The Bismarck Tribune Newspaper, July 23, 1918, Page 3

a TUESDAY, JULY 23, 1918. .' The Greatest pRihy @ fA ‘True and ea ‘Story of the Automobile erica as aForcein Am By John N. Willys O YOU KNOW that right now there are 5,000,000 motor vehicles in use, or one to every twenty persons in the United States? In these cars, twenty-five mil- lion people,.one fourth of the pop- ulation, could be transported 100 miles or more in a single ~", day. Only the first filling of gasoline would be needed for the journey. Before the war produced unheard-of condi- tions, it is not astonishing that people had paid little attention to these matters and had not analyzed the usefulness of the automobile. The manufacturers themselves believed their splendid sales organizations to have been responsible for their marked sales increases, when as a matter of fact, the motor car had come to fill a demand which hadyexisted fot centuries. "But now we have stopped to analyze the food ‘we eat, the clothes we wear and the time:we can save. ‘How then‘does the automobile fit into this big plan? Who uses it? There was only one way to find out definitely and that was to ask the people who owned ‘and operated cars. This was accomplished by getting ‘an expression from everyman ‘Who purchased an Over- ‘and car in 1917, showing the occupation in which he was engaged. This information has been tabulated in clas- isifications by trade. to conform with the census figures. Investigation Proves Usefulness" The result. of this investgation,when charted, show& some interesting figures. The first one is that this survey indicates that over 80 percent. of automobile use is for business purposes. The next great fact, gained ut a glance, was that the men whose business depended upon covering a great deal of ground in a short space of time were its largest pur- chasers. While these figures apply only to the 1917 production of Overland cars, we feel that we may safely assume that approximately the same divisions by trades are applicable to auto- mobile ownership in gen- eral. We have. therefore assumed this to, be the case in our conclusions. Shall we expect to find automobiles in the city alone? Look at the first occu- pational division of the chart. The great Amer- ican farmer, representing 33.2% of the population of the country, bought 53.1% of the automobiles last ear. The farmer is buying automobiles because they ave done more to lighten labor and change his entire plane of living and doing business than any other inyen- tion since the harvesting machine. Motor Cars Save Food The government estimates that it requires five acres of ground to support a horse. On this basis, assuming. that each automobile on a farm replaces one horse, the, auto- mobiles in use on farms today alone release more than 10,000,000 acres of land—sufficient to ‘support 3 1-3 mil- lion people. P In the business of farming the automobile has become invaluable. With it one farmer can raise more products and reach more markets. It helps him to make up for the depleted labor supply and at the same time, aids him in cultivating more acres himself, more intensively. The bushel of wheat in the granary is not doing any good until it gets to the mouth of the fighter. This requires trans- portation. And here the automobile not only helps to raise more crops but transports them as well. ~ The combined daily travel of all the automobiles in the United States represents a distance o 1600 times around the world. So the motor car is helping the farmer raise more wheat with less men, carry it to the markets and buy more government bonds with the proceeds which could not be his without the aid of the automobile. In harvest time, a needed repair part no longer delays the farmer. His son, daughter or wife quickly goes to town and returns with the needed part in so short a time that the delay is negligible. But think of the chifnge it has wrought in his daily life. Pass these machines on the way to and from the city markets, loaded with butter, eggs, produce and perishable products. The automobile has made the farm 30 miles from town with the use of a motor car as valuable as the one 5 miles away that depends upon the horse. The estimated pos- wv sible annual pas- senger mile service of motor cars is about 60,000,000,000, as compared with 35,- - 000.000,0 Aa 8 BISMAREK DAILY ‘TRIBUNE ' OY ANON AGRICULTURE MY; Tn FORESTRY Uy ANIMAL- HUSBANDRY 93.1 MULAYS AGB) Increases Value ct Farms You need only to refer to any government report covering the increase of Jand values to sce that the total amounts-to millions of dollars on both farm and suburban property. The isolation of the country is gone and in its place have come the educational and market advantages of the city, more contentment on the part of the farmers’. fam- ilics. The combined advantages of the city and_ the country belong to the farmer with the motor car. It ‘is no longer a matter of the farmer being able to afford an automobile, he can no longer afford to be without one. For the farmer without an automobile pays for it whether he buys it or not. : Again, the “trade” classification of the chart shows a large percentage of cars owned and again the cause. For this division is comprised largely of salesmen. This clas- sification embracing 9.5% of the population owns 18.9% of the automobiles. These men have found that with the aid of the motor car they can make themselves much more -effective in their work. Obviously, salesmen in these days * must make themselves more ,effictent. rt y Many a salesman is adding to his territory that of somcone in the service. T asked one of the greatest and most important food concerns in America what the motor car means to them in their business. / A Time Saver for Big Food Concerns Their answer was typical of the saving in time, railroad facilities and man power that the automobile is making. These people told me that the salesman with an_auto- mobile could cover from 10 to 20% more ground. In the city the salesman can call on the trade more frequently. In other words, the automobile is the equivalent of 10 to 20% extra man power. The motor car has been an invaluable aid to men in professional service as is shown by the ‘fact that in this classification representing 4.4% of the population, 7.3% of the automobiles are owned. | Here in. this highly im- portant occupational division we find: the-physician called out in the middle of the night, or,speeding. to save a life by prompt response to an emergency call. We also find him taking care of more patients over a wider area to make up for some other physician wearing the uniform of the army, the navy or the Red Cross. But what of the country preacher?’ He, too, is going about, using his passenger car to minister to’ the wants of his congregation, increasing his Sunday attendance and helping in a thousand ways, taking the place of the “@> there is one automobite to Gi SOM hips Up NY seeppatian n : I, Gi cuit rider” but using his automobile in his mission of mercy. Likewise the lawyer, the judge, the coliege professor all find that the passenger car helps to conserve time in their duties. Another significant fact 4s that the classification, ‘‘ Pub- ic Service” shows that, comprtsing as it does 1.2% of the population, it contains 1.6% of the automobile owners. This branch is composed of city and county officials, mail carriets and men in the employ of city, state or national government. Many of these men! must cover a wide area in their duties and it is here that the motor car is helping. Helps to Speed Up Industry The manufacturing industry affords another of our vast resources. This classification covers the factory owner, contractor, baker, blacksmith, and their operatives. This branch represents a total of 27.9% of the total population of the country and yet shows only 10.1% of the automo- biles owned. : Located in the cities, industry is not so depenaent upon the automobile and still every motor car in this great branch is doing its part in speeding up production. In the busi- ness community having 1,000 automobiles it is safe to say that each one in service will save an hour a day. This would mean that such a community is 125 working days ahead every day. Carry these figures to the 5,000,000 registered automobiles in this country and it means that the nation is 625,000 working days ahead every day in time saved. Or compute this into man power and it gives | ‘America the’ extra services of an army of 625,000 men at work every day. Do we need this extra effort now? Sixteen great army cantonments, to house almost a million men, the ordinary accomplishment of years, were built in-ninety days. This was accomplished by crowding an immense amount of energy into an inconceivably small space of time. One of the largest contractors: told me that it could not have been done without the aid of the automobile. To haul the nails used in the construction of these cantonments alone would require the combined ca- pacity of 930 five-ton motor trucks. One Hundred Million Horsepower at Work The total horsepower used to turn the wheels of Amer- ica’s industrial plants is only- 11,000,000. Balance this against the 100,000,000 horse power of time saving energy represented by the passenger cars of this country alone. For the busy man, the automobile practically makes the whole community. his office 'bv:‘Iding where he may go There are 5,000,000 registered automobiles in America. This means i-ict every twenty persons 7 THREB + ¥)) (337) from one business engagement or meeting to another in his motor car almost as easily as he steps across the hall. Under the heading “Transportation” are included all of the managers, superintendents, foremen and employees of the many public service corporations of the country. Here we find the railroads, telephone and telegraph com- panies and many like occupations. They represent 6.9% of the population and own but three per cent of the auto- mobiles. The reason for this small percentage of cat owners is at once apparent as the bulk of the business of these men is over various carriers of the country and here the automobile is not so much an essential to the conduct of their duties. Mining Minutes With the Motor Car The next census occupational division covers the min- ing, quarry and oil-well industries; including ownera, superintendents, foremen and operatives. Here we found that while this classification represented 2.5% of the population of the country, 2.1% own automobiles. This occupation is not one which must necessarily cover a wide area. Yet every hour and minute must count for all of the products are vitally necessary in the war. program. 5 It has been estimated that we have enough coal ard crude oil underground. to provide amply for even the needs of war for hundreds of years, but these products must be mined, piped and transported to keep the fires of industry at full blast. Time is therefore an essen and time saving of paramount _ importance. Here we must mine minutes and here again the automobile is helping. The next two classifications are composed of hotel gi*prietors, restaurant owners, Wensiliay-teame. keepers, jerks and employees. Here, if anywhere, we might.expect to find the passenger cars used almost wholly:for recreation. But, while these two combined classifications represent 11.5% of the popuiation, only 2.9%, of these people are automobile owners. This survey of the automobile and its many. and diyer- sified uses, only serves to strengthen the conclusion that it constitutes the greatest transportation force in the world. A force that is more nceded‘in the war,than any other. For only a few months back New York harbor was filled with vessels loaded with materials vital to the war needs of our allies. Transportation—a World Need These vessels as badly as they were needed could nét procced, could not help to lessen the congestion in New York terminals because they had no coal.” The situation was so grave that colliers from Engtand came across the Atlantic Ocean to bunker these ships. This serves to emphasize the impor- tance of transportation of which the automobile is one of the great contributing factors. ‘Under the ruling of the Fuel Administrator, all in- “dustry suffered a five-day shut-down for the lack of coal. This could not mean Assuming that everyautemobile that the United States was short of coal, but that the savesonefouraday, the total time - saved repre- sents an army of 625,000 men at work every day. Compare this with the total number of men in sere vice today. speeding up of industry on the war program had destroyed the balance. It was again transportation that was needed. We simply shut down output long enough to allow the carriers of the country to catch up. ae Compared with the Railroads The estimated possible annual passenger mile service of motor cars isabout 60,000,000,000 as compared with 33- 000,000,000 passenger milesattributed toour railroads. These multipliers of energy are traveling 40,000,000 miles a day, the equivalent of 1,600 times around the world. Many a nation has been conquered, not for lack of bravery or men, but for the lack of transportation. We are farther from our bases of supply than any warring nation. This nation must devote every ounce of energy to pro- duce more food, more munitions, but with the enormous increases must come more transportation; more done in less time: We cannot go back to the days of the army mule and pack saddle, the prairie schooner and the ‘'One hoss shay."” Speed, speed and more speed is the.cry.., And America answers with her 5,000,000 automobiles—the greatest transportation tool, the greatest aid to personal efficiency in the world. r By replacing horses the motor cars on the farms of this country represent @ po- tentiai saving o) sufficient food= stuffs to suppl: