The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1920-02-13

and, slipping it in place, will drive the
car away n about thirty seconds.
But here is the joker-make dunn
my pencil, removing the metal end
from a regular part, or have a wooden
one made and painted to resemble the
original. Slip this dummy into place,
and the thief who examines the mag
neto, and finds it apparently ready for
business, will be puzzled for some
time before he discovers the real
cause of the trouble.
When the battery system is used
for ignition instead of magnetic, a
similar dodge is to remove the brush
from the distributor. Here again
the professional will come prepared
with a spare brush. The truly ingen-
ious car-owner, therefore, will set a
small steel peg in the post on which
the brush rests, and will cut small
slit for it to fit into. So fixt, the theft
will not be able to use his spare brush,
as it will not fit over the peg, but will
be raised up, effectually preventing
the top from being put in place.
Hidden switches in the ignition and
| fuel lines have been used so much that
nowadays even the apprentice in
thievery has gumption enough to fol-
low the line until he has located the
particular switch in which he is in
terested.
If, however, the car owner has
placed one switch in reasonably OBJ
scure location and has hidden another
in still more difficult place, the sec
ond switch will bother any but the
really expert thief for some precious
minutes.
There is another switch arrange
ment which has not been much used,
and which for that very reason quite
effective. This is a switch in the ex-
haust system, which completely shuts
off the power of the engine. The
thief will go over the fuel-line, and
then the ignition, and, finding them
both in apparent operating condition,
will be puzzled to know just what is the
trouble. But let me drop a hint--do
not try to turn a switch in the exhaust
line with the bare hand. Use pair Of
pliers; otherwise you will lose a con-
siderable area of useful skin.
Mr.. Johnston closes by suggesting
remedy for auto-stealing which, In
his opinion, would end the evil forth
with. He advises removal OF the
cause rather than treatment of the eff
feet. He says:
My suggestion hinges on the poss-
ibility of removing motor-cars from
the class of casually negotiable prop
erty. At first glancs this may seem
difficult; in reality is might easily be
accomplished by placing them in the
same class with real estate, giving
each car title and deed, which must
pass whenever it changes hands, and
without which it can no more be sold
than a piece of real estate that is not
registered in the name of the intended
seller.
The beauty of this scheme lies in
the fact that it strikes at the very root
Fof the evil. By removing the casual
resale value of the motor-car, the in
centive to theft has been taken away.
The thief will not take the trouble to
steal something which he con not sub
sequently turn into cash--and there
you are.
The writer recognizes that objec-
lions may be raised to this scheme,
such as the red tape it would involve,
the trouble and expense of filing title
deeds, and the necessity of uniform
ity ow laws governing the subject all
over the country. These objections,
however, he thinks, could be over
come and the advantages resulting
from such reform would greatly out
weigh the disadvantages. He con-
cludes:
It only remains for the organiza-
tions that represent and serve the mo-
toring community to launch cam
paign for this needed reform. With