Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-10-13
MILADY'S MOTORING
BY Frederick C. Russell

That the world moves in cycles is the
discovery of every woman who, in STEP
ping on the gas, finds that we are rap
| idly getting back to the gay nineties."
There is more than news in the
unique automobile exhibition, recently
| held in Paris under the title of the
Elegance Show" It carries message
for all women who drive cars. In the
Partisan exhibit the appearance Of both
the car and its owner driver was judged,
our continental contemporaries ap-
parently approaching the fact that the
| ensemble is what counts. Some OF the
| prize winners were not beauties, nor
were their habiliments outstanding.
They won because they had the ability
| to drive in the grand manner.
Adjustable driving seats were created
| largely as a convenience to women who
found 1t rather uncomfortable at the
wheel of a car designed for the more
stable male of the species. But many
women do not utilize these seats to best
advantage.
one of the mistakes is to keep the
seat cushion too far forward when on
the open road, wasting the space that
often is a comfort on a long trip. In
trafic congestion better control of the
car can be had by advancing the posi-
ton of the cushion. On any long trip
1t will save fatigue to change the seat
position frequently.
Also there is tendency to overlook
the Importance Of adjusting the rear
view mirror In accordance with the
position of the seat.
Recently on long trip woman took
the wheel of her husbands racy car
in order to allow him to rest. She
found the seat a little too far back
from the pedals for convenient use of
the accelerator and decided to feed gas
| from the small lever on the steering
post. After so miles of running she was
| agreeably surprised to note that the
kink which she usually got in her right
| leg when driving her own car a COM
parable distance did not make its ap"
| pearance.
The hand control is an unheralded
convenience for those who need varia.
ton to help them fight fatigue.
No need to tie ribbon on the steer.
ing wheel to mark the point where the
| front wheels are in the straight-ahea
| position If you are observing, The
three-spoke steering wheels, and even
some of the four-spoke type, are de-
| signed so that one of the spokes must
point ahead If the car Is to go straight.
1t is an easy matter to identify this par"
/! ticular spoke.
The ammeter is one Of those small
| things about a car which few motorists
know very much about, yet it is q very
useful article when properly understood.
A. woman does not have to be especially
gifted mechanically to grasp the gen.
] eral idea and profit by knowing what
| messages the unit relays.
Inserted In the line between the bat
| terry and the generator, the ammeter
serves to show when current for ignition
and lighting is drawing on either Of
these two units. Since the battery has
heavy job to perform in cranking the
engine and In lighting the car, many
times when the engine is not running
1t is important to keep 1t on charge"
as much as possible for ordinary run
ming. For this reason the ammeter
| should show charging rate of about IL
Rmperes at normal speeds. During idling
| or when driving fast, especially at night
when the lights are in use, of course
the charging rate will drop, or even go
| to discharge.
II for any reason the ammeter should
| fail, 1t will cut out the current between
the battery and the ignition and light
1 ing circuits. This can be remedied tenn
porarily by connecting short wire be-
| tween the two posts on the back of the
ammeter. The instrument will not reg
lister, but the car can be operated as
usual.
In many cities parked cars are check
| ed for observation by police officers,
who make chalk marks on the tires In
one large city the markings are put on
the roof of the car by mounted police.
Any woman who drives where such sys-
TENS are the rule or. who travels ex-
| tensively should see that the tires and
| top are kept clean. otherwise an old
mark may lead to unwarranted tagging.
I had stopped behind another car
| which had been halted for q standing
| street car. It was on hill and as the
driver ahead started to go she stalled
her engine and backed into me with a
dull thud. This happens to the best Of
| drivers everywhere, and I wasn't at all
surprised until she started waving for
me to go around her.
There are lot OF things to be con-
| cluded from situations of this Sort but
one that seems outstanding to me is the
Importance OF looking carefully enough
into the rear view mirror to see what
| Is behind the car behind. The mirror
In milady's car told very plainly that
I could not back up and go around be-
| cause her car mad pushed mine into the
car behind me. We were all telescoped
and simply had to wait her move.
incidentally, II the car ahead starts
backing into yours, don't pull on the
hand brake or press too hard on the
| foot brake. Let your car move back q
| little to break the shock. There will be
bumper out Of shape or whatever part
the rear Of the car ahead happens to
strikM