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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 11, 1918)
THE SUNDAY OREGOXTAX. PORTLAND. AUGUST 11, 1918. GASOLIN WAR TAX E HOT LEVIED DIRECT Producing Companies to Pay 2 Cents Per Gallon Under i Committee Provision. ENDING IS COMPROMISE Consumer Will Pay intimately, as Price Increase Will Surely Fol low Motorists Believed y Reasonable Outcome. . The much-discussed war tax on gas oline has finally been compromised by the House ways and means committee, which Is framing- the new 18.000.000.000 revenue bill, on a basis of 2 cents per arallor This tax. according to reports from Washington last week, will not pike In Ipswich, Francis E. Stanley, In ventor of the Stanley steam automobile, was killed here last week when his machine overturned. He was caught under the car and so badly crushed that he died on the way to the Beverly Hos pital without having regained con sciousness. Mr. Stanley was alone In the car and was bound from Boothbay, Me., to his home at 638 Centre street. Newton. Mr. Stanley was 69 years old. He was born In Klngfleld, Me., and after re ceiving his education in the village school and at the State Normal School he was for a time a school teacher. After his marriage to Augusta F. Walk er, who survives him, he and his twin brother, Freelan O. Stanley, opened a photographic studio in Lewiston. In connection with their photographic work the brothers devoted themselves to perfecting dry camera plates, pro ducing the Stanley dry plate. The de mand for these plates became so great that the Stanleys moved their factory from Lewiston to Newton. Mass. In 1905 the Stanley Dryplate Company was, sold to the Eastman Kodak Company, the brothers meantime, from before 1897, having devoted attention to steam mo tor cars. The first Stanley steam car appeared in the streets of Newton in 1897. In 1904 Mr. Stanley received country-wide prominence by being the first man to drive a motor car up Mount Washing ton. Subsequently the Stanley Com pany produced a car which broke the world's mile record at Ormond Beach, making the distance in 28 seconds. This feat was accomplished in 1906. The car also held the two-mile record, 69 seconds. When automobile manufactur ers in Europe and America shifted j from steam to gasoline, the Stanleys 1 NEW CAR IS TESTED I Empire Six. Makes Fast Time to Astoria. RED SEAL MOTOR STRONG J. S. Moltzner Drives - Brand ew Auto Over lower Columbia River Highway, 108 allies, In Four and Three-Quarters Hours. Any time a-spick and span, brand new car can be unloaded, at the freight yards, filled with gasoline and oil and then and there driven on a hard trip of 108 miles, accomplishing this Journey In 4 hours' without injury to the car or motor well then, that car Is a rea automobile. Such is-, the emphatic opinion of J. S. Moltzner. Portland distributor for the Empire and Elgin. Mr.' Moltzner did that very thing the other day with one of the new Empire Sixes that had Just arrived 'from the factory. - He was TRUCK MADE IS CALIFORNIA SOON TO ENTEK - THIS TERRITORY. n II raj t u -iUja?5$&& Territory for 1919 Season Is Now Being Closed WE WILL ALSO ANNOUNCE AN OLDSMOBILE TRUCK WITHIN A SHORT TIME Pacific Coast Prices on Passenger Cars Model 37 6-cylinder Roadster .$1595 Model 37 6-cylinder 5-passenger $1595 Model 45A 8-cylinder Roadster ; $1950 Model 45A 8-cylinder Pacemaker $1950 Model 45A 8-cylinder 7-passenger . . .$1950 Immediate Deliveries All Dealer Applications Are Given Due Consideration Write or Wire Now Note The Oldsmobile shows the largest increase in sales during the past year of any car selling for over $1200. The Fageol Traiek Factory at Oafclaad. Cal- Has Bee Enlarged so That the Northwesters Field May Be Fil tered. The l'kotoa;raph Shows One ( the Fleet f Faajeol Tracka laed by the California Wholesale and Retail Meat Dealers of San Francisco. j be levied against the consumer direct, ; but will be a tax on production to be paid by the producing companies. J Of course, this tax will be passed along to the consumer and It undoubt- edly means an increase of 2 cents per gallon on gasoline prices at filling sta ' tlons. 1 News of the committee's action In flx- J Ing the nominal 2 cents per gallon rate ; with be received with much relief by motorists generally. While well-informed persons have not believed from ' the outset that Congress would levy i a prohibitive tax. there nevertheless has been considerable uneasiness on the subject, i .No Hardship Worked. But with the tax rate only 2 cents a per gallon, no hardship will be worked j on anyone. In fact, it is very likely I that most car owners will be stimulated to practice some of the economy that the Government Is so earnestly urging, thereby more than saving the amount i of the tax. t Merely by stopping the motor when ver the ear Is standing and not per mlttlng it to Idle, a car owner can save much more than 2 cents to the gallon of ' gasoline. On long runs in the country Idling