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Show m Motor Motions B Do you want an automobile? B So docs everybody else. L Which means that the automobile business is H becoming one of the biggest things in the world. H Last year (July, 1914, to June, 1915) we made H 703,527 automobiles in America. b Tliis year we'll make over a million. 1 And the industry is only seventeen years old. H j Unlike the bicycle craze, it isn't dying out. H The automobile is no longer the plaything of the H rich man. Fojks on small pay are buying moro H than the well-to-do, for the price is getting down B within the reach of all. H, Of the 700,000 cars sold in the United States H' last year the average price was $814. Eight years H ago the average price was $2,133. But that year Hj only 4,000 cars were marketed. 1 The automobile today is knitting the country H together as the railroads united the remote set- H tlements 30 or 40 years ago. The growth of the H motor car industry is even more amazing when you stop to consider it than was the spread of the H iron H Eighteen or twenty years ago, when the pio- H; neers were experimenting with the first "horse- H less carriages," people laughed at them. They H poked fun at Haynes of Indiana and Winton of H Ohio and Olds was known in central Michigan as M "Olds Fool." H It was 1899 before automobiles began to be H produced in commercially important quantities. H That year 3,700 were made, worth $1,284 apiece on H the average. The cars for three or four years H made comparatively little headway. In 1903 only H, 11,000 cars were made and the price was a little H bit lower than in 1899 ($1,150). H But from that time on the prico went steadily H upward and the auto makers vied with one an- H other for the trade of the wealthy. Luxury after fl luxury was placed in the cars, the richest styles H were invented, and the auto craze swept over the m rich and the near rich of the nation. H Homes were mortgaged in order that families B might have cars as expensive as those of their H wealthiest neighbors across the street. Extrava- H gance was the order of the day, both in buying 1 cars and making them. m For every auto company had a method of its H own. There wasn't a part in any make that would M fit the component part of another. Automobiling H meant having a high-priced chauffeur, really a H mechanician, and if anything went wrong or broke H it took days and weeks to get another part from 1 the factory. H Then somebody took a tumble to what was go- H ing on. Whether it was Ford or Olds or some- H body else matters little. Several makers saw that H cheaper cars would have to be produced and that H all makes would have to be standardized. The H year 1907 saw the birth of automobile sanity. H' Prices started coming down. People no longer H' thought it necessary to pay $4,000 or $5,000 for a Hi car de luxe. Almost everybody could have an , H automobile, so why pay enormous prices for a H snobbish special distinction that no longer ex- H isted? H The average price paid for a car in 1907 was H $2,123. In 1908 it was $1,621. This is what the H average, buyer paid, not what the average make M j The large quantity idea of production had its M birth. The number of autos made nearly doubled m in twelve months. WM Some firms tried to make cars as low as $250. m1 This seemed to be carrying the thing too far. K These makes never were popular. HJ Standardization was born. Automobile engl- H neers designated standard size parts, so that a HI motorist was not obliged to seek the nearest Hi , "branch of his particular factory to get his car Hf repaired. 1,1. Luxuries that were only in the highest priced cars in 190G begun creeping into the cars of moderate mod-erate cost. This was made possible by group production, pro-duction, turning out many cars at a time instead of only one. The good roads movement received its first great impetus. "National roads" laid out across the Alleghenies by the early American government govern-ment before the railroads were built were revived re-vived and extended across the continent. Today there are scores upon scores of organized roads connecting distant sections of the country, including includ-ing the famous Lincoln highway, Midland trail and Santa Fo trail across the Rockies. Brick and cement roads have been extended from the city limits far into the country, in many cases connecting large cities with pavements such as even the cities did not have fifteen years ago. Values of farms have doubled and trebled in counties with improved highways, and the cost of hauling produce from the farm to the market has been pared down to a minimum. Loads of 8,000 pounds have been hauled on concrete roads, whereas 800 pounds was the limit of the dirt roads they supplanted. Women now drive the largest and heaviest cars with more ease than their sisters six or eight years ago operated their little runabouts and coupes. Today there are 26,000,000 horses and mules in our midst there lies the best basis for computing comput-ing truck possibilities. It would take perhaps G,-500,000 G,-500,000 trucks to replace these animals. But if only 2,000,000 of them are replaced that means 500,000 trucks. In 1910 there were less than 10,000 motor trucks in use in the United States. It is conservatively conser-vatively estimated that today there are 100,000. Every business that gives delivery or haul-ago haul-ago service must use motor trucks nowadays in order to keep up with competition. The obvious arguments for trucks are these: 1. That they cover more ground than horses. 2. That they make possible a greater radius of delivery hence patronage. 