Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The Oregon statesman. (Salem, Or.) 1916-1980 | View Entire Issue (March 11, 1928)
Auto Shoiv at Spring Opening Tuesday Evening to Be Big Feature; Two Blocks to Be Roped Off on Court Street for Display: Automobiles of I oday Are - a Vivid Expression of the Age and the Shows Are as Colorful as Any Tropical Flower Garden, 4 SECTION. THREE ' V." EIGHT-PAGES AUTOMOBILE SECTION WAY BETTER THAN LAST YEAR mm WW f.r SEVENTYEVENTH YEAR , ' SALEM, OREGON, SUNDAY MORNING, MARCH II, 1928 PRICE FIVECENTS Woper car ialXII. '.y. "-. v-g upkeb bhl guide bp mm y,-'-0 niiu yiiiwuiuui uy-x --U'ii uiiu i u unuu hu miu uil nil "tt- .-...v : iiiiulai uluuiuh Modern Autos Better Built and Also Better Serviced Says Executive i ne seven or eight years of service obtained from present day motor cars Is only partly the re sult of better material and work manship at the factories, " declares R. A. Armstrong, director of serv ice. Oakland Motor Car -company. "There is this other important factor in the life expectancy of a car- the general public finally is learning to take better care of its automobiles, thus giving the cars a chance to produce the full mile age which they represent as they come from the manufacturer's as sembly line. 1 "In the early days of the motor industry the average driver knew no more about 'the works' of his car than he did about the works of his watch. He seldom realized that engine and chassis lubrica tion is the cheapest and best form of automobile insurance. Tire in flation, battery and radiator in spector! and many other essen- "-The cars of today are infinite-1 ly better than those of even a few years ago. But it is also true that they are more intelligently cared for. Naturally they are maintain ed iq better condition. "It required time and education a constant reiteration of the need of regular attention to gether with personal experience, before the public came to a real ization that it actually paid to care for its cars. But the motor ing public now no longer ie young. Today it not only is motor-wiBe in its knowledge of car values but also in the sense that it knows how to care better for the automo bile. ''One reason for the better care v being taken of present day cars Is the smaller percentage of per . ons who are now operating their first car. The mistakes of up keep in a majority of cases are made by the 'first car' drivers. The veteran motorist does not per mit his radiator to freeie. He watches his engine oil. He lubri cates the chassis frequently. . He regularly watches his tire pres sure. His battery receives water at proper intervals. He takes pride in keeping his car clean and attractive through frequent wash Inghd occasional polishing. "He doe these things because experience and in many -cases bitter and costly experience has taught him that no matter "how good his car may be built these at tentions are essential to long mile age and continued driving satis faction." Grade Separations and Ex press Highways To Play An Important Part By Walter P. Chrysler President of the Chrysler Corpo ration By 1935 the United States will have on ita streets and highways from 30,000,000 to 35,000:00O registered motor vehicles. How can we accommodate that, great army of passenger cars, trucks and buses? In the centers of our larger W HE 35.0e0.000 BARS 5 ciues more 01 me ran iramv wm be underground. In radioed cities the surface car will giveaway to the bus. In others the treet car will be taken off the streets and -put in underground tunnels. Ele Tateds for overhead trains' will be torn down. Subways twill be sub stituted. Streets wHl-toV widened where it can be done without In convenience by making sidewalks narrower. ; More boulevard sys-! terns will be laid . ot .Arterial highways will be constructed. Separation of grades Is another step. Note how motor cars .from Park avenue get around the Grand Central Station ' In New York City. An overbad) motor ";, -way extends from Park avenue ' and 40th street to Park arenas and 45th. Imagine the congestion at Pershing Square without such . grade separation. V Detroit has a similar grade se paration at East Orand Boulevard and Easf Jefferson atenue. Ban " Francisco has an over-pass at the toot of Market street and the Em barcadero. Cincinnati has over passes where one street Is carried . by a bridge, or viaduct, over an other. ... For years we rightfully stres- . ted more careful driving.' Today A Chevrolet roach driven by F. L Brown accompanied by J. K. McYilIimn was the first" car to conquer the road into Valsetfc tliLs year. The above picture shows the car standing in front of the Community house in Valstz. From left to right the men are Mr. Grout, manager of the Cobbs-Mitchell store in