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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 16, 1917)
THE SUNDAY OREGOXIAX, PORTLAND, DECE3IBER 16, 1917. YACHTSMAN PILOTS TWO VIEWS OF COMMODORE ROBERT E. MAGNER, SEATTLE YACHTSMAN. AND MODERN PRAIRIE SCHOONER IN WHICH HE HAS JUST CROSSED THE CONTINENT. HUDSON RUNS 7,061 AUTO DIRECTORY E LAND CRAFT MILES FOR S99.46 4-pass. Rdstr $1745.00 "-pass. Touring All Chandlers are equipped with Bosch magnetos TWIN STATES AUTOMOBILE CO. 64-66 Broadway. Phone Broadway 512. Genial Commodore Magner En -- Route to Seattle in His "Autocruiser." F. A. Tauscher's Super-Six offers more of "what you actually need and want in an automobile." BRALY AUTO CO. Main 4880, A .1881. 19th and Washington St a. Franklin , Averages 17.5 Miles to . Gallon of Gas. LIBERTY SIX The car which sells best in direct comparison with others. MITCHEL & WALLINGFORD, 522 ALDER BOSTON STARTING POINT TOTAL REPAIR BILL - $1.95 MACK Trucks Capacities, 1, 1, 2, ZVz, 5, 5, 614, 76 Tons. Complete Stock Repair Parts. F. C ATWELL, Sales Agent. Washington at 21st. Tel. Mar. 440. Denby Truck, Transformed Into Modern. Prairie Schooner, Braves Mud Seas Crossing Continent, With All Home Comforts. Manager of Shipping Department at New Light Six, $1250, Factory Mitchell, Seven-Passenger, $1525, Factory . MITCHELL, LEWIS & STAVER CO. First and East Morrison Doernbecher Manafacturing Co. Writes That Car Is One of Most Economical Made. SIXES AR lib : . i t ' ,i:y Ti' t ' v.' f I ! : '. ". . . I ' - - .-s' ' f ? - J - r BY LAIR rf. GREGORY. ' JTow those Oregon pioneer fathers nd mothers would have enjoyed the luxury of a trip across the plains In a prairie schooner such as that In which Commodore Robert E. Magner, Seattle yachtsman, has Just crossed not the plains only, but the continent, from Boston and New York to Los Angeles, Ban Francisco and Portland. The Commodore rolled into Portland last week in a prairie schooner of a typo that the pioneers never dreamed of. The motor-driven home on wheete with all the modern comforts that h piloted was a far, far remove from the tsprlngless wagon drawn by oxen in which the pioneers Journeyed so brave ly into an unknown land. If the pioneers were lucky they trav eled from the Mississippi River west In about six months. Commodore Magner and his party, consisting of his mother, Mrs. Rose E. Magner; his sister, Mrs. Maude Fennelly. and his nephew, W. P. Leininger. reached Portland from the Atlantic Coast last Tuesday night in his "Autocruiser," as he calls his latter day schooner of the plains, in Just one week over three months. Mud Greatest Hardship. The greatest hardship they had to endure on the trip consisted of plain mud. No Indian ambushes, no going for days on half rations, no drinking out of soggy water holes, no miserable wanderings on the desert 2000 miles from the nearest signpost, nor shiver ing in the cold mist without a. fire. The world has moved along a lot since those brave days of the early 50s. In contrast with hardships of that sort, the Commodore and his party had hot meals at any time of the day or night they wanted them, cooked right In the car on a. three-burner Prestolite gas stove. They had, furthermore, a Prest-o-Llte gas light for the dark nights, and they warmed themselves over a Presto-Lite gas heater when they were cold. They had even a six-foot folding bathtub, a chiftoniere with changes of clothing for all, and they carried their own fresh water in a 15-gallon tank under the car. This water was piped to a faucet in the car, to have cold run ning water, all that was necessary was to work a hand pump. Nor was this all by any means. The Commodere's truly wonderful "auto cruiser" was and is equipped with a thoroughly up-to-date kitchen eink, over which any housewife would enjoy peeling the potatoes for dinner. Just behind the broad, cushioned driver's neat were arranged four coBy bunks on tiers, enough more comfortable than Pullman berths. Ice Chest Raided. And. further wonder, an ice chest! Be it remarked in the Commodore's hearing while on the subject of this - ice chest that it was not stocked with the contraband usually associated with ice chests at least not when he ar rived in Portland. We looked to see. In fact, every modern convenience that a man would have in his own bun galow was enjoyed by Commodore Magner and his party on this modern pathfinding trip across the continent. For it was a pathfinding trip, de spite the conveniences that went with