Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-01-17
LEDGER -PHLADELpmA wEDNEsDAY JANUARY n

VIII not be reached for at least five years.
And should the price average drop ever SO
little, II seems that so many more hundreds
oil thousands Of cars will have to be built.
CARS MUST BE REPLACED
The number Of replacements made must
also be taken into consideration Most of
the cars built in 1911 are now flirting with
the scrap heap and are being replaced Sini.
larly cars built during the last year viii
have to be replaced some five or six years
hence. Does it appear therefore. as II
there is to he a break In the auto business.
as some pessimistC ones would have 1t? II
Is hard To surmse such condition
When IT Is considered that the autpmo-.
bIe has long ago passed the stage Of being
a luxury or novelty that could he en-
joyed only by the wealthy. it is perfectly
natural to assume hat the output and sale
Of machines should keep ON the increase.
CARS PERFECTED
The car Of today is no longer the un-
reliable piece OF machinery Of few years
ago. Today one seldom ses a machine
stuck on the road due ~ the many annoy
ing troubles that cropped M In lunches in
.he cars Of Yesterday Picture hundred
mile soc,ab.lity tour uf sis years ago. "
two out Of a dozen ears finished with per-
feet scores they were considered icmark-
able. To-day socIabi " tours are the reg.
uIar thing and winter tours Of say. nf;v or
Ntv miles are becoming extremely popu-
lar. The latter are being advocated hy
dealers in many cities ns one Of the means
of boosting the sale Of closed cars and pro-
noting winter drivine.
RIVAL or RAILROADS
II is no wonder tina the railroads and
transit FNIDn1uipg hnNt a.,
able shrinkage in their revenue When one
considers that automobiles are transporting
more passengers than the entire steam rail-
road system uf he United states or all the
interurban aud urban electric roads. an
idea can be Ea ned Of what the autOn lbtlr
is doing for the public. Steam railroads
carried 1853 OOO coo passengers IN lglA
with little increase in 1916. an aycrag, dis
tance uf thirty-three and siN-tcnths miles
or total Of 30. - 81. 600. 600 passenger miles
\ revenue OF S7OO iOO.OOO was earned ou
this service. Comparing this with the
3,250.0oO pleasure ears now reg stored in
the country. and averaging hOUo miles n
year which Is very conservative. and three
passengers car. we find that tine au.o-
mobile has & Ven service ur IS. 1iu. 400 600
passenger miles Figuring this on the rail-
road basis of two uet S a mile. we have
S975.0OO,OOO. or S2OOO0D 0UU more tnan the
railroad passenger service
CLOSED BODY MODELS
only few Years ago automobiles were
looked upon as fair-wcather vehicles to he
"un only during the spring and summer
months. As soon as cold weather set in
they were p'ac d IN the garage on dead
forage. When the flowers bloomed in
the spring the autos also blossomed. There
are Still some owners who persist IN lay
ing Up their ca $ after the first cold snap
hut, happily. this practice is fast
becoming obsolete Electric starting and
lighting systems. Of course. have helped
great deal toward preventing cars from fol-
lowing the winter storage route while heat
ing devices are also responsible 10 some
cXtcnt
TREND IN ENGINE DESIGN
At the present time the tendency in
engine and chassis design is naturally
toward liEhter-weight units The high cost
Of gasoline and the ever-inCreasinE cost of
materials have been responsible for this
tendency. Years ago the public was salts
fed with a heavy car with n brute OF an
engine and the longest whcclbase it could
get. The sporty individual was in his glory
when he could boast of a l2O-horsepower
car. Gasoline was cheap in those days. But
with the mushroom growth of the industry
has come a change in design that reflects