Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-06-25


It's second nature for a man to take
keen look at his outfit before he starts
away with rig from a livery stable.
Strange 1t may seem. the average man
has much more faith in a garage keeper
than he has in hostler, and on much less
grounds There is an opportunity for the
consideration of some very important
"dont's'' if you keep your car at any gar
age. The most important one Is, don't take
il for granted that your car is In perfect
running order. If you do you VIII meet
with disappointment sooner or later, usually
at a most inopportune time. Inc average
garage employee is irresponsible youth
who knows not the meaning of system It's
your business to for yourself that your
tires are well inflated. After that take the
cap off the gasoline tank and see that IL is
filed. And what is still more important,
see that your inlet is full and is properly
feeding II will be necessary, of course, to
start your engine. Never go out OF town
without an extra inner tube, jack and an
extra spark plug two. Have your bat
teries tested at least once month, and al
vavs before starting into the country. A
little time spent in this fashion before leav-
ing the garage will be a great saver of de-
lay and dollars.
It is little wonder that so much trouble is
experienced with transmission gears Your
good experienced driver, however, never
has any undue amount of grief But most
beginners, anS some who have been driving
for years force their gears into the high
speed before the car is in the proper degree
of motion. Speed up your engine gently;
start slowly on the low gear, and don't SHIFT
to the high speed until your engine and car
have gained a good momentum. Those VINO
observe this simple rule in starting have
little or transmission trouble.
High spark. low throttle. These four
words express a formula that every driver
should thoroughly understand. The great
disideratum with all types of gasoline en-
gines is to have the highest spark possible
without knocking and the throttle as low
as possible for the speed That is Desired
This will insure complete combustion of the
charge, obviate smoke and exhaust racket
and largely do away with jerking. 1t makes
for smooth. noiseless running, economy OF
fuel, tires and wear and tear on your nerves
and vocabulary.
Its rather hard to maintain up-to-date
list of the prominent people in any walk IF
life who are taking kindly to the car. 1t
may be said, however. that the list of lead
ing actors who are owners of good ma
chimes is a long one and includes such we'll
known names as Maxine Elliott, May Irwin,
Irene Bentley, Drina De Wolfe, Hattie Will
Hams, Virginia Harmed, Marie Cahill, Julia
NIarIowe FRITZ Schef, Jefferson de An
gels, Lula CHASER, Blanche Ring, Nat GOOD
win and Frank Daniels. May Irwin. in
speaking of the automobile game, is report
ed to have said that trying to keep an auto
mobile wife a wheelbarrow salary is a
great help to the pawnbroker and the di-
vorce lawyer. She also is responsible for
He who speeds and gets away will get 1t
in the neck some other day" also, "A roll
ing automobile gathers no bank account
With our statute books in the process of
being loaded up with more laws than any
one man could ever remember, 1t may sound
strangely to say that there are several
forms OF really important legislation that
bpiuR almost
far. most of the efforts of the law makers
have been devoted TO the production OF
class legislation of the rankest kind, most
of which will never be able to get through
the supreme courts of our respective states
successfully. y class that the country's
solous should consider comprises the drivers
who persist in charging through our streets
with their mufflers wide open and their en-
gines speeded up to from 200 to 1000 revo-
buttons per minute. If they would try to
suppress also those who drive along honk-
ing horns that rival the sort used to warn
ships at sea, they would be doing a good
work for humanity. There is scarcely an
automobile built nowadays that Is not rea-
sonably quiet running, and most OF them
are practically noiselesS, though. of course,
there are some that from long use or mis-
use are IN such a condition that they make
a racket not unlike a tug or a thTcshing
machine. These should be barred from the
use of the streets and roads absolutely.
Some cities already have law prohibiting
running with the muller open, and more
should nave II. lnCTe Is never any nectS-
sity for opening the muller in a city under
any circumstances. 1t is a nuisarce and a
source of danger; there are no two ways
about that.
driver who uses ordinary care needs to
use the horn but seldom. / am almost
tempted to say never. Whenever you hear
q horn footing regularly you are perfectly
safe IN assuming that the driver is either a
rank amateur who really needs the whole
street or some idiot who wants to serve
notice on the town that he really is driving
an automobile. Let US have law against
this freak.
And isn't there some way that we be
separated from the driver who would i'm
press all men with the idea that he is
daring "skeesicks '-the sort of boy who
takes his seat, opens the muff1er, pulls the
throttle wide open and gradually lets the
clutch H. TO the utter disgust OF all we'll
behaved motorists, frightening horses and
racking the nerves of every one within a
block. Remember, when you hear a car
rafting away like voliey of musketry,
groaning and squoaking, that all this IS ur-
necessary and that the operator is simply
trying to make an impression.
Probably no one but the fool killer can
free US from the folks who equip themselves
with goggles and outlandish caps ana coats
for d little run-about town. Such things
are undoubtedly needed on dusty country
roads but their use on asphalt IS about as
important as putting overalls before
sharpening a lead pencil.
The real motorist never opens his muffler
except. possibly. steep country road
hill; seldom uses the horn; has respect for
the rights Of pedestrians and hOISa-dTaWn
vehicles; starts his car properly and noise
lessly and does not affect four-fushing gar
ments.
Have you ever gone into the country after
a week of rain and pumped into mud hole