Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1917-02-25

that is so strikingly characteristic of
this modern and progressive industry,
Omaha automobile men are today
eagerly awaiting the opening of the
twelfth annual Omaha motor car ex-
position in the municipal Auditorium
Monday morning.
Starting at midnight Friday an en-
tire army of decorators began their
task of Transforming the barn-like
Auditorium into an appropriate mo-
tor car palace All day Saturday and
all last night these decorators worked
and toiled and they will continue
their labor today and tonight, so
that every detail will be completed
when the doors swing open on the
glittering display Monday morning.
The decorative scheme this year.
while perhaps not so seemingly elab-
crate and pretentious as in the past,
is vastly superior and much more ap-
propriate for an automobile show
than those of previous years The
scheme is very simple this year, but
it is very impressive, especially in
the lighting effects. No floor lamps
will be used at all this year, all the
light in the building coming from in
candescents overhead. Many high
powered incandescents, entailng the
most extensive kind of electrical
work, hang in irregular order on long
supports. And not only do they
spread a soft, quiet glow all over the
huge building into every nook and
corner, so that every car on display
can be inspected to good advantage,
but they completely hide the barren
rafters and bleak-looking loft of the
muny structure. .5.
Exhibit Spaces Divided.
Each exhibit space ois divided by
picket fences, which, with profusely
scattered ferns, palms and flowers,
make each booth resemble a little
garden spot.
Saturday morning the exhibitors
began to roll their cars into position.
The Palm room, the basement, and
the annex, in which the truck display
will be held, were filled first. This
work will be continued today and,
with but a few exceptions, will be
practically completed, as every car
must be in position by IL o'clock to-
morrow morning.
Seldom has an automobile exposi-
ton afforded a prospective car owner
such wide selection of models as
will the forthcoming dispay. No
matter what the price limitation or
how distinctive the body design may
be, the man in search of a vehicle
conforming with his idea OF construc-
ton and price without doubt will
find it among the cars on view at the
Auditorium.
The gamut of price runs from $365
to $500. An $4,000 creation which
was to have been exhibited could not
be obtained because of lack Of trans
portation facilities from the factory
| to Omaha, but it is thought $4,000
will satisfy even the most extrava-
CANT purchaser.
No Radical Changes.
An analysis of the creations which
will be displayed at the exhibition
indicates that the tendency of auto
mobile manufacture is toward perfec-
ton of the present design rather than
anything radically new in mechanical
principle
No chariot of ancient potentate was
half so luxurious as even the lowest
priced American-biult motor car of
the modern age. Durability and
sturdiness coupled with convenience
and comfort seems to have been the
objective of every designer and manu-
! facturer.
Mechanically the present show
does not offer much OF the new and
startling. Engine designs remain
about the same, the only distinctively
different type introduced this year
being the sixteen-valve idea, which
is an effort to produce an increased
thermal efficiency that advantage
which multiple cylinders give in even
ness of power impulses. And yet the
sixteen-valve idea is not so very new,
it having been successfully applied
on racing cars the last two years.
Sixteen Types.