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About The Oregon daily journal. (Portland, Or.) 1902-1972 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 22, 1920)
4 THE OREGON SUNDAY JOURNAL, PORTLAND. SUNDAY MORNING, FEBRUARY 22. 1920. FOR Oil AND BETTER ROADBEDS E SERVICE IS URGED Experts Declare Taxpayers Are Losers If Highways System Is Not Built for Heavy Trucks. A PORTLAND-BUILT MOTOR TRUCK to be limited to the present wear and tear ability of the roads now being built In this country, or will .he trucks be built according to other needs and the roads make progrss in proportion to the tax on their strength? r:'MMizk JmskMv i - fit PORTLAND ENTERS INTO FIELD OF MAKING TRUCKS Local Concern Is Formed of Sev eral Men Prominent in Finan cial 'Circles of This City. ' :: .-',. ?'ii'-:v- . - . r Oregon actively enters the auto motive manufacturing field with the organization of a local company for tion, vand the eompany has srrang ed for other men with a highly trained knowledge of raaollne encines and of chasnis building: to take care of the de tails of the work. The enterprise hae been planned from the manufacturing end with great care to preclude the possibility of inefficient administration. I The sjUps division of the company wm be under th direct charse of i '. D. Van Persal, who has located temporary sKlwrooma at 354 Burni!de street. The sales plans do not at present include a national campaign, but for the time be ing the territory west of the Uocky mountains will be thoroughly covered, and the Oriental trade, fitted aptly for the name Karavan. will also be the j w-ene of exU-nsive operations. j MEN ARE WELL KSOWN E. D. Van Lersal. promoter of the new company, is one of the pioneer automotive men in the local field, hav ing been associated wjtn the business here for the past 10 years. He Intro duced the Studehaker 1U?IU delivery in 1911, and was later nalesmanaiter for the Studebaker corporation. He man- The Chinese bind the foot to fit the shoe rather than conetrurt the shoe to ! cw Kara an tmrW, manufseturedsby the Caravan Motors eompany, which Is built here In Portland by the Ore . nt the foot, and that eems to be tha t non company. Its makers say It lit destined to become one of Oregon's roost important products. nrenent Idea in American road huildjnx. . i . Cost of road construction per mile at th I in the limits of more than 20,000 populft present time le rather hlfli, but thf qu".s- I tion. tlon Is: Would lt .be cheaper in the Ions run to build roads thst will carry loads and carry them for veaxe, or !ave money how and let future generations build Home more when these get so bad they are no longer worth using? GOOD ROAD WEKDED Where would our railroad system be now If . locomotives and curs had been limited by the former light weight rails and fltmny road bed construction? And where will the rapidly developing sys tem of truck transportation be a few years hence If we do not meet the prob lem of the roads upon which they are to run. squarely and Intelligently? Last July, upon the departure of the United States Army Motor Convoy, die patched by the War Department from Washington. O. C, to Ban Francisco, Secretary of War Baker said thst one of tlie great problems before our people was that of Improved hard surface highways. FEW IMPROVEMENTS Mr. Baker was speaking from knowl edge gained by the experience of our officers In France. They had seen a country saved by its highways saved ' because the Krench have always con sidered their roads part of the system of beds are provided, much of the freight now carried by the railroads will be car rA ..' f ,-ii..lr Tt wnulrl v a criminal A regulation limiting motor trucks of ' aj)e of moncy touild roads that will 2 1-2 to 3 tons rated carrying capacity j prove Inadequate. " Also. It would be a to spceda of 7 1-2 miles per hour on ' w-sie or money 10 ouiio roaas ar0iB..w . . , , . . , . , I for some extravagant figure In tonnage- business Streets; motor trucks Of 3 1-2, fnnm m inrtonhdlv he a rea. tons capacity and over to bIx miles per hour. HEAVY TBtCKS BARRED Provision for a maximum limit of gauge of seventy-five Inches, measured center to center of tire would have made necessary the scrapping of half the heavy-duty motor trucks in service. Prohibiting operation on the high ways outside of cities, villages and towns of any vehicle which weighed, with its maximum load in excess of seven tons. The effect of this would have been to prohibit anything larger than a two an one-half to three-ton mo tor truck. It seems strange to think that In this country the only practical overland route from the Atlantic to the Pacific has been provided through the Lincoln Highway Eleven fons would undoubtedly be a rea. sonable figure, considering both the pres ent and the future. But. at any event, let's not be Chinese about It. do not need painting, maintenance costs are practically eliminated and they last much longer than wooden trucks. Plans are under way for the production of a considerable number of these trucks. It Is too much to expect that concrete will be utilised for the bodies of passenger cars, but it Is possible that we shall see the advent of the concrete motor truck at no very distant date. the purpose of