Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-02-12
American Production in 1910
Close to $4,000 Cars.
TWELVE MONTHS MILEAGE
Big Aggregate at Average of Ten
Miles Per Car Each Day.
SOME INTERESTING FIGURES
Figurative Tour Of the World in
Solid Column Twenty Five
Miles Long.

Aggregate figures related to any indus
try are always interesting. but those bear
ing upon American motordom are special
ly fascinating, because each new set
formulated strides forth into virgin ter
ritory at this stage Of the industry. The
total production of American automo-
biles of all classes and descriptions dur
ing 1910 was close to $4,000 cars. Tne
total rated horsepower under the A. l..
a. NJ. formula was 100000 In round
numbers
If each car travelled an average Of
ten miles a day the total mileage for
the year OF the new cars would be esq.,
$4,000. or a little matter of 27,3O2 times
as far as distance around the world
on the equator, or over seven times as
far as the sun is from the earth.
If car does not do an average OF
ten miles a day 1t Is not giving full
value to its owner, and those that ac-
complish less than that moderate figure
are certainly compensated for in the
totals by the cars that are driven forty
or fifty miles each day and those that
run $50 miles or more. once a week
Total in Thirty Minutes.
Running at twenty miles an hour, this
vast pile of mileage would be accumu-
lated in a half hours time leaving twen-
ty-three and one-half hours In each day
for additions to the total. That the as
tonishing sum is unduly conservative, the
fact may be noted that the tire man, a
person who IS concerned strictly with
cold. hard facts. when he Is guarantee
ing his product to consumers. says that
the average daily mileage is about twen-
| ty-flve.
| On that basis the distance travelled by
the cars Of 1911 during one year would
approximate 1,7O5, s75, 900 miles, or 6s,215
times the distance around the world. Put
IN another way the figures would read:
Akron. Ohio. the center OF the automo-
bile tire making industry, has a popula-
! ton of about $4,000. Now, if every per-
son In Akron. Ohio. possessed a car of
1911 make and there was smooth, broad
| boulevard along the course Of the equa-
tor from Quito on the west coast of South
America, across the Pacific through the
philippines. touching Borneo and then
shooting straight across the Indian ocean
10 the African coast thence plunging
into the wilderness of the Dark CONT
nent. crossing the great lakes and silent
forests to the sandy beaches of the At
lantic and straight across that body of
"
ment of Akron's industrial prosperity
is derived, thence through the dense
Amazon jungles to the Andes and, mount
ing the ca,hedral-like heights on first
speed, at length crawl over the summit
OF the passes over three miles in the air;
suppose the whole city of Akron seated
behind the wheels of almost $1,000
automobiles of 1911, and having all the
population Of Evansville, Ind, sitting
alongside 1t in the front seat to the left
In most cases, but to the right where
Fords and other left-hand drives knachi
were used: and then in the rear seats
OF the touring cars, -tonneaus, rum
bles, etc, suppose that the entire pOpu-
lation Of Chicopee Falls. Mass, some
$1,000 souls, was comfortably ensconced-
the whole caravan could make the circuit
OF the earth, as far as mileage Is con-
cerned, without equaling the actual mile
age made by one years product Of the
American automobile factories.
But that is only a starter. Experience
has shown that the average consumption
of gasoline may be conservatively placed
at about seventeen miles per gallon. In
some cases it is more and some less, but
figure. At that rate the tourists would
use about 10O,u0oOOO gallons on the trip,
about 3.174 900 barrels. This little
item of freight would fill 31.746 freight
cars of average size used by American
railroads. Figuring twenty cars to a
train and train to a mile. the line of
gasoline freight cars would stretch almost
from New York to Denver and leave
about 100 miles of track up toward Chey-
enne. WyO., to accommodate the freight
trains loaded with lubricating OIL