Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1914-05-09
VARIOUS PHASES OF
SKIES DISCUSSED
Manager of Keystone Motor Car
Company Emphasizes Numerous
Advantages Claimed For Six

Beyond doubt, the most discussed
single phase of motor construction at
the present time is the question of
six" and -four With the adherents
of either side lined up strongly for
their particular type. the buyer is quite
likely, IL he is not wary, to become
lhopelessly confused in a maze of con-
ficting claims.
That a r-cylinder car may be a
good one cannot be denied. The public
has bought and used "fours" for a
long time Their worth is conceded
leven by builders of 'sixes." On the
other hand, there is no question but
what the six" has made wonderful
Iprogress. When leading manufactur-
ers in every-increasing numbers add
skies to their lines, and finally drop
the older type for skies" exclusively,
one is forced to the conclusion that the
| six" at least merits the serious con-
lsideration Of every buyer.
Despite the many hectic and often
unreasonably biased claims advanced
by adherents of both fours and skies,
there are some fundamental facts
about the two types which the intend
ing buyer can easily learn for himself"
says Robert l.. Morton. local Chalmers
1
production of skies from just few
hundred cars four or five years ago to
many thousands for this season Is not
an accident or the whim of manufac-
turers who have more money than
brains. The ever-increasing demand
for skies is the result of experience.
| Users of skies since the first Ste
vens-Duryea and Winton cars of that
type were built have learned. not that
the six is necessarily faster than a
four; not that It will climb a given hill
any faster than four of equal power;
I not that it will travel any more rap
idly through sand or mud than four
of as great motor size. But they have
learned that the six will do all these
things easier, with less fuss, with less
vibration, with less gear-shifting-and
consequently with less wear and tear
| on the machine and on the driver
[ II think that all any builder of skies
should ask Is that the intending buyer
find out for himself If these things are
true. This can be proved by expert
ence. Claims have nothing to do with
it. Any man who will ride 100 or so
or even 20 miles behind the wheel of
six. and the same distance over the
same road in any four will know when
| he leaves the car why 81 of the AZ
| leading builders of this country have
made skies their leading models.
| 1T has been said that the six Is
simply a fad. 1t doesn't seem quite
reasonable that American buyers in
ever increasing numbers should con-
TRUE to indulge in a fad as costly as
the motor car If they derived no ma
terial benefit. People just don't have
| that kind of fads. No do manufac-
| turers-the biggest and strongest in
| the country spend vast fortunes
changing their entire equipment and
production plans, stalking the whole
| assets of their companies on a fad.
No, the six has had to prove itself
just as the four once had to.
THE most frequent plea one hears
for the four is it is more economical
| than the six Why, l wonder. The
reason for the supposed greater econ
omy of the four l have never seen
clearly stated. Meanwhile, actual ex-
perience shows that a well-built six
will travel any given number of miles
| or for any given period of time on
Just as little gasoline and oil as any
four of equal motor size and equal
car size.
1T has been my experience that
weight is the biggest factor in econo-
my. And the six is not heavier than
a four of equal size. For instance,
one four l have in mind is not as large
as the Chalmers Model "a. yet It
more. Surely the four-cylinder motor,
which has to work harder to move this
extra weight is ore eXtravagant of
fuel than the six which has 400 pounds
less dead weight to carry. Again, ex-
lperience proves this to be a fact
| eve hear frequently. too, that Eu-
rope doesn't build skies. The fact
here is that European engineers don't
know how to build good skies They
are just learning. More than half the
Heading factories in England, France,
Germany and Belgium are expert
menting with skies. AS fast as they
learn how to build them. skies are
being produced. by the leading Euro
pean manufacturers.
And isn't it about time we stopped
worshipping this European fetish
America owes a great deal to Europe.
! But we have outgrown our early ig-
norance Of automobile engineering.
The United States is to-day the great
est motor-building nation in the
world. We built ten times as many
cars as Europe. And in every market
of the world, in competition with the
| best Europe produces, we outsell Eu-
\ ropean cars ten to one. We have
gone ahead of our one-time teacher.
We are showing Europe the way now
and most assuredly on skies.
Nor yet do / wish to be classed
among those who decry fours as
worthless. l have sold a great many
fours; more than $4,000 Chalmers
fours are now in use. And they are
good fours. OF the earliest Chalmers
| fours just as great a percentage are
/ running to-day and giving satisfaction
as of any cars built at the same time.
But actual experience has proved to
me, as 1t is proving to new thousands
each year, that the six Is mechanically
the superior. The whole trend of the
automobile demand is toward skies
among cars of $1,000 and over.
Among the lower-priced and very light
cars, the four is likely to remain pre-
dominant. But 1 sincerely believe
that the next two wears will find oil