- cylinder car. Numerous others are in immediate prospect Demonstrator for Dealers. The immediate production effort the plants will be to provide dea! with demonstrator and show-room car and for that reason output is to stay within the bounds of present Tequire ments. Increases in the number of cars per day or per week that are being made now are preliminary to what the magnates expect will be a T purse reaction that bly lines up to normal rate once more. The conservative attitude is reflected in General Motors operations for cember on the new Chevrolet models On these the manufacturing for December, as given <ut by H. J Klingler, vice president, is 37,000 cars and trucks. This is tentative and sub- | ject to revision upward, should condi- tions justify it. Ultimate Figure Seen. The ultimate figure reached at the | end of the month is more likely to be around 47,000, because the 37,000 will | be sufficient only to supply 5,300 direct dealers with stocks of cars needed im mediately. Chevrolet at present ha: 10,000 dealers in all, counting the rep- resentation in the sraller centers, | which accounts for the other 4,700 | " 'As the big sales push of the largest | of the General Motors units gains head- way that is planned for it after January 1, December’s volume will be more than doubled. Advent of the Rockne six-cylinder | | series discloses the real extent of Stu baker's projected operations for 1932 Formation of the new motors corpora- tion bearing the late lamented gridiron mentor's name gives the Studebaker group four main divisions producing three lines of cars and one line of com- mercial vehicles The center of pperations is in South Bend, Ind., at the main Studebaker plants there. With them will be linked the Rockne factory in Detroit, a unit POOR HIGHWAYS ADD | 70 COSTS OF TRAVEL ‘Enthusinxm of Motoring Might Be‘ in schedule Lost if Driver Calculated | Expense. | Motorists as a rule do not know how much it costs to operate their cars per | mile of travel. To do this would re-| quire an extensive amount of book- keeping, with tabluations of gasoline | and oil purchaszs, insurance, motor ve- | hicle tax and répair cost. If the aver-| age motorist took time to calculate the | cost of motoring he might lose some of | his enthusiasm in case his driving were done over poor roads and streets. | If more motorists knew something of | the increased costs that go With in-| ferior travel surfaces quite likely lhen“ would be a pronounced tendency to re | place the pavement practices of many | cities and towns with programs calling for construction that really brings low- | cost motoring. | Scientific research and observation of | cars in operation have brought to light that it costs 1 cent a mile less to op- erate a car over a mile of intermediate- type road than over low-type roads, and 2 cents a mile less over high-type pave- | ment than over low-type surfaces. Cer- | | tainly, if it costs 2 cents a mile more to operate & car over poor country roads than it does over concrete surfaces, it costs at least that much more to drive a car over the countless miles of in-‘ ferior streets. than it does over the country's high-type streets. Poor | streets, replete with jagged holes and sharp bumps, exact many charges from the motor owner—broken springs, rap- idly worn-out tires, short circuits and what not. Five miles of high-cost streets over which 2,000 cars travel daily, a nominal traffic flow, will exact a toll directly from motorists totaling $200 a day.| This amounts to $73,000 a year. This $73,000 is, at 4 per cent, equal to the| interest on $1,825,000, a sum that would | be more than five times large encugh to “ repave or resurface the 5 miles of streets. This is from the standpoint of savings in motor car operation only. Savings in street maintenance and in the avoidance of accidents would give a still wider investment margin. Of the hundreds of thousands of miles ‘of streets in mo‘-vfllnm towns and | ‘ of Last Month. formerly used for Studebaker manufac- re; the Plerce-Arrow factory in Buf- lo and also the operations of the 8. P. A, Truck Corporation, formed in 1930. Formidable Competitors. This makes Albert Russel Erskine and his associates formidable competitors of General Motors and the Chrysler cor- ration. Beginning with the Rockne in the low-priced classification and con- tinuing on througlY the Studebaker and Pierce-Arrow in the middle and high- priced divisions, they will present a passenger car range frem $585 to $4,250. This will comprise two sixes (Rock- ne), one six and two eights (Stude- baker), one eight and two 12-cylinder | cars (Pierce-Arrow) The Studebaker proving ground adja- cent to South Bend has been used for the testing and outdoor engineering work on all the models. New additions to the executive line- up include George M. Graham, veteran of Pierce-Arrow under its early manage- ment, and later heading the sales divi- sions of Chandler and