Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-02-16

When a woman says she didn't see
the traffic light set against her maybe
she means she didn't see the police
officer.
Many a woman who has conquered
cold feet and who now rates as star
performer on the road finds a new an
noyance in suffering with cold hands
during Winter driving. Closed cars ap-
parently have not banished this diff
Guilty entirely.
One trouble is that cars stored in
cold garages have chilled steering
wheels to start with. Frequently the
driver will come out of a warm house
and not put on her gloves until her
hands begin to feel cold, instead Of
donning gloves before grasping the
cold wheel
1t isn't necessary to keep both hands
on the wheel at all times. During
| traffic stops, for instance, the hands
| should be removed and the fists
clenched few times to stimulate cir
culation through the fingers. Loose
fitting gloves are best for cold weather.
but mittens may be an objection since
| the fingers are not free to operate the
controls.
A woman who has been cautioned
against the danger of death by carbon
monoxide poisoning ever since she took
the wheel wants more information on
recent announcement that a device
has been perfected whereby this dan
gerous element from the exhaust can
be eliminated. This, however, is not
the first development of the kind. The
idea behind most of the various plans
Is to compensate for the engines
tendency to create carbon n1onoxide
through not burning its fuel properly.
And here's the real tip for any motorist
the better the engine runs, the more
efficiently it is serviced, the less dan
ger there will be.
A little knowledge continues to be a
dangerous thing. knowing that the
streets were unduly slippery and that
the wheels were ready to slide during
an effort to stop, a rather experienced
woman driver borrowed lot of trouble
| for herself by taking the ammeter too
| literally. She pressed on the brakes
| lightly for a stop, but found that the
| car did not slow down. Because the
ammeter pointer flickered to the dis
charge side she figured the brakes
were applied enough to lock the wheels
not realizing that the stop light oper-
meter, when the brake pedal is just
starting to go down.
A few days ago woman jumped out
| of her car to make hurried purchase
| in grocery store. She knew 1t was
against the law in her city to let the
engine run unattended. but figured
that traffic was so noisy no one would
| notice the idling motor. Just how a
I passing officer knew the engine was
running was a puzzle to her until he
demonstrated how steaming exhaust
pipe can be telltale in cold weather
The way statesmen chatter about
down draft carburetion one would
think it had been household term
since the beginning Of time But why
not surprise them by knowing what 1t
stands for?
The gas vapor has to be fed from
the carburetor to the cylinders in
either of three wayS-up, down or
transverse. For years 1t has been the
custom to feed the vapor upward be-
cause it was desirable to have the
carburetor low so that the fluid gas
Of fuel pumps, however, 1t is a simple
matter to send the fluid fuel to a high
point around the engine and then let
the vapor go down into the cylinders
That's about all there is to it, except
word about the theory which makes
| this newer way a better one. Gas
vapor is heavier than air and thus
tends to fall When engineers direct
the vapor down instead of up, naturally
the engine is fed more efficiently.
! There is a safety hint in understand
| ing doWn-draft carburetion as we'll
Just as gas vapor falls in the newer
engines, so has 1t always fallen around
the garages. Repair pits, dug in the
ground. went out Of style largely be-
cause they were hazardous. Many will
recall the number of explosions which
have occurred when mechanics short
circuited their lighting equipment
! while working under a car. The dan