Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, November 28, 1909, EDITORIAL, Page 9, Image 17

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An advertising expert who read the proof of this 'Ad said folks wouldn't read it too long. We said one million
prospective Automobile buyers will read every line of it because it is full of facts of vital importance to every
man who contemplates buying a car. It's one of the most important announcements St udebakers have ever made
Along Auto Row
Work on Oararea la Frorraaalnf
Kapldls Preparation for tba
Show Ara to Bt Mad Earl
The Auto Hairs company, at 1:'4-Kurnnni
tieet, la one of thp n-w mfonri on Auto
f.o. K. If. (Joortniin In manager. Me l
an enterprlninn youna; bupn" man and Is
n automobile enthusiast. Hp will handle
th Ualth. Ttiln In one of the higher priced
cara and cornea In the tourabout fmir
pipennor and aeven-pasfrnper model?,
with 40 and 4o-hor?c power motor, and arils
for 1.V-00.
Work on the garages g piogrejfing
rapidly despite the bud weather. The Max
well people, aald Manager loty, will not
be able to get In thlr new home an early
a expecteo, bat they will be comfortably
quartered there before February.
Aulabauph, the furrier, has equipped hlm
elf to provide everything neceeHary for
automobiles. His atock embodlea caps,
robes, coats and many fine things for those
who are able to hava the luxuries.
Wallace. Automobile company will re
ceive a seventy horsepower Htearns this
week.
C. It. Shaffer, representing the Prest-O
Lite company, said yesterday that It was
not a I'rert-O-l.lte tank that exploded at
the police station when the automobile was
burned. He aald that tbe Prext-0-L.lte
which was attached to the car went
through the fire without being affected at
all. It was another manufacture of tank
which exploded, he itald, and which was
not near the car.
H. C. Barber, traveling salesman for the
Columbus Electric, fpent Saturday In
Omaha. He said that" the demand for elec
trics Is Improving every day. "For ladles,"
ba aald, "It Is the only car."
Kdholm Peters have recently secured
the agency for the Chase motor wagon and
will begin pushing It vigorously at once.
This car Is popular in other sections of
the country.
fiome years ago, when It was apparent
that electric vehicles would have a wide
use, the Studebaker Automobile company
engaged Hayden Eames, then chief en
gineer of the tleotrlc Vehicle company, to
undertake the task of designing and mar
keting a class of electric vehicles such as
would add to Studebaker prestige. Mr.
Etmea, following out his Invariable plan,
undertook the large task in a quiet way,
preferring to do the work and Itt other
do the talking.
By a systematic process and a proper
display of skill the plan has prospered, and
tt will come as a news item of more than
a little purport to most people that the
BtUdebaker Automobile company will now
CO Into the building of electrlo vehicles
n a large aoale, and In view of the other
efforts, in the shape of gasoline automo
biles, now well under way. It has been de
cided to mike a separate department of
the 'electric vehicle work. C. H. Tyler,
one of the able men of the Studebaker
staff, formerly connected with the Etude
baker Chicago branch, will hold away over
the destiny of this separated project.
Let It not be supposed that the present
move la a a bolt from a clear sky; on
the contrary, the amount of electrlo ve
lilole work already done by the Btude
bakers might be classed as large.
The new Idea la to take advantage of
experience gained, build cars In accord
ance with the dictates of this same expe
rience and place the whole matter on an
Independent footing, holding a department,
head of wide experience responsible for
the result. Mr. Tyler Is In the saddle,
the work Is being pressed In all directions
and Btudebaker electrics are being turned
out at a rapid rate.
C. H. Tyler has been appointed man
,((cr of the electrlo pleasure vehicle de
partment of the Studebaker Automobile
company and will represent this company
in all matters relating to the electric
pleasure vehicles, to act under the advice
and counsel of General Manager Eames
and to co-operate with and assist the va
rious Studebaker branches In the distribu
tion of the electrlo pleasure cars.
Following a week of most successful rac
ing at Atlanta, the Chalmers-Detroit rac
ing team, consisting of Joe Watson. Lee
Lorlmer, Billy K nipper and Bert Dlngley,
gave their contest manager. Harry L. Bill,
a dinner and presented him with a very
handsome gold watch.
lit presenting the watch Bill waa In
formed that it was given him because he
"waa such a grouch all aeason."
