The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current, March 07, 1909, AUTOMOBILE SECTION, Image 27

The Sunday Oregonian., March 07, 1909, AUTOMOBILE SECTION, Page 3, Image 27

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Newspaper Page Text1909. DEALERS WHO HANDLE PORTLAND MOTOR TRADE FOR WIDE FIELD TI1E SUNDAY OREGOXIAN". PORTLAND. MARCH BUSINESS MAKES BIG GAINS Although Automobile Industry Is Still in Its Infancy, Sales Are Enormous and Demand Is Increasing Every Season. I T Is apparent to the most superficial I showing bona fide sales and shipments all nlmrvfir t tint Vi uxA ft f uitnmAMlas i - . . . - . has greatly Increased In the past three years In Portland, and In the en tire Pacific Northwest. This steady ad vance In the annals of motoring has been made against many obstacles. It has forged ahead, obeying the Irre sistible logic of the law of supply and demand, and It is still on the up grade, despite panics, prejudice, and a finan cial condition not altogether roseate in other lines of business. It is Interesting to follow the trium phant course of motoring, not only In localities where roads and highways have been the half-solving of the prob lem, bnt in localities like the Pacific Northwest, where road conditions are such considerable drawbacks to the distributors and the users of automo biles. One of the chief factors in the successful prosecution of the trade has been the indomitable spirit of the man ufacturers, their agents and employes. It is doubtful if the courage dis played by these men has been equaled In the history of America in the way of exploring new and untried paths, un less It find a complement in the hardy pioneers who blazed the trails through trackless forests, and carved on Ameri can history such names as Boone, Fre mont, Lewis and Clark, and men or their caliber. ' There has been no expense which the manufacturers have not been willing to assume In their quest for perfection; there has been no possibility Jn the way of improvement which they have not followed to its extremest end, to de termine its worth or failure: there heve been no obstacles placed in their way which they have not met with a ratience and persistence worthy of a really great cause. Progressive Men in Charge. The men whom they have employed to push the sale and publicity of their output have been imbued with the same enthusiasm. What course across path less deserts and through dense forests or over mountain summits which they have not essayed? What stress of weather or fierceness of storm has de terred them from demonstrating that the automobile, with the aeroplane, constitutes the twin wonder of Ameri can, Inventive skill, traversing earth and air with Uiat degree -of speed which seems In passing to devour the way! It has been this passion for perfec tion, this sturdy faith, this Indomitable pluck, which has been one of the very greatest agencies in developing the motorcar and bringing it to the uni versal knowledge of the citizens of the United States. It has meant a vast outlay of money for experiment and Initiative and large sums for adver tising and promoting, as well as for tunes for the actual manufacture of the finished product. The second chief factor in the swift advance of the automobile trade has been a demand for them growing out of modern changes and conditions. The motorcar long ago passed from Its original sphere as a mere toy, to a necessity -which has been accorded full acquiescence In the business world as well as the world of outdoor pleasures. It Is analogous to the trolley-car, which gridirons the country in every -direction, vieing with the railroads in the race for the rewards of transporta tion. Even in some farming communi ties automobiles are being purchased by the residents. Here In Oregon the day will come when every foot of ground will be t'illed by motor power, and every in dustry will have for its motor power the automobile, winged Mercury of modern days. So soon as a reliable car can be built, safely and easily handled, requiring no special training on the part of the driver, and whose make Is a guaranty of Its excellence, there will be no limit to the sales of such machines. There are cars at pres ent on the market which give great satisfaction and service that are quot ed as low as $750 and J500. They are built of good material, and while they are not ornate, they are service able. Leading Makes Are Represented. Portland dealers represent In their circle the makers of nearly all of the first-class American motorcars obtainable. They have the high-priced, the low-priced and the medium-priced automobiles, and gaso