Evening star., 1922-04-26

farm drove Henry Ford INTO mShiHB
automobiles.
Mr.. Ford says SO himself in an ar
ticle which he calls My Life and
Work." written by himself. In Nc
Clnre's Magazine for May. with the
collaboration of Samuel Crowther.
author and editor.
And Mr.. Ford still feels the same
way about farming: Not that he has
anything against farmers, he points
out. but there Is too much hard hand
labor on farms" Because he was
born on q farm and knew without
question Just what farming means,
Mr.. Ford invented an automobile with
which he hoped. first, to tighten the
farmers task and, second. to aid peo-
Pile without a lot OF money in their
search for enjoyment and business re-
lief
That, in q nutshell, is what Mr..
Ford's article gives as the reason for
the Ford car. Incidentally. It Is the
reason for his interest in farm trac-
tors and for lot Of other things
which have happened in Detroit re-
Gently.
The automobile. however, barely
escaped being watch. Mr.. Ford had
a desire to do fine mechanical work
and his ideas naturally turned to
watches, he says. At one period OF
those early days he had 400 watches
and knew what made the wheels go
around in every one of them. 1t was
then he thought Of the possibility of
fact. he says, he almost started In the
business. but refrained when he fig
ured out that watches were not =
necessity and SO would not be sold
"Just how I reached that surpris-
ing conclusion 10 difncult to state.
now" he observes.
But combination OF the farm and
the watch and the sight. when he was
only twelve, of road engine was too
much for anything plebeian In Mr..
er the possibility of machines and
after glancing at that engine. study
ing ii. watching changes, reading and
thinking, Mr.. Ford branched outeinto
the automotive industry.
OF course. says Mr.. Ford. the horse
less carriage was q common idea.
He had 1t. as did several other in
ventors. But Mr.. Ford figured that
steam was the best means for moving
his car. and he set about making
machine to operate by steam. He
fects. lots of them. He very care
fully points out most of them. When
he found he couldn't work out his
difficulties to his satisfaction he
turned to gasoline-and so was born
the Ford.
TT was in 1890 that began work
on double-cylinder engine" he
writes. because it was quite Inn
practical to consider the single cylin-
der for transportation"
Shortly after that the farm was
left behind definitely and completely,
when Mr.. Ford went to Detroit as an
engineer and machinist for the De-
troit Electric Company at exactly s45
| a month. The job wasn't much In
| itself, but its great beauty lay in
that it kept him out in his work
! employed 1t.
Two years later Detroit got thrill.
Chug- -chugging down its main streets
came the gas-buggy. In the seat was
| of frightened horses and curious peo-
Pile. In front of 1t was a bulwark
Of wondering thousands. Henry Ford
| had found way to ride without
horses to drag him.
The machine, however. was slight
problem. To begin with 1t blocked
| traffic. Not that 1t stalled. but every
time Mr.. Ford stopped the crowd
started. and he could not. In safety.
leave the car a moment. Always
there was some curious soul who
would climb aboard. play with the
brakes or the clutch and then trouble
commenced.
Finally, it came to a showdown with
the city authorities. At last. writes
Mr.. Ford-although there were no
speed laws, no traffic ordinances. he
had to gea a permit from the mayor
to operate the machine.
"Thus for time. he continues,
II enjoyed the distinction of being
the only licensed chauffeur In the
country"
Mr.. Ford ran that first machine
1 900 miles until 1896. and then sold
it. 1t took him four years to make
the first sale of Ford automobile,
but he Immediately did what he has
done since-put his profits into build
ing a new and better car.
All this time Mr.. Ford was working
as an electrician with the electric
company. He had become foreman
at S125 a month, but his gas engine
experiments were not popular at the
shop. The trouble was they be-
lieved in electricity completely. and
were at least mildly skeptical about
! gas.
Fairly soon. therefore. Mr.. Ford
left the electric company. That was
when a group of men willing to take
a chance stepped in and organized
the Detroit Automobile Company.
Mr. Ford was chief engineer. He
owned a small block of stock and 1t
was his car they sold. There were
disagreementS over questions of
finance and auto development, and
Mr. Ford quit. He took his patents
with him, opened the famous one