A
THE OMAHA SUNDAY BEE: FEBRUARY 21. 1918.
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BETTER ROADS TO
BE THE SLOGAN OF
NEW. PRESIDENT
Newly Elected Head of the
Lincoln Highway Association
Tells of Work to
. Be Done.
In the election of F. A. Seiberling
as president of the Lincoln Highway
association, succeeding Henry B. Joy,
who has entered the aviation section
of the government service, one of
America's big men has been called to
direct the affairs of the most import
ant public liighway in the United
States, if not in the world.
Mr. Seiberling is president of the
Goodyear Tire and Rubber company
of Akron, Ohio, and brings to his new
office a record of achievement that
lias few counterparts in American in
dustry. After a varied business ex
perience, he founded, in 1898, the big!
rubber concern ot which, for 19 years,
he has been the active head, and
which, today, with its $110,000,000 an
nual business, stands a monument to
his business and financial genius.
Strip Named for Him.
He is one of the men who early
anticipated the need of a great trans
continental highway, and has, from
the inception of the Lincoln high
way, been one of its staunch support
ers, expending much of his time,
energy and money in its behalf. For
four years he has served as one of
its directors.
A 17-mile strip of the liighway, just
west of Salt Lake City, is known as
le "Seiberling Section" a tribute to
his support of this great project.
Like many other successful busi
ness men he is a product of the farm,
having been born near Akron, but un
like many who have sought their for
tunes dsewhere, he has achieved his
success at home, and has been one of
the big factors in making his home
city the rubber capital of the world.
But, although he has built up one of
the largest rubber manufacturing con
cerns in the world and still remains
its active head, he finds time to de
vote to other interests.
In Touch at Washington.
As a director of the United States
chamber of commerce, he has spent
much time during the last few months
in Washington, and is in close touch
with- the government's war program,
and alive to the importance of the
Lincoln highway in the great trans
portation problems that must be
worked out to make the government's
program a success.
About ten months ago President
Seiberling, sensing the transporta
tion conditions that since have ap
peared, established a long distance
motor truck line between Akron, O.,
and Boston, Mass., operating over
the Lincoln Highway from Pittsburg
to New York. This line is used by
the Goodyear company to transport
tires to its Boston branch and to
bring back fabric from its cotton
mills in Connecticut. The success of
this line has encouraged many others
to inaugurate similar lines, although
operating over shorter distances, un
til today the Lincoln Highway is
being used, to transport many tons
of important finished and raw ma
terials to the eastern seaboard.
The new president, although a man
pf big affairs, has indicated that he
will devote a sufficient amount of
his time to insure the carrying out
of the extensive improvements to be
made on the highway this year.
'Much Depends on Roads.
"This will be the greatest year in
the Lincoln Highway's history,"
says Mr. Seiberling. "Althugh short
ages of labor and building material
will affect our big program some
what, we hope to carry out our plans
for making this transcontinental
roadway the best in America. The
winning of the war may depend large
' ly upon the use made of this great
highway. We see this emphasized
now in the Jjansporatation of army
trucks under their own power to east
ern seaports, for shipment to France,
"A train of 30 army trucks is leav
ing Detroit daily, all of which are
operating over the Lincoln Highway.
Hundreds of business houses in the
east have purchased'trucks the mid
dle west factories and have been
unable to obtain satisfactory delivery
by railroad, and are having them
driven through, largely over this
liighway, even in the face of the
heavy snows and extreme cold
weather.
"We are alive to the great import
ance of this great roadway in speed
ing up our war activities and are
planning to expend approximately
$4,000,000 this year in actual road
work."
Stock' Dort Duplicates
Official Test Figures
Completing a trip which so closely
resembled the recent economy run of
the Dort, under American Automobile
supervision, H. K. Cpon of San Diego,
Cal., has set at rest all question of a
stock Dort being able to practically
duplicate the official record. Coon's
trip covered 4,568.6 miles, his gasoline
mileage being 24.3, oil consumption,
1,726.6 miles per gallon and water con
sumption S94.6 miles per gallon.
The Los Angeles to San Francisco
American Automobile association ten
day 4,658.4-mile journey, was made on
an average of 1,774.6 miles to the gal
lon of oil, 23.93 miles to the gallon
of gasoline and 601.08 miles to the
gallon of water. This trip was made
under the most trying and exhaust
ing conditions in the hot San -Joaquin
valley, when the thermometer con
stantly hovered about the 100-degree
mark.
Closed Cars for Winter
Driving Are Very Popular
"Winter may be the time of discon
tent for most people, but it is the
time when the sun shines for the
closed-car manufacturers," says Mr.
