Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The Oregon statesman. (Salem, Or.) 1916-1980 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 28, 1924)
THE OREGON STATESMAN, SALEM, OREGON SUNDAY MORNING, SEPTEMBER 28, 1921 Failing Models Based on Lines of Ancient Horse-Drawn Carriages MODERN MOTOR CAR BODY BUILDER BECOMES CREATIVE GENIUS 0 : .::: V . .-. : -Sv.-.-s - . . . I 1 : I : 1 -v 1909-1910 Tkt jtnt motor car body bm&dsri laektd vision. Thty tctrt bmOdw of carriaytt, and to thti tk$ motor car body was only another kind of a earrlayo body. In top eonttr it a kortt-draztn clottd carriayo nado by Hialty in 1905 It ntiyhi m3 bo labtUd 1775 for it looks quit like its ancestors of revolutionary days. Above is m Chevrolet sedan of 1910. It has a resemblance to the carriage. It hat little resemblance to the enclosed motor car of today. In fact, it is fnnny, tehen compared teith the modem ear. AU motor car bodies were fumny as tony as the carriage was used as m rnodtL . Present , day motor car bodieS and the horse drawn coupe, broug-. ham, ' hansom or landau bodies, which flourished froca 1775 to 1905, are widely different !n practically all particulars. This fact, of coarse, It Immedi ately apparent , when we consider that the horse draint enclosed car-" riage bad a speed range not to exceed fifteen miles per boar, and did most of; Its .work , at" four to eight miles per hour. The present day motor vehicles are called upon to withstand speeds, of sixty to aerenty miles per hour, and most of their work - is done at speeds from fifteen to twenty-fire miles per hour. -- It Is obvious, therefore, that In Its engineering design and structu ral strength the enclosed motor ear and horse drawn - carriage bodies are entirely foreign to each other. The successful carriage builder , of the old.- days,- frequently found this out to his sorrow when be be- . gan building motor car bodies. The horse drawn carriage was made of wood. Motor car body builders In the old days also em ployed . wood, following' previous practice. Men who owned some of the motor cars even so late as 1903 to 19C9 vividly recall Just how eru'a and ' unsatisfactory i were the. motor car bodies of that day. They ! were not engineered to withstand 1924 and 1910 It is a far cry from the fashionable limousine of 1910 to the fashionable limousine of 192J. The lines cf 1910 are remniscent of the days of the horse. The lines of the 19X4 show a departure so grsat as to justify the assertion that modern motor tody buHd- . ere have created a body that to entirsly new, ana ewe only to the carriage what they do to the covered wagon, namely the idea of an enclosed space on wheels. , - . f the requirements of. motor 'car service, because the motor car was Itself a new thing and no one knew What the requirements were. -So while horse drawn carriages have been In use since the sixteenth cen- V cost of present day productions. In tury, the development of the sue- - 1911 the Fisher Brothers built their cessful enclosed motor car body has been a matter of about fifteen years. Imagine the . satisfaction you would get from an automobile body made by a wagon builder in .1850. - v : R . t . i .- . j: Among the first to build enclosed bodies for motor cars, were the Fisher Brothers in Detroit. In 1910 a motor car manufacturer . placed with them an order for one hun dred fifty enclosed bodies of one type. It Is believed that this was the largest single order placed up to that . time, and gave the first opportunity for the' introduction of the principles of standardization, f which made possible the enormous ly improved quality and reduced ! first metal panel body, which form1 of construction has now come into universal use. This radical type of construction immediately eliml : Dated many of the theretofore most aggravating troubles In. motor car bodies..' The enclosed motor car body is a comparatively recent development. I Jit was "necessary, to . blue, new ! trails1 and. develop new standards In body engineering and a new art in the methods and practices of body manufacture, . Jwnue "It natural for the coach builders of 1850 to 1890 to enter the field of motor car body production, it Is history that some of the most prom-, tnent and successful carriage build ers made the most conspicuous failures in motor car body produc tion. This may have, been due to the inability of these companies .to modify their ideas and practices to conform to the new standards and conditions imposed ? by the motor driven chassis. It is probable that not to exceed fifteen hundred enclosed cart were built and sold prior to 1910. There were many reasons for this. People feared to ride behind glass many did not like the con spicuousness of the "Show case on wheels,''- Excessive cost was a big 1907-1909 . Early motor car body buUdsrs fared no ; better in building limousines than thsy did in : building sedans. The motor car body was a varia tion of the carriage body hence the atrocity shown above. It is hard to even) imagine that seventeen years ago this limousine was the autocrat of the motor world. If you owned a : pelanuay '. Belle Title body you were IT. Compare this body of 'jl907S-9 With ths HsaUy eor riage. It is one of the famQyust another attempt to fit a carnage body to a motor car. factor also the Inability of early body builders to construct an en closed body sufficiently light, strong and silent to be satisfactory. Also, of : course,- in the early days the motor car was more of a sporting proposition, and ; comfort was of secondary consideration. As the motor car mechanism developed In power and reliability. Its utility in the activities of daily existence was quickly apparent.' - f Fisher Body Corporation was constantly and rapidly improving the enclosed body standards, and, at the same, time, through original production methods, . and new me chanical processes, reducing costs.; The greater practicability, safety and comfort of the enclosed body was self evident, i Of course, its uia Increased with marvelous rapid ity.. By reason of improved pro duction methods, one can today pur chase some of the . world's finest motor cars, with enclosed bodies by America's foremost builder at less than $5,000.00, or less than a body only, and fof very inferior quality judged by present standards, cost a if ew years ago. -1 . So the enclosed car body which i Is so common, today, is but another of the wonders; and comforts of present day existence, to which we give so little thought which, if they were eliminated, would so serious ly upset our methods and standards ''of life, . buses for street cars will reduce! noise Is based on sand, the com mittee declares. A"The popular idea' in America is that to suub- Btitute rubber-tired - buses for atreet cars .will bring about a gTeat reduction in noise. the re port says. However, the commit tee' was Impressed with the fact that in the central London area where are no tra ways, the noise o the buses caused by gear shitt ing, the exhaust and other motor noises and the pounding of the wheels In depression in the pave ment is very bad. It was also noticed that on streets over which both tram car and bus operate, where the noise of both types of i vehicles could be directly-compared, the buses on the averag made more noise than the tramcars. Zon fares are in force practi cally throughout Europe. Two cents is the minimum fare, but in London,- for instance, some local fares run above a shilling, or 24 cents. ; Once the unsophisticated thought the world flat; now they think it square. Fine Portraits Embellish Passports of Amercans RUMANIA DISCOURAGES GOAT SOFIA, , Sept s 27. The sheep and goat census for ths current year shows that there Is a pair ot sheep,, or a sheep and a goat, for every man, woman and child I In Bulgaria, with a part of a sheep or a goat to spare. . Sheep, however, are much pre ferred to goats by the Bulgarian government. The reason Js that i goats, feeding on the fresh, youri tops of shrubs and small tfpep. p parently are eating the country bare of forests. : Hence steps are being taken to1 discourage their increase..; . i .' . One ; reason why living costs more is because affixing a patch is no longer an art. ' . GET A Dayton or J Columbia Bicycls FOR SCHOOL, v - A good bicycle makes co ing to school a pleasure. LLOYD E. RAMSDEN, 367 Court: Street. BERNE. Switzerland, Sept. . 1.- Passporf difficulties for- Ameri cans have been made a little more annoying by the new regulations of the state department providing that photographs presented for use on passports -must be of a spec ified thickness, of certain dimen sions. and must have a white background . " - These regulation - specify pic tures which are wholly unlike the rush photographs supplied by emergency picture galleries . tne I length and breadth ot Europe, and force the American applicants to go to regular photographers, most of whom require many days to complete pictures and charge many times the amount travelers pay the specialists in passport pic tures. ' The contention of the state de partent Is that the pictures .must I have a white background so the signature of the applicant, when written across the picture, will be more legible. Perhaps it would be a good idea for one side to evacuate Herrin. No Lic Y7astcd By Ttn DntCcr I its life starts after you buy it 1 We are talking about; the new WlHard Charged Bone-Dry Battery. This very differ ent battery comes dry. ' No add in it. We keep it until you say, "Put the battery in my car," then we fill it. It ia a charged battery. Filling ararra its life. "A battery that doesat start Its life unta you get it, can't waate any of ita lite before . yog set it." says Little Anpere. JOE WILLIAMS 1 C3i cxURT st. h rndxc 1C3 AUTOMOBILE EICTRIO WORK OF ALL KIXD3 T! TI STOHAGE' BATTETJXS fOl I battxtj: m COURTESY