line and electric motors are both repre sented by the local trade. The facts are, of course, that there are a number of automobile manufacturers whose makes have attained a standard reputation. Automobiles which have been thoroughly tested, and whose names are well-known everywhere. Like American breech-loading arms, they are not con fined to the makers of one kind. The growth of the trade In Oregon and the Pacific Northwest has been for one thing resultant on this fact. Motors have come In. been tested, found capable or other wise, and the "baying public have been educated, not only as to the superlative comfort and value of the auto as a means of locomotion, but as to the merits of the different makes. Competition has been the life of the automobile trade, for the keen rivalry brought about by warring manu facturers has been responsible In part for the high-grade of perfection of the modern machine. Oregon business men are coming more ana more to the use of the, automobile in business because it saves time; be cause it is cheaper, mile for mile, when economically run than a horse and buggy because it Is safer than a nervous equine- because it will not get sick or sun-struck. or lose its usefulness in a few years. In the East and Middle West the impetus has been almost miraculous In the way of the general use of motorcars, and In the Northwest, as the advantages of motor cars become more and more apparent, the sale of machines Jias steadily Increased. Portland dealers are a unit in declaring that their trade Is improving all the time. The activity about their sales-rooms is corroborative evidence ol their statements At cone of the headquarters of prominent men in the business It is difficult to get a hearing from the dealer or his sales man without awaiting your turn. There no trouble to sell good motors in Port land, for the reason that the fcupply is not equal to tho demand. Local dealers will show you orders and freight receipts over the state, and they will tell you truly that the call for first-class motors Is not only doubling In the confines of Portland, but that the demand is growing In the outside towns and smaller cities through out the state. One hundred and forty-six thousand automobiles were In use at the be ginning of 1908 In the United States. One hundred .and twenty-two million dollars" worth of ears were sold in the United States in 1908. Many millions of dollars more were spent In the In-dustr- apart from the purchase of cars. The sale of fuel and lubricat ing oil. the wages paid and salaries furnished, the amounts paid In freight charges for the distribution of the machines, the money invested in the plants, and many other Items of dis bursement will bring the total sum of capital Invested to an amunt which would seem fabulous If figured down to the last Item. Tho circulation of half a billion dol lars, at least, may be safely . counted on as representing the extent of the automobilo' Industry of America; and there has never been such a sudden and at the same time, solid growth in any other branch of trade. The de crease In the annual Importation of foreign-mado cars Is an assurance that the American makers are pro ducing cars which can compete suc cessfully with the imported motors. American skill and ingenuity can be depended upon to keep paco with any thing in the line of special Improve ments. Besides, many of the foreign cars are built for use on European roads, where a condition of excellence exists unheard of In America. These motors could not stand the wear and tear of Journeying over American high ways, and are really "undesirable cit izens" as means of travel In the Unit ed States. The eager rivalry between manu facturers and dealers not only stimu lates activity among the producers of motorcars, but It influences the pur chasers In their determination to se cure the best possible cars. It Is not at all an uncommon thing for the buy er of one style of auto to sell his first purchase and try another make- Some owners have several machines, and others have one model of automobile for use In the city and another for touring purposes through the country, Portland dealers figure that If they sell a man a machine which satisfies the purchaser fully, they have paved the way for a future purchase from the same man. A good machine sold is a continual advertisement to Its makers; and it is somewhat amusing to consider what a large amount of advertising: is furnished the dealers by the unbounded enthusiasm of var lous purchasers. The average Amerl can owns the best dog. the best gun, the best automobile and the best razor in the world, and he Is a