Evening star., 1927-04-24

Ithc luggage before leaving home,
| thev will discover, after taking 10 the
open road, that every possible means
! has been taken to insure pleas
ant. comfortable journey.
Roads now are better than ever,
and there are more of them. NO
matter in which direction the motor
| ist turns the nose of his car, he will
! find a greater number of hne high
ways, and at the same time he VIII
| discover that many roads which tor
merly were in rather dubious condi-
tion now present a smooth and at
tractive appearance.
| Facilities of all types have been
| improved to a remarkable degree.
| Tourist camps, for instance, are
found in greater number, and they
have been bettered to a considerable
extent. In every community the mo-
tor tourist will find ready and a
hearty welcome, with many agencies
anxious to make his stay happy
one.
Thus the 1927 touring season pre-
sents an alluring picture. With cars
supremely perfected, with roads
more numerous and in finer Condi-
tion, and with every section OF the
country wing with the other for the
privilege of entertaining him, 1t IS
no wonder that the motor tourist is
locking forward to his this years
outing with ardent anticipation.
X * * x
Discourtesy on the part of some
police officers truly is unfortunate,
Tor it casts severe reflection upon
the vast majority of these faithful
servants OF the public. In one par
ticular case which came to the
writer's attention recently, woman
had been given ticket for overtime
parking. She reported to the pre-
cinct police station, where she at
tempted to find out what she was
supposed TO do. She posed several
questions to the desk sergeant, who
refused even to look up, but contin-
ued studying book lying before
him. After she had stood by the
desk a while, the sergeant, i'll the
midst of a question, turned and
walked away.
Finally he did give his attention to
the inquirer to the extent of telling
her that he was unable to read what
was written on the ticket. Event
ually the officer who had made out
the ticket came in. He managed to
read what he had written, but it was
only after several questions that he
told her she would either have to
put up collateral or appear in court
the next morning.
All of this took approximately half
an hour. 1t could have been accom-
plished in less than FIVE minutes and
the individuals respect of the Police
Department would have remained in
tact. As it is, this person has the
opinion now that every policeman
goes out of his way to be discour-
teous. For the benefit of the de-
partment, all officers should take es-
pecial pains in this connection.
4 x x x
Although smoke screens are spe-
cifcally banned by the District traf-
fic act, occasionally motorists achieve
the same results too often through
incorrect operation of their cars or
because of the need of repairs. It
is true that their intent is quite diff
ferent from that of the criminal who
has his car equipped with the spe-
cial means for throwing out a vast
cloud of smoke to aid in his escape.
The obnoxious effects of the unin-
territorial producer of exhaust smoke,
however, are of sufficient conse-
quence to warrant some attention
being given to their presence on city
streets or rural highways.
Two such instances were observed
recently and both were of such
marked character that scores of mo-
torists were subjected to thorough
"gassing." The one occurred on the
Connecticut Avenue Bridge, and, de-
spite the exposed position of the
roadway, the cloud of smoke en-
veloped traffic for several minutes.
The other occurred on the hill on
Sixteenth street leading up from
Florida avenue. The offending car
was a touring model, obviously of
ancient vintage, and its emission was
SO dense that at times it was scarce
ly discernible to a notorist follow
ing Is feet behind.
*** y
Just as the .automotive industry
is spending millions in research to
improve its products, so is the tire
manufactures making heavy outlays
in his efforts to outstrip his rivals.
Leading tire makers have appro-
priated sans that run into seven
figures in this field during the last
few years and the ventures already
are proving successful in the form
of better tires.
Tires of one-piece construction,
with semi-fat tread, now are being
marketed by several leading con-
Germs. These types are declared to
represent great tire efficiency and
markedly good service from them is
claimed emphatically.
Among the other new notes is the
tire of small rim diameter. The i'm
pulse is to associate this tire with
overall smallness. This is an mac
curate estimate, for the sectional
width of this type of tire is the
same as any other of corresponding
dimensions.
The motor car buyer has reaped
great deal from competition. Better
tires are just another item of the
harvest.
X X X
Some interesting conclusions TO be
crawn from the figures are that the
average motor car consumes 454 gal
Ions OF gasoline yearly. Arbitrarily