South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1914-01-12
HENRY FORD NOT
Al WAYS WEALTHY
Cap Shuey, Who Had the First
Agency For the Machine in
South Bend, Tells of Man.
utaCturer'S Early Struggle.
BY HI SHIRLEY


recalled the early days of the Ford
Motor Car Co, when ne was warm,
personal frien1 Jf the great autOmO- |
bile manufactures.
over at the Coliseum garage, Caps
present headquarters, ne stepped IntO
the Office just ia time 10 near some
one comment on Ford income OF
500 "A minute.
This startling announcement seem
cd to stagger Cap tor a moment, tor
he stopped in his tracks, DAnked a
couple OF times and, as ne always
does in moments OF stress. helped MINI
st IL 10 a pinch of FAST mail before ne
could trust himself TO 80 ahead. This
cuJy performed and having worked
the generous charge around into 3
corner OF his mouth where il wouldn't /
interfere with free action of q high
Peared and easy running tongue ne
squared himself IN front OF the stove
(Cap never leans against anything
while he is taking and launched
forth thus:
a hundred dollars a minute-hun-
dred dollars a minute. Say boys.
haia't that a pile OF money-just a
pile OF money? Why L knoWed Henry
Ford when he didn't have hardly
enough to eat. Why when l bought
the first car Of him / nad TO wait
around three days till he could scrape
UP $50 to buy some bolts and grease
cups to finish that thing up with"
How did you happen 10 get ac-
quainted with Ford, anyway. Cap?"
We'll, 1 first heard Of him when l
was sellin' Mobile steamers over on
Wayne St A Teller come in there one
day sellin' tires, and he says to me,
he says, Cap. why don't YOU take on
a gasoline car? ! believe they're 60
ing to be the thing in the future
First Meeting With Fora
But L didn't take no stOch in gas
oline caIs-in Gact didn't know much
about EN-; nobody knOwed mucn
about 'em. he kept on "A talkin'
though. and finely L got interested.
He told me about u man up in De
trOit by the name OF Ford who was
starting to make gas car that looked
pretty good to him and said I
wouldn't have no trouble gettin the
agency if l went up TO see him.
Along about that time l heard
Tom Slick was going TO buy machine
80 l persuaded him TO so up and see
this Ford Teller.
ME and Tom went on up 20 De
trOit, but we had some trouble finding
Ford because nObOdy's heard of him.
I'VE located him finely. He was in
n little shop down an alley-an old
brick barn it used to be; used to have
horses in IT. Me and Tom walked in
and didn't see nobody but they was a
pair Of legs sticking out from under a
half built car. and when we come in
the legs began 10 WlBSle out anu Wn6n
they vas all out 1 seen it was a man.
Sex h. "HOwdO. gentlemen, what can
do tor you p and said 4 am Cap
tain NJ. A Shuey OF South Bend, St.
Joe county. Indiana, and this here
gentleman IS Mr.. Thomas J. Slick, of
the same town. county and state. We
be lookin' for Mr.. Ford
You're talking TO him. he said
/ remember them words just as plain
as If he said EN- yesterday. he was
wearing overalls and was all grease
and had a store cap on his head
just common store cap.
TON bought the car he was max
ing-but we had To wait three days
afOre il was finished. That was the
third car Henry Ford ever sold, just
as sure as I'm standin' here. If Henry
was here he would tell you the same" /
COuzens a BOOkkeeper.
Cap then went on 10 relate how he
signed up an agency contract, the
first one Ford ever made, and how
they went up into the little office
above the shop and had Mr.. COuzens, !
who was bOOkkeeper then, draw up
the papers. COuzens now is one OF
the biggest men in the company, and
many times millionaire.
Cap said Ford and COuZens and
Slick and himself loaded Toms ma
chine into a freight car and nailed it
down themselves. I guess 1t caught
cold on the way though, because
when il arrived we couldn't make it
go. I wrote to Ford about IL and he
sent Frank Kulick, his racing driver
later on. down here TO start il.
"Kulick didn't have no money, be-
cause Ford didn't have none to give
him, and I had to board him the two
weeks he was here mOnkeying with
Tom Sticks car" When they finally
got the machine 60 go. Cap described
it's action IKE that OF "a crippled,
spawned, " oxen down, knOck-kneed
horse. He also said the fuel tank
was so small that the driver had TO
carry an extra jug of gasoline with
him 10 get as far as Carlisle hill.
Speaking OF that first agency, Cap
said he had all the trials. tribula
tiOns and gnashing OF teeth" that
went with IL. We had TO deposit a
hundred dollars with an order, and
they kept our money until they could
get some more 10 build the cars with.
once IL was over a year before
could get a delivery, and when / wrote
Ford about IL two or three times il
was a couple OF months before he
could get the price Of q postage stamp
10 reply Didn't even have CatalOgs
or Tito graphs in those days. he added.
why once when 1 was up there
Ford was so poor that he couldn't
buy a cushion for lis demOnstrator.
and ne got an old sack and stuffed ii
full of hay, and me and him rode
around Detroit in a pouring rain till
after midnight because il was so much
fun. II was all new then. boys-aI
new then"
Some years later I had the pleasure
OF going to Detroit with Cap and
Frank Whitehall AT that time Ford
had a pretty fair sized plant and was
Just making his first four cylinder
cars
The moment we stepped inside the
factory II was evident that Cap was
well known. for all the workmen
dropped their tools and began 10