New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-01-07
She Is Perfecting the
Motor Car of To-day,
Says MearS
HER WORK is NOT IN
THE SHOPS, OF COURSE
But Her Demands Are
Heard by the Automobile
Manufacturers
BY CHARLES W. MEARS
The Minton Company

Woman is perfecting the WORK Vna'
man started when he invented the motor
ca- You will not find her in factories
instYucting engineers and designers
h,+ her influence is there just the
same. and engineers and designers are
uo~t,rc FOR her, whether they know
It or not. .,,,-
WIZ, motor cars were noisy smS'Iy,
80, isrkv. and uncertain as 10 'ne'
stsytins and their stopplng' tne 80
r,obila was very literally a man i"a
cbine' And in a most superior ~ ~.
ner. when the purchase OF o"- -
mn for family cOnsloeration' i'N' go.
accustomed 20 make speech SOM .' s'' .i,s,
Iite this: "NOw, mother, you A"o" ~
TO car Is q piece Of machinery ""u
.~oYlodre of machinery is necessary
IN order 10 purchase inteihgenuyi, 80
tnst Leave This matter to me, ana IL
80 tbat We get q safe and sausIae'or!
car" III. and lot
father have his way. ...ta
Rut the time came when tather SOueH
no longer ring in that machinery DIul
For I'm addition 70 being piece %
machinery. the motor car was also
fsmilv possession. Mother and tne
aLIdTsr and their friends found 1t
Snrvenient vehicle for their transporta-
49, end their interest in the thing
sfsadilv increased. They could see pos
sibilities in il. Also, they could see
defects. The simple JOY Of being pro
nelle5 bither and yon by a wagon that
had no horses out ahead soon lost us
novelty. However proud father mlsH'
be Of whizzing through the streets on
gasolene, mother had no dlhcu't! H
discovering that fathers machssheIy
buggv was as noisy as q drop forge
49, A. work on war munitions. And
"a noise she objected. She continued
10 object until father carried the news
70 the man who made motor cars ana
at length that man turned has atten-
tion 10 the elimination Of noise. II was
IN 1907 that the chain drive finally went
into the discard. That was mother
notable victory No. ]. The elimination
of the chain drive and the installation
of the bevel gear softened down the
forge dissymphony.
Meanwhile, mother had also discov-
cred that. instead Of rolling smoothly
along, the motor car progressed along
the highways and byways by q series
Of Jerks The loud chug-chug OF early
models was accompanied by series OF
jolts that annoyed everybody whose
nerves we're not dead. Father thought
this objection was fairly removed when
motor cars reached the four-cylinder
stage. but mother held otherwise. And
again she had her way. So, IA 1907,
the same year that saw the last Of the
chain drive, along came the siX-cylinder
motor. with It's stream Of continuous
power and its freedom from the obJec-
tionable Jerks Of previous types.
Man thought something had been ac-
complished In body building when the
Remembrance tonneau was discarded for
the side door car. The newer design had
at least the advantage that the door
would not suddenly and Unexpectedly
open and deposit one or more of the
passengers into the roadway, but those
who recollect the first sidc-door bodies
will have no difficulty IN recalling that
passengers generally bulged over the
sides and back, and came home from
their tours IN need of liniments and
soothing ointments for weary muscles
and bruises. A few experiences Of this
kind should have taught designers the
need Of car bodies contributing to hui
man comfort, bodies 10 be set in and
not on, but the historical fact is that
development toward comfort was slow.
and il is safe TO say that solid comfort
was not TO be found in motor cars until
about 1912. And it was woman's con-
slant demand for the improvement that
finally brought this change.
The present-day demand for closed
cars is also due TO woman. Father and
brother might be happy dressed up like
locomotive engineers originally IN
leather toys and later in full-length
dusters-but the feminine part of the
family never enjoyed dust. nor cutting
winds. nor disarranged coifures. And
30 the closed car has come. Woman
demanded it., and, OF course, woman in
variably persists until her wishes come
true.
But woman's influence has not ended
with the abolition Of noise. the elimina-
ton Of Jerks and the provisions that
have been made for comfort. She has
still other desires, and these are sure
10 be realized. The motor car must be
rs beautiful in appearance as IL is use
full in service. She knows that black is
nobody's favorite color, and manufact-
urers may talk about the utility of
black as a motor car coating until the
end Of time without ever convincing
her. Black may stand more dust and
weather than many other cOlors, but
black is black, and therefore objection
able.
Anv solid color may have the merit
Of enabling a manufactu er 20 make
thousand cars a day instead o. 999,
but, iuasmuch as she is interested in
the single car that she can use at any
one time, woman is politely informing
the maker that solid colors must go.
She does not tolerate solid colors any
where else, and she will not tolerate
solid colors on her motor car. Her
home has It's color combinations. her
flower garden has its color oombina-
tiOns, her personal wardrobe has its
color combinations fact. combina-
lions of colors arc an iuseparable part
Of her scheme Of life; and since her
motor car now fills large role in her
daily activities that car must fit her
ideals, else she will have none Of It.
And not only must her motor car
carry an acceptable combination OF
colors, but that combination must
avoid the commonplace. Styles In coats
and gowns and hats cease 60 be fash
ionable the moment they are widely
copied, and the same rule holds good
as to motor car forms and colors. Here
is where the human factor grows
strong in its influence upon the auto
mobile industry. No two human beings
are exactly alike, social life would be
intolerable except for the elements OF
individuality that distinguish one per
sor from another. Nobody realizes
this moro fully than does the woman
OF to-day, and, consequently she dvcs
wisely 70 assert her own individuality.
That she is asserting II as TO ncr motor