Evening star., 1937-11-14

iicio oooh llO SIepS dlOnR Cne erection
owners of automobiles in Washington
will presumably be forced into ga
RACES or parking lots And there is
a dearth of these at the present time.
What an opportunity for the owners
| of otherwise non-profitable real es-
tate!
Let's see what is happeningl Since
May, 1895, more than 5000 parking
| spaces in the central district, en-
bracing zones /, 2 and 3, and bounded
| by Sixth street on the east. Nineteenth
street on the north, Constitution ave-
nue. on the south and L street on the
west, have been eliminated. Within
the past two years all parking has
been taken off one side of H, and K
streets; some off Fifteenth and Seven
teenth; some off Sixth street and part
off l. street And, in the interest of
| safety, parking spaces must be re-
duced steadily in all the years to come.
More than 10000 traffic accidents
| have occurred in Washington this
are attributed to parking in streets.
Children-and older people-walk out
| from between parked cars directly
into the path of the city's fast-moving
traffic. Firemen, racing to fires. with
no seconds to spare are often delayed
and otherwise disconnected by long
lines of parked automobiles. And all
4 20 no a Va
RACES and all the parking lots in
Washington at the present time can
not accommodate all the automobiles
that concentrate in the principal
zones.
Take zone Curb parking for one
hour from $50 am. to 4 pm. is limit
ed to 2036 cars; there are garages for
1,771 cars and parking lots for 3,412
| Zone 2 can accommodate only 1870
cars: 3,170 on curbs, $50 in garages
and 1890 on parking lots.
Zone presents an equally depress-
| ing picture-curb parking for 2,195
cars, garages for $50 and parking lots
for 1890.
| Washington has been so long accus-
toned to all-night street parking that
any serious effort to prohibit it as in
Philadelphia, Baltimore and other
| cities would be met with Stout resist
ance from car owners and the automo-
tive trade. The prohibition of night
| parking is not contemplated. No one
wants to force the Government clerk
or small-salaried men into a garage.
but with traffic accidents piling up
and the registration of cars increasing,
| something has got to be done to re-
duce the hazards due to all-night
parking in congested areas. And some
thing is being done about It. mo
parking" signs are going up in new To-
cations ali over town all the time.
Slowly but surely, in the interests of
safety, thousands of cars are being
forced off the streets, especially in the
downtown areas.
And there are thousands Of motor
lists in Washington who are becoming
garage e-conscious. There is an ever
present danger for the car owner in
all-night street parking. He is lucky
| if. in the run of year, his car is not
sideswiped by some careless driver or
| tampered with by thieves. And then,
too, the paint job and the sensitive
machinery under the hood of the mod
| ern automobile are not altogether
weatherproof. The beauty of any car
and its life are positively prolonged by
the protection of garage. The car
left in the street all night is not so
easy to start on a winter morning, and
when snow falls in the night, much
grief may come to the owner.
y X
The continued rise of automobile ex-
ports will give the motor car industry
for 1887 the best record in foreign
shipments since 1929, according to the
North American Newspaper Alliance.
A total of $4,000 units will have
found their way into other countries
before January l, gain of "a per cent
over the 508,O0O vehicles sold abroad
in 1886.
The industry still has some distance
to go before it again reaches the figure
of 100000 export units achieved in
1929. Shipments this year, however,
will be three times as great as they
were in 1882, when they declined to
181 900 units.
THE importance Of regaining for
eign markets is clear" declares Rob-
ert C. Graham, chairman of the Ex-
port Committee of the Automobile
Manufacturer Association, when it
is realized that exports of automotive
products amounted to an annual av-
erage of s4o6,000,000 for the f1ve-year
period from 1926 to 1880, but had
shrunk to only s76,OO0,0O0 by 1888"
To A. L. Frank, member of the
Export Committee of the A. NJ A.,
there are signs that the upward move
ment of 1887 shipments will continue
next year.
THE increased dollar exchange
which is resulting from the heavy
volume of tourist travel. the steady
progress of the reciprocal trade pro-
gram and the prospect for a diminu-
tion in labor disturbances all COM
bine to support the expectation for
continued good sailing in our export
operations for next year." he asserts
Among the chief purchasers OF
American passenger cars are the
Union of South Africa, Australia. Bel
gium, Argentina and Sweden" Mr..
Graham declares in an analysis of
the export field. Important truck
markets include Japan, Union of
South Africa, Brazil and Mexico
Several countries are moving up
to a better population per car basis
and in many cases compare favorably
with some of our own States. Aus
tralia and New Zealand, for instnace,
have 10 and persons, respectively,
for every car, compared with 10 per-
sons per car in both Mississippi and
Alabama.
THE highways of the world now
total 100000 miles. an increase Of
100000 miles during the last eight
years. All nations recognize the i'm
portance of improving and extending
I