San Antonio light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1911-1993, 1923-04-01
MANY VETERAN
WORKERS WITH
BUICK COMPANY
Feel Genuine Pride in Pro-
duction of the Mil
lionth Buick.
THEY ALL WANT IT
But Factory Will Make No
Disposition Of Car
for Present.

Just how and when the millionth
automobile produced by the Buick Mo.
tor Company will be assigned is 9
matter of great speculation among
Buick dealers and distributors, &C
cording to Col. B. R. Webb, of the
San Antonio branch of the Buick
Motor Company.
"The urillionth car produced by
Buick happened to be one of the smart
model 55, six-cylinder sport touring
types, and, of course, they all want
this carr said Colonel Webb. "Not
primarily for sentimental reasons, but
for an intensely practical one-its ad.
vertising value. Factory officials feel
that they cannot let any one have ii
without being accused. of discrimina-
ton.
~While there may be less Of senti-
ment than bushes acumen in the de-
,rsiss. on the part of Buick dealers to
Vpossess the millionth Buick car, there
Is no question that sentiment FREEDOM
mates in the reception of this car on
the part of Buick employees. Thou
sands Of the latter have worked on
Buick ten years or more and feel q
personal pride in the accomplishment
Of the million mark. They stand
about in groups, looking fondly over
this millionth Buick, and a flood OF
interesting recollections find express
sion.
Mary Veterans Employed.
SStarting with the head of the or
ranization down to the humblest Of
the ranks. you will find many men
who have lived with Buick since the
DAYS when the future of the automo-
bile was still a matter Of grave
doubt.
AZ. Fl. Bassett, now president of
the Buick Motor Company, was in
1907 general superintendent Of the
Weston-Mott Axle Company, which
had a plant adjoining that of the
Buick and built all of the axles for
that car. In 1914 Mr.. Bassett be-
came general manager of Weston-Mott
and in 1916, when the latter was
merged with General Motors, he be-
came assistant general manager OF the
Buick. In 1919 he became president
and general manager. Thus Mr.. Bas-
sett has taken prominent part IN
the production of all but about 1000
of the Buick million.
"Then there is Cady B. Durham,
who was made assistant general man
ager upon Mr.. Bassett's succession
to the presidency in 1919. Mr.. Dur
ham came to the Buick in the early
days as assistant superintendent of
one Of the many units. Later he was
promoted to general master mechanic.
then to general superintendent, and
finally to his present position next to
the throne
Wfth Buick % Years.
9Some of the other present key
Ron worked on the first Buick built
after 4he incorporation of the COM
pany, twenty years ago. One of them
worked on the drawings of expert
mental Buick cars as far back az
1896. He is r. G. Richards, at pres
ent research engineer.
@William Beacraft. manager Of the
motor department, built the engine for
the first Buick car. At that time the
employees of the company numbered
less than 100. G. J. Ross, general
factory superintendent, has taken a
more or less prominent part in seeing
through the plant more than 9S5,OOO
cars. Chief Engineer Il. A. De-
Waters came to Buick in 1905, and
r. A. Bowers, his chief assistant,
shortly afterwards, so that the mod
ern Buick car Is largely due to de-
velopment under their guidance. In
the ranks there are several hundreds
whose service covers a period of more
than fifteen years.
~In the sales department, r. T.
StrouO r,au Sanara1 sales manager