Probably Bill was a grouch, hut he ha
made himself one of the moat succtatyful
contest managers In the country. The of
ficials of the C'halmers-Leliull company
give him much credit for the eiiccesi.
which followed the "Blue Birds" all sea
son, and the racing drivers are equally un
stinted in their praise. But they like to
tell Bill he's a grouch, chiefly because It
taken hard luck to bring out the beat In
Bill. Tvlien he's winning his men don't
need cheering up, and there Isn't s much
. to do. BUI hates Idleness, and so nr.
drivers have given him a watch In ap
preciation of his grouchinots.
No car ever recclvud In Omaha has
created so much talk or attracted ao much
attention as the six-cylinder seventy horse
power. Thomas Turnabout seen In Omaha
now days.
I This Itt a short coupled touring csr witli
la mechanician's seat at the rear. I'ndtr
this seat, and properly enclosed, Ik a while
enameled receptacle provided with a drain
and Intended as an after I p. m. conveni
ence. The beautiful appearance of the or la
greatly enriched by the gun metal flnieh.
no polished braa being visible. Home I lea
of the stie of the car la conveyed in the
statement that the wheel baa inenur t n
Inches, and the rim la encircled by the
largest casing made in Amtriii, an
ennrtiuHij rubber shoe 3fxJ4 Inches.
This wonderful car is capable of from
five to seventy miles an h.ur on high
gsar.
The popular Oakland car la handled by
the Mclntyre Auto company. Thla car !ia
always been an attractive aprx-ering, fast,
reliable oar, and the Improvements In the
1910 models make It better than ever before,
the finishings being finer and the ear
Unproved throughout. The Thirty runabout
k-eMs for-11.000 and the louring car for
Y .. The Forty. In runabout or touring
car, telle for I1.7W4. All of the cart come
tUly equipped. wtUj magnet and lamps.
Price of E-1-F-"
Will FM Ee tocreased
Sore Feb
Flrsl
L,EST THE PUBLIC TAKE TOO SERIOUSLY the re
ports diligently circulated by our esteemed competitors
and swamp us with orders for immediate delivery of E-M-F-"30"
cars,' we deem it advisable to make a definite state-'
ment on this subject thereby adopting a course different
from that of other concerns who have raised the price of
their cars without giving prospective buyers due notice.
IT MAY BE WELL TO EXPLAIN at the outset the con
ditions which obtain and the results that must accrue
that have, in several cases, already appeared. Fortunately
we are in a position to do this without injury to ourselves
while others are, for reasons that will be obvious, just as
anxious to keep to themselves some things they know.
DURING THE PAST SIXTY DAYS prices of several
makes of cars have been increased $50 to $200 over prev
iously advertised prices. Some of these have been publicly
announced more have not. It's rather a difficult situation
to handle and some of them don't know just how to do it
without admitting a deplorable lack of foresight or limited
financial backing.
WE ARE NOT, CRITICISING those makers who have
raised. the priced their cars in most cases they had no
choice in the matter. Tried to compete with our match
less organization acm! facilities set their price to try and
meet ours and simply couldn't, that's all.
OUR FACILITIES ARE NOT EQUALED by any others
" in the Industry. Nor our distributing organization which
'places a car in the hands of the user for about half what
it costs other makers to make the transfer from factory
to ultimate user.
IT'S1 RATHER SURPRISING, BY THE WAY, that
just when the wiseacres were predicting lower prices for
automobiles, lol up they go. Fact is, there was no foun
dation for those predictions and the wiseacres weren't
wise to the true situation. Based their predictions on the
fact that E-M-F-"30" had set a pace and, of course, others
must follow it. .Well, you can't follow, you know, unless
you have just as fast a conveyance that is, you may
follow, but you can't keep up.
THAT'S WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW to most of them.
It will happen to more better bear that in mind before buy
ing a car with less financial backing, less stability and less
reputation than Studebaker's, which goes with E-M-F-"30".
Your "guaranty" will be worth the paper it's printed on,
you know, when the concern that "assembltd" your car is
no more. But we are anticipating.
