Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1932-05-29

There are one and one-half drivers
TO every car in America, but most OF
the time the half is at the wheel
Among the "please-tell-me" letters
that have reached me recently is one
frc:n Miss E. n c., in which she ASKS
for an explanation Of her difficulty in
getting into gear without pressing the
clutch pedal to the floor several times.
It's quite a nuisance and she's getting
worried Furthermore a service m IN
tells her that it will always be this way.
Several explanations come to mind.
The clutch may spin a little too freely
when disengaged. instead of coming TO
a stop. On her car this is due to the
fact that the clutch is not fitted with
a brake. To overcome this she should
hesitate a little longer before shifting,
and in starting she should press the
clutch pedal to the floor before she Is
ready to start off There is also the
possibility that the clutch plates may
drag little. She also may not declutch
fully.
Ho, hum, 1t certainly is boring to pull
I'D a little to let these discourteous
menfolk have more room in which to
complete the business of parking the
car She decided to let the little fellow
worry himself sick over the job, but the
idea didn't work out so we'll. Another
car struck the parking machine and
rammed it into nlilady's lustrous new
coupe. Better do your good deed every
day.
A handy device for women who are In
the habit Of taking the car doors of
when backing out of the garage Is
dingus that automatically keeps them
closed. Any ingenious service man can
rig up similar device by means Of coil
springs, If you are getting tired of being
forgetful and of paying the penalty.
When the car heSitates and then
starts with a jerk on rainy day it is
q sign that one of the rear wheels is on
a car track or otherwise slippery spot.
This isn't well for gears, axles or clutch.
Even gentlemen change their minds.
Ask the woman who started to pass
around to the left of a man-driven car
that pulled over to the right at cross
road. She didn't figure he was going
to make a left turn after he had read
the direction signs.
could have predicted it. She
bought q new car with the automatic
clutch control, drove into the garage,
pressed on the brake, stopped the car,
then raced the engine while switching
of the ignition. The men folk had
taught her this unnecessary finale to
the days run, but had neglected to
caution against following the custom
when using automatic clutching The
clutch engaged the instant the motor
was accelerated. Pity the garage wall.
1t could have been avoided in three
ways. She should have shifted to neu-
trail. She could have switched off the
clutch control. She didn't need to &C
CELEBRATE the motor.
They had o lot Of fun with the little
lady who, when the salesman lifted the
hood asked to be shown the compress
sion" The salesman looked blank and
missed a trick, because compression,
while a process and not thing, is one
of the outstanding selling points of the
new cars For the benefit of other
women who want to know more about
compression, let me explain that when
the pistons of the engine suck in gas
vapor they next compress it. The more
highly this gas is compressed the more
energy is had from it, That means
more power, faster getaway more speed