is not a great source of waste. But in the city the amount of gasoline wasted In this manner Is much greater than most persona have any idea. It is estimated by oil men to range from S to IS per cent, depending on the number of stops made by the driver. Car owners under the decision of the ways and means committee last week also will have to stand an annual ex cise tax on their automobiles ranging from $10 per year to 1140 on very high-priced cars. The $10 tax will be levied on cars costing $500, Increasing at the rate of $5 for every $250 of ad ditional cost up to $3000. Cars costing that amount will be subject to a $60. tax. From $3000 upward the tax will Increase at a much higher rate. Some Features Peculiar. A peculiar feature of this tax Is that It will be levied on the original retail list prices of the cars, regardless of the year of manufacture. Thus, a man who owns an old car today for which the purchase price in 1910 was $3000 or $4000. will have to pay the, tax on that purchase price. There will unquestionably be an ef fort to change this feature when the measure comes up for general discus sion, for it seems rather severe on the man owning an old and out-of-date ear to be obliged to pay a tax on its orig inal Value, particularly when owners of modern cars costing much more tody than the old car would bring on the market would be taxed much less.. This tax is also an excise tax. Its ef fect will be that no car owner can evade the tax merely by laying up his car and not using It. Ownership of the car will require the payment of the tax. re gardless af whether it is being used. Art excise tax of $5 per year also Is to be levied on motorcycles. It is probable that a tax also will be devised on the sale of used motorcycles and used automobiles. New automobiles are to be taxed 10 per cent of the manufacturers' price in place of the present 3 per cent tax. This tax will be applied directly to the manufacturers and there will be a 5 per cent tax on gross sales of motor trucks, assessed in the same manner. Of course, the manufacturers will pass this tax along to the purchaser by add ing It to the purchase price. While the automobile tax decision is not final, any changes made In the committee's decision will probably re late only to details. All in all. the car owner will not. have much reason for complaint at the sixe of the taxes, for tney are smaller than had been ex pected by many. For instance, the Treasury Depart ment recommended to the committee a flat tax of 10 cents to the gallon of gnollne. which would have been pro hibitive to many owners. were not affected, holding steadfastly to the original power. Mr. Stanley'a inventive ability was not limited to dry plates' and automo biles. He also developed an X-ray ma chine and invented a process for man ufacturing illuminating gas from gaso line. Recently Mr. Stanley had been giving attention to the problem of adapting the Stanley steam boiler and engine to railroad cars, something which carried with it the promise of advantages for the operation of interur- ban short-line service. A little more than a year ago Mr. Stanley resigned the presidency of the Stanley Motor Carriage Company and was succeeded by his son-in-law, 1'res cott Warren. In addition to his widow, he Is survived by a son. Raymond Walker -Stanley, now In military serv ice; two daughters, Mrs. Prescott War ren and Mrs. Edward M. Hollett, of Newton, and seven grandchildren. Mr. Stanley was a member of several New ton clubs and also belonged to the Bay States Automobile Association, the Au tomoblle Club of America and the Aero Club. TACOMA ACTO , DEALER VISITS II. E. Stlmpson, of American Auto mobile Company, In Portland. Herbert E?. Stlmpson. president and manager of the American Automobile I Company, of Tacoma. was a visitor in Portland last week. He came down to see F. W. Vogler, president of the Northwest Auto Company, which Is wholesale distributor for several of the lines handled by Mr. Stlmpson, includ ing the Reo and the Cole, for which there is a big demand in the Tacoma territory. "sold" to the Empire before, but after that performance he wants to tell everybody he sees all about It. And no wonder, when the 108-mile trip was over the new ower Columbia River Highway to Astoria. This high way for the most part is in excellent condition, but there are several stretches of crushed rock and other construction work where the pulling Is hard enough to test any car. Particu larly a car that hadn't been run at all Before. Mr. Moltzner had to go to Astoria the day this shipment of Empire Sixes arrived. "He decided to try out the car for his own satisfaction, so selected one of the Sixes as It was unloaded. at the freight yards, filled it with gaso line and oil, and set right out. The very fact that he made the 108 mile trip in 4 hours indicates that he didn't spare the car any. Mr. Moltzner makes affidavit to the time. When he started, he naturally was Inclined to drive the car slowly so