Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1923-07-14
THE HUMAN SIDE OF THE AUTOMOBILE


There is something distinctly
human about the automobile engine.
1t has, as most of us have noted,
the sweetness, softness and con-
stancy of well behaved folk when it
is treated with consideration-like-
wise, the obstinacy and perversity of
a peeved person when certain items
bearing on its proper upkeep are de-
liberately disregarded or uncon-
sciously overlooked.
Just like you-or like me; likable,
lovable and agreeable when things
are going along just right-disagree-
able and distempered when we are
not feeling well-when things go
| wrong-when we feel we've been
Sighted.
But there's more that's human
about the automobile engine than its
| moods-its ups and downs, SO to
speak.
How the Engine Breathes
It breathes, for instance-and a
constant supply of pure fresh air is
| essential for it to perform at its best.
Take it on top of a high mountain
and we discover quite quickly that
the lowered atmospheric pressure
| the rarified air-has reduced its
| power output.
And like you or me under similar
condition, it will not display it's ac-
customed energy until it has become
acclima ted-until proper carburetor
adjustments have been made to ac-
= commodate it to the changed condi-
tons.
And it feeds-feeds on liquid fuel,
gasoline. Let it overhead, or operate
on a Tich mixture, and-like us again
it becomes sluggish in its perform
ance and feverish. 1t tends to over
heat.
Isn't that most human?
Cnderfeed it-that is operate on
a lean miXture-and it becomes
feeble, and faltering in its delivery
of power 1t must be properly fed
it's diet must be pure, else, like living
folk, it loses its pep and its punch
and its dependability.
And Here's Nervous System
Perhaps you never realized that
the motor has a highly developed
nervous system. The ignition dis
tributor is the brain of the engine
it signals it's various commands to
TO the different cylinders even as the
human brain signals our muscles for
action. The net work of ignition
| wiring corresponds almost exactly
with the tingling nerves which play
such an important part in controlling
human endeavor.
If the delicate tissues composing
the brain are seriously disturbed-in
action-death-is the result. Less
serious disturbances at the center of
control or arrangements affecting the
nervous system may cause partial
paralysis or irregular functioning
which exhibits itself spasmodically in
such form as st. Vitas dance and
similar nervous disorders.
And that's exactly what happens
with the engines nervous system.
Some serious arrangement of the
vital parts of the distributor may
cause total stoppage-a dead motor.
Less important maladies - dirty
points-damp wiring-loose connec-
tons - chafed nsulation-and the
| like cause the engine to miss, and
| lag and act much as a mortal beset
with some nervous ailment.
1t is chemical action taking place
| within our body tissues which gener-
ates the heat of life heat of life and
! the power which animates our
muscles. Food supplies the source
of this chemical action.
| So also with the engine. Rapid
chemical action-combusion of the
| fuel takes place-heat is generated
the gases expand against the piston
the engine is vitalized.
Chemical action usually gives rise
to waste products. There is wasting
tissue in the body which we carry off
! through the lymphatics into the
veins, thence to the lungs where
passing through thousands of cellular
passages, it is brought into close
contact with the cleansing air and
expelled from the lungs as worth
! less.
Isn't that exactly how the water
cooling system works? 1t picks up
the waste heat which we must dis
! pose of, carries it to the many-celled
radiator. and brings it into close con-
| tact with the cooling air blast which
carries it off.
Oil Is Motors Life Blood
| Most vital, perhaps, of the many
| systems necessary to the support of
| life, is the blood system. The human
| heart is perfect pump-and it dis
charges constant stream of blood
into our arteries which distribute it
| to each tissue-to each vital part of
! the body.
SIlOuiU luis DiOOu SlIedH IAN
! through any cause Whatsoever, the
results are fatal. Let the quality or
! the quantity of blood fall short Of
what it should be and trouble of a
most serious nature ensues.
And the lubricating system is the
blood system of the engine-the oil
pump it's heart-the oil ducts it's
arteries-the lubricant it's vital fluid.
You would worry quite lot If you
| felt that your blood was not up to
the usual standard; you would worry
| considerably more if you knew that
your heart was skipping beat now
and then or otherwise cutting capers
likely to Interfere with your blood
supply.
And in either case you would not
take any Tom. Dick and Harry's