Willys-Overland. Intrusted with the task of organizing Rockne distribution before the car was brought out or even pre-viewed by the trade, Mr, Graham already has assem- bled more than 200 dealers for the new company. This number is likely to be increased materfally between now and December 15, when shipments of the car are to start from Detroit. The Rockne production end is headed R. A. Vail, who built Dodge cars for s and later served with the Durant es in similar capacity. Ford Speculations. Without advance trumpeting, the d Co. put the new Lincoln 12-cylin- der jobs in the New York salon. Three days later the cars were shown pub- licly in Detroit, and many are wonder- ing as to whether the new styles in the body lines and the front end anticipates a similar motif in new Kords, in regard to which there is nothing of official record as yet. With “V" 1sdiators and lamps com- bined with smooth streamlining, the Lincoln style represents a departure from the former models. When it is recalled that Henry Ford himself referred to the model A before it was brought out as a “Baby Lincoln,” it may be possible that the similarity will be preserved in whatever is forth- coming, (Copsright. 1931, by the North American Newspaper Alliance, Inc.) <o for citles of this country, countless miles are piling up an exorbitant toll on motorists and taxpayers. Communities in their search for work to relieve un- employment need turn no further than to their street systems to find ample | work and work that will be of lasting benefit. WHITEHURST DISCUSSES PUBLIC IMPROVEMENTS Local Highway Engineer Says Property Should Bear Share of Costs. Assessment of abutting property is the generally accepted method of build- ing city pavements according to a study made by the city officials’ division of the American Road Builders’ As- sociation. Assessment practice in 17 citles in all parts of the country show the following points of similarity: Street railway pav- ing costs are paid by the utility com- pany; heavy grading is usually paid for by the city; sidewalks and alleys are paid for by the abutting property owner; street intersections are paid for by the city in about 50 per cent of the cities canvassed; the city retains dis- cretiorary powers in the selection of the type of pavement to be used. “While there seems to be no such thing as a precise equity in any of the methods of assessment,” stated Capt. H. C. Whitehurst, engineer of high- ways, Washington, D. C., “where pri- vate property is enhanced in value, it seems fair that the property should bear its share of the cost of a public improvement.” BAD WEATHER HELPFUL | Daily Earnings of Taxicab Drivers Materially Increased. It is well known that a snowstorm in Winter in New York City costs many thousands of dollars and gives employment to thousands. A heavy rainstorm, or continuous rain for most of the twenty-four hours, it is pointed out by E. S. Higgins, vice president of a taxicab system, means as much as $4,000 & day more in wages for the cab drivers of one company through their share of the l.ncre'::d earn! STUDY OF REVISED REGULATION URGED A. M. A. Asks Motorists to Secure Copies of Changes. In registering their cars for 1932, | motorists the country over will have | personal or written contact with their motor vehicle departments which may profitably be used to obtain a copy of the latest, revised version of the State motor vehicle laws, the American Mo- torists’ Association points out in a | statement issued today. The opportu- | nity should be utilized to make a re- | quest for the new edition of the regu- lations, in which, the American Mo- | torists Association’ declares, the major- ity of motorists will find many changes | with which they are not familiar. Officials Convinced. “Most motor vehicle officials are thoroughly corvinced that the average driver does not keep properly abreast of the motor vehicle and traffic regula- | tions,” says Thomas J. Keefe, general manager of the American Motorists' Assoclation. “Many think that periodic re-examination of all drivers would be a wise safety precaution. The pre- | dominant reason why this has not been tried is its expense. “That the need exists, however, Is |realized in official quarters and it should be recognized among motorists | themselves as well. With the period of re-registration of vehicles at hand, | the average car owner is in a position | to take an important step in thorough- |ly acquainting himself with the rules| |of driving. That step is the one of | asking for a copy of the regulations | during the interval when he is in con- tact, personal or written, with the mo- tor vehicle agency which' issues his new license plates.” Rapid Changes, | Pointing out that tHere is no body of | law which has so great a need for uni- | versal understanding, the general man- | ager of the American Motorists' Associ- | ation declares that there is, lkewise, |none which is subject to such rapid change. “Every