Early Amerian Automobile History

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Copied from the 1901 Horseless Age Magazine

CATCHPENNY ADVERTISING METHODS

Automobile   manufacturers and dealers, in some cases, are adopting catchpenny methods of advertising. They photograph their automobiles in uncanny places, on the tops of almost unscalable mountain peaks, on Niagara's ice gorges (hoisted into position by block and tackle), in mud hub deep, or with loads of humanity standing upon them many times their normal seating capacity. Sometimes they insert large factories in their advertisements, covering acres of ground, only a small corner of which they occupy. Advertisements of this class are to be condemned. They are invariably intended to "stretch the truth." The best that can be said of them is that they are founded in ignoranceignorance of the strength of materials, nature of road strains and horse power required to overcome obstacles, on the one hand, and ignorance of human nature on the other. Their result is plainly to mislead and effect sales under false representations. The average reader, seeing the  automobile  pictured in such positions, imagines that it is something between a road vehicle and a flying machine; that it is able to climb like a mountain goat and to cross well-nigh impassable morasses, and that its carrying capacity is as miraculous as its climbing abilities.

Wise men, ancient and modern, have remarked that it is not possible to fool all the people all the time. Manufacturers who, in these early days, are founding their hopes on their ability to hoodwink the public should ponder these words. Persisting in this policy they can scarcely count upon that ultimate success which comes to those who set before themselves a higher standard. ( End of Article)

Every automobile that was put into production from the earliest days to the present was advertised as the best car ever built. How can this be when only one can be? Maybe they could get away with saying "one of the best". However, even this would be stretching the truth to its limit. There were some blatant lies 1n advertisements from some prominent manufacturers that could not escape ones attention.

After researching well over a thousand companies with all of their models, my opinion of the best one ever built was the Bailey Electric automobile. S. R. Bailey was a perfectionist from the first sleigh that he made, his carriages, and his electric automobile. He manufactured almost all of his parts with machinery that he invented. Today, his extant automobiles have the same machinery as they had when they left the production line.

Shown below are some of the advertisements which are outright lies:

1903 Ford Motor Company Advertisement
Notice the date, 1893, that it was made.

1904 Ford Automobile Advertisement

Notice in the left block, that ad states tht it was the first one in Detroit when he was riding behind The King automobile on his bicycle. Maybe Ford forgot about Lambert, Duryea, Haynes, and 75 entrants in the 1895 Chicago to Evansville Race.

1900 Haynes-Apperon Automobile Advertisement

Elwood Haynes knowingly falsified his advertising from day one until he went out of business in 1925.

What was the first and when to manufacture the six-cylinder American automobile has been debated for years? The answer is, the 1901 Gasmobile that was displayed at the 1902 New York Automobile Show in 1902.

Copied from the 1901 October issue of the Automobile Topics Issue

FIVE models of " Gasmobiles" will be exhibited by the Automobile Company of America, namely, a 9 hp. Stanhope for two passengers; a 12 hp. "Gasmobile Special" for two passengers; a 12 hp. Surreyfor four passengers; an "H. C. Gasmobile Surrey" of 20 hp. for four passengers, and an "H. C. Gasmobile :' of 35 hp. with tonneau body.

Beverly Rae Kimes stated in her book that if this car had been put into production, it would have bee the first six-cylinder made in America.

12 H. P. Gasmobile Special

1901 Gasmobile Four Passenger Surrey

The "H. C. Gasmobile Surrey" is constructed on lines decidedly foreign and the carriage is not unlike some of the well-known foreign products, being equipped with a four-cylinder upright engine located in front. Sufficient power is developed to travel at high speed over reason-
ably good roads. The "H. C. Gasmobile," with tonneau body, introduces to the American public a high-power, high-speed carriage in which it has been the aim of the builders to combine elegance of appearance with superior road-riding qualities. It is equipped with a six-cylinder upright engine from which the highest speeds are expected to be realized. The "Gasmobile Special" is one of the most recent productions of this company and is the result of a demand created by enthusiasts desirous of higher speed in the two-passenger vehicle.

------------------------------------

THE "H. C. Gasmobile" of thirty-five hp, the exhibited specimen of which six were sold at $8,000 before the show was an hour old, represents a class of automobiles not heretofore were built
in America, at the extreme speed in view the car is constructed

In March, 1902, the company went into receivership and was reorganized.

