The Washington times., 1917-01-06
Frank Discussion of Motor
Matters by The Times Auto
mobile Editor
AN UNPREJUDIcED OPINION
A Column of Judgment on Is
sues Vital to Motor Car
Owners.
By MONTE w. sOHN.

Motordom, especially motor branch
es of the war departments of various
governments, was much interested in
ed in the western theater of the Eu
ropean war. 1t was described as in.
vincible in its assault, and because
heavy artillery was necessarily con
siderably back of ,"enemy trenches
not merely its slaughter of gunfire
but in many instances by the psyche.
logical effect of it's appearance"
But the tank, like the Zeppelin, is
impossible as an effective machine of
modern war
The Zeppelin struck terror in Eng.
land at first. But in the last year.
instead of empty streets and blanched
faces, the appearance OF one OF these
air monsters over London brought
thousands into every thoroughfare,
thousands who ran here and there,
not in fear, but curiously following
the course of its bomb dropping.
Three or four of the bigger hotels
inaugurated the scheme of Zeppelin
parties on their roofs and made cap
ital of these visits.
Makes Fine Target.
The tank is equally impotent as a
serious factor OF war
1t affords an excellent, slow NOV
ing target for the German small ar
tillery, batteries of which have been
moved closer to front line trenches in
vicinities where the tanks have been
operating.
With the exception of big, long
range guns, necessarily weighty,
nothing in war today is effective IL 1t
is heavy. And the tank weighs, from
varied reports, at least fifteen tons.
Its speed is less than six miles
an hour, another demerit.
Even while the entente were glory
ing in the success of the tank, Ger
man engineers, who have been spe-
cializing in simplicity and lightness
in chassis construction, produced q
car, heavy in armor and armament
but whose chassis and motive power
plant were 90 per cent aluminium and
light alloys.
This armored tractor, built with
"caterpillars" forward and wide
Hanged steel drivers at the rear, is
capable of twenty miles an hour and
special spring suspension, of ingen-
ious construction is protected from
and holes whose shocks IT absorbs-
1t weighs less than 5000 pounds, is
equipped with a four-inch gun and a
complement of seven machine guns, a
speedy medium for offensive much
more effective than the tank.
Germany Is less slow than our men
tai picture of her.
She is less slow than we have fond
ly supposed, just as England's sense
of humor is more keen than our
slangish own permits us to believe.
Aluminium suppIants Copper.
The war has been a good influence
in motor matters, and particularly we
are indebted to German ingenuity.
As a result of the English block
ade of Germany, new alloys in which
aluminium plays a major part, alloys
which are as strong as steel and in
finitely lighter, will enhance the eff
fciency OF future motor cars.
We have already indicated in this
column that German chemists have
produced an absolutely successful syn
thetfc rubber. This rubber is being
used in the manufacture of nearly
using today.
E. A. Langdon, who recently re-
turned from Europe on a tour Of in
for the Glass Journal pub
LEGATIONS. said in a late article that
there is hardly a car left which was
drafted for service at the beginning
of the war, and that aluminium is be
ing used not only for crank cases and
gear cases, but for valves, shafts, cyl
inder heads and Jackets, supplanting
copper. steel, and iron, formerly used.