manufacturing the Karavan truck. The Karavan Mo- aged the sale of the Federal trucK com tor company, with a capitalization j "iTXTo of 1100,000, is the name of the new distributor for the Oakland Six. He concern, with E. D. Van Dersal as j has but lately given over the agency prident. Fred Hesse, vice president tor yr gon an., - design. ,and Is largely -a result of hts finished engineering sklH. His familiar ity with haulage conditions 'has been a prime factor tn the arranging of the details for the manufacture and com mercial marketing of the carrier. BEtilN DELIVERING OON The contracts for parts to be used in the construction of the truck were placed with Ka.stern manufacturers early in 1319. The first experimental job turned out by the builders appeared in the fire prevention parade last fall, and later the Corvallla sflre department was furnished with fire apparatus mounted on a Karavan chassis. Ship ments of parts are now coming to the plant, and deliveries are expected to commence about the middle of March. .One feature of Karavan manufacture Is that the trucks are not sold with any definite tonnage fcapaclty rating marked, such as is known to be noted In trucks of other makes. The truck Is designed solely with ;tha idea of Im proving hauling conditions in the North wen, and provide a .carrier that may be bought on the ground, thus tnsuriug more prompt deliveries than might he possible with the plant many miles away in a Middle Western city. An Oregon product and catering to the wants of companies having a total payroll valuation of $150,000,000, the Karavan company's carrier Is designed to keep here as much as possible of the money expended for automotive equlp- ment In the West. Officials of the com pany declare that hud the entire auto motive equipment now owned In th Northwest been purchased In this sec tion of the country. 40 per cent of the total might have remained In North western hands instead of being ot East. Aulos Cost Billions The total value of the passenger cars i and trucks produced by various autoino i bile concern in this country tn J919 was j II. SOT, 5H084, which Is exclusive of the I wholesale value of bodies, spare llrex and accessories to equip the vehicles. There were 1,686.787 passenger cars produced and 305.1 4 2 trucks turned out. Automobiles with a right hand drive are the popular cars In Buenos Aires. Standardized Auto Is Greater Suqcess Truck Makers Learn Truck makers throughout the United States have realized the necessity of standardising their product. Parts makers producing an individual unit- are in better position to manufac- , ture that alone than those who are About 10 per cent of the 80,000 miles of highway in and about New York state Is Improved under the state and county systems. and consulting engineer, W. L. Boise, secretary, and George H. Peters as engineer in charge of construction. The ' directors will include several men prominent In local financial j circles. The truck; will be manufactured and marketed under the name Karavan. and will be manufactured by the Hesse Martin Iron Works, at East Ninth and Taylor streets. Numbers of large gov ernment contracts secured by the com pany wUl enable it to begin consfruc- , tion very snortiy on a large quantity i basis. The division devoted to manu j facture has on the payroll many men ' expertly familiar with truck construc- trlbutors. Tred Hesse has been for some year, in the Iron and steel business in this city, and at present Is the head of. a large riant on the East Side, the scene of the manufacturing operations for the Karavan truck. W. L. BotM a prominent Portland attorney who has been active for some time as a champion of Oregon indus tries and an enthusiastic booster of Portland payrolls. His connection with the Karavan company Is an outcome of his long IntereHt with the local trans portation problem. George H. Peters Is a transportation expert with an experience of 15 years In the Western field. It is to Peters that the Karavan truck owes its rugged P5 PERFORMANCE COUNTS making many parts. The nation has ; Association, which is simply a group of j recognized the value of the assembled Individuals who are generously and en- i truck made up of standard units, and 1 thusiastlcally giving their time and it realizes that every unit must be ab- , money to the prospect. ' solutely O. K. to insure the business i The consideration of highways brings j not only of the manufacturer of the up several questions. How are they to i truck, but also of the manufacturer of national defence. Over the whole of i D provided? How constructed? And ; the parts. The lite oi tne parts maker France there extends a network of 'hard what restrictions are to be placed upon ! and his business depends upon his mak surface roads; every town and village I 'heir use? wig the best possible unit. The use of is connected to Us neighboring town and I OFFER TWO STSTEMS ; ,nse unlts b many co"f r"s, nb , village by an Improved highway. The logical method-gained from our , ' .T" - ' .VvJ'Iul "7 i it j auoiriai pmnto, iu nnyray wij lusncai paid and best engineering talent In the rvinntrv nri to install th moat modem. systems or roaas; national Mignways, Up.to-date machinery. By specialising consirucieo ana