Copied from the March issue of the 1902 Automobile Topics Magazine

BY reorganization of the Automobile Company of America, Mr. Albert T. Otto, the former treasurer and general manager, who was one of the founders of the company, and Mr. Alexander Fischer, the chief engineer, have retired from the list of officers. Mr. Otto's place has been taken by Mr. H. C. Cryder, and rMr. A. W. King, formerly of Chicago, become superintendent of the factory.. Mr. King has been connected with the company since June, 1901 among the pioneer inventors and engineers in the automobile industry. Mr. John H. Flagler emains president It is generally believed that the principal. He was previously well known in Chicago as one of the most ingenious and resourceful reason for the reorganization was the disproportionate amount of capital expended in experimental work and in developing certain types of automobiles which have not proved equal to those simpler types of Gasmobiles in which the company has done its most satisfactory business. (End of Article)

In December of 1902, the company was ordered into bankruptcy and was sold at auction for $100,000 to Richard Currier, thus ending one of Americas best automobile that had been made. The machinery was moved to Mamaroneck, NY, by the Pan-American Motor Company, and a new model, Panam, was built.

Copied from the 1907 Automobile Journal

Cars That Helped to Make History

The frailty of fame is shown by the picture herewith. Standing deserted, except for the company of each other, in an unfrequented corner of the yard of the Packard Motor Car Company, at Detroit, are these two cars, both famous in Packard history. One, that on the right, is the patriarch of the Packard family, being the original Packard  automobile,  a i-cylinder gasolene car built ten years ago in a corner of the electrical factory of the New York & Ohio Company, at Warren, Ohio, by J. W. Packard. The car gave many ideas which have worked themselves strongly into the evolutionary process from which the present Packard grew. The other car is Old Pacific, which crossed the Continent in 1903, and which also partook in the memorable New York-Pittsburg endurance run that same year, getting a gold medal. Tom Fetch drove the car. and Tom, now being employed at less sensational if equally important work at the Packard factory, occasionally wanders over toward these cars to look mournfully at his old pet.

Panam

1903 Panam Touring Automobile

In January of 1903, The machinery from the former Automobile Company of America, the maker of the now defunct Gasmobile, was moved to Mamaroneck, NY, for the building of the Panam automobile by the Pan-American Motor Company. Some of the most prestigious minds in the business and with lots of money were behind this venture. The first model as complete by October of that year and was a dismal failure. The second one was introduced in 1903 with the same chassis and equipment as most cars being built and no more than 25 were made before the company called it quits and its assets were a truck building first,

However

Copied from the January issue of the Automobile Topic

Exhibit of the Autocar Company of Ardmore, Pa. with a six-cylinder engine to furnish power, and this is located in front similar to the foreign carriages. It is built with a tonneau body easily removable as well as the road-going front seat which can also be stripped for racing. While this carriage has never been tested to its extreme limit it is quite possible that seventy miles an hour is not beyond the possibilities of the car.

There is no evidence that this car was put into production.

IS HISTORY REPEATING ITSELF?

Overheard between two conservative aborigines oi the stone age gossiping in front of their caves: "What do you think of this new way of travelingon the back of a tame horse? Some people think that it may take the place of walking." "Oh, I don't know. It may bt all right when it is perfected and when the price of an animal comes down to where it ought to be. But now they say that only a rich man can afford to keep one, because it needs so much food whether you use it or not and because it is always sick or something when you want to take a ride. I don't sec but that a horse is likely to break his leg any time on the road, and then, what is a fellow going to do, miles away from anyone's cave? No, they may be all right tor millionaires' pets, but walking was good enough for grandfather and it is good enough for me for a while longer."

"Aren't they terribly dirty beasts and isn't there a horrible odor from them all the time?" "Yes, it is something sickening. I wouldn't ha\e one about my cave. Besides, it isn't very comiortablc riding on one. for there for there is a great deal of vibration and jolting as the animal jogs up and down, and as for noise, you can hear the clattering of his hoofs over the stones for half a mile. Besides, they are great, clumsy, dangerous animals, weigh half a ton or so. They have got to breed some highter ones before I want to try to use one." "How about managing these new animals?" "Well, I have heard that sometimes they get frightened, become uncontrollable and run away, sometimes trampling people under their hoofs. I believe we should not allow them on the streets of our village, endangering the lives of our women and children. Or, if we allow them here, we shoilld not let them travel more than 4 miles an hour, so that our people may have time to get out oi their way. It any of these rich men want to exercise their racers they will have to keep away from our town. "Anyway, the thing is just in its infancy, and I believe in letting the others fellows do the experimenting. When it becomes practical perhaps we may try it." Question: Do we ever hear any talk like that now? Are the cave dwellers all dead yet? 

