TTTE SUNDAY OREGOMAX. rORTLAXD, SEPTEMBER IS, x 1910.
MILLIONS SPENT FOR AUTOMOBILES.
IN OREGON SHOW CARS' POPULARITY
Car Alone Cost $6,500,000 Industry Is Rapidly Increasing Move Under Way to Induce Big Factory to Operate
Branch in Portland Demand for Machines Growing.
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OVKR li.540.000 Invests! In atomo
1 In Orrgnn! And this do
tot Include amounts expended for
re-torles. repair and chauffeurs'
wafff . which run Into many thousands
of d'BIars annually. If this statement
sounls extravagant, there are the rec
ords In the County Assessor's office and
also In the City Auditor's office which
hw substantially the extent of the
automobile Industry In the county anJ
the retire state.
Of (the many parages built In Port
land Jlurins; the past year or two, se--ral
Miro nrst-rlass huildlnss costing
f rom j f 24.000 to 113.000. Real estate
hoM:ii9 In connection with the auto
mobile business In Portland alone rep
resent 1 1.000.090. with additional hold
Ins: throushout the state of 1500.000.
makleir a total of S1.SOO.000 tied up In
yrnuad and bulldinirs.
I'p to the present time. then. fS.000.-
000 Is the amount that represents the
popularity of the motor-car In Oreiron.
There were 3741 cars In Oreiron on
February 28. 110. according to the reg
istration, of which number 1600 were
owned in Portland and Multnomah
County. Since March 1. or In the last
six months, the number has Increased
to approximately 4300. " Nearly 1500
cars, therefore, have been sold in
Ore iron in six months, or more than half
as many as had been previously sold In
the' state altogether.
Of the number of cars In Oregon fully
0 per cent, are owned by Portland
people. While there are a number of
high-priced cars, ranging from t.'SOO
to HS00. the average valuation placed
on the automobllea is $1500. Popular
priced cars seem to suit the demands
of the larger number of the buyers
and for this reason, the growth of the
Industry in Oregon seems to be going
ahead at a rapid pace.
Wlth- the automobile erase 'growing
and the commercial side of the motor
car being demonstrated morn and more,
there appears to be no limit to which
the indi-stry may extend tlseif In Ore
gon. Id view of this situation, there
Is some talk of trying to bring here a
branch of aome factory which is turn
ing out standard machines. It Is be
lieved that such a move would not only
prove a profitable undertaking but also
It would give the buying public the
benefit of better prices. The amount
saved in eliminating a large percentage
of shipping rates would also prove an
Item of considerable Importance In con-
siaenng sucn an enterprise.
in the meantime, the demand for au
tomobiles keeps growing and with the
arrival now of the 1911 models, deal
ers report a brisk business. Consider
ing the volume of business that has
been transacted within the nut.fv
months. It would not be surprising to I meth0 of travel. In the first place on
see the number of machines in Dreeon I the best country roads the old road
building. The feature of the garage
department is the fact that there" is not
a single post in the middle of the room.
It has a turntable installed, allowing an
automobile to turn around, and not
back out. as has heretofore been, the
case.
The garage has Its 'gasoline tanks
buried deeply underground. It. has a
washroom built out' under the side
walk on the west side of the building.
On the second floor are the offices and
salesrooms. It has a spacious show
window on the Cornell road side. The
main entrance to the building is also
located there. On the third floor is
located the machine shop.
The East Side has not been without
Its Improvements In the automobile line.
There are three garage buildings lo
cated on TTnlon avenue. These are the
Hess & O'Brien, at Union- avenue 'and
Couch street; the East Side Automo
bile Company, on Vnlon avenue, near
Holladay avenue, and the Twltchell
Motorcer Company at union avenue
and Wasco street. The largest and
most completely arranged of these East
Side buildings is the East Side Auto
mobile Company building.
This has a frontatce of SO feet on
Union avenue and extends through the
entire block to East Third street. Two
stories -and a full basement comprise
the apace In the building. The garage
bas accommodations for nearly 100 cars.
The "dead stock Is stored on the sec
ond floor. In the basement Is located
the machine shop. Here machines and
facilities for the making of almoet any
part for an automobile are installed
This shop does much work for -other
garages. The entrance to the machine
shop and basement is made from East
Third street, belnar on the level with
the floor. Elevators link the floors of
the building. Tho East Side Antomo
bile Company now handles the largest
number of cars In Portland. It has
both East and West Side branches.
The West Side branch Is located . on
upper Alder street.
