The Washington herald., 1912-11-10

those which are designed rs yearly
models bearing the date Of the year In
which they are produced differ only
slightly nowadays and each successive
model. in most cases. Is merely refined
edition OF the previous series, there vii
be comparatively few really novel ideai
displayed in the 1919 crop Of cars. One
of the marked features. however. vii
be some refinements and Introduction
OF more original lines in the body de.
signs. especially those Of the inclosed
type. The new Simplex limousine and
landaulet models ire '.c,ng fitted with
a new type of body which is striking
and distinctive.
Instead of the roof being nat like most
OF the Limousine bodies, the front dips
in a graceful curve several inches lower
than has been the case previously ano
the effect is that even to the nonexpert
eye the body appears as something novel
All of the body lines Of the car are beau
in their simplicity-the sort which the
company calls simplex simplicity" A
few years ago when one bought an auto
mobile the body became a secondary
consideration for what the prospective
owner wanted was an efficient power
plant and a transmission that would
hang together. The caliber Of the Sim
plex mechanism has been demonstrated
iof years IN rdCee NIL CllnDb anu otheI
contests SO that the purchaser Of one
OF these cars no longer has to worry
about what is under the hood and floor.
and can obtain beauty In body lines
without sacrificing efficiency in mech
anism.
The extent to which the interests OF
automobile manufacturers and the rail-
roads are interviewer is never more fully
realized than when the transportation
comma mics find them selves unab ble prO-
vide sufficient cars to meet the increas-
Ing demands of the manufactur Es-
pecially is this true when the demands
or any one manufacturer increase SO
rapidly as to upset all preliminary cal
culations of the railroad car-distributing
departments.
The makers of the tearns-Knight car.
are finding themselves handicapped by
just such a situation. In the course of
some remarks on the subject Mr.. X. r.
York. vice president of the Stearns
Company. is quoted as saying: For
some time before the opening of the
present season We realized that the rec
ord made by the Stearns-Knight during
the past year meant that all sales rec
ords of the company would be broken
during the coming year, and We made
our preparations accordingly. The en-
thusiasm shown by our distributors at
the July convention in Cleveland. and
the orders they placed at that time
proved conclusiveiy that we were right,
and ever since then our sales have been
mounting by leaps and bounds. Know
ing just what we could accomplish with
our increased factory accommodations
we promised early deliveries on a very
large number of cars-only to later en-
counter the car shortage" bugbear. The
inability of the railroads to handle our
production is rapidly becoming a serious
Sifuo ion nd in forcing n dis
appoint more dealers every day. but We
are expecting relief from these OBJ
noxious conditions very soon"
Many women accustomed to driving
horses would like equally well to be able
TO handle a powerful gasoline car Hith-
erto the dangers and difficulty OF crank
ing by hand have prevented.
The perfection of a dependable electric
starting device. such as the Peerless cleo
trio starter. recently installed on all the
six-cylinder caN Of the Peerless Motor
Car Company, opens up new pleasures
for the woman driver.
These large cars are started at the
pressure of the pedal, and the steering
mechanics with large steering wheel Is
so easily controlled that it is no harder
to manage one of these cars than it is
10 drive an electric. Moreover. there is
limit its usefulness as In the case Of
electrics.
In a recent economy run held from Salt
Lake City to Provo. Utah, a Franklin
Little Six touring car carrying five
passengers made the distance of forty
six miles on five quarts of gasoline. This
was an average of 36.S miles per gallon.
The run was part Of an automobile day
l..
the Utah Automobile Club. The Salt
Lake City Automobile Club suggested an
economy run to Provo, but the Franklin
was the only car that entered the run.
as far as the economy test was con-
cerned.
Filling UP the gasoline tank at Salt
Lake City and taking on the trip a Salt
Lake City tire dealer. an insurance agent.
a prominent citizen of Provo. and the
manager Of the Salt Lake City Automo-
bile Company, Franklin dealers, the
Franklin left Salt Lake City accompa-
MED by a number of other cars.
The forty-six miles to Provo were made
in two hours and six minutes, and at the
end of the run the tank took barely five
quarts of gasoline to fill 1t to the point
Of overfiowing.
The run was over fair roads. but at
one point crossed a mountain and at an
OLner went tHTOuBH iohS' odhus
stretch, which made the gasoline test
severe one
TT is not a stretch of the imagina-
tion to say that the automobile business
will eventually exceed the entire busi-
ness Of the railroads of the United
states.' said F. A. Seiberling. president
OF the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Com
pany, Akron, Ohio, in an address deliv-
cred at the recent Convention of Auto
mobile Manufacturers and Dealers, held
at Indianapolis, Ind.
The automobile business must be
considered as just beginning. The rail-
road business has already reached its
normal or stationary period. When We
shall have developed in this country the
good roads comparable to the continen-
tai roads OF Europe. and We shall have
taken advantage OF them, by connect
ing towns. villages and cities with au-
tomobile travel, carrying the traffic un-
der a schedule as the railroads are now
doing-when we shall handle all the
trafic on the streets with the CONNER
cial car. and the produce of the farmer
is transported to the city by the same
means-all Of which In bound to come
then 1t is no stretch Of the imagina-
ton to say that the automobile business
will exceed the entire business of the
railroads Of the United States.
1T is Estimated that the grand total
Of automobile and the allied accessory
industries will be. IN 1918, nearly one
thousand millions Of dollars-several
times the business of the Pennsylvania
system This will give you some idea