The Washington herald., 1917-02-11
She GETS THE Credit
FOR AUTO DEVELOPMENT
Woman's Demand for Greater Con-
veniences Has Advanced Industry.

Woman is perfecttng the work that man
started when he invented the motorcar.
You will not find her In factories instruct
ing engineers and designers, but her in
nuence Is there Just the same. and en-
gineers and designers are working for
her, whether they know 1t or not
When motorcars were noisy. smelly.
greasy. jerky and uncertain as to their
starting and their stopping. the automo-
bile was very literally a mans machine.
And In a most superior manner, when the
purchase OF car came up for family
consideration, man was accustomed to
make q speech something like this:
Now, mother, you know the motorcar
Is piece Of machinery. and a knowledge
of machinery Is necessary In order to
purchase intelligently. So just leave this
matter to me and III see that We get a
safe and satisfactory car"
So mother stepped aside and let father
have his way
. But the time came when father could
no longer ring IN that machinery blum.
For. In addition to being a piece Of ma
chinery. the motorcar was also a family
possession. Mother and the children and
their friends found 1t a convenient vehicle
for their transportation and their interest
in the thing steadily increased. They
could see possibilities in IL. Also they
could see defects
Chain Drive Discarded
The simple joy Of being propelled hither
and yon by a wagon that had no horses
out ahead soon lost its novelty. However
proud father might be of whizzing
through the streets on gasoline, mother
had no difficulty in discovering that
fathers machinery buggy was as noisy
as a dropAforge shop at work on war
ammunitions. And to noise she objected.
She continued to object until father car
ried the news to the man who made
motorcars, and at length that man turned
his attention to the elimination of noise.
1t was in 1907 that the chain drive final
ly went into the discard. That was moth
er's notable victory number one The
elimination of the chain drive and the
installation Of the bevel gear softened
down the forge dissymphony
Meanwhile mother had also discovered
that instead of rolling smoothly along
the motorcar progressed along the high
ways and byways by a series of jerks
The loud chug-chug of early models was
accompanied by a series Of jolts that
annoyed everybody whose nerves were
not dead.
Father thought this objection was fairly
removed when motorcars reached the
otherwise. And again she had her way
So. in 1901, the same year that saw the
last of the chain drive, along came the
six-cylindes motor with its stream OF
continuous 'power and its freedom from
the Objectionable jerks of previous types
The four-Cylinder manufacturer then
got busy and perfected HIS high-speed
motor, balanced his crankshaft, and
started to keep pace with his six, eight
and twelve cylinder competitors. The
aim of all was the same-doing away with
vibration.
side-Door Car.
Man thought something had been ac-
complished in body building when the
rear-entrance tonneau was discarded
for the side-door car. The newer de-
sign had at least the advantage the
door would not suddenly and unex-
pectedly open and deposit one or more
of the passengers into the roadway
but those who recollect the first side.
door bodies will have no difficulty IL
recalling that passengers generally
bulged over the sides and back, anC
came home from their tours in neet
of liniments and soothing ointment.
for weary muscles and bruises.
A few experiences of this kline
should have taught designers the need
"a NoA DONAtS SOAAA lOuNlI6 u q
comfort, bodies to be sat in and moi
on. but the historical fact is that de.
velopment toward comfcft was slow
and it is safe to say that solid COM
fort was not to be found in motor cars
until about 1912. And it was woman's
constant demand for the improvement
that finally brought this change.
The present-day demand for CLOSED
cars is also due to women. Father
and brother might be happy dressed
up like locomotive engineers-origi.
nally in leather togs and later in full.
length dusters-but the feminine par
OF the family never enjoyed dust. mol
cutting winds, nor disarranged Golf.
fures. And so the closed car has come
Woman demanded it, and, of course
woman invariably persists until hel
wishes come true.