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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (June 28, 1908)
MANY PORTLAND WOMEN RUN AUTOS, AND IT'S down with all tradition that n. woman can never know anything about machlnerj-. Many are the fair ona In Portland whose slender hands are as steady on the steering gear of an automobile, whose wits are as swift to respond, and whose feminine nerves are as cool as those of any trained chauffeur. Portland is contributing- generously to the increasing use of the machine among women, and there are more DUtos run here by women today than there were altogether three- or four years ago. And they are seen Just as frequently where there is a tangle! of traffic as on the boulevards or in the suburbs. It is not :orily pluck but real Interest that is at the bottom of wo man's success with the "benzine wagon." The entire notion of the machtneless. mind of woman Is discredited by those who profess to know -something about women who ..operate autos. Several dealers in Portland profess such knowl edge. . '. ' "Women. get in' 'on' the know about a machine mighty fast," said one dealer, "and any ono who says a wo man doesn't study her cur and how to operate it doesn't know what he- is talking about And they are fussy about their machines, too, which they ought to be. If they hear anything like a squeak they don't wait till to morrow or next day, but it's stop right then and there and oil up. A man will wait till after, the trip. is over or until It is convenient to him, but meanwhile there has been considerable wear and tear on the, machine. I know a woman here in Portland who has been run ning one of cur cars for about a year and. where a man's expense bill for :he same time may be JIOO, hers has been less than $25." Hare Better Auto Sense Than Men. Certainly local salesmen who are tspecially strong on gallantry insist that women show a lot more sense about automobiles than men do, and Shey put up a good argument. ; "Whoever heard. of a woman running over anybody?" they say, "and who sver heard of an accident or collision where a woman was driving? No one ever did, at least, not In Portland. Nor !a it because she takes her time about getting anywhere. "Not that for. a minute, for when she is traveling in an auto she looks like she -might be preparing to scatter humanity all over the landscape. But whether she is going fast or slow, she always knows ivhat she is doing, and :an t'top nutcker than any male driver I; ever saw. "Early this. Spring I was teaching a young woman out at Mount Tabor how to run a car. It was a sure sale and a big commission if she made good, and I taught her quickly, for her father would buy her a car Jflst as quickly as be would buy her a- pair of gloves, if she wanted it. . She was learning all right how to run It. but my particular line of lingo at that moment ws how to stop It. I had made her try several times, and she had failed so often that she was get ting discouraged, -and I felt that com mission s'Jpplng out of my hands pretty fast r'Sudderily a kid ran from behind a car right. In front of our machine, and we were, going at a rato that would have! made the speed ordinance look like It had never been passed. My heart Jvtmped like a trout at a fly, and U tho nerves concealed about me sot an. awful racket, but, before I could y& 17. J - v ?! think she had . stopped the machine. And she did It so bloomln' fasc that I came pretty close to going head first over the front end. We turned around then and drove back. I told her that she had learned all I knew about driv ing and she said she guessed she liked the car all. right, so the sale was made." , - ' . Women Drivers Arp Courteous. So far as the public generally is con cerned, there Is little doubt but that persons afoot in Portland prefer wo men drivers to men. They are Infi nitely more courteous and polite, and few women drivers Impress one as be lieving that the streets were made ex clusively for their use. People are usu ally saying mean things about automo lblists, but the women drivers of Port land seem to have escaped the general Ill-feeling. "I have never received anything but the most polite and courteous treat ment," said a young woman who oper ates her own car on the streets of Portland. "It may be due to the fact that I always try to be. considerate of others. If a huckster . or teamster pulls up his team to let me pass, I don't act as If the whole road were mine anyhow.