Evening star., 1925-03-08

Automobile owners in self protec-
tion are urged to know every mark
and scratch on their cars and to add a
few private" marks in order to foil
the operations of thieves. Although
almost every part of the automobile
bears the factory serial number. au-
tomobile thieves have found a way
10 nuilify these marks and numbers
as means of Identification by the
owner.
Automobile thievery has been de-
Veloped to the point where two or
more cars of the same make are
stolen and the numbers on the vnri-
Gus units switched about from one
TO another, obliterated or changed so
that these numbers are almost use
less from the standpoint of identifica
tion by the rightful owner.
This is a condition that cannot be
controlled at the factory" explained
II. H Bassett, president of the Buick
Motor CO. Similarly, it cannot be
controlled by the owner. But there
is way for the owner to get around
it. He can put some private marks
in obscure places on his car where
they will not be likely to be detected,
or if detected Will not be regarded
seriously by the thief.
Chidcs Careless Owners.
at seems rather odd that the av-
erage motor car owner is so sadly
lacking in means of Identifying his
car. If he bought a horse he would
soon know every peculiar marking on
that horse. He could tell you the pc
culiar markings on his pet dog,
watch or any other of his personal
effects. -sa
But his automobile Is a different
story. He knows it is a f1ve-passen-
ger car, made in such and such
year, along with perhaps q hundred
thousand other cars OF the same
model. But after describing its top.
windshield. dash equipment, extra
tires and so on, he hasn't given the
police single tangible clew- that
would distinguish his car from many
others of the same model. The
chances are he has even lost the car
number and will have to apply to the
dealer for IT.
The first thing to do. If possible. is
to tell the police something that will
identity the car as 1t passes on the
street in case there is something
about its outward appearance to dis
tinguish it. The second thing Is to
tell them the location OF some private
marks that will identify positively
the car in addition to the assembly
numbers in case any Of them have
been changed.
"A private mark TO be a private
mark must be unique. 1t must be
different from the mark on any other
car of the same make. otherwise it
is not a positive means of identifca-
ton. With a production of 100000
cars year il would be necessary for
the manufacturer TO devise 100000
separate and distinct marks keep a
record of them all, advise each indi-
vidual owner what the marks were
and where to find them. This is so
far out of the question that 1t will
not be necessary to discuss it,
'On the other hand, IL a system OF
this kind were adopted the thieves
would not be long in becoming en-
tirely familiar with 1t. when it would
have Immediately served its useful
ness exactly as the numerous factory
serial numbers have done to date.
Good Lock a Necessity.
Every automobile should be equip
ped with a good lock of some descrip-
tion, but II should also be remem-
bered that even a lock can be dis
posed of il the thief has time
enough
1T all SINNERS down to the fact
that the owner should be the most
interested person in protecting his
o"H piopei ~ dilu iie 10 Iedily the
only one who can devise an absolute
ly distinctive means of identifying
his car that nobody else will be ia
miliar with.
1T will not take much time to put
such marks on his car in obscure
places and in such a manner that
they cannot be readily removed, and
the time thus spent will be a wondef-
fully good investment If the occa-
sion ever arises when they will be
needed.
"A motor car is valuable piece of
property-more valuable, perhaps,
than any other movable property in
the possession of the average owner