The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1911-09-30
Valuable Hints
 For Auto Owners
Things Which Owners and Operators of Motor Cars
 Should Know

sldered a poor abbreviation, and is seldom used in leading journals, without quotation marks.
 So pupular has become the camp
 Ing automobile tour that number or automobile manufa cturers are planning to put out specially design ed cars, equipped with tenting appa- ratus.
 The crusade against the smoke nuisance Tn Boston is proving some what disappointing because of the o1fnculty in determining exactly wha t IS reasonable smoking, as provide ed by the Massachusetts law.
 AS now planned, the motordrome Wnlcn as 10 be constructed between Jeresy City and Newark, N. J., with view to attracting motoring enthu- Siasts of New York, will contain a track not only two miles long. but only two distinct turns and one slight @urn. There will be liberal space for parking and quarters for some 10000 cars will be provided. The grand stand IS to seat 100000.
 The first thing a driver does when one or hlS tires blows out is to look TOT some small. sharp object that he IS certain caused the trouble. The next move often is to form an iron, clad opinion that the tire manufac- turer is wholly to blame for the acci- uent AS matter of fact, it is more than likely that the fault lies with the driver, for there are two results Of carelessne0e that no tire can pos slDly Wlthstand-insufficien imitation and constant overlooking
 1t is estimated that 100000 pleas
 ure automobiles and about 10000 commercial vehicles were manufac- tured in 1910. The rims of these cars would vary in weight from 100 to
 200 pounds a car According; to the Iron Age, an approximate estimate would place the weight of steel used TOT thls purpose at 15,000 tons. The manufacturing cost of the rims made rom this steel would approximate S2. 900, 1000, and their valaue at the prices at which they passed into the hands of the automobile owner would be but little less than $5,OOO,OOO.
 The motorist who wants a heavy
 buffalo overcoat to keep out the win ter cold should write to the Quar- termaster-General of the army He has about 4,000 stored at Omaha, Neb., which will soon be sold They are in good condition and were for merly issued to the soldiers when they were exposed to the winter duty on the Western plains. They were last used in the Wounded Knee campaign and are no longer of use to the ar my. They will be distributed to different large cities and sold in lots or live and ten to the highest bid ders. The War Department is anx- lous to prevent them from falling in- to the hands of large firms The department will not accept less than $25 each for the coats.
 A great automobile race is being planned from St. Petersburg to Sc. bastopol in the Crimea, a distance Of LIDO miles as the crow flies A com mittee has been travelling in carriages for the last fortnight to inspect the state of the roads, which are very far from suitable for speeding. Tn the government of Charkoff, in the Interior of Russia, antediluvian con- ditions seem to exist which amazed even the Russian commissioners The commissioners sent word to the gem stvo, or local authority for the prov ince, pointing out the importance of the big race and asking them to put the roads in better repair. The answer was brief: We don't see why automObiliSts should drive on better roads than we do. We are used to our roads; let them get used to them too."
 Speed maniacs and "open muffIer fiends' have come to the end of the road, as far as the Federation of American MOtOrcyclistS is concern ed. This national organization, gov ernlnS motorcycle racing. and pro- tecting the interests of all motorcy- cle riders. realizes that those who ride at reckless speeds aend persist III thS OPeH mulIier nu1Sance, give motorcycles and motofcyclists an un- enviable name-and the F. A. M. proposes to put a stop to it wherever possible. Through G. H. Hamilton, of New York, chairman of the F. A. MS legal action committee, the or sanitation has given notice of It's stand. Tt is the desire of the F. A. M. to elevate the standing of motor cycle in this country, and one of the best ways to accomplish this result is to make it perfectly clear to the pub hc that the motorcycle is not a nui- Sance and not noisy machine" said President Hamilton. A motorcycle is noisy only when the 'muffler' is open and I am heartily in favor or any movement that has as it's ob- Ject the control of the open muf- fer The F. A. M. intends to per do away with this nuisance. The evils of the open muffler are so an parent that no comment is really nee essafy. But, what is necessary is an active campaign in making plain to motorcyclists the injury they are by running their machines with
 mufflers' open. This applies more particularly to the cities and towns but there is really no reason for rid Ing over the country roads with
 mufflers' continually open" Chair NANSi' oI liic legal dcIlOn com mittee says plainly that "open muf- Her and speed fiends'' will get no legal help from the committee and that, on the contrary, the commit- teee IS in favor of any reasonable leglsiatlon affecting the sport and of the enactment and strict enforcement of statutes and ordinances to pre- vent excessive speeding, and the use of the muffler cut-out in cities and towns The public road system of France has cost $613, 3,0O0,OOO and is now practically completed The most striking feature is the thorough and continuous maintenance by a force of o0,0OO patrolmen, who devote their entlre tune to the care of the roads.
 When 1t is considered that if is generally accepted in steam engineer Ing coating IA inch thick on the inside of the boiler tubes necessitates an increase of about 60 per cent. in the heat supplied to produce the same amount of steam the effect of e%cesslVe coatfngs of carbon on the walls Of gasoline motor cylinders can De appreclated. The carbon pre- vents the heat from readily reaching the water jacket, and while at first IL may tend to increase the power to an extent it eventually causes pre- ignition through retaining too great proportion of the heat generated on the power strokes.
 One of the things which impressed the New Jersey road officials, during their recent tour of New England. was the excellent results being ob- ta1ned by a reSurfacing method in