Evening star., 1931-11-29

The accelerator is one of those things
that can stand depression without
slowing down.
Not many people seem able to re-
member just what happened inmedi-
ately prior to an accident, so the
woman who recalled that the horn of
her car seemed a bit discordant Just
before she crashed into another ma
chine has done motorists in general a
real service. She has brought to light
the fact that often two approaching
motorists sound their horns at identi-
cally the same moment, so that the
warning effect is neutralized. If the
horn doesn't sound just right when you
toot 1t at crossing maybe you hear a
blend with another warning. Watch
! out!
One Of the latest devices is a time
switch to snap on the garage lights at
| certain predetermined hour. Milady
| drives home from the theater alone and
] instead of entering a darkened garage
she meets the CHEEKY assurance of the
protection which light alone affords. 1t
| is also possible to use the switch to turn
! off the lights after you have driven out
OF the garage-a double challenge to
| prowlerS
This recalls the policy of one woman
who never parks her car at night with
| out leaving the tonneau light on. She
claims 1t is comfortable feeling to
know that when you return to the car
there isn't any chance of some one hid
| ing away on the floor directly behind
you. don't know just how much need
| there Is for such protection but I re-
| member a number of times switching
| on the light after taking the wheel just
to make sure did not have any un-
wanted guests.
So many filling stations are offering
new and novel services woman natu-
rally feels little perpleXed at times.
The other day an attendant offered to
pour the contents of can of rust pre-
ventive into. the radiator, but the Gus
toner objected. II have anti-freeze in
the cooling system now," she argued,
so you had better not experiment"
1t SO happened that she was using
an anti-freeze that already contained
rust preventive, which is simply oil that
mixes with water, but in many cases
the addition of the special oil would be
decided advantage. The best policy
In case of this sort is to consult your
car dealer.
There's campaign under way to en-
courage all service men to wipe off the
steering wheel with a clean cloth before
turning the car back to the customer.
! So far so good. But there's another
thing to watch out for and can explain
1t best by citing an actual experience.
Just because she had work done only
underneath the car woman owner felt
that 1t was not necessary for her to be
particular about her clothing when driv-
ing to a dinner party that evening.
Arriving at her destination, however,
she was chagrined to find that there
was bad smudge of grease on the front
OF her best evening gown. The dress
had touched the aluminium edge of the
running board which the mechanic had
grasped with his greasy hands when get
ting under the car.
II the brakes become decidedly worse
as you use them through the day but
are all right in the morning, especially
II the morning happens to BE- damp, the
indications are that the brakes need ad-
juSting. A woman who took this up
with a service man learned that since
drums expand away from the brake
shoes with increase in heat it is natural
that internal expanding brakes tend to
become less effective as they are over
used. The way to overcome this is to
have the shoes given closer adjustment
Speaking of the changes that have
come about in feminine motoring an
official of motor company refers to
the old days when "a woman was con-
tent to take her place behind the steer
ing lever of Staid, old-time electric
and pursue a calm, dignified course
through the less crowded thorough
fares" Very good, but let's check some
Of the unsuSpected thrills the woman
driver Of yesterday met in her motor
life.
Do we stop to realize that she free
wheeled? There was no compression
braking with an electric vehicle. The
car virtually coasted whenever momen-
tum was built up and she switched off
current. Do we realize what a thrill it
was to drive a top-heavy conveyance
which could be upset easily if she
pushed that steering lsver a little too
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