The New York herald., 1922-01-08
TRANSPORTATION
BIG NEED OF MAN
Automobile Industry, Filling
Great Want, Will Continue
to Grow.
by @. s. MOTT.

BY @. 8. MOTT.
Vice President General Motors Corpora
ton.
Humanity's progress through the ages
has been measured In terms of trans
portation. In the beginning II man
wanted or was required to move him
self. his family or his possessions he
relied upon the human back. II he de-
| sired to communicate thought he nade
| signs for those near him. afterward U.s.
ing rudhnentary language: for those at
q distance he was obliged to travel in
person In order to deliver a message
or send messenger, who transmitted
his thoughts In as well remembered a
form as he was capable of. Now man
talks from continent TO continent with
no more labor than the conception Of
a thought. A stenographer, transcribcs
his ideas. q cable company transmits
and delivers them. or the individual may
project his voice over land and sea.
The transference of physical bodily
objects Is no longer a matter Of labor
on the part of the Individual. The COM
mon carriers of the natiops transport
him and his effects wherever he wills.
1t was q tremendous advantage for ex-
listing and future humanity when the
first crude concept of wheel crept into
the mind of some forgotten man, to be
utilized by him and his fellows In lift
ing burdens from human backs. Imag-
Inc world without wheels or their pos
sible equivalent. 1t is unthinkable!
Just as the telegraph, cable. telephone
and wireless companies !. have moved
ssvfftiy afexd m the dcve1opment Of
multiplying and disseminating the ideas
of man, so have the railroads, steamships
and automobile companies moved with
dizzying speed in producing and placing
at the disposal of civilization convent
ent means of physical transportation.
Greater safety. comfort and speed than
were conceivable less than twenty-five
years ago are available In transporta-
ton on every hand to-day. Improved
railroad roadbeds. minimizing the possi-
bility of accident and permitting rapid
and comfortable travel, greatly improved
rolling stock and highly trained opera
tives. offer general transportation on
land. Ocean and lake lanes, carefully
charted and sounded, master produc-
tions Of the builder of vessels. make
travel by water possible in luxury and
speed almost beyond belief.
The measure of a country's prosperity
Is In it's mileage of roads available for
quick and safe moving of mankind and
his effects. And judged by this stand
ard how enormous has been and is the
influence OF the motor vehicle with self
contained power. The world began to
grow at a new rate and civilization ex-
panded in directions undreamed of when
the self-propelled means of transporta-
tion were first accomplished. Automo-
biles literally forced the construction OF
good roads, that the exchange of COM
modities upon which civilization subsists
made available for dwelling, for manu-
facture and for agriculture that might
have remained for decades Isolated from
communities which they could serve and
by which they could be served. When
all is said the problem of securing
speedy and economical distribution Of
commodities Is one that touches all hu-
manity. Upon It depends mans exist
ence.
The old Oriental writer's possessed high
ly developed and fertile imaginations.
and Il Is noticeable that their highest
flights he'd to do with rapid travel. The
magic carpet represented an ideal with
an undraamed of realization. Every man
longed to possess the seven league boots
OF fable The transportation OF Alad-
dins enchanted palace from one place
10 another intrigued the imagination OF
those who listened breathless to the
story. And all OF these things were
talked of when civilization was still
creeping on all fours.
Capt Nicholas Joseph Cugnot. n
Frenchman, invented and operated the
first motor driven road Vehicle that ac-
tually moved along highway under its
own power He is thus the father OF
the automobile industry. The last ma
chine he built, in 1869. was placed in
the Conservatory of Arts and Trades In
Paris. Nineteen years later oliver
Evans. Philadelphian, built the first
self-propelled vehicle constructed in
America.
The automobile was waiting for the
right kind of fuel and when gasoline
became an established article OF manu-
facture in the early COS its possibili-
ties were seen but not fully realized.
BY 1879 the motor and the fuel came
together. and May OF that year George
b. Selden of Rochester. ~. Y. took out
the first paten. on n gasoline driven
motor to propei n road vehicle. Charles
| r. Duryea in 1892 built the first Afneri-
can gasoline automobile that would run
Henry Ford followed him a year later
| and Elwood Haynes came a year later
still. IL was not until April /, 1898,
that the first sale TO an individual out
side the manufacturing companies was
made. on that date Alexander Wintcn
sold car to Robert Allison. OF Fort
Carbon. Pa. The first Oldsmobiles were
marketed In the same year.
Every Improvement in serving civili-
cation meets with opposition, and the
automobile has been no exception. When
Mr.. Allison bought his first car there
were nearly 20,000.000 horses in the
country, and their owners and breeders
bitterly opposed the innovation that was
destined before long 10 replace 80 many
Of these animal workers.