The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1913-01-09

Mark in Motor VeficIes-There Are
 Now s25,OOO Cars in Use-The Mo-
 tor Car Industry One of the Most
 Important in This Country
 l (By Alfred Reeves, Show Commit
 tee, Nat ional Automobile show.)
 It is peculiarly thing that the Ma
 tional automobile show in Madison | Square Garden and Grand Central 1 bition of it's kind, for it heralds the i time when 100000 automobiles will be in use in the United States, and ] what is more important, with out the sligh test indication of any decrease in 1 demand for the wonderful vehicle that 1 has become so important a part or our modern civilization.
 1 Almost every State requires auto i mobiles to be registered and the rec 1 ords show almost a million cars at 1 the present writing. From this, how | ever, should be deducted the nun Fber of cars registered by non-resi : dents, and consideration also should
 be given to the large number of cars that have changed hands and have been twice registered during 1912. Trade authorities admit, however, that there are now 825,000 cars in actual use in this country, of which 2T0,000 were made and sold during 1912. With a very conservative estimate of 36oOoo cars for 1913, and with the largest part of that number made in the Spring, the first Of May should see1. .OOO, 900 motor vehicles in actual use for pleasure and for utility pur- poses. which at an average of $500. would give s9oO,o0O,0o0 the total selling price. AItho' statistics are generally un- interesting, those in connection with the motor car industry are most fas- fir, strides of an industry that has no par aIel in history, easily over-reaching as it does the records of any other manufacturing business and march ing on towards the figures of oil, coal, Iurn Der, steel and the prpducers of raw material
 The figures indicate that in anoth CT few months there will be a. car for every 90 people in the Unitedd States. while an authentic list of manufac- turers shows 241 companies produc- ing pleasure cars and 28O companies building commercial vehicles; al
 though many of the latter have not turned out more than a few experi- mental trucks.
 With electric seIf-starters making ii easy for women to operate them, the demand for cars Is certain to ex- pand, especially at the remarkable values now in the market. as conpar- ed with few years ago when the av- craze car cost $3,00O or more. Great CT values will be offered at the shows than ever before whether in cars at $500 or $5,000.
 In thirteen years, since the first au- tomobiIe show was held in Madison Squaure Garden, the industry has pro- gressed at rate which cannot be ap-
 preciated by any one that has not
 been in contact with the captains Of the industry and the great engineers (-A% %I- %E4 ability of the nation to buy and use the vehicle that is now as much of 9 necessity as it was considered a lux ury a decade ago.
 Contributory to this wonderful ad- vance must be considered the eff fcient manufacturing that has made for lower cost and the present mod crate priced car; greater simplicity which permits any one to operate and care for a car; the increased relia- bility and most important of all, the
 fact that the motor car like the tel ephone, the telegraph and the rail road, is a time saver, and as such is essential to our American life.
 Registration figures in the various states show that while New York has the greatest number of cars. CaIifor- nia leads in cars per capita. The final report for 1912 of Secretary of State LazanskI, shows the actual number of cars in New York state to be 1O6, ,S6O of which 9.955 are com mercial vehicles.
 The State of California has 84,240 cars registered or one for each 27 for each Al people, because a large proportion of the population in the big cities cannot afford cars.
 Maine, Iowa, Nebraska and Della ware have the largest number of cars for their population, while the ,aJ11 7i1-Cri info Arkansas, Louisiana, Alabama and Kentucky have a comparatively small number of cars per capita, the last named State having only one car for each SOP people, In many of these states, it is not so much a question of wealth, as it is poor roads which offer little inducement for the use of motor ears.
 It will surprise many to learn that there are only 36,112 commercial ve- hicIes registered in the United States. the figures indicating in slight de- branch of the industry.
 In total car registration, New r ork State is the leader with California, second and Ohio third followed by Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Massachu- sets, Illinois Iowa and Michigan; the last named State being considered the home of the automobile nanufactur~ ing industry
 When one considers more than 12,- 500 dealers and garages and the large nunbe of trades that supply motor car factories with material, a fair idea can be gained of the magnitude of this new and wonderful industry so creditabIe to this nation that can make and market here and through | out the world, (about 27,00O were ex- ported in 1912) cars far in excess of | the number that the widest enthu- | siast would have dared to suggest a | decade ago when the motor car was 1 declared by many to be a. toy of the l rich and a luxury that few could en- | joy; such statements having been 1 made with never a thought of it's 1 blessings and the new position that it | secured as the greatest advance in |