Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-02-20

placed the car in his show room win
dow at exactly the position it would
be in climbing hill of this Charac-
ter. 1t got over the point. 1t sold
the car
In the future the busy motoring
public possibly may demand that all
demonstrations be made in the auto
mobile showroom. 1t would be a
great economy in selling as we'll as
n buying automobiles.
What with tops and wheels wildly
finished, headlights are about the
only dim feature left on the modern
automobile.
Motordom should take a vital in
terest in the National Outdoor Good
Manners Cartoon Contest now being
held under the auspices of the Amer
lean Nature Association. The funda-
mental purpose of the contest, of
course. is to bring to the attention
of the public as whole the very
real need for roadside Identification,
and is directed against the various
dissertations of natures beauties,
such as leaving unsightly camp or
picnic places.
The motoriSt can cooperate to a
marked degree i'll making this whole
work a success And who more than
the motorist should take an en-
phatically vital interest in it, for
does not the preservation of natures
beauty spots in their pristine glory
mean their preservation for the en-
tire motoring fraternity The mo-
torist who exercises the Golden Rule
when utilizing a camp ground or a
picnic spot. after all, is working for
his own advantage as we'll as to that
of his fellow car owner. It's a def
mite case of one for all and all for
one, and followed through as the
Nature Associations plat
form indicates, would mean a broadly
step, and one which
should be effected without delay.
The fact cannot be lodged that
some motorists--and it is certain that
while this group is exceedingly &C
tive it also is relatively small in num-
ber-have brought disrepute upon the
100000 car owners because of their
literally marauding tactics. This
noisy and destructive minority, at
which the American Nature Associa-
ton is correctly aiming, has had no
respect for the rights of others or
feeling for an undefled nature, and
their actions have been thoroughly
reprehensible.
Motorists would do we'll to CO.
operate in spirit and in practice with
what this organization is trying to
be, to the end that a completely un-
desirable situation be done away
with in the shortest possible order.
How can gigantic automobile
manufacturing companies with their
huge organizations and their nation
wide sales forces keep secret a new
EAR in process of launching?
Many wonder about this, and do
not see how it is possible for so
many persons to keep silent about
such matters.
The secret to secret keeping, how
ever, lies in the very giganticness of |
the companies themselves. If they |
were smaller the secrets would be |
harder to keep. AS a matter of fact, |
this is clearly demonstrated every
year. The smaller manufacturers
seldom spring anything as distinct
surprise, whereas several of the 1arg-
est automotive units seem to be able
to give the trade as well as the pub
&c some anxious moments.
The larger the organization the
less any one man has to do with the
whole car. That is the secret of this
thing. If thousand men are on one
part of the assembly line they have
no idea what is going on at the other
end. Even those who see the fin
ished car have no idea how it per-
forms, why it performs the way it
does and how much it is going to
cost. The real surprise to the public
lies not so much in details as in the
picture, price included.
Just before the car is to be sprung
on the world the chiefs get together
and great expectations are in the
air. The price of the car NAV be
the biggest surprise of all-or the
secret of some startling thing the
car. is able to do.
With smaller organizations il is
far more difficult to isolate the yari-
Gus departments. The assembly line
is not so long and men are better &C
qualnted. 1t is easier to put two and
two together.
Secrets then have shorter lives.
Apparently it isn't the number of
tongues that lets a secret out of the
bag, but the way those tongues har-
monize. Keep them wagging out of
tune and the secret remains a secret
there is an old rule which applies
particularly we'll to the problem of
hnding parking space. If YOU don't
succeed the first time, try again. The
lesson taught by this rule is TO 90
around the block once more il an
available space is not found on the
first trip. 1t is often surprising to
see what a complete change there is
in parking conditions on the same
street after the passing of the few
minutes required to go around the
block
While it is the rule in most cities
to allow at least three feet of space
between each parked car and the one
ahead or in the rear, it is permissible
to drive up close to a car which is
parked directly next to a street in
tersection. This is because the car
ahead, the one next to the inter
section, has nothing in its way. 1t
can proceed to leave its space with
out difficulty, even though there is
a car parked closely behind it.