The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1931-03-18

Of fabric castings he thought he was
lucky. Poor a design was respon-
sible for the short life Of the tires;
in other words, springs too stiff. too
much inspiring weight, load center
too high, and poor front axle con-
struction. Other engineering defects
contributed their quota to rapid wear
and shortened life of the tires. There
also was the tendency OF the manu-
facturers to undersize the tires.
This condition vas brought to my
attention rather forcibly m warm
evening after q hot day In midsum-
mer. A very we'll known and respect.
ed old-timer Of Bismarck. who in 1919
had bought q q from the company
that. employed me, drove up In front
of the garage and started to relate .
sad story Of tire grief.
1t seems that he had started that
morning from the Detroit Lakes re-
gion, and his days drive had been
| just one puncture and one blowout
after another all day long. He used
up all his spare tubes, spare tire,
! spare patches, blowout boots, etc. The
last 40 miles he trusted to faith, hope
and charity-faith that the last patch
would bookkeeping that it would. and
ready to accept the charity OF any
passing motorist in case another
tire went flat.
The language he used In describing
these incidents was lurid. and I am
sure it caused the temperature to rise
perceptibly. Oversize tires from that
time on for him!
Well, cars have changed a lot since
that time, due to advanced engineer
ing practices which among other
things have given us cars with q low
center of gravity, even distribution OF
! weight, velvet clutches, properly de-
signed front axles and steering gears.
The average owner kicks like a steer
If he doesn't get 10000 to 10000 miles
from a set of castings.
The methods of merchandising and
! servicing motor cars have changed In
this period Of years. Curbstone
methods of selling are q thing Of the
past. The modern automobile dealer
has a good sales force and q better
serviced organization to take care OF
the cars he has sold. This means a
| good stock of parts and competent
mechanics.
Is Day Of Specialists
During the first few years after !
came to Bismarck an auto mechanic
had to be an all-rcund man; he had
to be allie to make mechanical ad-
justments on any and all makes OF
cars. Your mechanic Of today is =
specialist. He knows one or possibly
two makes of cars, but he knows them
we'll. This also gives the q owner
better service at less cost.
In 1912 the Lair Motor Sales was
located in a one-story building occu-
plying the lot on which Is now located
the Dakota National Bank and Trust
company. About 1917 the Lair COM
pany built a new three-story building
on the corner Of Thayer and Fourth
st. A while before this the Missouri
Valley Motor company had built .
three story building on the corner OF
Main and Seventh st., which building
is now occupied by the Bank OF North
Dakota.
Chris Henzlar's garage, Of the
first in Bismarck, was located between
Fourth and Fifth Sts. on Broadway,
i where O'Brien's restaurant now Is sit
| uated. He later moved to q new ga
| rage on Main Ave-, now occupied by
the Corwin- Churchill company, who
| also are among the 0ld-timers. An
other one is M. B. Gilman, whose
salesroom and service station Is To-
Gated on the corner Of Broadway and
Second st.
! Lest I forget, I wish to remind you
| that Christ BertSch Is the oldest Old
| timer of them all. In 1912 he was q
| member of Bertsch Brothers, han
ding Fords, but now Is the 6tude-
baker dealer, located IN Main Ave.
between Fifth and Sixth SITS.
Another old-timer is Theodore
Quanrud, who was bookkeeper and OF
flee manager for the Lair Motor com-
pany when I joined that organisation
in 1912. A few years later Mr.. Lair
sold his line of accessories to Mr..
Quanrud, this being the start OF the
we'll known automotive accessory
house Of Quanrud, Brink & Reibold.
Roads Are Improved
In closing, I wish to say Z few words
regarding the roads Of then and now.
The advent Of the automobile has
brought a marked improvement in
the roads.
Cars Of those days had q top speed
of about 40 miles an hour, with An
average touring speed Of 40 to as