HUM OF MOTORS.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXXX, Issue 13138, 26 July 1913, Page 10

HUM OF MOTORS.

; INFLUENCE OF AUTOMOBILE ,;.■;■'■ INDUSTRY. Every bit of machinery in this old ( world of ours (states a Canadian journal) hastens., the millenium "when ,thrones have perished and when kings are dust, and . w. hen the aristocracy of Idleness has perished from the earth." The hum of a. million or two million motors along our roads means better roads and more of them; a breaking down of local and sectional prejudice; more uniform laws governing traffic; a :vast and growing indxisiry that takes its stand with all. tho others in the social evolution working toward collectivism; the dissemination of a perfectly incalculable amount ot practical common-sense mechanical skill and knowledge among millions upon millions of our people. Has it* ever occurred to you that the science and practice of mechanics, once "thie mystery of a class," has now become the common property of practically all mankind? . And that the motor, whether in car Or boat, has been the main driving factor in this vast effloresence of, knowledge? Twenty years ago the average man kne>v little or nothing of mechanics. Today there are. literally millions o.f men who haye-T-though not professionally — a sound), practical, working knowledge of the- principles of an engine, its" care, and, its operation; millions who, can run^ onfs,, repair, ono and handle one intelligently. The auto, in my opinion, has' done . more to spread a general knowledge, of mechanics throughout the population in a shorter ' time than all Ithe' technical schools working full blast could possibly have done. And look at* the coming generation, .will you ! Look at the millions of boys now being nurtured on pistons, cams, •differentials and carburetors. All the vast army j6f tauto owners form also an aririy of instructors for next batch of Americans. Boys love- machinery, by natiure, as bees love clover tops, and each auto has its little group of devotees. , Every . garage is a fascinating hanfc-dut for. boys. Prond an-d glad, in r deed, aire they when some man says : "Hey, sonny, hold this -.spark p"lug while I prime the cylinder!" You can expand this motif yourself, indefinitely. Have I not struck a flowing well of tfUth? Tt. nil verifier the philosophical concept that machinery is to-day, after all, th<; dominating force in modern life; that .civilisation is at basis a matter of superor m«chaiiicul skill, and that tho mafcerialist/ic interpretation of history is correct. The auto f ,is making a wiser, a hap-, pier, and a better world. Viva I'auto.