rule of reason which can be | applied " to the situation of modern | traffic demands that those who are part of it be familiar with the rules of driv- ing and walking,” Mr. Keefe asserts. “Such familiarity can be attained only by periodic study of the regulations much in the same fashion as when the individual was beginning his driving experience.” MOTORVMDUSTIVRY FILMED | Comprehensive Series Produced by | Bureau of Mines. | The most comprehensive series of edu- | cational motion picture films depicting | the automotive and allied industries ever assembled has been prepared by the United States Bureau of Mines, Depart- ment of Commerce, in co-operation with various manufacturing concerns. The films picturize the production of crude petroleum and the refining and treat- ment of the gasoline derived therefrom. | They show in greatest detail the oper- ation and care of the gasoline motor; the workings of the electrical storage battery; the manufacture and care of | spark "plugs, and the making of lubri- cants and lubrication of the automobile. One film emphasizes the hazard of the deadly carbon monoxide emitted in ex- haust gasses; another tells the story of the wonderful alloy steels so extensively used in the manufacture of motor ve- hicles. Extension of the Sterrett Operating Service to Baltimore has just been an- nounced by the General Motors Truck Company, at Pontiac, Mich. Under the new plan, the Sterrett Operating Serv- | ice, a subsidiary of the General Motor Truck Co., will operate the Balti- more branch of the company with Fred Fisher, well-known in truck circles of this country, as manager. John A. Sterrett is president and Everett C. Scott is vice president. Paul W. Seiler, president of the General Motors Truck Co,, is chairman of the board. Continuing its operations as a factory branch, handling the sale of all GMC units in the Baltimore district, the extension of the business to include Sterrett Operating Service marks a. step forward in the devel t of the trucking business, and meets a distinc- tive need on the part of business firms making use .of trucks. Mr. Sterrett, with the Sterrett Operating Service not only in Washington but in Rich- mond, Va., as well, will be in general charge of operations in Baltimore as well as here and Richmond. Barksy, Inc, as Nash dealers at 1365-69 H street northeast. Clarence R. Rohr, identified in automotive circles for NEW POINT OF VIEW PRESENTS TRAFFIC AS ACCIDENT SAVER Motorist Held Safer With Other Cars and Drivers t o Guide Him Than When Al‘one. Without traffic many automobile owners might not be able to drive their cars and accidents might be even more numerous than under present condi- | tions. By this view, held by some of the most experienced drivers and keen- | est observers of motoring, trafic steps into & new, radical and hopeful role, | Following the Leader. | As the psychologists explain it, other cars serve as a guide to the average | driver. He is safer following the leader ! and going with the herd than he would be if he had the whole road to himself. | Concrete evidence to support the new theory is everywhere noted. At least 1 out of every 10 drivers, or ap- proximately 3,000,000, are unable to| place a car in its stall in a public| rage. Turning around is an ordeal or many hundreds of thousands. A| surprising number of operators can- not keep straight on their own drive- | Wways, even running in a forward direc- tion. | It is customary g speculate as to| how certain drivers «e able to “get by” | on the streets and fighways when they evidence such lack of ability by them- | selvess “How,” asks the bewildered | observer, “do they get away with it?” “Traffic helps them,” say exponents of the new theory. ‘Tests show that drivers who are un- able to run along a private driveway without shaving off part of the lawn | may drive daily through thick traffic | without ever scratching a fender. When | other cars are placed on the scene even | the most inexperienced driver functions in a keener manner. If the other cars keep in a straight line, as they invaria- bly do in the most dense traffic, the driver is guided accordingly. He merely aims to keep a safe distance from the car to his left and is automatically pro- tfgc}l‘.