it. Commodore Magner isn't a man who hesitates at hardship, but he is a philosopher. The gist of his philosophy is that when a man travels he might as well travel in comfort Hence, the Autocruiser." "For a good many years I have had In the back of my head the idea that jsome day I would drive by automobile from one side of this American conti nent to the other," said the- Commo- PKESIDE.T AVILSOX OX GOOD ROADS. My interest in good roads is not merely an interest in the pleasure of riding in automobiles, it is not merely an interest in the very much more' important matter of affording the farmers of this country and the residents in villages the means of ready ac cess to such neighboring markets as they need for economic bene fit, but it is also the interest in weaving as complicated and elab orate a net of neighborhood and state and. National opinions to gether as it is- possible to weave. I believe that the development of great systems of roads is, psy chologically speaking as well as physically speaking, a task of statesmanship. I believe that it is the proper study of the states man to bind communities togeth er and open their intercourse so that it will flow with absolute freedom and facility. WOODROW WILSON. dore, explaining the other day how his Autocruiser came into being. "While I was East this Summr T decided that this was Jflat as good a time as any to make that trip. And I decided that while I was making it I might Just as well be comfortable. "By 'comfortable I mean real com fort. One can't drive 3000 or 4000 or 6000 miles in a touring car, be on the way three months or more and be com' portable. There isn't room. Old Salt's Training? Bob) Up. "Naturally, the answer was to make the trip in an auto truck. I looked around for a truck that suited me and bought a one-ton Denby chassis. Then I embodied some little ideas of my own in the body and 'fixings' of what was to be our home for at least three months. "I have done a' good deal of yacht ing in my life - and have picked up something of a sailor s knack for mak ing handy things. . Any person who in spects the interior-of the -'Autocruiser' will note how everything In it is built for utility. Just as in the cabin of i yacht. There isn't a square inch o wasted space in-the car." The Commodore is dead right about it. There isn't. - Even the stairway ud to the back entrance is on hinges niid the whole rig-a-ma-jig, stairway and all, folds up and closes the rear opening to the car when it i on the road. There isn't so much as a spare bolt to which a ride-stealing tramp could cling. So evolved the "Autocruiser," a real land boat. Well, it uteered a true course on the whole ot its long trip and Commodore ilagner .was more pleased with, it when he reached Portland than he was with the yacht with which he won one of the bis Puget Sound regattas a few, years ago. Denby, He Says, Ia Some Track. Incidentally, he thinks the Denby Is a grand truck, and says so. It had plenty of rough usage on the trip, the Lincoln Highway and other highways followed, not all being velvety boule vards by any manner of means.. It climbed over the Rocky Mountains and then climbed down again, and it' did the same in the Sierra Nevadas.' Yet not so much as a nut got. out of order on that Denby truck. The Commodore and his party left Boston on September 4. In his pocket the Commodore carried a letter from Governor McCall, of -Massachusetts, to Governor Withycombe, of Oregon, and another to Governor Lister, of Wash ington, Seattle being the ultimate gtoal of his trip. Also a letter' from the Mayor of Boston to the Mayor of Los Angeles. From Boston the Commodore drove first to New York, thence to Philadel phia, Pittsburg and Chicago. As he drove away from Times Square In New York City It was 'raining. It rained once more as he was In the Dakotas, and not another drop of moisture fell on the Autocruiser until it. reached Salem, last Tuesday. From Chicago the Commodore drove to Omaha, thence to Kansas City' and Denver, which was reached October 17. ' From "there he headed his Denby over Berthaud Pass, .In the- Rockies, crossing at an elevation of 11,000 feet, with snow on the road. Another Denby truck pioneered the way over the pass ahead of him with a driver at the wheel who knew every turn and trick of the road. Pass Creek Canyon! Boy! From Denver the Commodore drove to Los Angeles and from there, after a brief stay, to San Francisco.