Evening star., 1942-10-11

W1tnm approximately a month, the
27,000000 private automobiles in the
United States will be operated under
rationing which will drastically restrict
their use. Such system has been in
effect in the II States of the Eastern
Seaboard for nearly three months and
before that for IL weeks temporary
ration had been enforced.
How has it worked? What changes
has it brought in peoples lives? Has
new army of pedestrians been created?
Have there been hardships? Do people
in the Eastern States resent rationing?
In the cities the change is almost i'm
perceptible While traffic counts show
that even on busy city thoroughfares
the number of cars has been reduced,
this is not apparent. At the movies, at
race tracks, at amusement centers not
too far from the city limits, there are
still row upon row of parked cars.
Except for those persons who have
been directly affected in their jobs or
their businesses by the curtailment it is
difficult to see that any hardship has
been worked by gasoline rationing. In
fact, rationing boards have been so ready
to hand out B and C cards that many
families have had their motoring habits
altered only very slightly.
Highways Almost Deserted.
The big exception is on the highway.
Touring as it was known in the old pre-
Pearl Harbor' days came to an end as the
rationing system was introduced. The
highways today are almost deserted.
Roadside stands and tourist camps have
long since closed down except for those
near overcrowded cities. The only drivers
on the long, lonely stretches of concrete
these days are doctors or others with a
very special reason to have C cards. The
trucks remain, of course, their speed
greatly curtailed. enjoying a monopoly
of the roads they once disputed with
every tourist.
OF the more than 100000 cars in
the Eastern States, nearly 100000 have
A books only, according to Price Ad-,
ministrator Leon Henderson. This en-
titles them to the basic ration of 1880
miles a year at the present value of the
coupons in the ration book. About
1,250,000 have B books and less than
100000 have C books. The B ration
entities the holder to an additional 47O
miles month-fgured at the rate of
Is miles to a gallon.
Under a directive from Henderson's S
office, rationing boards are now review
ing the case histories of B and C card
III vFy1f yyiny t0
that may have been improperly issued.
In one Washington suburb, for example,
800 B and c books have been recalled.
The generous proportion of Those who
got special rations-2,2500O 900 out OF
1880 000-may be greatly reduced.
All Coupons Not Used.
The figures on the numper of B and
c books issued eXaggerate the number
of B and C coupons actually in the
hands of autoists, Henderson explains.
Nearly all c books were tailored by
tearing out some, if not most, of the
96 coupons in the book. And while all
B books are issued with Is coupons,
some of them are issued for a period
much longer than the month
minimum.
There is every evidence Henderson
says, that non-essential driving has
been drastically reduced under coupon
rationing in the Eastern States. While
our estimates are based on the number
of coupon books Of various types issued,
we also have information that book
holders are not using all their coupons
We have reason to believe this may
mean 5 per cent reduction in gasoline
consumption in addition to that shown
by the figures on coupon issuance"
On the basis of coupons issued by IA