Miller of the Nebraska Glide com
pany. "The streets of Omaha prove
this. All along Farnam street and the
side streets of the residential sections,
the predominance of closed cars is
most noticeable. There are three or
four of them to every open car and
the people riding in the closed cars,
both electric and gasoline, seem to be
three or four times as comfortable as i
those braving the icy blasts m the
open cars. '
"There arc more closed cars in the
city then ever before and the number
continues .to increase."
PATERS0NCAR
FOR BUYER WITH
DISCRIMINATION
"Built for the Discriminating
Buyer" is the slogan of the Paterson
1 car, a leader in the Light Six class.
"And it's just what we say it is,
too," avers J. P. Linch of the Ne
braska Paterson Auto company, dis
tributors for the Paterson in this ter
ritory. "The Paterson is no makeshift au
tomobile," said Mr. Linch, explaining
the meriu of the car he represents.
"It is a real automobile built from
the ground up. The Paterson is built
for service not for show. The Pat
erson will undergo more gruelling
usage and outlive any car in its class.
"Not one point has been overlooked
by the designers of the Paterson.
There are no flaws in this car and
even the most critical fault finder must
confess he is stumped when he at
tempts to find something on the Pat
erson of which he can disapprove.
Thirteenth Omaha
Motor Car Display
To Start Tomorrow
(Continued from Face Tiro.)
driven vehicles which were formerly
manufactured in two classes namely,
the passenger car and the automobile
truck have expanded into scores of
specialized forms, until there is not
one phase of modern warfare which is
not connected in some way with the
smell of gasoline.
Remote from the grim theater of
the conflict, in cities far away from
the battle line, where are the homes
and firesides of the enlisted men,
there is the little runabout or passen
ger car lent by the owner to do its
bit in some apparently trivial way. In
every city authorities have only to an
nounce a Liberty bond campaign or a
patriotic rally and scores of passenger
cars are proffered by the members of
society.
The service rendered by the motor
vehicle extends from the patriotic
parade staged in the small town and
does not stop until it goes "over the
top" in the shape of a British tank.
Thus is revealed the heroic war role
played by the motor-driven vehicle.
From Runabout to Tank.
" From the Ford runabout to the
British tank is a comprehensive
sphere of. vital and unprecedented
service, which includes the motor
ambulance, the motor truck, the sig
nal corps cars, with their telephone
and wireless appliances, the mounted
anti-aircraft guns, the portable kit
chens, the telephone and telegraph
pole planting outfits, the thousand
and one service cars of the quarter
master department, the dispatch rid
ers and the officers' cars. These; are
a few of the minor roles playpd by
the motor vehicles near the trenches.
That this Ts Omaha's first real war
time motor show will be reflected in
various ways throughout the exhibi
tion. Manager C. G. Powell and the
other members of the show commit
tee have an enduring respect for
mighty Mars; and as a token of that
respect will use Old Glory as a basis
for the color scheme. JThis .doubt
less will give the visitor a patriotic
thrill that has been conspicuous by
its absence in previous shows,
" The novelties for 1918 are few and
far between. By far the greater ma
jority of automobile manufacturers
have been content to continue the
chassis of the past two or three years,
with but minor changes in the struc
ture of the power plant. What
changes have taken place are of what
might be called a "destructive" na
ture. Not that the motor car engine
has been destroyed, but that useless
and unnecessary parts have been elim
inated. Perhaps it is a blessing in
disguise for both the motorist and
the manufacturer that the supply of
steel and other materials looked rath
er shaky for a few weeks. The whole
sale manner by which many of the
makers have eliminated parts brings
joy to the heart of the man who finds
even the simplest motor car engine a
fathomless mystery. Although body
refinements have in no wise ceased,
the motor is now coming in for its
share of improvements. The day of
revolutionary changes in the power
plant field seems to be done,, but the
perfecting process is speeding merrily
along, and the"l918 show reveals nu
merous variations that put the 1918
motor in a class of its own.
Sport Model to Front.
Economy idea will be constantly
encountered in , all quarters of the
show. Motor cars for 1918, it can be
safely stated, are designed to con
sume as little gas as possible, with
every possible improvement made to
lessen the amount of fuel consumed.
The increasing cost of motor fuel and
the realization that as the nation be
comes more and more involved in the
war there will be an increasing
amount of fuel sent "over there" have
put the matter squarely before the
manufacturers. In a methodical man
ner they have' gone over every inch
of the car, lightening here and im
proving there, until the 1918 autrrno
bile -is economy personified. There
has been a tremendous amount of at
tention brought to bear on the car-!
buretor, and almost every car presents j
some slight change in this all-im
portant part. How far the car will go
on a gallon of gasoline and how the
carburetor will "gasify" the commer
cial gasoline of the year are questions
that every motorist has on his
tongue's end, and the manufacturers
are answering them successfully. It
is obvious that the big heavy car
can never expect to equal the smaller
automobile' in number of miles per
gallon, but it is also true that there
will always be a certain large class
who will buy nothing but big cars,
as compared to those who will never
get out of .the light car, class. The
heavy car of 1918y is the best of its
type yet produced and the most
economical. The light and medium
priced car shows like merits in its
class.