- I look towards him and bow my thanks. And if a horse in the suburbs Is the least bit fractious I stop my machine and even shut off the power. The appreciation that people show al ways repays me for this trouble." Women of All Ages Run Cars. A great many persons may be some what ourious to know at what age a woman may suddenly evince a passion for the auto. Investigation is said to show that it makes little difference whether it is the woman grown white with years or the young miss who is not yet out of the High School. Indeed in Portland women of all ages operate cars and some of the most expert drivers are among the very young and the very old. Most of the women drivers in Portland, it is said, limit their dealings with an auto to operating it. They rarely clean it or oil it, or tinker with its intricate mechanism. A few, however, take pride in attending personally to their machines. They have a full supply of leather gloves and apron and attend to even the mi THE SUNDAY SWSS. ACo'" 40 as mi nutest details of oaring for their cars. A certain local dealer says that often, in teaching a husband and wife how to operate a car, the woman has proved to be the far better pupil. The man, he says, would never confess it, for where la the member of the male sex who is gener ous enough to revel in his wife's superior skill with an auto? - The dealer told of one instance where the husband had taken an impulsive desire to own an elec tric runabout, which was said to be so simple that any one could manage it. However, he never could, while the wife soon discovered a real affinity between the machine and herself; The man never understood why he couldn't learn to oper ate It while his wife operated It as deftly and gracefully as she did a baby car riage. - .-- - But there are" exception's to this rule, according to the dealer. Occasionally he finds instances where Lthe. woman, never learns thoroughly how to operate a car, and he tells this- story of a runaway: . "A lady who lives on the East Side," he said, "wanted to go down town on an errand and jumped Into' her runabout to make the trip. She did the errand all right, and started for home. She reached the street in which she' lived, but sud denly discovered that she could not stop the car. She had stopped it many times before, but simply forgot how to do it this time. ' "So she went past her home and drove around the block. On reaching her place again she couldn't stop, so again she drove around the . block. ' This continued for some time, until the husband, wonder ing what had become of her, went out on the street to take a look. He saw her drive past and she made signs to him which . he didn't for a moment, under stand. After she had driven around the block and made signs ' to him several times, he finally got wise, and with a big leap and great danger to himself climbed aboard the next time she passed. Just Like Merry-Go-Round. "Together they drove around the block, he 'joshing' her considerably, but when they again reached their home, he couldn't stop. He tried It again,, but failed. After repeated failures .the wo man, suggested that they drive to a ga rage where they might get aid. So they drove over to the West Side, and good OREGOXIAN, PORTLAND, 1 - J 7? -v-. 0 ness knows wnat might have happened if they had been called upon by aome emergency to stop suddenly. Luckily nothing happened and they reached the garage. . . "They drove past it once and around the block. Those in charge finally caught sight of the car passing and repassing and one of the chauffeurs went out to see what was the matter. The man shouted to him like a megaphone, but the driver didn't understand the first time. It took several trips around the block and in front of the garage, combined with a number of signals and much shouting, to make the chauffeur understand what was wanted of him. "Finally he understood and with a fly ing leap he also boarded the car. It took several more trips around the block-before he was able to bring the car to a stop. I "He afterwards explained to me that nothing was wrong with the car, that the only thing necessary to stop It was to pull out the plug near the spot where the driver's feet rest. He thought, of course, that the man or his -wife had done that and" he had looked for trouble-elsewhere. "The woman seemed very grateful to the chauffeur, and she also seemed very happy that her husband was along with her. She told me confidentially after word that he would never have quit 'Josh ing: her- if she had been alone and had failed to do such a simple'thlng as pull out a plug." - ' WORK OF TRAINWRECKERS Engineer Killed and Ten Injured In Pennsylvania