THE STATE
A Weekly Survey of North Carolina
Vol.5. No. 20
October 16, 1937
First Car
in the State
Mr. Water» in the second car he built. He still
uses it for a Sunday afternoon drive and it runs
just as good as it ever did.
Ii was made by ii. S. Haleru, of
.\cu Hern, and if In- had
1мм»п
able
I»
obtain financial backing,
IS'orlli Carolina might have be-
come a great auto nianiifaclur-
ing state.
Вы
GKRTRIUK S. CAR It All AY
H
KXRY FORI» and other auto*
mobile manufacturer. might
have had a .troug competitor
North Carolina, and thi« State
ht no* U1 |>artiripatiug in an in-
trial war again*! Michigan in the
(mobile indu»trv, if (iillerl S.
ter., of New Bern, had -W-reedcd
the («ginning of this century in
I t
йцлц*|п|1е
I : |
J-riiiMUt nilh tue u*e
of ga.nl ii
Proving what a fine job he
of it, Mr. Water, .till ROT* to ride
frequently in a ga.oline buggy ear
that he made in 1903. He ran travel
30 mile, an hour, and he get. 30 mile,
on a gallon of gatoline. It i. believe»!
to be the olde.t ear now in North
Carolina. Previously bo had made
another automobile in 1 899, one of
the firrt gaudine car. made anvnbere
in the Cnited State.
SUrt of Experiments
In the «ear 1899 Mr. Water. vi«-
d Baltimore.
Г
mil then he had
ver seen an automobile. There be
w four .team
сага,
the total in that
у
at that time. He became in-
ear. rather than with the .team out¬
fit*. lie had never «eon a gaudine
ear.
Doipitc many Doubting Tboinn*o>.
hi* fir*t ear ran .uccew.fully on
а
New Bern street in 1900. It had no
lop, and ita .olid rubber tire wheel,
were large, with tiny .pole.. The
crank wa. at the aide, with the engine
under tlie narrow, high seat. A bi¬
cycle chain and mutHor were uml.
Л
•teering roi wa* arranged in.tend of
a .leering wheel, a lei a bicycle 1—11
warned |«vlr»tri«n. of the apprivach-
irg i-oii t rapt ion.
Ill* *econd automobile, the one
that he alill uro. for Sunday after-
noon riile*. waa built in 1903. with a
buggy body. The motor i. under the
н
It neigh.
МО
pound*. and ha«
a ea | -a city for only two gallon* of
gawdinr. It .till look, more like a
Over 30 year, ago Mr. Water*
would have turned hi* buggy factory
into an automobile plant, had he l«en
able to finance it. Inatcad, however,
hi. father grow tired of hi*
!ем"
experiment» with
buggie.'' and withdrew from tin- firm,
rolling out for *J,100 and moving to
the country. After that, the *ott na.
btlay trying to keep up with hi. bug¬
gy buainewa. and could not borrow any
capital for an automobile venture.
In vain he tried many banker, and
capitalize, endeavoring to get them
to finance an automobile factory in
New Bern; but they ju.t laughed at
him and hi. vi* ionary roheme.
"Horae* and buggie. will alw.y. be
urod.” he wa* told : "buggie. without
bor«« never will be practical, ami
they would be too expensive and dan-
grrou. anyway.”
Some Reminiscences
Mr. Waters ha. .tudied automo¬
bile* and their bi.tory from leg in¬
ning to end, ami often like, to rail
attention to the difference, in modern
ear. with llioro he lira* ma<le ami
drove.
"The fir*t automobile w»< driven
in Detroit in 1-91 by a fellow named
King, I have heard,” hr MV*. "Henry
Ford made hi* fir»t ear in Detroit in
1*9*. He had leeu an engineer ami
a bicycle .hop man. lie wa. luckier
than I wa.. Iieeauro he got —me mm
buggy thai
ii a modern automobile.
to lack him financially,
awl they or-
ganirrd the Iviroit Automobile Cam-
Was
Buggy Manufacturer
puny. The Old. Motor l
'oinpanv wa.
I'dlil
ГО
cent year. Mr. Water. Ml
|,| tile fir-t automobile In
anufaeturing
at lra»t 100 buggie. a year, and at one
time in bi. career lie made and *old
an average of four buggie. a day.
Now he i. in the automobile
umrrn in the country, I think.
"All auto. Il*ed to 0|le1l in the rear.
Reel .tout |>eople could hardly
through the narrow opening».
(Confinncif on page tii teen I
