The Oregon daily journal., January 02, 1916, Page 21, Image 21

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THE " O REG6n r SUNDAY JOURNAL; PO RTL AND, fsUND AY I MORNING,1 JANUARY V 1916. ; -I V
'- i.
'1
PORTLAND
PROBABLY
WILL HAVE ELECTRIC
TAXICAB: SERVICE CO.
Demand for Greater Service
and at Same Time Cheap-
i!1: er Equipment Imperative.
TESTS ARE SATISFACTORY
Sutm Ku ay Trial Made la De
troit Proved a Beolde Success
Trom tli Day It Started.
went Into service Uit Dwtmber and
January, and have, therefore, been la
service -about eight month. s are
Just completlnr IS additional electric
cabs, and we have 20 mors under war.
which will b in service about the first
of January. This will give us an
eq-ulpment of 47 electric cabs.
Kara Vet Xeyt loe.
It seems to me that the manufac
turers of electric vehicles have not
kept pace with the manufacturers of
gasoline vehicles. I mean by this that
the public demand better mileage ar.d
better looking cars' than those that
AUTOIST TAKES LONG DRIVES
w
Hectric Brougham
For Hire Is Here
Tint Tehlele of Bid tm Portlaad
. XakM Appearaaoe Msy Sxtead Ser
Yloe If It Xeoomes ropalar. '
Portland is the first city on the Pa
cific Coast to announce to the public
that It has an electric brougham for
hire. This car was brought to Port
land especially for high-class shopping
and calling serv ice. Will Spalding. ai
trtbutor for the Mllburn and Walker
lines of electric, is behind the move
of giving Portland the first electric
pleasure vehicle ,f or hire. If the peo
ple take kindly to this form of trans
portation, the service will be extended
and severat additional electrics placed
In immediate service.
It Is very probable that Portland
will shortly see the Installation of the
electric taxtcab service. In fact, the
manager of one of Portland's largest
taxlcab companies Is now in the eatt
studying this situation with a view to
rehabilitating Its service with electric
cabs which are said to be much more
efficient than the cabs now being used
and operated at a much less cost per
mile.
The electric taxlcab has been thor
oughly tested In the city of Detroit
for the past two years, and the follow
ing article by I. H. Scrimger, manager
of the Detroit Taxlcab & Transfer
company, is very interesting from the
standpoint of efficient operation:
"I think everyone In the taxlcab busi
ness will bear me out when I say that
the life of a well made gasoline car
in a hard service, such as the taxlcab
business is, could not be much over
five years at the outside.
Cost of n lining Cars.
"My judgment is that a gasoline car
to perform satisfactorily will cobt
$2000 to 12500. Using the five year
period as the maximum aa the life
of the gas car. it means that a taxlcab
company is replacing their equipment
every five years.
"In Detroit, we get 70 cents for our
first mile and 40 cents for each ad
ditional mile; single tariff meters b?
Ing used. In other words, it doesn't
make any difference as to the number
of passengers carried, whether one or
four the capacity of the cab the rate
Is the same.
"Comparative figures between the De
troit Taxlcab & Transfer company and
other companies in the United States
show that the cost of operation per
. mile is between 30 and 35 cents. Tak
ing the SO cents per mile cost as the
basis for figuring, if a cab covers two
miles we receive' $1.10. If the cab
'returns empty, we have covered a dis-
- tauce of four miles for which we have
eceived $1.10. The cost per mile be
ing 30 cents shows that we have lost
on this run, and the history of the
taxlcab business throughout the United
States is that from 40 to 50 per cent
of our distances covered are empty
mileage.
SCa st Ptnd Cheaper Equipment. .
"The revenue obtained from service
. rendered in Detroit is about 31 cents
a mile. You will, therefore, see that
very little profit is to be made with
an expense of between 30 and 35 cents
a mile and an income of 33 cents a
mile. It. therefore, became necessary
that we obtain equipment that could be
operated more cheaply than gasoline
cabs.
"About two years ago, we decided to
build one electric cab as an experiment.
' and the president of this company and
myself consulted with the manufac
turers of electric vehicles in Detroit,
but they m ere all too busy to give us
much thought, and claimed they could
do nothing for us unless we were will
ing to accept the chassis for the pleas
ure car they were building. The taxi
.cab business being a commercial busi
ness, we could not see how a pleasure
electric car could be made to serve our
purpose.
