Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-11-03
Motorized America
Py Frederic J. Hassin.

v.
i,stion ~ America is revealed rs one ol
,h, err. 4 and most astonishing ,ot
,,d,,str,I and social phenomena ny
farts and statistics which have been col,
l,,cted and published by the Nat,oh"'
Automobile Chamber of Commerce mere
Even though all persons over ~ wears
of agr witnessed the whole process ny
vhl,b the nitcd States has been hteraiE
,ut On wheels. one does not reaiiAc UNI
III ne considers hc>c figures what An eior-
MON, undertaking Il has been. or what
,r.,at ,hapc,. il hiss wrought Neither
dnrs nc realize. except 10y comparative
Getr,. how the tultrd St?trS has out
.tripprd I'll other nations ~ ils reG"'"
Rthoueh Baruum ard Bailey advcr-
,,s,d 4, ..horSClcsS vehicle as one ct
,be,r chicf attractions IN 1896. although
,bcr, wen, motor vehicle laws IN force IN
\ev ,,rk titv IN lS@9, and course IN
traction engines and carriers ~ d
hluhia University IN 1000, although ~"
,ntl,rrrt kinds of automobiles had heeh
hnil, ~ were bo,nG hullt m thus country
n, tSq5 and United States mai WAS cor
IectfSi IN an utnmuhrlc IN huii'do IN
l>qq. vet the real growth oi the auto
mobile * an industry ard = Sochei M
>iitutloD did not bcgm uuth al'oGt t"Io.
VEN npd, IN the 'rIted states and nNarlN
everywhere tic autAmohl!c WAS slul Ic-
gar,ied as a freak and curiosity
rix YEAR N>RvFI.
Tho actual conquest of America ny
tb, automobile has therefore taken place
m 10 wears. during which TIME thus nation
has hccomc hcvond doubt he NEST com
p,tclv mohilzci people that ever 'N-
ls,cd IN the face ~ the carth, u = ie"
small horSt-usinC tribes oi SaNaGt~ /"
,Nceptrd There are now nearly seven 'l'',
l,,n ,utomohilc> in the nitcd states ana
mere than million and hall - th'lh
we're made last wear There IS almost ono
aliomohlc for every II inhabitants :"
ta, | nlird States. which means 'tGa'
with httlc crowdIng half 81 the p"pu,
l3tiou +. :hlS country could gct dh ana
travel AZ thc same instant
Tbrr. are indeed several states n
winch thr whole population could clmn
aboard aud ride. leaving not Single i""l
III the ground Tins Is manItcStiN true "'
C,lIf,rrl, vhar, there Is one car Tor
.1cr, Cor 81 population. and Iowa WIN !
.,n, car .f,r ever, G.I.I 81 population. ana
n Nebraska with ono car for every 6.'4
h paoul,,lou Mississippi falls far beio"
M average. there beng Init on car Tor
every - ot population according 70 an
,siautic III general the western states
where wealth. Is evenly distributed, lead
IS ,hc anrauortlnn 81 cars To the popu-
latlou
Thus althouCh New York state Is the
la.rcc>t i,s,r of motor cars. New ork ~
c.rn,. close III the Mississippi mark wit
,.V one car for every IS - 81 popu-
Iatlcn The most completely mot"Tiz''
.ttlCS are pC> MONIES. Iowa. with one c"l
tar every i 93 81 population. ana t'maha
Nebraska. with one fer every 1o9 y,
rb.-, figures show il Is the automohHe-
riding farmer nf the West who brings III
No average. FOR the cities fall below th'
st.,. avrr,.c,.> Nearly two and hal
million passenger cars are owned ~ iafln.
crs m the nitei states Some TlTa
sections II the WcSt ere undoubtedly th'
most complctely motorized places ~ ~
world As once every man IN inc Yves
,,d. a horse. - now most men--and most
women-ride itncys
CANADA orr CLOSEST Rival
The extent t. which the nlted STATE
a. outstrlpped the rest oi the world
he Manufacture and Us" ol motor car
i almost l,crcdible Only Canada rlval
us AZ All III the Dominion there Is o.
auton0hile for every y Ct population
The Hawauaa ISlands come next VIII
\ car Tor every % oi the population. NeV
Zealand has car for every - 81 popu
l,i,oI.. and Cuha has one for every "
But when vou come 10 compare the nlje'
states with tho other great nations 81 IN
earth. oar lead j. foE i to he enormous
Great Bntaia has Tut otc car g cVer'
ia 81 population France o.e ca- Z
eve-, lqS people. and Germany one ca
a. cvtrv S'id peoplc
Those who imagine We 2re hscomlhs
- completely motorized that soon pro
ducfiou viii have "a laE un'u me dc
rrerla+ion Spar up dcmsud. should chee
.her1s, ives rs "a glauc, - = map oi the Wori
which h.- tat, prepared tn show tic mum
,e-s al aufomsi.ilc> IN Use - All parts =
Il Tbl> show that tho motorizatlou o. N
world nj, Just begun II the Europea
catiut-c> .u-t cted Il = pronahle tha
th.. relatively small number oi aui ONT
bic. oVucd due - fat isci thei
larger parr - the popalatoa !. too poo
~ CIV. any Snrt oi rSp'Fiafl"h- h'
,hi. auphe~ only 10 icU crowded cout
-re, Iuall ot eastern Lurope. II aii but
small fracflnu oi AfrIcA. aaG "a mere &c
=, -hc vast cXp.nse 81 Asa the iufn,ef {
motor ears ii u-o j. iess thai one TO ever
5o0u ot population. which means tbs
The mo.nrizatI3E of tho~e countries hs
uOt vc' begun
In most Of them. OF course, Il ca
not bcclu unt Il roads have bee- improved
blt experience shows that the road II
movement alwav- goes along with the Il
cr..a~. of motor cars II also seems 10 /
true that the thilIy populated parts
INC earth are the ones where motor cal
are most valuable IL cities passenger car
except when used hv professional an
business people for professional and bus
u..ss purposes are geHerailv luXur,
There arc street car AID buses which vi
take YOU almost i4uy1 here you want
60.
But out III tie great plains Of the Wes
a motor car II !. LecessitY 70 every nal
Il literally adds wears 10 ms lie 4
taking hln % Or 80 miles - town IA
traction Of time BE- used e spend OF Il
same trip liz truck puts him ln 'ouC
with markets tia' other Vlsc Ae cou!
not reach
30 the vast ~gae,~ oi ASIA Africa. an
Eastern Europe are undoubtedly waltz
10 be conquered by tnc motor car. Al
tins country exported bur : per cent Of i
production of motor cars IL 1919
These comparative figures are. slng
iarlv revealing Of the character Of Amerlc
They show how much more evenly wcal'
l. distributed IN this country than
any other on earth They show how tn
uniform abundance persists ~ the Ncs
and how iu the great eastern ccntcrs
is giving way 70 II sharp cleavage b
tweer Doverty and riches, such as eM