THERE ARE SEVERAL REASONS for the increase of
prices and, so you will be able to apply your own judg
ment to the matter, w'll tell you the more important ones
. one of which may even force us, about February 1st, to
add $100 to the price of Studebaker-E-M-F-"30."
FIRST: THERE'S A BIGGER SHORTAGE of automo
biles of all kinds this year than ever before. Last year's
shortage was as nothing by comparison. And every day
it grows greater. Perhaps you haven't noticed it yet.
You will wnen you go to buy a car that is to say a car
with any reputation back of it, and as a sensible business
man you'll hardly consider any other.
COULD YOU READ OUR CORRESPONDENCE of the
last month applications from over ten thousand dealers
anxious to handle the Studebaker line you'd appre
ciate that there exists today a condition almost un
paralleled in commercial history. And the condition grows
more acute daily.
WON'T BE ONE CAR FOR EVERY FOUR prospective
buyers. That's the estimate of the best informed it's our
estimate also since General Manager Fames' tour, just
finished, during which he traveled 22,000 miles and visited
every important centre in' every state in the Union. Con
dition is unprecedented.
SHORTAGE ALONE WOULD BE SUFFICIENT grounds
for increasing the price of a car like E-M-F-"30" only it
doesn't fit in with our policy. On the same grounds we
could have sold all the E-M-F-"30" cars at $1,000 from
the first always has been four times as great demand as
supply for this car. But our entire plan is based on o,uan
trty production of a quality car with margin so small as
to place the price where it will create its own quantity
demand.
SECOND REASON IS MORE IMPORTANT in brief as
'ollows: Fight-tenths of the automobiles built in thij
country are what are known in the trade as "assembled
cars." That is to say the various parts, as motor, trans
mission, frame, axles, steering gears, bodies, etc., are made
in small machine shops all over the country and assembled
uy ine concern wnose name-plate appears on the ca
Only investment the so-called manufacturer" ha i a l.i
assembling building or shed. He can "pull out" of the
automobile business at short notice, take his "cream" with
him and well, where the buyers of his cars get off at is
the unanswctable question.
DEMAND FOR "PARTS" EXCEEDS SUPPLY several
times over. As - a result these "assemblers" have for
months past been bidding against each other for parts.
Think of that and trying at the same time to compete
with facilities such as we have! What's bound to happen
is easy to predict
S
THAT DOESN'T TOUCH US AT ALL. We have almost
as many millions invested in factories for making every
part of our cars, as 4hers have thousands invested in
assembling plants many of which they do not even
own, but merely lease.
THEY'LL ALL SELL ALL THEY MAKE No doubt
about that this season. Competition real competition is
a thing unknown in this business today. Three or five
years hence that's another question.
BUT THE THIRD REASON DOES AFFECT USAnd
that is why other makers are predicting a rise in price
of E-M-F-"30" predictions so diligently circulated they
threaten to swamp us with orders for immediate delivery
a condition which, while enviable in some respects, is not
one to be invited to as great a degree as we have had it
during the past year.
THE TIRE SITUATION IS ACUTE Most acute it has
ever been. Crude rubber has been soaring for the past
sixty days and now is quoted at $2.22 a pound! And not
from artificial causes but because there is a tremendous
shortage of rubber.
SOME MAKERS ARE HARD HIT by this those makers
especially who were "foxy" as they thought, in making
tire contracts at fixed prices when rubber was
quoted at 65 to 67 cents. When rubber prices quadrupled
there was great glee in the camps of our Friends the
Enemy for they thought the tire maker would be the
only loser. But soon it appeared the shoe was on the
other foot. Real shortage of rubber meant there wasn't
enough to go round and those who had bought tires low
must accept "compounded" tires or none. "Compounded"
is the trade term for shoddy tires. Made from discarded
O'Sullivan rubber heels and other refuse.
WHERE DO WE GET OFF AT is your natural question.
Well, we are in the position of the man who finds himself
with his elevator full in a season of shortage in the wheat
crop. Our tires will cost us more but we are "covered"
for all the tires we will need and our cars will be equipped
with rubber tires made from the best Para rubber the
world produces and by the best tire makers we know
Morgan & Wright. . ,
HERE ARE SOME INSIDE FACTS gratuitous asser
tions are worth face value, no more, and you are entitled
to facts on which to base your own judgment.
