The Baraboo news. [volume] (Baraboo, Wis.) 1884-1911, 1907-09-25
AUTOMOBILES IN
SAUK COUNTY
HAVE BECOME AFACTOR IN MOD
ERN LIFE OF PRAC rICAL
USE
GREAT MANY IN THIS COUNTY
Expenses That Follow the Ownership
of a Machiue-S Skill Required to
Operate

There is no getting around the fact
that the automobile has come to stay.
Unlike the bicycle it has become a
factor in modern life with which a
reckoning must constantly be made
1t is solving ohe problem Of overcon-
gestiOn of traffic on the streets of the
cities and opportunities fenjoying the
life Of the country never before i'm
agined.
In consequence of this new fad,
which is becoming SO eminently pract-
ical a cry greater than ever before has
gone up all over the country for more
and better roads. The stimulation
which the users of machines are able
to give this good roads movement is
far reaching and will doubtless be per-
manent.
According to the records in the state
department at Madison 1882 persons
in Wisconsin own automobiles besides
300 others who have made transfers.
For each license 81 goes to the state,
while 50 cents is charged for transfers.
Before a license is issued a complete
description of the machine must be
filed
The prices of the vehicles range from
$500 to more than $4,000 with an esti-
mated average of 81 800 This makes
their total value in Wisconsin amount
to a sumin thelneighborhood of $685.
10000.
According to the last census of the
state there is one machine for every 556
persons. Taking simply the cities
where the machines are proportionally
more numerous the ratio would be
much smaller.
In Connecticut where good roads
abound is seen what the automobile
business may amount to in the other
states in the future. More than
81, 800, 100000 has been spent in the
state during the past -four month by
automobilists, mostly from other
states, and by October it is confidently
estimated that the sum will be in
creased to $1,000, 100000.
After the first cost the expenses
which are necessary to keep machine
in order depend almost entirely upon
the man operating it. Some persons
with care will run an auto for weeks
without any expenses beyond the cost
of gasoline. Gasoline is worth 20 cents
per gallon; this amount will take a
machine probably not more than 20
miles and not less than 10 miles, de-
pending on the machine, engine, and
speed, and the chauffeur. The cheapest
tires are about $22 and from that the
prices reach as high as 500 for the
heavy ones, apiece. The life of tire
with ordinary care is about two sea-
sons.
If the owner leaves his machine in a
garage it is kept in condition and the
small repairs tended to for not less
than $40 per month.
Many people in the cities have chat
feurs and they add considerably to the
expenses. Their salaries range from
$50 to 1925 per month.
To repair machine successfully one
must be a first class machinist Some
times a machine will refuse to run for
a reason that an old experienced hand
will have much trouble in locating.
To run machine requires little
knowledge and not a great deal of
skill if moderate rate of speed is
maintained. For fast driving, however,
the eye can not be too quick nor the
hand too steady. The rate of driving
in the cities average from II to some
times Is or 20 miles per hour. The
law is having gradual effect on re-
ducing the city rate. In the country
theIrate gets rather speedy on the good
roads, probably not more than 40 miles
per hour in this vicinity, under the
best conditions. On good roads, how
ever, so or even more miles is not un.
usual.
Following are the names of those in
Sauk county who own autos and motor
vehicles.
F. E. Morey, Baraboo.
J. E. Won Wald, Baraboo.
L. S. Van Orden, Baraboo.
w. F. Hagen, 2, Baraboo.
Henry Roick, Baraboo.
Charles Wild, Baraboo.
J. B. Donovan, Baraboo.
(Cnnffnnad on Second PaAA1