New-York tribune., 1922-04-09
One Automobile
In Motion Worth
Dozen in Mire
For Same Reason That Some
Persons Never Get Out of
Rut, Motor Car Should
Not Be Allowed to Balk
By H. Clifford Brokaw
Technical Director West Side Y. NJ

c. A. Automobile Schools
To keep from getting into rut may
be good advice to the ambitious young
man starting out in life and looking
forward to successful achievement.
10 get out of rut may be good coun-
sci to the older man who has settled
down INTO groove in life that is
likely to lead to nothing better. But
keep in the rut" is legitimate sug-
gestion to the automoblist who is
gong along very muddy road on one
OF the soft, wet spring days.
In spite of all the pavements and
excellent state roads there comes q
time in the experience of almost every
driver of car when he has to go over
piece of bad muddy road in order
to arrive at his destination. Every
motorist sooner or later finds him self
struggling through a stretch of road
way that makes a piece of newly
plowed meadow look like the streets
OF the pearly city i'll comparison. His
chief consideration in this instance is
to get through without becoming stuck
in the mud
In these days when the frost is COM
ing out of the ground getting mired in
an auto is common outdoor sport,
though by no means popular one.
Even on some state roads where the
road bed is perfectly hard, the sides
are often so soft that in turning out
to go by another car or in meeting q
car on the road, the driver may find his
machine sinking into bunch of soft
mud. And if he is not careful his car
may become glued to the spongy terra
firma. Surprises of this sort are apt
to occur because in many cases the
dirt or grass along the side of the road
has every appearance of being hard
and capable of holding up the vehicle.
But all ground is not hard that looks
that way, especially in April.
The Muddy Season
There is no season of the year to be
undertaken to negotiate pastures or
meadows. Going after the cows by
auto is not good form until later in
the year. And going into the woods
to get spring flowers is not accom-
pished most satisfactorily by the use
OF an automobile. Going along a sandy
beach or across any stretch of deep
sand is no occupation for a motor car
any season of the year, if it can be
avoided.
When a bad piece of road cannot be
avoided there are certain precautions
which the careful driver takes. In
the first place, he sees to it that his
chains are on the tires and that they
are on tighter than usual. If the
chains are too loose the wheels will
sometimes spin around inside the chain
when the car is stuck. Then as he
approaches the spot he shifts his gears
INTO either second or first speed, as
his engine is less apt to stall under
such conditions. If there are some
we'll worn ruts he gets in them, for as
rule these grooves in the road indi-
cate the path other cars have taken,
and there is less likely to be bottom
less pits along such route. But once
having got into these ruts it is fan
better to keep in them than to try get
ting out. In undertaking to get out
the turning of the front wheels tends
to slow the car down tremendously, as
these wheels thus turned have a SINH
lar effect to putting on brake.
1t 1T is absolutely necessary to get
out of rut the driver should re-
member that the steering wheel will
require more than the usual twist in
order to turn it, and that once the
front wheels are out there will then
be tendency for the car to make
sharper turn than the driver intends.
This same principle should also be
remembered if one is driving on trolley
tracks, especially on wet day. I have
seen a car turn completely around
when the driver made an attempt to
get off trolley tracks on a rainy day
and when going at a brisk speed.
Travelling on the trolley tracks may be
preferable to the road if the road is
in very poor condition. The car tends
to follow the tracks, which makes driv-
ing easy, and the wear on the tries,
while it may be concentrated on a
small part of the rubber, is probably
not greater than the wear on the rest
of the car would be on the rough road.
Only care must be exercised when it
comes time to leave this straight and
narrow path.
keep On Going" the Rule
The careful driver on approaching a
bad spot slows down his speed. If he
has been going along at twenty-five or
thirty miles an hour it is likely to be
difficult for him to come down to fif-
teen miles an hour while on poor
strip of highway, but it can be done.
He goes slowly but he goes. And he
keeps on going. This is the most i'm
portant rule for soft ground-"keep on
going" To stop or even hesitate is to
be stuck.
VI CIOoc SO uHlOIIuHdCc dS 10 nave
become stuck in the mud what is the
method of procedure? First, try back
ing. If the wheels spin when under
taking to go backward or forward after
one or two trials, further attemps
along this line are apt to be futile.
They are likely to be worse than futile,
for the spinning wheels employ them
selves in making bigger and deeper
holes from which it will be more diff
cult to get the car.
If there are several persons in the
car and if they will get out and push,
it may be that the car, thus relieved of
part of its load and having the ad-
vantage of their strength in the push
ing act, will be able to pull itself out.
A fairly sure method of procedure
is to jack up the wheels and build as
substantial road as possible under
them by filling up the holes with small
stones. 1t may be necessary first to
build up some sort of foundation on
which to place the jack before it can
function.
Can Use Rope on Tires
1t is sometimes possible to place
piece of board in front of the wheel
that is spinning in such position that
the car will ride out of the hole on
the board. Pieces of wood or heavy
cloth or branches may be placed in
the hole in front of the wheel so as to
form a foundation of sufficient stabil-.
ity to get the car out. Or rope may
be placed around the tires, which will
act as a chain, only more effectively, or
of Iotb ho ;oJ OF ipto