El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1920-01-10
WEST LEADING
IN MOTOR CARS
Iowa Holds First Honors
In Per Capita Owner
shin Of Autos.

I An analysis OF the motor car sit
uarion in the United States today.
and then slight backward glance,
as 10 were. TO 1898, Wnen --N olu
+ HAYNES built Americas first car, Is
enough 20 make the average person
think some one has been playing
with Aladdin's Wonderful Lamp.
The change Is so marvellous the
mushroom like growth so rapid, that
the mind can hardly conceive OF It
trauspiring without the aid Of some
magic wand
S1an the comparatively short space
Of time between 1898 and 1920 and
what do we find2 More than six and
one quarter million motor cars
travelling over the highways and bye
ways Of the United States, playing an
essential part in nearly every large
business enterprise And the motor
car industry has grown and spread
out and developed until now 10 ranks
third in manufacturing Importance
Over 400 Types
Now. instead OF one car to gaze
upon, people have recently viewed
400 different types in the automobile
shows in the larger cities
A national canvass shows at the
beginning Of this year there were
225.192 passenger cars and motor
trucks. This represents a gain OF
p per cent over the 5,0l2,6-9 registry
OF 1918, and is one and three-tourths
times the total OF assess cars two
The ratio OF cars to population in
the various sections Of the country
is an interesting study and brings
out some surprising results BASED
on an estimated population OF 4u9s-
253,03O, there was at the beginning
Of 1913 one car for every seventeen
persons in the United States.
One might naturally suppose the
east would lead IN the number OF
MS ami
that the middle west and the west
lead all other sections In the SIX
New England states there is q car
for every eighteen persons The
eastern region, containing the dense
" populated states OF New York and
Pennsylvania, shows a car for every
tWenty-One persons. However IN
point OF aggregate registration. New
York leads the country with. 45s- s5S
machines
Contrast this with the middle west.
where there is a car for every y
people; the west, where the ratio IS
II to /, and the Pacific slope. where
every 10 persons share a car
Iowa Takes HOuOrH.
Iowa. takes first hOnors IN per
capita ownership with a car for every
SIS persons. The total number OF
cars IN Iowa registered 55esllp, as
opposed 70 Massachusetts, 1s3,491
cars. with one-third greater popula-
ton
Nebraska holds second place with
one car for every ~ persons. while
California is a close third, with one
for every eight South Dakota has
one In IS and Montana and the Dis
trict Of Columbia one in nine
The south. although il has been
making rapid progress in its auto
mobile education in recent years, stiu
lags behind, as the Il southern states
can produce only one machine for
every q persons. In spite Of these
figures the south has shown a larger
gain in the past two years than any
other section OF the country. This
is due, in a great part, TO the cotton
prosperity. In two years the num-
Der OF automobiles In the south in
creased from 5s4.4s5 TO 1.175,64 or
gain Of over 100 percent
In rural districts the automobile IS
a prime essential. The farmer Is so
accustomed 10 using it in his every
day routine that he is lost without il.
A fetal OF 2,S46.631 cars. or more than
As percent Of the country's registra-
tion. are owned in the Is states com
pressing the middle west and far west.
With a prosperous year before the
farmer the various states are predict
ing huge registration in automo-
biles. Who, then. says the auto
mobile Isn't a part Of our hfe2-From
the Haynes Pioneer.