Albert L. Clouo

1902 Oldsmobile Advertisement



1902 White Automobile Advertisement

Cleveland, Ohio, was another city with a great number of companies building automobiles and several models were named Cleveland. Most of them only lasted a few years with a limited number of cars produced.

American

There were dozens of companies who were in the automobile manufacturing business in its early stages that had American as their name. Most of them went faster than they came and faded into history. Beverly Rae Kimes has them listed in her book, Standard Catalogue of American Cars from 18905-1942, with four line descriptions. One of them is the American Automobile Company, Cleveland, OH, incorporated in 1904, as never making an automobile.

1902 American Automobile Runabout

Copied from the 1902, July 5th, Automobile Review Magazine

The American Runabout.

The American runabout, illustrated, is steered with a wheel, weighs 1,000 pounds, has a long wheel base, and is driven by a five-horse power single cylinder motor.In this combination the makers say they have a machine which is simple, reliable and durable, while presenting an elegant appearance. The single cylinder motor is water cooled, of the four-cycle type, and of simple construction. Lubrication is effected by gravity feed from one tank, and is turned on and off by the same lever that operates the electric switch, the crank pin and transmission being oiled through the center of the crank shaft. The ignition is of the jump spark variety, automatically controlled. All contact points are enclosed in a dust-proof case, and so arranged as to insure a square and firm contact, while especial attention is given to the system of wiring. All wires having heavy rubber insulation, are water-proof and equipped with stamped copper terminals. The current is supplied by one of two sets of dry batteries, the other is used as a reserve.

The water circulation is obtained by means of a substantial gear pump keyed direct to the end of the crank shaft and hung on a bracket attached to the side of the crank pit. The water tank is located in the front hood and has a capacity of five gallons. The gasoline tank, carrying seven gallons, is located near the cylinder, obviating the necessity of long conn«ctions and the danger of leaks.
The transmission, an embodiment of the planetary system, gives two speeds forward and one reverse. It is noiseless, and with the aid of the engine throttle, gives an ideal control.

A one-inch roller chain drives direct to the rear axle, and is adjusted by means of a pair of sliding spring blocks. A powerful, double-acting brake, is located on the drum of the compensating gear and can be locked in any position by means of a ratchet.
The steering gear, operated by a large, wooden-rimmed wheel, contains a system of gears which overcomes the jar of the road, while the front wheels are slightly pitched inward, after the manner of the most modern power road vehicle. The steering post contains a knuckle joint, making it possible to throw the hand-wheel out of the way while entering or leaving the seat.
The frame is constructed of angle iron and is capable of enduring the most severe usage, being well braced and at the same time extremely light. The cars are built by the American Motor Carriage Company of Cleveland, Ohio

1902 American Automobile Advertisement

The American Motor Carriage Co.'s Plant.

Its marked contrast to some factories where only absolute necessities for the manufacture of the product are provided is the plant of the American Motor Carriage Co., of Cleveland. This concern, believing the surroundings of the workmen have a telling effect on results, have secured a lease on the former factory and headquarters of the Interior Decorating Co. in one of the best residence districts of the city.
The decorating company, in constructing the building, intended that the finish should be a sample of their best work, and consequently it is a most elaborately decorated building. A show-room occupies the center of the building and a finer room is hard to find, even in the homes of the wealthy. Occupying a position in the rear of the building and connected with it is a two-story structure having more than 25,000 feet of floor space. This was the workshop of the former company. The American Motor Co., since it acquired control, has given the whole premises a thorough renovation. The former show room has been fitted up for offices. Several smaller rooms opening off from this will be used as display rooms

A restaurant for employees occupies the second floor, together with several smaller rooms which will be fitted for the convenience of patrons. On the third floor are located the drafting rooms.

1903 The American Motor Carriage 

1903 American automobile Advertisement

Sperry

1899 Sperry Electric Automobile in the 2004 London-Brighton Race

Elmer A. Sperry organized his Sperry Engineering Company, Cleveland, OH, in 1898 to build electric cars, he was well known electric trolley street railway executive. He soon began to experiment with building electric cars and he completed his first one in late 1898. In the summer of 1899, he contracted with A. L. Moore o build his automobile for the market in eigth body styles with a 31/2 H. P. motor priced from $1800-2200. The early cars were called Cleveland, Sperry System, but later called Sperry. A hundred were made with a great portion shipped France as well as some Cleveland cars that were made by the Cleveland Machine Screw Company that was owned by a French consortium. In 1901, the Sperry automobile and patents were sold to the American Bicycle Company that was owned by Alexander Pope.

