Omaha daily bee., 1909-02-28
AUTO SHOW IS BIC SUCCESS
Many Sales Made and Prospects for
others.
LARGE CROWDS AT EXHIBITION
Gives Omaha Place I'm Front Ranks
ar Automobile Centers, Attract
ing Attention from Far
and wide.

Each. exhibitor at the fourth annual auto
mobile show in Omaha is more than
pleased with the success OF the show, and
they are not backward about saying so.
wearing the pt overbial smile which won
come off. The show marks the opening of
the biggest year the automobile trade has
ever known and the Omaha dealers are in
on the ground floor. That they are in a
position to handle the business which comes
TO them by virtue of the good location OF
the Gate City was shown by the splendid
exhibits they made at the show which has
just closed.
Gerald o. Hall, representing the Midlan
Motor company, whose car Is handled by
Freeland & Ashley in omahs, was most
profuse In his praise of the Omaha show,
saying that It far surpassed any local
show in the country. The Omaha dealers
are a wideswake bunch and have secured
the agencies for the best cars on the mar
ket.' said Mr.. Hall. "rhey have been in
business long enough to know the kind of
cars which are demanded by the trade OF
Omaha and the surrounding country. and
they have the agencies for just the kind of
cars the people in this section OF the coun-
try want. The city trade demands one kind
OF a car and the country trade another
and most OF the big dealers have cars
which will satisfy both demands. A car
for the country must be built higher than
a city car as the roads are rougher and
oftlmes a drive must be made over roads
with ruts made by wagons and a low set
car is not adapted for these roads"
Success I'm Every Way.
The show was a success in every
way. The cars shown numbered twice as
many as at last years exhibition, and the
attendance was nearly twice as large. The
decorations were more beautiful and the
number Of cars much larger. Twice as
many dealers showed cars as there were
last year, and another year more space will
have to be secured to accommodate all
who wish to show.
As a drawing card to bring the people Of
Nebraska and western Iowa to Omaha the
automobile has taken rank along with the
other big annual events of the year and
ranks up close to Ak-Sar-Ben and the Corn
exposition, The hotels were filled all dur
ing the week and rooms were at a
premium. The visitors were not only made
up of people who came TO Omaha with their
wives to buy cars, but dealers from nearly
every town In this territory were ON hand
TO arrange for their cars for this year.
OmGha has not only taken high rank
as a great retail center for automobiles,
but is also well to the front as a jobbing
center. Here are located some OF the
largest implement houses in the coun-
try, and these have found II necessary
to add automobiles to the other lines
they carry. so that implement dealers all
through the west are able to secure their
cars through the Omaha jobbers. This
makes a handy arrangement, as the deal
ers are thus enabled to secure parts on
short notice. An idea Of the way this
jobbing business is growing in Oman
may be CLEANED from the statement that
one implement firm alone carries 100 au-
tomobiles in stock, On one train on
the Omaha road Thursday. headed for the
Automobile show. we're eighteen dealers
from towns along that line.
Accessory Men Active.
The accessory men played no small part
ct the show. as they literally occupied
the stage" all the time of the show,
So great was the business done by these
dealers at the show that one firm had 10
have eighteen statesmen on hand all the
time to demonstrate the new devices and
to take orders from country dealers. The
accessibility of Omaha as an accessory
center Is established and these are get.
ting all the bugfness. A country dealer
knows the advantage of the three days
which can be saved by sending &c
Omaha for some part wanted rather thar
TO send to Chicago or st. Louis or som'
other eastern city. When a man is using
his car he does not want TO have 1t laiC
up for a couple of weeks in the middle
Of summer waiting for some part to CONS
from a distance when IL can just as wei.
be had In Omaha, from which point tn
express rates are much less.
No show In the country, outside of tn
Chicago and Madison square show. whicl
are national In character, had half as man.
chassis and demonstrations to exhibit a
did the Omaha show. The manufacturer
of the east realize the splendid situation o
Omaha as an automobile center and the,
senteFed their best efforts on the omah'
show. The farmers are now buying auto