Apr. 1, 1912 



inner tubes; but these too have been leak- 

 ing, and I have had no use of the machine, 

 to speak of, as there has been trouble every 

 time I had it out. 



The new wheels cost me, freight and all, 

 over $200. The old wheels are useless to me; 

 but if returned they would barely pay for 

 the freight charges, as I have ascertained. 

 I have spent over ?800 on the machine, and 

 it has been nothing but trouble and vex- 

 ation to me so far. 'I'here is no prospect of 

 selling it here, and it would not pay to send 

 it to San Francisco. If I had a spare build- 

 ing in which to store it I would have bought 

 a new horse long ago, as I used to keep one; 

 but I put a wooden floor in my stable for 

 my auto, which is now occupying that build- 

 ing, and I can not afford to throw it out on 

 the scrap-pile. 



Independence, Inyo Co., Cal. 



[I am sorry to get such a letter as the 

 above; but it would be manifestly unfair to 

 give our readers the impression that run- 

 ning an automobile is all fair sailing. I 

 have had some years' experience with autos, 

 and our family have owned and have run a 

 number of different makes of cars, and I 

 must say the Sears car has given me 

 more service and more satisfaction than any 

 other I ever got hold of. 



In regard to the solid-rubber tire, when I 

 ordered my machine I thought solid tires 

 would be best for the Florida sand; but the 

 company wrote me at once that they were 

 sure the pneumatic tires would be much 

 better; but a brother in Michigan bought a 

 solid-tire machine, and he and I rode many 

 miles through sand and through mud, right 

 after a rain, and over rocky roads, without 

 any trouble whatever. He has since run it 

 on long trips over the desert between 

 Phipnixand Pima, 

 in Arizona, and, I 

 think, with very 

 little trouble ex- 

 cept that he had 

 to wait for his new 

 friction filler, 

 which he should 

 have ordered in ad- 

 vance. 



Now a w o r d 

 about inner tubes. 

 We can not order 

 these in advance 

 and keep them in 

 stock; for I am 

 told that, especial- 

 ly here in this 

 warm region, they 

 last only about a 

 year before they 

 get rotten, or sonie- 

 thinglikeit. When 

 1 ordered niy ma 

 chine I also got an 

 extra tube to be 

 held in reserve; 

 but this tube that 

 wasn't used at all 

 seemed to go to 



209 



pieces about as soon as the others. Well, 

 if this is true (but I hope it isn't) suppose 

 a dealer tries to keej) a stock on hand (to 

 fill "emergency" orders), if he should hap- 

 pen to keep a tube a year it might give 

 no service at all, even if" it was brand-new. 

 Three of my four tubes began to give trouble 

 in just about a year, and yet I had the very 

 best make in "the market. In the above 

 case the comi)any furnished two new inner 

 tubes without cost, and yet it may not have 

 been any fault of their own. Of course, I 

 do not know just what kind of roads our 

 good friend Muth-Rasmussen has in his 

 neighborhood; but my impression is. if he 

 will be patient and gradually learn to make 

 needed repairs himself he will yet get not 

 only much service, but much enjoyment 

 out of his machine. This will have to be 

 done, more or less, with the best machine 

 made, no matter what it cost. 



Permit me to mention, in closing, that 

 Sears, Roebuck & Co. have just sent out the 

 finest and plainest instruction book for their 

 car I have ever seen for any automobile. It 

 is profusely illustrated, and made so plain 

 with arrows and numbers that any ordinary 

 mechanic, with such a help, should be able 

 to make his own repairs. Yes, it does usual- 

 ly cost something to keep an auto in repair; 

 but it costs nothing when idle, which is not 

 true of a horse. — A. I. Root.] 



THE SEARS FRICTION-DRIVE TRUCK 



BY GRANT ANDERSON 



I have used an automobile fox visiting 

 my out-apiaries and for hauling light loads 

 for several years, and would not think of 

 doing without one. Several of my apiaries 



If a box Is properly strapped or tied to the lugirage-carrier, quite a load may 

 be carried successfully on a motor cycle. 



