The Washington herald., 1920-02-08
PROPOSED PLAN TO PREVENT
E ACRUELTY" TO AUTOMOBILE ES
Ailments in Motor Cars Overlooked by Care
less Owners Who Merely Feel An
hoyed by Poor Service.

1t is an old saying that charity be-
gins at home" and wrongly applied
the old saw would lead to the disap-
pearance of all charity. II is a fact
though that the average motor car
owner is far more charitable toward
tire vehicles than he is 70 his own
particular The average motorist
Is carr i've so as not TO in
jure aa car. but he seldom
treats his bus in the same way.
The treatment received by the aver
age car Is the reverse Of charitable,
in fact Il would come under the .eyes
yof tho Society for the Prevention of
Cruelty to Motor Cars VI such an
organization were in existence. Let
us examine some Of the common and
inexcusable abuses in detail. after
which we may realize how easy IL is
10 avoid them and resolve Co do so.
Take for instance n bad case OF
missing. The average car owner
know that his engine has developed
4 miss by an unusual vibration. which
is annoying certainly but scarcely
'nore than that. and by distinct
'ss of power. This latter may not
be vitality important because most
American cars have far more power
han thoy need. except in emergen-
cies.
Neglect Dangerous.
So II happens that many owners re-
gard a miss as simply a nuisance am
say to themselves. 'iOh. III fix tho
blame thing when I get time" They
usually get time within two or three
months. during the intervening period
Of which the engine has been missing
with unwholeSome regularity. But In
actual truth when the engine Is miss
ing many different narts Of the mech
anism are being subjected to unusual
and Injurious strains When the en-
rine misses it frequently ..appens that
while the engine is part Of the time
propellinC the car. during the rest Of
the time the car is propelling the en-
/ rine. This sets up Injurious strains
on many parts. Every car owner has
noticed the vibration that Is set up Nv
missing. This condition is due 10 the
fact that when one cylind"r misses
the engine as a whole slows down TO n
certain extent and then speeds up as
the next cylinder fires. The car me- n
while is running along at nearly an
even speed. II follows that when the
engine slows down momentarilv ano
then speeds up again an unusual
strain is placed on universSs, gears,
etc.
To explain this let us remind the
reader that only one tooth of a bcvel
gear is completely engaged at any one
tune. When the engine is slowed down
by missing and then speeds up aga-n
- l.. 4 l.
Gus that the single gear tooth has to
carry a most unusual strain. which in
time may cause breakage or chipping.
The net result Of our Investigation so
far is the discovery that missing ~
not a mere annoying condition that
may be tolerated until convenient to
eliminate II. but an actual danger 10
the mechanism. Whenever a car
owner detects a miss he should go
after the causeAnd eliminate tire trou-
ble with es little delay as possible.
Easy with Clutch.
Very similar results when the ac-
celerator pedal is operated uneven
.1y. This will be almost obvious.
and the driver who desires to be
charitable to his own car will re-
alize that pressure should be ap-
piled to the pedal gently. Incl
dentally. when driving over very
rough roads where il is not -posSi-
hle to keep the foot steady. would
it not be more sensible to use the
hand throttle?
The clutch. wrongly handled. Is
one of the most uncharitable units
in the entire mechanical organism.
When the clutch is thrown into
engagement IL is almost Inevitable
that the mechanism as a whole is
subjected TO certain stresses or
strains. II the engagement Is
harsh or violent these stresses are
magnified many times over. The
lesson here learned is easy: accu-
rate operation of the clutch on the
part of the driver and adequate
maintenance OF the part so that il
may not become harsh in applica-
ton.
One of the commonest places in
which the average car owner shows
his lack of charity toward his own
vehicle is in the fabrication sys-