The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-10-07
Automobile News
Naw Pavernent.

New Pavement
 ssBroadway, at least that part of it { called the White Way, because it in cIudes the RiaIto and Automobile Row the district lying between Forty second street and Columbus Circle, is to be repaved with asphalt. on a heavy concrete foundation, with new granite cnrbing. says E. V.AHartford- @T have this on the word of Borough Fres1 dent HIcAnenys and that the job will be started and finished during the month of October. For a long while this seetion Of Broadway has been what Puck called an aggregation of holes surTounded by an alleged as phalt and nobody nowadays knows where the original asphalt poultice pavement begInss and where it now ends, because it has been patched and repaired continuousIy. The trouble lay in putting a thin ashpalt poultce on a bed or foundation of Belgian blocks a shifting unstable base ac- cordfng to Nelson sP Lewis, chief en- gineer of thes Board of Estimate. and the wonder of 1t is.that these big tax aut0mo obiIe dea1ers have sOslong stood for the apology of roadway that has always existed in front of their doors. z
 Race With Death.
 Thomas Ahearn, speeding in one of this three Packard cars from New York city to his home In Ottawa lost a race with death although he cut down the schedule time of the fast trains. The Tips distance of 458 miles, was made in hours and Is minutes actual running time. Stops aggregated two hours and A5 minutes in time. About Is Q miles of the jour } ney was made after dark. Ten days before, MT. pAhearn and a party of friends left Ottawa for an automobile tour of the Eastern states Soon after the arrival i1 New York, a telegram announced serious illness in the fam- Iy of one of the party. This was at 8 AoscIock in the morning. A train would not leave for Ottawa until evening and would not arrive there until about noon the next day. MT Ahearn said he could beat the train by hours. At 8:3O the big Packard was eating up torists had reached Ogdensburg. where they waited 30 minutes for a ferry to Prescott The car speeded into Ottawa at 2::3O the next morning. Death had beaten tiie party by one hour and 30 minutes The average speed -on the run was 30 miles an hour The roads between Ottawa and Prescott were bad. The scheduled train lime between New York and the Canadian city IsS15 hours and 57 min tuaI running time made by the Pack
 Backdr1ng Dangerous.
 The sources of danger from fire on the ordinary cars are from backdring. } in conjunctions with leaking or acci- denta1ly spilledI gasoline. and oil: i: these are the kindlings and fuels on which fires thrive, and the danger is greatly increased by the under pan which catches and retains for a time, at least. gasoIene, oil etc. With con- dltlons favorabIe q vigorous backfre Is liable to Ignite the contents of the under pan and cause fire that is hard to subdue. Matches sometimes have legitimate use about a car, as when required to light the lamps, and no doubt fires have resulted from their use for this purpose, but it is caused by the fool who strikes a match lights his *stinker''l and then drops the match with little or no at tempt to put out the flame and with characteristic indifference as to possi- bIe results.
 edge the owner of a car spilled some goselone while filling the under-the- seat tank, and after 12-mi1e ride. when, he pulled the plug switch, which projected to the same locality. a small spark resulted and isnited caused an explosion which4 lifted both seat and occupants This source of ignition was most unusual, being from stae primary instead of secondary cur rent;
 It is said to prevent baekfring try interposing wire gauge between car buretor. and intake manifold, and at the same time the running of the car will be improved and the number of miles per gallon percep tib1y increased. ItIs not a difficult or expensive thing to do, and in view of the several ad-; vantages gained should be more com mon than it is
 Sparks may come from the timer, or from some mechanical generator of electricity; frictiDn has caused fires, and, while many of the possible causes are iraprobabIe. it is well to guard against s3ilIing of gasoline or of gas. Acetylene is.ssInore dangerous; than ordinary gas in that the range of explosive mixtures is greater, 1t ex- slodes with greater violence and is ignited by a glowing, coal, no flame or Spark being necessary.
 The use of gaso1ene condensed from natural gas is more dangerous than the ordinary article, being more volatile and yaporizing more readily. Beware Of flooding carbure tors, es- peciaI1y when an under pan is used. contrary to general belief, start a fire.
 When a gaso1ene fire occurs it should be promptly srnothered by sawdust. sand pr dirt, water some times makes matters worse~ as it floats the burning gasoline and spreads the fire A fire extinguisher Is a good thing to have in an emer- Eency. but in addition to the obvious