walking and talking advertisement of the fact, and extols the merits of his favorites gratis, and with a most convincing as surance. The Impetus given the automobile Industry In Portland and the Pacific Northwest Is simply part and parcel of the modernization of business methods, and the necessity of keep ing up with the procession. The Coast movement towards motors has moved upward from Los Angeles, where it is most general, and Is spreading all over the country here with a steady and permanent strength which will show remarkable proportions at the close of 1909. There is room for all the dealers, and business in the future for all first-class and standard models. The coming exhibition at the Armory will give purchasers ample opportunity to examine into the merits of the differ ent makes. Experts in the employ of the various manufacturers will be on hand to demonstrate the excellencies of the automobiles they represent. A fair field and no favor will be the or der of the day, and the greatest in terest Is being manifested everywhere as to who will carry oft the honors. Old Hostility to Auto Has Disappeared T 4 ' ' l s I - i f " - 4r v ' : i i i 7 NS. ' '-'' W " "1 U : ) : V - , J ' ' 5 . :?. . . . V, t 4 - : V " , ! . --'.''.fih: r----.'-:i-;isi-t;.:'A-.-: I --- , II" lJ ' - V ' ; 1 :i -i sir- .. ' f:-jf- -- r j i v. t - ! f -J? i V - 1 l - j tii intinw jiaiTfaiwm r isTirift - r anasniiuiTK iii r-- '" v .jjp urn iiwmiwiiwii i V.. '1 T, I'" --- x: .. - f : kwsMCk t r 7 V . V xr . . x v t; ; corresponding saving of time In ths handling of freight. In almost ail of tho cities of sny six motor cars are very generally in use by the officials of the city, and by the park departments. Time is so much -or an essential in leaiing witn modern conditions that -tlmcktUers" are a very necessary adjunct to the demands of the day. The automobile Is demonstrating its utility eevrywhere in these directions. In Portland tho Initial trials of au tomobilo for business purposes were not attended by particular success. The styles of motors were not of the lat est and test types, and too much wns expected of thorn. Then. too. the roads, especially on the East-Side, have mili tated, against the use of motors as de livery wagons and handlers of freight. But the patent advantages of machines Is being made so manifest that the change is bound to come, brought about from the considerations of economy and f fh-lenc y. If from nothing else. One of tin- results of tho Introduc tion of automobiles into the business world will bo tho pruning of forces. Like any other Innovation 1n tho lino of laoor-savlng machinery it la bound to reduce the number of men employetl. This is one inevitable feature which will sd.iust Itself eventually as all oth er similar problems hsve adjusted themf-el Vfs. I', need not bo Imagined that In tho cities ana towns slono that the com mercial volno of motor vehicles has been established. Jn tho country, even In tho unsettled districts, the Indefat igable motor xgents and flying tires are in evidence. A recent order for ten lutomobl les for Texas cattle ranchers front eutoii Tex.is. to be made es pecially adaptable tor uses on the big ranches is perhaps the last straw on the broncho's, back. Hut It shows how prejudice 1 beini beaten down by facts and figures, even in those remote rerions wheio the cowboy roams. fommcrctall;.-. therefore, tho auto mobile is lu re to stay. It Is Improv ing. t"o. almost daily. In Its efficiency. durability and economic value to the business communities. It is demonstra bly fitted for every ptirpose that horse flesh Is available for. nnd at a reduced cost. In most respects It can outdo the h'rse. and In many respects to an as tonishing degree. Just as electricity dtii away with the jos-trot horse cars of our ancestors, and the succeeding clumsy "cable" system that followed, so Is the motor car for tho business world sure to eventually occupy the . entire field of freight transportation and the handling of business in the cities. Agriculturally. It has made some ad vances. Just what v.ill be done in that direction rests 1n the hereafter. But Its horizon Is widening in all direc tions, and Its futuro Is assured. Vanderbilt Cup Race on Fine Coursi So ZJ. .S. fOWZ.AMJ. HE greatest invention the world has ever known is tho wheel and Its Innumerable ramifications. Ta ken altogether, the world would today be almost in a state of barbarism with out the wheel and its accompanying devices and uses. And yet from its inception, the fiercest prejudices were levelled against it. The steam gang plow of today, running on wheels, and cutting a large number of