The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1913-04-06

Florida towns and Los Angeles and
San Diego, Cal, are getting ready for
the big 1915 business. building every
where
Support For Good Roads.
AS road Improvement is of nation
wide interest it should be supported
by our national, State and county
governments. Ihis is notably true
with interstate highways, for II is
manifcstly unjust to tax all the inn
provenent to the abutting land TO
the county or even TO the State Why
should not cur national government
promote Interstate commerce through
good country roads as well as through
river and harbor Improvement?
/ Good and patriotic men seem to
be at variance as to what is the best
system Of building roads Some ad-
vocate three or more cross continent
trunk highways to be built and main
tanned equally by the federal govern
mont and by the various States
through which the trunk highways
70 Others favor the improvement Of
those roads first which run to the
county seat. provided II Is a good rail-
road market town. and If not to the
most accessible large railroad town
in the county. They believe that
these roads should be properly ditch
ed, graded. rolled and dragged. Gull
verts should he built where the water
is Inclined to flow across the road
during heavy rains Grades should be
raised in low places, hills materially
dug down and good bridges built over
creeks and streams of all kinds
The citizens Of n given county could
by this plan easily determine on the
first ten miles OF good roads to be
built and maintained Then the next
i've or ten and so on further away
from the principal town or towns in
the county until every foot of dirt
road IN tho county is put in first class
condition
The good leaven IS working in the
minds, hearts and condolences of the
American people. Good roads. to them
now mean more than ever before. the
avenues which lead to national
strength. prosperity and hepntness n
which every good citizen should bo
g'ad to give his due measure Of en-
thusiastic support.
Set the Spark Plugs.
No matter what system Of IsnIttor
be employed, II is important thai tha
spark plug points should be set 10
Just the width Of spark gap which ia
recolh1h ehded by the makers of the
magnetic or spark coil While II ,1a1,
be dlihcult Of demonstration in air,n1o
.tffns, II IS nevertheless a fact that
lht iehRth OF the gap absolutely deter
tilihes the operation Of the system n
IN huincient to state that too long a
gap involves tho overlooking of Tho
Hiuulhss' whlle too short a gap pro- /
~ ea d cooler ana smaller spark than
'''e system IS capable of developing.
10 Meet High Cost of Fuel.
With the price of gasoline or M
troll as It is called. constantly rtstrg
III England, the latest quotation being
4h"ht forty-three cents a. gallon and
HiAp no adequate relief in sight In
li'e way Of a substitute. motoring M
ih"flties there are counseline eeon-
'nE OF fuel as the best means Of off,
se!JhG the increased expense OF oner-
a'aE car While the price here is
h"l as high as in England. It has in
~ eslsfH l09 per cent in n little more
IMAM wear, so that advice as to econ
ony Is by no means amiss A writer
says; "'le
ne only way tn meet the high nrtco
oi Fetral is to reduce ones consnrnn-
li"h. Apart from cutting down mile
"|e' q good deal can be done in the
WY ~ economies Of various kinds
ne DAYS OF cheap spirit engendered
WaStefui habits In most owners and
drivers which If now checked. would
mean a saving Of dozens Of GALLONS
4 year In the case of most cars. Care
iesS pouring inadequate tunnels and
hG'hNrnIentlV placed tank opnnjrpe
must be responsible for an enor,,oTs
WaSta&e Of spirit, as one seldom sees
ne contents of a can transferred IN
me tank of ear without A greater
or less amount of loss Teakv un{ons
ana worn needle valves are also com
mon sources of preventabIe waste az
also IS the excessive flooding of the
eaFhuretter before starting UP an on
Eine- Petrol is still used in a prodi-
gal manner for cleaning purposes In
connection with n car.
Self-starters, which are rapidlv ar
curing general popularity. should
also make for the prevention Of waste
ny rendering il quite unnecessary to
Keep an engine running during even.
the shortest of stops. Then there Is
the all~important question Of the cars
consumption per mile. Modern car
onretters vary enormously In the mat
! ter Of economy, and many are quite
ahsurdiy wasteful Of fuel without pos
SeSsing any compromising advantages.
/ ! shall be surprised If in future maxi
! ers Who fit a Carhuretter which gives
good results in the way Of Constlrnp-
] ton combined with fiexibnlty and sill
ence do not lay greater stress on the
/ fact than they do at present With
petrol at one shilling and ninepence
gallon, 1t Ia obvious that there is a
/ considerable difference in the cost of
running twenty miles to the gallon
/ car and one which will only cover
/ twelve or fifteen miles on the same
! quantity.
4 Again the methods of the driver
+ himself have a considerable influence
1 on cars fuel consumption, as ap-
1 preciable economies can be effected
by slliiful manipulation Of the throt-
tie, ignition and air levers High
4 speed, too, means high consumption,
4 and even the general style of driving
I has some influence on the petrol bill.
i The owner who Ia anxious to con-
tribute as little as possible to the
profits Of the oil companies has there
fore many opportunities of cutting
down his fuel account