Repairs by the Roadside 
13y FRED D. TAYLOR 
A fter having driven his machine for several 
months the motorist begins at this season to 
feel a degree of confidence in his ability to 
overcome tbe minor difficulties which from time to 
time arise on the road. A few hints may be instruc¬ 
tive now that the mere gliding over the road is no 
longer a novelty, and interest in the machine itself 
is of greater importance. 
The smaller cars are now so well designed and built 
that the owner may get on very well with the occa¬ 
sional services of the gardener or general workman. 
The pleasure of driving increases in the same ratio 
as does the skill, and one soon finds that he may 
divide his attention between the machine and the 
passing scenery. 
The majority of delays on the road result from 
lack of preparation before taking the car out. Half 
an hour spent in the garage before starting often 
saves stopping for supplies or repairs during a run. 
These stops are for some reason very annoying even 
on a mere pleasure trip as one seems to crave to get on 
and on when in a car. There is always a feeling of 
haste to get the car out and on its way, tempting the 
driver to convince himself that the partly filled oiler 
or gasoline tank holds enough for the contemplated 
run. Therefore it is an excellent plan to fill these on 
coming in. As this is sometimes too much of a 
burden when bringing the car in late at night one 
should at least make it a rule to always go out with 
tank, lamps and oiler filled and batteries well charged. 
It takes only a minute to see whether the wires at the 
timing device, where the jump spark is used, are 
ready to break where the movement of advancing and 
retarding the spark will in time weaken the wires. 
A few more minutes trying nuts to see that they are 
tight will prevent the loss of some small part which 
disturbs the runnino- of the machine or even en- 
O 
dangers it. A drop of oil on the many moving joints 
connecting throttle, clutch and break levers will keep 
them in easy working order and prevent wear. It is 
not necessary to use much oil, a drop or two put on 
the joint, when moving the lever to and fro several 
times will work it in, each time the car goes out is 
better than a squirt gun shot at it once a month allow¬ 
ing the oil to get on the outside where it will hold all 
dust that touches it. After oiling, wipe off any oil 
left outside the joint. Rags from the house are as 
good as cotton waste for this. 
After a car has gone half through the summer if the 
0^0 
tires were new in the spring the shoes will generally 
show wear enough to make one anxious about their 
standing up through a long run and yet not bad 
enougb to justify discarding them for new ones. 
The extra casing or shoe should now be in its place 
on tbe car at all times. It is a good plan to put an 
inner tube which has had some repairs or is not the 
best one in the doubtful shoe and use it till it breaks 
or even blows out, as it will often last a surprisingly 
long time after the canvas shows a dangerous amount 
of wear. Where all the tires are the same size a 
well worn shoe should be changed to the front wheel 
and new ones placed on the rear or driving wheels. 
In case of a blow out on the road, the hole in the shoe 
can be covered by placing a canvas patch inside the 
shoe. A few of these can be prepared at odd times 
by stripping off the rubber from a discarded shoe 
until about three layers of canvas remain. The 
patch should be put around the inside of the shoe 
and the ends turned out around the edges on each 
side, and must be long enougb to extend about half 
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