furrows at a time. Is a vast advance on the team of oxen and the single plowshare of the pioneers; yet it came up against stubborn prejudice to its present emi nence. In the old days, "Josh" Bil lings wrote: He who by the plow would thrive Aiust no two-xorty Boaaes anv; but worry the ground to and fro wita nornea critters tb&t sicaseiy seem to so. And In the evolution of the wheel. from the oxcart and clumsily-sawn section of tree trunk which served for wheels, to the wheels of the loco motive and automobile, there is a long period of time which has been marked for the steady resistance of prejudice and narrowness against the march of modern invention. In the year 1831 the Initial laws for tho benefits of users of automobiles, or "steam road carriages," were passed by the English Parliament. At that time the inventive genius of Great Britain had placed England a lone way in advance of ail other countries in the practicability and number of her conveyances of this kind. The old-fashioned coach lines, already ap- prenensive or tne competition of loco motives, at once sounded an alarm. The highway magnates began imme diately to assail this means of trans portation, and they were particularly bitter by reason of the extraordinary leat or a lxmaon automooiie lor con veying passengers,, which covered i distance of nine miles In the then re markable time of 55 minutes. The methods employed by the oppo nents of the "steam road carriages'' was of the same primitive description sometimes employed at this day. Ob structions were placed on the turn pikes, stones were thrown at the neaas oi passengers, and other strenu ous pleasantries IndulRed In. until Parliament was obliged to step in and interfere. But even the solemn statutes of the English Parliament were not effective enough to check the fury of the rural population. When Arthur Wellesley. the great Duke of Wellington, con queror of Napoleon and hero of Wa terloo had the temerity to travel through the south of England with Mr. Gurney and with one Bailey as engineer, the rustics along the road cathered In large numbers ana m great Duke met a decided Waterloo , at the hands of his own countrymen. Mr. Gurney was much dlsaDieo, ac cording to tho accounts, while "one Bailey, the unfortunate engineer, nw to be taken on to Bath for repairs. In an Insensible state from tne deli cate attentions bestowed on him with rocks and clubs 'in the hands of the Incensed peasantry. Sir Arthur's "up Guards, and at them" did not avail the party in this dilemma, although the Duke was auowea personally i no unmolested. When the assailing party wrecked the machine they caught a Tartar in the shape of the still smok-lng-hot machinery, and a number of them received severe burns in endeav- rlng to complete the work of des truction. About a score of years betore this the dignified and pompous Quarterly Review took occasion to harangue the reckless rising generation in these words, concerning the proposed inno vation of locomotives: "As to those persons who speculate on making rail ways generally throughout the king dom, aud superseding ail tne canais, wagons, mall and stagecoaches, post chaises and. In short, all other modes of conveyance by land and water, we deem them and their viBlonary schemes unworthy of notice. What, for in stance, can be more absurd and ri diculous than the prospect of locomo tives traveling twice as fast as stage coaches." What indeed! O temporal O mores! When the Inventor, HancocK, agreed to transport the Boyal Mails In an au tomobile at a speed of 20 miles an hour, and other steam road carriages were passing the fastest roaa coaches with ease, the British capitalists or that day combined and laid cown on the industry so effectually that it re posed In the statu quo until 1896. . As a laughable Instance of the vio lent prejudice existing even In that year may be mentioned tho case of an English lady autoiet In 1S96, who was fined under the old and still dominant law. for falling to send a man ahead, on foot, to warn horsemen and drivers of horse-drawn vehicles or her ap nroach. - Here In America this prejudice, at first active In the country districts has faded to a very considerable ex tent. For one reason the farmers themselves are buying motors. For another and a very potent reason, the farming communities recognize in the automoblllng industry their staunch est ally In the good roads' movement, for another reason the horses are get- tlnc used to tnem, ana it teacnes green horses to become accustomed to the steam railways. There are probably 150.000 owners of mo'orcars in the United States to day. The numoer Is increasing by