"We. therefore, were compelled to
build our first car. This we did und;r
the supervision of our engineer. W. J.
Behn.
Xn Service Over Tear.
"Our first car was placed in service
at the Hotel Ponchartraln at 2 oclock
in -the afternoon. June 25, 1914. and
up ' to the present tme has been In
- continuous service about a year and
three months. No advertising was
done, nor an announcement of' any
kind made when this cab went into
service.
"We thought it best to start the elec
tric service, and allow the public to
Judge whether or not the electric cab
would meet all requirements. It was
only a short time when we commenced
to receive letters of approval, and the
cab met with such a signal success
that we decided to build 11 more.
"These additional 11 electric cabs
are now in service throughout the
country. One of the first questions
we are asked is how many miles can
you get on one charge, and then how
fast will they go?
"All of our 12 cabs now in service
are being operated 24 hours a day with
two drivers; each man working IS
boura. To enable us to operate our
V i it Ik
Miss Naidyn Baker is one of the
youngest of the women drivers In the
city, who undertakes long jtoura in . r
big seven-passenger car. " She drove
elictric cabs 24 hours a day, wa have
had installed at the edge of the aide
walk at the Hotels Statler, Tuller.
Griswold House and Ponchartrain
charging boxes, and our cabs, while
standing idle, are on charge. The Edi
son Illuminating company of Detroit
has cooperated with us in every way
possible, and has given us power wher
ever it was possible to do so.
Weak Points Overcome.
"We feel 'hat we have constructed
for our service a thoroughly up-to-date
practical electric taxlcab. Some eigiu
years- experience with the gasoline csv
taught us the weak points of the gas
car, and we have tried to overcome
them with our new construction.
"Our cab has a 121 inch wheel base,
and the Interior of, the cab body proper
has a space about 68 Inches long and
about 50 inches wide, which you will
see enables us to carry from fou to
five passengers very comfortably. t)ur
experience taught us that the limou
sine type of body was preferable to
the landaulet type, and could be oper
ated with less expense. We are using
Silvertown Goodrich pneumatic tires,
and have already made a wonderful
mileage showing with these tires.
Operating Cost Reduced.
"In conclusion, our operating cost per
mile up to the present time has not
exceeded 20 cents a mile. This cost
Includes drivers' wages, overhead, tire
expense, garage expense, depreciation
an u every expense in fact which Is In-
. t . .w . J . U . ,l
ciaentai 10 me upciauuu m ic -'- tt-,i,. ,,.,i, .,(
The only point on which ... i....
Chicago office had made the first ship
ment of the one-ton capacity truck to
the northwest. The new truck, which
is creating much interest among the
electric users throughout the country,
should arrive in Portland by January
10. The machine will be used for dem
onstration purposes, and already many
applicants have signified their Ceslre
to try the car out In their particular
line of business.
This car differs from th0 electrics
heretofore put on the market in that
It confains what is known as the bal
ance drive. The motor and differen
tial are both placed in the rear axle,
the armature shaft being hollow. These
connect up with idler gears in the rear
wheel and drive the truck by Internal
rim gears.
The battery arrangement la also
very simple, being hung on the outside
between the front and rear wheels, anj
Miss Naidyp.e Baker, one of the youngest auto enthusiasts in Portland.
last summer to Astoria at the opening
of the Columbia River'Highway to the
sea, made many trips up the highway
as far as it was open for travel and
has driven to McMJnnville and various
points about the Wlllarnette valley
She is the daughter of Air. and Mrs.
T. M. Baker. She has driven the car
for the past three years.
First Walker Truck
On Way to Portland
Vew Else trio One-Ton Vehicle Shipped
From Chicago Many Applicants Ask
to Test in Own Xdnes.
Will Spalding, who handles the
cab business
we are uncertain la the life or the car.
We feel that the car has been so well
made that we may be able to depre
ciate this car over a period of 10
years. This, of course. Is a problem
which time alone will tell whether or
not we are correct."
