The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1919-08-24
SOME ARDMORE AUTO HISTORY

cotto had an auto and he thought
II ought to auto. but the auto wouldn't
auto as otto thought II ought to,)
Away back In the dim and hazy
past, about the time the Dodo, the lg
uana and other beasts and birds In
habited the earth, but relcgated 10 the
discard by recent act OF congress, ef'
fective July LIST, A. H., 1919, Mother
Shipton, woman wise In her day and
generation. prophesied that carriages
without horses would go, that man
would fly through space with the
ease Of bird, and that many other
wonderful inventions would come into
being for mans amusement and ever
lasting benefit.
Now whether or not Sister Shipton
ever took her own prophesies seriously
to heart, is without record. but 1t Is
mortal cinch that a few Of them
have more than made good within the
memory Of the comparatively young.
This assertion applies most forcibly To
the automobile.
Men are living in Ardmore today who
remember quite vividly the first JOY
ride they were induced to take in the
animated buggy, and they do not have
to stretch their memories over n very
lengthy period OF years at that. some
are living in Ardmore, even at this
day and time, who have never ridden
in ben2ine buggy, but their numbers
are growing fewer with each succeed
ing day.
The above was not agtating the
mind of the writer Of this screed when
the article begun to germinate in his
fertile thought factory, but the point
aimed at was a brief history of the
automobile, as II applies to Ardmore'
its advent, the phenomenal multiplicity
of its numbers paid and unpaid as they
have followed the initial machine. as
well as what the automobile business
means to Ardmorc today.
How many remember the first APP
pearance of the kerosene Cart" ON the
streets of the young city of Ardmorc,
what it looked like, and the impression
it created as II chugged its blithcsome
and asthmatic way down the main
stem, to the utter ama2ement of the
country visitor, who ga2ed in pop'eyed
wonder and proclaimed in awed tones,
that there amt no sich ANIMAL also
to the general CONSERVATION of mules
hitched to farm wagons. who seeing
the beginning of the end of their
sphere of usefulness as a means of
transportation, resented the fact by
kicking up their heels, braying long
and Justify, running away, and smash
ing up things generally.
For fear the mental strain would be
more than some care to exert, a few
facts and figures relative to the above
proposition have been gathered and are
herein set forth. They may not be
absolutely correct in every particular,
but are near enough so to satisfy
those interested, so here goes for what
they may be worth.
Along about the Ides of March,
1908, the first motor propelled vehicle
made its appearance upon the streets
of Ardmore, to the wonderment of old
er natives, to the actual astonishment
of the younger generation.
1t was a Stanley steamer of unan-
nounced vintage and doubtful anteced-
ents, but the fact that it would run
at all was enough to satisfy the most
skeptical that at least part of Mother
Shipton's forecasts had actually come
to pass.
1t was an "Itinerant," in other
words it was passing by way of Ard
more on its proposed journey when
halted here. That itinerary, so full of
roseate promise, came to a sudden and
untimely end in this city as will be re-
vealed later.
Something went wrong with the in
nards" of the "critter" just before it
hove to; q tire was sadly in need of
repair, and it was no doubt feeling in
that condition most aptly described
by the late President Grover Cleveland,
as "a state of innocuous desuetude"
which called for immediate service.
There was no such thing as a garage
in Ardmore at this time, in fact such
an institution was unknown, had there
been it would have been pronounced
garage, just like that, even as
KATE, in cafe, and an auto mechanic
was an individual never heard of.
However, attention, immediate intensive
attention was required in order that
the little car might be rendered fit to
resume its journey.
About this period of Ardmore's his
tory, Deacon" Jones was operating a
shop where, it will be recalled,