Newspaper Page Text
Mrs. Howard Gould Writes Con
cerning Motoring in the
Southern Stgtes.
MRS. HOWARD GOULD.
Evidently this is a great winter
season for the South. The restric
tions on travel to Europe, the Far
East, Cuba and the British West In
dies have sent thousands motoring to
the Florida and other American cold
weather resorts. Another strong fac
tor has been the steady improvement
of the roads. Automobile owners and
drivers are no longer pioneers, ven
turing fearfully upon unknown paths |
and dangers. Their roads are marked |
o;n and prepared for them, step by‘
step.
Both the Dixie and the _mtema-l
tional highways have been gone over
carefully. The official report is that
there are not twenty-five miles of |
bad road on the main line of either,|
and no road through which an ordi
nary machine under its own power
need be baffled, even after the freezes
and thaws, snows and rains of win
ter have done their worst.
One thing, however, I would criti
cize about the South. it does not ad
vertise its chief attractions. Places
of intense historic and scenic inter
est literally dot the South, and yet
it is a most difficult thing for the mo
torist to find the majority of them.
For dozens of delightful and inter
esting side trips I had to turn to the
new volume 6 of the Automobile Blue
Bcok. This volume gives detailed and
reliable touring data covering all the
Southern roads. But one of its chief |
benefits is in its descriptions and di
rections covering enjovable side trips
to places of beauty and legend, which
the people in the towns around have
failed to appraise at their real value.
No small part of the difficulties
travel on the D'xle Highway now of
fers is due to the construction work
which was begun and delayed by ex
cessive wet weather. Emphatic warn
ing is given to avo!d that unimproved
rough stretch of the Dixie Highway
between Nashville and Chattanooga,
which is the direct route. It is bet
ter to detour through Huntsville, Ala.,
although it is 97 miles farther. The
Dixie Highway via Macon, Fitzgerald
and Waycross does not afford the
best way of entrance into Florida
The best way of entering is via Au
gusta, Savannah and Brunswick.
The bit of swamp between Wash
ington and Fredericksburg, Va.,
which used to be a terror always and
an insurmountable obstacle some
times, has been put in passable shape
and all but five miles of it really is
good road. The other bad place be
tween Fredericksburg and Richmond
has been put permanently in excel
lent condition. The fearful stretch
south of Brunswick, Ga., has béen re
built and made & source of pride in
stead of a disgrace to the country.
This year the big thing in the
South is the interest in the dozens of
huge army camps Uncle Sam’s boys
have brought many thousands of dol
lars to the Southern States, not only
in their own pockets, but in the pock
ets of the contractors who built the
camps and the hordes of relatives,
friends and pleasure seekers who
have flocked to the camps by motor
car.
So far as the main highways are
concerned, automobile travelers have
nothing to fear and will find occasion
for joyous approval and encourage
ment. Florida is crowded with new
attractions. Paim Beach, while love
ly as ever, has lost some of its pre
eminence because of the great train
ing cantonment eight miles out of
Jacksonville. The 35,000 soldier boys
do not lack friends, and the opportu
nity to see what actual preparation
for war is like has drawn crowds of
the curious and the patriotic. |
Duval County, Florida, is putting
down six miles of vitrified brick road
fifteen feet wide. Between St. Au
gustine and Jacksortville there are
forty miles of this vitrified brick
road, which will last practically for
ever, as it is well drained and the
law forbids use of it except by auto
mobiles and vehicles with specified
width of tire.
It is a pity the South is not ready
to reap the full benefits that might
go to it from present conditions.
Some dull, hackward, stupid or indif
ferent sections do their worst to spoil
the prospect for all. It is nothing to
the motor car owner that he can go
200 miles toward his destination com
fortably ‘and safely if he is bogged
hopelessly or forced to smash his ma
chine by the neglect or incompetence
of one Board of County Commission
ers or th= ignorance, inertia and
mossbagk blindness of the voters of
one township. ¢
The “tripper” tourist who used to
“do” Europe in a hurry, following the
beaten and worn paths and hitting
only the high places, was a tradi
tional object of derision. Yet the peo
ple of some parts of all the Southern
States are driving visitors to the same
absurd and improfitable system of
“doing” the South. Many of the bat
tleflelds of the Civil and Revolution- I
ary Wars are beyond reach except
on foot or horseback or by the use
of crazy and uncomfortable local ve
hicles s
Perhaps a worse vice than failure
to make decent roads is that of mak
ing them at vast expense, advertis
ing ttem with much flourish of trum
pets and then permitting them to fall
into ruin for lack of the few dollars
and occasional attention needed to
keep them in repair. Virginia is espe
cially unfortunate in this respect.
