Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-03-24

CONTINUED from Seventeenth Page.)

Continued from Seventeenth Pace
mum. which has come so generally into
use for automobile ignition purposes. was
a product of the sixteenth century, said
Charles r. Spltdorf OF magnetic fame
For many years il was supposed that
platinum had first been found when gold
ore from the Spanish mines i'm Darien in
1850, was found to include a white metal
possessing properties of what the al
chemists termed noble metals, but which
could not be identified.
THE expectation of this new metal was
prohibited by law, and not until 1850 did
it become generally known and expert
mented with. Some time ago German
student examining the contents of tomb
of an Egyptian queen of the period of the
seventh century before Christ came
across n plate which looked like silver.
but which proved to be platinum obtained
by the ancientS, no doubt, from the rich
alluvial deposits washed down from the
upper Nile in times of flood. Since then
other discoveries have led to the conclu-
sion that the metal was known to the
Egyptians and used
That the spirit of the dealer in an
tiques is manifested strongly among
some of the owners of the early OldS-
mobile models is evidenced in a state
ment by w. J. Mead. vice president
and general manager of the Olds
motor works at Lansing. to the effect
that during the last month no less than
three owners of the old wire wheel
curved-dash runabouts have endeavored
to dispose of them to the factory on
the grounds that they should prove
valuable in an advertising way.
Il While We are proud of the ancient
vehicle now in our possession. which
is the forerunner of the Oldsmobile
line" says Mr.. Mead. land which ante
dates the curved dash type by some
little time. we are not exactly an ad-
junct to the Smithsonian Institution.
and are therefore not in a position to
gather in all of the old models. no
ward them. I presume We could buy
some hundreds of these same one
lungers' if we wanted them. and that
with very little effort, for it is really
astonishing the number of these that
are still in service.
I'VE point with pride to tho fourteen
years of cur existence. and while in a
way this does not seem very long. a
comDarison of the curved dash Odds
mobile and the Limited or Autocrat
tyres of today. gives fair idea of
what has been accomplished. and shows
the truly phenomenal strides that have
been made.
The big fleet of EMF go" cars in
the service of the United States govern
the purchase of a number of these pop
ular automobiles. for use in the Canal
Zone. There the cars will carry mail
police and engineers along the new sys-
tenn of reads recently built on the bank
of the big ditch
There are now round dozen of the
Studebaker Corporation automobile plants
in Detroit and suburbs. Plants IL and
II are the latest addition to the gigantic
system Both are now in active service.
They are building esta blishments.
plant II being attached to the Piauette
avenue group of factories where the
EMF go is built, while plant II is
on Clark avenue. connected with the
Flanders 80 main factories by tun-
nei under the Wabash and Pere Mar
Quette tracks.
< :: !: ::
Having solved the problem of quick,
convenient transportation of freight by
the use of motor trucks, many CONNER