Valsetz, F. I. IJrown, driver of the car, and Mr. Hayden, , postmaster at Valsetz. The trip in wan made Saturday, March 3 with the return Sunday. TIE- COST CONSIDERABLE Cities of United States Pay Ten Million Daily For Congestion A daily loss of ten million dol lars !s the toll of traffic conges tion in American cities, according to Secretary Herbert Hoover's taffic investigation committee This is a yearly loss of $3,650, 000,000. For a time cities were held helpless in the tentacles of traf fic congestion, but now that the status of the automobile is defl- to-the-minute highway facilities with the knowledge that money spent on improvements is money saved, highway authorities state. Widen Streets Streets are Wing widened, ele vated streets and road intersec tions which enable cros-traf flc to Pass without interruption are be ing built, one double decked street has been placed in service with others planned, and pedes trian tunnels are becoming po pular. The city of Buffalo and Erie county. New York, constitute a community that is making deci sive headway in the siege on traf fic ills. A Greater Motorways Sys tem has been devised which when completed will not only provide comfortable access and egress but. will cut down the motorists' travel expense. Klimlnate Traffic Tangles Expaserating and costly waits and traffic tangles resulting from narrow roadways will soon be a thing of the past, for the system Is already in process of construc-4 tion. Sheridan drive,-consisting of two parallel strips of concrete each 30 feet wide, which narrow down to one sthlp 50 feet and then 40 feet wide, is now speeding traffic over several miles on the north side of the Inner Loop, th rIght-K)f-way which skirts Buffalo two" miles out. rWayne county, Michigan, in which the first mile of concrete rural road was constructed in 1909. was the first community In the country to take up the provi sion of wider highways seriously. There are now approximately 490 miles of concrete road in thickly populated Wayne county and ad ditional mileages are being crea ted -each year. The definite sys tematic continuing plan for " Im-prove-nent calls for considerable mileages of wider pavements, in fact a minimum width of 40 fee.t has been established for all county roads. These wide highways have still wider brothers, with rights-of-way of 100 to 204 feet in width. One of .these super-highways, the De- trait-Potomac road with a 204 foot right-of-way. Is now carry ing traffic over its 17-mlle length. This thoroughfare provides two 44-foot concrete lanes with a 40 foot area for rapid tarnstt tracks between. Widen Rural Highways i New York is now devoting much of her energies to the eon struction of wider rural highways also. During 1927, 35 miles of highways 40 feet or more In width, were built. The New York 8tate Automobile association, at its recent annual meeting, recom mended that all main trunk lines In New York be built to a mln Imam width of 40 feet. . California Js also building wid er highways. Cahuenga Pass Road, for Instance, provides easy access from Los Angeles to the San Fernando Valley. Thls-paTe- ment Is 72 feet wide. Build Elevated Streets. Congestion within the city can, of course, only be satisfactorily dectoored by the construction and reconstruction of street facilities. Cities all over the country, both WHC BU CK FREIGHT TRAFFIC HEAVY Six Thousand Car Loads of Autos Shipped Out of Factory Each Month Figures for the candar year 1927 have just been compiled by the Buick Motor company and show what an important part that company plays in the freight traf fic of the railroads serving Flint. For the year 1927 the Buick re ceived 35,540 carloads of freight and also 63.000,000 pounds of less carload business. They forward e din the same year 77,605 car loads and more than $32,000,000 pounds of less carload traffic. This makes a total of carloads in and out of 112, 606,. one of the heaviest years ever had by Buick 250 Carloads a Day At the present time Buick is scheduled to make 18,000 auto mobiles a month equal to 6,000 carloads outbound or about 250 carloads of automobiles a day. In addition to this there are about 40 carloads of parts, scrap, mo tors, ets., so that nearly 300 car loads of freight leave the buick every working day. In times past a train load of Buicks created considerable atten tion and comment but now five regular trains leave here every night with full loads of Buicks and the performance is so regu lar that but little is known about it or is the volume realized. Through freights, trains carry ing nothing but Buick cars, leave Flint every night for Chicago, Mil waukee, Buffalo, Toledo and De troit. With the present high produc tion maintained into the spring there is every indication of this heavy freight traf f to being con tinued. Flint Dally Journal. DOWN THE ROAD l(fri.i Kyi. II t in Wi t I' IV ill '! - - !' States Study Costs to Find Highway Economy; Var ious Types Observed Upkeep of roads, according to highway authorities, is one of the most important considerations in a building program. Roads of thejtbe amount of headlight usage and earth type, in many cases, are requiring less current for start- nothing more than 6ponges that soak up road fluids. After each heavy rain the roads must be nursed back to a passable condi tion, but traffic soon ruts them another rain comes and the pro cess must be repeated. In considering road-building programs extensive etudies and surveys have been made by indi vidual states to determine the most economical road. In New York the average annual mainten ance of principal types of high ways for the years 1916 to 192 5, inclusive, are: First-class concrete i II si per mile, brick pavement asphalt on concrete base bituminous macadam pene tration method $656, asphalt on macadam base $827, water-bound macadam $864. gravel $914. These figures, compiled by David Noonan, dfeputy commissioner of highways, include cost of upkeep of roadsides as well as a pave ment surface. Iowa Keep Records Iowa hirhway statistics for 1922. 192S and 1924 give a n ave rage cost of $460 upkeep per mile per year for gravel roads, $303 for earth roads and $132 for con crete. Maintenance of the heav ily taveled Lincoln highway in Story and Boone counties, one of the few remaining sections not yet paved, amounts to more than $1,000 per mile, the report shows. Upkeep Important Item Figures compiled by the Minne sota highway commission show the yearly cost of maintaining State Trunk Highway No. 1, a gravel road, is twice that of State Trunk Highway No. 3, a concrete highway. Depreciation, interest on investment and upkeep of the concrete highway No. 3 amounts to $1,678 per mile per year, while on the gravel road No. 1, the cost per mile is $3,101. Waukesha county. Wisconsin, by constructing 129 miles of con crete In four years, reduced its maintenance costs by 64 per cent. Before the concrete was laid up keep cost was $72,033 a year. After concreting the annual main tenance erpensa was cut to $24, 156. Who Motors To Wonderful Yellowstone Park Now? "Tillers of the soil," ranchers, herders and fruit growers lead In the "walks of life" represented in the annual pilgrimage to Yellow stone National Park, according to the American Automobile associa tion. The figures obtained are based upon a check-up of motoring par ties visiting Yellowstone last year. They are as follows: Mr. Schmaltz Discovers Why Deliveries Are Delayed Numerous Ills May Be Traced To Neglect On Part of Car Owner Longer and warmer days, re sulting in less of a drain on the automobile battery by reducing ing, are finding a number of mo tor car generators working over time, says Geo. O. Brandenburg, secretary of the Oregon State Mo tor association, who points out that the. season is at hand when this Winter adjustment gradually can be dispensed with. "Numerous ills of the car's elec trical system can be traced to the car owner's neglect tp have the generator readjusted to a normal changing rate when the worst of winter U over." says Me. Bran denburg. "This has been the ex perience of a majority of the 958 local clubs comprising the Nation wide chain of the American Auto mobile association. "This observation on the part of the club executives indicates that motorists are not paying the attention necessary to this form of car-care. It should be remem bered that the less severe tem peratures which presage the com ing of spring also should forecast a change in car adjustments. The generatpr is the unit which should be among the first to be consid ered in this connection. "The generator set for a higher charging rate is working under a great deal of pressure, and while it is built to withstand heavy strains it still requires the consld eratlon of the car owner If it is to continue to function perfectly. The danger of over-charging the bat tery is not great, but that of over working the generator is. "The individual car owner would do well to keep the anti freeze solution until cold weather Is definitely past, but he can, with safety, stand for a reduction in the charge output in the generator. It Is an Item of car-care which really is important at this particular sea son." United States Has Gas Pump Every Mile of Road The United States has a gaso line pump for every mile of Im proved highway and a gas station to every one and eight-tenths miles, according to the American Automobile association. The A. A. A. figures are based on a survey of stations and pumps reported to the national motoring body, showing a total of 317.000 retail gas stations and 604,000 pumps. The comparison is based on a total of 575,000 miles of im proved roads. A total of $838,000,000 Is in- vested in gas stations, pumps and tanks, the A. A. A. survey shows,cities might profit by the example representing seven and six-tenths per cent of the total of eleven bil lion dollars invested In the petro leum industry. 