New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-05-20
Car Saving as
Important as
Food Saving
Too Much Auto m o b le
Waste-How 1t May
Be Checked
Carelessness to Blame
Thorough Attention to Me-
chanical Details Is Most
Needed
Carelessness to Blame
By II. C.. BROhAW

With the price of gasolene going up
with every change of the moon, with
the increased cost of tires not only
possible, but probable, and the tariff
, for everything else needed for auto
: mobile upkeep on the ascent, it is time
for the owner to consider his expense
and renewal costs. And when it is con-
sidered that repairs and labor have
pirouetted skyward along with other
things, it behooves the owner to con-
slider ways OF decreasing running eX-
penses and to learn how to get as
much out Of a gallon OF gas as posi-
Bile, not 20 say every mile out of his
tires they can be coaxed to give.
There are many little expenses about
running a car which total a considera-
BILE sum. The Scotchman puts it:
"Mony mickle makes muckle." A
! nickel, dime, a quarter, a dollar, do
not seem much at the time, but they
! pile up the cost per mile frightfully.
Not every one can be like friend who,
when cautioned about the way his
chauffeur was running up the cost of
his several cars, replied:
81 don't want TO know what my cars
cost. If | did. my business instinct
would doubtless make me dispose of
them all. and ! DO not want TO DO this.
The ears are luxury, and don't want
TO know what they cost"
A car which lasts, with ordinary
care. one or two years, IL given intel
| ligent attention by the owner, might
be made to last three to five years.
! This means taking extraordinary care
and a thorough knowledge of the work
ing parts and how TO keep them in con-
dition, and it means doing faithfully
and persistently the things necessary
/ to keep everything in order.
When it is considered that, with real
war at hand, it may not be possible to
get new car as often as it has been
in the past, il might be as well TO take
care of the cars we have. rather than
let them go to Sc rack and ruin for
lack of care. We are bowling about
food waste by the American people.
and il is about time we hear something
about waste of automobiles. A good
many automobiles are wasted more
than they are used. In some cases this
is due 10 carelessness, and in others BY
lack OF knowledge of what TO do and
how to do IL.
Take tires, for instance. The cost
due TO neglect is often greater than the
cost Of actual wear. Some OF the things
which cause excessive wear and dete-
rioration Of tires are: Driving into
holes in the street, or in deep ruts;
turning corners at too high speed; stop
ping the car so quickly with the brakes
that the wheels slide or the pavement,
and harsh clutch which jerks the car
suddenly from standstill, causing
needless wear. Their, there are such
things as letting the front wheels get
out of alignment. so that they do not
run parallel. or nearly so, the action
being that the tire is slid, instead OF
being rolled over the road. There
should be slight toe in, for mechan-
ical reasons, but if this is allowed TO
go beyond the proper limit 1t costs
money.
Adjusters tell US that n very large
percentage of tire failures is caused by
under-infation, which allows the tires
: 20 fattcn and breaks the side walls.
/ Every tire should be tested with a
I gauge. and not with the eye or hand.
and kept TO the pressure named By the
/ tire maker.
To get the greatest life out Of tire
/ Il should be watched continually for
I small cuts through the rubber TO the
fabric. Most tires will be found. after
a short service. to have from two to a
dozen such cuts. These will allow
sand to work in and loosen the rubber
and then moisture gets in and rots the
fabric. There are preparations with
which these cuts may be healed in q
few minutes; serious cuts, especially
where the rubber Is looscned from the