Foot note: Sperry went on to invent other items, including the gyroscope, and eventually became the Sperry-Rand Company of today.

1902 Sperry Electric Automobile

Cleveland




1903 Cleveland Toneau Automobile

A. L. Moore, president of Cleveland Machine Screw Company, Cleveland, decided to build an automobile in 1902 and named it after his company. He had formerly owned the Sperry Electric, but sold it to the American Bicycle Co. He incorporated the new company as the Cleveland Automobile Company, with himself as the president. Production was begun in the fall with enough parts to build 100 cars. The company made their own two-cylinder engines. He was out of the car business by the early 1904.

1905 Cleveland Automobile Advertisement

1901 Elmore Automobile Advertisement

Letters to the Editor 1902 Motor World Magazine .

Motor Position

Your editorial regarding location of the motor seems incorrect from the writer's standpoint. Common mechanical training taught motor vehicle builders to place the motor in the rear where the connection is more directly made with the driving wheels and where the noise, odor, heat, etc., pass away to the rear without bothering the passengers. The defects of the motor (becoming less each year) forced some makers to place it in front where easier attention could be given it. These statements will probably not be doubted or criticised and, if admitted, then the fact remains that the forward position is an admission of weakness on the part of the maker and not the proper position for the motor. In our own experience we have endeavored to meet this weakness by so designing the motor as to overcome these troubles and still leave the motor at the rear. We do this by placing all the working parts of the motor on top where they are get-at-able from the top by simply lifting the cushions. This makes them as accessible and handy to attend to as if placed anywhere else on the wagon.

Regarding the weight, permit us to say that weight in front is objectionable and dangerous. It is objectionable because the front wheels must be pushed and weight in front tends to drive the front wheels into the ground instead of over it. In case of a break at the front, the momentum will throw the hind end over, turning the vehicle upside down, resulting in a very serious accident. When the weight at the rear and the front end strongly constructed, front breakages are not so likely and much greater safety results. Further, the heavier the machine in front the easier it Is thrown over forward by applying the brakes. This has been frequently shown in the past in the experience of the front driving, rear steering electric machines, which have been set up on the front end by a sudden application of the brake. You can readily test this for yourself by using a front wheel brake on a bicycle. If the front wheel is stopped the bicycle takes a header. If the rear wheel Is stopped it simply slides and nothing happens. For this reason, if for no other, the weight, brakes and the passengers should be carried on the rear wheels. CHAS. E. DURYEA.
Reading, Pa.

Response

It was distinctly stated in the editorial referred to that it is yet an undecided question as to whether the front position is the best in all cases. All explosive motors, even the very best of them, and not excepting the Duryea, get mulish at times, especially in the hands of tyros, and then It is worth a great deal to be able at a moment's notice to throw off the bonnet and examine the motors. Another point is that while there may be a little more sound from the motors in front, it is a good thing to be able to hear the hum of the motors because it is a most perfect indicator to the trained ear, of proper or improper engine operation.

The motor in front is up clear out of the dirt and In the best position for cooling by the currents of air playing over it. There is less vibration on the front wheels and it is easier to get at the igniters and lubricate the cylinders. The weight of gearing, occupants and carriage body is sufficient to properly equalize the weight. With multiple high speed cylinders with their additional complication, it becomes more desirable than ever to have them under the eye of the operator, and as the high powered, high speed machines are of this type, it seems the best position in that class of vehicle.

Experience teaches all things, and if there was not something to be said in favor of front position, why is it that all the fastest racing machines in the world, which are also the best grade climbers, are so constructed? This is a question Mr. Duryea will find it difficult to answer and prove that the rear position is the only correct one.Ed.]

Copied from the 1902 Edition of the Automobile Review Magazine

Subject of Gasoline

By Hiram Percy Maxim

When the explosive engine first came to be used for vehicle propulsion, the explosive mixtures were obtained by drawing air over the surface of some of the highly volatile naphthas. The mere passage of air over surfaces moistened with these light hydrocarbons absorbed enough vapor to form an explosive gas, but when ordinary naphthas came to be used the more volatile portions passed off first and quickly left a less volatile liquid which would not evaporate by the mere passage of air over it. Heat was then applied to increase its vaporization.
But this only postponed the trouble and enabled but little more of the liquid to be used, unless it was very highly heated; a thing not always convenient or possible. Then what remained had to be thrown away or used for some other purpose.
When a naptna was purchased which had hardly any highly volatile parts it immediately gave trouble and came to be known as "stale gasoline" or "bad gasoline."

