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About La Grande evening observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1904-1959 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 1, 1927)
Hm rank IE VALLEY NEWS i - i WANT ADS NUMBftR 4'.' VOLUME XXV. LA GRANDE. OREGON, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 1, 1927 FACTORIES TEST CAR THOROUGHLY Use of 'Proving Grounds' Explained by NEA Science Writer . fly Israel Klein (.Science Editor. NKX Strvlcu) EnK'neers aren't through' with on uutoinobllo after it ip produced. In fact, they'vo Just Uckuii tinker ing with it, rinding lta fuulta und its promises. In . an,, .effort to im prove tho next product. For' thla purpose Bonn of the lurgu companies have what ati culled "proving grounds." The. General Motors' ''proving Cio und" at Mllford, Mich., for in Hiunce, has about 1'tV miles of prl vuto highway laid out so as to rep resent every road condition that average driver'1 meet & There urc JillN ranging from 7 per cent grades to as high us 24 per cent There arc concrete and gravel roads. . There is a level concrete stretch without a kink or a twist In it, a mile in length, and there Is a speed track with embankments at the turns making a 45. degree unglo with the level road. There is a north and south road, and an east und west road, no in tersection between them, each to tent little idloHyncraules of driving, the difference in Hpeecl or gasolinu usuguulien driving in opposite or cross directions. So Law Applied These are samples of the tiny I details that are being examined in t)ic actual driving of automobiles. Everything conceivable can be done vhere, from trailing along at 2 tnlles an hour to speeding at the i'uAto.Hi an engine can pull a car, Thtfru arc no stato laws, no con stables to stop the. drivers. , t No imaginable factor ubout a cur is taken for grunted, no beliefs or theories permitted. Everything, even though known for a certainty. Is tested to learn the actuul facts. Even the instruments pluced in the car aren't trusted. Instead of these, special gasoline gauges, spe cial speedometers and other appar atus devised in the research labor atories are lilted to the cur on test and the readings are taken from these. l-or speed, for instance, u bi cycle wheel, a small electric gen erator and a highly sensitive volt meter divided Into miles from the coipbitwition attached to a ear for more accurate readings. This is called a fifth wheel speedometer, and it can be relied on for all speeds. - , Mat or TiifcU ' 'Gasoline consumption, also, if GRIDIRON STAR IN CONVERTIBLE CABRIOLET I be discouraged completely.' r-wif yyte jyis 5 tmJzl Morley Drur.v. eapinln of the 1027 Inlvei-hlly of Southern California foul bull (earn Is One of the few Ktars left on the campus after Mm 1 WltT eta mm mn graduated Inst lime. Sixteen members uf liie I. S. . kuiukI of Inst year were missing when tho fint prnetii-e uus called by CimmJi Howard .tones on Sept, 15 nudl npl. Drury is the one bright star upon whom t!u Trojan rooters arc buihling thetr Immhs thN year. J'hoto shows Drury In n Star coiirr-rtitilo cabriolet, one of the most popular model In the star line und a favorite among the students of the Ixtn Angeles university. tested by combination of burettes, or long tubes, showing tho driver bow this fuel Is being burned. i Other tests include acceleration, 'deceleration, rolling friction, riding qualities, fuel economy at fixed speeds, minimum and maximum h peers, endurance. hill-climbing, i braking, driver's vision range, re flection from cars behind, head- , lighting, steering effort, vibration, ii oises, b rak e and clutch ped a 1 pressures;1 crank ease, dilution, ven tilation, size und appearance, ) .There's a concrete mile straight away to test pickup, speed and braking. There's a sunken stretch, called a "bath-tub" to learn the effect of water on a cars parts. Hpeeiat cameras are used to photo graph cars from all angles for ap pearance and vision. All these und many other tests und measurements arc made and tubulated by figures and graphs. Many facts are being gathered ap parently with no purpose in view, except that they'll be on record whenever an engineer happens to ; want them. Then they might form the basis for an improvement long desired in the auto world. ., How these facts are used and com pa red is suggested by O. T. Kreiisser, engineer in charge of the ( General Motors proving ground. j . How Cars Compare I "Here, are two cars providing Die suinc amount df leg room and seating comfort," he points out. "One car can steer in a circle of ten per cent less diameter than the other. Aitsuming everything else belnge(itial, It can bo deduc ted that the car steering within the shorter radius has the advant age from the customer's point of view. "Here again are two cars, in-one of which the driver has a vision t Ii rough the windshield and past the corner posts that is 20 per cent greater than the other's. Again the one with the greater vision area has the advantage, if everything else is equal. "Unfortunately, 'out. of necessity the automobile must be a compro mise involving a great many fac tors, any one of which may be of major importance to a particular customer. "The car mentioned us having a shorter