WALTER E. FLANDERS ANTICIPATED the rubber
situation as he has anticipated every other move in this
industry with an accuracy that has been the marvel of the
trade. He "covered" for tires for five years, just as he
"covered" for every other kind of material that goes into
the making cf a motor car.
NOW FLANDERS HAS A SUPERSTITION to the effect
that a contract cannot be a good contract unless it is so
made that both parties will be satisfied with it, not only at
first, but to its very end.
SO HE MADE HIS TIRE CONTRACT, not at a fixed
price per tire, but in such a way that the price of our tires
, fluctuates with the markets for crude rubber, Sea Island
cotton, labor and other items. See the point? He guar
anteed himself good tires and left no incentive for the
tire maker to skimp on the quality should rubber unex
pectedly advance as it has.
NOT THAT ANY REPUTABLE TIRE MAKER
WOULD, you understand. We wouldn't accuse them of
anything like that. But well to fill some of the tire con
tracts made four months ago, at present prices of crude
rubber, would break Standard Oil more effectually than
Kellogg of Minnesota. Besides, it's now a question of
which makers will get tires at all and beggars can't be
choosers. They are begging for tires any old kind of
tires and since the rubber won't go round there's only
one thing left the tire maker compound as best he can.
FLANDERS WAS ABLE BY HIS PLAN to not only
ensure the quality of tires with which all Studebaker cars
will be equipped, but to so make the contract that we get
first call on the output, not only of Morgan & Wright fac
tory, but of the two other big plants that constitute the
Rubber Goods Company of America which gets ti0 of
all the crude rubber that comes to America.
THAT'S WHAT WE CALL "FOXY" making contracts
that are two-sided; which provide for any change that
may occuf and at the same time guarantee always the
highest quality of materials. We are covered, as we said
before, for five years on all materials and on contracts
such as that above described. W'hat other concern had
either the foresight or the capital .to anticipate that far ahead?
WE MANUFACTURE EVERY PART from the Tig Iron
and the Steel Plate to the finished car not only motors,
axles and all other mechanical parts, but bodies, and tops
and storm fronts. All are sold whh the Studebaker label
car and its equipment. Magnetos, tirs and radiators
are made by specialists and we are secured against all
contingencies in the same way as on tires. We get our
requirements and we get the 'best.
PRICES OF ALL MATERIALS Steel, aluminum, copper,
bearing-alloys, etc., have advanced considerably over
the prices we paid for those which we are still working
up in the first 12,000 cars bought, you'll remember, at
panic prices in the panic times of 1907. Nearly 9,000 now
in hands of users. Balance will be finished about February
1st. Mark that. That's what sets the date. After that
we will be working on materials bought in the higher
market and still going up.
NOW YOU UNDERSTAND If you have read the fore
going carefully and thoughtfully why our competitors so
confidently predict that the price of E-M-F-"30" will
surely have to be advanced and why we are just a trifle
doubtful about it ourselves.
,E-M-F-"30" PRICE WAS BASED ON AN 8 margin over
cost of making and distributing. On the quantities we
manufacture and the rapid turn-over of the invested capital
that satisfies us. Just to show you, the E-M-F Company has
invested over three millions of dollars in factories and
additions during the last year all made from the
sale of E-M-F-"30" cars and on the small jnargin quoted
above.
BUT THAT MARGIN WILL BE CUT INTO and seriously
if rubber and other raw materials keep advancing as they
have. In that event, it may be absolutely imperative that
the price advance and February 1st will tell the story.
"WHY $100" YOU ASK. It's a natural question. Answer
is: because we are determined, so long as there is any of
that eight per cent left we will hold the price where it is.
Never mind just why suffice it to say it is a very essential
part of our policy of building for the future the far future
of this industry. We'd be perfectly willing to tell you
could we do it without also letting the other fellows into our
plans. You see, they all read our ads. that's how they
know what iieir next move ought to be.
ANYWAY, THAT'S WHAT WE PLAN TO DO. But,
when all the margin has been eliminated by advance in
price of materials, we will either have to manufacture cars
at a loss or cut the quality use malleable castings and
cast iron crank cases and such other expedients as our rivals
adopt to offset the difference between their facilities and
ours and then can't reach our price within $230 to $350!
