Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1914-10-24
INCIDENTS Of WAR
RELATING To AUTOS
Hudson Export Manager Estimates
10000 Automobiles in Use
For War Purposes Only

| John A. Oft, export manager of the
Hudson Motor Car Company, has just
returned to Detroit.
The Hudson Company's branch in
Paris has been the headquarters for
their business covering the United
| Kingdom, Continental Europe and
North Africa. While the Hudson COM
pany had established connections in
nearly all of the European countries,
because of the war conditions and
falling off in all trade, the Paris Of
flee was closed recently and headquar-
ters transferred to London.
The garage connected with this
Paris Office was located in what is
known as the military zone-a strip
about 200 meters (225 yards) wide
on the outside of the old Paris forti-
fications. Under the terms of all
leases covering property in this mill
tary zone, there was always the pos
sibility of this garage being razed for
military purposes in the event of a
! siege of Paris.
At the time Mr.. Olt left Paris, the
Germans were about twenty-five miles
from that city and had been going
forward rapidly. Therefore, it was ad-
| visable to vacate the premises and
store the company's property in
safer place.
Incident to the war conditions and
their effect on automobiles, it is in
teresting to learn that from the date
that mobilization was ordered, a car
could not circulate in or near Paris or
any other of the entrenched camps
without special military permit. OF
course, the passengers of the car were
also required to show on demand a
special pass, showing their nationality,
etc.
AS an illustration, Mr. Olt states in
making short trip of about $50
miles from Houlgate on the coast of
l.yA II
ped the car and called for the car and
personal military papers from fifteen
to forty times on different trips during
; the latter part of August and early
September.
Several Hudson cars are now at
the front on both sides of the battle
; line. Notable among these Is q car
taken by Captain Rawlinson, of Lon
don who is serving on the staff OF
, General French. Other Hudsons are
} in use with the French, Austrian and
) German armies. According to a we'll
known automobile authority in
France, there are estimated to be 150,-
600 automobiles of all kinds in use,
} either actually at the front or exclu-
sively in military service. A great
many of these cars are being de-
stroyed in the actual fighting but 9TH
ers are being sacrificed just as rapidly
} through neglect and the consequent
OH the TOaQSlQeS. 1T is
not difficult to realize that if car is
being pursued by an enemy and some
thing goes wrong with the car, little
, time is to be had in which to make
necessary repairs. To prevent a car
falling into the hands of the pursuing
enemy, such cars are usually run into
a ditch or otherwise so badly damaged
that they are practically worthless.
The actual part played by motor
ltrAnSn0rt in the
will probably not be known until after
the war is over, but 1t is certainty
that the speed of many of the actions
| is due to the quick moving OF patrols
of soldiers, machine guns, ETC., by
means of automobiles.
; Besides the actual destruction of
: motor transport, there has been a tre-
mendous loss of horses and wrecking
OF railroad tracks. Threfore, through
the entire war zone, the means of
transportation are already badly Grip
pied; and with the withdrawal of spe-
cial military transports, the means of
transport remaining will be very lin
tied for months after the war is over.
Automobiles should therefore play an
extremely important part in the re-
VlVal OF commerce and the tranSporta-
ton of passengers as well as goods.
The effect of this on the develop
ment of trade in American cars is diff
II W SStlIIldlO III any way lore
see. 1t is reasonable to suppose how
ever, that there must be q period of
reconstruction and reorganization of
the factories in the manufacturing
countries of Great Britain, France,
Germany, Belgium and Austria. Prob
ably the greater part of this recon-
struction is a matter of personnel but
it is also quite possible that q num-
Der of factories have already been de-
stroyed. Then again, the stocks of
finished cars, both in factories and in
: the sales rooms of these invaded coun-
tries, as well as in the United King
dom, have been about depleted. as
even at the present time in England
there is considerable activity in some
of the automobile factories in trying
to fill government orders.
None of the various Colonial pos
sessions had more than normal stocks
of cars, excepting, possibly some of
the South American countries. While
the general trade of the various CO.
lonial and distant countries has been
seriously impaired by the European
war, yet there is certain amount of
liquidation that will be going on in
the automobile business outside of
l Europe, and within comparatively
short time, this liquidation should
clear any accumulated stocks of Euro
Ipean cars.
The opportunity that will be pre-
sented for American cars in Colonial
possessions, is not so much one of i'm
mediate large sales, but rather an
opportunity for the manufacturers of
the United States to lay a proper
foundation and get a fair considera-
tion for their goods in the n-manu-
featuring countries. Probably the one
: greatest handicap to the more rapid
development of the export trade in
American cars, has been that they
have not had chance to be properly
! demonstrated. Naturally, the compe-
! tition of European manufacturers has
been severe, and usually along the
lines of placing the American car in
a class considerably below the average
of the European car. Considerable
capital has been made out of such ar
guments by distributors of nothing but
European cars.
1t is no more possible for an Amer
ican manufacturer of motor cars to go
out and pick up foreign trade when he
is ready for 1t, than it has been pos
sible for any of the other large Amer
lean companies who have developed
a good export business, to pick up that
business quickly. The development of
the export trade in raw materials, such
as wheat, cotton, etc., does not require
the technical training for selling, edu-
cation of customers, ETC., that is re-
uuired to develop special machinery