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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (May 12, 1912)
TITE STJXDAY OHEGONTAX. FORTXAXTJ. "MAT ' 12, 1913. i FARMERS RALLY TO GOOD ROADS GAUS E Men of Farm Are Fast Adopt ing Motor Power for Work and Pleasure. ADVANTAGES OF AUTO SEEN l and Ownrr.t of Rural DiMricU Are Rapidly i'orsinc to Front as MotorlM and Booter for Brllrr Illshwa BT I- H HOSE. Curlos haa been the evolution of the farmer'e attitude toward the motor car. In the beclnnlns; of Ha career he fought aratnst it. anrered at the cltr folk who burned sjasolloe. crew anary when hia - tiin was frtffhtrnel by an luioraoone. declared that death rode with every drlrer. Then one day. as his sweaty horses plodded homeward from town, the oc cupants of his surrey heard a "honk. honk" behind, and with a whlzs and a cloud of dust past went the family of his neighbor, making; the distance In one-fourth his own . time and with comfort and Joy rather than with dust and weariness. Next came a visit to the town aarare. the withdrawing of some of his bank deposit and he also was a motorist. The rise of the motor car. comine; at the time of the marvelous advance In farm values and the Ms;h-prlce level for products, made It particularly at tractive to the firmer. Had the auto mobile come ten year earlier, not one farmer would have owned one In Ita flrst decade of popularity where a dozen now do. They could not hare afforded It. So. too. It Is the Western farmer who has been the best buyer, for In !he West has keen the srreat rise In land values and the fortunes In crop production. Crew Para for Aata. When wheat was a dollar a bushel the producer who sold f 3000 worth oft a ISO. acre field waa not to be blamed If he spent half the sum In a motor, es pecially when durloa; the same year the value of the land probably In creased 11000. This was the srenesls of the farmer's attraction for the motor car. not to mention the actual use that came from Ita possession. Another thin: When the hlah cost of living- prevented the expansion of t?ie townsman's expenditures and he refrained from Investing; In so obvious luxury. It waa the very time when the farmer was receiving top prices for his products and was able to aratlfy his desires. In consequence, the sales of the past two years have been rreater in the Interior and In the little country towns than In the cities. The greatest distributing point I America last T'r outside New York was Kansas City, and the cars wen largely to the little Middle West towns. where the buyers were largely farm rrs. Hence It Is that there are counties, with less than 10.100 population, far out toward the foothills of the Kork lea. with 400 to !0 cars. At a fair meeting In a Southern Kansas to last Fall too cara were counted. Prom Northern Texas to South - Dakota. the chautauquas the cars fill a five ere field, and circus day makes th roads one steady stream of motors. I.lttle wonder that the man with team becomes unhappy arul buys a car If there la any possibility of doing so. MedlaB-Piieew Car asht- I stood it two years. said on farmer who this Fprlng bought hi nrst car. It my neighbors were no ail riding in automobiles, I would not rare for one. When I went to town It took me all day: It took them three hours. When I went to church or to a public sale It was the aame. It got on my nerves and here I am. He waa driving a car that cost $1000, which Is the average price the farme pays. Ho does not go In for the big six-cylinders or the expensive makes. He bought at flrst the two-cylinder, cheap cars: when the four-cylinders came In at a moderate price they were Ms favorite. Occasionally, as In the rase of a Nebraska stockman who few days ago took to his prairie farm a seven-passenger. HJO car, he plunges but It is rare. Karaser vtaata He say Car. However, he wanta a roomy car. for In the tonneau often are heaped a few sacks of vegetables, bags of (rain or esses or eggs. He goes home from town with a load of boxes, bundles and park ages. The roadster, providing no place zor these, does not appeal to him. In the country correspondence col urr.ns of the weekly papers you see such tems as this: "Mr. and Mrs. Adam FtaufTer and family went to Falrbury Sunday In their auto.