Eye" Single to Economy.
In body lines the 1918 show will
present but little that is new. Dur
ing 1917 there was evidenced the
growing popularity of the sport road
ster, and cars of this type are much
in evidence. This is another "stream
line" year. Awkward surfaces, un
necessary corners, ungainly protuber
ances are entirely done away with.
The sloping windshield, the graceful
top, the spare tire at the rear instead
of on the side and the control levers
inside are all features of this type
of refinement. Closed and convertible
models naturally hold stage center,
and the cold weather of the last few
weeks has brought them into greater
favor than ever before. Several new
variations of closed bodies are pre
sented, and companies that have not
placed particular stress on the closed
car in previous years are exhibiting
full lines of closed types. In the
closed car the interior decorator has,
as in last year's types, let his im
agination run riot. Every conceivable
blue is to be found, with upholstery
and tapestry that smack more of the
boudoir and den than of the motor
car.
The feminine motorist, as usual, is
provided 'for both in the mechanical
and ornamental furnishings of the car.
Whatever cars may have a year ago
presented any difficulties to the
woman driver have been so far sim
plified that, as one catalogue brave
ly states, "a child can drive our car."
The daily increasing number of
women who drive their own cars has
made simplification a necessity if the
car is expected to enjoy the maximum
sales, and to this fact can be traced
the ease of operation of the many
cars exhibited. v
A Glance in Retrospect.
Takiug a retrospective glance over
1917 and comparing last year's auto
mobile show with the one that is now
to open, one is struck, willy-nilly, over
the remarkable strides that the auto
mobile industry has made in the last
12 months. Last year the pascnger
vehicle makers of the nation turned
out 1,693,994 cars, according to fig
ures estimated by the national auto
mobile chamber of commerce. This
was 329,371 ahead of 1916. During the
last few months of the year the cur
tailment due to the use of many parts
of motor plants for the manufacture
of war munitions slightly affected the
passenger car output, but could not
pull it far down below the 2,000,000
mark. These cars that were manu
factured represented an actual demand
on the part of the motoring public of
America, and that demand will con
tinue throughout 1918. Quantity pro
duction may not be so great but there
will be cars enough to supply the
great demand that is sure to continue.
In one way the forthcoming show
is the answer of the automobile in
dustry to the many erroneous reports
that have been bandied about in
dustriously by rumor-mongers the
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WHY MOTOR IS THIRD
V Motor teulelr mauufaclurrrs in Cnittd States
t'oanwrelal rehlcla manufacture
5. Passenter Mhtcla manufacturers
X States In which factories are located
X
X
X
X
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Capital iiwaied Sr36.i00,0ii0
Workers cmrlojcd SSO.000
Wagea anil aalarics paid In fiscal rear ended Juna JO. 1017 ....J".000.000
Motor vehicle produced In last fiscal year .' l.SOtt 104
Passenger cara produced 1. OW.fllM
Commercial cara produced III JOO
Wholesale Talus of sentries produced In last year J!)1T.:0.!K:I
Paid for parts and materials by automobile manufacturers In last fiscal year fW.OOO.OOQ
Productlou passi.or cars in calendar year liSl7 1.705,040
Production commercial cara In calendar sear 1017 I'I..H
Average price of passenger cara produced In 1017 6 $ 7.0
X
last few months. For a short titncOothcr nation has the motor car gained
the motor car industry was beshroud
ed in a cloud of pessimistic and dis
concerting rumors added to the black
line and its necessity for war uses.
Automobile manufacturs were dubbed
a nonessential industry and was
threatened with partial or complete
suspension. Coal, steel, labor and
other needfuls were to be diverted
from the big motor factories. The
general viewpoint seemed to be that
the automobile industry , was to be
one more innocent victim of Mars,
and the merry little chorus of coflin
makers were already starting to ham
mer a symphony on the coffin lid.
But the rumors were built of the
customary rumor fabric, and not one
of them has materialized or been
borne but by official action. Gasoline
is still plentiful and advices are that
it will remain so; curtailing the
motor car industry to a disastrous
extent is to be scouted as a bad busi
ness move, and what the motor car
has done for the nation since the war
began has forever cleared it of the
stigma of a "nonessential."
Autos Part of Daily Life.
The dawn of 1918 finds the motor
car looked upon with a more favor
able eye than ever before, and there
will be visitors at the show who are
recent converts to the efficient, use
ful, economical gospel of the motor
car. Men and women this year for
the first time realize that the automo
bile has become part and parcel of the
life of the average American. Motor
ing and motorists in America can be
compared to no other country. In no
i
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such a grip on the people at large.
