The St. Joseph observer. [volume] (St. Joseph, Mo.) 1906-1932, 1917-04-07

of last week, the chief of police gave
orders to bring in motor thieves dead
or alive. The very next night, z cars
were stolen.
With a fund Of 5000 collected in
cash Burlington Junction, Mo-, has
begun the seasons dragging of its
streets. Without abating its determi-
nation to pave, this town proposes
with the Missouri split-log drag to
make the very best of dirt roads until
the paving is actually laid.
Henry Honey, who is in California,
writes a very interesting letter to his
paper, the Mankato Advocate, from
which we clip the following: This
whole country between the dustless
waves of the broad Pacific that break
up the white beaches at San Pedro,
Long Beach, Venice, Santa Monica
and other beach towns and the grim
silent mountains that form an en-
chanting background, 10, 10, 20, 40,
so miles away from the ocean, is 1
continuous chain of lovely towns.
bound together by endless stretches
of orange and lemon groves and WOW
en- and interviewer by hundreds of
miles Of hard roads that would con-
vert the most chronic into a rad
cial good roads enthusiast in 1 day.
Roads as hard and smooth and firm
as the top of billiard table wind in
and out and stretch away in every di-
rection, everywhere. And automo-
biles! They are every place, big cars.
little cars and Fords dashing over
these perfect roads at 35-mile clip in
s, Cos
and gas is 20 cents, while the license
is higher than in Kansas. And on
these roads If a man wants to haul
a load any little team can jog along
with all the wagon will hold. II you
don't believe the made road is a good
thing, come out and try to talk these
Californians into going back to the
dirt road of 20 years ago. These
roads cost money, to be sure, but the
increase in value of property reached
by them would pay for the roads and
leave a big balance to the credit of
good roads. l was here before they
had good roads. and l remember that
I drove miles in a buggy 1 after
noon and got back filled with dust and
disgust. Yesterday afternoon 1 drove
rs miles over the same country, stop
ing here to pick oranges. there to ad-
mire scenery-and got back filled with
a firmer conviction that no country
can afford to get along with bad
roads. II good roads are good for
California, they are good for Kansas
and Kansans. AS l California man
said to me here, Kansas is the great
est state in the world. But she needs
to wake up on good roads"
In the mind of more than / man
who owns and drives his own motor
car, the Sits cut in the sides of the
metal hood are purely fad of the
automobile designer, and excuse their
existence by making a rakish looking
bonnet. Judging from externals. 1t
might seem that this is the case, since
in a number Of automobiles, the hood
openings, or louvres, have either lost
caste completely, or have been so re-
duced in number as to lose any hint
of significance. The louvre, neverthe-
less, is rather an important factor
in keeping the motor temperature at
point that permits the car to oper-
ate at it's greatest efficiency. The air
that has warmed in passing over the
engine finds it's exit to the outer at
mosphere thru these openings, and in
this way opens a path for a constant
stream of fresh, cool air above the
working parts. The absence of louv-
res, or the presence of only a limited
number, means a back pressure of
warm air on the radiator fan. On the
contrary, IL follows that the greater
number of louvres, the greater will
be the velocity of the unwarmed air
flowing under the bonnet In the
cars which have established notable
records for cooling efficiency, there
are from Is to 20 hood openings,
which help keep the motor in top
notch working condition. In many
parts of the country, where tempera-
ture conditions do not require the ut
most of cooling systems, attention to
this detail of cooling system construc-
ton, is a matter of little consequence.
However, in hot, dry regions. motor
cars must travel on their cooling sys-
TENS as well as on their fuel tanks,
and every item that points the way
to a better radiator system deserves
at least a passing notice from the mo-
torist.
Oiled earth roads should not he re-
garded as a permanent improvement
but are much better than common
earth roads, in the opinion of w. s.
Gearhart, professor of highway en-
fineering in the Kansas agricultural
college. "Oiled roads do not require
so much dragging as ordinary earth
roads," said Professor Gearhart
"They shed water better and do not
become so dusty. Altho oiled roads
are not so satisfactory as gravel roads
they may be a help in developing
good roads sentiment" The best re-
suits from oiling are to be obtained
| by applying the oil when the road Is
hard, smooth, dustless, and without
any ruts or pockets, according tc
Professor Gearhart. Where there IL
a pocket in the road water will gath
er after every storm. oil works bet
ter on sandy soils than on clay oil
heavy loans. Loan soils may bs
helped by sprinkling light coating
of sand over the oiled surface. Fol
the first application, half gallon o.
oil containing from 40 to so per cen
asphalt is sufficient for each squar'
yard of road surface. Usually a stril
10 feet wide is oiled. and at the rat'