IS i i nnrniniifsTiiinn r tb UUu iiiiub It Is Appreciated in Well Bred People By Contrast , .With Road Hogs Editor Statesman: - . Men and i y women who; pride themselves Ion displaying good manners when in society, are often far from courteous when driving their automobiles :on "our public highways. Seemingly, when they enter their cars they leave their tolitenes3 and" consideration for others behind. I : Take for instance the driver who comes tearing down the street, only slightly slackening tbe speed of bis car. -vulgarly and loudly sounding . warning as be . accroaches i a densely moving throng at an intersection What of the autoist who scowls and almost swears when a woman, with perhaps a child or two to look' after, temporarily halts the mad pace of his car, because she becomes bewildered or does not In stantly read the driver's mind and anticipate what bis intentions And the motorist who does not decide to make a turn until well to tne center oi an inieraecuua and 'then hastily, if at all, holds out a band, at the same time starting to turn, throwing all traf . f ic behind and on either side of bis car into confusion and often times causing needless property damage 1 ; And the driver who will delib erately and impudently pull up behind another and park bis ma- a. it . - chine in a space wnicn ma oroiner motorist has previously located and who Is at the time attempting tn haclc in to! This baDDens many times daily and is an abso lute insult! i, What of the man : or ; woman who. having insufficient . time to another motorist because of meeting an- oncoming vehicle, will attempt to crowd ahead and only .avoids an accident because one or brakes? . Do these and similar discourte sies ot the highway tend to point out a driver as being , well-man Known Ul Ills uciiuuumuuu wu among his business associates as being the" "rough-neck," as the : slang phrases it, that his road an tics would indicate him to be? For ' that is what it suggests to other drivers! All public highways and city streets are for all the people no one person has a right to monop- cliza them at any. time or Jeopar Clzi tis lives ot otters la matins use ouinen). jvennoneao. nob care what others think bf him and his. lack of .good manners the law requires that he show a defer ence for the rights and privileges of . pedestrians and ' tallow-motor ists alike! :. . : .;-; Not one of these "rough-neck" drivers would think: ot walking down tbe street and pushing oth ers off the walk that be might pass; yet that is what they do, f I guratlvelyi speaking, in crowding past other: machines when there is scarcely time to dodge ahead. .Be cause their precious faces can not be reached by the offended mo torist's fist is the only reasan this practice continues, too, for Just as truly as a man would, "get his" If he attempted to crowd another off the sidewalk, this "road-hog-motorist" would get the same treat ment if he could be reached! The time Is not far, distant when this practice will cease. No well- mannered man or woman will de fend the many common discourt esies of the road. There are too many well meaning . folks , who drive cars and who have the wel fare of others-at heart, to long countenance! the havoc-wrecking methods bf driving one meets with on our highways! j i ' If autolsts will not show a rea sonable regard for the rights of others and care not for tbe ill- light they place themselves in. then THE PEOPLE must demon- trate their displeasure and intol erance. The well-bred man and woman are discernable in. public by their outward display of consideration for those about them and when motoring there is a two-fold rea son for such consideration; road courtesy commends it and the safety of others demands it. C P. W. ' I"' . HOPIM MSPORTJTII Experts in Europe Think it Will Be Electric and Bus Lines Coordinated NEW YORK, Sept. 19. Future local transportation will consist of coordinated bus and electric rail way i service, preferably operated by one company, in the opinion ot European: transportation ex perts. This Is the crux of a re port made today to the American Electric Railway association by an association committee, represent ing both bus and trolley Interests, which has Just returned from a six weeks' inspection of European transportation facilities ' in : Eng land. France and Scotland. The members were J. Welsh and Harry L. Brown of New York and liar ley A. Johnson of Chicago, sfl Buses are being used far more extensively in Europe than in this country, but outstanding transpor tation men, including bus opera tors, have vague ideas as to the vehicle's future place, the commit tee reports. Generally, it is con ceded that tbe electric railway will remian the chief agency for. car rying mass transportation, and the bus will find ita place in supple mental service. Unanimous opi nion was expressed that it cannot supplan electric cars in carrying neak. loads in large cities