140 



RECREATION. 



chine here is another opportunity to 

 call on your mechanical friend. He 

 can probably set you right on this 

 point. It will pay you to consult him. It 

 would be still better if you buy a sec- 

 ond-hand machine to get it direct from 

 the firm who made it. Even if such 

 houses do not have second hand ma- 

 chines for sale, they can frequently 

 offer good suggestions and put you in 

 the way of getting a car which they 

 could recommend, at a fairly low price. 

 Many people hesitate to buy second 

 hand cars, but, at the same time, it is 

 a good plan in certain cases. Many 

 people who are now enjoying auto- 

 mobiling, could never have had the 

 opportunity except by buying at a low 

 figure. How much more sensible to 

 do this than to get a machine which 

 may run no better than a good second 

 hand car which has been operated 

 carefully, and which the owner is giv- 

 ing up in order to get a larger and 

 higher priced vehicle ? 



Here let me mention briefly some of 

 the troubles of automobile owners and 

 how to overcome them. 



Rubber tires often figure prominent- 

 ly on repair bills, and the whole tire 

 problem requires careful attention. A 

 sharp nail or tack will put an automo- 

 bile out of business as effectually as if 

 the whole engine had fallen out of the 

 machine. The almost general use of 

 the double tube tire, of course, renders 

 it possible to effect roadside repairs in 

 fairly quick time, although delays of 

 this kind are always annoying, and a 

 run of hard luck with tires is apt to 

 sow the seed of disgust in the heart of 

 the automobilist. If any one thing 

 stands in the way of getting a reliable 

 automobile, it is the matter of tires, 

 and a great deal of responsibility rests 

 on the tire makers, yet the average 

 automobilist gives little or no attention 

 to his tires until he has trouble with 

 them. The simplest rules sent out by 

 the tire makers receive scant attention. 

 Not one automobilist in 10 follows 

 them. Here are a few simple direc- 

 tions which should be observed. 



I. Pump up your tires, and always 



keep them firm. If a tire is the least 

 soft, it is much more likely to pick up 

 a nail or a tack than if it be hard and 

 firm. Further than this, the tire is so 

 made that it will best withstand the 

 shocks of the road when pumped up 

 so hard that the weight of the ma- 

 chine will cause it to take the theo- 

 retical shape for best conditions. 



2. Avoid getting oil or gasolene on 

 the tires, as both have a destroying 

 effect on rubber. 



3. Jack up the car when not in use, 

 so as to remove unnecessary strain 

 from the tires. 



4. Wash the tires occasionally with 

 water, so as to remove any grit which 

 may have got into scratches or cuts. 

 It will readily be seen that the outer 

 surface of the tires will wear rapidly 

 if sand gets into any portion of the 

 surface which has been gashed by a 

 sharp stone. 



5. Favor the tires when running on 

 bad roads. Do not drive rapidly over 

 car tracks or portions of the road 

 where broken stone has been laid or 

 stone not rolled. Many a puncture 

 is directly traceable to careless driving 

 of the car, and, if you want to keep 

 your* repair bill down you should 

 give to the tires the attention they 

 require. 



Lubrication is another important 

 matter, and is one which is seldom at- 

 tended to properly. A new car should 

 be oiled liberally so that the bearings 

 and wearing surfaces will get into 

 fine glassy condition. If you have a 

 gasolene automobile, you do the en- 

 gine no harm by giving it too much 

 oil, except perhaps by coating the 

 points of the spark plugs ; but you 

 may damage it seriously by not giv- 

 ing it enough oil. 



After the car has been run a while, 

 the bearings get filled with dirty oil, 

 containing particles of grit and steel, 

 and the only way to prevent undue 

 wear is to wash out this residue oc- 

 casionally and replenish with fresh 

 oil. 



The life of the bearings and wear- 

 ing surfaces of a car may be cut down 



