Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-02-20
No. 179: Locking the Car.

Just minute while l lock the car
Smith said as we parked on our way
to the theater.
You'd better take more than a
minute to that job" | cautioned. It's
more than a matter of turning key"
Smith twisted his key in the igni-
ton lock and then removed it.
I'D like to see the average crook
get by that lock-" he boasted pointing
to the we'll known name on the key.
II always feel safe when / leave this
car
IF | had four feet OF ordinary wire
could make off with your car in the
time you have taken to lock it, | said.
And if ! was in the business of
stealing automobiles of course I'd
have this wire and many more con
veniences besides. You see all I'd
have to do would be to attach one end
of the wire to the ungrounded slide
of your horn and the other end to the
ignition coil. l wouldn't need your
ignition switch at all.
Smith wanted to have me demon
Strate, so interested was he in the
idea. but l wanted to see the show
for which we had tickets. And, be-
sides, | wanted transportation home
after the show. So / suggested that
he go ahead and really lock the car
Good for Brief Stops.
Lock the DOORS" / urged him.
I'm not belittling the ignition switch;
I'm just trying to give you facts. The
ignition switch is Serviceable for the
short stop. Suppose you are stepping
into the bank for a few minutes. All
right; it's protection enough, because
the thief will not risk tampering with
the wiring when he knows that you
are coming right back again. Also
it's conspicuous business tampering
with wires in broad daylight. A gen.
eral rule I follow is to consider the
ignition lock ample protection for
short business calls. shopping and
such like in daytime. After dark, or
for longtime parking, l make a more
complete job of locking the car.
Don't misunderstood me. l always
use the ignition lock regardless Of
whatever else l may do. You can't
put too many obstacles in the way of
the thief"
Smith was going ahead turning up
the windows and swapping the catches
on the doors. Finally he inserted the
key in the right front door, turned it,
removed it and said. There, now,
hope I've satisfied you. If a thief
wants this car he'll have to bring an
AK with him.
With that l placed my hand on the
door handle and turned it. The door
opened.
Evidently your key does not lock
the door when you turn it to the
right" 1 suggested. l suppose you
have left the car unlocked many times
thinking you have locked it,"
irc cd 1n
Then he tried turning the door handle
to make certain he really had locked
the car. Meanwhile l planned a trick.
Lock Again Defeated.
Of the car, l reached through a Win
dow which was still down just a few
inches. l could barely touch the in
side door handle. In a second I was
sitting in the car, blowing the horn,
much to Smiths chagrin.
Still silent. he started the job all
over again, making sure that win
dows and doors were secure. He
even tried the doorhandles. And while
he was going around the car on this
expedition l was pulling out the wind
shield and sticking, my arm through
to one Of the inside front door han
dies.
You ought to go in the business
of stealing them," Smith growled. IF
we're going to see this show let's
take the car in with us and check 1t
with our hats and coats"
Its a little unpleasant" / con-