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Show FORD MOTOR CO. IS 20 JfEARS OLD Detroit, Mich., June 1G.-The Ford Motor Company is twenty years old today. And this birthday anniversary finds it enjoying the greatest prosper ity in its history and engaged in carrying out an expansion program of enormous magnitude, necessary to bring manufacture up to meet the ever increasing demand for Ford Prodiucts. In the score of years which have passed since its incorporation on June 16, 1903, the growth ot the company has been amazingly rapid and now its activities extend to nearly near-ly every country on the globe and the Ford car is in use in pratically every land on earth. The capital originally subscribed in the company was $100,000 of which only $28,000 in cash was actually act-ually paid into the treasury. A-moiig A-moiig the twelve stockholders with the company in its infancy Henry Ford held 25 per cent of the stock. Ford "sold" his car to the public at the very start by practical demonstration demon-stration for he piloted the first Ford racer himself and won race after race in all parts of the country. Driving old "999" on an ice track at Baltimore Bay, Michigan, he was the first to break the mile-a-minu'e record. re-cord. In 1907 Mr. Ford acquired additional addi-tional stock sufficient to bring his holdings in the company up to 58 per cent. Development of the company since 1908 when the Modvl "T" Ford car was first placed on the market has been markeed by unusual success until un-til now it occupies the foremost position posi-tion in the Industry. In 1923. Mr. Ford set a standard for the industrial world when he announced an-nounced his now famous $5 a day j'inimum wage and the $10,000,000 profit-sharing plan, a move that gained him international fame. Many will remember, too, a vear or so later when announcement was made that if sales went to a cer'ain figure every Ford purchaser would receive a rebate. The sales passed the figure and checks went out by he hundreds of thousands. When in 1919 Edsel P. Ford assumed as-sumed the presidency, his father turned over to him all the rep'. 'sibi-holders 'sibi-holders and on July 9. 1919. 1k . 1 1 y of that office and he has taken an important part in all developments develop-ments of the company since that ime. I' pen becoming president Edsel Ford purchased the remaining 4 1's r1' cent held by outside stock Compauy was reorganized under Unlaws Un-laws of Delaware for an althorir.e.l capitalization of J 1 00.0tni.ouo. In him ambition to do the greates: amount of good for the largest number num-ber of people, Henry Ford always has kept the Ford car wlthii the reach of the person of average means. Last October the price of F lnl Cars was again reduced bringing th-various th-various types to the lowest lev-1 In the history of the company. And only recently the Inauguration of the Ford Weekly Purchase Plan ha-opened ha-opened the way to automobile ownership own-ership for additional millions of peopD who can now buy Fords on .veekly payments as low as .. The first car manufacture 1 by the 'ord Moior Company was on 'byroad 'by-road in June and sold the early par' of July, 1903. In tho Initial year. 1 903-04, the company produced 1,708 cars and each year lias seen a iteadv expansion until Inl 922 pro-Imtlon pro-Imtlon totaled 1.351.333 and this year will pass the 1.500.0U0 mark, a figure which It Is estimated will eiiual If not exceed the combined out .(ii of all other automobile companies compan-ies In the United States. Since Its start the company has produced more than 7.750,000 Fords and sent them to all parts of the WTirld and more than fi. mill, (inn are now- In use In the United States llone. Manufacturing methods of the Ford Motor Company have been am! remain the marvel of engineering ex-perls ex-perls of the world. All are based in the most scientific principals, ills-inilly ills-inilly Indivllnal In their advanced deps nnd they bring quantity pro-nctlun pro-nctlun with high quality coming uiiomatli-ally In the process. Under lis present exxpanslon pro-Train pro-Train the company Is carrying out on i larger scab? than ever before its policy of effecting every miinufacl ur-Ing ur-Ing economy possible. Thus with .osls cut lo Mm minimum all along he line, from primary raw materials lo finished cars, trucks and tractoiF. It is nble to give the purchaser a high quality product at a very low price It has Its own coal mines In West Virginia nnd Kentucky and Iron ore mines and forests In northern Mlolil ;an. The Ford rallroa l, the Detroit, To-eilo To-eilo & Ironton. connecls wllh prac-llcnlly prac-llcnlly every I rans-conl Inentiil Hue. which nffords unusual shipping fa c.llltles. At. River Rouge, with a plant area of 1.200 ncrei, the company besides having the largest foundry In Ibe world, operates Its own blast furnaces, fur-naces, machine shops, body plant, iiiw mill, coke ovens, reinenl plant, paper mill, power plant, locomotive repair shops and the Fordson Tractor til a nt. The parent plant of the company In Highland Park occupies nearly 300 acres of which 123 are under roof. Here n re Iho general offices. Ibe Delroll sales branch, the boy's industrial school and the world s largest individual automobile plant The company has a glass pliant at Glassmer-e, Pa., another at Highland High-land Park ami a third is under construction con-struction at River Rouge. There ulso are manufacturing units at Hamilton, O., Northville, Mich., Troy, N. Y., Iron Mountain, Mich., and several points in and near Detroit. A $1,200,000 building under con-j con-j struction at Dearborn, Mich., will provide a new homo of the Ford . Engineering Laboratory. It also will house the plant of the Dearborn i Publishing Comppany, publishers of i the Dearborn Independent, the Ford (International Weekly, j There are thirty-four branches of I the Ford Motor Company in the I United States of which twenty-eight hire assembling plauts. Those have ail been improved and enlarged with i in the last year and today are producing pro-ducing cars and trucks at the rate of 6,700 every eight-hour working day. There are more thuu 9,000 Ford dealers in the couutry and over 15, ,OU0 authorized Ford service stations, 'making a total of more than 24,000 ' points of contact with the motoring public. Foreign branches and associated companies are located at Buenos Aires, Sao Paulo and Montdvedio, South America, Havana, Cuba, Copenhagen, Co-penhagen, Denmark, Antwerp, Italy, Belgium, Manchester, Eoglaud, Barcelona, Bar-celona, Spain, Bordeaux, France, and Trieste, Italy. There also is a manufacturing manu-facturing plant at Cork, Ireland. The Ford Motor Company of Cana-j'Ja, Cana-j'Ja, Ltd., located at Ford, Ontario, '.just across the river from Detroit, Mias an annual output of 75,000 Ford Cars and Trucks and does business not only iu Canada but in the British possessions. The Fordson Tractor was brought out iu 1917, during which year 254 were produced. It was developed a'ter years of work and experiment by Henry Ford and his engineers and .presents a most sturdy and dependable depend-able power plant, easy and economical economi-cal in operation. Like other Ford products, it met with almost instan'. success .and at present the Fordson plant at River Rouge is producing tractors at the rate of 5 00 a day to keep pace with the growing demand. The Lincoln Motor Company, organized or-ganized In 1917 to produce motor cars of exceptionally high quality, was acquired by the Ford Motor Com pany at a receiver's sale February 4, 1 922, for $8,000,0110 and only recent ly Henry Ford pail to the creditors of the company an additional $4,000, 000 to make up their losses, though under no obligation to do so. The Lincoln Motor Company was re-organized under the laws of Michigan Michi-gan on March 29, 1 922, for an au-: au-: i.oriz -.l capitalization of $15,000,-(.iii $15,000,-(.iii I. It is now known as a division of the Ford Motor Company aul has ati annual capacity of 10.500 motor cars. Not only is the Ford Motor Company Com-pany the greatest automobile manufacturing manu-facturing institution in the world today, to-day, but it stands alone, a stupendous stupend-ous industrial marvel, into every act-Mty act-Mty of which there permeates the personality and genius of Its founder and guiding spirit. Henry Ford. |