- He left San Francisco on November SO and reached Portland Tuesday. December 11, Just 12 days on the way. It was on the way up from San Fran cisco that the Commodore had the worst experience of the whole trip. The Autocruiser sank so deep in the mud of Pass Creek Canyon, on the Pa cific Highway in Douglas County, that it took four stout horses six hours, aided by all the power of the truck, to drag it through a fill one mile long. This gentle experience occurred one mile north of Comstock, where graders working on the road have built a fill of plain dirt. The Autocruiser sank down in the slime until the rear wheels were out of sight. The horses gave up the Job once, but the Commodore de clined to be left stuck in the mud 61 Pass Creek Canyon after having come 6200 miles to that point, and he in duced Ihe driver to keep to his work. Commodore Magner had been warned that he couldn't get through Pass Creek Canyon, but he has something of the spirit of the pioneer himself and determined that he would get through. He cheerfully bands the palm to Pass Creek Canyon, both for its mudhole near Comstock and for another one 4 miles outside of Drain, ' where the Autocruiser was stuck for one night. tilted at an angle of 30 degrees, for having the worst roads in the whole United States. But outside of that, he Juat as cheer fully adds, Oregon has some fine roads. He says the Pacific Highway from Cottage Grove north to Portland is far better than the average road encoun tered on the trip. ' While In Portland the Commodore called on the Oregon Motor Car Com pany, distributors here for the Denby truck, and on Manager Cadwell, of the Goodrich tire branch here. The Auto cruiser is equipped with Goodrich tires and one of the tires on which he left Boston still had the original air in it when he reached -Portland. When the Autocruiser reached Pass Creek Canyon the speedometer regis tered 6200 miles. The mud stopped the speedometer and It didn't register from there to Portland. Commodore Magner and his party Journey to Seattle, the end of their long trip, and home, this week. . JLemkuhl With. - Alr-O-Flex. With the addition of Charles Lmkuhl, former credit man of the old E. R. Thomas-Detroit Company and its suc cessor, the Chalmers Motor Company, the Air-O-Flex, Automobile Corporation has secured an able man as secretary to succeed G. L. Nadel, who retired owing to pressure of other business. Mr. Lemkuhl is a man of world-wide experience as Secretary of State of the Island of Guam during seven years when the United States was consoli dating that possession, and as manager of the electric light and power com pany at Jackson, Tenn., during the re construction period of that railway line. fr y . 3M f : - rm-'i .'ss&vi.. viyV MU $$V' Vi vli VZ? i r i ""zT Above The Commodore and Bla Denby Tnek, Fitted Oat -With All the Luxuries of Home, 'on' m Picturesque Mountain Road in Colorado. From Left to Right, Commodore Magner, His Mother, Mrs. Rose K. Magneri Ills Sister, Mrs. Maude Fennelly, and His Nephew, W. P. Lelnlnger. Below Close-Up of the Commodore nnd the "Autocruiser," as -He Calls This Modern Prairie Schooner, Snapped in Front of the Oresron Motor Car Company at Park and .Davis Streets, Portland, Last Week. COLE KEEPS FINISH Nickel and Enamel Process Prevents Tarnishing. TRADE VETERAN EXPLAINS Fred W. Vogler, President of North west Auto Company, Points Out Thorough Methods In Construction of Car.. To overcome the lack-luster appear-1 ance which the power plant of an auto mobile is bound to acquire as the re sult of heat and ever-present dust and oil. the Cole Motor Car Company, of Indianapolis, has employed special man ufacturing methods on Its Cole Eight which are said to have proved most satisfactory. Every car owner enjoys the sensation of lifting the hood of his car and find ing a motor that "looks clean." Realiz ing' this, the Cole Eight builders have used highly polished nickel unsparing ly and even coated the cylinder blocks with fireproof lustrous paint. Espeoially, however, does the com pany pride itself in the treatment given the exterior of the exhaust manifolds, which . have generally proved them selves a nuisance to the engine design ers who have sought to give them a permanent appearance of "newness." It is claimed positively that the Cole Eight exhaust manifolds will not cor rode nor tarnish. They are coated with porcelain enamel, which is applied at a temperature of about 2500 degrees Fahrenheit. 