Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1917-02-12
RECORD CROWDS
AT OPENING OF
BIG AUTO SHOW
Thousands Attend Eighth An
nual Exhibit in Emerson
Birmingham Building

Shortly before seven o'clock Sat
urday evening last thousands of brill
liant Mazdas cast their rays over the
highly polished models; statesmen and
spectators alike stood about waiting
for that witching hour of seven. With
a crash of melody the orchestra an
nounced the opening of the Eight An
nual Automobile Show and businee be-
gan.
Green and white is the scheme car
ried throughout, and grouped here and
there are beautiful palms, ferns and
tropical plants
Two floors of the immense Emerson
Brantingham building, corner of Tenth
and Market streets, are devoted to the
auto show, and each floor carries its
full quota or 1917's ultimate" exam
pies of the American automobile engi-
neer's artifice. From a casual eNami-
nation of the scores and scores of ex-
hibited cars, the uppermost fact in
mind is the careful attention TO the
comfort of passengers and driver alike.
Upholstery is more gorgeous than ever
before; seats are deeper; driving ar
rangements are more simply and con-
veniently located. Apparently, the day
of the enclosed car has arrived for
a great percentage of the manufactur-
ers have adopted the permanent" or
stationary top, with removable, or dis
appearing plate glass panels, giving the
appearance of what some of the MAX
ers call a Sedan Touring model
Few Motor Changes
Speaking as a whole, there has been
little, if any, change in the wheelbase
over former years. Also, there has
been little tendency towards motor
changes, most of the engineers appar-
emily devoting their energies to body
improvements, with but one object in
view; greater comfort and keener
sense of luxury to the owner Prices,
of course, are higher than last year,
which is to be expected, considering
the greatly increased labor cost but at
no point is there any suggestion of hav-
ing cheapened the product to keep the
prices down.
Every year at the Automobile Show
there is keen competition for the first
sale, and this year the laurels go to
new hands The first sale of this years
show goes to the credit of II. f. Will
1oughby. manager of the Velie- Harris
burg Co., local distributors of the fam
Gus Biltwell line. The sale was made
to Harry +. Rough, Sixth and Reilly
ss---.- OF the law firm of Rough,
Brightbill and Kline. Mr.. Rough
bought five-passenger Velie Biltwell,
with white wood wheels, to be deliv-
cred at once. The sale. according to
Mr.. Willoughby, was made at 7.35 p. m,
just thirty five minutes after the show
was formally opened. The first truck
sale of the show was put across by
I. w. Dill, of the Penn-Mar Auto Co.,
distributors of the famous Republic
line of trucks. This sale was made
to Edgar Weaver. of Saltillo, Pa, and
was consummateG within an hour after
the show was formally opened.
record crowd of first nighters"
was on hand and all voiced their ap-
proval of the efforts of the show COM
mittee in putting across what is eX-
pected to be the most successful auto
show in the history of the local club.
About 1900 square feet of floor space
is devoted to the auto and accessory
exhibit and AZ exhibitors, representing
over 125 models.
A fairly concise idea of the years
improvements may be had from the
following:
Apperson
The Apperson car for 1917 is known
as the Roadaplane. The same chassis
is used for either a six or an eight, the
two engines being interchangeable. The
six has a 3A by L-head block engine,
rated at 4S-horsepower, and the eight,
3s by 5-type, rated at 5S-horsepower.
The wheelbase in both is 12S inches. A
float feed automatic type of carbureter,
positive pressure feed fabrication, hol-
low crankshaft, vacuum gasoline feed,
dual ignition system with distributor
and storage battery, two unit 6-volt
starting and lighting system. disk
clutch of the dry-plate type, selective
sliding gear transmission, with three
speeds forward and reverse, and worm
gear type of steering gear. are a few
of the features of construction on both
of the new models.
Briscoe
During the year Briseoe has added
a new car, fitted with a four-cylinder
engine with detachable head. In this
engine the cylinder block unit includes
the exhaust manifold and also the up
per half of the crankcase. The de-
tachable head gives access to the valve
chambers and combustion space and the
left part of the top is taken up by
large water outlet connection for the
thermo-syphon system. The lower half
of the crankcase is made up of a
pressed steel pan.
Buick
During the year the Buick has COM
pleted its line and will enter the 1917
season with a range of cars including
small four, small six and larger
six. The smaller six is continued over
from a year ago without change. The
little four was introduced in July and
is being turned out in large quantities,
while the larger six is the latest addi-
tion and makes its appearance for the
first time at this seasons shows. The
little four is recognizably Buick
throughout The new siX-cylinder model
does not supplant any of the Buick
cars, but simply completes the line to
include a car of larger passenger ca
pacity. 1t is a valve-in-head type much
along the lines of other Bucks, with
the exception of a few departures in
the valve mechanism and in the drive.
Chevrolet
The Chevrolet Eight is an entirely
new car with a valve-in-head engine,
with double cowl body, which is the