thousands every week. No amount of prejudice can overcome the patent and enormous advantages which automo biles offer for business purposes nnd pleasure trips, and to look back to the days of 1831. and the mishap of the famous Duke, is to smile at the lesson It leaches of tho uplift and advance ment of the world. t iV 7, i , r u LH4yrg STEAMS RANJ FOJSD. OLD5. ffA RTZOM , GVRLAMJ. MANY NEW FIELDS OPENING Use of Motor Vehicles for Commercial Purposes Is So Advantageous That They Are Constanly Being Tried in New Ways. COMMERCIALLY, the automobile is in its swaddling clothes. Great as the strides have been In In troducing motors in almost all lines of business, the possibilities have hardly been scratched, so far. The first ex periments in building trucks and ve hicles for use In the business districts of cities were merely groplngs In the dark compared to what has since been accomplished. Failures were recorded, and still the manufacturers and in ventors persevered In their work and Investigations. Even now the manu facturers admit that notwithstanding the Improvements which have been made in the past three years, they are straining every nerve to perfect and complete a line of vehicles which will become as much of a necessity to the business men of a community as sew ing machines are to the regulation American family. Certain cities, however, have taken up tho matter of using motors In their mercantile transactions, and their use has become quite general. In Los An geles, several business houses h-ive disposed of all of their horses and horse-drawn vehicles and are using nothing but motors for delivery. Some of these houses have as high as 17 machines running continuously. Other houses there have from five to seven EXHIBITORS WHO WILL PARTICIPATE IN PORTLAND AUTO MOBILE SHOW THAT OPENS TOMORROW. The following list of exhibitors at the Portland Automobile Show rep resents manufacturers and manufacturers' dealers, local agents and outside exhibitors. It Includes Portland dealers In autos as well as merchants doing business In affiliated lines, and represents the high-grade autos of America iir-its ranks. ArtC HER. COMBS WIKTERS CO AMERICAN ROADSTER. BACKUS MORRIS. BOWSER TANK CO. BALLOU WRIGHT. F. A. BENNETT. COVEY AUTOMOBILE CO. CROWE BfROBSS. ri REMANS FUND INSURANCE- FIRESTONE TIRE CO. FREER CUTLERY CO 'iKAHAM MOTOR CAR CO. .1. R. GREENFIELD MABrtAM PAVINli CO. IDANHA MOTORCAR CO. JEFFRIES GAYLOBD. J. B. KELLET. KLINE MACHINERY CO. H. L KEATS AUTOMOBILE CO. F. P. KEENAN CO. MAXWELL. AGENCY. C. B. MINERS. OREGON ELECTRIC VEHICLE CO. PALMER ENGINES. PEERLTJS3 MOTOR CAR CO. RENAULT CO.. PARIS. THE 6TUDEBAKER CO. TOURIST CAR CO. VALVC'LINE OIL CO. WINTON AUTO CO. motors doing their hauling and deliv ery. Dyeworks. laundries, drygoods. groceries, bakers, butchers and other tradesmen are employing light motors to work with, and the demand for commercial vehicles of moderate prlie and medium weight. Is increasing right along In that city. The Paeltlo Klectric Railway in Los Angeles, operating the Kleetrli- Dis patch for th transfer of freight, la using heavy motor trucks In Its busi ness, besides two large vehicles for the purpose of showing visitors the sights of tho city. At least SO taxicubs are operating under one management, with- number of individual cabs, driven outside drivers. An Automobile Fire vDespatch Is also a feature of the Los Angeles Fire Department. Alto gether, Los Angeles is a good example i Coast City which has gone for ward rapidly In the use of motors for commercial purposes. In the Kant and the Middle West the u;e of ni-)tiia for rotiimercinl pur poses is steadily increasing. The big business houses have learned that ii tho event of a strika a motor ean ln handled very much more effectually than a team of horses and a. wasron. Ilorses can be frightened or crippled, harness can be cut aud wagons put out of business much mart handilv than a motor can bo disabled. Be sides, a motor can charge quickly and overcome tho weight of a crowd where team of horses could be brought to a standstill. In the great metronoliKex the automobile Is inevitably to be ths freight-handling medium In the future. Economically, also, it Is contended the auto trucks will discount the aver age heavy team of draft horses In tho expense of keeping and attendant loss es on both oides. Every big stable where horses are kept requires the services of a veterinary surgeon, with expensive medicines, and other out lay. Ths surgeon of a motor garage does his doctoring mainly with an oil can and a monkey wrench. The manufacturers are taxing their Ingenuity to keep abreast of the times In