'Inasmuch as manifolds in service seldom fiiquire a temperature of more than 800 to 1000 degrees, the coating on their exterior is said to be absolutely impervious to the effects of heat. The porcelain enameling is es feentially a Cole process, having been developed through years' of careful study. "The motor finish of the Cole Eight," says F. W. Vogler, of the Northwest Auto Company, local Cc)e dealer, "is in itself proof of the extremes to which the Cole builders go in order to attain the highest degree of refinement in the appearance of their product. An equal ly great amount of effort has been ex pended so that the mechanical opera tion of the car may represent the high est degree of p'refection. "Further than that, if the cost of labor and machinery continues to soar during the coming year as It has dur ing the last 12 months if we continue to meet the same or increasing obsta cles in our efforts to move the raw stock to our plants these costs will have mounted to such proportions by the time we are in the market for cheaper steel that by the time it reaches us it will be offset by the other in creased costs. . Western Car Sales Force to Go to School. ' ' Everyone, From President McNaugh ton to Stenographers, to Attend Hemphill Class for Hour Twice a Week. ROY HEMPHILL, manager of the Western Motor Sales Company, distributors in Oregon a,hd Southwest ern Washington for the Chalmers and the Hal Twelve, believes that every man, woman and child in his organiza tion should know something about the mechanical make-up of an automobile. This applies even to the stenog raphers and bookkeepers. If a stenog rapher knows the difference between a spark-plupr and a piston-ring, says Mr. Hemphill, she will be Just that much more efficient a stenographer in an automobile firm, where words . of that kind are hurled at her In dicta tion every day she lives. And as for the bookkeeper, he will be that much more valuable a book keeper If he knows what he is listing when he foots up an item for Jackshaft bushings, continues Mr. Hemphill, and he really has all the best of the argu ment, at that. Consequently, Mr. Hemphill has de clared that every last person in the organization, including even himself and James McNaughton, president of the company, is to take a six weeks' course in automobile mechanics. Mr. Htmphill has a brother, S. R. Hemphill, who conducts an automobile school on Hawthorne avenue, and there the class will be held. It will be a night-school arrange ment, the class meeting every Tuesday and Friday night for one hour's in struction. Mr. Hemphill's brother will give the Instruction himself. The first lesson of the course will be held next Tuesday night at 8 o'clock, and the first instruction will be given on the "innards" of a Chalmers car. Racer Sells Elgins. W. Grossgloss, who was a racini driver around St. Louis, and who near ly lost his life three years ago while driving an automobile in a St. Louis contest, has Joined the Elgin sales forces and will be connected with the Elgin Sales Company, of Tacoma, Wash. Mr. Grossgloss has the distinction of having driven the first automobile, an old Case 40, .over the Sierra Nevada Mountains, and of piloting the second motor car across the American desert. He announces that he is out of the au tomobile racing game for life. HUDSON OWNER FINDS HIS CAR INEXPENSIVE TO RUN. ' y a t jriit ..x V- ;Kt t;r - i v - h - - zz' - ' i 9 1 Something less than , one year ago F. A. Tauschen shipping, manager for the Doernbecher Manufacturing Com pany, bought a Hudson Super-Six chassis from the C. L. Boss Automobile Company, on which he built his own special roadster body. He has been using the car continuously since, ana with such remarkable results as to service and economy that he wrote a letter to Mr. Boss the other day tell ing him about it. During the whole time ho has had the car Mr, Tauscher has driven 7000 miles, but has paid out only 1.95 for repairs. And that was not for repairs, strictly speaking, but for an extra. His total expenses for operating and maintaining his car .up to December 8 were only $99.46, which is about as cheaply as he could have-walked or taken the streetcar. But let Mr. Tauscher give the facts himself. Here is' his letter. "I have been keeping an accurate account of my Hudson Special Super Six to see the mileage I was getting on gasoline. On a Columbia Highway test I got 24 miles to one gallon of gasoline, on over a 100-mile run. On a trip up North to various parts of Washington of over a 450-mile run my average was 19.S miles to the gal lon. "My mileage for the first 