turning radius, may be less steady to drive on rough roads. The cur liavlng greater driving vision may not have, a desirable rakish appearance or the corner pouts may be too flimsy and not provide a rugged door hinge hang ing." This is how deeply the investi gators go into the lust detail. Kvery part is taken from u ma chine that had been run through the mill for measurements and fur ther Individual tests to determine everything possible about it. The proving' ' ground assumes there Is no perfection. MANY TOTS HURT 'HOOKING' RIDES CHICAGO, Oct. 1 (AP) Tho mother of the cuvo ago, as sho at niggled to rear her children, ever lived in fear of the junglU beasts and today's mother finds a counter part for that terror In tho "jungle" beyond tho curb where motor juggernauts take a ''terrible loll" of young lives, Harold K. Hut tenhcim, editor of "the American City" told the National Safety con gress. The jungle mother heard the lion's roar with quaking; today's screeching brakes blanch the cheeks of mothers and why. Hut teiiheim asked "have your chiefs fallen down in their traffic job." The editors answered by declar ing trtere is no sense of fair play or courtesy among the general run of motor car drivers. "The mental attitude of most motorists and of some law makers appears to be that pedestrains who still survive as such are a well nigh intolerable nuisance. Wo hear a good deal of the need ot pedestrian control on the high ways, but mighty little of consider ation of pedestrians." He advocated the revoking of driving licenses as punishment for reckless driving, adding "the aver age driver would rather lose his right to voto than his right to op erate a car." I Court Defines Minor's Rights in Purchasing and Returning Autos The polico and the court h have made automobile stealing for mere joy-riding much less popular than it was JO or 15 years ago. Girls, on t he ot her ha ml, have grow n more insistent that their boy friend provide them with tho thrill of a spin down the highway. If the boy friend hasn't a cur, some other boy friend has. Result, the boy friend, who is often a minor, pro ii He one, and the minor has act ually paid money on the purchase price, und taken and used the ar ticle, that ho ought not to be per milted to recover tho amount ac tually paid without allowing the vender of the goods the reasonable compensation for the use und de preciation of the article, vvhllein his hand. "Of course, If there has been any HAY ST ATI-: TOUACCO i AMU (OUST, Mass. Massachu setts, whose population per square mile is greater than that of any state except Hhode Island, still hut a little room left for tobacco fann ing. Tin Massachusetts Agricul t ur.tl college points out that the yearly crop now averages between Ujioo.iHio and H..00U. oou pounds, iiiuully all of which Is grotvn in three counties in the Connecticut Kiver Valley. vldes himself with u car on the I fraUl r imposition on the part of 1 Estimates Place Death Toll Among Children Under 15 at 7,211 An estimated 7, I'll children un der fifteen years of age were kill ed In highway accidents In 1 liliti. Several hundred of these child fat alities were the result of hooking rides or coasting in the public st reel. These appalling figures wen is sued by the American Head Build ers' association today in emphasiz ing the necessity for safety educa tion of children. Nearly one-third or Hit total 2B,aoa fatalities last year were children of school uge, it was pointed out. "The dangerous habit of hook ing rides should be discouraged by parents and teachers. Children who insist on "hopping" motor trucks or passenger ears without the knowledge of the drivers are inexcusably careless. Often child ren .will climb to the rear step of an ice wagon in order to sec urn u cooljng piece of ice. and fall to the pavement when suddenly tho machine Is started, i ) rivers are unaware, in many cases, that child ren are secretly riding on the tiro or fender of their machines, and are powerless to prevent accidents to them. I i "The responsibility for accidents to children rests for a large part upon school teachers and parents. essity for GOItS TUIX roi,icKMi:x LONDON Too many sea-dogs are wanting to be bobbies, accord ing to a notice Issued by the ad mi rally. The naval office says there has been a considerable In crease in the number of sailors ap plying to Join the police force. He cause of the demand for seamen ami stokers, men of these classifi cations will not be released for po lice service as formerly except in special circumstances. COM MIlCS JS 1 XVI'INTIGATDH 1'AItlS A new attempt to prove thai Columbus wns nut a citizen of Genoa but a Cntalontan lias been launched in a book written by Senor Mills Ulloa, Peruvian schol ar. He claims that a French Cata tonia:! named ' Joan Colomb has been robbed of his fame by con fusion with a Genoese family named Colombo, which tried to prove kinship GO years alter the explorer's death. !A l'rench concern is planning u series of excursions into the sub I urbs of 1'aris on Sundays In stage coaches of the days of Louis Philippe with coachmen in top ( boots and gayly colored livery. A recently measured iceberg was found to cunt :i in enough lee to keep every refrigerator In the Cul led .Slates supplied ior