building vehicles for special pur poses, nnd Ihey are prepared t' fill almost any order which a business man may send In. They can and do build any style of vehicle a firm. Individual or corporation wants, and while the first cost may exceed an original out lay for the same article in horse flesh and wagon cost, the difference, these persons declare, will be more than made up In a. short time In the vari ance between cost of keep and ability to get more w-jrk out of the motor. There is another advantage In tho motor vehicles lu tho matter of occu pying less room on the streets. The space taken up by a pair of heavy draft horses is nearly as much as the space occupied by a heavy truck. With the introduction and general ute of motors in tho business world, there will be less crowding in the congested city streets and about the freight de pots and manufacturing plants, and a POUNDED two years after the class ic European Gordon Bennett race, the Vanderbilt Cup rai-e lias be come to the automobile precisely what the Derby is to the horse. Not a race for the ordinary street auto, not one for the tourist, certainly not one for the littlo runabout, the Vanderbilt cup con test has produced a special type of car, a lean, quivering mass of steel, whose every line speaks of speed. Had this been Its only claim to great ness, the race would not go down to posterity with the name It bears, for racers, whether horse- or machines, are specialized to such a fine point, that their utility has passed to "allow thein to make merely a spectacle for the mass that delights In :i contest. Put. even more than being a spectacle, the Vanderbilt Cup race has caused the specialization of talent to produce roads the like of which for speed, wearing uualities and lark of frlcttonal properties It will be difficult to find anywhere. And what has been learned In the experiments that have been made on the Long Island course to produce a bed for racing that will ful fil! all the rcciuisltes named, has been followed by road experts throughout the whole of America and Indeed the whole world. Following the success of the speed way made by the Automobile Club of Great Hritain. which, while a bare two laps to tho mile, made possiblo speed te&ts never before attempted. William K. Vanderbilt. Jr.. incorpora-.-d himself with one or two friends as the Long Island .Motor rarkwav, wl:h tho avowed Intention of purchasing a right of way along a IrlariKular course in the heart of Long Island, to be specially devoted to motor racing, although when not engaged by such events It was to xi open to the farmer and the country resident. There were, nowevcr. to t' no crossroads and all such were car ried over or under, thus at oncn re moving the cause of tho loss or lire occasioned each time the Gordon Ben nett race has been run. At present over Jl miles of the ultimate 60 have been completed and the last race for tho Vanderbilt trophy were run over this 11 mlics and the balance over country roads that had been sneclally prepared for the occasion. As the race was run on a drizzling wet day, the difference between tho specially pre pared racetrack an the country roads made every traveler a good road advo cate. The Long Island Parkway Is making the track, as far as possible, ono t last Indefinitely, ono of immense strength and one that will r.ot chip and fray with th. 'skidding" of high speed vehicles. The contract for the road was finally given to the Hassam Paving Company to provide a practi cally Indestructible roadl.ed. It has yet to bo discovered whether this road "will entirely obviate the dan ger of high-speed cars wearing their tires rapidly away by friction, hut the completion of the first II miles has as sured the builders that the road will be absolutely dustless and despite the heavy tralTic It has received, there has been no "scoring" of the roadbed. Wherever a straight course is offered the road constructors have followed the usual "inverted saucer" method of providing for the road drainage, but on tho curves precisely the reverse lias been done and construction followed on the lines laid down by railroad en gineers. BV banking up one side of the roadway, tho drainage all falls to the other and the further advantage is secured of safety to high-powered ve hicles. Over ?0".c 0 people witnessed I he Vanderbilt Cup race on this course last year and not ono accident was recorded despite the fact that more than one ear ehargrd the crowd en manse in :n en deavor to part a way. Hut in the nsr future arrangements will bo made to Insure the safety of the spectators at tracted by the unique race run on this unique speedway.