Finally, the original Daimler Co., in Canstaadt, brought out a carburetor in which the air was not passed over the surface of a tank of gasoline, but instead, in which the engine was permitted, during its suction stroke, to sip a little spray of gasoline out of a small nozzle fed from the tank. This little spray was drawn into the cylinder along with the air, and so vigorously passed against obstructions placed in its path that it became vaporized, mixed with the air and formed the necessary gas. The troubles with surface carburetion and low gravity, or not easily vaporized oils, was obviously overcome at once. All waste was avoided, as the last in the tank was precisely the same as the first.
An immense improvement resulted, and the complaints of "bad gasoline" were reduced materially where the spray carburetor was adopted. But there were still complaints, even with it. "Bad gasoline" seemed less troublesome but yet present.

Some of the carburetors were placed long distances from the engines and required the mixture to travel through long, cold pipes. It was found that if the passages between the carburetor and the engine permitted the spray to become tranquil, or relatively so, and cool, that it condensed and reverted to liquid gasoline again, and, as a result, caused only very weakly carbureted air to pass into the engine cylinder. The liquid gasoline remained In the inlet pipe and caused all sorts of erratic performances. This lesson, while not generally learned, is rapidly becoming understood, and carburetors are being placed very close to the engine inlet valves. Where this is done, and proper baffles, or obstructions provided to compel the spray and air to intimately and quickly mix, all complaints from "bad gasoline" cease entirely.

The Milnes, in England, in their heavy gasoline trucks, which received such favorable criticism in the recent Liverpool and also army trials have even carried this point a step further, which shows its importance. They provide their machines with two fuel tanks. One, a small one, holds gasoline, and the other, a large one, holds kerosene. The gasoline is used to start the engine on and to run until it becomes warm. It is then shut off and the kerosene turned on, and the engines run with it from then on. No other change is made. The engines are standard Daimler gasoline machines. The carburetor is merely placed very close to the engine, the inlet provided with baffles, the Incoming air warmed and the kerosene spray handled vigorously before arrival in the heated engine cylinder.

Here, then, are the gradual steps leading from the first and most imperfect carburetors to the final perfect ones, which entirely eliminate waste and troubles from varying specific gravities of fuel. When we hear complaints of "bad gasoline," we know it is an acknowledgment of a poor carburetor. There is no excuse for any gasoline-propelled automobile having serious difficulty with any grade of gasoline. The best machines are able to use any grade that is offered for sale. The nearer it is to kerosene oil, the more power do we get from it, because of the greater number of heat units per gallon. There may be one specific gravity that is best in point of power, speed and odor, but the advantage should be one of quality only, and not anything very marked.

Gasoline and its Properties

tSome interesting information was given by Mr. B. W. Roberts, the well known gas engineer, in The Rudder some time ago on gasoline. It is also called naptha and is a byproduct in the manufacture of kerosene oil from crude petroleum. Gasoline has a specific gravity between that of kerosene, which is heavier, and benzine, which is lighter. It is classified in the petroleum trade as A naptha, B naptha and C naptha, A naptha being the lightest of the three. Petroleum is supposed to be of animal origin.

Startling, as it may sound, a stream of gasoline can be poured from an ordinary oil can into a fire, or a lighted match thrown into an open can of gasoline with impunity. The top can be removed from a can of gasoline, a lighted match held to the opening, and unless the can has been quite recently filled, no explosion will occur, for the reason that there is not sufficient air mixed with the gasoline to form an explosive mixture.
Gasoline evaporates rapidly at ordinary temperatures, and soon after the can has been filled the vapor Is driven into the air through the top of the can. Gasoline cans will explode after they have been filled for some time under the following conditions only: A gasoline can which has no vent and is exposed to a temperature considerably higher than that at which the gasoline will evaporate will explode from rise of pressure due to the transformation of the liquid into vapor. It is a fact that there is less danger of a reservoir of gasoline exploding from the application of a flame at an opening than if the reservoir contained kerosene. To avoid an explosion from expansion due to over-heating, every gasoline reservoir should have a vent or be provided with a safety valve. If gasoline by any chance should take fire, water should not be used to put it out. Some porous noncombustible substance should be spread over the burning oil. If the body of gasoline is not deep, sand will answer the purpose, and, if damp, will be most effectual. Ordinary flour is a much better extinguisher, and if gasoline catches fire in a room which may be tightly closed, a bottle of aqua ammonia thrown into it will soon extinguish any fire.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

Motor Position Again.

