The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, November 1, 1903, Page 5

THE SUNDAY CALL. I 1t 4 1 (a!"//‘/"/‘.’ ‘T///// o-fay is a beau- e automoblle of it not what may 'y “z s iy ,.},n;ym Iimited scale can be traced back to the year 189, and even & great dea! further back for the initial advent of the first automobile, the general manufacture of motor vehicles began to claim the atten- tion of the pubiic most notably in the year 1896 or thereabout Since that time, with but a few thriv- ing factories existing, the industry has vearly progressed at a remarkable pace until now hundreds of plants engaged In the bullding of automobiles are flourish- ing throughout the entire country, and America to-day boasts of belng the home of meveral of the largest automoblle fac- tories in the world, notwithstanding the fact that France is generally looked upon as being the home of the automobile. A R Sy it il distinet powers employed generally for the propulsion of automobiles, viz: Elec- tricity, steam and gasoline. The first power is electri~ energy stored in a stor- age battery carried in vehicle, while the second and third are respectively steam generated in small boiler in machine with gasoline used as fuel and power secured from the explosion of gases in firing chambers of a hydrocarbon or gasoline engine. future automobile will unquestion- ably be built pretty much after the adopted lines of the present cars. At all machines were bullt crude and out of proportion, invariably 00 heavy for the driving power of the motor within. Then it became evi- At the present time there are three dent that weight must be dispensed with, o S50 5 . & LacKey or Gentleman. Future Social Status of the Chauffeur. An Exciting Discussion That Is Now Agitating the Whole Country, = ey ND now it is the chauffeur whe is the bone of contention. What is bis soclal status? Is he & gentle- man €river, or thall hs be rele- gated to the common plans of 2 Soachman? The controversy promises all ports of excitement, and A. B. Tucker @iscusses 1t &t length in the Pacific Au- Socmoblle Magaszine IHe says: *“The chauffeur is st present far from belnig & fixed quantity. As an element In bile 1ifs, he is looked upon with warying €egrees of importance. His ex- act position is less firmly fixed In the public mind now than It ever has been. s is trus in every respect, from the liing of his name to his commercis] or social status. In fact, it is to some ex- tent an open question whether good taste should &ictate that e be called a ‘chaut- feur.’ There are thoss who think that Anglo-Saxon language Is suf- ling, as it is in other the word = ‘driver’ or is good enough for the man at the touring car. But the s obtained such & wide asonable to suppose at it is correct to call But, grant It freur, it ought to de jogical ¢ - be one way of spelling the ality fhere are many vari- ents s spelied like Sam Wel- or's rding °to the taste of the. o ‘chaffeur,’ ‘chau- ne of which:are ch have occurred be above criti- ure. ling of the word is e problem. The posi- s one which very few he a servant? Hardly, or i resent being called one. . 7 Sometimes a demo- ed automobile owner such, but more gen- social line, which is nct according to his more ¢ views of ¢ & great deal depends on n who engages himself as & own estimate of him- with which he carries him- r diplomacy which he ging situations where his puzzle others, the . manner in which business, his address these things 1 that the chauffeu Qle decides he ought to be. “At least th is true at present; what ft will be in the future is & Qquestion which the most estute seer can hardly is pretty largely 'what €expect to answer. Tt'is clear that there ls considerable - difference between . the chauffeur of FEurope &nd his American brother. In touring - countries on the other side of the Atlantic, a well defined class has existed ' for .years, known as ‘couriers.’ Every traveled person knows what a ‘courfer’ is, and yet it would be very difficuit for even an experienced globe trotter to define his exact position. He i perhaps a peripatetic major domo. His position is in .eome degres antlo- gous to that of the housekeeper or the dressmaker in the female menage. But if 1t be difficult to define what a courier is, nearly every ome knows what is ex- pected of him, and the same may be true of the chauffeur, “These men are of a class whoSnever would have consented.for eny reward to drive the coach horses for any man. At the first glance it is a 1ittle dificult to s¢o the differsnce between the coachman and the chauffeur, but an analysis of the situation shows that there fa at least one great difference—the technical knowl- edge required 1o drive a car {s of a much higher grade than that needed to officlate a3 & coachman. “Taking Into constderation such phe- nomena =s the eollege man behind the steering wheel, it is- evident, therefore, that thers are chauffeurs and chauffeurs, We must not assume that the course of conduct which Is pursued toward one would be the proper line' of action used in controlling the other, The future of the chauffeur as a class {s &n unknown. quantity. It is probable that the tendency will be to fix his re- muneration at a pSint which will tend to fix his soclal status. At present it de- pands altogether upon the finanqial stafiing of the employer what tha chaut- . feur. gets for his gervices. In the future. it 1s likely that the money question il he & fixed quantity, or at least dependent only on the ability of the man. Of course, experience, knowledge of mechanical de- tall and general handiness will -continue to demand a considerable’ figure. But probably not nearly as much difference will be noticed between