4 3S" - , -?--:.v West Market Road, Will Be First General Display Since Introduction of New Models It's been a long time since Sa lem has had a general automobile show downtown, and that fact augurs even more interest than would otherwise be the case, Ini the show which is to be given Tuesday evening in connection with the Spring Opening. It will be the first general auto show since the new models for 1928 were all released. Court street from Commercial to High has been designated as "automobile row" for the evening, and the new model cars will be lined up there with attendants on hand to answer questions about them. Special lighting effects to (Continued op par 17) Cubans Hear Macauley Tell of Traffic Gain Sounding an optimistic note for motor traffic here and abroad, due to recent progress in highway en gineering methods, Alvan Macaul ey, chairman of the street traffic committee of the National Auto mobile chamber of commerce, spoke before the Cuban highway congress held in Havana recently. "More progress has been made in the understanding of city traf fic during the past five years than in all the preceding history of the motor age,'.' Mr. Macauley said. "We have come to realize that this Is a real engineering Job which cannot be handled by guess work. Cities are now building overpass es, pedestrian subways, and other modern accommodations. "The interchange of information between various countries is most helnful to all concerned. At the Cuban Highway Congress the del egates from the United States are having an opportunity to see a splendid engineering Job carried out effectively, and with vision of what highways will mean to Cuba in the future. Many United States of the Island Republic in prepar ing for future motor traffic by building the right sort of facili ties." By Frank Beck AUTOMOBILE SHOW Mil MARKETS TO ATMT MAI HUD FOB AOTOS s Hood River, Oregon Sales and Service Plans oi Northwest Chevrolet Dealers Bettered Popular conceptions of the ex istence of keen competition in the low-priced automobile field are questioned by H. J. Klinger, gen- eral sales manager of the Chevro let Motor company, who heads a party of factory executives now touring the Western part of the country. "We are confident," said Mr. Klinger, "that there is a normal market for 2,500,000 cars in the low-price field. This market rep resents buyers with divergent ideas iu mind as to the car they want. One group will be swayed solely by price considerations; its members will buy the cheapest car, regardless of other factors The choice of the second group will be determined primarily by beauty, style, roominess and pride of ownership. We feel naturally that we appeal to the second group, and we believe that this class represents a sufficiently wide potential market to absorb our contemplated output of more than a million cars." Old definitions of competition are unsatisfactory in regard to the present condition of the automo tive field, according to Mr. Klin ger. because every car produced instead of representing a transfer of wealth, creates new wealth. He contends that it is plain the eco nomies effected in the production of wealth through the use of the automobile add to the existing total. - "Until a few years ago," Mr. Kinger continued, "It was unus ual for a family to own more than one car, and those who did were regarded as extravagant. Without special effort on the part of manu facturers to sell additional cars to any one family, this condition was changed by families going out of their own accord and purchas ing more automobiles. This trend is in keeping with economic pro gress: the family that has a car for every adult member will have reached its full economic effi ciency." Sales and service plans of Northwestern Chevrolet dealers have been rounded out and speed ed up by the conventions held in Butte, Seattle and Portland. The respective zone sales managers A. Parker, T. F. Hildebrand and W. J. Richmond are now en gaged in furthering the 1928 pro gram as laid out by the factory of ficials during the conventions. Fourteen Territories Use "Drive To Left" Rule Despite the growth of Interna tional motor touring in recent years and the demand for uniform rules of the road, the "drive to the left" is still in order in four teen foreign territories, headed by Great Britain, according to a re cent survey by the Foreign de partment of the American Auto mobile