OCR Text |
Show Mil. LARD COUIITY CHRONICLE Deliz. Utah. Thurs. Ja.n. 17. 1057. GIVING OUR Vv ORLD THE Once Over Around And Around She Goes v The biggest news for these parts last week was apparent to everybody every-body exactly when It happened. It was the advent of the warm, wet storms that brought us snow first, and then rain, with thawing temperatures. tem-peratures. It seems that not Just one but several low pressure storm centers, moving in from the Pacific, were pushed a little farther south than has been the case with most storms the past few seasons, with the result that they hit the coast of HYERS BOOTS For Fit & Comfort In stock or made To Measure ''' 27.50 TO $34.50 DELMART By Dick Morrison Southern and Lower California instead in-stead of the line from Northern California up through Oregon and Washington. Continuing inland, they brought the blessing of rain to the parched Southwest to Southern Nevada, Utah, Arizona and New. Mexico. A few more such storms, and we may expect that the Sevier Hivver will run full again, and even the Colorado will get back to normal llo.v, and carry enough water down to fill LakP Mead, which has run way low in the years of drouth. By spring, the whole southwest desert may be colorful with' wild-flowers. We like to interpret this as an omen, presaging a change in the "cycle" to a series of wet years, and mavbe it is. Still, I question the idea that our weather runs In cycles. It seems to me it can better be explained by the laws of chance. True, there may be determinable factors from which it would be possible to make long-range predictions pre-dictions of our weather "cycles", but they are so large, so numerous, and so complex that such prediction predic-tion is not practicable. Long-range prediction of our weather "cycles" could be considered to 'be at once as practicable, and as practically impossible, as prediction of where the marble will stop on a roulette wheel. , Now, theoretically, it would possible, given all the factors of speed, rate of deceleration, centri- fugar force affecting the marble, and so on, to predict in advance the number and color of the slot into which it will fall. If a math ematical genius couldn't handle the problem, a Univac should. But in actuality, the factors are so difficult diffi-cult to determine, and so subtle that even an electronic computer couldn't beat the roulette wheel. It's that way with our weather "cycles". Many attempts have 'been made to discover a "pattern" of past weather cycles in order to find a scheme on which predictions for future years might be based. I say it Is Impossible. All we can safely predict is that, in the long run, both the weather cycles and the roulette wheel will yield up approximately even results some-near some-near an equal number of wet and dry years, odd and even numbers, and so on, with an occasional double O. Even if the marble hits Red fifty times in succession, that doesn't alter the chance that the next time up it still has approxi mately an even chance of being J?ed again. And so it is with our weather. Theoretically predictable, on a seasonal basis, in actuality the laws of chance rule supreme, and we might as well resign ourselves our-selves to that fact, and base our long range plans on it, and not kid ourselves into thinking, period-ically.that period-ically.that a run of either wet or dry years indicates that the weather weat-her has changed to the point where it never will return to what it used to be. Thoughts Cm Safe Driving When you consider the number of automobiles on the roads, on busy inter-state highways, and crowded city streets, it is amazing that the accident rate is as low as it is. Still, the totals of 'deaths from auto accidents, which are running run-ning approximately 40,000 a year, and of injuries which run several times as many, add up to enough to iustlfv whatever effective mea sures may' be taken to cut down the toll. Th kev to the problem would seem to be In the words, "effective measures". And in view ot tne fr that the death rate continues to climb roughly in proportion to jthe increase in the numDer oi : automo'biles on the highways, it 'would appear that none or me ! measures so far taken have been I very effective, some measmes, perhaps, have been effective. Others actually have had an effect site that intended, i Proposals now up for eonsidera tion by the Utah Legislature m- elude extension of driver training courses in the schools, tq be paid i for by a one Increase In the price of car licenses; more severe punish. ,ment--of people involved in accidents, acci-dents, with suspensions of driver's licenses made mandatory instead of discretionary for some types of I offenses; more strict and intensive enforcement of the speed limits, and others. It Is doubtful if any of these measures would have the slightest effect In cutting the accident rate. There seems to be a tendency on the part of our public officials to "tighten up" on the driving, license, and safety requirements of all motorists, while at the same time ipnnrinir or elossinz