Smash-up. , - HAZLiETON, Pa., June 27. One man was killed and eight or ten passengers Injured at Lofty, on the Mountain, 12 miles from here, early today, by the wrecking of a Pennsylvania passenger train, which Is believed to have been deliberately derailed by the spiking of the tracks. The dead man Is the engi neer, Aaron Raub, of Pottsville. The injured passengers were brought to the State Hospital here. The Pennsylvania uses the Lehigh Valley railroad tracks between Delano JUNlfi 28,- 1908. RUN THEM "v KLtH J i!dsssw ; i.y& - 15 Si- 2t &0s sV',K$s V 4 "S J 1 9 fell 3 1 B x"' i 2 li ,wr yj Tip; m.. v 46V v Junction- and this city. The superln- i torney Langdon, many of the bonds tendent of the Lehigh Valley says his men were disqualified entirely and oth- men found two spikes on tue tracks, placed in "such a way as to leave no doubt that they had. been put there de liberately, to wreck the train. The Pennsylvania train .was com posed of a combination car and one day coach, and left Pottsville for Nescopeke at .5:35 this morning. The train Is used principally by workmen, most, of ;whom arc miners, : The tracks where the accident oc curred extend along the side of the mountain. When the cars . left the tracks they toppled over on the moun? tain side of the roadway. Had they fallen on the opposite side they, would have gone down a steep embankment of more than 60 feet. REJECTS RUEFS SURETIES Court Finds Them Insufficient and Denies Bail. ' . SAN FRANCISCO, June 28. Freedom on ball was denied Abraham Ruef to day on the sureties offered by him to cover bail In the amount of $465,090, as required on the various Indictments for bribery found against him. The sure ties were required to qualify in double the amount of bonds. . Ruef'g attorney presented bondsmen who were presumed to be able to quali fy In much more than the amount re quired, but under an examination by Judge Dunne, assisted by District At- Dealers J' 1 ii .as.- ai A ?4v 4 "V T 77 W cJ Tir , 1 r ers were greatly reduced in amount. Judge Dunne, after denying the ap plication for release on the showing WELL PIANO FREE FOR A YEAR Is One of the Features of the Piano Exchange and Bargain Room This Week. Possibly you are waiting- "until you can buy- a Weber or a Kimball. H. M. Cable, or a Pianola Piano, or the Eilers, on the principle that the best only is good enough for you. meanwhile de priving yourself and family of a piano and the Influence of music in the home? If so, here is an offer for you: Buy any used instrument in our Piano Ex change and Bargain Room and there are nearly forty to select from, good makes in perfect order play on it a year, and at the end of that time we wi'l take it back in exchange for a new piano, allowing you the full amount paid. Then you will have a piano a year free. Before you buy anywhere no matter what you are offered come and see what we have. No doubt you will find the same piano here, used a little, it is true, hut in good condition and wait ing for you to come and get it, at about half you'd pay eise where. There's a reason for this. For Instance, last week the owner oi a nearly new Stein way piano decided, after careful in vestigation, that the Webr Pianola Piano was the only Instrument that he Say They Understand "and Operate Cars Better Than Do lien. jnr 7flGA2?T7VZ7Zj 'vj.;r.i..TM 1 U-kLU 4 ''.s- 1 J ? -'-a.'4! I made, set next Friday morning as thfc ! day for examining another list of bondsmen to be presented by Ruef, sup plementing those who were accepted today. could enjoy, as he could not play his piano, so -e gave him a reasonable allowance for his Sleinway and now it is in the Bareain Room. Speaking of the Weber and other Pianola Pianos handled exclusively by us, they are largely responsible for the creation of the Piano Exchange and Bargain Room so many really good, nearly new and high-priced pianos and other player pianos come to -us iu ex change. If any one would like a bar gain in an -Hi" note player piand. A. B. Ohase "Arti3tano" and other makes, the Bargain Room is the place to visit save couple hundred dollars or more, too worth coming in for. Here will be found Monday about every known make and, remember, "small pocketbooks" - can find what suits them, as -prices" begin at $75 and up to $95 and $120 for very good pianos and $168 to $1!0 for some of the best. No matter -what you have in mind, we will interest you here, and it's best to come down early; at any. rate, come as early as you can. Remember the plrce EllerS Piano Exchange and Bar gain Room basement , 363 Washing ton. Cor. Park (4th). .... ' emm.