a.. year. conditional sales plan. Often, be fore the car is fully paid for, tho minor wrecks It, loses Ills Job or his girl. Then, he calls for the ! dealer who sold It to him and says, j "1 wus a minor when I signed that I contract, here's your car, Glvo mo my money buck" ! in many states the minor is able to get away with it, too, und the merchant Is compelled to give back i what money he lias received and 'take back what is left of the ma chine without any compensation lor Its use or depreciation u sad der and a wiser man, i Hut, the courts of all the states have not followed this ruling, and some that have followed It have differentiated between certain con . dittoes, holding differently In cases I w hero the contract was performed, partly performed, or to be per- formed in the future; also, letting ' their decisions be altered by such .questions as "was the contract one for necessities of life? Was it bene d'lcial to the minor? Was If fair ' und reasonable?" and many others. A Minor's Hight ! The question of a minor's right to disaffirm his contract anil se cure back nnyt hlng of value he might have paid on It, wus never presented to the supreme court of J Oregon unlit li'U. It in lulerest jto note thai the case In which It was first presented involved a motorcycle, and the second an au tomobile. T When the question was finally presented, tho supremo court bc galu Its opinion us follows: Tlio amount Involved In this preceding Is not large, but the question of law presented Is a very Important one, and one which has been much disputed in the courts, and about which t lie re is a great i und irreconcilable conflict in the authorities, and we have, thereforo given the mailer careful atten tion." I j Following a discussion of the de j clNlons of 'the various stale courts und of Knglund. our court laid down the law in Oregon 1o be "where 1 he minor has not been over-reached In any way, and thorn bus been no undue inf luence and the contract is a (air und ruaaou- . CAN'T lOIX;i; HAD M CK OGHKNHl KG, N. Y. A sales man laden with travelling cases was hurrying to catch a ferry when a black cat dashed across llin street ahead of him. To avoid ill fortune he turned and walked around the block lo approach the then u different rule would apply." -,. M1 ii(lP ,.. salesman trudged back to his ho- the seller, or 1 the contract is un- fair, or an unfair advantage has i been taken of tho minor in Induc ing him to muko the purchase, The reader will note that the rule set out above applies only m cases where the contract Is ulready executed. A diferent rule would apply in the case of an unexecu ted, that is. one where every part of Its performance was delayed until a future date. The optimist hopes for the best and realizes It; the pessimist fears the worst and endures it. I, baggage and all. "Avoiding that eat," he lamented, "made mu miss my boat." According to Professor. Koelllck i r, a Swiss zoologist, fish are not deaf and dumb, and In the depth of the joa give forth a buzzing sound which contains a certain amount of harmony and gnyety. TEXACO GASOLINE for Heasty & George . Corner Adams and Second eiteition of the courtesy find caution at all times, ; the child can develop an habitual isnfe conduct that will follow him throughout life. "In addition to the safely educa- j tion of children, it is the mo rail , duty of all drivers to prohibit I children from riding the fenders j or rear attachments of their ma chines. Holler skating or bicycl ing behind motor vehicles should ! Made Movies in cannibal Land 1 DRIVE THE CAR I a & Jt moMr t. i n xr v w m meat ... ee 1 fMrrKrEro pmp m 1 Lir r&KVErniEr m S TWO-DOOR SEDAN MDl BY F1SUZR 'Sg' . a. b. Lansing - llrr : - . - H Don't judge Oldsmo- ' jf Get in and enjoy its ' P " f s ' S bile by what similar uxu"ous comfort s J r prices eVer before Admire its fine an- P j -A I have bought. Vr 'P i 4 ES Come to our show- Then take the wheel " H ! ' s 3 room and put it to II and experience the 1 ti E3 the tests of your best . swiftacccleration.thc Ie V ' 'jP' 1 taste and soundest judg-'" flowing power, the easy j '4t.J ' f li mentv steering and effortless con- . IfSl ! ' Hi r, , trol of its thrilling, R j , feifi I Compare it, step by step, sm00thcr performance Wg I f jj w.th even costly cars- Drive the car and know M ' , . fa View its new smartness the difference! 1 h 1 m v P i 1 OLDSMOBILE SALES CO. j ' If , : 1428 Adams Ave. ' III lkwA jjbA j xtra Value! In Better Traction and Longer Wear to TIRES rtl TUBES rnniwr Always the standard for the trrc industry to follow can now Iju purchased for a short time only at remarkably low cash prices. Such an opportunity! Just as winter is coming on. Buy now and save. Path t inders CORDS ...mvA; . All Weather Tread Mlth Hubert and lirr hiHmifT, .Cnntth gnnke. of Is, A ne b-, lave returned nftr-r seven months in the FIJI Island, wb-re they made movie Fiibjecls ot the reign ing1 cannibal kin:; and -M." natives. Australian movi luleie.-u b.nkid the film. f $6.85 (Regular Clinchers) $7.60 :,2 (Oversize) $12.50 :2xi $16.75 $17.75 Mm $23.70 $20.25 $27.25 BALLOONS $ 8.25 29x1.40 .$11.15 $12.10 30x195 $16.40 $13.80 31x5.25 $18.90 $17.55 33xG.oo $23.25 Liberal Reductions on Auto Tubes and Oilier Sized, ' Tires in Proportion