Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-06-22
MILADY'S MOTORING
BY FREDERICK c. RUSSELL

No matter how you stretch the trouble
you can't lengthen a short circuit.
A woman who used to drive quite ex-
tensively 10 years ago recently took the
wheel of a new car in an effort to brush
up again. Quite to her dismay she found
it difficult to start without spinning the
rear wheels and giving every one in the
car bad case of strained neck. Her
Encouragement vanished, however, when
she discovered the trouble was merely
the result of failing to note the ire
mendous increase in engine power.
Most modern engines will start the
car in low gear with just little more
gas than is needed for idling. Ten years
ago unless you gave it quite a bit of gas
the engine would simply stall.
Two gentlemen at a table of bridge
were talking about high priced automo-
biles and competing with each other In
an effort to boast familiarity with one
that cost the most. Presently one of the
wives spoke up and announced that she
had personally driven a machine costing
its owner $4,000. 1t sounded like a
genuine whopper, but when they had
finished deriding her she explained that
though the car had cost so fabulous an
creation.
The owner, she explained, had carried
liability insurance to the extent of q
$5,000-$10,0 600 policy, but a jury had
awarded a child, permanently injured
by the car, damages to the extent of
$45 900.
Some of the worlds most expensive
automobiles are among the least con-
spicuous on the highways.
Even automotive picnics are chang
ing. Ice cream now usually comes
packed in dry" ice and, as children
viii experiment, it is well to know what
TO DO If one OF them attempts to swal-
low some Of this Solidifed carbon diox-
ide. The child should be fed warm wa
ter immediately and be kept on the
move in order to vaporize the dry ice
as quickly as possible Any one actually
eating this substance should not be per-
mitted TO lie down.
The charred remains Of an erstwhile
luxurious, serviceable automobile always
Is cause for meditation. TITS too bad"
said an observer in looking over the
ashes OF car owned by q woman who
did not appreciate the Importance Of I'M
derstanding a little something of the
mechanism Of automobiles, some one
hadn't warned her to disconnect one
OF the battery wires when a fire in the
wiring is discovered.
Because waxing the car has been
process requiring considerable amount
OF hand labor the rates on this sort of
nnlsh insurance" always have been
high. To catch the bargain hunter MANY
firms have pared down the labor in or
der to cut the cost but there have re-
Gently been introduced electric polish
ing machines which may easily Justify
lower rates. The situation has changed
to point where 1t is no longer possible
TO tell what sort Of work you are going
to obtain merely through a consideration
of how much you are going to be asked
to pay.
| When you crank the car half dozen
| times day it isn't bad idea to have
mental picture of what you actually
do. Briefly, the process is about as fol-
| lows:
You complete an electric circuit from
| the battery to an electric starter motor,
| when you press the starter switch or
| pedal, as the case may be. This motor
! starts to rotate the shaft Of what Is
known as the Bendix drive on which
there is small gear capable Of moving
forward and backward TO mesh with or
part company with a gear band fitted
around the edge of the engines fiywheel
The starter-motor is then capable of
cranking the engine mechanically.
AS soon as the engine starts the small
gear on the starter drive goes out of
me 1 with the flywheel automatically
| You must be careful not to force it