Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-03-12
Midweek of Passenger Car
Exposition Here Finds
Exhibitors Buoyant
NEW MODELS ARE FEW
Effect of War Reflected in Re.
finement of Designs.
Sales Are Brisk

Thirty-fourth street below Spruce
hnds the city's greatest passenger car
exposition 100 per cent complete. with
sales brisk and with prospects for a
year of record-breaking business suffi
ciently bright to warrant a buoyant
optimism among local dealers.
The show, which will close at 10
o'clock Saturday night, is being held
under the auspices of the PHILADELPHIA
Automobile Trade Association. AL.
bert E. Maltby, vice president and gen.
eral manager Of the Bigelow.Willey
Motor Company, is president of the
show committee and managing direc.
tor OF the exposition. Other members
OF the committee are Louis c. Block.
vice president: J. f.. Gomery, secre.
tary and treasurer. and John H.
Fassitt and Lee L. Eastman.
With the close of the passenger car
show at the end Of the present week.
preparations will begin at midnight
Saturday for the motortruck show.
which will open In the same building
next Monday and run to the follow.
'ng Saturday. inclusive.
First Sale in Racing Time
Honors for the first sale to be made
at the automobile show we're definitely
awarded yesterday to the Eastern
Motor Corporation, for whom their
Philadelphia manager, A. C. Maucher.
reported the sale of a standard Eight"
speedster by one of their statesmen
iorty-hVe minutes after the show
opened. Other sales followed quickly.
ana have been numerous.
There are forty-seven exhibitors of
cars, and eighty-four exhibitors of
accessories participating in the expo.
sition, All the allotted spaces are now
IulL and the exhibits have been so
csrefully rearranged as to give easy
passage from one TO another for the
crowds attending. Visitors so far
have. been especially pleased with the
decorations of the great hall in which
the show is being held, because of
their chaste simplicity and artistic
conception. for which Philip S. Tyre
is responsible. The wizardry of artists
and artisans has transformed the vast
interior of the building into a bower
of beauty.
The war. which has shown its effects
everywhere, has not missed automobile
design, and is reflected in the cars be-
ing shown here. 1t is too early, the
manufacturers say, TO expect cars in
which have been Incorporated any ideas
gained In wartime. but nevertheless they
predict that the car of the future will
showrits stamp. The war has not been
ended long enough for factory to have
designed car, put the necessary ex-
perimental models on the road. thor.
oushly tried them out and arranged for
the vast amount of detail required for
production. Consequently, the real post
war car cannot be expected before next
years shows.
Cars Show Refinement
This year the show presents what wise
automobile buyers have always bsen
seeking-cars that have been on the
road Tor such length of time that all
the minor faults have been detected and
removed from the cream of the 1918
product Even superficial examina
tior &C the 1919 models, however. car
ries with 1t conviction of their refine
ment. For. in fact, the 1919 models"
with one or two exceptions, are really
the products of 1918 that have gone
through the melting pot of refinement
BELIEVING that turning point in the
INDUSTRY has been reached, there has
been general house-cleaning among
automobile makers. who are droppine
models which they find do not fully
meet all their requirements. r.
Altogether, the automotive industry.
as II Is reflected in Philadelphia's show
has scored another notable achievement
in that within three months after turn
ing back from serving the government
rs a 100 per cent war arm, with every
avenue of its development closed for
nearly two years TO civilian usage. II
Is giving record exhibition of its
strictly civilian purpose.
Working with the zest and determine
tion that makes for success, planning
with an inspiration born of experience.
calm Of judgment and supreme conf
dence, this years show COMMITTEES can
rightfully claim the honor of giving
Philadelphia its biggest and best show
while Indications point to a show that
will rebound In its measure of success
10 the everlasting credit of the automo-
tive industry as a whole.
Fairylil<e indeed is the effect OF ths
surroundings on the visitor. There might
have been arguments galore anent the
matter of maintenance of many of the
cars exhibited--cars that were built TO
meet the great out-of-door requirements.
but the spirit of the modern motorcar
was in the decorative scheme. suggestive
as II was of the atmosphere every mo-
torist loves and seeks In his tours
through the park or over the mountain
by hill and by dale.
Sounds Keynote of Industry
Immaculate white walls form tbs
background, with innumerable broad
curving archways, topped with luxuriant
masses of southern smiiax and brilliant
ly colored flowers The columns are rich
in prismatic colors-touched by sunlight
and overspread by expanses OF deep-bIue
sky canopies. 1t Is a scene to arrest
and captivate attention at first glance
and grow upon the observer the Longer
he dwells under its spell.
Along the balcony facade at the nor,b
end OF the building, well remembered as
Peacock Alley by visitors 10 the show
Of 1917, are a series Of pictorial panels
IMPLYING outdoor life, represented by
dlaphanous figures Of Diana. Pan, Leda
end Psyche. famed IN classical lItera-
cesassse ;. rsss rvsss2- osissa e.