the motor would break in easily. The Em pire Six is equipped with one of the new Continental Red Seal motors, and to his surprise Mr. Moltzner found it was working as smoothly as if it had gone several hundred miles. So. keeping a watchful eye on the I THE OLDSMOBILE CO. OF .OREGON . DISTRIBUTORS For Oregon and Columbia River Counties in Washington BROADWAY AT COUCH PHONE BROADWAY 2270 moto-meter so as not to heat lip the motor, he began- to step on the throttle. He went faster and faster, and still the motor didn't heat up. The result was the 4 -hour trip, which is not a record at all, but is very good time for the Astoria trip. . "The motor wasn't hot at any time on the trip," said Mr. Moltzner. "it would have been nothing short or a crime to have driven a new car at that rate of speed had the motor shown any stiffness. It was my first experience with the new Continental Red Seal motor, and it certainly is a wonder. It is quiet and smooth-running, but my, what power it has:. . "I knew I had obtained a real car when I brought the Empire into this territory, but I didn t realize until I made that trip just what the car could do." The Empire comes in two types, four and six-cylinder motors. The first Empires received by Mr. Moltzner sev eral weeks ago were the four-cylinder type, including the classy Empire road ster model, equipped with the Empire- Teeter motor. These cars attracted so much attention from the moment the first one appeared on the street that Mr. Moltzner sold three of them that week. Several Empires of the six-cylinder type arrived a couple of weeks go. and they have been selling as fast as the fours did. The Empire, while new in this territory, is a car of established reputation for It has been manufac tured for the past ten years and is very popular in the East. Mr. Moltzner con siders himself mighty lucky in having obtained this line to handle with the Elgin. Don't Need Chains. A steep grade does not call for chains unless it is wHppefy. Nothing holds better nn m hn rrl n. .n r 'n. tk. hr A ......... ..I -J . I .. ... 'i . . iiiiii.i un,riB i i ( 1 1 l serin, to understand this distinction in the! mctming 01 roaa conamons. The farmers of the ITnlted States! hirve been allowing $300,000,000 In real! money to escape from their porketal each year because of poor roads, ac-i corning to tne testimony of experts. An evidence of the international reputation of American-made motor Are apparatus Is apparent in the recent shipment of three motor horse cars to I Japan. STAXUETr, AUTO MAX, IS KILLED Inventor or Steam Car Fatally In jured Under Machine. BOSTON. Aug. 10. While driving at high speed along the Newburj port turn. T I R E Bargains All Standard Makes 30x3 $ 9.75 to $13.75 30x3 V4 13.75 to 17.75 32x3 15.85 to 20.35 31x4 23.25 to 26.50 32x4 23.40 to 28.75 33x4 .......... 21.40 to 28.50 34x4 19.50 to 28.75 35x4 - 24.50 to 26.00 35x4 34.50 to 38.50 36x4 34.60 to 42.50 37x5 38.50 to 49.50 We Carry All Other Sizes Tubes 30x3 Gray.. $2.10 Red... $2.35 30x3 Gray... 3.00 Red... 3.25 32x3 Gray.. 3.25 Red.-.. 3.35 31x4 Gray.. 3.50 Red.... 3.75 32x4 Gray.. 3.75 Red... 4.00 33x4 Gray.. 4.00 Red... 4.45 34x4 Gray.. 4.50 Red.;. 4.75 All Other Sizes We Are Distributors of ' Kokomo Long Life Tires Guaranteed for 5000 Miles A liberal allowance for your old tire, on a new Kokomo. - PordandTireCo. Two Stores 331 Bumside St. 134 Grand Are., at Morrison Portland, Oregon ECONOMY IN TRUCKS IS MUCH A MATTER OF DESIGN. FEDERAL TRUCKS ARE DE SIGNED FOR THE NORTH WESTTHEREFORE ECO NOMICAL. Every Federal on a job in the Northwest goes there when we are sure that it is the correct size and , design. . Federal engineers know your work. They know the roads you will have to travel, the loads of lumber, of logs and heavy odd shapes. They know the grades you will haVe to climb, the brakes you will need to save your truck on bad roads. - ? Backed by the performance of those trucks now at work, they know they are right and that a Federal Truck will haul for less. Sizes One to Five Tons Trucks and Tractors The William L. Hughson Company BROAOWaV AND DAVIS PORTLAND, OR. PHONS BROADWAY 821 . , OMwt MMor Oar Organ lull on ea U Pacific, with Branch at Oakland " attl San Fraaoboe Let Angelat . . San Dlaga iMaiaaiJaaBMitaMa---).wr- . iMra aiMMMHT niiWlBlMiUHi II BM New Life in the Old Car There's nothing that puts new vim and vigor in the old car as a new battery will. And there's no battery that will keep the kick in the spark so long and so reliably as the Still Better Willard with Threaded Rubber Insulation. - . You'll know this insulation is inside when you see the Willard ' trademark brand outside your battery. Come in and ask about this big battery improvement--and get our booklet "A Mark with a Meaning for You." Auto Electric Equipment Co. SIXTH AND BURNSIDE STREETS We test, repair and re charge storage ' batteries, and always carry a full supply of battery parts, new batteries and rental batteries. . Testing service is free.