‘ed by the driver of the car to his right. Experiment Illuminating. An experiment made by a driver with over 100,000 miles of operation to his | credit proved illuminating. He ap- proached a traffic light at an inter- section where there were no other cars, At the flash of the red light he applied his brakes and found that while he had been traveling only 30 miles an hour he was unable to stop at the white line. Several blocks beyond he was forced to make a similar sudden stop, but was | traveling 40 miles per hour at the time and found himself behind another car. | But he stopped with ample margin of | safety. Thinking that the seemingly greater efficiency of the second stop was the | result of the brakes being warmed up, | he made further tests along the route| only to discover that every time he| was alone at an intersection he ex- perienced more difficulty stopping. At | tmes the brakes seemed to.be failing him. At no time when obliged to stop suddenly behind other cars did he experience any sensation of failure. Analyzing the matter carefully he concluded that his failure to stdb effi ciently when alone was due to slower thinking and action. He proceeded on the assumption that if he did not stop | promptly nothing would happen. This caused him to delay pressing the brake pedal and to fail to press it vigorously enough at the beginning. The secret of efficiency in stopping | is to initiate brake action as quickly | as possible and to press reasonably bard on the brake from the moment | deceleration commences. Most drivers, if there are no other cars around. ap- ply the brakes too gently at the start You are beginning to master the art of driving when the road starts to turn as you do, “Ill give you a week in which to teach my wife to drive. If vou suc- ceed, you can have my order for a car.” With these words still ringing in his ears, an ambitious salesman undertook | to instruct one of his most difficult students in the art of piloting an auto- mobile. The first day was hopeless. The second equally as bad. By Friday there didn’t seem to be & ghost of chance, but Saturday milady gained as- surance and saved the day by winning her operator’s license. Papa signed on the dotted line. A year later the new driver found herself a widow. Two years later she traded in the car for a small roadster. Today she drives one of the smartest | roadsters in town. Mbdtoring is her | only real recreation. Knowing how to drive has its prac- tical angles, too. It is common knowl- edge that if a woman owns her own home she has a means of support, through renting rooms, should she be- come dependent, but somehow the abil- ity to drive a car does not seem to be fully prized. I know a widow who has found the going considerably smoother because of her skill at the wheel. She is invited to many events because she can be counted on to do the chauffer- ing, and not infrequently the man folk willingly take a back seat in her favor. The woman I saw tugging at the steering whee! the other day in a fit | of parking would have fewer sore mus- cles if she knew & little more of the theory of steering. Like a lot of people who Worry thefr way through the park- ing problem, she did not know that in the "extreme positions of the front wheels the car actually is lifted a little. Picture the woman who wouldn't use a tire jack on a bet, actually using the leverage of the steering gear to perform the car lifting act for the benefit of the public at large! Because of street illumination your car won't attract much attention from pedestrians unless you have the head- lights on. Dimmers or parking lights are not safe in city driving. Service? Women at least know it and demand it. Witness the case of the member of a Massachusetts motor club who called up to ask information about sending her boy to college. Or the case of the Missouri woman who phoned for emergency aid. When the service man arrived he found he was being engaged to extract a field mouse from the rear seat. Did you know that you can obtain a special type of electric switch that will make it unnecessary to turn off the garage light and walk back to the house in the cark? Or that you can have the light on the back porch go off several minutes after you have reached the garage? A new invention seems specially adapted to the needs of the woman who is naturally timid about making that Jjaunt from house to garage, or vice versa, in pitch darkness. It saves more expensive wiring between house and garage. ‘These gentlemen who whisper plausi- ble tips on the care of the car may mean well, but check thelr suggestions carefully. Many a tip can be exploded by any woman who will take & moment out to think over the matter. If the wiseacre says that the battery can_be ved” by letting the engine Authorized Distributors Winfield Carburetors CREEL BROTHERS ' 1811 14th St. N.W. Decatur 4220 Milady’s Motoring BY FREDERICK C. RUSSELL. | comfort and jand do not come down firmly on the pedal until the car is nearly at a stand- still. This is too late to be of value in speeding the stop. Just the reverse takes place when a driver finds that thé car ahead is start- ing to stop. This is clearly illustrated by the way drivers frequently go to the opposite extreme by slamming on the brakes if the stop signal of the car ahead flashes red. Because he did not start stopping soon enough, and vigorously enough, the driver whose experiences are re- lated above was just as bad off as if his brakes were not equal to the task of stopping. Another thing he discov- ered was that when alone on the road he had a less accurate conception of the car's rate of speed. Invariably