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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (May 17, 1914)
8 MW OF BUYERS I OF AUTOS IS TAKEN H. W. Curtis Discusses Perfec t tion and Features of Va '1 rious Machines. iPLACE GIVEN NOVELTIES t"tplnion Is Voiced That Purchasers XT foeek Mechanical Attainment and i t Equipment Exuellence First, tZ "Experiments" Xext. . BT l-I. W. CURTIS. ' jx Do automobile purchasers buy in ;.trinsic valued or features in the pres-;-. 0nt day and age The automobile must be listed among 1 ''the seven modern wonders. Those who '. have been with it since its initial year t Can truly appreciate the almost mirac- ulous growth and development, of the ''automobile and the industry at large. TThe advancement has gone by leaps J and bounds until today one would not recognize a vehicle of a decade ago as feeing so rlosely allied to the present modern vehicle. - Along "the same line can be consid- ered the building and selling of the automobile. The plans and schemes to 1 attract the buyer have undergone the same radical changes, and today the question with the automobile manufac ; turer Is this; Has the automobile pur ; chasing public reached a point where features, novel equipments, etc., are given primary consideration and the es sential, vital mechanical factors sec ondary importance? Features Now Exploited. Some manufacturers believe the pub Hc is now buying the novel features and 'conveniences not proved, tested me chanical values. This viewpoint is re flected In the advertising of some con eerns. The novel features are given wide publicity. Salesmen talk these features. Cars, many of them, are sold j because of these new and unproven fea tures. , r r. I believe I voice the opinion of the rApperson brothers when I say that, i despite the extensive publicity cam s' tfalgns setting forth features on cars, i the majority of purchasers of automo t biles buy mechanical perfection and ex cellence in preference to equipment of the superficial and untried type. This opinion is founded on the per sonal experience of the Apperson broth- era for the last 20 years in the auto j mobile field. The proof lies in the growth of the company and the yearly increase of sales in every part of the country. i To explain this, one must remember that when these men began building automobiles they had one central, dom 5 inating thought. That was to make j cars that were mechanically perfect. They wanted to create each mechanical and vital part so that when it proved ttself to be the best and most conducive X to reliability, durability and service of the unit car it could be standardized. ? Ten Yearn AVorlc Tel 1m. After 10 years of progressive bulld ; lng they achieved what they claim to .be a mechanically perfect car. Many Qf the vital parts, their construction v and location, have now been adopted t- by competitors. The company recog T nixed their merit a long time ago. Although the company always kept -up to the times in motorcar equipment and put on cars the features that "seemed to fit the automobile purchas- er's demands, they have always remem bered that, logically, this was a sec ondary matter. Beautiful clothes are -admirable things, but the big thing is w the human and the vital things are the heart and lungs. That was their J contention in automobile building. They J wanted the "vital insides" right, and t have made them right. The public, ! they found, bought these cars because of their proven mechanical perfection. , 11 a ni Toward Ideal. I For the last 10 years, the second dec " ade of the building of Apperson cars, 5 the factory has turned all its energy j toward refinement. They have worked toward an ideal in motorcar design. The mechanical parts were perfected I and standardized 10 years ago. ; A few years ago, when they felt con J fident that their arguments and dem J onstrations of inherent worth and X proven quality would always sell their I cars, they took a radical step. They " decided to abandon season's models. They had standardized their cars as far as mechanical values were concerned. It seems an imposition on the public 3 to declare a car out of date at the end of a year's service, and compel many