The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1921-02-21
Around the Turn

| You will all recognize in the next
few lines the one that drives his turns
/ In the city streets and on the country
roads faster than he does his straight
road | don't know whether they think
I it smart or that it shows ignorance.
was out driving with just such
person a few evenings past and L
thought to myself if 1 get home alive
| I'll try and show some of the readers
what a dangerous thing it is. Do you
know that the nightmare of all dirt
track drivers or road racers is the
blowing out of tire on a curve. This
is only one of the chances taken. A
blowout on a straight road at twenty
miles per hour simply means the in
convenience of a tire change and
dent in the pocket book. But a blow
out at even thirty on a turn
where they are most liable to happen
due to the tremendous added strain
on rubber in another, into a curbing5
a broken wheel possibly, a turn over
and faces cut with flying glass, or if
| in the country, off the road and into
ditch or tree. How much better to
slow down from twenty-five to fiji
teen and know you are safe, even if
! your tires are good, your steering
knuckles, tie rods and steering gear
| in general do not get one tenth of
the care or inspection that the poorest
racing cars get and still it is the big
worry of the race driver. And right
here let me say one thing that may
sound strange to many of you the best
racing drivers are the slOwest of city
and road drivers. They realize that
| the fraction Of a second that is taken
to SLOW up a little for a curve or
turn when you are on the way down
town will never amount to anything
to you and the difference between n
wreck AT fifteen miles an hour and at
| twenty five will surprise you. 1 don't
mean to set q funeral pace for any
one. l like to step along twenty or
! twenty miles an hour, but I have
| learned that when it isn't a case of
life or death and there is no big purse
at stake i would just as soon slow
down a bit for that turn, and then
I'm not only sure l can keep control
of the car no matter what happens to
rubber steering arms and so forth, and
| have chance to get out of that fell
lows way that you can always expect
to be coming just around the corner.
Questions and Answers:
! Dear Stone: Do you consider a
motometer on a car n, necessity ?-F.
w. D.
Answer: Not an absolute necessity
and neither is your horn. Practically
the only way a racing driver has of
knowing whether his motor is running
| hot or cold Is his motometer, there
fore I would say if it is good for .
race car it is good for turing. unless
you are one of the million and never
forget to look at your oil and water.
II you have forgotten either a moto-
meter will tell you OF this before you
have done any real damage to your
engine.
| Dear Larry: What are the indica-
tons of insufficient or improper lub-
rication in a steam engine ?-Scott
Answer: There are many people
who are better versed in steam than
| I. However. think / can answer this
one to your satisfaction. What is
commonly known as grooming in
steam cylinder is one of the best in
dications of poor fabrication; also
chattering or harsh, rough trembling
of the valve stems and eccentrics. 1
understand that it is next to impossi-
BILE TO lubricate some engines proper
ly due TO wet steam where there is not
the proper equipment for steam
trap.
Dear Larry: What plug do you
consider the most reliable for dirt
track racing?-J. T.
Answer: This is rather a mean