he was traveling faster than he thought. With other cars ahead, however, he seemed to be able to sense his speed without so much as glancing at the speedometer. Source of Encouragement. The new view of traffic is expected to be a source of encouragement to many persons who are ‘wheel shy.” That the newcomer has an excellent chance of making good is the firm belief of. those who see traffic as a help rather than a handicap, a guide rather than an_obstacle. This discovery of the helpfulness of trafic may call for a reversal of the practice of aiming first to make a driver equal to solo work awheel. Be- ginners may be tossed into traffic to “sink or swim” on the theory that most of their driving will need to be done as part of the team rather than as an individual. “Hermit” driving appears to have no place in the mod- ern scheme of things. Traffic affects drivers favorably be- cause it is guided by the better oper- ators who are numbered among it. These leaders set the pace, so that if an inexperienced operator merely fol- lows the leader he will be relieved of " numerous problems. He will not have to make as many decisions. He starts, turns and stops with the crowd, and feels a sense of security because he is* just one of many. It is common to observe the con- fusion of even a fairly experienced driver upon reaching a strange inter- section where the traffic system and the course of the streets has to be: thought out as a new problem. Let this same driver approach the most complicated crossing, but in line with other cars whose drivers “know the Topes” and the situation is entirely different. Convenience Known. Manv drivers who experience trouble at night know the comfort and con- venience afforded by other cars. Fol-.. lowing right behind another car on a rainy night banishes much cf the fear of glare and enables one to maintain an even pace with far less risk of get- Lt‘lng into a ditch. If a driver starts downhill he may be reminded to drop into second gear if the driver of the car ahead slows* down. Otherwise the less experienced driver is apt to overtax his brakes and. get _himself into trouble. % Traffic may seem like a handicap, but with a new slant on the subject any observing driver will realize that it has its decided advantages. With- out it many drivers would be in a seri- ous way, since their own skill is far below the group intelligence of thoss traffic leaders who set the pace. (Copyright, 1981, by the Russell Service.) run during short parking just glance at the ammeter and-note how the indi- cator shows discharge during this g:u- cess. When the engine idles the bat- tery runs down, not up. Obviously when you're delayed in traffic it is well to run the engine fast enough to keep t{:dnt ammeter pointer over to the chargs side. It has taken the man folk a long time to realize that a car can be broken in more efficiently in Winter than in Summer, and it isn't any wonder that some women still hesitate to sign on the dotted line at this sea- son. With modern equipment and anti- freeze the new car can be worked in nicely even in the coldest weather, Whereas in Summer a hot day may send the engine’s temperature to the fever point. There is no refrigeration pro- tection for engines—yet. Talking with an electrical engineer made me wonder why the car makers don't greatly increase the size of the storage battery and save all that gene- rator juice that now goes to waste. He listed ‘all the electrical conveniences we could have with our cars as a result of such a logical change. Use your cigarette lighters, girls. Burn the mid- night watts. They'll give us bigger batteries if we create the demand. Sweet sixteen may be all right for romance, but if a girl these days wants to borrow the boy friend’s car she will find him more willing if she admits | being nearer the driving age of discre- tion—30—than under 20. If he has been reading up on his statistics he will know that according to careful checkup of some 4,000,000 drivers he stands less chance of having his pre- clous chariot involved in an accident if the girl at the wheel is over the 30 line. BUS DESIGNERS ACTIVE Designers of motor buses have kept pace with the automobile industry gen- erally in meeting the demands for safety, and while bus- patrons see the advances being made, the public as a whole does not realize the extent of these improvements, ac- cording to the National Association of Motor Bus Operators. The association pointed out that in some respects the designers of motor busses have proceeded in advance of ths automotive industry in their efforts to assure comfort and safety for the two billion passengers that are using motor coach lines night and day. Autocrat Motor Oil has a high fire test, indicating ability to withstand heat. It will seal the pistons against fuel leakage, and will fune- tion as 2 good oil is expected. Try Autocrat the mext time you d oil, and judge its advantages for yourself, IA Ol