Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1906-08-24
1T is CROTESQUE.
Nobody Can Lay His Hand Upon His Heart and
Say the Auto is Beauty,

III i'' L 'Eh->'+Ns
The automobile undoubtedly ap'
peals to the ear, unfortunately it too
often appeals to the nose, will it ever
appeal TO the eye? AS it is, the eye
may treat it with Indifference, for if
not delight it is not An offense. We
are outgrowing the uncomfortable
sense of incompleteness which car
riage without a horse or an engine
stirred in us at first. The pioneer
motorists, on the box, in the drivers
seat, but with nothing to drive, as it
looked, were common laughing stock.
They seemed PERSONS perpetually left,
miserable fragments sitting on the
edge OF space; or diners sitting up to
the table with no table before them.
In the vulgar way what was new was
to all of US ridiculous. The unaccus-
toned thing, of course, must be alb.
surd. We had never seen carriages
without something in front of them
we made the mistake of the poor In
dian. who took the Spanish horse and
driver for one animal; a hlunder we
had smiled down on with our superior
wisdom for generations; we took car.
riage and horse for one thing; or at
any rate, to put it in the way most
favorable to our intelligence, we re-
garded the horse as an inseparable
accident of carriage in motion.
Now we are accustomed to a car
riage that moves OF itself, and il no
longer strikes us as thing to be
jeered at. But can we regard it as
beautiful? The engineer and the
mechanician may, for beauty to him
is a technical term meaning fitness,
perfection. But can the artist ever
make anything of an automobile?
That there really is q deficiency on
the beauty side, motorists are all OF
them uneasily conscious. In point OF
beauty the horselsssness is all loss.
They have always felt this. At the
beginning they meet one in the frank.
est way. "Show US any form the
motor can take that would look bet
ter than the carriage" And boat.
shapes we're suggested and swan mo-
tors and fishes. But fishes and boats
on land would be as bizarre as the
self.moving coach, and swans ashore
are not graceful any way. It could
not be done; the horseless carriage
had to be. And it remains not funny
nor foolish, nor necessarily ugly, but
certainly not beautiful.
Can nothing be done for il? Why
not q fgure.headF Why not have
something pretty. something that at
any rate represents something, in the
place where the beauty of the thing,
the horse, used to be?
What good would it be?
Well, no good. to . man who has
eye. What good was fgure-head to
a ship? Yet for appearance sake a
"buzz wagon" wants a figure.head
more than q ship, for the ship form
naturally converges in front to q
beautiful finish. The clumsiest ship
even the homely fishing boat, has
none of the unpleasant effect pro.
duced by the abrupt, cut off, straight
line that makes motors front.
A motor suffers from having nc
physiognomy. But every ship, .,
every locomotive engine, has . dis
tinct physiognomy. And . figure
head would make up for this de-
ficiency in the motor. But figure
heads, somebody may say. we're mol
merely ornamental in ships; they
helped description and Identification
Precisely, and they would do the SAINT
for motors, a consideration which per
haps appeal more to the public thar
to the motorist.
But think what field this open
up for heraldry. 1t would give tn
owners q chance TO use arms An,
crests, which they no doubt long Il
do. 1t would admit OF the mans ma
chine carrying his crest IS figure
head. What an opening for the ne'
snob. What glory to be able T.
mount a life.sized golden eagle con
templating the sun. Or a golden lio'
erect rampaging fiercely in the all
But here is the danger. The wealth
machine owner would so flsunt hi
figure. head that gentleman would b
shy OF showing one. But for once lie
the decent people hold their own an
decline to be pushed off the road b
the vulgar hustler. A standard
good taste would grow up and becom
established.
From the point of view of appear
ance figure.heads. artistically wrough
and fitted, would be capable OF gres
things. An eagle, wings full-sprea'
a brilliant butterfly, paradise bird
there is room for endless variety
design. The emulation amongst owr
ers of cred devils" would be grea
We could have shows of figure-head
Think OF the work for artists to d
sign them, and the industry the
, making would stimulate. Would the
interfere with speed? That shoul
depend on their fitting to the machine
they should not. Of course, II ma
in his zeal to be conspicuous puts Q
q colossal golden elephant, his spec