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The Atlanta Georgian .<.>
Automobii E artmlnt 81202
| ATLANTA'S AUTO TRADE GROWS FROM NOTHING TO MILLIONS IN 11 YEARS
In 1901 the First Car Was Solei in Atlanta---
Now This City Is the Motor Car Headquarters
for the South and Does Business Running
High in the Millions.
By PERCY H. WHITING.
At the fag end of the year 1900 C. A.
Benjamin, representing the Locomobile
Company of America., packed away a
half dozen steam automobiles on a Sa
vannah steamship, paid $lO apiece for
freight and sailed for Savannah.
A few days later he had the cars set
Wp and running.
This, so far as history records it,
was the beginning of the automobile
business in the South.
Twelve years ago today there was
probably not an automobile agent In
Dixie. Certainly there was not one
worthy of the name.
Today the business done by the city
of Atlanta alone runs high in the mil
lions. In the South it runs up into the
hundreds of millions
Do you figure that too high?
Well, there’s one agency here in At
lanta -not a branch, mind, but an agen
cy—that sells one make of car only and
which has for its territory about half of
the state of Georgia. Last year it did
a business that ran well over a third
of a million. This year it has contract
ed for $460,000 worth of cars and will
well half a million dollars worth. And
this is one agency In one city for one
car. Imagine, now, the business of the
whole South!
Connerat First Agent.
But, reverting again to the begin
ning of this now tremendous business,
C. A. Benjamin, the first factory repre
sentative of an automobile company
who ever invaded the South for auto
mobile business, secured his first agent
in Savannah. This agent was R. V.
Connerat, now manager of the Buick
branch in Atlanta. Mr Connerat. it is
believed, was the first man in the
South who ever bought automobiles for
Bale. and. moreover, that he was the
first w ho ever had a building erected in
the South exclusively for the sale and
repair of automobiles.
Though it is not known for sure, it
is believed that W. J. Deßenne, of Sa
vannah, who wan given a Stanley
steamer in the fall of 1900. was the first
man in the South who owned an auto
mobile.
After Mr. Benjamin had established
an agency 1n Savannah he Invaded the
state, traveling by railroad, it may well
be believed, and visited Augusta and
Macon before he came to Atlanta. On
his arrival in the Gate City the busi
ness really opened up here.
Alexander and Ashe Pioneers.
The race for the honor of being the
first automobile agent in Atlanta is
about a tie bteween H. M Ashe and
W D. Alexander. Mr. Ashe was then
in the typewriter business and he fell
for the blandishments of Mr. Alexan
der and took on a side line of steam
Locomobiles. At about tlie same time
Mr. Alexander, then in the bicycle busi
ness, took the Atlanta agency for the
Mobile steam cars
These steam cars were fine old bug
gies They were built to sell for s6so—
that was about all. After they
were sold it was a tough game. Not
Infrequently they ran—but not always.
Also they didn’t run very long or very
fast. And when one of them broke
down It was a job for a consulting com
mittee of steam and mechanical engi
neers, carriage, builders and safe blow
ers
The first purchaser of an automobile
(n Atlanta is supposed to have been
Marion Johnson, who took over a Mo-
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.. bile steamer. John W. Alexander was
e an early purchaser of a steam car, and
1 so was Dr. Blosser,
The Coming of Gasoline.
r The automobile business was not
really a business until lh»- gasoline cars
* were Introduced. Manufacturers knew
a lot more about steam than about gas-
• oline In those days, but when It came
to applying the knowledge to road ve
hicles it was but a little while before
5 the "gas” car was out in the lead and
1 well on its way to the Intensely prac
‘ tlcal vehicle of the present day.
The first gasoline car introduced in
’ Atlanta was the little “curved dash”
Oldsmobile, And to this good day
there are two of them rolling around
Atlanta and doing pretty nicely, thank
you. Those were a great car—the first
successful moderate priced machine
made In America, and an intensely
J practical, one-lunged craft, not fast,
but durable and useful. You al! re
member them, with their odd little
curved dash and a sort of a tiller for 1
steering purposes.
C. H. Johnson, still in the business in I
Atlanta as Stevens-Duryea agent, ob
tained the state agency for this car
and made W. I). Alexander the Atlanta
agent. These little boats sold for $650.
and they were the first cars that met
with ready sale in Atlanta. They came
from the factory neatly boxed, and it
was possible to pack ten of them in a
car. In the old days a carload was a
year’s supply for an agent, and it took
a wonder to dispose of that many. To
day tile Ford car occupies the place in
the automobile field that the Olds did
then—and it's nothing for tile local
agent to sell as many Fords before
breakfast as there were Olds sold then
in a whole season. Among the first
purchasers of gasoline cars in Atlanta
were F. L. Seely, J. 11. Nunnally, Ed
Inman and J. P. Stephens.
