The Washington herald., 1916-01-27
MOTOR GOSSIP
By Isl" GROGAN

c. E. Morton, of the motor truck de-
partment of the Packard Motor Car
Company, is in the city for few days.
During his stay he is the guest Of the
Luttren Company.
The Record Auto Supply Company has
taken the agency for the Smith form A
truck By means Of this device a Ford
machine can at slight expense and with
few alterations be converted into one
ton truck.
Great business, great business" Is the
manner In which Ed JohAnssn expressed
his satisfaction with the number Of UsCo
tires that the Washington branch of the
United States Tire Company has sold
since this new tire was put on the mar
ket.
Irwin Donohoe has been Informed that
the Motometer Company is now manu-
featuring a small type motor meter to
At the smaller cars on the market. The
motometer Is a device by which one can
always tell whether or not his motor Is
working most efficiently.
The police regulations provide that
District numbers shall be conspicuously
displayed at all times. This does not
mean that II Is enough to attach them
to the car and then place a Maryland or
virgfnia number 50 that the local tag is
partly obscured II also means that
tires. luggage carriers and trunk racks
attached TO the rear of the machine
must not be 30 placed that they will pre-
vent the tag from being plainly seen at
all times. OF late the police have been
rather lenient in enforcing this rule, but
from now on II Is the intention OF the
department to see that the law is en-
forced.
The crowds still continue to flock to
the SmIth-Trew automobile show. Tc
date both day and night the showroom
has been crowded, and Wilmer Trew IL
only hoping that II will be possible &c
hold the Oakland stripped chassis over
n.Yt week. The REQ cutawsy chassis
must be shipped TO Hartford. Conn, Sun
dav morning for the automobile show tc
be held in that city next week. For those
who have never seen the inside workings
Of a motor these two exhibits alone are
we'll worth visit to the show.
Automobiles are so cheap today tha
no one can afford 70 be without one
said leading manufacturer the othel
day. and that is the literal truth.
one fact that no one can overlook
at this wears show Is that good prac
tical cars can be purchased for from
$500 to 1900.
This is the reason that over 200,
600 cars are registered in this coun
try, end that nearly 10000 cars wer'
built and sold last year.
That the motor car Is no longer {
luxury but a necessity is indicated b!
the fact that one family out Of ever!
twenty-one in this country owns ca
today. and this proportion will be In
creased this year through the buileini
and marketing Of over one million new
cars.
So far as motors are concerned, the!
are all good and efficient, whether on
$500 car or a mschine of the s. 900 anC
over class, and no one thinks any longeI
OF wondering whether a car will run o.
do the work. They know 1t will
The ordinary owner will not tax,
care of his car. and that a wonderfu
amount of abuse a car will stand 4
shown by the way the average auto
mobile is abused by its owner. So to
day II can be said to be practically foo
proof.
How the price Of automobiles hai
come down in the past few years Il
Indicated by the fact that the pric'
OF car ten years ago was s2,5Oo oil
more, while today the average prlc'
Of a car at the show is ss14
While It Is true that the war haI
brought about certain conditions in IN
automobile industry which to a certain
extent have hampetsd the manufacturer
Of motor vehicles. nevertheless, in spit
A.
more for his money than ever has beer
the case in the mast