over the real causes of accidents. Sound Judg ment on the part of drivers is pro-hAhlv pro-hAhlv the most essential pre-requi- site to safe driving, yet it is a very difficult to define, to Interpret into law: and one almost Impossible to require or even measure in setting qualifications for driver's licenses. Emotional and intellectual mat-urity mat-urity might come under the head of "sound Judgment". Certainly lack of these qualities is at the root of many accidents caused by teen agers, who comprise one of the most accident-prone groups. The auto safety-inspection laws, while they seem a good Idea superficially, super-ficially, actually play little or no part in highway safety; and to the MM TUBES iaker WALUE MM. Official Used Car Guide Proves It! CRAFTSMANSHIP makes the big difference in RESALE VALUE, too! When you own and drive a Studebaker, you'll soon learn just why Studebaker is better in every way, and why Studebaker brings you higher resale value. You'll find such features as a built-in supercharger, Twin Traction and Luxury-Level Ride that are exclusive ex-clusive with Studebaker Before you buy, check the craftsmanship cars built by STUDEBAKER-PACKARD. You'll find quality from road to roof top. Why don't you see for yourself just why Craftsmanship Craftsman-ship maks the big difference in resale values! HERE ARE THE FACTS Used Car Retail Prices Comparable 1956 Model L 4-Door Sedans jSTUDEBAKER ! CARC lCARF iCARP I CARR 6 Cylinder $1,954 1,925 J.850 1,895 1,930 V-8 $2,110 " 2,050 1.975 2,010 No V-8 National Automobile Dealers Association Official Used Car Guide, Western Edition, Region "C" December, 1956 HOW IS THE TIME TO BUY SDA i y ID). 5, y if A PRODUCT OF THE STUDEBAKER-PACKARD CORPORATION VAN'S MOTOR 8 SUPPLY COMPANY extent that they have been i'.zzt" ' to promote the sale of parts and service by the garages, often with little or no connection with actual safety requirements, they do more harm than good. People required to replace expensive safety glass, for instance, for reasons which reduce the purposes of the law to absurdity, absurd-ity, frequently find it hard to pay repair bills for items which become needed between inspection periods, and which may really be important import-ant to safe car operation. The all-but-compulsory insurance laws, put over under the sweet-sounding sweet-sounding guise of "financial responsibility re-sponsibility laws" are wrong in principle, too. The right way to handle this problem would "be to allow each motorist to recognize that using the highways involves some degree of risk, and to permit any who wish to Insure themselves against damage from such risks. ! But to get back to the chief factor at the root of highway acci dents the drivers themselves. The idea back of driver training seems plausi'ble enough; but it should certainly go beyond simply teaching the student the technical nrocedure of handling an automo bile. It should, of course, and no doubt does, include study of the traffice laws; but it needs more than that, too. No driver can be really competent compe-tent unless he understands at least something of the mechanical operation oper-ation of his ear. Now it may be impracticable to teach all drivers all about the works of the cars they drive; nevertheless, the more they know about it the better. The driver who knows what the brakes look like, and exactly how they work, Is a better driver than the one who does not. Same applies to. the clutch and transmission; same to the steering gear. Yet desirable de-sirable as such teaching would be, it is probable that no course sufficiently suffici-ently exhaustive and Informative could be given the great majority of drivers. It might be held that high school students who take courses in mechanics would be the natural beneficiaries of this principle, prin-ciple, yet for some reason they are not. I have had a great many opportunities op-portunities to observe these students stud-ents in action, and to me they appear among the most reckless and careless of all. Yet if detailed understanding of the mechanical workings of an automobile cannot be instilled Jn the majority of learners, there are certain basic mechanical principles which can. For Instance, the rate of wear and tear on moving parts increases, roughly, in proportion to the square you double the speed, parts wear out not just twice . as last, but more like four times as fast." And since worn out parts are unsafe, it follows that a car driven consistently consis-tently at excessive speed will become be-come worn out and unsafe in fewer miles than one driven at moderate speed. It is not at all necessary for a car owner to understand the "internal workings" of his car in order to grasp the importance of this principle. Nor is the validity of it disproved , by carrying the reverse principle: to absurdity: both engines . and automatic transmissions must be operated at a moderate minimum speed, also. Except for these, however, how-ever, It is literally true that even down to the point of one mile an hour, for most parts of a car. the I