Lor Oxford, in "Memories and Reflections," told of a channel crossing he made at the time of the War in company with Lord Kitchener, Mr. Balfour and a retinue of generals and experts. The weather was foul, and all except Kitchener were sick and miserable. On arrival at Dover, Mr. Asquith (as he then was) said to Mr. Balfour: "Well, at any rate, we have not been mined or tor-pedeed.
"No," Mr, Balfour replied to God we had."
Accent on Lower Bodies; Better Lights and Oil-Drive Couplings; Perfect for Comfort TH the majority of the 1940 lines of automobiles now revealed to automobile editors and special writers in previews and some already publicly announced, an estimate of the trends of the new model year becomes possible, writes Reginald M. Cleveland in the *New York Times."
Mechanical changes are comparatively few and, for the most part, are in the nature of refinements, to make good power plants better, easy riding still easier and handling qualities already remarkable for their light and sure responsiveness, still more enjoyable and safe.
There will be some application to ihe 1940 models of hydraulic drive in one or another form. Some Chrysler units will make "more widely available fluid drive, ran oil coupling ahead of the clutch," which makes possible practical operation of the car without declutching or gear shifting.
To the same end, General Motors has set up a new division known as the Transmission Division with L. O.
Johnston as general manager. Here, in a Detroit plant, developments initiated some time ago will be further explored and hydraulic trans? missions will be optional equipment, it is believed, on at least one line Of the corporation's cars.
The major development of the year and one which practically the entire industry is sharing, is that of the Sealed Beam headlight. This heddlamp, designed through the cooperation of industry engineering staffs and of the engineering departments of the major lamp and bulb manufacturers, has also been made possible by the sympathetic ce-operation of the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators.
Made in iwo types, one entirely of glass and the other of metal with a glass leus, the lamps are interchangeable as between types and as among all cars in any price range which make use of them.
In the glass type the lamp itself is a bulb, with two filaments which are "not further housed within the
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.