Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1921-01-09

iron: Fool that I was. The barn
has an electric light socket. That
/! electric iron put near the carburetor
should make things nice and COM
Portable. I'll try it, anyway"
And so it happened that when
/ the hood of the faithful boat. a pleas
I ant warmth greeted him. and when
! he put his foot on the starter button,
which had failed to produce any
! excitement in the works earlier in
the day. there was an instant re-
! Spouse. A little later the car turned
F.. its nose toward the country road,
where traffic had worn a lane in the
| snow.
I Every winter thousands Of mo-
florists lose their patience and dig
nifty and much of their chance of
going to heaven when cold weather
; and low-grade gasoline conspire~ to
make things hot for them, as it were.
For the motorist who dislikes to
waste time and labor on sluggish,
f.; cold motor. or who, like a physician.
, simply must be ready to start out at
moments notice. the obvious solu-
| ton of the problem is heating--either
, the orthodox method of warming the
| garage by means of steam heat or
stove. or the equally effective scheme
of warming the cars radiator with
: heater especially designed for the
purpose.
Fears Largely UnfOunded.
Whatever misgivings the motorists
, may have regarding the fire danger
involved in the proximity of a fame
| heated radiator warmer or kerosene
stove are largely unfounded. In the
case of most devices of this character
the fame is guarded by wire screen
similar to that employed in the miners
safety lamp. which makes it impos-
sible for the fame to ignite stray
gasoline vapors with which it may
come in contact.
But even the old-fashioned coal or
wood stove offers practically no dan
ger, since the draft created by the
fire within acts as ventiiator III
drawing all vapors from the floor OF
the garage and sending them up ana
out of the chimney.
If heating means such as these are
not available, then the motorist mas
recourse to a number of make-snlits'
any one of which. if properly appheo'
will make it unnecessary 1or the
owner to spend the day moplns at
home when he is inclined to take the
family for a spin through the crisp.
bealth-giyine winter air. Leaving out
of consideration the hot-water kettle.
the use of which would make II
necessary, to draw off the non-freez-
ing radiator solution every tlne
start was attempted. handy ana eA
ceedingIy efficient carburetor and in
take heater is found in the electrical
" heated 1atiron found in many CITY
households Connected to conven
lent Socket in the garage, and laid
where it will do the most good, ~
iron of this sort applies itself very
capabIy to the job of warming. things
under the hood. point that may
have a tendency to reassure tHllu
souls is that the heating fatirons usu-
euy are completely Enclosed, thus
making it impossible for explosive or
inflammable vapors to come In con
tact with them
Adouts Ingenious Method.
One motorist. who adopted the cleo
trio iron method of preparing MS car
buretor for action in the morning
achieved the acme of convenience by
placing the iron in position after
stabling the car for the day, shutting
the current off by means OF s"itch
located in is residence. In the morn
ing. upon sitting down to his break
fast, he turned this swl.cn on H nv
when he reached his garage a olt
later the carburetor was ready TOT
him and started the motor without
the slightest trouble
But the great winter standby OF the
motorist is ether. Possessing the az
L
bottle offers it's aid wherever start
ing help is needed and as long as the
ignition current holds out shot OF
the fluid that puts folks TO steep IL
generally puts instant life into
motor that otherwise hasn't the faint
est inclination to work. In many cars
the carburetor is SO located and con-
structed that the float bowl cover
may be taken OF without difficulty
and in moment. If shut-off cock
be provided. by means OF which the
flow of fuel to the bowl may be
stopped temporarily. a quick and easy
start may be had by adding small
quantity of ether to the gasoline that
is in the float. Where it becomes nee
essary to introduce the ether through
printing mixture of half ether and half
benzine is found very useful. And
there also are motorists who obtain
very satisfactory results from adding
about three ounces or ether 10 each
FIVE gallons of gasoline in the main
tank. The combination gives good
start as well as much better running
during cold weather. 1t is not ad-
yisable, however. to continue the use
of ether when warmer weather makes
it, possible to dispense with the ex-
pedient.
available. where there is neither
ether hottie nor hot brick. some sort
of shift can be made with pieces OF
cloth Wing out in very hot water
end wrapped around the intake mani
fold and carburetor float bowl. The
idea is really not so much to impart
considerable heat to these parts as
| to raise the temperature Of the metal
sufficiently above the temperature or
! the fuel that the latter will not con-
| this connection that the vaporization
; of the fuel itself abstracts much
heat from the intake piping. as is
| seen particularly in winter. when
| carburetor tubes are often covered
with ice in spite of the fact that they
are located in close proximity OF the
! hot engine.
"Footwarmer" May BE Used.
; Many motorists are equipped with
/ footwarmers, consisting of a cloth
covered metal container in which a
| previously heated brick Of carbona-
| ceous material glows for hours. CIV
| ing Off considerable heat in the
see one of these heaters placed be-
hind the radiator. on top of motors
| and close to the carburetor for the
purpose of keeping these parts at a
temperature we'll above that of the
outside air. While devices such as
these offer little or no danger when
employed in the daytime and in the
4 open. they are less to be recon-
| mended during the night. in a closed
garage. where there is but limited
circulation Of the air and where there
| is. at least. a remote possibility for
vapors to come in contact with the
! glowing material in the heater.
| In the infantile days Of the auto
mobile. some fifteen years $50. the
| careful motorist generally laid his
mount up for the winter. resurrecting
| it when the first buds began to show
on the trees. Today hardly anybody
thinks of disseminating the use Of his