The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1912-01-30

The automobile show which opens
today serves to rail- %ttentio TO n
nj the most remarkable industries in
the world, both h point of utilita-
rianism ana phenomenal development.
IT is not n very long stretch of menu
DRY to go back to the beginning Of
the automobile. The writer rcnem
hers thirty-flve years 2 when a
country blacksmith constructed II five
wheeled wagon which was operated
without horsepower draft. The trac-
tion wheel was i'll the center of the
body midway between the axlcs. n
! tho supcrstructure was hinged on the
tractor n1le so that the wheel was al
lowed to take the irregularities OF the
road and adjust itself to them with
.out losing it's grip on the road. The
power WAS furnished by a small
steam engine. the boiler being sus-
!. pended beneath the axles. \ horse
was used 10 steer the machine. but
the propulsion force was derived
from the traction.
The inventor was laughed at as n
crank and his fve-wheeled wagon
was Il joke for miles around. The
construction OF that machine. how
ever. was the activity of the germ
which later brought into life the au-
.to~mobile-not the individual inventor.
hut the human mind. Even before
that time inventive geniuses We're
reaching after a horseless wagon. Tho
locomotive was the type which gave
them the inspiration, but tho great
drawback was the cumbrous char
l onfov nj fhn nrOSrn reroucar,, IN "
duce speed and power. 1t was not
until the gasoline engine had been
pretty thoroughly developed that the
I! automobile became anything near a
certainty. A dozen years ago the
seeking to develop power by burning
the gasoline in order to produce
steam. This was the first principle
applied to the locomotion OF the au-
tomobile.
Some idea OF the growth OF the
business may be gathered from, "a
comparison of the conditions ri 1899
and 1909. the earliest and latest stat
istics at hand. In 1879? the number of
establishments engaged in manufac-
turing automobiles and parts thereof
were 81: in 1903 there were 743. In
1899 the capital invested in automo-
bile manufacturing was $685. 900; in
1909 it was s%173.s37.O0o. The wages
paid employees including salaries, in
1899 was 3%1.616.00O; in 1903 it had
increased to s5S.173.OO0. The cost OF
material in 1899 was $1,s04, 900; in
1909 it was $131.64G.OO0. The value
of the products in 1899 was $4,14s.-
600; in 1909 it was $24?, 2O2, 900 The
increase OF the product In percentage
for the ten years was more than five
hundred. and but M other industry
in the United States-atoves and fur.
naces. including oil and gas stoves
exceeded in this particular.
From the crude engines OF a few
years age that were as uncertain as
an unbroken broncho, the advance TO
the present multiple c%ylindered ma
chimes. that are rs certain and safe
and reliable as the old family horse,
has been rapid. The automobile to-
day IL unitarian in its use as we'll as
a means OF pleasure. The family
carriage has been displaced by the
car. The barn has been converted
into a garage. The bills are for gas-
o|ine instead of oats and hay. The
mechanlcian has taken the place OF
the blacksmith. Men talk tires in
stead of horseshoeing. And the
daughter elopes with the chauffeur
instead Of the coachman. Such are
tho changes which mark the transit
ton from tho horse to the automo-
bile.
And with al the progress We are
only at the beginning Of the era Of
gasoline power. Instead Of being a
toy for pleasure. the automobile is
now an accessory Of business. The
elimination of time has been found
as profitable to the farmer as to the
business 1'he auto is the means
by which both have accomplished this
result. Tho farmer to whom time is
money can make his trip from the
farm to the city in a 1.-THE of the time
necessary with the hest driving team
possible. The truckman and dairy
man can transport their products
from the garden M dairy in a few
minutes where before it took hours.
The time seems not far distant when
the auto will cary the crops from the
farm, to the railroad and market
speedier and cheaper than they have
been before transported. It seems
possible that anything that hereto
fore has been done by horse power
will in time he done by motor power,
Some obstacles must he surmounted,
but they seem solvable.
The only ones that has suffered by
this evolution is the horse and his
owner. But there will be other uses
for the horse that will continue to
make him an essential and valuable
property. When cable cars Supposed.
ed the old time horse cars in the cit
les n these later were superseded
by the electric lines. the pessimists
predicted a horseless age. but there are
just as many now as there were be-
fore. The change from horse to auto
has made some business changes nee
essary. but on the whole there has
been no loss.
The automobile show in this city
is one of the greatest in the north.
west. 1t is typical Of the city's en-.
terprise and progress and the environ
ment is the optimism Of Grand Forks.
Those who r participating in and
those who are visiting it have tho
hearty good will and enthusiastic sup.
mort ~ nVloN0r ~ekS~n~