Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1922-01-16
MOTORS ON PARADE

TT WOULD be easy--it would be, indeeu,
i almost pleasant--to start noisy con-
troversy with folk who insist that there are
no clearly discernible signs of creative art
sense in America and that we, as a people
have yet TO develop that indispensable quail
ity Of civilized minds.
Isn't il fairer and even wiser to believe
that an ability to appreciate and create
beautiful and significant forms is naturally
inherent in all people. like curiosity or the
sense of sight or hearing, and thnt 1t Is
realistically manifested In new and novel
ways unfamiliar in tradition to meet the
changing needs of particular times, places
and environment?
The creative art sense Of America is re-
vCalcd in many Of the modern skyscrapers,
in monumental bridges and much of the
magnificent machinery of modern industry
through which gifted minds have brought
about truly exquisite balance Of immense
physical forces that Is in itself proof OF a
restless and far reaching imagination.
To admit that creative impulses may be
expressed otherwise than in paint or bronze
or marble is 10 admit that the modern auto
mobile is worthy Of the annual salons in
which It is paraded for the delight of the
multitude. The automobile is an achieve
mcnt of human imagination. And the man
who goes fascinated from machine to ma
ing It. n connoisseur of artistic values.
Michael Angelo. versatile as he was. never
slaved for qualities more elusive than those
which are necessary in a perfectly designed
camshaft, a device that can be Rs subtly
and variousy potential as q we'll balanced
mind. The modern motorcar performs its
miracles only because OF something very
much like magic operating, as the engineers
say. under the hood" Ford was an artist
of sorts who expressed himself in n magnetic
of revolutionary design. And if 1t were not
for u multitude of ADLER men who think
enough Of steel to work with 1t as patiently
as earlier artists worked with gold and
paint multiple cylindcred motors and the
open air life which the moderate priced
family car brings to almost every one nova
days would be impossible.
The romantic sense which conventional
works Of art evoke and stimulate in the
average man answers swiftly to the impli.
cations that radiatc from motorcar. II
is something. surely. to make OF metals q
thing half alive, a thing of energetic obcdi
ence which actually makes definite claims
to a man ) loyalty and his sense of graft
tude.
Why will the owner of IN automobile
actually lie for the honor of his particular
machine-whcther il be a fat and burly
monster of power or an unw0shed and rerR-
less looking miniature devilwugon years and
years old? The genius Of man has put spirit
into these things. The roads they have
Travelled, the far places and green TO WHICH
they have ficked their owners. the hills they
have climbed, the wild flights they have
made in the line of duty, the races they have
won for undeserviug drivers, have left traces
in and on them and given them a quality of
character almost poignant. Because they
are mysterious, because few people know
why they 60 at all. mOtorcars are wonderful.
Behind them and largely responsible for
them are the marvellous mechansms in
which the restlessly aspiring genius of Amer
lea is revealing itself-dcviccs that can al
most think, devices that seem to have brains
Of their own.
The motOrcar industry. like tho motorcar
itself, is packed with undiscovered romance.
1t has all the courage and energy and vcr-
satility OF youth. For all its elaborate ad-
vertising 1t is still inarticulatc. 1t hasn't
been able TO tell its own wonderful story
or do justice to the gcniuses who people It.
In the far future We may be permitted 10
read Of new and imposing motorcars with
"cnmshaft by Jones' or "motor BY Brown
or ignition system by ,inks." and then
there shall b" recognition for some of the
able artists Of the times. For. after all.
when you are going up hill or down at fifty
an hour or hitting it for the distant horizon
or for home, you have moro than metal to
thank for your sense of delight and security
You are being propelled by the spirit Of some
anonymous genius or other who translated
in terms Of alloys or design the lin. integrity
Of his own mind.