The Washington herald., 1919-08-03
OWNERS ADVISED
TO MARK AUTOS
Absence of Definite Means
Of Identification Is Big
Help to Thieves.
By II. A. TARANTOJs,
Member :. A. L.

ed whether he could Identify his own
car under any given set Of circum-
stances, his impulse would be to re-
turn an unqualified and indignant ar-
frmative. The police OF any of our
larger cities would disagree with him
Just as unqualihedly.
As a matter OF fact. most car own
ers depend for Identification on some
scratch on the body. some broken
screw in the chassis or some other
equally uncertain factor. They do
not stop to consider that our big
manufacturers are turning out models
in ten thousand lots that differ from
each other in not the slightest dis
cernible degree. BY the time a sue
cessful automobile thief has run a
stolen car through his service sta
tion" il will puzzle the most careful
owner on earth to identify his vehicle.
An instance in point is found in the
recent experience OF a car owner in a
Middle Western city who lost his car.
a touring model of a popular make.
and after some three weeks of anX-
ious waiting was summoned to police
headquarters to see whether he could
identify a vehicle answering to his
description Of his lost car.
Unable to Tell Car.
Arrived at the police station he
found a small group OF other owners,
who had assembled TO try and identify
the same car to see which he had
boen summoned The hopeful owner
had a number OF marks by which
he felt confident he could prove his
ownership Of the restored vehicle.
There was a bent screw in one part
Of the chassis. "A dent in one fender.
a scratch OF peculiar shape on the
dash. The car with which he was
confronted was undoubtedly OF the
same vintage as his lost boat. but
unaappiIy il was painted Il riCl ultra
MARINE blue instead Of the dark green
that had gTaCed MS vehicle. The
NEST earnest scrutiny failed to dis
close any Of the distinguishing marks
on which he had relied. \ slight chip
rf-g Of the new coat Of enamel re-
ve7led the fact that it had been put
o. over ? previous coat Of the dark
-~a-7 hat our friend had described.
EIr TWO Of the other assembled OWL
erz had put in bids for dark green
cars. and eventually one of them
o.
CNi1 in the gearset housing. The iden-
trsrzrion was not particularly con-
,r--irz. bat in the absence Of any
irl-- better it ser,ed to give the car
~ -he owner who had been able TO
G-s-rl5e the impcrfectiOn.
A. a matter Of fact. TO car owner
ou-lt 10 decend on any such casual
r-oans Of identification a. slight i'm
rarfectiOus that may have accrued
during the operation OF the eh.Cle,
When the professional automobile thief
steals "A car he takes il to what
amounts practically to a rebuilding
fICtOry. Ir many cases the entire
mechanism Is taken down and the diff
ferent parts are redistrIbuted with
tsoSe from other cars of the same
make AMI model 70 turn ont what
amount to new models.
How to Mark Parts.
The only safe method of placing iden-
ti-,cation marks on a car Is to place
them on all the major parts OF the
unecha nism. Perhaps the most salts
factory method of doing so is to place
punch marks on the various units. All
such marks should be put in places
where they will not be readily discern
ib'e. For instance. on the inside of
the axleS. on the flywheeL on the up
Per side Of the Eearset housing. After
the marks have been made they should
he rubbed over with grease until they
are as nearly indistinCuishable as pos
sibIe. The car owner can have a prick
punch made with his initials on it In
very fine type, and with this it is pos
sible to place Identification marks on
the various parts that will generally
escape notice and yet remain perma-
nentIy.
One owner whom I know has had
the upholstery OF his front and rear
seats lifted up and has tackled his
card on the wooden framework OF
the seat This is not at all bad.
because the thief would seldom think
10 look in this location for an iden-
tifcation mark of any sort.
Another clever idea is to bore 4
few small holes a mere fraction of
an inch into the framework at a given
place carefully measured from per
manently located landmarks. Then
fill these holes with lead aud smear
the spot We'll With grease. II there
comes "A time when it is necessary
to identify the car it is a simple mat
ter to measure off the proper dis
tanCe. scraPe \ little Of the lead of
and prove ownership of the car.
In some cases an owner has been
able to identify his car by reason
OF some simple but ingenious mark
80 placed that it is apparently part
OF the car or equipment. Not very
long ago the New York police re-
covered a stolen car and nabbed the
thief al the same time. The car
corresponded in every way to a de-
scriptiOn given by certain hereaved
owner except that it had recently
been reDainted in an entirely differ
ent color scheme.
Had Name on Clock.
At any rate the police summoned
this owner to see if he could iden-
tify the reclaimed car as the one he
had lost. He came to headquarters,
looked the vehicle over. paying con-
siderable attention to the dash, and
turning to the detective in charge.
said: This Is my boat all right.
in spite of the fresh coat of paint" I"
Have you any marks to identity
IL by?" asked the officer
Yes. sir" replied the owner. My
name is J. X. Smith as you know.
Just take a look a t the face of that
clock"
The officer looked. On the dial of
the clock was the legend. Brown
Clock Company. Boston. Mass" In
1ns script beneath this makers
name was Sold by J. K. Smith
Agent" The thief had accepted this
As a bona fde agents name instead