The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-06-18
ARGENTINA AS MARKET FOR z
 AMERICAN AUTOMOBILES

steadily gaining in popularity in the Argentine market, their proportion of the total imports of automobiles into that country having risen from 10 1-2 per cent in 1912 to more than 19 per cent in 1913. the latest period for which detailed official returns have reached the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce of the De- partment of Commerce.
 The imports of automobiles into Argentina during 1913 were valued at $5,194, 200, supplied chiefly by France, the United States, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom and Bel gium, in the order named. While France still ranked first in the inpor- tation of automobiles into Argentina in 1913, the United States made a larger actual and relative gain than any of the countries above named, and increased her rank from fourth place in 1912 to second place in 1913. In 1914, when the worldwide depres- sion reduced the value of automobile imports into Argentina to about one fifth of their normal total, those from the United States also decreased our total exportation of automobiles to Argentina and other countries of South America in that year being a, little over one-third that of the pre- ceding year.
 Exports of automobiles from the United States to all countries increas- ed from 3v291 valued at $2,833,154 in April, 1914, to 5,345 valued at $8,- 045, ,222 in April, 1915. This growth was almost exclusively in commercial automobiles, of which the exports rose from 52 valued at $72,676 in April, 1914, to 2,267 valued at $5,- 240,4S1 in April. 1915. About one half of these comm merciaI automobiles went to France and the remainder chiefly to England and other Euro pean countries. In the ten months lS,z-r RJTox- passenger vehicles aggregated 14,641 valued at $12,356, ,472, as against 23,- 167 valued at $20, ,664,4 in the cor responding period one year earlier;
 while those of commercial automo- piles numbered 8,'80 with an aggre- gate of $23.977,96s, compared with | 595 valued at $934,33o in 1913-14. Motor fabrication.
 In automobile motor there are | many bearings of revolving kind,
 and a good many of a sliding sort l notably the pistons which move to ! and fro in the cylinders, and the valves push rods For the pistons we might use a thicker oil than is best | for the bearings, but as the latter | are the most important wearing parts l we must have the lubricant of the | correct degree of thickness for the | crankshaft bushings, and use it for l the rest of the engine. Still we can | not have it too thin or it will get past l the pistons into the combination
 chamber and there fbe burnt up. | On piston there are rings made | of springys cast iron and turned with ! sharp edges which scrape the cyIin- l der walls at each down stroke Pri- marily the rings are to prevent gas | escaping downwards past the pistons
 and it needs only the thinnest film of l oil to lubricate the piston and cyIin-
 der. Inside a motor oil is being flung | and spIashed and sprayed about all | the time so that, as piston ascends the cylinder, the oil follows it and 1 vets the cylinder thick1y. As the pis- 1 ton comes down again it sweeps this 1 accumulation of oil before it in a sort | of wave and, if the coating of oil is l too heavy, the action is so rapid that 1 there is not time to tear the oil off the cylinder to which it's natural | stickiness causese it to adhere, and
 some of it is crowded past the piston. | Once it gets above the piston it ceases to be of any use and is merely burnt
 up, causing carbon deposit and a 1 smoky exhaust. This means that l whatever sort of system is used for l tor we must take care to prevent too
 much from obtaining access to the cylinders.
 Spare Plug Points.
 Very few people know how to ad- just the spark plug points. Nine | times out or ten the pO1nCS are sep | arated too far. Most every one car l ries with them an ordinary visiting | card. The spark gap should equal l the thickness of such card.
 | Care of Breaks.
 l There is no more important part 1 of the autorno obi1e ynat makes for
 safety than the brakes. Brake bands l will not last indefinitely, and as soon l as they show signs of wear, just the
 moment the rear wheels do not slide l together when the pedal is depressed, |, 1 examine the bands, advises a. car | agent. In many cases the wear may 1 be compensated by an adjustment of l the rods, but frequently the band is 1 worn too much on one side, causing it to make only partial contact with | the drum. Should the bands not hold 1 because of oil or grease on the face, a kerosene bath soon will make them | hold tightly. After a country tour in the rain it will be found the brake