I notice an article in your March issue relative to motor position, and that you take exceptions to Mr. Duryea's views. I will state that I am in no way interested in the manufacture of automobiles, only I want to see the business prosper. It looks at present as if there were many manufacturers that desire to build automobiles, but cannot decide what style to build.
I own an automobile, and the motor is in the rear and under the seat; every part of the machine was made in America and on American ideas. You speak of "removing the bonnet in case the motor gets mulish." My experience has taught me that it is not the motor, and I have never yet seen a motor repaired by the roadside. Havo your sparking plug, carburettor and all connections forming the spark easy to get at and you will have very few "mulish" motors. There are American automobiles made with the motor in the rear that all these parts are just as easily examined as by "removing a bonnet." They look much neater, are not so expensive to build, and, I believe, are what the American people want. Tell me what the public want of such an automobile as some manufacturers are building. True, there Is a certain class of people who will drive them over the roads at high speed and cause lots of trouble, and, perhaps, some very strict legislation. I drive an Oldsmobile and I do not think there Is a French idea in its construction, and, while it is not as speedy as some, it will come as near traveling all the American roads as any French pattern machine on the market. Some manufacturers are a little too Frenchy, and they will see it as the industry grows. If they are going to build rigs for the American people, they had better adopt American ideas. Keep the weight down, save your tires, fuel, etc. All owners of automobiles at present and In the future are not millionaires. Give us a nice, neat machine, motor In the rear, a small touring box in front, and we will see the Frenchy people removing their "bonnets."
La Rue, Ohio. NEWTON H. DAVIS.

Locomobile

1902 Locomobile Advertisement

1903 Locomobile Gasoline Automobile

An entry in the Boston Reliability Run which has been the subject of considerably discussion is a Locomobile gasolene car entered by A. L. Riker, and manufactured by the Locomobile Company of America. This is an entirely new departure in the line of Locomobile machines, the firm's reputation being hitherto identified with the ubiquitous steam carriage which has become world famous. The new Locomobile gasolene car is designed by A. L. Riker. The engine is of the multi-cylinder type, situated in front, the large car having four cylinders and the smaller car two cylinders. A feature of the engine is the improved throttle control, which permits the carriage to be run very much like a steam carriage. In other words, the carriage can be run slowly through crowded streets, thus obviating any danger of overheating the motor. The carriage is built on French lines to run on American roads, and is fitted with many important improvements. With the high-speed gear it runs in every way as smoothly as a steam carriage, and has ample power, so that there is very little occasion to drop back into a lower gear. The large, 12-hp. car will weigh about 2,000 pounds, and consists of a rectangular steel platform placed on four 32-inch artillery wheels, this under-framing containing the engine, steering connections, etc. This chassis can be equipped with any style body, and will be built in two sizes12-hp. and about 8-hp.

The Locomobile Company of America is building gasolene carriages because it believes for touring the gasolene car has many advantages, but believes for all around work there is nothing so good as steam, on account of its great hill-climbing powers, ease of control and absolute quietness of operation. The new machine steers with a wheel, has powerful brakes, and its working parts are easily accessible, particularly the engine valves. The gears are easily changed, and run with little noise and vibration. While built for touring, this style of car has covered a mile in 1:08.

The company will build two sizes of gasolene carriagesa large car having 12 nominal and 18 developable horse power, to sell for $5,000, and a smaller car of about 8 nominal horse power, to sell at a lower price. Ten of the large cars are being builtthe first one having been completed early in the summer and having been run about 4.000 milesat Chicopee Falls by the Overman Automobile Company, a concern which has a close business alliance with the Locomobile Company.

1902 Stevens Duryea Advertisement   

1902 Cadillac Advertisement

COMING OF THE CADILLAC

Detroits Newest Gasolene Car Makes its bow- Many Excellent Features.

No company ever started business under better auspices than the Cadillac Automobile Company. of Detroit, Mich. Formed only a few months ago, with all the capital it can use and in other ways adequately equipped, it has already made good" by bringing out the Cadillac runabout. a smartly designed, soundly constructed gasolene car. With such a car a more poorly fitted concern than the Detroit one should go far and it is simple truth to say that it will.

