The Oakes times. [volume] (Oakes, N.D.) 1906-current, 1916-12-21
oVERiLA,D: BOOSTERS
HAVE SOME TRIP
JOHN N. wiLLvs A PRINCE OF
ENTERTAINERS
Large Crowds Every Day Handled
With cloek.like Preeision-oreat
Organization

Oe00noxAto0n
Some men accomplish big things.
John N. Willys. the Toledo automo-
bile manufacturer lis one of them.
The biggest dealers convention that
ever happened has been going on for
three weeks past, the central point
being the big Overland factory at To
ledo, Ohio. and the central figure of it
all is John N. Willys. the present head
of the big concern.
To think of bringing in the Over
land dealers and few friends from
all over the United States was easy.
but to carry out the plan was quite
another thing. Yet so we'll was the
big convention planned. so thoroughly
was it worked out in all its details.
that from the 4th to the 23rd Of this
month from 1000 to 1900 people have
been going in and out of there every
two days. We say every two days be-
cause a two days program was laid
out for you when you got there. and 1t
was two days before it was completed.
The Times editor was one Of those
privileged to attend this great gather.
ing. Mr.. Willys wanted the newspa-
per men to be brought along and
through the courtesy Of the local
dealer. ]. w. Bush. The Times man
was the favored one from this Sec
ton. To add to the dignity of the &C.
casi0n, A. p. Guy was also taken on
for the trip.
The North Dakota and Eastern
Montana contingent went there in
solid trains of Pullmans. The trains
ran in three sections half an hour
apart. Each train consisted of eight
to ten Pullmans. two dining coaches
and an observation. The Great North
ern system was taken to st. Paul,
where switch was made to the Burt
lington Route-down the scenic Mis-
sissippi-thence from Chicago on the
Lake Shore and Michigan Southern.
Representatives of the railroads were
aboard to see that the travellers were
properly looked after.
We arrived in Toledo thirty-six
hours after leaving Oakes. The
bunch was taken in charge by Over
land men and conducted to the factory
feeding plant. where we were given
breakfast, served in cafeteria style.
That over we we're taken to the large
administration building. movies being
taken of the party on march as we'll
as pictures of the group taken on the
steps of the big building.
The administration building over.
looks the mammoth plant. as it sits
there looking like one of our state
capit0ls. 1t is about 1OOx375 feet on
the ground and runs up six stories.
Here one thousand people alone We're
employed in attending to the business
details-turning out the mass of cor
respondence that comes from all over
the world and keeping in touch with
every line of endeavor in the vast
plant. On the fifth floor is the spacious
dining room where meals and ban
quets are served. while in the other
end is splendidly equipped opera
house. where the Overland people
put on a splendid show for the enter
tainment of their visitors.
Across from the main building is
the Overland garage, where the new
models are on exhibition. Here pen
dants and banners from all over the
country are nicely arranged, making
the display room an interesting place
tris Sc
really the interesting thing. Under es
cort of trained guide the party wen,
through the factory in relays of abou,
thirty. Here the work of the large
machines is amazing. The togele
press. with it's pressure of 1000 tons
shapes cold steel like cardboard. A
piece of the sheet metal fed to il
comes out as side frame. Other
mighty machines stamp out radiator
shells. tenders. cowl dashes and
doors. The multiple spindle drill in
one operation drills all the holes in
the front axle as easily as we would
prrforate holes in a sheet OF paper.
We kept on and on for two hours OF
this inspection: Watched the molders
prepare the molds and turn in the hot
metal to make the heavier parts. fol
lowed it on through the cutting
smoothing and cleaning processes un
til we reached the assembling of the
cars. Here are conveyor tracks. -four
of them. each CAS- feet long. First
would come the frames. and as il
moved along the convcyor The cross
sections would be thrown TO place an,
riveted in minutes time. On i,
moves. the axles are put in place. thor
comes the place where the wheels
with the tires on come down a chute
and are slipped to their places by {
man on each side as the frame keeps
moving. AS the chassis moves along
from overhead is dropped the bod,
and it is soon fastened to place. a,
well as the top. The car becomes
more perfect as We walk along and n