3000 miles was 17.3 miles to the gallon of gasoline. Up to this time I have run y Super 7061 miles on Just 401 gallons of gas oline, which gives me Just a little bet ter than 17.5 miles to the gallon. "You delivered the car to me after the Automobile Show last February and I have been using it steadily since. I have had no repairs on my car except that I bought an extra large grease cup for the clutch collar, which only cost me $1.95. "My total expenses for the whole season were $84.21 for gasoline. $12.20 for lubricating oil, $1.20 for grease. $1.20 for waste and 65 cents for soap, which makes a total of $99.46. "I consider this car to be one of the most economical cars of its size ever built in the United States." AUTO IS BIG WAR FACTOR MOTORCAR PERFORMS TRANSPOR TATION ACHIEVEMENTS. F. A. TAUSCHER AND HIS HUDSON ttO. ':. THAT HAS COST HIM JUST $00.41 TO OPERATE SINCE- LAST . - 0 . FEBRUARY. . '. " ' f ''"',''..:.' 1 ' John N. Willys, of Willys-Overland, Says Auto Has Become Necessity for Winning the War. "Have you considered what a big part the automobile is playing in the winning of the war?" says John N. Wil lys, president of the Willys-Overland Company. " 'Everybody knows,' you tell me, 'that the railroads are the very back bone of our war preparation." Yet I wonder how many realize that the au tomobile is as much a part of our vast transportation system as the trains and tracks themselves? "Did you ever stop to think what happens to men and material after the railroad delivers them to the station? Do you realize what tremendous gain in speed we have achieved in moving men and materials by means of the au tomobile? Limited only by roads, the motor car goes anywhere, relieving congestion, moving hundreds of thou sands of people and millions of tons of materials rapidly to where they art needed in a hurry. "No community is too small or too distant to feel its quickening influence. "One contractor told me that with out ' automobile transportation the building of the cantonments for our huge new Army would have been de layed at least six months. We are told in graphic detail how the automobile made possible tlfe success of the battle of the Marne. A few weeks ago tens of thousands of automobiles were hur rying through the country enlisting subscriptions among the farmers for the second liberty loan. A few weeks before that more thousands of automo biles were enlisted in the campaign to raise $100,000,000 for the Red Cross. The automobile again was called into service to help raise $40,000,000 for the Y. M. C. At camp recreation fund. "No less important in the work of winning the war is the automobile in its everyday use among farmers. Of the 1.000.000 automobiles probably one half are .driven by farmers. With his speedy, convenient car, the farmer runs his errands to town, takes in produce, brings back supplies day after day. adding hours to the working part of every day. "Of equal value is the intricate use of the automobile made by the Amer ican business man. If you walk down the streets of any town or city you'll And the curb lined with automobiles. Every car there represents someone on an errand and every car there means an hour or two added to Its owner's useful day. "Probably no factor in all our busi ness machinery is more vital to our success than the automobile. The 4,000, 000 automobiles in this country are traveling millions of miles every day and every mile they travel' is saving time and energy and money. "In this war. as never before, we are brought to a realization of the over whelming importance of this newer arm of our transportation system." R-OTJSSEATJ IN ORDNANCE CLASS Patriotic Overland Manager at Al bany Sells Out to Join. Army. A. J. Rousseau, Overland dealer at Albany, Or., eold his interests there last week to Earl Day in order that he might attend the ordnance school con ducted by officers of the ordnance corps of the Army at the University of Oregon. He expects later to be sent to one of the Government arsenals in the South for further training. Mr. Rousseau is one of several Over land dealers and salesmen In the state who have responded to the call for service with the colors for the period of the war. Many Cars In Arizona. - In Arizona 19,391 motor cars have been licensed this year, together with -865 motorcycles and 242 dealers. Fees to date amount to -$118,500 and will 'total Oldsmobile Distinctive High Grade. Light Weight. OLDSMOBILE CO. OF OREGON. Broadway and Couch. Phone Broadway 1640. Is