to buy a new model when the improve- ments were small and unessential, j Hence it is that the Apperson company does not Issue yearly models, but 1 n ; stalls improvements and refinements as ! soon as they prove their worth. Auto Club Notes' . Th week just ending has been an I exceedingly busy one at the clubhouse. Nearly every day there have been sev 5 eral dinner, dancing and card parties, given by members. i The bvidpe luncheon Riven the early ! part of the weeek by Mrs. James K. Ap- 5 ploby. in honor of Mr. Appleby's mother, was an exceptionally pretty affair. Those present, besides the hos- tess and Mrs. Appleby, were: Mesdames j Johnson. Yates, Baldwin. Stuart, Wat t kins. Clemens, Barnes. Whitinjr, Klel C ser, Trenkman. Hindle. McCredie, I-ind- sey. Berser. J. C. Hare. W. D. Hare; i Ooddard. Jones. Vrooman and the ! Misses O'Nell. Teck and Appleby. Six tables of bridfre were played. Mrs. Yates winning: the first prize and Mrs. " Baldwin the second prize. ; Mr. and Mrs. Wilbur P. Reid tca a ' dinner party for nine in honor of Mr. j Itetd's mother's birthday. The table S decorations for this pitrty were a com ; bination of luryre red tulips and snow ; balls. Tlie feature ot this dinner was J a larite birthday cake decorated with J red rosebuds and candles. ! Mrs. H. P. Barnhart entertained 13 I friends at a card party Thursday after ; noon. The comlns week promises to be just as busy as last week, as the Clackamas County Automobile Club expects to hold its annual banquet at the clubhouse. The Coterie Club also expects to make use of the clubhouse and grounds and one of the leading- college fraternities is making arrangements for a banquet, at which there will be about 60 places reserved. Mr. Appleby, chairman of the house committee, and Frank K. Watkins. chairman of the entertainment commit tee, have been working together ar ranging for a series of entertainments for the Summer. . To all the lovers of the rhododendron It will be interesting to know that these beautiful flowers will be in bloom before long and that the roads as far as Rhododendron are, at present. In a fair condition. OLD-TIME BTJGBEAB STRETCH ' " fir n 1.1 . , I ? -- . ..r.ti...A. V . . . . w.,r1""""""""aBHaBaaaaBB Instead of what was little better than a cow trail with a width of about 9 feet as a maximum, there is now throug-h the activity of the County Comisslonera and Road Supervisor White, a fine section of 1.3 miles along- the Boone's Ferry road. This particular stretch, it will be remembered, always has been bad when the rest of the road Is good and when this is finished by May 20 the whole road will be In fair condition. Practically the road had to be rebuilt as there was no base. Among other roads where work is being- done by Mr. White or is under confederation to start as soon as possible are the regrading and rebuilding of the Taylor's Ferry road' from the city limits to West Portland schoolhouse. On this grading already. has started with five wheel scrapers at work: the Beard lane for grading and macadam: the road from Fulton-Park to Hillsdale for the same; the road from West Portland goinar west and part of the Stevens road. Recently some representatives of The Oregonlan were taken over this road on an inspection trip by D It Riegel In his Briggs-Detroiter car. which In all probability, will be handled In Portland shortly.. NEW CITIZENS COME Victoria Couple Arrive Here to Live After Long Auto Ride. SOME GOOD ROADS FOUND Sir. and Mrs. G. B. Taylor Travel in lel.ugliliii Buick Longest Sin gle Irive Is 123 Miles I-Voni Taooma to Castle Rock. Portland gained two new residents this week, and as a result may boast of something brand-new In automobiles, a Canadian assembled Bulck, sold In the Possessions under the title of the Mc Laughlin Buick. The people in ques tion, air. and Mrs. G. V. Taylor, of Vic toria. B. .C, arrived in Portland Wednesday, after a journey beginning at Vancouver Sunday afternoon, and covering a distance of 412 miles. Mr. and Mrs. Taylor have, resided Jong in Victoria, but have come to Portland to make their home, Mr. Turner having accepted a position with the Wiley B. Allen Company. The rather remarkable journey, con cluded here, really began at Victoria. "laisy," the name of the 30 Buick road ster owned by the Taylor family, after having been driven. 