The Washington times., 1919-04-26
Story of Cadillac
One of Romance and
Also of Efficiency

Some people and some producers
acquire efficiency. others have effl-
! cheney thrust upon them; but rarely
do they inherit it. -4...
The Cadillac car is one Of the few
that inherited it.
Away back in the days of the Co"
lumbia chainless bicycle, firm was
engaged in supplying this then known
wheel with various parts that re-
quired extreme accuracy. This hCL1
was known as the Leland & Faulconer
Company. The senior member OF
which, Mr.. Leland, had formerly been
connected with the well-known stand
ard tool company of Browne & Sharpe,
of Providence, r. I. This firm has
been famed for years as being one
of the most efficient makers OF. ac-
curate measuring tools and instrd-
ments in the world. The knowledge
gained by Mr.. Leland in this factory
is seen today in the present 100 per
cent efficient Cadillac. Among the
engines that the company of Leland &
Faulconer supplied and used by what
was known as the Cadillac Automobile
Company and the machines so made
were of such a perfect type that the
Cadillac people saw IL to their ad-
vantage to amalgamate their interest
with the Leland & Faulconer concern,
and the Cadillac Motor Car Company
was born in 1902.
History Is Romantic.
The history of this wonderful car
has many romantic features, among
which might be mentioned the time
when, for months and months they
kept the automobile world wondering
what they had ''up their sleeve"
Never was the manufacturing of an
Improvement so jealousIy guarded as
was the conception of the original
eight-cylinder motor. This motor was
due to the ingenuity Of Vice President
few months in the United States,
where he had come from Glasgow,
Scotland, he was engaged in design
ing the Cadillac V-type engine, one
of the greatest secrets in the history
of automobile ingenuity.
Mr.. White came to this country IN
cognito, and was introduced as "Mr
David Wilson, of the Phoenix Manu-
featuring Company" With one as
sistant he went to various factories
in the East where patterns were
made and parts built to his Epecifi-
cations. For the most part the work
was done in small and obscure shops.
AS an example of the precautions
taken, the forked connecting rods
were manufactured In one place and
the straight connecting rods in an
other, so no one would associate
them and gain a possible clue. Those
who even ventured to guess what he
was doing were under the impression
that 'Mr. Wilson" and his assistant
were working on an aeroplane en-
gine. In fact. one person was very
solicitous about him and advised him
not to risk his life in the air.
Made at AIldniEht.
The first crankcase casting was
made in small foundry in Worces-
ter, Mass, at about midnight. and
the sand vas cleaned out Of the
casting in the light OF the automo-
bile headlsmps in the yard behind
the building.
The parts were shipped to Detroit
separately. The cylinder blocks made
the journey in a Pullman car.
The assembling continued day and
night for several weeks in an old
one-story shack on the bank Of the
Detroit river, several miles from the
Cadillac factory. The only ap-
proach to the building was through
a devious aIleyway. The few per-
sons who knew the secret and
worked on the car, when they visited
the hidden workshop, left their cars
several blocks away on a main
street and never approached the
building in groups. All OF the win
dows in the little shop were frosted,
and armed men guarded the build
ing day and night.
Out OF the many thousands of men
employed by the company perhaps
there were a total of twenty-five who
knee the secret. They were the most
trusted men and the oldest from the
point Of service in the concern. The
drafting was done behind locked doors
in a downtown office building, and at
night the drawings were kept in a
vault. No one learned the secret un-
til the company was ready to make Il
known. Not one man murmured. It
was one OF the finest examples Of 10y
atty ever displayed by the employees
OF any concern.
The First Try-Out.
The first engine was finished at
about 3 o'clock one afternoon. Mr..
White and a number Of other officials
were present when she started to turn
over on her own power for the hrstI
time. They all stood around the en-
gine with a feeling that a big job had
been completed. Here is the quietest
demmed engine in Detroit" is the way
Mr.. White, with a far-away look in
his eyes, is said to have voiced his
feelings.
When the car was tested it was
driven only in the back streets Of
Detroit. When "BiIl" Blaine, who did
the testing, thought he saw anyone
looking at him suspiciously, he opened
the cut-out on one side, and to all ap-
pearances was driving a four-cylinder
car.
The idea prevailed in the automo-
bile world that the Cadillac mad
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