1909.
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
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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.