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Anncr:
People in America — a program in Special English on the Voice ofAmerica.
Every week at this time, we tellthe story of a person was important in the history of the UnitedStates. Today Steve Ember and Frank Oliver begin the story ofindustrialist Henry Ford.
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VOICE 1:
Many people believe Henry Fordinvented the automobile. But Henry Ford did not start to build hisfirst car until eighteen-ninety-six. That was eleven years after twoGermans — Gottlieb Daimler and Karl Benz — developed the firstgasoline-powered automobile.
Many people believe Henry Ford invented the factory system thatmoved a car’s parts to the worker, instead of making the worker moveto the parts. That is not true, either. Many manufacturers used thissystem before Ford.
What Henry Ford did was to use other people’s ideas and make thembetter.
Others made cars. Henry Ford made better cars. And he sold themfor less money. Others built car factories. Henry Ford built thebiggest factory of its time. And he made the whole factory a movingproduction line.
Henry Ford had great skills in making machines work. He also hadgreat skills as an organizer. His efforts produced a hugemanufacturing company. But those same efforts almost ruined thecompany he built.
VOICE 2:
Henry Ford was born on a farm in the state of Michigan on Julythirtieth, eighteen-sixty-three. The farm was near the city ofDetroit.
Henry was always interested in machines. He was alwaysexperimenting with them. He enjoyed fixing clocks. And he helpedrepair farm equipment. When Henry was sixteen years old, he left thefamily farm. He went to Detroit to learn more about machines.
In eighteen-seventy-nine, when Henry began work in Detroit, thecity was a center of industrial development. Travelers could tellthey were near Detroit by the cloud of smoke that hung over thecity. Detroit was a center of iron and steel making. Nearby mines oflead and salt brought chemical companies to the city. And Detroit’scopper and brass business was the largest in the world.
One thing Henry Ford learned in Detroit was to have the righttool to do the job. It was something he would never forget.
Voice one :
after three years in Detroit, Henry returned to his family farm.He remained on the farm until he was thirty years old. But he wasnot a real farmer. He was a machine man. A nearby farmer, forexample, had bought a small steam engine to be used in farming. Themachine did not work correctly. Henry agreed to try to fix it. Atthe end of just one day, Henry knew everything about the machine.And he made it work again.
Henry remembered that time as the happiest in his life. He said:”I was paid three dollars a day, and had eighty-three days of steadywork. I have never been better satisfied with myself. “
Another thing that made those days happy was meeting a youngwoman. Her name was Clara Jane Bryant. Years later Henry said: “Iknew in half an hour she was the one for me.” They were married ineighteen-eighty-eight, on Clara’s twenty-second birthday.
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Henry and Clara lived on a farm near Detroit. But, still, Henrywas not a real farmer. He grew some food in a small garden. And hekept a few animals. But he made money mostly by selling trees fromhis farm. And he continued to fix farm equipment. It was reallymachines that he loved.
In eighteen-ninety-one, Henry visited Detroit. There he saw amachine called the “Silent Otto.” It was a device powered bygasoline. It had been developed by a German, Nikolaus August Otto.He was one of the men who had worked with Gottlieb Daimler, whodeveloped the first gasoline-powered automobile.
The Silent Otto did not move. But Henry saw immediately that ifthe machine could be put on wheels, it would move by itself.
He returned home to Clara with an idea to build such a machine.He was sure he could do it. But the machine would need electricityto make the engine work. And Henry had not learned enough aboutelectricity. So he took a job with an electric power company inDetroit. Henry, his wife Clara, and his young son Edsel moved to thecity.
VOICE 1:
While Henry worked for the power company, he and a few other mendeveloped a small engine. In June, eighteen-ninety-six, Henry hadhis first automobile. He called it a “quadricycle.” It looked liketwo bicycles, side by side. It had thin tires like a bicycle. And ithad a bicycle seat.
In eighteen-ninety-nine, Henry resigned from the power company towork on his automobile. He won the support of a small group of richmen who formed the Detroit Automobile Company. By the start ofnineteen-oh-one, however, the company had failed.
Another man might have decided that the automobile business wasnot the best business for him. He might have stopped. Henry Ford wasjust getting started.
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In the early days of the automobile, almost every carmaker racedhis cars. It was the best way of gaining public notice. Henry Forddecided to build a racing car.
Ford’s most famous race was his first. It also was the last racein which he drove the car himself.
The race was in nineteen-oh-one, at a field near Detroit. All ofthe most famous cars had entered. And all withdrew, except two. TheWinton. And Ford’s. The Winton was famous for its speed. Most peoplethought the race was over before it began.
The Winton took an early lead. But halfway through the race, itbegan to lose power. Ford started to gain. And near the end of therace, he took the lead. Ford won the race and defeated the champion.His name appeared in newspapers. His fame began to spread.
VOICE 1:
Within weeks of the race, Henry Ford formed a new automobilecompany. He left soon after, however, because he could not agreewith the investors. He had no trouble finding new ones.
Henry continued to build racing cars. His most famous cars of thetime were the “Arrow” and the “Nine-Ninety-Nine. ” Both won races.And they helped make the name Henry Ford more famous.
Henry used what he learned from racing to develop a betterengine. In nineteen-oh-three, he was ready to start building carsfor the public. On July fifteenth, nineteen-oh-three, a man nameddoctor Pfenning bought the first car from the Ford Motor Company.
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The sale to Doctor Pfenning was the beginning of a huge number ofrequests for Ford cars. By the end of March, nineteen-oh-four,almost six-hundred Ford cars had been sold. The company had earnedalmost one-hundred-thousand dollars. Sales were so great that a newfactory had to be found.
At the start of nineteen-oh-five, the Ford Motor Company wasproducing twenty-five cars each day. It employed three-hundred men.The company produced several kinds of cars. First there was theModel A. Then there were the Model B, Model C and Model F. They werejust a little different from the Model A — one of Ford’s mostfamous cars.
Ford’s Model K car was for wealthy buyers. One of the company’sinvestors was sure the future of the automobile industry was in thiscostly car. Henry Ford did not agree. He was sure the future of theautomobile industry was in a low-priced car for the general public.He said then, and many times after, “I want to make a car thatanybody can buy.”
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These conflicting beliefs led to a battle for control of thecompany. In the end, Henry bought the stock of the investors whowanted to make costly cars. He was then free to make the low-costcar he believed in.
The story shows the way Henry’s mind worked. When he thought hewas correct, he was willing to invest his efforts and his money.Earlier, he had walked away from the business of making cars when hecould not control the business. Now he had the money to buy thestock of those who disagreed with him.
VOICE 1:
In nineteen-oh-seven, Henry Ford said: “I will build a motor carfor the great mass of people. It will be large enough for thefamily, but small enough for one person to operate and care for. Itwill be built of the best materials. It will be built by the bestmen to be employed. And it will be built with the simplest plansthat modern engineering can produce. It will be so low in price thatno man making good money will be unable to own one.”
That was what Henry Ford wanted. To reach his goal, his life tookmany interesting turns. That will be our story next week.
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VOICE 2:
You have been listening to the Special English program People inAmerica. Your narrators were Steve Ember and Frank Oliver. Ourprogram was written by Richard Thorman. I’m Ray Freeman.