The Washington times., 1908-10-04
J.R. THOMAS GARAGE
PLEASING PATRONS
In Sole Charge of Auto Ex-
pert Since Mr.. Tolman'S
Retirement.
HONEST DEALING
CHIEF ATTRIBUTE
Old Customers Give Evidence of
Conhdence-Specialty Made
of the Pullman Car.


charge Of John r. Thomas.
AS an expert, Mr. Thomas is well
known. He drives cars so as TO break
records. And he understands the ma
chimes in every part. That fits him to
be IN command Of an up-to-date place.
The Thomas & ToIman garage IS
pleasing its customers. That is why its
weil-defned policy Is being continued.
We keep our old customers" says Mr..
Thomas. we try to win their conf
dence. When we sell man one car
we expect to sell him another. If he
needs a new one. We make a business
of handling good cars, and OF knowing
all about them We know how 10 keep
them in good condition. And that helps
20 make the life Of the car long. II we
get a customer. we'll keep him all
right
Behind that determination 70 be sue
cessful in business lies the big essential,
mastery Of the business.
Showed His Mettle
Mr.. Thomas exploits in autos are
we'll known His splendid performances
in the reliability tests last December,
when everything that could break
car was saddled upon It in the way of
obstacles; when the roads were bad, and
the weather was bad, and the competi-
ton fast, Mr.. Thomas showed that his
cars were good. and that he was an
expert in handling them.
This matter of being an expert is i'm
portant. The ordinary auto owner is
good judge Of his car after he has had
it a few weeks. But when he buys. he
always asks the judgment of a man
whose time is given to the study OF all
the cars made, in order to select the
best.
A mechanic isn't necessarily the best
man in the world 70 pass on a car.
For there are a thousand details that
crop out in road trials that the me
chanic doesn't think Of The expert
driver, who is also a mechanic. knows
these things. And when he drives his
car at the rate Of an express train
through the troubles Of country roads
in bad weather and doesn't have any
trouble, it is because he knows how
TO handle the car All that concerns
John r. Thomas.
Thomas Fixes Record.
There was an attempt to lower a rec
ord to Boston from Washington on Aug
ust IL Mr. Thomas had established a
figure Of twenty-eight hours for the
tSip. He thought that he could go m
less time. He started on the trip in n
Pullman roadster, a big red car that
can go like the wind. 1t doesn't COM
pare with an express train because it
doesn't make that much noise or fuss
and il is as easy to manage as the
train is difficult.
But Mr.. Thomas started for Boston
IN that big red Pullman. And when he
reached Philadelphia he was two hours
ahead of schedule. That showed his
pace And If it hadn't been for a skit-
fish horse and the courage to 90 in the
ditch rather than kill some one that
record would have been down near the
limit Of present speed possibilities. As
il was, the record to Hartford was
lowered. And yet all this was done un-
der the worst possible conditions, for
at Relay, this side Of Hartford, II took
four mules to drag the auto out Of a
mudhOle in The road Yet the record
was broken Soon Mr.. Thomas expects
10 try again, without the ditch and the
skittish horse.
Driver Master of Machine.
To handle an auto that goes at such
speed as that and to take It through
In perfect shape up to the place where
an accident that does Mr.. Thomas credit.
took place, shows that the driver was
master Of tbs machine. And II shows.
too. The perfection Of the auto today.
That Pullman car Is one OF the spe-
cialties of the Thomas 6, ToIman ga
rage. It represents the high-class auto,
that belongs among the best of them,
Packards or anything else The Pull
man people pondered over their policy
for some time. They might have nut
out popular car that would underseu
the best makes. But they decided that
It would mean better business in the
long run TO make the best possible car
and then sell II at $3.50, a price that
enables them to make a car as nearly
perfect as can be found and vet its
price is far below that Of most cars of
the first grade.
Stimulates Trade.
But when II comes 10 stimulating the
auto trade. lIr. Thomas can Law claim
10 being something Of an expert also.
For he plans this season to make his
talking point on a low priced car that
viii astonish people.
1t wasn't long ago that bicycles were
sold at sl25 and the agents said that
the same grade could never be sold
much cheaper. But the price was cut
70 dDOuL oAS-lulrQ eventually
So It has been with automobiles. Some
OF the agents said that the fine cars
could never be cheap because labor and
material were worth just about so much
every year. And so they are. But the
little Maxwell car that has been doing
such good work in the hands of Mr..
Thomas and others these past few years
is 70 be this year a $500 car That is some
thing that win change the prospects Of
the auto business. 1t puts cars below
prices even hoped for this year For
the Maxwell car viii be of the same
high grade construction Of the roadster
in past seasons And it will be as much
improved this year as the Maxwell is
from year 10 year That means that
anything that mechanics have learned
by the seasons experience will be found
perfected in the Maxwell.
Is Not a Makeshift.
This car for less than half the price
the ordinary autoist pays. isn't any
sort Of a nakpeh NTo,-,r-o1f -