The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1912-04-21

ing enthusiasts is centered on the
Santa Monica road race on May 4, the
first big meet to be run this season.
and one Of the most important in the
eyes Of the fans. Fred J. Wagner. the
ofacial starter for the race: Ralph De
Palma and David Bruce Brown are the
first of the New York clan to depart
for California, having left here yester-
day afternoon. "Wag" will stop OF in
Milwaukee for few days for the pur-
pose of making some arrangements
with the committee in charge Of the
Vanderbilt and Grand Prize races to
be held in this city. The drivers will
go straight through and begin practic-
ing just az soon as they arrive in Cal
ifornia. Their cars are already on the
way, having been shipped early last
week.
| It is a good plan to always have a
length Of rope or chain in the box OF
under the seat Of the car for use In
cases Of emergency such as the two
cases described below.
While out driving recently a motor.
list had the misfortune to skid into a
POotS UlC6hAuS tuC 6td4k1A6 u dAh oii
close up to the shaft. This made it
impossible to start the engine from the
crank, and as the motor was one of the
vast majority which will not, even un.
der provocation start on the spark, a
quandary presented itself.
| Another car came along just at the
right moment and the driver wolun.
teered his assistance and proceeded to
| overcome the difhculty. He took a az.
teen-foot length Of rope from his car
and attached one end to his rear axle,
the other end to the front axle of the
disabled car. For towing long dis.
tances ropes should be fastened to
some part of the frame, but for this
purpose this method Of attaching to
the axles was sufficient. After the two
cars were connected in this manner the
good Samaritan climbed into his seat
and started his car very slowly. At
the same time the driver Of the rear
car let his brake OF and his clutch in
on high speed 80 that the motion OF the
rear wheels was transmitted through
the differential transmission gears and
the clutch to the nywheel, thus turning
the engine over, producing the same
effect AZ cranking 1t from the front.
After the car had been towed only
Z short distance, about fifty feet, with
the spark only slightly advanced, as in
|crankfng. the motor started under It's
own power. The clutch then was
thrown out and the rope removed.
Had the second car not come along
at the opportune moment the motor
could have been started by jerking up
the rear wheels and spinning one OF
them by hand. with the clutch in and
the gears set for high speed forward.
II this IL done care must be taken to
change the clutch before removing the
Jack from the rear axle. .ss,.~.1ss sssesAs
Another instance In which length
Of rope saved much time, worry and
tripiestrength language was expert.
enced when the car ran into an ex-
tremely bad portion Of road full Of
deep mud holes. A rear wheel drop
pod into ono OF these holes 90 far that
the rear axle rested on the said
ground ct the edge Of the hole. The
car could not pull out OF this predica,
ment without severely straining the
whole machine. AZ the rear axle rest
ed on the ground It was. Of course, i'm.
possible to get jack under It to HIT
the car. 10 the following expedient was
res0rted TO-:
A piece Of rope was fastened around
the rear axle and the frame extension
shove the spring. binding them secure
" together 80 that the spring would
have no fexibility, Then the Jack was
placed under the frame and the rear