Neate & McCarthy, distributers of the
Locomobile. Everltt and Oakland cars,
are now installed in a new building at
King and Washington streets. This
structure is of but one story. The
corner of the building Is used for a
salesroom and office. The front half
of the building, facing on Washington
street. Is occupied by small stores. The
rear portion is the garage and work
shop. The latter Is partitioned off from
the garage. The entrance to the gar
age Is on King street. The capacity of
ine garage is 50 cars.
At the northeast corner of Sixth and
Madison streets stands one of the most
substantial and modernly equipped gar
ages In Portland. This Is the garage and
salesroom building of the White Motor
Car Company. Also the Standard Motor
Car Company, distributors of the Ford
nd Stearns Motor Car Company, han
dlers of the car of that name, are located
In this bullding.-
The new White garage was completed
early last spring. With Its central Ioca
tlon It has proved one of the most at
tractive garages In Portland. The build
ing Is built of reinforced concrete
throughout and Is absolutely fireproof.
It is three stories and has a full base
ment.
- The garage is located In the basement.
On the first floor Is the salesroom, of
fices and storage-room for "dead" cars.
The second and third floors are repair
ana machine snops. The floors are con
nected with an elevator, one of the most
powerful in Portland.
Autos Mean Revolution in
Road Building
So Declares John II. Albert, Head of
State Auto Club.
CALEM, Or., Sept. 17. fSpeclal.)
hj John H. Albert, president of the
Oregon State Automobile Assoclat'on,
declares that automobiles and the In
creased mileage on country roads will
result In a complete revolution of the
system of road building, and while In
his estimation advantages for the
horse-drawn vehicle will bo cared for.
the road of the future in Oregon- will
be the road constructed to carry autos
and stand the peculiar strain which Is
put upon the ordinary highway by this
newer class of transportation
"In Marlon County It Is evident that
mileage over the country roads has in
creased S00 per cent, in the past two
years. By this P mean that travel
over the highways is materially more
than ever before In the past and this
Increase Is entirely due to automobiles.
Of course public roads are built out of
public funds and what the auto en
thusiast may do In the work of de
veloping thoroughfares largely depends
upon hjs influence as a taxpayer. Use
of roads changes' with the changing
times. One hundred years ago you
might say that the oxen had the right
of way in the more remote rural dls
trlcts. Then came a period of 75 or 80
years when the vehicle drawn by horses
had supremacy. Now comes the auto
mobile, but it is evident that the per
iod of the horse has developed a sys
tern of roadways made expressly to ac
commodate horses.
"In the past few years on all well
traveled roads there are three times
as many people in autos who use them
than those who travel them by any
other method. This means, while other
kind of traffic must not be lost sight
of. that the roads of the future will
be built with the use of the antomobile
in mind. Some changes in the usual
construction of roads will be made
necessary by the advent of the new
GOOD ROADS MOVEMENT IN OREGON
NOW PARAMOUNT ISSUE TO AUTOISTS
Need of Improved Highways Felt November Election May Make Great Work Possible Passage of Constitutional
Amendment of Vast Import Farmers Back Plan for Better Roads.
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reach 6000 by the end of the year.
PORTLAND HAS FINE ARRAY OF GARAGES
BnUdings in City Are of Modern Design and Permanent Construction Day Oarage Badly Needed Growth of
: Business in State Calls for Even More Extended Service.
WITH the advent of the automo
bile to Portland In large num
ber has come the era of build
ing large, roomy and handsome build
ings ud for garages and salesrooms.
evr has the true magnitude of the
automobile Industry In I'ortland been
more; readily shown than In the past
year.; This has been shown, not alone
by tMt scores of cars whining about
t!ie -lty streeia but by the number of
new l.uIMings devoted exclusively to
the automobile business, erected In the
1-ost fear.
In I'ortland are to be seen at least
half f dozen large new buildings used
for tfe automobile business only. B
sides'thi. there Is one, the largest In
the -Northwest, under construction,
-while? architects are now drawing up
plansJand specif iratlons for other build
ins frf similar type.
These buildings are not the cheap,
pass-away-by-night type, but big. sub
stantial brick and concrete bulling,
all of- them fireproof, too. The money
inverfed in them runs well into the
hi.nir-.l thousand mark.
I'ortland has more than kept pare
with Mlier cities on the Pacific Coast
in bulMlrg garages: It has far excelled
them. with the possible exception of
js Angeles. Cat., where motoring Is
Indulged In throughout the year. And.
tro, these structures will rank well
wttn any found In the East: they have
the latest appllunren f.,r facilitating
tine handling of ears: special depart
ments for K.tsllne, part, workshop.
least, lounging rooms for their chauf
feurs. Thts latter feature in Itself adds to
their beauty and attractiveness and
adds to their efficiency in serving the
public. So far these buildings have
been private buildings exclusively, al
though most of them do a general gar
age business. t
What Is needed most in Portland,
and what will surt-ly result within the
next few years out of pure necessity.
