Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-11-17
In the Motor World
BY q. ADAMS HOWARD.

any further the out-of- State
driver knows he would have to
remain over, go into court, endure
a lot OF delays, and maybe in the
end receive no remuneration for
his damages. A driver like that
can color the truth very convinc-
ingly. Ruefully, the driver of the
damaged car surveys the situation,
slowly gets back into the drivers
seat and moves off, if he is that
fortunate. His trip has been
spoiled, and the only consolation
is that it might have been worse.
What has happened to all the
laws that were enacted to protect
life and property? Oh, yes; they
are still on the statute books. A
big help isn't it?
Approves Plan.
The plan of Traffic Director
William H. Harland to coordinate
the lights on Fifteenth street with
those on Sixteenth street have
been approved by the Commits
SionerS. Instructions have been
given the Potomac Electric Light
Co. to change the lights on the
latter so the amber will overlap
with the red and green. With this
change a quicker timing on the
through streets will be arranged. |
The change will allow also cross
town traffic to proceed across both |
streets without stopping at each |
intersection, as it is neceSSitated |
at present. This improvement
will be made before the first of the |
year.
Advance reports of the coming |
automobile shows are at hand
The first and most popular exhibit |
opens in New York Saturday, jan !
uary 4. The Chicago show fol-
lows. Another banner year in the /
automotive industry is nearing it's
close.
Auto Developments.
It has been thought that, except
for minor Improvements and re-
the development of the
automobile would rest a while.
This seems not to be the case, for |
just last week came an an
of a new device
which, If successful, will 60 a long
way in making driving more COM
Portable.
A concern identified with one
of the automoeive fields largest
interests gives out a report from
New York that after a period of
seven years of research and ex-
perimentS, a vacuum shifting
device has been perfected. This
does away with the shifting
lever commonly used on automo-
bileS and enables the driver to do I
the shifting on the wheel by fin
ger-tip control.
Experiments along this line
have been made before, but have
never made any widespread ad-
vanceS either into practical lines
or popularity. Unless the newly
device prove otherwise,
its beneficial advantages may be
readily seen, especially among the
woman motorists.
Vacuum Gear Shift.
According to reports, engineers
have developed the vacuum gear
shift, which requires a minimum
of equipment and makes use of a
natural element to shift the gears
the engine intake, used to create
vacuum.
Operation of gears is simplified
and made easy. Shifting is quick
er, more accurate. Pre-Selection
of the gear in advance of the shift
is a factor that has direct bear
ing upon traffic speed. A touch
Of the fingers on a control lever
on the steering wheel
makes the vacuum shift ready for
an instant change when neces-
Sary. This, too, is accomplished
without moving the hands from
the steering wheel or taking the
eyes from road or traffic.
Greater safety, it is announced,
is accomplished, while speedier
acceleration is achieved. On an
incline, it is only necessary to set
the control for the second gear,
await the time for shifting, then
depreSs the clutch and the shift is
automatically made.
1t requires only to remove the
cover plate of the present trans
box and to apply a Spe-
cial one in order to place the
new gear-shiting device on cars in
use. This is done by attaching
to vacuum tubing leading to two
small vacuum cylinders mounted
on a cross member at the rear of
the transmission case. A simple
line also runs to the motor intake
pipe.
Especially acceptable to women
is this new advance in motoring,
making it so much easier for them
to operate cars. Nor do men OBJ
iect to anything which will save
them a large portion of the effort
formerly used in driving.