slower the better. The real answer , here is a rule of moderation. Most I cars of today do very well in a I speed range between 20 and 60 ' mph; yet 90 is far too fast, for I many reasons. Not only, is the safety factor alone involved, but the dollars and cents cost of upkeep up-keep is affected byexcessive speed, i Next to excessive speed, one of the commonest marks of the poor( and unsafe driver is roughness. ' ) Here again, teen agers seem the i worst offenders, as a group. Typi-j Typi-j cally, they like to buy old cars, and i then be forever and ceaselessly trying to convince themselves and everyone else how good the old j jalopies are by "jack-rabbit driving". driv-ing". This consists of seeing how . many yards the wheels can spin, J or "dig", on the take-off; of stan ding them on their nose when , stopping; of seeing how loudly the i tires can be made to screech, on the turns, and other outrages. j Psychologically, such antics re- . fleet a terrific inferiority complex. Mechanically, they are about as sensible as giving the cars a breakdown break-down test on every start, stop, and turn. And sooner or later, mostly sooner, these tricks bring on the inevitable breakdown, not infrequently infreq-uently accompanied by a roll-over and injury. My own present car is a 1956 model of a "mere" 215 horsepower. I Imagine it will outdo most of the teen-agers' hot rods. But I wouldn't think of engaging in a contest, as they do with each other. I prefer to keep it near perfection of per? formance than to half wreck It by "proving" its prowess, which Is a pointless performance at best. Teen age girls are usually safer and more gentle drivers than boys. Yet one of our two daughters, new recipient of a driver's license said, "So and so dared me to make it dig, so I made the wheels screech". T ai.l, "If I hoar of rtny more of that, there will be trouble- and plenty of it. There is no quicker way to turn a good car into a rattle trap". Nor, I might add, to run up maintenance costs. In sum, it seems to me, that while driver training in the schools is a good thing, it should be expanded expan-ded to include instruction in mechanics, mech-anics, or at least in basic mechan1-cal mechan1-cal principles. And in addition to teaching young people how to drive, a great deal of emphasis should also be placed on teaching them how NOT to drive. Short of making human nature over, in order to eliminate rude, intemperate, inconsiderate, and reckless tendencies,- it is probable that education holds the greatest promise for highway safety. Delia Art Clish Is Entertained Mr. and Mrs, John A. Day left Delta Sunday to drive to Phoenix, Ariz., for a short visit. There they will join Mr. and Mrs. C. M. Pace, also in Phoenix on vacation at this time. Mrs. Alma Petersen entertained Delta Art Club members and guests at dinner and cards at her. home Thursday evening. : , . Present were Amelia Cole, Donna Sorenson, Callie Morley, Callte Morrison, Mor-rison, Athena Cook, Nelle Callister, Romania Bird, Dorothy Killpack, Melba Crafts, Helen Baker, members, mem-bers, and Lucille Stapley and Lois Maxfield, guests. At bridge score awards were won by Mrs. Cook, Mrs. Stapley, and Mrs. Bird. . Mr. and Mrs. Paul Theobanld and son, Michael Paul, left Delta last week for Lansing, Mich., and are now on their return trip home driving dri-ving a new Oldsmobile. Making the trip east with them were their mother, Mrs. Warren Henderson, and son Billie, and Biliie, too, is driving a new car back. If m f p la For '57... the accent's : i S : See how little it costs to own a Golden Rocket S3 1 . COME IN! YOU'RE ALWAYS WELCOME AT You'd never believe a car to big could cost so little) tet Olds for '57 put Hie accent on you with beautiful beauti-ful low-level styling) safe, sure Wide-Stance Wide-Stance ride and exciting Rocket T-4.00 power. Drive it price it! Be our guest, for a Rocket tejtl Do it soon SUNSET CHEVROLET COMPANY - DELTA, UTAH & O 1TF ' f. ben The Chieftain costs less than a lot of the "low-priced" cars yet delivers MORE POWER -MORE WHEELBASE-MORE ROOM1 """v'"' Think this big, brawny beauty vwld fetch a fancy figure? Not the Chieftain. It's made to order A for wishful thinkers priced right down there with the strictly budget jobs! Surprised? You'll be even more so when you look over the long list of premium features in this brilliant newcomer. Under that glamorous garb, for example, is a big, rock-rugged X-member frame, riding solidly atop a whopping 122-inch wheelbase! Cushioning each wheel is Level-Line Ride, Pontiac's new dimension in suspension, bringing you the smoothest, safest ride you've ever known. And up front is the deep-chested Htw 347 cu. in., 10 to 1 compression ratio Strato-Streak V-8 engine as sweet a performer as ever came down the pike! So, come on, stop dreaming! Come in and have a look at this big and beautiful automobile's eye-rubbing price! Size it up! We're willing to wager your next step will be into a Pontiac Chisftain! " Lewect-PrietKi sri ol America's Vumberg)xosrj r?r T hloftm if Delta" Utah Phono 41 DELTA. UTAH |