Snow Mantle Makes
Highway Delightful
The delight of a trip over the
.Columbia river highway is dou-
bly enhanced by the cloak of
snow that winter has spread X
over forest and stream. . The
most direct route to the high-
4t way Is out the Base Line road W-
to the Automobile clubhouse.
Elderly Woman Made Happy.
Berlin, Jan. 1. (I. N. S.) One of
the proudest women in all Germany
Just now Is Mrs. Barbara Lambert, a
90-year-old widow of Puessen. in
varia. She recently sent a pair qf big
woolen mittens knitted by herself to
Field Marshal von Hindenburg. - Last
week, to her great joy. she received a
letter of thanks from the famous army
leader who assures her that he will
surely make use of her gift during the
cold Russian winter.
w Zealand Sends Black Swans.
London.- Jan. 1. (U. P.) Busy war
workers are picking 1010 black swans,
donated to the Belgian Refugee, fund
from New Zealand. It is the first
time frosen swans have been received
in England for food. The feathers and
down will be used for the wounded.
can be easily gotten at without taking
up the floor boards.
Marshall, Field & Company at Chi
cago, uses 219 of the Walker electric
trucks in Its delivery system.
Enormous Quantity
Of Shots Are Fired
French commander probal exsgger
ated, so as to encourage his roops. but.
even If he really had concentrated 6000
guns, they could not have thrown near
ly the number of shells that is said to
have been fired.
"After 600 shots, a gun becomes so
hot that It needs a long time to cool
off. Even in the most favorable cir
cumstances, a gun cannot be dis
charged 1300 times In 24 hours. The
best average for field guns is 700 shots
8.) Znor-1 a day, for the smaller heavy cannon
ano ror tne largest pieces sou.
EMPLOYS OF STATE
RUSHING LICENSES
FOR AUTQMOBILISTS
; than was evidenced at the same time
a year ago.
The following table shows the num
ber of motor vehicle, motorcycle,
chauffeur and motor vehicle dealer
registrations in the several counties
of Oregon from January 1 to December
31. lrV inclusive:
Baker
Kenton . . .
Clackamas
Clatsop . .
Columbia .
; Coos
J Crook
Curry
Marks in SfifTfitarv nf State's
" j uiuiam
nrr' - tar i . m- Li i Grant .
UlllUe VVOrKiriE mIUS IU Harne
Take Care of Business,
MANY KRE
Application JKave Beem meoelved at
lalem at Bate of BOO to 1000 a
Say f or a Tew Weeks.
Hood River
I Jackson . . .
i Jefferson
1 Josephine .
Klamath . .
REGISTERED i1 .....
, Lincoln
i Unn
Malheur .. . .
Marion
Morrow . . .
Multnomah
Polk ......
Sherman
Tillamook .
Umatilla . .
rnlon
Washington
Wheeler . . .
Yamhill ...
Total . . .
In order to promptly Issue all auto
mobile, moto 'cycle, chauffeur andj mo- Wallowa
tor vehicle Mlrr licnnsea for lsIC as aaco
received the -clerical force in the motor
vehicle dlvli.on of Secretary of Ktate
Olcott's offlre has been working
nights for t lie past few weeks. Blanks
were forwarJed early In November to
all motorv vehicle owners snd chauf
feurs throughout the state as dis
closed by the office records, and on
November I, registration for 1916
was commenced. This was done In
order to allow all motor vehicle own
ers snd chaOffeurs ample time before
the first of-Hhe year within which to
apply for am secure their 191 license
but appllcar ons were not returned In
any great n mbers until the past few
weeks, when they have been ooming in
at the rate f from 500 to 1000 earh
day, until tAe total 191 6 registration
now numbers approximately ll.Ooo au
tomobile 55 motorcycle. 1200 chauf
feur and 100 dealers. I
rig-als Axe Sigmincaat.
For the year 1316 approximately C3.- '
800 automobiles, 8160 motorcycles.
405
410
793
406
128
472.
345
32
64 7
1&9
104
137
:9
1.11
50
85
440
96
968
2S
539
140
1.660
205
S.H08
554
261
236
1.291
.".4 7
203
6:o
65
673
1.'
ua
74
45
17
49
13
4
65
3
1
3
12
99
3
70
45
11
39
96
21
!32
u
72
65
17
n
so
47
14
t5
63
44
50
77
87
6
194
55
19
113
30
47
42
2
108
17
27
71
24
99
19
66
61
14S
:s
:.no
30
s
70
106
35
iS
6
94
7
61
1
4
1
21
.1
47
6
.23.585 3.158 4.131 173
Eelctric Factories
. Behnid With Orders
-
43. C. Colt lromlsd Wife Sfevr Car for .
Christmas, But rectory CoalAat Ost
It Out la Time.
That electric automobile factories la '.
the east are using every effort to catch ,-
up with orders is not an Idle Jest, as
tjin be vouched for by C. C. Colt, presW .
dent of the Union Meat company. Mr.--Colt
placed an order with L. H. Resse,
of the Frank C. Riggs company, for ,
Detroit electric, to be delivered- n'j
Christmas day. Mr. Colt had protnlavd .
his wife this elet tric ss a present. The '
factory had so many orders in ahead r
of the Portland order that Jt was Im..';
possible to make the delivery. How-,
ever. Mr. .ler-se has aseured delivery '
of the car during this month.
The Mllburn factory, which makes
one of the few other electrics repre
tented in tiie Portland territory, has
also notified its local agent. Will .
Spalding, that it Is working night and
day to keep up with the demand for-
vehicles. Wlilir the west asji beeu " ;
very backward in purchasing electrte
pleasures and commercial cars, the
east is adopting this mode of travel
wherever conditions will allow. ,
4130 chauffeurs and 175 dealern were
registered. Whia indicates that 191S
licenses havs been applied for for less
than one-Jirf f of the motor vehicles
and chauffe rs in the state, notwith
standing tli local police officers In a
number of the cities of the state have
signified their Intention of strictly en
forcing the license requirement.
By January 1, 1915, some 7062 auto
mobile, 4.S0 motorcycle. 465 chauffeur
and 53 dealer applications for 1915 li
censes wereflled In this office. Ths
number of applications for 1916 li
censes filed, thus far would indicate
greater activity on the part of motor
vehicle owners and chauffeurs to se
cure licenses for the ensuing year
Berlln. Jan. 1. (I. N.
moua estimates of the number of shells 500
fired by the allies on the western front; Taking these flgsres as a basis, I can
in their last great drive are given by positively state that the French cannot
English. French, German and neutral : have fired 'more than 3,100.000 shells
newspapers, says Lieutenant General , on the 20 mile front On which they
Rohne. one of the foremost German ar
tillery experts. In the Vosslsche Zel
tung. "The Berliner Tageblatt claimed that
during the three days of the bombard
ment in the Champagne 900.000 shots
were fired every hour. This would
mean 60.000.000 shells in 72 hours. The
estimates of the Paris and London pa
pers vary between 10.000,000 and 30,
000,000 shots, but these guesses are far
out of the way.
"The proof that the estimates men
tioned are all wrong can easily be fur
nished. General Joffre stated in his
order of September 21 that 2000 heavy
and 3000 field guns would blast the
way through the German lines. The
1
ft
ELECTRICS
In many lines of work, G. M. C. Electric Trucks are far more
economical to operate than gasoline trucks and the deprecia
tion is much less. Ask us for full particulars.
Columbia Carriage, & Auto ' Woirks
, 209-11 FRONT STREET
M
eavy (Gains lade
By Electric Vehicles
More than $20,000,000 has been invested in
electric vehicles by American firms. The de
partment stores are the heaviest users of this
form of vehicle, the brewers being a close sec
ond in the amount of money invested for this
form of transportation, shown in the table
which follows:
Express and transfer companies $3,010,000
Public service companies 3,671,000
Department stores V . . . 5,627,000
Packing-house organizations . . 609,000
Brewers v 5,350,000
Wholesale merchants and manu
facturers 2,088,000
U. S. Government service 435,000
COMMON SENSE will tell you that such an enormous in
vestment in this form of transportation must have been
based on
SOUND BUSINESS JUDGMENT. It will pay ypu to
investigate the merits of the Electric Vehicle.
Phone Commercial
Department
Marshall 5100. A-6131
Portland Railway, Light & Power Company
tried tfc break through."
Magazine Is Issued
By British Prisoners
Men axe learning 3Cow to Hay Golf
Whils la Camp ZUeot Xamber to
Parliament
lyondon.. Jan. 1. (I. W. 8.) A
British civil in unUl recently Interned
at Ruhleben camp, Germany, brought
here today c pies of a magazine writ
ten and illustrated by the prisoners.
They have concerts, plays, debates,
scientific afcd literary lectures, golf,
football andJennin, and even elected a
member of avrlla.ment. Several pro
fessional gdfrers are In camp, and the
magazine states;
"A large number of citizens riave
taken the opportunity of talcing les
sons at considerably lower rates than
at home, and a number will be able to
say quite auMly. Oh, I picked up my
golf while arisoner of war.'"
Milburn Light Electric
Th lightest weight, lowest priced and cheapest operated
f Hrtrl' on th market, yet with this you St
unsurpassed iiuallty, pleasing lines and catty operation.
,s . Walker Balance Drive EleclricTruck
Motor in rear axle dlrwt epur gear
drive. 10' more mileage than any either
nlectric. Demonstrator will be here soon.
L.cuve your name for demonstration.
Electric Brougham For Hire
The Ideal car for )mp
ping, calling and theatre. $2.f0
per hour. Absolute rleanll
ness ' and careful drivers.
Used Electrics
Pome
gains.
wonderful
Let me show
bar-you.
Will Spalding
110 13TK ST.
First door north of Washington.
to
more than
i
a town car
If you still think of the electric car
as a car for use only onlpaved
streets then you have no: kept
abreait of advances in electric car con truction.
The 1916 Detroit Electric is a iDeedyy powerful,
thoroughly modern, electric-powered automobile,
in every tense of the word. It will givt you the
1 ighejt quality of service 36S days in the year.
Whether it it the coldest winter day or a hot
summer afternoon you ride in comfort. Further
more it batteries provide sufficient mileage' on
one charge to take you farther than you ordinarily
want to ride in a whole day over iaterurbaa
froads at well as cil streets. May we give you a
demonstration?
Prices range from $1975 to $2275
FRANK C. RIGGS COMPANY
Cornell Road and Twentytbjrd Street
-To
AutouU
WE GUARANTEE
TO CURE :::::::
trouble with crossed wires,
sick and run-down batteries,
cranky lighting systems,
weak and ineffective starting
batteries, even the "dead" ones
sometimes being restored to life,
fickle tail-lights, side-lights.
or any kind of "infected" lights,
anything in fact about or for your
car that lacks "the spark."
Xdberal allow,
aaoe o a yoav
old battery la
exchange for
any kind yo
may desire.
Service station:
for Gray &
Davis. snd
Northeast
Electric Co.
For prompt ind
effective attention
at a reasonable
price, call on or
call up ,
DOCTOR
SPARK
f floaa wlta the
You'll profit in
a lot of other
things that we
will be glad to
tell you that
will make yotfr
car more effi
cient all In
fact, thst you
could desire.
Gbson Electric Garage and Storage Battery Co.
"Everything Electrical for the Automobile"
ALDER AT TWELFTH MARSHALL 1752
A Happy New Year
to Our Many Customers See the Interestirif
RHOADES SPONGE EXHIBIT Now in Oar Show Windows
ARCHER & WIGGINS COMPANY
Distributors of High Grade Motor Car Accessories.
SIXTH STREET AT OAK.
S4
SAFETY FIRST
Let us quote you price on your storae battery require
ments. Repairing and charging of all t takes of batteries.
Work done by qualified experts.
The Famous Philadelphia Diamond Grid Battery.
FRANK C RJGGS COMPANY
State Agents , .
Cornell Road and Twenty-third Street
License Brackets
FOR FRONT AND REAR
Attach- Your New Number Neatly .
Ballou & Wright
Broadway at Oak
Phones: Broadway 307, A-6C J8
AUTOMOBILE AND SHOP SUPPLIES . -', ' .
Spark Plugs TOOLS Brake-Lining
, MOTORCYCLES AND ACCESSORIES
Preer Tool and Supply Co.
T4 sizta aaa til Oak Sta.
rboaae Kala IMS. A18S :
Diamond nrniFgiE's
R. L ELODGEIT,
SS-31 Vertfe lta, Mtr couch
rfcoa Mala 700 -
t