-1 "John Ifarknesa took a party of joung folks to the show at I'onca Sat urday night In his auto." To the country correspondent the mo tor car Is alwava an "auto." The Items tell of trips of : to 30 miles across country, giving to the fortunate part tlea a wider view than they were able to secure in a dozen years by team. It brings them also new responsl Mlltlea. When they went In a farm wagon, the old clothes were good enough. When they rode In a Surrey, they dressed better. Now that they mo tor they are garbed for the occasion and aa they ride through the city streeta It Is dlfTlcuIt to distinguish the farmer's family from the one from the aristocratic avenue. This self-resnect Is one of the things that has come to the farm with the motor car. Malateaaaee Cost Cheap. The city man little realizes how cheaply the farmer cares for bis car. One end of the barn serves for a gar age. Oil and gasoline are bought in quantities at wholsesale. The average farmer, experienced In the use of ma' rhlnery and of gasoline engines, cares for the machine Itself. Hia visits to the repair shop are comparatively few and then for minor assistance. The poorest rustomers of the town garaces are the farmer owners, but tiie best are the townspeople who have anther time nor Inclination to care for and clean their machines. The farmer la going through another evolution with the motor truck and tractor. When he saw them In the city he was certain that they would not be feasible on the farm where no pavements make a smooth roadway. Now hundreds of farm tractora are In use and the automobile manufacturer look at that branch of their business as offering the greatest possibilities for the future. Here, too, the prairie states are leading. The level roads and fields offer opportunities for utili sation of the tractor that hilly states of the Cast do not give. The farm tractor la both a machine and a draught engine. It can take five wagon loads of grain to market aa rapidly as a team ran take one. It can pull across a field a half dozen plows followed by t arrows, and If desire1 1 seeders, at rapidly as a team can tak one plow: it can drag the roads of whole township while a team Is car Ing for half a road district. Attached to the cornsheller or feed grinder. can do the work of a gasoline engine. To all these uses it Is put and in eac does It do Its work well. . Tractora Are Kcoaemlral. Suppose It does cost 1:300: If it ac compllshes more than the same amount Invested In teams, with less expense, It Is profitable to the farmer. So h has become convinced, and while here Is little Indication of the Immediate passing of the farm horse, the next few years It the farmer'a prosperity con tlnues will see as rapid strides for the farm tractor as the past -half de cade has witnessed In the growth o the motor car Industry. The farmer's family is not dependent on tne lather for use of the car. Farm ers sons and daughters are taugh early to be venturesome. They have managed the farm machinery, much which Is far more difficult to handle than la the motor car. Soon after car goea to the farm does the daughter lessons, and It Is a common sight on the atreeta of the Interior towna to see cam driven by girls who have come in from the farms, or to see the farm er's children taken to the country school by motor. Their handling of the ma chinea would be a credit to the pro fessional chauffeurs, for they have to encounter conditions of roads of which the city driver knows little. It Is one thing to drive on pavements and quit another to take to the hills and valleys. with all the contingencies of broken culverts and nervous country horses to complicate the experience. Karaaera Geed Reada Beeaters. Ith the coming of th motor car has been aroused a good roads enthu slasm heretofore unknown in the coun try districts. Here, too. waa an evolu tion. At first th plea of the town motorist for better roads waa taken as a selfish demand, made to give oppor tunity for swift speeding. The farmer was disgruntled and sneered. When he began buying cars he joined the good roads company. Now he takes his tractor and drags the roads. Ha tells the local editor of the fine drives in his township and la growing rapidly In knowledge of road making in which there Is the country over great need of education. Across Southwest Kan and Eastern Colorado ha Is helping make the "New Santa Fe Trail, an au tomobile road, extending (00 mllea through the valley of the