The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1914-06-23

They Have Stood Test Of Severe De
livery Service

Detroit. Mich. June 23.-~Porhaps
there Is nothing In connection With
the modern automobile that Is given
as much consideration as that OF en-
durance." says r. II. Kahn. automo-
bile editor of the Philadelphia Rec
ord" "Will il stand up? How long
will il go through daily service in
the hands OF the unskilled driver
without shaking apart, is the thought
the average man who is thinking OF
buying a car has above all others
when considering the choice Of an
automobile. Folks nowadays want 10
be shown. when they are buying a
car. as the business has gotten TO
that point where an automobile is a
commercial product, a necessity In
the life OF the average man. and no
longer a luxury, the toy or the play
thing OF the wealthy class.
mo harder test OF the endurance
of a motor car can be found than its
use in the delivery service of Dig
city department store. The work In
such cases consists of trips six days
in the week and in the busy season
the days are stretched far into the
night-at times even lasting the ell
tire "a hours. The work is much
| harder on the car than pleasure drly-
ing. because there is no choice of
roads The goods must be delivered
no matter ON what sort of street or
road the customer may live. In the
cities there are miles and miles OF ca.
tracks to be crossed. there are cobble
stones, rubble stone and belgian
blocks to be bumped over all dag
long. There are hills to climb, with
rough. stony surfaces, miles and
miles OF sand and dusty roads in hot
weather are turned into seas Of slime
and mud in other seasons. But no
matter what the time of year nor the
condition OF the weather, the car
must be on the job.
The fact that the Ford chassis
was built entirely of Vanadium steel.
the strongest metal known in the
world, induced lots Of people to use
the model I. Ford cars for delivery
purposes. They stood up so well un-
| der all sorts OF conditions that the
demand for them became general
The man who is driving a Ford model
pleasure car is driving exactly the
same SOFT of car as the man who is
driving for the merchants who use a
Ford delivery service.
John Wanamaker in January 1911,
purchased 90 Ford model I cars.
Twenty-Five OF these cars were sent
to the New York store and twenty
five to Philadelphia. From the day
the twenty-five cars arrived at Phila-
delphia they have been the sensation
OF not only the automobile trade but OF
the business world generally. All
sorts of predictions were made as to
how short time they would remain
in service. The many predicting
that in few months they would
shake apart: that they could never
stand the strain of such severe work
as they would have to undergo in de.
livery service, and lots of men placed
the length of their usefulness at one
year. They were watched day by
day for signs of breaking down, but
as far as the general public noticed
their number did not seem to lessen
to any considerable extent, and at al
most every turn Wanamaker Ford
could be seen flying past, many OF
them apparently overloaded.
To-day. after three years constant
service, J. II. Still, of Matchmaker
Philadelphia store states that the en-
tire twenty-five Ford cars in Philade
phia, instead of having fallen to piec
es or shaken apart, are still in ser
vice, practically as good as the day
they were put on the street.
These Ford cars are used by Wan
amaker in city and suburban de
livery service. They cover from 81
to 40 miles day, averaging from 30I
to 500 light packages. Each on,
takes the place of wagon and tive
horses, but with the latter using on,
horse every other day the average o
territory covered was about Is miles
With the Ford wagons as high as 60l
stops per day have been made. Goo
care has been taken of these lttl,
wagons, but not more so than that o
the horses, wagons, and harness
They have done more work at grea
deal less expense.
Just how much longer they vii
keep up their splendid work of cours
cannot be estimated, but they hav
more than paid for themselves, an,
If they had to be abandoned now the
would owe Wanamakers nothing. Tn
drivers have not been especiall
selected or trained men. The car
have been at times overloaded, an
abused, but there they are. No owne
could ever possibly put this For
pleasure car to the severe test thes
Wanamaker Fords have undergone
and therefore it is not exaggeratin
to claim that If Ford will be goo
after three years daily service in tn
Wanamaker delivery department.
would last lifetime used as a pleas
ure car" ADV.