The Washington herald., 1912-08-18

4 q a
where at all. the wear and tear on the
tires will be kept to the minimum. This
is vitality important because sharp stones.
ruts, and bumps will soon make the best
tres sell for 4 cents pound to the
junk man. Racing, short wheel-slidlng
stops, and failure TO slow up for sharp
edged culverts, &c, all contribute their
| share to the eventual increase OF the
drivers vocabulary and the incident de-
crease in the size Of his bank account.
The common sense idea cannot be
too strongly emphasized. Have a dry
| corner In the cellar, cool and dark,
| where you can keep your spare castings.
Light, heat, and moisture are the nat
ural foes of rubber. The car should
never be left standing with tire in a
pool of oil II there is oil left on the
! tire a little waste and gasoline Will
quickly remove II and save thereby fu-
ture blowout As often as is necessary
each tire should be cleaned off with
gasoline and any cuts or sand olisters
opened. cleaned, and vulcanized. This
will prevent the entering of moisture
and the consequent rotting of the fabric.
1t is well to Jack or block up all four
wheels from the floor and decrease the
pressure until there is just enough left
TO hold the tire firmly in position when
the car is to stand for a considerable
time in one place. Castings should not be
left on the rims too long at time. es-
pecially II the weather is hot, as they
will stick to the beads and rims. The
rims should be cleaned with gasoline and
all rust removed. Tale applied to the
rim surface will also keep the casing
from freezing to the rim. Tires must
not be inflated to full pressure in very
hot weather as the road heat and that
generated by friction will raise the pres
sure several hounds.
The tubes should always have plenty
OF dry tale, free from Jumps and grains.
and when taken out or carried should
always be folded that there are no
wrinkles or twists. II not the rubber
will be damaged and weakened at the
point where the wrinkle occurs.
II Is we'll to have a special compart-
ment for tubes carried or to provide a
suitable case for them. Old tubes should
not be used in new castings unless abso-
lutely necessary because they may in
jUre the good casing through their in
ability TO withstand the pressure neces-
sary. Run on the rim IL you must, but
never run on a loose tire. Some may
not rim-cut, but the fabric is subjected
to a far greater strain than it was de-
signed to stand when the side wall has
to do the duty of the heavy tread II the
tres are used as described no motorist
will have cause greatly to complain OF
the high cost and low mileage of any
good make of tires
To turn out the new Disco electric
starting and lighting equipment, the
Ignition Starter Company have closed
deal for a plant In Detroit that will
give them 10000 square feet of floor
space with thoroughly modern equip
ment.
The new Disco electric starter will be
the most expensive outfit OF the kind on
the market because Of its efficiency. al
though 1t will be compact and reasonably
light in weight. II has a separate motor
and generator which will give the mo-
torist the satisfaction Of making his own
current for lights and starting system
as well as for ignition.
To illustrate the capacity-of the in
creased Disco plant carload shipment
will shortly be made TO the Buick Auto
mobile Company, at Flint. Mich. as part
of the contract just closed by the 1gni-
ton Starter Company to equip all Buick
cars for 19l3-some 5000 machines-with
the new Disco starter.
This large order will be easily handled
in addition to business already on the
books. which includes supplying of Disco
starters for the Packard. Locomobile,
American, Marion. Henderson, Marmon.
velie, jackson. Republic, Pilot, Davis,
Doris, and Moon cars.
Plotting a motor truck across the con-
tinent is no 10y ride in any sense of
the word. as Capt. f. L. Ferguson. d.
rector of the transcontinental Alec
truck, is glad to testify.
Not only Is he responsible for main-
tanning the trucks schedule-a stren-
uous task in itself-but he has also to
keep a detailed record Of the trip. The
large number of instruments with which
he is equipped for this purpose would
do credit to a scientists laboratory or
the expedition of an arctic explorer.
On the truck itself are attached
Sears-Cross speed Indicator, operating
on a flexible shaft and registering rate
Of speed and total mileage: Veeder
odometer fastened on the axle and a
Coronet hubometer. built into the hub
cap of the front wheel. thus giving
triple check on the mileage OF the car.
On the wooden canopy frame of the
truck, Just above the drivers seat. Is
attached a Servis recorder, a device
which, without being in any way con-
nected with the runnig gear. shows
every period of travel and stops dur
ing the day. The Servis recorder charts
at the end of the trip will be proof
of actual running time of the truck
and will be one of the most valuable
and interesting parts Of the travel data.
Besides these Instruments attached to
the truck itself. Ferguson carries his
famous winning" watch, time
piece of remarkable accuracy. AT the
end of Its present transcontinental hike
II will have been on practically every
important automobile tour in the coun-
try, and in. all but two of the States
Of the Union. This watch is worn after
the European fashion, in a wrist case.
The equipment also includes United
States army compass, specially calibrat-
ed against magnetism-an important
item. on account of the practically all
steel construction of the truck: an ane-
roid barometer. to record height above
sea laval and humidity; q United States