10,250 miles on Vancouver Island, was shipped by boat from Victoria to Vancouver. The log' of the interesting trip to Portland shows that the road conditions from Vancouver, B. C. to Blaine, the port of entry into the states, a. distance of 37 miles, were good. Good roads were also encountered from Blaine toj Bellingham, and the travelers declare the roads from Bellingham to Seattle excellent, while the greatly Improved and almost rebuilt Pacific Highway from Seattle to Tacoma made pleasant automobilinc. Travel Impeded by Road BulldlaiK. The roads from Tacoma. across the prairie to Roy, thence to Rainier and to Centralia, provided good going, but from Centralia to Chehalis. It was necessary to take a roundabout road through the outskirts of both cities on account of the torn-up condition of the Pacific Highway, which between these two cities is being hard surfaced at the present time, Toledo was reached without diffi culty, but south of JToledo extensive work In rebuilding the highway is in progress and rough roads were encoun tered. Three and a half miles south of To ledo the travelers found it necessary to THE SUNDAY OREGOXIAX, PORTLAND, 3IAY 17, 1914. ON BOONE'S FERRY ROAD BEING CONVERTED INTO WIDE MACADAM. - . 4 yr 1 abandon the ferry and take the ferry across the. river back to the Pacific Highway. - Between Toledo and Kelso many mudholes were encountered, as well as between Kelso and Kalama. Rough roads were encountered on ac count of the unsettled condition of the roadway now being rebuilt. Hoad on "Way Here Fonad Worst. From Kalama they ferried across- the river to Goble. The first five miles SCHEDULE OF DISTANCES BE TWEEX EUGENE AND ROSE-, lil lUi. WITH' AVERAGE RUNNING TIME. 0.0 Eugene. . . 5.5 5.5 Sprlnsf'ld. .0 9.5 Goshen. . . 5.2 0:25 S:00 A. M. S:25 A. M. 8:45 A. M. 9:15 A. M. 9:30 A. M. 9:35 A. M. 9:50 A. M. 9:3gA..M. 9:55 A. M. 0:20 0:30 0:15 0:05 0:13 14.7 Creswell.. 19. 5 Walder. .. 21.2 Saginaw.. 34.1 Cotfg-e Gv. 0.0 Cott'g-e Gv. 1.3 Satham... 4.5 Divide.-. .-. 6.4 Comatock. 18.3 Drain 23.0 Yoncalla.. 35.2 Oakland. .. 41.1 Sutherland Ferry 49.6 Winchester 53. Edenbower 54.5 Roseburg.. 5.t 1.4 2.4 1.3 . 3.2 0:05 0:15 1.9 , 0:05 10:10 A. M. 9.9 0:30 10:13 A. M. 7.0 14.9 0:15 11:45 A. M. 0:40 12:00 A. M. 2:40 P.M. 0:40 3:40 P.M. 8.5 3.7 1.2 0:10 4:20 P.M. 0:05 4:30 P. M. 4:35 P. M. sonth of Goble, on the way to Portland, was the worst stretch of all road en countered. Huge mudholes had been filled with logs and timber and the road was almost impassable. The travelers had one puncture only. Mr. Taylor declared upon his arrival that he had not opened his tool kit since leaving Vancouver. No attempt was made to establish a record on the Journey. Stops were made at Blaine. Seattle and Tacoma, to visit friends for several hours. The longest ride made was from Tacoma to Castle Rock, a distance of 125 miles. "Oaisy" is the second Bulck owned by Mr. Taylor. Mrs. -Tayior declares en thusiastically that if they buy 40 more cars, all will be Bnicks. Ashland Would Cliange Limit. ASHLAND, Or.. May 16. (Special.) The City Council has been petitioned to repeal that section of the automobile ordinance which prohibits motor cars from being left standing longer than 10 minutes in the "choke"- district on the Plaza. Certain other phases of the same orinance relating to speed features it is also sought to have modi fied. Since a County Judge and a herd of visiting Elks have been haled before the city authorities, business men have decided that the strict enforcement of the ordinance is working to the injury of the city. Don't start out In the morning until you are satisfied that your battery has been fully charged. 