Fastern Virginia, at least, is better
than most parts of the South in the
matter of signposts. Wherever the
influence of the Richmond automobile
dealers and owners extends the roads
are carefully mar¥ed. In many other
sections of the Southeastern States it
<& ns to be assumed that nobody un
fa .liar with the neighborhood wil
use tke roads.
Alcng the northern and western
edzes of the South the good roads
spirit has asserted itself and is in
evidence everywhere. The drive
across the Cumberland Mountains to
and from Uniontown, Pa., Hagers
town and Frederick, Md., to Balti
more and Washington in one direc
tion, and Staunton, Va,, in the ether,
i« the brightest of the automobilist's
dreams come literally and brilliantly
true—roads hard, smooth, broad and
safe and the scenery wonderful.
In Virginia the “Valley Pike,” one
‘of the oldest good rcads in America,
i= maintained by frequent tollgates
¥'rom this road the Gettysburg battle
field is reached easily and quickly.
The “Valley Plke” is identified with
the most famous of Stonewall Jack
son’s campaigns and goes directly by
some of the country’s most notable
natural wonders, the Luray Caverns
Wever's Cave and Natural Bridge,
where Genera!('fi’ashington in his
vouth climbed gher up the preci
pice than any man before or since
The roads to and around Hot Springs
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A shipment of these handsome four-passenger sport models are now en route to the J. R. Hol
land Auto Company, and should arrive in a few days.
. .
Batavia Tires Now
Has a Distributor
.
For Entire State
The Crumley-Sharpe Hardware Com
pany, of Atlanta, has been appointed
State distributors for the Batavia au
tomobile tire, and is now making con
tracts with dealers in all sections of the
State.
The Batavia tire is well and favorably
known in many sections of the country,
but is a comparative stranger in Geor
gia. When the Crumley-Sharpe com
pany decided to go into the tire busi
ness they naturally wanted a tire thas
they could recommend to their trade
and after a very careful personal in
vestigation decided upon the Batavia.
It has been something more than
four months since they sold their first
car of these tires, and, although they
are sold upon a positive guarantee, not
one complaint has been received. The
Batavia is sold upon a guarantee that
it will run 4,000 miles, which is 500 miles
more than is guaranteed for other tires
selling at the same price. S
All adjustments are made by the
Crumley-Sharpe Hardware Company
without consulting the factory. Deal
ers will find this very much more sat
isfactory than dealing with small fac
tory branches that may be discontin
ued at ahy time, leaving the dealer to
settle with the factory some thousands
of miiles away. ‘
and the far-known WHite Sulphur are
excellent. (
Around by this route there is fairly
comfortable access to Roanoke ex
cept where the once fine road ap
proaching the city has been ‘allowed
to deteriorate. South of Roanoke the
road through the mountains into
North Carolina is so infamous that
enjoyment of the very fine scenery is
impossible, and 1 advise everybody
to avoid it. The same unpleasant re
mark may be made of the road from
Richmond to Roanoke via Lynchburg.
Through most of Virginia and North
Carolina the historic places are neg
lected so far as gilving strangers ac
cess to them is concerned.
South <Carolina cffers a shining
contrast to this neglect of history and
tradition by people who are supposed
to subsist chiefly on both. Mr. E.
J. Watson, State Commissioner of
Agriculture, has published a large
map showing the highway system of
the State, with the names of all his
toric points and the dates on which
fame was eamedd&or them in red ink.
Mr. Watson, whose office is at Co
lumbia, will be glad to send the map
free to all prospective wvisitors, that
they may pause at the battlefield of
King’s Mountain, which is just over
the line in North Carelina; the Cow
rens, Eutaw Springs, Fort Moultrie,
Fort Motte—where Mrs. Rebecca
Motte showed the American General
Marion how to use blazing arrows to
fire her own mansion because the
British were standing a siege behind
its stout walls and the Americans had
no artillery.
In North Carolina, thanks partly to
the United States Government, the
scene of the important Revolutionary
battles of Guilford Courthouse and
Kings Mountain, the same road that
carries us from the old but now mod
ern and lively city of Charlotte goes
on to war, as it is. Tt is the high
way to Spartanburg, where New York
troops are in cantonment, and to
Greenville, thirty-six miles farther
south, where there is another great
cantonment.