If it had been an automobile

ALMOST on the anniversary of the death of the late President McKinley, the Nation has come within a narrow shave of losing his successor. In the course of his strenuous life President Roosevelt has often faced death, but it is doubtful whether on the slope of San Juan Hill or on the trail of big game in the Rockies he ever came closer to rubbing shoulders with the grim monster than when his carriage collided with a street car at Pittsfield, Mass., last week. That he escaped by a miracle is a matter which should certainly add zest to the spirit of next Thanksgiving Day
.
There is one curious circumstance, however, in connection with this tragic affair which should not be passed unnoticed. W ithout attempting to prejudice the outcome of the coroner's inquiry into the death of Secret Service Agent Craig, whose life paid the penalty of this mishap, it may nevertheless be pertinent to inquire how it happens that the affair was so suddenly hushed up, even in the columns of the usually garrulous yellow press. If a tithe of the statements made in these same yellow papers the-day after the accident be warranted by fact, the subsequent silence becomes even more marvelous than the President's hairbreadth escape. An express prohibition is issued by the Mayor of the town against the running of street cars during the Presidential visit. This order is obeyed by one company, but the other companywhose president is one of the local administrators of the law and should therefore be an example in obedience thereto openly flaunts the mayoral veto and proceeds to run its trolley cars. President, or no President. On top of this open refusal on the part of the company comes the more or less indefinite story of wealthy passengers on the street car, anxious to reach a certain spot ahead of the President's carriage and urging the motorman to put on top speed for that purposein other words, a positive race with the President's carriage. Ignorant of this foolhardy freak, the driver of the President's carriage drives placidly over the route mapped out for him, which in due course leads across the car tracks, just as the racing trolley car with its burden of impatient sightseers approaches. Then comes the crash, sending the occupants of the carriage flying as though shot from a catapult, while the body of poor Craig, faithful even in death, mangled beneath the car wheels, checks the momentum of the death-dealing trolley car. To cap the climax, when the President, heedless of his own bruised face, asserts his manhood in a vigorous protest to the trolley car driver, the latter with characteristic insolence retorts that the President of the United States should not dare to contest the right of way with a trolley car.
A more humiliating story has never been told even in the columns of those papers whose aim seems to be to find out the natural sore spots and expose them to the derision of the world. Such an occurrence, with its sickening details of sordid disregard of public safety on the part of a wealthy corporation and purse proud sightseers, emphasized by the brutal insolence of the company's employee and passengers' protege, would be an impossibility anywhere but in this country. Yet within a few short days the affair has been allowed to drop, except so far as the proceedings before the coroner may compel publicity. Why this should be it is difficult to say, though easy to surmise.

Suppose, however, the death-dealing street car had been an automobile. Is it within the bounds of possibility that public outcry would have been stilled so easily? On the contrary, would not the motorphobiac editors still be denouncing every horseless machine with all the strength and vigor of the editorial vocabulary? Then why this discrimination? Simply because the automobilist is a law abiding citizen, in spite of the fact that his liberty is hampered and checked by absurd and possibly unconstitutional restrictions. Whereas, on the other hand, the average street car driver, to fitly represent his employers, is a tyrant whose will is a law within itself. Taking his cue from his company, which usually begins business by debauching the lawmakers and monopolizing the public highways, the motormaii knows no such thing as public safety beyond clanging his gong as a warning to fly or be killed. Passengers may get on or off his car at their peril; vehicles in his pathway must clear off or get smashed, and even the Nation's Chief Magistrate must know better than dare to presume on the motorman's right of way!
There is legend somewhere on the early records of this republic about all men being equal. Pity that some of our automobiling lawmakers did not hunt up this forgotten legend when legislating for motormen and automobilists.

Spaulding

1902 Spaulding Automobile

Brothers Henry F. and C. M. Spaulding, owners of the Spaulding Machine Screw Company, Buffalo, NY, incorporated their Spaulding Automobile & Motor Company in early 1902. A lawsuit against the company, by the Olds Motor Works, for infringement of patent on the motor delayed the production. After themotor was redesigned production began with a suspension that looked like the Oldsmobile, another lawsuit ensued. Finally, it was on the market for $650, but was raised to $700 in 1903. A touring car was added in 1903, but by now, they were in financial trouble because of the large amount of money from previous lawsuits. It went into receivership that year.

1903 Spaulding Tonneau Automobile

1902 Spaulding Automobile Advertisement

Greely

1903 Greeley Runabout Automobile

E. N. Miller, machinist, Greeley, CO, built this 8 H. P. two-cylinder runabout, for a customer, W. L. Mlller, physician, also from Greeley. It had a two speed planetary transmission and wheel steering. In 1903. a heated argument soon erupted as to which Miller designed the car. Evidently, the machines won the argument, for he soon let people know the he would build cars for the at $1200. Since none were ordered, he turned his attention to his machine work.