Is a daylight garage. Other cities have
them, and they have proved thetr worth.
In these buildings a business man can
"stable" bis car during the day. Such
a garage would take all these "for
hire-" machines off the streets. Port
land streets are narrow enough ordi
narily. When these rent cars congre
gate on each side of the street not
much room Jo left for other traffic.
The pioneer building here devoted
exclusively to automobiles was the
Studebaker Bros. Automobile Com
pany building- at Chapman and Alder
streets.. This structure Is of reinforced
concrete and brick construction and is
four stories with a full basement.
On the ground floor of this Institu
tion and toward the front la located
the salesroom. On the west side of the
ground floor are the offices. In the
rear of these departments la located
the garage, with accommodations for
about SO maohlnes. -In the basement,
connected with the other floors by a
massive elevator. Is the workshop and
more garage room. On the second floor
is located the Portland Taxlrab Com
pany, an Independent corporation. The
next two floor are devoted to "dead"
quarter block on the southeast corner.
In the workshop are found electric ap
pliances for recharging; their electric
ueuvery wagons.
bed Is of macadam and this, with an
occasional watering, provides the best
thoroughfare for vehicles which are
propelled by horses. But it is not feasi
ble for the use of autos for the reason,
that under moderately rapid traffic, the
binding surface is ground up and blows
away. There must be some other bind
ing surface provided and I would sug
gest either oil, asphalt, or a concrete
surface. This latter may be substitut
ed by some binding surface with a con
crete bed.
"I do not mean that the road of the
future should be constructed exclu
sively for the use of automobiles but
Next in order came th T?n. -i, - I .... - . . . ...
Pl.t.U , fi - - " " - - j i buk'd Bto worn i a i in'iu 1 1 1 re ii any uiunr
hViiirfi u,"s"" iaxicao company I vehicles on. the country highways, and
automobile owners are as a rule
off salesrooms and. last but not storage. The building occupies
fun
unc-niurjr ones and con
crete building on North Twentieth
street, just. off Washington street. One
half of this building is used by the
Oregon Taxlcab Company and the other
half by the Kose City Electric Auto-
luuuiie company. Handlers of the Bab
cock electric vehicles. In this irarair
is located the most complete electric evident that future road building be
charging equipment in Portland. This done with this fact In view'
Kuuaing is maae an the more attract
ive by Its English bond style brick and
the climbing vines growing up the front
and sides of the structure.
Frank C. Rlggs. distributer for the
Packard car. then proceeded torect
the most complete automobile building
In the Northwest. In this he was prob
ably successful. Thks building, called
the Packard Service Building, fronts on
Twenty-third street and Cornell road
between Washington and Everett
streets. It is three stories and 60 by
100 feet It is located In the fash
ionable section of town and Its style
of architecture fits in very well with
the surrounding buildings.
Mr. Rlggs' building has an entrance
on either street, the Twenty-third-street
entrance giving access to the
garage .and the Cornell road entrance
to the salesrooms, office and work
shop. There Is no elevator connection
between the garage floor and the up
per stories of the building, although
pace has been left whereby It might
bo installed without disarranging tho
heavy taxpayers, the Influence which
they have will be used and will be
potent factor In dlctutlng the manner
In which new roads shall be construct
ed. The auto was at ttrst a plaything,
but now it is rapidly becoming an Im
portant utility and for this reason It la
HU-kory Lumber Scarce.
"The value of hickory lumber at this
time Is about $30 a thousand, and the
high grades are selling at J50." says
Burton J. Westeott, president of the
Westcott Motor Car Company, of Rich
mond, Ind., who is one of the largest
carriage manufacturers In the country.
In addition to being a manufacturer of
automobiles. "The total value of hick
ory production Is not less than $12,
000.000 annually and at the present
time, it constitutes not more than five
per cent, of fha standing timber In the
United States."
Trucks to Be Handled.
E. E. Cohen, manager of the Maxwell
agency, will handle the Samson line
of commercial trucks during the comb
ing season. This company will also
handle the Columbia automobiles. The
new Columbia models will bell from
$2750 to $4800.