Another word of practical advice,
if you think of visiting either of these
cities—arrange in advance for rooms
at the hotels, and get rates. Ido not
know about Greenville, but personal
experience teaches that Spartanburg
is densely crowded and that New
York City rates are exacted for Spar
| tanburg accommodations.
The road from Salisbury, N. C,
over the mountains to Asheville is
perfect, and a road from Spartanburg
to Asheville is being rebuilt and prob
ably will be in fine condition within
the next few weeks. Both these roads
pass magnificent mountain scenery
and give access to Saluda, Hender
sonville and other resorts. Asheville
people insist that they have the finest
hotels in the South, and their claim
is well founded. There are plenty of
golf and tennis and other outdoor
amusement, in addition to the moun
tain climbing.
Ore of the side trips offering in
ducements and attractions is that to
Wirston-Salem, N. C., the home and
headquarters of the Moravians. A
few miles away is the hamlet of
Clemmons, the last relic of a once
flourishing colony of Quakers that
came from Pennsylvania about 1770.
Those who go to Winston-Salem
should take the road from Charlotte |
or Raleigh.
Reports agree that the direct con- ‘
nection from Jacksonville to Talla
hass2e i{s a hard road to travel and
well to avold. TaMahassee, however,
is in the midst of a good road section “
and it may be reached with comfort
by driving from points south of Jack
sonville and St. Augustine through
Deland, Eustis, Leesburg, Ocala,
Gainesville, Take City, Live Oak,
‘Madison and Monticello, or from
‘Tampa and points south due north to
Brooksville, Ocala, etc.
This is the year @f all years for
the spreading of the good roads gos- l
pel and crusade in the South. Un
questionably the cbstacle thus far has
been the farmer. This year, however
he is rolling in wealth. Now or never
must he respond to the appeals ot
the people of the cwies, and realize
that hard, smooth and well-kept roads
will increase the value of his lands |
and oyen the world to him, and his
country to the world.
HEARST'S SUNDAY AMERICAN __ A Newspaper for People Who Think — SUNDAY, JANUARY 27, 1918
Alexander Gets f
Advancement by
The White Co. |
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W. D. ALEXANDER.
William R. Alexander has been ap
pointed manager of the Southeastern
department for the White Company,
succeeding Robert W. Woodruff, who
is now a captain of ordnance, U. S. A.
All of those acquainted with the auto
mobile trade in this section know that
Mr. Alexander is an old-timer in the
'game, having been marketing cars
and trucks in this territory for the
past ten years. He has been identi
fied with the White Company for the
past elght years as manager for At
lanta local and gorporation sales. In
this capacity he has been the chief
factor in establishing White trucks in
this section. As a result of his keen
initiative and discriminating work,
the White has been adopted as the
standard motor equipment by hun
dreds of individual firms as well as
by many prominent national buyers
in the South, including:
Southern Bell Telephone Company.
Southern Express Company.
Atlantic Ice and Coal Corporation.
Red Rock Company.
Coca-Cola Company.
Western Electric Company.
City of Atlanta.
County of Fulton,
Standard Ofl Company.
The teritory under management of
the Southeastern department includes
the States of North Carolina, South
Carolina, Georgia, lorida, Alabama
and Eastern Tennessee, all under ex
perienced district managers. |
The Carolinas will be under direc- ‘
tion of J. D. Allen, with sales and
service depot at Charlotte, N. (.;
Georgia and Fast Tennessee under W.
Henry White, with headquarters at
the Atlanta branch; Florida under L.
E. Bissell, with sales and service de
pot at Jacksonville; Alabama under
To the Public:
Automobile dealers and automobile
accessory dealers, members of the At
lanta Automobile Association, will re
main closed all tomorrow, Monday,
January 28th.
- It is our purpose to co-operate with
and help the Government in every
way possible, and our members take
pleasure in complying with the order
as issued by Dr. Garfield.
ATLANTA AUTOMOBILE
ASSOCIATION,
Another Big Drive
““Through out Charlotte branch we
are able to give our dealers the de
tails of the last factory drive-away to
this section before bad weather sets
in,”” stated Mr. Martin, of the South
ern Oakland Company.
“T. J. Johnson, manager of the Ford
Auto Company, V\-’llmin%ton, N U
Oakland dealers, lgo'. together a party
and went up to Pontlac the first part
of December and drove out flve tour
ings and three roadsters. Raln and
heavy ice were encountered at the start,
causing very rough traveling. A thaw
set in as they moved southward, mak
ing the roads muddy and slow. How
ever, in spite of these drawbacks, they
report very little low-ftear work.