4 TOUR DATE JUNE 29 National Reliability Test to Be From Chicago to Boston. MOTORS NOT TO BE HALTED Contestants Will Be Divided Into Tlrree Classes for Trophies Cer tificates of 3Ierit Will Be Given Run to Take 65 Hours.. WASHINGTON, May 16. (Special.) For the start of the National reliability tour- of the American" Automobile As sociation this year which for this occa sion will be a day and night nonmotor stop run from Chicago to- Boston, June 29 has been selected officially. Managed by the Chicago Automobile Club, the run wjll be under the direct supervision of the A. A. A touring and contest boards and Chairmen Frank X. Mudd and Richard Kennerdell have jointly agreed upon the conditions gov erning this quite unique contest. The contest board has provided a stock car definition which will call for registration of the different models by the manufacturers, and thia will re quire number of cylinders, bore and stroke: make and model of magneto; make, model and size -of .carburetor; tire sizes, wheel base and such equip ment as starters, lighting, shock ab sorbers, horns, etc. The stock car defi nition is a simple registration not re quiring the technical committee to visit factories. Taw Classes Made Up. The contestants will be divided Into three classes. One will be for stock cars listing over $1200. for which the prize will be the Glidden trophy; an other for stock cars listing under 11200. with the Anderson trophy going to the winner; and a third class of nonstock cars entered by private owners with the possession of the A. A. A. artistic touring trophy as the incentive. Certificates of merit will be awarded to-every com peting car finishing the run without stoppage of the motor. The run will require approximately CS hours, starting from Chicago at 2 o'clock. Monday. June 29. and reaching Boston at 12 o'clock on July 2. The schedule calls for 20 miles per hour between sunrise and 'sunset. 15 miles per hour between sunset and sunrise the first night, and 18 miles per hour between sunset and sunrise the other nights. - Controls will be established at Bryan, - O., Cleveland,-Buffalo, Sy- IP, Free From Road Troubles For convincing evidence of "Oakland" power, simplicity and freedom from "troubles on the road," note the large and increas ing number in use in Portland this year, especially by drivers among the fair sex. - . - (Be. observing. Think this over. In selecting your car don'tt fail to take advantage of everything that -will contribute to your comfort, convenience, pleasure and profit. One of the most popular Oakland models is A ISfetv Light You should see it. It has a stream line body of much beauty, with wide doors, deep upholstering, extra pockets and every known refinement. The drive is left side, center control. The famous Delco starting, lighting and ignition system is used. Ask for demonstration. "We want "to prove to you that this model is entitled to consideration and that it has every right to be called 1 The Car With a Conscience. " Other sixes and fours. " A wide, range of body designs and horse-power ratings. Prices $1150 to $2600 F. 0. B. factory. All cars fully equipped. Gerling Washington at King racuse, Albany, New York City, Spring field and Boston. -Boston to Be Rendezvous. 'With Boston as the concluding point of the run, that city will be a popular rendezvous for many motorists who will participate in the A. A. A. mid Summer gathering which will take place in the -White Mountains. This latter event call for assembly at Bret- Prospective Automobile Buyers The beautiful new Haynes Car, equipped with electric gear shift, is here and it's a dandy. Immediate delivery. Arrange for demonstration. Nob Hill Garage & Auto Co. 704 Kearney Street Main 299 A 2411 . USE ASSOCIATED) GASOLINE ! REFINED BY ASSOCIATED OIL COMPANY ' Telephones): Main2055-A2O55 A. D. Parker, Agent AND er Motor ton Woods on the morning of July 4, and from the great amount of Interest already taken In both events, it la a certainty that they will prove quite notable in the season's motor calendar. Any Inquiries in reference to either event can ba directed to Frank X. Mudd, chairman A. A. A. touring board. Fisher building. Chicago, 111., or Rich ard Kennerdell. chairman A. A. A. con SIX Car Co. Portland, Oregon Pick your fa vorite Portland hill. If you know what other Sixes will do let us convince you by actual test that the 6-48 Oakland will do better. test board, 437 Fifth avenue. New York City. Tire Cab Driver's Hui From Punch. Old Iady Does your horse ever shy at motors? Cabby Lor' bless yer, no, lady; 'e didn't even shy when railway trains fust come In.