the high grade chauffeur of the future dnd the ordinary one, as is the case to-day. R “The status of the chauffeur is further complicated at presert by the place which he occuples in fiction and on the stage. Nine-tenths of the fiction which has been written on gutomobiling throws a romantic glamour about the person of & chauffeur. He is.either a lord in dis- gulse or a gentleman athelete under a cloud, or something of that sort, and the always beautiful yourg lady whom he drives inyariably falis in love with him. There is#ho doubt that this has its effect on the more or less impressionable publia. It is safe to say that the ordinary man, as he looks at an automobfle passing him in tlie dtreet, gives one glance to the au- tomoblle and three to the chauffeur. Wha't the ordlnary woman doe€s" the writer,.a mere mahn, cannot say. “There are evidences, also, that many a chauffeur knows the place which his class ocgupies In fiction, and takes ad- . vantage of it to its fullest extent, “Although to the practical man these later observations may seem of . little value, there is no doubt they have their place In a proper consideration of the question.” : ————— Oldfield’s Amazing Nerve. Barney Oldfleld -is $he racing champlon of the world, and to show his masrvelous daring and coolness under dangerous con.. ditlons, a recent report of an:aceident that occurred. in Detrolt ts. worth quoting. He was driving In a ten-mile svent and was battling for the lJead with s French racing ‘car, which had come over to this country ‘after. winning honors: In " the Paris-Madrid and other {inportant: Buro- pean contests. He was a strefs ng uous and what looked as-if it would bs’: & successful. effort at taking “the. Jead on the upper turn at the finish:of the fourth. mile. A tire on the right ‘fron! wheel exploded and left whi ‘He was mekiog a wide turn and could ‘not keep the track. It was necessary to go under the fence énd shoot down the fif- teen-foot steep embankmept. 1t was all done in the fraction of a sec- ond, for the speed was greater than a mile a minute; o, for the fence he went, - and throwing himself flat on his back, he ped &'Egcld. shot beneath the rail and the car fifteen feet to the ground level. still lying flat, endeavored to pilot the car between two poplar trees, but the steer- ing post was bent out of shape, th was off and he falled to miss th The -right sill ¢f the frame stru plerced the tree and split it As might be supposed, the terrific shock stopped the mad progress of the car, but it did mot uns and throw the plucky driver {uto tl Ir, t ‘would have done hdd he not braced himself so well for the shock, Mrs. Gldfield was in the d and saw the car leave the track. BShe could not, from where she sat, see the collision with the tree. . Barney realized all that in an instant, however, and immediately Jjumped from the car and ran back upon the track in full view of she grandstand, -£0 that his wife could see him alive and able to move-about. In order that the fact of his close call to etarnity might be sppreciated, let it be known that when the car shot under the rail of the fence, the rail clipped every button from Old- fleld’s shirt and ripped a medal from the left side of his shirt, Auto Maxims for Those Who Do and Do Not Love the Sport. 3 ‘ Bwear and repairare well zhymed. . 8 long lane that has no punctures. Bome cars g0 a long way in a Jong ttm & car is profit, hut’to repalr.it Patlonts with patlence operate & docs tor's car. Truth rules ovewyhcfi but.ini an’auto- repair shop. do you are no triend of mine. The autc has come to stay, some of the out-of-date ones have. sometimes it one to blow up your tire. Gliding along the road is he poetry of motion. the dust-laden road is—well? dislike to be no figure. The owner of who can_not.improve his ecar for the manufagturer to do so. “You see, my friend, how : uumwulmmwm Teduce8 cost of mainte % Unless you run the.same machine as I At least Where there's & will there's a way, but mighty nice to have some n in its Flat on one's back in The teason, no doubt, that chauffeurs passed upon the road is be- cause the dust bothers them. Pride cuts an auto 1s yet to be found after a week's ownership. Yet it took a long time Wi — ‘\\“””Il " W) | SECRETARY ©OF WE HAVTOr10BILE CLUB oF . CALIFORNIA <— tee, o ana ror some tme all vehicles were bullt along the order of our light runabouts of to-day, viz: A machine ‘weighing some- where in the nelghborhood of 800 pouncs. Then, as pecple began to learn more about the automoblle and saw its practi- cabllity for long runs through the coun- try, a Keen demand eprang up for a larger and more capable vehicle, conse- quently the manufacturers endeavored to create something that would fill this want, and, as a result, a two seated ma- chine of tha surrey type was offered. It was soon found, however, that this type was not built strong enough to carry the motive power necessary to drive a ma- chine of this kind on indifferent roads for long distances, and that It was lacking in type with heavy power as now in vogue soon followed. In automobile touring, the question of miles is a very important one, and to ride and erjoy a hundred or more miles fn one day the machine must be roomy, luxurious and have weight ‘enough to overcomes the vibration. experienced in driving over ‘uneven and rough portlons of the road surface. Until the last year or two the ordinary * motorcar buflders’ chief -object was to supply the buying public with a pleasure carriage only, ‘but since that time much ettention has been paid to the matter.of manufacturing commercial wagons to flll the wants of a rapldly increasing demand, and at-the present time hundreds of au- wagons ‘and motor - thority trucks can be seen da New York and other the work which only & necessitated the use horses. This remarkable p be surpassed & hu the next five years where our newspaper Wagon delivery wagons of e drawn over th P by anim it 1 to motive power generated wi ftselt. Indeed, taking San an illustration c years ago, there cles- on our street weréd at To-day we both “lar; dfrect! there Wber. Flages, every progress annoyances, and halt its tide. The 2 right to the road as ers should bear vantage of every- opportt their live stock to_the machi try newspapers should grasp these opportu deavor to excite, hatred toward the driver. right that complets fri ist between all users of As a reassurance of the co cess of the motor vehicle f both as a pleasure and ¢ 1 'would call attention to rellabllity contest now bel ‘in by Eastern- trade ad the cities of New York and 1500 miles. fact that ing day and night throagh rain , while telephone and telegraph messages fall to reach their destination and railroad trains stand for hours on the sidstracks walting for rails to be replaced &0 that they can journey In these bad sections of the East the only moving objects sengers from town to rhalted. This, together with other f. and exam- ples of a like nature, proclaim most em- phatieally that it has come to-stay and that the automobile of the future will be a-wonder. ne e county roads. ote suc- the - future, ctal wagon, tomobile g participated s between sburg and ward e comfort, and as a result, the tonneau’ tcmobile 'dellve_n’ & = : = & H » » Auto Marvels Coming. . By E. Courtney Ford. Vica President of the California Club and & Ploneer of Automobiling in the West. & 5 Y first experience with an auto ot my own was in the spring of ‘9% on a tour through Eu- rope—it happened to be a nine horsepower Darracque, and at that time I belloved myself to be the own- er of one ef the finest vehicles then on the market. It hardly seems poasible that the passing of a few years should have brought about such a wonderful change in thelr construction, everything heing now reduced to minimum without in the least sacrificing comfort or endan. gezing the safety of the driver. Among the most important and radt- eal changes is the reduction of weight, increase of strength (this brought about by the. use of Pressed steel frames), in- creased - horaspower, reduction of vibra- tion, -and, mesi important of all, sim- pliclty of operation. together. with vastly nce. Noticing these changes-as I have, I am firmly convinesd that the horseless: ve- icles - have ¢ome.to stay, for they aere practical, reliable and eficiént. ‘ The:au- - tomobile has long ceased to be a novelty— we- have heard of extended trips acro: the: continent, demonstrating thelr ‘e Aurance, - We havas: heard of its hill climbd- :ing.contests, Aemonstrating its ablitty: to mount grades; -and, last but not least, ‘we haye heard of it-on’ the. track, when established . phenomenal records, ever covered belng 55 4-5. sec Therefore, what is the future ef the auto? Everything! 1 know of no subject that calls for more deep and serious thought than this Gies- tion. He have to-day in the Eastern cit- fes delivery wagons, hotel buses, ambu- lances, hearses, etc., and In some of the more progressive cities of -the- United States they are being used as public con- veyances, taking the place of street cars. We find in other communities that the fire departments ere equipped with the self-propelled vehicles. And we find the Government has taken it up and is using it for the handling of its mall, and even in our own city we are figuring on the automobile to_facilitate our mall service. In talking with.one of the leading man- ufacturers recently, a man who has made easy it 18 to start my machine. All I have -the auto & study since it$ infancy, he In- to do is—" An hour later: “I am dead sure that ¥ome one has been monkeying an invitas to d, and then pues his friend for physical damages ought to be ridden in a baby carriage or on a rail. ride in an auto, is i Strange thirgs do happen. There s nothing more attractive than a handsome woman playing her own chaut- Grace is everywhers displayed, and eyes follow her movements as & feu ‘men’ lodestar. All hall, falr driver! formed me that it would not be long be- fore the Government would ~adopt the auto as a vehicle of general utllity throughout the United States. 1 am safe in saying that California will in the course of three or four yegrs have its drays, fire department, mall service and more private vehicles than any city in the United States in comparison to iis I have heard the @M-‘r'k nudamnv'i-ll times t the automol as a pleasure vnma.lo@:nnld ere long be relegated to the background, as was the bicyels; but such is not the case. Thers is practically but one price for a bicycle, ‘but it makes no difference the amount a buyer wishes to epend for a good sutomoblle. The come fort is !dentically the same. ADVERTISEMENTS. :mooouooommoonmmoooumm gPACIHC MOTOR CAR CO. — | | | hours and 5 minutes. previous records. CROTN080808%¢ Pacific Coast Agents. The above cars exhibited at out repository, 49-53 CITY HALL AVENUE H . THE CADILLAC.. August 8th, record from Del Monte to Oakland, 6 October 18th, 5 hoursand 38 minutes without stopping the car or refilling with gasoline or water, breaking all ‘The only successful tour of the Yosemite Valley was made by Major J. Fulmer of Los Aageles in his Cadillac. Price $850. With Tonneau $950. "CUYLER LEE . 201-208 Larkin Street, PACKARD MOTOR CAR. ST. LOUIS MOTOR CAR. AMERICAN MOTOR: CAR. JONES CORBIN MOTOR CAR. CUDELL MOTOR CAR. % § San Francisco, Cal. OHOCK CRCHORCE J0R0H0RCHOROE CEORORRRIOHY KORCAORION 0N LBCECHORCK | |