“Outside a loose 1511 tion wire and
lamp socket, four dlr(f' spark plugs, a
few punctures and a dented fender, no
trouble worth mentioning was encoun
tered. This {s a remarkable feat when
you consider the nature of the coun
try the gart_v traveled ower and the
time of the year.
“Mr. Johnson reports careful attention
was given to gasoline eonsumgtion.
each driver being closely checked up,
and a: a result a record was estab
lished that is a credit to the car and
the driver. J. N. Highsmith, of Cur
rie, N. C,, made the best record, using
only 541 gallons of gasoline on the en
tire trip. This is an average of 21.4
miles to the gallon. The distance cov
ered was 1,170 miles. Mr. Johnson made
the next best record, averaging 20.7 for
the trip.
“Dealers in the Carolinas who are in
terested as to the route chosen and
other detalls of this drive-away will do
well to get in touch with Mr. Johnson.
ag his experience in conductlnq such a
successful triY will be valuable to all
who contemplate making one in the
future.”
Tire Prices Likel
Tn a recent letter for Ed. C. Griffith,
president of the Automobile Tire Com
pany, Inc., of No. 1626 Broadway, New
York, he writes their manager of the
Atlanta branch store that "bcfilnnlnz
with January, 1915, and continuing up
to the present time, there has been an
average increase of about 5 per cent
monthly in the prices of fabrics for the
manufacturs of tires.*
A total of over 130 per eent since Jan
vary, 1915, % per cent of this increase
occurred in the year 1916, while the
increase in the price of tires to the
consumer during that year was only
‘about 10 per cent. In fact, the increase
in the cost of fabric since 1910 has been
150 per cent, and yet today manufac
turers are solllnf better tires than were
made at that time for 25 per cent less
than they were sold for in 1810.
Mr. Griffith also states that the very
material increase in the cost of labor,
coupled with that of all ingredients en
tering into the manufacture of tires, has
kept the cost of production on a rising |
scale. Crude rubber has not advan(‘ed‘
in proportion to other ingredients and
that fact in conjunction with reduced
factory costs, brought about by improv
ed machinery, is accountable in a large
degree for the smail increase in selling
price as compared with the increase in
the cost of materials, labor, coal, ete.
War conditions of ever nature, com
bined with a scarcity and high prices
of fabrics and other materials, = will
robably cause a considerable advance
Fn tire prices in the very near future.
C. B. Cowan, with sales and service
depot at Birmingham.
The personnel of the organization
remaing practically the same as it has
been for the past two years and there
is every assurance that sales of White
trucks will reach the utmost limit of
war-time production.
Meeting Wonderful Success in
. Reclaiming Old Worn
Tires.
Only a few weeks ago the Interna
tional Rubber Company established an
agency here under the management of
D. B. Donaldson, and auto owners be
gan to rub their eyes and wake up to
the fact that it was no longer neces
sary to buy new tires at a dollar a
pound or junk an old one for 4 cents,
as Gates halfsole tires, made of the
very best rubber, can be applied, se
curing from 10,000 to 15,000 additional
miles, not to speak of their beauty or
comfort,
Gates halfsole tires prove that when
you fill a real need in commerce you
can not Keep business from your door.
Mr. Donaldson states that it is only
necessary to show the goods. Every
man buys and becomes a circulating
salesman, eager to tell his friends.
" There is anogher element that en
ters into the rapid success of Gates
halfsole tires at the presen¢ time,
however, and that is the conomy and
saving idea that prevails throughout
the country. Gates tires only cost
about one-third the price of a new
tire of equal quality.
They reclaim worn-out tires that
the auto owner has heretofore sold for
junk at a few cents per pound. The,
Gates halfsole gives the old tire the
same appearance as a new one, as a
new nonskid halfsole is put on, and
none of the old tire is left visible.
Each tire covered carries a guarantee
of 3,660 miles without a puncture, and
many users are getting as much as
five, six and elght thousand miles.
The Gates company stands gquarely
behind its guarantee against punc
tures.
Some of the most prominent motor
ists in Atlanta have the Gates half
soles on thelr tires, and so pleased
have they been with the results they
have written enthusiastic letters to
Mr. Donaldson regarding their merit.
It is safe to say that the tire junk
dealer is going to suffer a real slump
in business as soon as motor car own
ers learn of the great saving they can
effect through the use of Gates half
soles. L
THE EVIDENCE
SUPERIOR TRUCK CO.—ls An Atlanta Institution
Local Industry Rapidly Gaining
Reputation Throughout the
'
United States.