mainuHnw oy tne rea- , a tnaividua.I unit, the maker Is able era i government, ana state nignways, constructed and maintained by the Btales. The former would be the main lines and their location would be deter mined by the topography of the country Take, on the other hand, the condi-1 experience in France, and from an an Hons In this country. If one were j ajy8ia of our own needs-is to have tw to San. Francisco practically every-ype of road, including trails, would be en countered. West o'f Chicago there are very few improved roads until the Cali fornia line Is reached. - In Illinois. Iowa and Nebraska there are dirt roads that are practically Impassable 1n wet weath er. Such improved roads as we have in the East and in parts of the West dif fer greatly in construction ; everything from water-bound macadam to concrete is represented. BGtJLATIOX OPPOSED to provide a chesper, but at the same time a far superior product. There la an element of advantage In the gervlce provided through thie spe- realization. Renair Darts for a larere and the density of the population. The percentage of assembled trucks can be latter would be laid out to serve local requirements. In construction they should be hard surfaced. The concrete road seems to be proving satisfactory. They should be sufficiently wide to permit safe paas- If our highway system is to be any-' ,nB of vehlclcs, and provided with eult thing better than an immense failure it ' able Drides and culverts of steel and must be built up w ith an Intelligent un- rcl"fnr ed concrete, derstanding of present and future re- PROPER ROADBEDS qulremenW. And it must not be left to j The main restrictions upon this would l.uaI,r , a"d Pr'Judiw. Fr 'be. of "course, the weight of the loads, example consider 'some of the laws pro- The bridges and culverts must be built ... vjcuc.ai As.seniDjy or to sustain a maximum load, and procured almost . everywhere In the United States and in foreign countries. The principle of the standardised truck Is right, because the product la made up of parts, each unit of which is 100 per cent in its own field. Atuo Truck Made of Concrete Next A series of provisions, the effect of which would be to limit the size of com mercial vehicles to 4 1-2 tons carrying capacity, except when used solely vvith- manmum load, and this We have concrete ships. ?ow we are maximum figure must be set only after : to have concrete railway trucks. These trucks, carrying a load of to ton (10 per cent overload), have Just passed the most crucial testa. The great advan tage of concrete trucks are that they fair consideration of the part trucks are to pley in hauling the nation's freight. It is not unreasonable to surmise that in a few years, wherever proper road- iiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiip; S-passenger Sedan Announcement Th distribution for CROW- ELKHART Four and six-cylinder motor cars for the State of Oregon and Western Washington has been taken by the Crow-Elkhart Sales Agency James E. Graham, Manager Tenth, Between Stark and Oak Sales Parts Service Six-cylinder touring $1745 Portland Four-cylinder touring $1495 Portland $SS4$ . . . fatlfrf wd 0fmiff4 Newest Type of Closed Car TEXINGTON introdureMi tksnr.hirN - VP( TT MIV at JLi solves the closed car problem by building the body for the top. The results are extraordinary, for a dosed car, both in performance and ap pearance. The Lex-Sedan has the finished one piece appearance of the built-up type of closed car, yet J It is much lighter in weight, effectinf marked economy of gas, oil and tires with reduced load for the. motor. Also, the less cumbersome construction gives the Lex-Sedan a wide touring range without destructivr body twists and strains. The Lexington chassis has many exclu sive features, including self-oiling spring bushings; non-rattle frame; one-finger emergency brake: cable foot brake, and Moore Multiple Exhaust System in conjunction with the Lexi-gasifier which uses low grade fuel and increases the force of every power impulse. The Lex-Sedan isupholstered in Spanish leather tod velour in harmonizing shades. BRUNN MOTOR CAR COMPANY Distribatera. 28-30 North Broadway at Couch, Portland. See Our Exhibit at the Show Lazuujtta Mtwr Cetapu?, QtaafOriUs ladiaaa, V S. a. 2-Way Limps Cw JmB tift ml alt Urn 1 " I III When Visiting the MOTOR SHOW Come On Over! We're just across the street from the Armory and have something to show you the like of which you probably never have seen. It's the chassis of a ' MACK .TRUCK turned over on one side with all cover cases removed and operated by electricity. We are sure that if you inspect this display you will learn something. Come see what makes the wheels go 'round MACK-INTERNATIONAL MOTOR TRUCK CORPORATION TENTH AND DAVIS Phone Broadway 691 y III" W.A1.1S. " . V -- t 't The New ReVere America's Incomparable Car Tbe last rerd in classy design built by people who know, for people wko want tbe classics! and best on Uio market Deuienberg Motors Manufactured by The Re Verc Motor Cr Corporation LoKansport, Ind. Exkibittng at Auto Show Pepp Motor Car Co. Distributors 84 Broadway niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimur iimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiir 2 . t ,