Los Angeles herald., 1909-11-15
COLUMBIA CARS
SPECIAL STEEL
NICKEL SPECIALLY MADE USED
IN CONSTRUCTION
Every Part Subjected to severest
Test Capable of Strength of
225,ooo to Square Inch
Without Breaking

The announcement has been mada
! that the new series of the Columbia
cars will arrive this morning, and il
/ will prove Of interest to buyers of
automobiles to realize some of the
salient features of this car from the
structural standpoint, the essential
thing for every automobile owner or
prospective buyer TO actually know
when he is making an investment in
machine.
There are but few people who really
know what they are getting, and but
few realize that there are approximate
| ly 1900 parts entering into an automo-
! bile. Certain of these sustain the
burden of the power creation and its
/ application. All gasoline automobiles
! have certain kinds and qualities of
parts in common, but there are perhaps
100 different component parts, more or
less standardized in design which are
distinguishable chiefly by the quality
of material alone, and, singularly, these
parts are the most important which
have to do with the reliability, cost
and safety of the car.
The demands made upon steel in the
construction of automobiles is as great
if not greater than steel used in al
most any other structural mechanical
production, and the demands made in
these later days are far greater than
at any other period in the history of
automobiles, because more speed, more
power are asked for and the general
desire of the tourist grows every day.
The number of accidents that have oc-
Cured in the past traceable to faulty
materials have been numberless. The
fault is to be found for this in the
manufacturer, and it rests with the
automobile manufacturer to exercise
the very greatest care in the selection
of raw stock. where cost must not be
considered, but must be profoundly
respected if his product is to meet the
present day requirements and needs of
the motorists,
The idea has prevailed that European
steels have been the best, because Eu-
rope increased it's demands for speed
and power in advance of that of
America, but this is now becoming
overcome, for it is being demonstrated
daily in the great racing events, the
hard road races and the endurance
tests that are put upon the American
automobile prove that American skill
and the American market supplies the
want.
Testing apparatus absolutely deter
mines the worth of steel It's quality
can be measured as accurately as the
bolt of cloth. 1t is simply a matter
Of paying the price.
The builders of the Columbia cars
realize this fact and the stern
necessity of superior steel for all i'm
portant parts, such as crankshafts,
transmissions, square and lay shafts,
jack shafts, gears, wheel pivots, etc.
Expert talent on metallurgy was
called in. and after endless experiment
with alloys it was demonstrated that
they had better steel than ANY
previously made in the world 1t has
an elastic limit of $4,000 pounds to the
square inch, which means that it will
endure the strain of 135 600 pounds TO
the square inch and when relaxed re-
turn to its original condition un-
harmed. 1t has a tensile strength of
225 600 pounds to the square inch and
will stand that strain without break
ing 1t is in the quality rather than
in the design that automobiles differ
today, and with the new series of the
COlumbias the makers are putting
forth their greatest efforts, and to that
end the company has announced the
Columbia Special Chrome nickel steel,
made in crucibles which far excel the
BeSSemer and Open Hearth processes,
Being made in this manner. the great
est attention is required to the tenn
perature, which is not true of the
Bessemer or Open Hearth processes,
because the component alloys do not
have the opportunity to become thor
oughly homogeneous. which of course,
makes the metal more liable to break
because of not being made in the
cruCibles.
The severest tests known to me-
chanics are applied to all Columbia
Special Chrome nickel steel. and even
though the cost is much more than
the ordinary methods of construction
Of automobiles it affords the seller
pleasure to know that he is offering to
buyers materials in his car better than
the ordinary machines and far superior
to many. This fact makes Columbia
cars what they really are. among the
best that are built in the world.
1t is in this initial starting of the