1902 Moyea Automobile Advertisement

1902 Orient Automobile Advertisement

Hansen

1902 Hansen Runabout Automobil

Ramus Hansen , owner of the Hansen Automobile CO, Cleveland, OH, built his model, named Cleveland, but sometimes referred to as the Hansen, in 1902. It had a single-cylinder engine. He later reorganized his company as the General. Manufacturing Company. The model now was named the General.

General

1903 General Runabout Automobile

The Cleveland model was now the General with a 8 H.P. engine. A tonneau with a two-cylinder, 16 H. P, was added. Prices were $900 for the runabout and $1000 for the tonneau. Production began in September with one car a day

1903 General Tonneau Automobile

The necessary money needed for expansion was not available because A. L. A. M. refused to license it and company stockholders feared the company would be sued for producing it. Even though the company was on solid footing, it had to declare bankruptcy in September, 1903.

`1903 General Automobile Advertisement

Conrad

The Conrad Motor Carriage Company, Buffalo, NY, began business in 1901 by building light steam- driven, tiller-steered, chain-driven vehicles. In 1902, a two-cylinder gasoline models, one a runabout at $750 and a 1125 touring. However the death of the president, Schuyler A. Fisher, was devastating and the company was dissolved in late 1903

1901 Conrad Steam Delivery Van

1902 Conrad Automobile Advertisement

1903 Conrad Tonneau Automobile

.A new model, the Lackawanna, made the recently reorganized company as the Lakawanna Motor Co, was attempted to revive the company, but failed to do so. They started to make only engines

1904 Buick Automobile Advertisement
Notice that it was located in Jackson and not in Flint.

What a Great Advertisement for 1906 Solar Automobile Lamps!

1906 American Napier Automobile

Copied from the 1906 Motor World Magazine

AMERICAN NAPIER GOES UNDER

Boston Creditors Force Involuntary BankruptcyCourt Appoints A ReceiverFailure Long Fore Shadowed

Not that has been expected for six months.or more, came to pass on Thursday last, the failure of the Napier Motor Car Co. of America, whose plant is in the outskirts of Boston, Mass. The liabilities are about $140,000; the assets are problematical. Action was taken on the petition of Boston creditors, whose claims aggregated about $1,300, Judge Dodge in the United States District Court appointing Arthur J. Farnsworth is vice President. Farn5worth receiver, president of the bankrupt company was named the receiver. 

The creditors who led the petition in involuntary bankruptcy are the Vacuum Oil Company, whose claim was for $25; Ezra B. W'hittier, $76; and \Villiam H. Wilkinson, $1,009. As the board of directors had admitted their inability to pay their debts, and their willingness to be adjudged bankrupt, the court of course promptly allowed the petition. Attorney Hugh Ogden, who represented the company, said that the receivership proceedings were brought about by reason of the company trying to do too much business on its limited capital. The company could not raise the necessary money to pay its debts. Its capital stock was recently increased to a large sum, but no market could be found for the pretty pieces of paper.

Despite its name and its capital the Napier concern was never a serious factor in the American industry. Its plant was operated in rather haphazard fashion, having been shut down several times, a strike also interfering with its working. Its affairs have furnished food for gossip for many months and its failure was so long and so clearly foreshadowed that the climax should cause scarcely a ripple of surprise. The gossip has been of the sort that suggested that a lifting of the entire lid may disclose some uncommonly interesting conditions.

The Napier Company has done business, or tried to do business in the United States for about three and a half years. It, of
course, manufactures a replica of the English Napier car, using the same patents   paying royalties to the London company. It was, however, wholly independent of the English company. The capital stock is $600,000, half of which is common, and
the other half preferred. Of this stock $232,000 was paid in.

Eldredge

1904 Eldredge Runabout Automobile

In 1903, The National Sewing Machine Company, Belvidere, IL, decided to go into the manufacturing of automobiles after its deal with Oscar Friedman fell through. It was named after the company's president, B. Eldredge, and it was a two-cylinder runabout that was sometimes called the National Road Car. Its tiller steering was on the left side, which was unusual at the time. After three years of producing 300 of its models, the company closed down..

Kenmore

1910 Kenmore Runabout Automobile

The Kenmore was built from 1910-1912 by brothers F. A. and J. D. Meidinger at their Kenmore Manfacturing CO. in Chicago, IL.It had a  two-cylinder, 16 Horsepower, water cooled engine placed in front. With its seat placed toward the middle of the body and a long steering wheel at an odd angle, it gave the car an unattractive buggy appearance. It was priced at $500. In 1912,  Sears Roebuck bought the defunct factory's machinery and a year later the Kenmore refrigerator was on the market.

1910 Kenmore Automobile Advertisement

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