The Washington herald., 1916-03-19
OF
AUTO WONDERFUL
Progress Ma de in Fifteen
Years Seems Almost
Impossible.
STAGES INTERESTING
Growth of Industry Has Been Phe-
nomenal-Only Five or Six Firms
in Operation in 1900.

OPCldblOh III wv.
At the, beginning OF the automobile !
movement in this country. it was natural |
that none Of the participators should |
have any idea of the extent to which |
mechanically propelled vehicles would |
alter the habits Of mankind, affect poll |
tics and social development and intro |
duce new and difficult problems. Ger |
tainly none of them imagined that if |
teen years afterward there would &C
tually be more motor cars than horse |
drawn vehicles. or IS per cent of the for
mer to per cent OF the latter, on the
streets OF cities: that the record speed Of
a mile in less than one minute would be
achieved. making the motor car the I'M
disputed speed champion of the world, ,
and that the contrivances not only OF
animal traction but also Or rail traction
would be seriously disturbed in 1915.
But, challenged. these are everyday
facts and the ardent enthusiasts who
started things fifteen years ago, many OF
whom had been keenly interested in mo-
tor cars years before, are fully entitled
to be classed as pioneers who have WELD
ed a worldwide influence. Every great
change in the world which has affected
I the lives of humankind has had to 20
through the same stages. First OF all
comes the incredulous but good humored
contempt of the public. The unthinking
average man saws to himself the change
| Is not worth worrying about, for it Is
only fashion or fad for the time being.
Then comes the second stage, when
much illogical and ill-defned irritation
| is expressed to a large extent because the
invention, condemned in advance, has
/ dared to succeed. At this period some of
| the community, more progressive than
| the rest, are beginning to adopt new
| inventions on account Of the fact that
| 1t saves either money or time or distance
or any or all of these. Closely following
this stage OF periodic opposition comes
one OF violent and often general opposi-
ton. This is the fear OF interested par
| ties that they will be affected, their
methods rendered obsolete or their divi-
| bends reduced.
Innovation Accepted.
Finally, the time arrives when the in
| novation is accepted in a grumbling spirit
| as another evil which the human race
| has to bear, till eventually the force of
! habit begins to tell and tolerance begins
| to appear. Thus the human race benefits
at last against its will, and this has been
the history of the fight made by the pio-
| neers of automobilism.
| The last enemy OF progress to surrender
\ Is, OF course, the law, for here tradition
and custom are all powerful. In automo-
oilisn, as in some other matters, the law
| is still contrary to common sense and
behind the needs OF the times. The gov
eminent has not time to attend to all
reforms, and this much is plain in the
history Of automopilism. 1t is almost
1 forgotten that the requirement calling
| for persons to advance one-half mile
! ahead of every traction engine on our
| public highways to give signal of warn
/ ing is still upon our statute books and
that even now no car may exceed thirty
miles an hour even on the loneliest and
| straightest road without infringing the
statute, no matter whether the road be
| deserted or crowded.
| To recall the position OF motorists in
1901. when the first motor vehicle law of
this State or country was enacted, is
more effective than the enumeration of
| changes since that time. The maximum
| speed has grown from fifteen to thirty
miles an hour, while, on the other hand
drivers licenses, number plates and taxes
= were unknown fifteen years ago. With
regard to the mechanical changes, these
are almost too numerous to mention. The
| steering wheel had hardly come into ex-
istence, pneumatic tires were also just
beginning to be used and solid tires were
in vogue for certainly half the vehicles
| on the road.
Electric igtition had in only a few cases
Icome into use and in consequence of the
starting handles being made detachable
they were sometimes left behind by the
needless driver and the engines had then
to be started by running the car down
hill or by getting a tow from another
vehicle.
| Wonderful Accomplishments.
Looking back fifteen years. it is won
Iderful to recall what was done by the
skilled ana intelligent driver with the
livery unreliable cars in those days. One
reason was that hardly any one owned a
motor car who was not the driver HIM
self and understood the mechanism This
was an absolute necessary accomplish
ment then. For constant adjustments
Ihad to be made. often on the roadside,
and mechanical breakdowns were quite
common. Indeed a century run without
stopping was considered then as an I'M
usually good performance and few cars
could boast of having covered more than
a few thousand miles on the road with
out returning to the shops.
| From the financial point of view the
Ichange that has come over the industry
lis equally startling. Some five or six
American firms struggling against heavy
odds and handicapped by want of capt.
ital. constituted the whole of the motor
lear industry of 1900. and few hundred
linen were employed In 1915 the manu-