The progress of Atlanta as an im
portant industrial center of the South
is emphasized this year by the ap
pointment of numerous State repre
sentatives throughout the country to
handle products of the Doss Rubber
and Tube Company to be manufac
tured, beginning next spring, at a
large factory being built opposite
Fort McPherson.
Indications are that this new loeal
[industry soon will become one of the
leading manufacturing plants of
‘Georgia. Dr. N. C. Doss, president
‘of the company, and inventor of the
patented puncture-proof inner tube,
‘has appointed representatives for the
following States: .
~ Georgla, North and South Carolina,
Tennessce, Florida, Alabama, Kan
sas, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Min
nescta, North and South Dakota, Mls
sour!, Louisiana, Arkansas and Ken
tucky.
Agents will be appointed by these
men for various counties, cities and
towns {in their respective States, and
it is expected that large quantities of
tubes will be on sale in nearly every
State in the country by next sum
mer,
According to the plans of directors
of the company, the new factory will
be completed by next May. The con
struction work has been retarded
during the winter as a result of un-.
favorable weather conditions.
Dr. Doss says he attributes the in
creased mileage obtained by a casing
equipped with his tube to two impor
tant factors: First, to maintaining a
constant air pressure because of the
absence of seepaj and punctures,
and, second, to nß;reater resiliency,
lessening the shock and wear when
striking rocks and other obstructions,
After his product had attained its
present perfuction, Dr. Doss ordered
many tubes manufactured, under his
direction by other rubber companies,
and in each instance these tubes
gtithatmd the severe tests applied hy
perts, with excellent results.
Lee HAGAN, Pres. GUS T. DODD, Vice Pres. JOHN HAGAN, Supt.
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—K‘)/ YURT YABRAND X )
ARBONATEDYSDECIALTIE |
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ATLANTA®GA-
Jan. 9th, 19818
Superior Motor Truck Co.,
City,
Gentlemen: -
About one year ago we purchase a One Ton
Superior Truck from you, which we have used con
stantly in the delivering of our goods and found
same very satisfactory. '
We are® in need of two more trucks and will
thank you to enter our order for two more of the
same size as the one previously bought from you and
rush the order thru and let us have them as quick
as possible.
Yours very truly
THE RED ROCK CO.
2 7
Cars No Longer '
Stored for Winter
“It is only about flve years ago that,
at the beginning of freezing weéather,
owners of automobiles arranged to store
them for the winter,” said F. H. Ren
gers, sales manager of the Moon Motor
Car Company. ‘“The cars were then put
into storage and lifted on tire saving
Jacks and not taken out until the fol
lowing April, so that their use was
eliminated between November and April,
‘““Nowadays even the touring car can
be run all winter in comfort to passen-
You Half-Sole
IYO s ,q‘i;(*:i.f P — l
’
You Don’t Throw Your Shoes Away
‘When the first sole wears thin—certainly not! You have them half
soled—because the upper parts of the shoes are just as good as
they ever were-—and by half-soling them you have, at much less
cost, practically a new pair of shoes.
Exactly the same thing @pplies to your worn tires.
Not only are Gates Half-Sole Tires made just like a new tire—
they WEAR just like a new tire and are GUARANTEED just the
same, plus these added advantages:
They are 99 per cent puncture proof.
They are protection against blow-outs.
They glve you the advantage of over-size tires.
They cost approximately one-third the price of a corresponding
size of tire of the same quality.
You can test the resiliency and extreme toughness of the rub
ber yourself, as we have sections here for that very purpose—we
want you to see why and how they can be slipped on over your
worn tires and enable you to get 3,000 to 10,000 mfles more service
guaranteed without a puncture,
Come in and see them or phone us and we'll come and see you.
I ional Rubber Saies C
nternational Rubber daies Co.
345 Peachtree—lvy 656
5B
gers, while the closed car is much more
pleasing as a vehicle than the ordinary
street car. With the use of Froper anti
freeze compounds, the radiator does not
freeze and new devices make the car
easy to start. The winter no longer is
a terror for the motorist or danger for
the motor car.” \ :
A Porto Rico illustrated journal in«
dicates that the queen of dancers, Anna,
Pavlowa, recently visited San Juan,
and created a stir among the dance
loving Porto Ricans with her incom
parable pirouettes. The automobile
‘which she used during her stay on
the island was equipped with Good
year tires.
Why not Your'
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