3. That they are more reliable. 4. That, if kept busy, they are cheaper. 5. That they are a good advertisement. To the wise business man there is nothing more important than to instill in the minds of the members of his organization that the concern is prepared to expand. Not only that it desires to grow, but that it has the facilities, as well as the purpose. The adoption of motor delivery fosters such a feeling. From the big boss down to the office-boy, a truck suggests speeding up, just as the typewriter, type-writer, the cash register, the adding machine and other modern methods suggest the same thing. Experienced owners say that trucks are splendid splen-did advertising, that they create an impression of enterprise, permanency and promptness in the minds of the public. The business man is now fairly educated to the facts of truck superiority and that means sales and more sales. The outstanding achievement of the year 1915 lies in the advancement "of the motor car in the direction where it is now within the reach of the greater number of people. It is the year in which the prices of motor cars were reduced to a point where they became the universal conveyance of mankind. Prior to 1915 there were many attempts to offer a car within reach of all, but this year there are on the market real automobiles with the desired power, comfort, design and appearance. While other years may be marked (by the wonderful development in design and construc tion, yet it was not until 1915 that the most essential es-sential point to the buyer, that of price, was developed de-veloped to a point that has placed the motor car far beyond the horse-drawn vehicle and every &, other mode of conveyance. In its advertisements and business circulars the Franklin Automobile company is making claim to one of the greatest records ever attained at-tained by an automobile, in fact it is set out as a world's record, the New York to Chicago run, a thousand miles, on one gallon of oil. This, it is claimed, is made, possible by the Franklin direct-air direct-air cooling system. It delivers the highest economy econ-omy -in gasoline, according to the Franklin announcement. an-nouncement. It is the one thing which separates the Franklin amongst all the fine cars in America. The oil-consumption test was made on Novem- ber 20 when the car, a Franklin Sedan, arrived in V Chicago after a no-stop run from New York. The lubricating system was sealed at the start in New York and the car carried two observers. The test was conducted from start to finish under the supervision of the Automobile club of America, which makes the record an official one. Coming close on the heels of the Franklin low-gear low-gear run made August 1 to 4, Walla Walla, Wash., to San Francisco, 860 miles, without once stopping stop-ping the engine, which proved the car free from heating troubles, the second test hardly occasions great surprise among those who have closely followed fol-lowed the career of the Syracuse machine. Harry W. Ford, president of the Saxon Motor Car company, calls attention to the changed attitude at-titude of bankers in recent years regarding the securities of automobile concerns. It was not long ago when financial magnates regarded the automoibile as aj fad which would wane like roller skating and bicycling, but they see now that the vehicle propelled by gasoline is a necessity ne-cessity and that its inherent worth has given it a place in modern civilization that is bound to become more important daily. "Bankers have always been interested in transportation trans-portation lines," said Mr. Ford in discussing the subject. "They have always invested heavily in railroads and isteamhoats and railroad stocks and bonds have ranked with government, state and municipal securities for stability. Being interested in-terested in transportation lines, it is natural that financiers should look with favoi on the automobile which is revolutionizing traffic, both for long-distance and short-distance journeys." The Inter-Mountain Motor Car Co. have just received their first shipment of Kissel Ail-Year cars, which are now on display at their salesroom, 431 South Main street. The Kissel Ail-Year car was first introduced to the public in 1914 and was" ",v met with such enthusiastic public approval and wide demand that the factory is working night and day to fill orders. The Kissel All-Year car lias 'been widely copied but no imitations have yet appeared that can match the original. The public is cordially invited to call and inspect these beautiful beau-tiful cars. The shortage of automobiles for 1916 is likely to be serious for, where it was believed the big demand would come from the west, that demand is general, and dealers along Broadway, New York, are quite as hard set to secure cars to satj. isfy the demands of their customers as are dealers deal-ers throughout the wheat and corn belts of the west. Recent reports state that Kansas banks are overrun with money and compelled to refuse deposits de-posits owing to the law, and in the east money is being (joined in the stock market. Many are being made rich, and when men make money in quantities they immediately become customers o the automobile dealers. In England the "neuve rich" are growing in numbers, and demands for cars have cleaned Great Portland street, the automobile row of Lon-. Lon-. don, of everything salable, while all through the English possessions, according to James Holland of London, formerly editor of Automobile Topics of New York, the demand for cars is as great today as before the war started. American makers mak-ers are looked to in their trouble by the London