The working class in England, France
or Germany before the war did not
run or drive automobiles. They could
not buy gasdline for 20, 25 or even 50
cents a gallon. Motoring abroad was
largely a pastime of the well-to-do
and wealthy.
How different it is in America. The
city man of moderate means runs a
small car and gets an added measure
of health out of it for himself and
family. The farmer runs a motor car
and makes it do work that a team of
horses never could encompass. Sales
men sell more goods by using motor
cars. The doctor makes night calls
otherwise impossible. There are a
hundred uses of the passenger car
that have made it practically indis
pensable. This is no industry to be
swept from the face of the nation by
the hot breath of war. The atttoino
Wle has answered the summons of
Mars, ami it has stood the refining
test and stands today an approved
necessity. Omaha now has its chance
to view the newest products' of the
master minds of the industry.
In conclusion, a word as to the
men who have made possible the fine
exhibition that will throw open its
doors to the public tomorrow. In no
previous year has there been so ser
ious a doubt as to whether or not a
show would be held, and never be
fore have the labors of the show com
mittee been so onerous. However,
the men who were finally selected to
launch the 1918 show are of that
splendid type in whose lexicon there
is no such word as fail.
BIGGEST INDUSTRY
vim
mm
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mm
Marmon Dominance
Today And in The Days to Come
WHEN, in an industry, the law of diminishing re
turns sets in by whatever reason, the real leader
quickly emerges from the rest.
As for the automobile field, you
have seen the Marmon pass through
the backfire of wartime, unscathed.
Every day you meet this, car in
greater numbers in the motor traffic
of America, overtaking, as it has,
everything except demand.
Meanwhile, the Marmon has
added more vital discoveries to the
136-Inch WhttlbatellOO Pounds Lighter ,
2 SOS rAMAM sr.
NORDYKE k MARMON COMPANY,
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OMAHA'S FIRST MOTOR CAR,
FIRST SHOW, FIRST PARADE,
FIRST RACEJOID BY POWELL
Manager of Omaha Auto Show Spins Interesting Yarn,
Telling Development of Industry from 1898, When
First Horseless Vehicle Appeared, Until
the Present Day.
By CLARKE G. POWELL,
Manager Omaha Automobile Show1. ,
The advent of the automobile in Omaha is somewhat en
shrouded in mystery, but the story runs about like this.
Here 1 8 Trend of
- Construction of
Motor sThis Year
Here are the changes c f a year
in trend of motor and chassis con
st ruction shown in figures in per
centage:
1917. 1P1S.
Kour cylinders . . ,
S'x cyllndfr!i
KiRlit cylinder
Twelve cylinders
f'ono clutches . . .
. .36
..47
..1.1
.. 4
. . 30
as
M
l:i
4
:i
74
78
14
10
nj
fi
:4
c
is
M
7
7
81
70
2'j
G
3
49
28
S3
llk clutches "0
Vnlt power plants 77
Trnnsmlsaloli Amidships 12
Trannmlnxlon Willi reur axle... 11
Ther mo-syphon canllnn; :t6
Centrifugal pump conlltiR 64
Force feed oiling 22
Korea feed mid pplnxh E4
Plain aplasli 14
Vm'uunt fuel feed 74
C!rvity feed 16
Presiiur feed 10
Flattery lirnKlon 70
Magneto Ignition ,... .30
1,-head motors .....71
Overhead valve .1R
T-heml 7
Knight .1
Floating rear aula .Pi
8eml-f!oatlng in
Thrtc-fourtha floating ii
mm
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lore of motor car construction
than any other car of the past
decade.
And so, when peace shall at
length remove the physical limita
tions to Marmon production and
distribution, you may safely expect
to see this car wield the influence
overseas that it everts at home.
Phone See Marmon At Omaha
Douglas Auto Show. Exhibit
1712 Space on the Stage.
Established 1851: INDIANAPOLIS
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a
P ELECTRIC BUS FIRST.
As far as I can discover the first
automobile ever seen on the streets
of Omaha was an electric bus brought
to the Transmississippi exposition by
Montgomery & Ward in 1898.
The tu'xt to appear was a home
made car built by Otto Baysdorfer.
He stsrkd work on this car in 1898,
and had it running it. 'he spring of
First Factory Car.
The first factory car sold here in
Omaha was probably a one-cylinder
Wiutoii gasoline car owned ty Dr.
Cameron Anderson, who started run
ning it in the spring o 1900. A Dr.
Stroud, an army surjeon, stationed
here, also had' a car ?bout this time
or a little later. This as a Mobile
steamer which he purchased from the"
Wittman company of Lincoln who
had a branch here in Omaha under
the management of Guy I Smith.
Harry Sharp said that he could not
leave the manufacturing business
entirely in the hands of Otto Bays
dorfer and in 1900 he started work'
on a steam car which was finished
four years later. It came to an un-:
(Continued on Pag Coluram On.)""
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