ready to serve your requirements with euc cess. Touring 2340. Roadster J2340. D. C. Warren Motor Car Co. 58-60 N. 23d ST. BIAIX 7S0. PREMIER The car with an aluminum motor, structlon throughout. A car for High-grade con. particular peopla MITCHELL & WALLINGFORD, 522 ALDER ST. CAPACITY IN TO.S X 1V4 a $1325 S1600 S7035 Price Delivered at Portland. ROBERTS MOTOR CAR CO. S1020 SV4 S2950 Park and Flanders Sts. Smith-Form-a-Truck BAiLOU & WRIGHT Broadway at Oak. Distributors for Orffon. Some unoccupied territory open. Write tor proposition. Trucks Moreland Distillate ton to 5 ton. Vim delivery, Vi ton, and Commerce 1-ton Capacity. McCRAKEN MOTOR CO., Main 83 - 490 Burnside St. The "Blltwell" Series Represent the Latest nnd Rest 1b atotor Cars. Mew Value at aieoium races. D. C. WARREN MOTOR CAR CO. Phone Main 7HO. TTT Ho 58-eO IVorth Twenty-Third Street. OAKLAND Oakland Motor Co. of Oregon 344-50 Burnside, off Broadway. Phone Broadway 80. AUTO ACCESSORIES BOWSER GASOLINE and OIL TANKS STORAGE SYSTEMS FOR PUBLIC AKfD PRI VATE GARAGKS. S. Ii. Stoddard. IMntrlct Supt. Bales. 71B-20 Corbett It Id ft. Main 147S. SATISFACTORY MOTOR CAR REPAIRING COOK & GILL CO. Phone Broadway 26. 409 Davis Street. pw o)- i TTr ("in the .treatment") with Gibson Electric fC r f fV IX I of 'crossed wires', I Garage & Storage D SPECIALIST 1 "sparkless" bat- (Battery Co., Alder at teries, etc. Offices J 12th. Marshall 1752. C Willi! a p Wa Stock Them. We Repair Them. We Chara-e Them. Free Advice and Inspection. AUTO ELECTnlO EQUIPMENT- CO. Sixth and ilurnaid Streets. $120,000 for the year, as compared with total receipts of t67.214.B0 for 1916. The registration of motor cars last year was 12,125. Of the total of more than 19,000 cars registered this year, more than 6500 are in Phoenix and Mari copa County. BtBBEB FORESTS DEPLETED Amazon Trees Wasted, Now Tire Companies Turn to West Indies. For years the forests of Brazil fur nished tha major part of the world's crude rubber. But the excessive waste and destructive tapping- of the wild Hevea rubber trees of the upper Ama zon River, coupled with the lack of adequate labor to handle the rubber output, caused rubber users to look to other fields for their wants. Extensive experimentation in the East Indies soon demonstrated that the Hevea. which is the most important of the rubber-bearing trees, could be grown successfully there. The world's production of plantation-grown rubber is now seven times as great as that of wild rubber. The world's total out put of crude rubber for this year will reach about 250,000 tons. The Good year Tire & Rubber Company has a plantation in Sumatra covering 20,000 acres. . Goodyear Team. Winner. The 1917 football season proved the most successful in the history of the sport at the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company. Akron, O. Goodyear em ployes are strong: for athletics and from the weath of first-class material soma strong teams are formed in all classes of sport. This year the football team repealed its performance of last year in winning the championship of the city. In all eight games were played, without the loss of a same. OTERLAXD DEALERS IX RACE Detroit and St. Louis Distributors Bet on Sales This Month and Lust. A novel sales contest at an off-time of the year in sales of automobiles is now in progress between the Simmons Sales Company, of Detroit, distributors of Willys-Overland and Willys-Knight cars, and the St. Louis Overland Com pany. The two organizations engaged in a similar contest for the months of August and September, and Detroit won, with a margin of 60 cars. St. Louis sold 240 cars and, Detroit 300. Paul Sm..h, of the St. Louis com pany, ' challenged Guy O. Simons to a return contest, naming November and December for the dates, a time when sales are always low in Detroit. The dates favored Sl. Louis, but reports from that city stated that there was a slump in the motorcar business for the first two weeks of November, while T. H. Walker, manager of the Detroit branch of the Simmons Sales Company, reported that November would run 100 per cent in sales ahead of -1916. Mr. Simons has already prepared to cele brate another victory New Year's eve at a dinner when the 25 salesmen of the Detroit branch will burn up the 100 from St. Louis and adopt the St. Louis goat. you have use, for a truck, you pay for it whether you buy it or not. Republic Trucks 1 will prove it WRITE Roberts Mo tor Car Co., Inc. Park and Flanders Streets, Portland, Oregon.