El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1914-08-15
Father OF the Automobile
Is DISCOVERED At Last
AItsE many Claimants Have Put Forth Their Title TO
the Honor, the Man Who Really Started the Au-
tomobile to Its Present Popularity Has
at Last Been Discovered


eorporatops has finally come lnLe m. rs
own. For IS years the title y atneT OF me
Automobile has been buried in chancery,
so to speak. But the decision mas oeen -ll s4
and the proofs that the title belongs to Ar.
Adams appears in the July number OF Gut
The bestowal Of the title IS merely a nat
ter Of delayed recognition and not because
the question contained any element OF oouol-
Not only did Mr. Adams know he was en-
titled to the honor. but every newspaper ed
tor OF Chicago knew that in his own pub
lcation Of IS years ago the record OF owner
Charles Frederick Carter is the author OF
the Outing story Of Mr.. Adamss achieve
ment, under the caption, The First Auto
mobile Race IN America Mr. Garter was
the official photographer for the event ana
hence writes from personal knowledge. After
commenting on the fact that the automobile
1916 and that in IS years l.145.0OO motor
cars have been built in this country, Nj.
Father Forgotten.
This reminds me that the real father OF
the American automobile has thus iar Re-
NAMED unknown except 70 a rev: " an re
astounding facts connected with its brief
career the most extraordinary is that the
man VINO, above any other one man Is %
blame for the American automobile has
never been suspected y the general public
Go through all the oceans Of stuff that has
been printed about the automobile
with a search warrant, and nowhere VIII you
find so much as a hint at the man who
show and the first automobile race ever
held IN American soil Yet he not only
originated the ideas. but he hunted up the
angel for these epoch marking events.
ghsrrned inward Of SIS 600 from his bank
account to defray the expenses thereof, made
public anuouncemenf OF the plans, wrote
anonymously scores Of columns Of matter
forecasting the future Of the automobile with
astonishing accuracy in discouraging at
tempts 10 work up public interest in the
Of inventors who thought they could pro-
duce something worth exhibiting. borrowed
automobile world 10 finance their first crude
attempts at motor car building, gave advice
In his capacity as mechanical engineer. snd
even drawings for the engines.
FOR &c months he devoted his energies
exclusively TO the task Of coaZing the AEleri- I
can autornonlle INTO being without once seek
ing TO exploit himself. such modesty IN an
age attuned 20 Marx Twain's postscript TO ]
10 the beautudes- -6lessed IS ne that blow
eth his own horn, lest it be not blown is !
remarkable Yet, dozens Of living witnesses /
can attest the truth Of IT all Under these /
cfrcumstances II is a great pleasure 10 be /
able 10 present for the first time in print /
the name Of the Father Of the American /
Eineer, inventor, author"
The Race in France
ITr Carter then relates how. in 1898. 3lr. 4
Adams's attention and interest was attract i
ed by the Paris 10 Rouen automobile race I
Adams grasped the significance OF the event (
81 which q French horseless carriage made 1
record OF IS miles an hour Mr. Carter
Adams was a mechanical engineer. I
drauEhtsman and inventor who had tenn
WINGED H H. Kohlsaat publisher OF the i
IlEn6S-EeralCs that the auLou0Dle was the j
coming venice qeSllneu 70 reFo4ulloL-l1e
transportation and persuaded him to fur
nish FUNDS Tor prizes ana expenses OF an
automobile road race 10 be held July 4. 1855.
Adams thought that as no such thing as
American automobile then existed. It might
ne Just as well 10 allow a year Tor inventors
TO produce something Of the kind"
Then follows an interesting account OF 1Ir. I
Adams's efforts TO arouse interest among
American inventors OF the szepticisn thai !
prevailed and the encouragement thar met
him at every point But he kept pounding 1
y q n
monies bsf hen filed At 'Vssbinrton Tsut
the designers OF the paper motor cars didn't
seem 70 make good when II came TO building
them While there were IS entries for the
wonderfully and fearfully constructed con-
traptions, had been produced by July 4.
Overlooked Nothing.
Mr.. Carter continues
"Adsns overlooked nothing In his c. /
pacity Of father OF the American adtomo- I
bile he devoted much care TO the selection |
OF a name for the baby He published in the |
for the most suitable name for the new style
Of vehicle. At that time it was not sup
posed that the American people would stand
for the absurd French term automobile
The wise ones pointed out that It would be /
just as idiotie to call horseless carriage
an automobile as TO call a railroad a
'cheuin de fer So some OF the inventors
called their InOnstrosiries fquadricycies.' Z
while other names included such things as
motor wagon .horseiess carriage 'autocy-
Gle motorcycle .automOtor,' 'petrocar' and ]
so on ad infinitum. one genius hit upon
felectrobat' at a suitable name for his We
hicle. Think Of It, Electrobat.-'
For various reasons the first American au- ]
tomObile road race was postponed TO Thanks
giving dav- 1855. The account OF the race
over roads fined with drifts Of snow is
peculiarly interesting one The route was
from the Midway IN Jackson park 10 Evans
ton and return. 81 miles. On the day before /
Thanksgiving. while a blizzard RACED II
dawn OF the fateful day but six motor |
cycles struggled down TO the starting point {
Two hours later two others arrived in draws. |
Reporters for rival papers prepared to fol-
low the racers IN cabs All these men.
anticipated material for funny stories-and
they were not disappointed
The Duryea entry led off az SIS a. n
followed By a Benz llmported). The latter Z
limped along for two miles and Quit r z
Macy & Co S Roger started third. and the
Sturges came fourth All but the Duryea l
stuck IN the snow before they had traversed
the Midway The spectators followed on
foot. II took the Sturges three and a half
hours 70 make Lincoln park, and there It |
died The struggle Of the Duryea and the {
Benz, the only two to cover the course,
through snow and ice was heroic The Dur
yea covered the. 50 miles in 10 and half
hours. and the Benz in IL hours and IS
minutes. Mr. Carriers story concludes.
A Great Feature.
Adams and kohlsaat were fully warranted ]
IN CONTEMPLATING each other with little /
eLuberance that night over the outcome Of |
For, taking all the circumstances into con- |
sideratiOn. especially the atrocious condition !
Of the roads, the fact that even two cars I
could cover 50 miles in one day was suf- I
ing man that the horseless carriage had a
great future
VINO was It that said something about
the prophet without honor in his own coun-
try?
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