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Show ; FEW REASONS WHY CARS CATCH F!RE I Principal Cause Is Backfiring, Caused by Using Mixture i That Is Too Lean. (PT FK WIN GRKKIt. Pri..l.lnt Orcr 0.-lleK- of Automotive HnKinorrlim C!uok. livery owner ami driver ought to know what to do In case the car begins be-gins to burn up. The principal cause of such fires Is backfiring. The chief cause of backfiring back-firing is too lean a mixture fed to the j cylinders. When there is s backfire Q sheet of flame comes from the air in-tak in-tak of the carburetor. If there is nny- . thine l:i:!ammable near by It Is very apt to catch on f.ro. lia.-'lir.e vaporir.es so rapidly that If there is nasoline In the drip pan there is almost sure to he a suil'u-tent mixture around the carburetor to make trouble. Therefore, keep the drip pan free from gasoline. See th:M there Is no leak in the supply pipe or in the connection to the carburetor. Also see that there Is no overtlow coming from the carburetor du to poor soatit-.g of the tbv.it valve. High Spetd On Cause. Running a car at high speed for a long distance may cause the exhaust , r'P t brCuM. tot. IX it Is nxxt to 1 any wood. thN may cause a f.re. especially espe-cially If there Is an accumulation of prease and oil on the woolwork. Therefore minimize this danger by driving a little slower than top speed and by keeping the woodwork free from grease and oil. The exhaust pipe also heats up when the engine Is run with a greatly rvtnrded spark. Sometimes it will become be-come red hot and set th woodwork ou Cre. Klroa have been known to catch by opening the muffler cutout In starting tip. This danger Is creator inside the parage than out of doors, since there is us ially more or less of grease and gasoline nn the garage floor. Another cause of fire comes from Fhort-circuiting of the Ignition or lighting light-ing svstems. A short circuit mav heat ' one of the wires red hot and burn o;T the insulation. If there Is any accumulation accu-mulation of grease or oil or gasoline by. e fire may start. Static electricity Is sometimes a can so of tire. This Is generated when fasoline Is filtered through chamois i under certain conditions. Some fun-j fun-j cols have a chamois strainer. If such I a funnel does not touch the gas tank a static spark may cross the gap and set fire to the volatizing gasoline. Insurance Protection. It Is taken for granted that the own-i own-i er of a car has Insured It against loss ; by fire. His car Is much more apt to burn than his residence, and practlcal-i practlcal-i ly everyone nowadays protects his ! home through fire insurance against j loss by fire. Another form of tire In-' In-' Etirance protection which ought to be ! part of the equipment of every car Is one or two fire extinguishers. Some ' fire Insurance companies insist that there be fire extinguishers on all cars thev Insure, anil most insurance concerns con-cerns give a reduced rate to cars thus i equipped. |