OFFICE CHATTER.

Observer, Volume XL, Issue 9, 1 November 1919, Page 14

OFFICE CHATTER.

IT would be something of a new angle in the pugilistic game if. Bob Martin, champion- heavyweight of the American and Allied armies, should refuse to meet Jack Dempsey until the latter went to war and made himself a reputation.

Car "thievery," as it is called in the United States, lias assumed such an ugly aspect that the most determined effort is now being made to make the theft of an automobile an offence against the Federal law. Over 22,000 vehicles disappeared last year, and aV;hough a large percentage of them were recovered, the greatest difficulty is experienced in prosecuting the law-breakers. "Automobile Topics" (New York) says that it is costing millions of dollars annually, and requiring a large number of men to trace stolen vehicles, and consequently insurance premiums on theft policies are now at excessive figures, and are likely to go higher unless protective measures are decided upon immediately. Even when theft is proved the sentences are said to be wholly inadequate, and in many cases the culprits are released. We must be a particularly honest people in New Zealand, for the number of cars stolen in a year is almost nil.

Women no longer look askance at the seat behind the wheel of an automobile. . Their reluctance to drive a gasolene car in the past few years has seen a reversal of form, with the result that to-day women are as deft in the manipulation of the clutch pedal, the accelerator, and the shifting lever as are men.

This evolution is due to the foresight of the manufacturer of gasolene automobiles in his insistence upon simplified construction, with particular reference to the driving mechanism of the car.

There is no mystery connected with the driving operation of the Nash Six. Women long since have discovered that to drive this car is a very simple process in which physical effort is practically negligible.

The shifting lever of the Nash Six is of the ball and socket type, and its operation requires little effort-, the clutch pedal is thrust into position with the mere push of the foot, and the foot-brake pedal responds to light pressure.