Of course, neither of those courses would be considered.
NOW PLEASE 'REMEMBER WE HOPE WE WON'T
have to increase the price. If we were positive we would
we'd simply say so now and use less space. But when
1 the. eight per cent has all gone why we'll add it again;
and that, in round numbers, just about figures out $100
added to the present price which, as all the world knows,
is $1,250 f. o. b. factory in Detroit magneto and five
lamps included "of course."
HAVE WE MADE OURSELVES PLAIN to you? We've
tried. The facts stated above are open to easy confirma
tion from any reliable source. Some of "Our Friends the
Enemy" will contradict them naturally. And dealers
handling competing lines will also try to refute them -naturally
and for two reasons. First, self interest ; and sec ond,
from ignorance of the actual conditions. Any Stude
baker dealer can heap other facts on the above we keep
them posted.
THOMAS W. LAWSON SAYS he can always throw tht
"wise ones" off the scent by a ludicrously simple device
just telling the truth right out in print. Whether he does
or not is beside the mark we know it's good advertising
philosophy. There's a certain type of man who discounts
everything he sees in the advertising columns. Others and
they were the kind that got E-M-F-Cars last season when
thousands had to go without know how to discriminate
and these accept Studebaker advertising at par.
WHAT IS OUR OBJECT IN THIS AD? Own up now
you're puzzled! Aren't you? Is it to induce orders for
immediate delivery? or to distribute them over a longer
period so we can deliver to better advantage? Which? Or
both? Or ? Do your own interpreting. There'll be
enough of both classes to suit our purpose. Which will be
the wiser that's for each reader to figure out for himself.
We've told you plainly if enough readers doubt perhaps
that will best suit our purpose!
IF WE KNEW OURSELVES whether or not the price of
the E-M-F-"30" would advance February first why the problem
would be easy. In fact there would be no problem. But we don't.
We can't afford to advance it without due notice wouldn't be fair
according to our ideas of thing, So, we've had to content ourselves
with telling you the facts as we know them to date and let each reader
steer his own course according to his lights.
WE ARE MAKING FIFTY CARS A DAY NOW E-M-
r"-"30" alone. Each Studebaker branch and dealer has his allotment
knows to a car just how many he can have and to a day when each
car will be shipped. As far as the TirMrtit output will go, and as long
as your dealer has a car for present delivery left, you can get one.
If jpu are five minutes later than the man ahead of you impmsoble
to Ke' "e of course. If everybody who wants and E-M-F-"3l"
rushed in today of course we couldn't take care of them. But soma
always delay that gives the more alert a chance.
STUDEBAKERS CANNOT AFFORD to do some things
other concerns with less at stake can do. On tjie other hand, our capi
tal permits us to do many thingt that are impossible to others. Stude
bakers cannot, afford to repudiate any contract, legal or moral, made
either with dealer or ultimate user.
SO .WE WILL AGREE TO DO THIS. When vour local
dealer has exhausted his allotment for delivery prior to Feb. 1st, we
will stand back xxi him and you to the extent of agreeing to deliver any
car on which a bona fide order has beeir placed and deposit paid, for
delivery on orie of his alloUd dates any time up to May first. Such
. , car will be delivered at the present price whether conditions compel us
to increase it between now and Jhen or riot. I'roitdtdmark thu
(artfully provided nam of purchasr and fxxdenct of faymtut of
such dtfotxi is tent to tht neartit tudtl?aker Branch by next mail
after order hat been placed, Tht proution will hold good until
withdrawn by notut published in thu paper, after which date it will
bt inoperative. t ( . . , .
THERE'S THE WHOLE' STORY Let's see how many
will interpret aright. Who will most accurately gauge the immediai
future of this automobile industry and arofit by it.
$I2SO
F. O. B. Detroit
Equipment Oil and Gas
Lamps, Generator and
Tube Horn ;
MAGNETO
IncludecJ Of Course J
BERGERS AUTOMOBILE CO.,
1919 k"A !!NAM ST R E ET7
Douglas 363, - n Omaha, Nebraska
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