Arkansas River. In Arizona 1 being spent over f 1.000.000 building 1000 miles of per fect road, connecting all principal owns and cities, and Oklahoma plana n extensive system of state boule vards. In a few year the entire West wll be threaded with fine country roads all because the farmer has be come a motorist. The close relation between good roads and motor cara Is evidenced by he ratio of cara to population in atate hat have excellent highways. Accord ing to recent statistics. Missouri with few good roads has 15.600 motor cars. one to 111 inhabitants: Kansas with much better roads has 1J.S00 cars, one o 137 Inhabitants. New York haa more cars than any state, but only one to 30 Inhabitants; California, a state of good roads, ha 40,000 cars, one to every 59 persons. In Iowa one man In 9 owns a car. while In Nebraska the ra'lo Is one to 78. Illinois with Its sandy roads has one to 1SS: Minnesota has one to 174. The total number of registered cars In the United States Is 780.000, or one for every 118 persons. With his ability to secure both pleas ure and usefulness from hia car to a , greater extent than does the town owner, the farmer will continue to be a buyer of cars his purchasing power being modified only by the measure of our agricultural prosperity. LOOK FOR THIS SIGN ON LEADING GARAGES The superiority of Michelin Tires is recognized all over the World You cannot know what a good tire is until you try a Michelin properly inflated O'GORMAN RIM COMPANY 71 SEVENTH ST. PORTLAND, - - OREGON 'FAME FOLLOWS WHERE MICHIGAN GOES"' Confidence Inspiring Ability 'pHERE'S EXHILARATION in a dash into A the real country, through the balmy Sum mer air, with perhaps a mountain stream to ford at full speed, when you have perfect confidence in your car. THe owner of a Michigan enjoys every minute of such" a ride, without strain or fatigue. The Michigan is emergency proof, and the more intimate your acquaintance with the car, the more confidence you feel in its ability under"out of the ordinary" conditions. This ability cannot be measured by rated horsepower or a printed list of specifications. For example while retaining all the manifest advantages of the long stroke motor such as the persistent application of power over varying grades and smoothness of operation the Michigan will accelerate under full load, is quick on its feet and marvelously responsive to the throttle Model K 40 H. P. $1750 MICHIGAN AUTO AND BUGGY COMPANY SKILLED MEN SOUGHT HIGH WAGES LURE PICK EUROPE'S MECHANICS. OF PORTLAND DRIVERS CAREFUL Kecklcn Driving Rarely Seen In This City, Says L. 11. Rose. Those who do not own automobiles have sained the wrong Impression that reckless automobile driving; Is respon sible for street accidents and arrests (or violation of the city traffic laws. To my mind. aays L. H. Rose. Northwest manager of the Stucbaker Corporation for Portland. "Portland Is a model city In the observance of traf fic laws. It Is almost Impossible In a day's journey about the business part of town to see any violation of our traffic laws. Infrequently we see a machine icolns; on the wrong- side of the street or not stopping when ap proaching; a streetcar which Is un loading or taking on passengers, but In nine cases out of ten these two examples are due more to the driver being new to the bualness than any thins; else. One cannot expect a nov ice to know all of the little points of the law at first." I American Factories Provide Em ployment for Scores of Clever Foreign Workmen. "Can the quality of labor gathered In American automobile factories com pare with that available In similar en terprises In Europe?" "That Idea has been current so many years I suppose It has come to be a sort of fetish." saya Clement Stude baker. Jr- vice-president of the Stu debaker Corporation of America. "As a matter of fact. American automobile factories can boast with perfect Jus tice of a higher grade of European labor than the European factories themselves. "The growth of the American auto mobile Industry haa proven a boon to the European mechanic. It has en abled him to emigrate with a certainty of work at once at more than double his old wages. As a result, the pick of the foreign labor Is now in America. "Of course, this element really Is of minor Importance In our factories. America has developed Its own style of automobile making, and a