OQD roads In Oregon is a subject
that will receive more attention
among; the people of the state dur
ing the next few years than any other
one topic, according to Judge Lionel
R. Webster, secretary of the Oregon
Good Roade Association. The need of
improved highways In every county la
being felt more and more and, says Mr.
Webster, it la up to the people to give
material aid to the Improvement of the
publio highways if it Is desired to keep
pace with the work being done in call
fornla and Washington.
The Importance of the good roads
movement is pointed out In a state
ment made frequently by Mr. Webster
that the only factor that may serve to
retard the general progress of the state
Is the Intolerable condition of nearly' al
tho highways. With the Oregon Good
Roads Association behind the project
for amending the road laws to factll
tate rond work, Judge Webster be
hoves that the measure has struck a
popular vein and will receive favor
able action at the November election.
"The eastern part of the state has
awakened to the needs of better high
ways." said Judge Webster, who re
turned recently from a trip to Baker
City and Sumpter, where he delivered
addresses on the good roads amend
ment, "Those people up there are as a
unit for the movement started by the
Oregon Good Roads Association to
bring about legislation designed to fa
clfltate road work in general, and they
are enthusiastic over the- proposition
of giving each county a privilege to
pledge its credit In any way it sees
fit to construct and Improve roads. The
citizens of Grant County are also alive
to the Issue. They have already made
great progress In road construction
during the past year, and they have
set a good example for many of the
other counties to follow. If we can
arouse as much enthusiasm in other
parts of the state, there will be easy
sailing for the good roads movement.
nd it should be a matter of a com
paratively short time when Oregon
would- have as fine a system of first
clars public highways as can be found
in any state In the Union."
The Oregon Good Roads Association
is at present devoting its efforts
towards bringing the proposed consti- I
tational amendment before the people,
so that when submitted before the vot
ers at the" November election its pur
poses will be thoroughly understood.
When favorably passed upon, the way
will be opened to have legislation en
acted to provide for such features as a
state highway commission, and possibly
a county highway commission, employ
ment of convict labor on roads or some
form of state aid procedure best adapt
ed to Oregon.
Members of the Oregon Good Roads
Association feel that they have strong
backing by the farmers in all parts of
the state. The Oregon State Grange
has also declared Itself favorably for
better road laws. At a' meeting held
a few months ago at Oregon City this
body passed the following resolution:
"Whereas, the most important ques
tion of interest to farmers under con
sideration today is the building of per
manent public highways In order - to
iessen the cost of transportation of I
farm produce to the nearest market,
therefore be it
"Resolved, That we heartily indorse
any proposal to remove any constitu
tional restriction on the people's power
to obtain and pay for good roads."
In discussing the attitude of the
commercial organizations and press
throughout the state. Judge Webster
said that there was a wholesome spirit
for the good roads movement.
"With the farmers, the press and the
commercial bodies in every county be
hind us. we should soon be able to
reach every voter in the state, and I
think when our proposition is generally
understood we will receive -an almost
unanimous vote for the constitutional
amendment." continued Mr. Webster.
"We expect to have hearty co-operation
among the citizens of Portland
also. Within a few days pamphlets
will be Issued covering the matter in
detail. These will be distributed in
every precinct in the state. We want
to have an expression of all the vot
ers and hope to make the good roads
Issue the most popular one ever
brought up in the state."
Autos Are Found Valuable
in Campaigns
Speech-making Tours by candidates
Are Popular.
H
ARDLT day passes but what some
new use is evolved for the automo
bile. Among the latest being the
use of machines for speech-maa-lng
tours of politicians campaigning
during the pre-prlmary times. Some
red hot speeches have been made from
the back end of automobiles by assem
bly and anti-assembly candidates and
partisans.
By this method of transportation the
speskers are enabled to visit a number
of different localities of the city. These
enterprising campaigners take occa
sion to call on the automobiles to whiz
them to the various sawmills, manufac
turing plants and the stockyards where
they address the workmen during their
noon hour. These little trips have a
good effect on the voters, declare the
politicians.
-One setback to the automobile renters
is the doing away with free transporta
tion to the polls on election day as in
years previous to the last election.
During those years the candidates
would hire cabs and automobiles, al
though the supply of the latter was
very limited, to round up voters and
transpdrt them to the polls. By the cor
rupt practices act this was abolished.
Now that election day is drawing
near many of the primary candidates
are planning to make whirlwin-l
speech-making tours in automobiles.
They use ingenious means to attract
a crowd and to employ their tactics.
One politician recently drove up in an
automobile along side a Socialist meet
ing and engaged in an open debate with
the radical: Such are the uses of the
automobile in these days of mctropoll
tanism and politics.