The Washington herald., 1909-02-28
OWN A MOTOR CAR,
GET RICH QUICK
Michael 0nduSkO Finds Sug-
geStiOn in Editorial.
TAKES INEXPENSIVE ADVICE
life. monotony Quickly Lifted and
Luxury Stalks IN with Brass Band
Trimmings-What BefeII the Car Is
Another Chapter-OnduslSo Seeks
TO Enjoy Subtle Revenge.

Lower West Side. and whose antecedents
came from the land Of Pulaski. is the
proud. but unhappy. owner Of q large
white touring car The only difference
between Mr.. Ondusko's car and those so
often wildly described in newspapers with
supermundane circulations is one Of
color. No automobile ever receives atten-
ton in one Of these newspapers unless
it Is red-the word IS short, and It looks
good in the fudge, which IS the part Of
the paper that can be handled safely by
no one except a person whose hands are
stained with gore. says the New York
Evening Post.
Mr. Ondusl1o IS hard-working. thrifty
Young artisan, popular IN the Greenwich
village district He IS not famously
wealthy. however. nor are his tastes lux
uriant; therefore when one evening early
last summer he came down Sixth avenue
in his imposing automobile, Charlie Ser
rlngton, one of his intimates, remarked to
him somewhat facetiously:
Good evening. Mr.. Ondusko. How Jolly
to see you in your motor car
Naturally there was curiosity among
Mr.. Ondusko's friends 20 know why he
had bought a car. Surely he had very
little time TO enjoy II. and large machines
are rather expensive 70 operate and 70
maintain
But soon the secret was out. aIr. On
dusko had purchased the car as an in
vestment- In q New York newspaper
which gives advice 10 everybody on
everything lie read an editorial which had
-he vital SpaTk-perhaps autOmobilisfs
would call IL "sparker The editorial
stated that the Goomsday of the hansome.
the coupe. and the carriage was at hand.
An cabmen who owned one OF more OF
these cOnveyances should sell out and
buy taIiCabS- Anybody who had cash 10
invest could make money easily by buy
'ng machine and renting L by the day
3T hour. The idea appealed 70 Mt On
dusko. and ne promptly proceeded TO act
N #.
He Got Action.
Six months later he tells this story.
That editorial looked al right 70 ne,
5ut somehow the plan in operation hasn't
worked out very well After I read the
suggestion. I went 10 a friend Of mine in
the automobile business and asked him
what he thought Of Il He advised ne
strongly against doing anything Of the
sort. He said people who could afford
sutOmObiling owned their machines. and
the renting business was very. very bad
However. meeting him accidentally 2
week o. ten days afterward, he said
That If I still had the automobile car fever
10. rrTro I a.
ing car, seating six persons. mighty
cheap I asked him 10 lead ne 10 K. and
he did ] bought the car. Nv money
wasn't earning very much where il vas,
md I wanted action I'm not deceiving
yOU when say I got IT,
We took the machine TO q garage and
had L thoroughly overhauled- Some of
the parts were loose, and had them re-
placed. Now 7 had no idea Of giving VI
my regular employment TO become q
chauffeur. so I looked around for a
driver 10 operate the car on z percentage
basis I found one who was highly re-
commended and made q liberal PROPOSE
ton 10 him, which he gladly accepted
This arrangement did not prove satisfac-
tory I do not say the driver was DIS
honest. In fact, I am told that ali chauf-
feurs are honest; but on this point the
editorial I read was strangely silent
We'll. We made a new agreement The
driver was 70 pay me fat rental OF fifty
collars e week. and everything went vel
for about a month Then there was an
accident which cost me about q hundred
fOIIars. a week later the driver wanted
a little time on his payment His wife
was III. or course, ! granted him the ex-
tension The next week saw a repitition
# the same story. Next came a smash
GP. Ny car had C0ilided with another
in Central Park West The other car
was nearly demolished, and finally
burned up. zIy driver said he was
not at fault, and. as subsequent events
showed, he wasn't In the meantime
however, I passed few unpleasant
hours, because several persons had been
more or less hurt, and there was a
possibility that I might be held respon-
si5le. Still, I had 10 pay for the repairs
10 my own car, and the bin added moth
,ne 70 my enthusiasm. particularly as my
5-iver was suffering from financial ague
worse than ever.
Net Loss to Date.
We were obliged TO wait several days
for the arrival OF duplicate parts from
the factory. Finally. we got the car in
shape and secured forty-doUar Job 10
take a party down on Long Island About
thirty miles Of the trip had been made
when one Of the ipner tubes blew out
and then I blew up. Of course. We lost the
fare, and had TO replace the tube and
get the car back to the garage. I thought
both myself and the machine needed
rest. So far the net loss in operating the
car had been approximately $500.
''AH this tine I had been acquiring an
tomobile knowledge, and had learned 10
operate the car pretty we'll Up IN the
garage It was eating its head or as thev
say about horses. I thought II couldn't
make any money by renting II, I could at
least give my friends some pleasure BY
taking them out occasionally for a ride.
One night 7 took out q small party. and
everything went well until we reached
Thirty-hfth street, on Fifth avenue. At
the time there was something Of a traffic
I thought I could pass before
meeting one Of those big Fifth avenue
motor coaches which was on It's wav
down town. I passed all right. but was
Immediately arrested Tor violation OF the
ne 70 the Jefferson Market night court.
where I was Beld for Special Sessions.
Passing down Sixth avenue. I met many
and when they saw the
policeman with me they knew immediate
y that I was on my way TO the court.
One OF them shouted:
Welcome to our village. Nike
Another wanted TO know II I wanted
him 70 get bail for me. Well, I got bail,
md took the car 10 the garage
HIS Turn in Court.
About this time there we're a number
Il serious automobile accidents, Several
persons had been killed. II was my first
,nense, and the officer was very fair in
presenting the case 10 the Judge in the
hight court. Consequently had TO res
;on 70 believe he would act otherwise II,