at pre sent except at a prohibitive cost. Lord Ashfield. managing direc tor of the London Underground, which rung several thousand buses surface cars and subway llnesde clared the bus cannot at the pre sent time take the place of surface cars id London because of insuf ficient street space, for one reason and the necessity for financing ad ditional underground railways. Surface lines can be supplated, he declared, but i only ; by greatly widened streets and the construc tion of new subways. i The hope that substitution ot Are You One of Those Who Aok "Why, A Vertical Eight? i Why '8' Why Vertical?" icycle T5i?e Special Sale Regular $2.25 Tires Special for One : Week 5 6 Each Bicycles for School Get One Now on Easy Terms 910.00 Cash, Balance on -Easy Terms Harry ,W. Scbtt 147m QQlVh ST. The Cycle Man." PHONE 63; 7 7" The GARDNER Sedan Regular and Radio Special Models TpROM the nineteen coats of high-gra3e paint on " the bodies to the hydraulic pressed steel chassis; Gardner enclosed cars represent quality, throughout. ' ; Both Regular and Radio Special models are powered with the famous five-bearing crankshaft Gardner motor; thus, you can glide along from 2 to 60 miles an hour in high gear with no percep tible vibration at any driving speed. You can climb any hill that any car of any size or price will make and do it in high gear! You can leap ahead from 5 to 25 miles in 7 710 . seconds when the bluecoat's whistle rules the walk, i You can go 20 to 25 miles on a gallon of gas . ' ' : .. In every respect striking appearance, me chanical excellence, durability and economy Gardner enclosed cars typify the principle upon which Gardner success has been built "Not how little, but how much." "Users Know" .. . . .... . . s r ; . . ; in ; E. Nordenson Motor Co. Distributors - GARDNER CARS 186 SOUTH HIGH ST. SALEM, OREGON IF YOU ARE, you need not feeU ; that you are exceptional, when . you ask that question. , v IT IS BEING ASKED today more often, and by more experienced - motorists, than ' perhaps any 1 other question. v ;.' ;i (A YEAR AGO, when Rickenhacker. . first produced a car with 4-wheel v brakes, millions asked "Why.; .brakes on all four wheels?' NOW YOU KNOW that it was one of the greatest improvements ever made; in a motor car ; MORE RECENTLY Rickenbacker announced a "Vertical-8- JSuperfine" as an addition to the wonderful line of Ricken backer Six-Cylinder Cars. NOW ANOTHER CONTROVERSY rages over the relative merits of this and former types of motors. ANSWER IS CONCLUSIVEr-did we have space to enter into the subject and give you ; all the proofs. i " TECHNICAL JOURNALS are teeming with arguments for and against. . AS USUAL you find the progres sive engineers on the side of the newer type the stand-patters still trying to retard the wheels of progress, until they ; can - catch up, on the other. READ ANY Automobile Trade T - Journal and you will find two things, 1st THAT THE LOGIC of the Vertical Eight is so sound as to convince any one who really wants to know. . AND 2nd That m ail the argu ments running through all discussions you will find the name Rickenbacker used as re presenting the most perfect type of yertical 8.", FCR EXAMPLES, look up the series of articles that have been " running in the technical press, on the subjects of - Mo tor Vi bration, the Cause 'and Cure; on 4-Wheel Brakes: on Fuel end . Oil Rectifier; on Air Filtra tion; on Oil Cooling; on Crank , Shaft Forms and Balance; on Spring Suspension; and then the Uvest topic of this day, V ''Vertical Eights" vs.other types, AND YOU WILL FIND Ricken backer Cars and motors con stantly referred to as outstand- .r ing examples of the most pro gressive and soundest engineer ing practice. : IT IS AN AMAZING FACT that you find the name of this young concern always in'the company ; , of the most illustrious ones. SO WE SHALL NOT ATTEMPT to answer that question here.. Space forbids. Besides you may not be one of those "Bugs" we referred to. YOUR OWN FIVE SENSES will tell you more in ten minutes than we could print in a volume. AN HOUR AT THE WHEEL of a Rickenbacker 'Vertical-8-Superfine" will revolutionize all your present ideas about motor . cars. ' ' ,-: : I ; SO WE SUGGEST that you answer" that question for yourself by driving this car yourself . ' AND YOU WILL AGREE, that for the man who desires the utmost in his automobile for the man who appreciates the super- ' lative and can afford to pay the slight difference the ideal is to be found in this Vertical Eight. AND FINALLY, when you try to express your own impression of , the way this car is designed, is ; built and performs you will also use the term "Superfine.. Oil F. W. PETTYJOHN CO. r219 N. Commercial, Salem, Oregon . After We SeH We Serve ;i Famous .MSl: Pric Sport Phaeton - . i Coup Sedan $1595 i. 209$ 219S ; (. m. O. Detmttplme i Vertical 'Icht'! Prices Sport Phaeton - S21S5 Co-pa - - - ' - ,2S:S SeSn - - - ; 27SS CAR o