To whom belongs the honor of own
ing the first gasoline car in Atlanta is a
matter of dispute, but some of the
older dealers believe that the honor goes
to J. H. Nunnally.
First Garage a Dressing Room.
The first automobile garage in At
lanta was Qwned by W. D. Alexander.
It was a bit of a building, back of the
old Star theater, on Decatur street, and
In the old days of the Star it had been
used as a dressing room. It was a
chamber of horrors, too, for nobody
knew how to repair cars In those days,
and they were complicated contrap
tions. likely to get out of order with
out notice and to stay out of order in
definitely. If a part broke, the owner
waited until another could be sent from
the factory. And. no matter what hap
pened, nobody knew why or what to
do about It. Yes, indeed, they were
the happy days of the automobile busi
ness.
The year 1902, a mere ten years ago.
saw the opening of the business In sev
eral spots. The Atlanta Automobile
Company was organized, took a place
at 83-6 North Pryor street, bought a
carload of one-lunged Cadillacs and got
busy.
About the same time, the firm of In
man & Toole w as formed, and opened a
place on Pryor street, with a miscella
neous assortment of Whites, Stevens-
Duryeas. and such. This concern, by
the waj, was passed along from com
panv to company, until today what is
left of it. which is the highly profitable
Cadillac agency, is the property of
Steinhauer <8- Wight. But more of that
presently.
Said Cars in Stable.
Another man who experimented with
the basin' ss the second year of Its ex
istence in Atlanta was Julius DeGive,
who took the agency for the Rambler
and the Eord. His headquarters were
In a stable In the rear of the Grand
theater.
A slight idea of the change of th"
business can be gathered from this, 'n
the old days a man could conduct ■■■.
pretty suc<-< >. ful automobib busim-s
--in a stable. Today he must nave a
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high-pts d show room on Peachtree
f street or some other high-class busi
ness street: h- mu-t have a well
c iuil>!n d garage at sorii' central loca
tion, and he must have a big electric
sign that costs about as much to run, 1
1 by the year, as one of the stable-ga
rages dir! ten years ago.
The changes that came in the auto
mobile business in Atlanta in thos?
those early days of 1901-02-03-04-05
were -o numerous that it. would be im
possible to follow them all.
The firm of Inman & ’Toole consoli
dated with the Atlanta Automobile
Company. Later the Capital City Au
tomobile Company was organized by a
number of wealthy Atlantans and it
took over the consolidation and opened
tor business in the old skating rink.
This company had numerous managers
—Barney Worthen. Bill Bill Old
know. And finally it was sold to John
Kiser.
In 1906 Frank Steinhauer started on
Automobile Shows Have Been a Big Factor in
Growth of the Gate City’s Auto Trade—The
Coming Show, Which Is Set for November
16-23, Will Top All the Rest.
Edgewood avenue, representing tlie
Cadillac, Pope-Harford and Packard.
In 1908 he bought out John Kiser and
moved to the skating rink garage
Eighteen months later Steinhauer
moved to his present Peachtree street
location and the lease on the garage
was sold to Lindsey Hopkins, who then,
as now, : epresented the Overland.
Then Came the Branches.
Gradually the manufacturers of au
tomobiles improved their methods of
construction and increased the size of
their plants until the supply began to
run away with the demand. When that
time came the manufacturer's began to
recognize the South as a real field for
the selling of ca.s. At first the busi
ness in the South was done grudgingly.
If Southern dealers insisted on having
cars they would sell them. But it
didn’t really matter. When the supply
began to catch up with the demand
manufacturers saw that they must go
out for business, instead of waiting for
business to come to them. And with
this idea in view they began to open
branch houses.
V\ hen the Eastern manufacturers
looked over the Southein field they dis
cerned at once that Atlanta was the
natural place from which to distribute
automobiles over the South.
And then came the Atlanta branches.
The first company which opened a
branch in Atlanta was the Maxwell-
Briscoe Company, lat( r the United
States Motor Company. They se, ur. d
a modest place on North Pryor street
and placed J. W. Austin in charge of
their Southern branch, known then as
the Maxwell-Briscoe Southern Com
pany.
Very shortly afterwards other man
ufacturers followed this example, and
the White Company, the Buick Motor
Company and the makers of the E-M-F
did likewise.