far su perior style It Is. American methods of machine manufacture are far more accurate than the most painstaking sort of hand work. The machine can not make a mistake. Each of Its movements Js limited to a definite range; each operation is a perfect repetition of the one that has taken place In the corresponding cycle be fore. "But there remain a few departments of even an American factory where hand labor Is still employed. In the building of tools and experimental parts, and In the delicate operations of fitting motor bearings, there exists a demand for the most skilled hand labor In the world. In these depart ments of our Detroit plants, mechan les of European birth are greatly in the majority. "There are now in our employ scores of men who have worked in the shops of the European manufacturers. Ger mans from the Bern, Italians from the Flat. Belgians from the Minerva, Frenchmen from the Rarracq and Britons from the Rolls-Royce and British Daimler, work side by side with Swedes, Austrlans, Scotch, and other races of men who have learned to accomplish by patience a mechan leal art that even the versatile American machinery has not wholly usurped. NORTHWEST BRANCH W. A. WILDRICK, Manager East 1421, B 1345 369-71 Hawthorne Avenue trips over his territory. He will re turn to Portland early this week. New Nationals Arrive. With the arrival last week of two new models of the National, the How ard Automobile Company now ia show ing a complete line of this make. The two recent acquisitions are four and five-passenger cars in the series "V." Both are of the 40-horsepower type. Besides being ideal in body, style and finish, the new cars are equipped with the double distributor Bosch magnetos, self-xtarters and many other important features not included in previous models. In one London hovpltal alone St. George's some 2000 patients are operated upon ;ich year. Gilbert on Northwest Tour. C. A. Gilbert. Western manager of the United States Tire Company, passed through Portland yesterday on his way to Tacoma, Seattle and Vancouver, B. C. He" la taking one of his quarterly r 3E 1 1 F TO IN buying; an automobile, the thing to consider first, if you want results, is the motor. Manufacturers and drivers have decided that the six cylinder motor gives best results; everybody wants best results; you'll get yours in our six cylinder, 48 horse power Mitchell car at $1750. You get beauty of finish and design; power; reliability; flexibility; the comfort of 36-inch wheels and 125-inch wheel base; long life, and Mitchell service which means constant attention to your needs. You get the fruits of 77 years of making vehicles and studyine organization; owners of Mitchell cars now, or 77 years from now, will profit by it, and by the high standard of quality which the Mitchell name guarantees. Mitchell cars are built for the man who can't afford to make a mistake. The Mitchell 60 H.-P., 6 cyl., 7 passengers. $2250 I Tha Mitchell 35 H.-P.. 4 cyl., 5 passengers. $1350 The Mitchell 4S H.-P.. 6 eyl.. 5 passengers. $1750 The Mitchell 30 H.-P., 4 cyl.. 4 passengers. $1150 The Mitchell 30 H.-P., 4 cylinder, 2 passenger Ranaboot, without top, $950 Mitchell -Lewis Motor Company Racine, Vyjsoonsin PORTLAND AGENTS Mitchell, Lewis & Staver Co. 340 East Morrison Street 0 The f jf Model 35 flsV IB V. a WW .SS&A7 jiwasTLrisf - -V, &aVa. 5a . mir'i mi iUIjuw il"V ' " .'"" "Tniiir- Dr. and Mrs. James H. Carrico, 354 East Seventh Street, Portland, Or. This is Dr. Carrico 's second and bes? automobile. "When he first began driving it the average consumption of gasoline was 13 miles per gallon. He has increased it to 19 miles per gallon. Let the doctor tell you how it per forms with the $5000 automobiles on the hills. The Buick Model 35 $1185 F. O. B. PORTLAND, completely equipped with top, dust-hood, wind-shield, Prestolite tank, tool and tire-repair kits, has a wheel base of 102 inches; 32x31a tires on quick de tachable rims ; a 22V-: horse-power motor, three-speed, selective-type transmis sion; inclosed hand-control; velvet-grip brakes; Splitdorf dual-magneto and Schebler carbureter. It will give a better demonstration on the hills than any 40 horsc"power automobile in Portland, excepting the 40 Buick and the 40 National. LET US SHOW YOU HOWARD AUTO CO. Mel G. Johnson, Manager. Phones: Main 4555; A 2550. Seventh and Couch Streets.