association. As against the fourteen regions where the left drive is In order, there are twenty-eight countriei or principalities in which toe American rule of. driving to the right Is legally enforced. Following are the left-hand ter ritories: Alderney, Argentina Austria ( except Voralberg) , Csecho-Slovakla, Gibraltar, Great Britain - and Northern Ireland, Guernsey, Hungary, India, Irish Free State, Jersey, Malta, Portu gal and Sweden. The countries In which the right-hand rule is enforced are as follows: Algeria. Belgium, Bul garia, Canada, Dantxlg (Free City), Denmark, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany Greece Holland India (French), Italy, Llechen- stein, Lithuania, Luxembourg (Grand Duhy), Monaco (Princi pality), Morocco (French Zone), Norway, Poland, Roumanla. Rus sia. . 8arre Basin, Spain, Tunis, Voralberg (Province of Austria). Shows of Today Colorful As Tropical Flower Garden 1 and Attract ' The automobile of today is a vivid expression of this brilliant. breathless, brightly colored age according to H. J. C. Henderson; sales manager of the Fisher Body corporation. "It Is also another Indication," says Mr. Henderson, "that what is spoken of in a deprecatory sense as the 'jazz age is nothing more than a striving for greater variety, greater beauty. Our thoughts, our clothes, our automobiles, have been far too sombre and monoto nous for years. Today, all of us whether we fully admit it or not -undoubtedly enjoy the faster and quick changing tempo of the times. "An automobile show today and particularly a salon showing of custom body creations is as colorful as a tropical flower gar den. Cars in various shades of blue, green, red, yellow, brown -all the hues of the rainbow with not a few in dainty tones such aa orchid and lavender, seem to hold all the attraction for visitors that flowers hold for butterflies. Some of the cars are delicately striped; in others the striping is pro nounced; in others still the ton neau is in an entirely different color from the hood and cowl. "If the reader will go back In memory a very few years, and re call the monotony of color which prevailed in automobile bodies then, he will realize and appre ciate the great change which has come about. A red. bright blue, or yellow car then was always a 'special paint Job and by contrast it stood out from the crowd as conspicuously as an albino in a flock of blackbirds. "Today, the black car is the ex ception. In fact, black is now so rare that it is adopted by those who wish to achieve unusual dis tinction. The pendulum has swung so far toward color variety that it Is the black car which now arouses comment; brilliantly ar rayed vehicles are regarded as a matter of course in the smart style trend. "This colorfulness of the auto mobile has affected not only Us exterior, but to an equal extent its interior. Upholstery cloths and leathers reveals a diversity of color and of pattern fully compar able to the Color variety of the motor car exteriors. Here again. for the utmost development of this endless variety of color combina tions, one must consult the crea tions of the custom body builders. "How carefully body builders (Continued on )n) 16) Cooper Retains Keen Inter est In Racing In Spite of Retirement Turning from the fascinating aU mosphere of the race track to the more practical occupation of ex perimental engineer. Earl Cooper, a leading figure In automobile rac ing for nearly a Quarter of a cen tury, is now a member of the exa: pertmental engineering staff at the factory of the Marmon Motor-Car Company. Like many ot his' fel low drivers of years gone by. Cooper is utilizing the experience and knowledge gained on the race courses of two continents In. the development of passenger automo biles. Cooper's new association vrltlr Marmon recalls his remarkable record as an automobile race driv er and also brings back to memory the series of upstanding victories that were won by Marmon auto mobiles in 1909. 1910 and 1911 and which, were culminated In the triumph of the Marmon . Wasp driven by Ray Harroun In the first SOO-mlle race on the Indianapolis speedway. May 80, 1911. Although he retired from active racing competition a year or so ago Cooper retains a keen Interest -in the trend of modern, racing: ear design and construction and him self has pioneered many of the Im provements that have brought the modern racing car to its present high state of efficiency. Cooper's ability as an engineer was demonstrated at the annual . Indianapolis race last Memorial Day when he entered three front wheel drive and one conventional; drive automobiles of his own de sign In the contest. These cars , were piloted by such famous drlv-' (Continued ' pafc'a -16) RAGE TRftCK DRIVER tres mwm (Continued on pace 16)