And when they began to open the
branches Atlanta was arriving as an
automobile center.
In the last four years the business has
grown in Atlanta beyond all reasonable
bounds. The city has rushed to the
front as the automobile center of Dixie.
And today the Gate City boasts 26
agencies, 10 branch houses, 9 tire
branches and 5 accessory houses. No
city in the South comes within miles of
this. Few in the country exceed it.
Auto Shows Have Helped.
Atlanta’s position in the automobile
world is due very largely to automobile
shows. These annual showings of cars
have done more, than any one thing to
emphasize Atlanta’s position in tlie auto
industry. Coupled with Atlanta’s geo
graphical position and railroad s rpr- tn.
acy, they have made the Gate City what
it is toilay in the automobile world.
The next Atlanta Automobile show
will bi- staged in the Auditorium-Ar
m ry November 16 to 23. More floor
space will be available than ever be
fore was used for a Southern show.
The decorations will cost $16.0(19 actual
money. N. ver in the history of a show,
outside national affairs in New York
and Chicago, has this sum ever been
even approximated.
Chairman Wylie West, of the shov
committee, has opened negotiations
with some of 1 lie greatest bands in the
> country—Sousa’s, Creatore’s and ? j m (.
. lar organizations. He will secun o.j
1 best that is available. Money will not
stand in the way.
Excursion rates have been secured .. n
: all railroads leading into Atlanta.
> Appalachian Good Roads convent! -!
, will be in session here at that time ; . n d
will bring delegates by the hundreds
The show will draw tens of thousands
of people to Atlanta.
‘ And it will serve to emphasize again
the one big fact—that Atlanta is°the
> automobile center of Dixie.
TIMING OF MOTORS
IS A HARD PROBLEM
FOR EVEN EXPERTS
“The matter of tinting a motor prop.
’ erly presents a great many difficulties"
said one of Atlanta’s best automobile
' authorities. “Most every one is of the
same opinion—that the exhaust should
1 open early enough to permit a free es
-1 cape of the burned gases during the
scavenging stroke. Just how early this
: opening should occur depends on the
piston speed of the motor, and on the
shape and size and duration of the
' valve opening.
"Oomparing a four with a six. prob
ably the six will take a little earlier
opening than a four. The late closing
of the exhaust valve is of less impor
tance, but it should close as early as
possible without leaving any consider
able overpressure in the cylinder. In
regard to the inlet valve, the late clos
: ing is unimportant, so far as filling the
cylinder with gas after the piston has
passed lower dead center. The opening
of the inlet valve is generally conceded
to be about fifteen degrees past upper
dead center for a four-cylinder motor.
The inlet valve should open early
enough to reduce the gas velocity, but
should not open before the piston has
started to create a vacuum In the cyU
inder." 1
COLE COMPANY WILL
BUILD THREE CHASSIS
FOR COMING SEASON
With the starting of deliveries on the
Cole Series Eight, the Cole Motor Car
Company's plant has indications of a
big rush of business. In fact, the pros
pects are so promising, it is stated, that
if this is any criterion the 1918 general
automobile season will be one of the
m< st successful in the history of the
industry,
Witli the Cole Motor Car Company
for the coming season no radical change
•in the construction or design of the dif
ferent models has been made. The line
has been broadened, inasmuch as the
company will deviate from its one
chassis policy and build three separate
chassis for its different body stylee.
The Delco electric self-cranking, light,
ing and ignition system Is added as reg
ular equipment.
The company is continuing its regu
lar four-cylinder model of 122-inch
■a heel base and 4 1-2-inch bore by 5 1-4-
inch stroke. This model will come 10
the five-passenger convertible seven*
passenger touring car; the four-passen«
ger convertible six-passenger toy tan*
neau: the roadster, coupe and llmous*
Ine.
In addition to the standard “50" Colet
the company will build a six-cylinder
Cole, which chassis will accommodate
th;- same style bodies carried on the
standard Cole.
M’KINSTRY BOOSTS SHOW.
K. T, McKinstry, of tne Atlanta Fire
stone-Columbus Company, is going to
drive a car from Atlanta to the fac
tory at Columbus. Ohio, with a view
toward boosting the Atlanta Autoni"-
bile show.
“Mac” is having his car painted gray,
and in red letters all over the body and
od will be announcements of the big
show. Bunners will fly telling of the
best and biggest show In the South.
All through north Georgia, Tennessee,
Kentucky and Ohio the show will be
well advertised as a result of tills trip,
and great enthusiasm is sure to be
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