dealers, and American bankers, hard pressed at home to supply the demand, are unable to take j ?care of the foreign business at the doors. ' ; American manufacturers with more business - at home than could be attended to with top-notch production, and with more business in foreign countries than could be attended to, even though American markets became slack, are likely to face conditions that will bring about a car fa-i fa-i mine in a short space of time. The shortage of " material Is vital at this time, and will keep down production figures. Scientific American, some time ago, sought in-" in-" v formation and learned that material for slightly over 1,000,000 cars had been ordered from Amer- - ican manufacturers. All of this will not be secured se-cured and the makers will do well to hold the record figures of 600,000 cars, the mark reached in 1915. ' ( . . With the price of standard cars comiug down ' yearly and an increased number of pay passen ger cars on the market, experts and prophets of the trade are predicting that an "automobiliza-tion" "automobiliza-tion" of the country is under way a spread of the auto comparable only to the feverish spread of the steam railroads that started 40 yeais ago. With cheap cars and rapid bus lines for the masses, the cities are bound to grow outward in- ' stead of inward, auto men assert. Slums will deserted for suburban garden spots; the entire country will get fresher air and cleaner living; markets will be brought closer to the consumer; the cost of living will hit the toboggan, and the partly depopulated rural districts will come into their own again. Not only that, but the great transcontinental roads Lincoln highway, Midland trail, Santa Fo trail and others and the web of connecting hard roads will make possible heavy interurban trucks and vans that can carry freight from town to town and cut the exorbitant freight rates now charged by most American railroads. Automobile men don't say that auto trucks will ever supplant railroads for freight hauling, but they do say that rates will be lowered by the steam lines to a point where autos can't compete. And that will servo the public just as well. There's an educative value in the automobile, too, its sponsors say. It will bring neighboring towns intv. closer touch, banish local jealousies and prejudices, and acquaint country that makes their towns possible. Also, it will aid as the railroads aided in developing de-veloping new parts of the country regions that would not be able to support a railroad for many years. There are examples of this throughout the western states Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Idaho, Montana, Nevada and the coast states. Settlers start into virgin territory, the automobile follows them to carry freight and mail; moro settlers rush in, many of them people who would not think of the country if the automobile did not furnish quick transportation to and from tho older centers. cen-ters. The automobile in this manner paves the way for the railroads and at the same time makes it impossible for the railroad when it does come, to charge the robber rates that were levied on the struggling western valleys in the olden days. Summing this all up, men in the motor car in dustry assert that the automobile will make the H United States a truer democracy than it ever was before. M H Long before the first robin dares to set foot on northern soil, John Florls, a South American gypsy, and a band of co-workers, living in a small M cottage in West Twenty-fifth street, Indianapolis, will have started for the Pacific slope over the M old National road in a motor propelled palace, M that will, in comparison, make the main ticket M wagon of a three-ring circus look like a country M hotel 'bus. M Tills resplendent domicile is built on a Buick M D-4 one-ton truck chassis, which is equipped with M a Buick valve-in-head 37 horsepower motor, and M mounted on pneumatic tires. The body was built M expressly for Mr. Floris. It is the first of the H kind ever turned out in this country, for indeed H the genial and progressive Mr. Floris is the first M of his kind to discard the horde for the motor car. H While this nomadic vehicle is not equipped with H nil of the conveniences of the modern apartment, H it has all the latest motor appliances, and will be H far ahead of anything in gypsy rolling stock ever H The old, time-honored Romany love for gaudy H paint and colored glass finds its fondest hopes H moro than realized in this newest thing in motor H cars, and it will be a dull citizen indeed who will H not stand awed and bewildered when this gasoline H gypsy wagon of many colors thunders through the H towns and villages along the old National trail: H When asked in regard to his plans for the fu- H ture, the Latin-featured and picturesque Mr. Floris H replied in well-broken English: "Humph ,we all H early start Californey, San Francissyco." Where- H upon his jewelry bedecked wife added, as she laid H aside a big briar pipe, "Etaoin shrdlu cmfwyp H okog." H H An old English lady, who lived alone B outside a small village, was nervous m about Zeppelins, so she made careful M inquiries as to her best course. "I 'i don't think there's much to worry 1 1 1 about," replied the vicar in answer to M her questions. "But, if you like, you H I can do as some folks are doing sleep in the cellar." With profuse thanks, the old lady went off to alter 'her domestic do-mestic arrangements. But In half an hour she was back again, anxiety once more wrinkling her brow. ' The cellar's all right for Zeppelins, sir," she said; "but suppose one o them there submarines comes instead?" |