Al-Ahram: Diwan of contemporary life (547)
Modern movement
A feature page on airplanes and, more specifically, automobiles, became a fixture in Al-Ahram in 1934. Professor Yunan Labib Rizk writes on ways of getting from A to B
"Henceforth, Al-Ahram will feature a weekly page on automobiles and airplanes, edited by experts in the subject, to promote interest in these two great modes of transportation in the modern world. The page aims to assist technicians in the art of vehicle operation and aviation, in Egypt in particular, to elevate and expand the distribution of international articles and research pertaining to these arts. We hope that those interested will benefit, which, in itself will reward us for the efforts we have expended to serve them."
The preceding announcement appeared on page 2 of Al-Ahram of 2 February 1934. In recent years, the new page it heralded evolved into a major supplement in Al- Ahram 's Friday edition. Although this later development focused exclusively on cars, it nevertheless set a precedent that was emulated by most other major Egyptian dailies. This alone is cause to return to the moment of its birth in the opening months of 1934 for these were the months that shaped the essential features of the publication.
Before proceeding to these features, we should first note that it is difficult to believe that Al-Ahram was as altruistic as it claimed in its announcement. The following week advertisements took up over half the space allotted to its driving and aviation page, which in fact occupied two pages in that edition.
The first advertisement, taking up the upper right- hand quarter of page 2, displayed a photo of the Dodge 6, under which was written: "This car will delight you with its harmonious design and excellent craftsmanship which have combined to create a model of elegance and beauty. Nor is it equaled in its sturdiness and integrated operating equipment, with its front wheel suspension system that makes you feel as though you're riding on air."
Directly below we find a larger ad for the Chrysler- Plymouth, "created to win the popularity race". Its special features included "power without vibration, independent front-wheel drive, heat and carbon resistant valves, solid steel chassis, automatic transmission, automatic oil release and hydroelectric brakes". These features combined to ensure "smooth control" which together with "the latest ventilation technology and an elegant interior" ensured "pure comfort".
The third ad, appearing on the upper left-hand quarter of the following page, opted for the short and concise approach: "A superb private car. The Welsley 9: sturdy, economical, comfortable and safe. Come see it and experience a test drive."
The designers of the ad below this took the "sincere" tack: "No Helman car can drive up a pyramid. We at Helman's do not make false claims. But we do believe that you are the buyer and that you should be the judge. Helman automobiles are not manufactured in mass. They are assembled one by one in a British factory renowned for its 30-year experience in automobile manufacturing. Our latest models come with heavy-heavy ribbed tyres."
It is interesting to note here that, with the exception of Wadie Saad and Company, agents for Chrysler-Plymouth, the agents for all the other models advertised were foreigners. Dodge was represented by Yavid and Partners, Alfi St, Cairo; Welsley by Cairo Motor Company, 41 Suleiman Pasha Street in Cairo and 33 Fouad I Street in Alexandria; and Helman's by Moore Brothers, Suleiman Pasha Street, Cairo, "near the Mohamed Ali Club".
In this same issue, under the headline, "The impact of automobiles and airplanes on civilisation", Al-Ahram issues what was tantamount to the new page's charter. It states, firstly, that for centuries mankind had depended on his own two feet for transport. He then succeeded in taming the horse, "which became the byword for speed". There followed the railway and then the automobile, "which transports us with comfort and ease without the need to construct railway lines for it to run on".
The airplane was "the daughter of the automobile". People had once expected the daughter to surpass its mother in its impact on society. "However, this is still the era of the automobile, because it is still more accessible and many times more convenient than the airplane." But there was no overestimating the importance of air travel, "and on this basis, we have decided to concentrate on both technologies, gathering about them all possible news that will interest our readers in Egypt and the Arab world in general, in the service of modern science and those employed in this great branch of science".
Apart from the inherent scientific interest in the subject, Al- Ahram believed that people, especially in large urban centres, had a practical reason to concern themselves. "The recklessness of some drivers has almost blinded the public to the benefits of these important machines," it observed. But this was all the more reason for "all people to follow the automobile page, for their safety resides not only in the drivers' adherence to the principles of driving but also in pedestrians' awareness of the precautions they should take towards this new machine that has invaded their streets and roads from every direction".
Following the preceding declaration, the article listed several interesting facts. The first person to bring a car into Egypt was Iskander Komanos, secretary of the Egyptian Royal Automobile Club. The oldest car in Egypt was that owned by Mahmoud Abdel-Wahab. There were 16,000 licensed commercial vehicle drivers. Ford factories produced 9,100 cars a day while only 3,500 per day came off the Plymouth assembly lines.
Given that motorised vehicles were a relatively new technology, it was only natural that one of the major features of the nascent "Automobile and Aviation" page was its devotion to developments in design. In one column it writes, "As we climb into cars and grumble about narrow doors and low ceilings, we should bear in mind that there are specialists out there burning the midnight candles, contemplating ways to amend these faults and all the circumstances associated with them."
The article went on to enumerate the many wishes of automobile consumers and passengers. "The front and back seats should be spacious enough to accommodate three adults comfortably over long distances because the automobile has become a means of long-distance travel and passengers should not have to sacrifice comfort for speed. Ceilings should be high enough so that hats and tarboush do not get knocked off whenever the car accelerates or halts. The back seat should be as smooth to ride in as the front, which had been impossible as long as the backseat was mounted over the rear axle. Car windows, or what takes their stead, should be glass or as clear as glass so that passengers can behold the scenery through which they are passing before the enormous speed of the vehicle snatches it out of view. Finally, even at high velocity, the interior of the automobile must be silent so as to facilitate reading during long trips."
Automobile designers had already fulfilled these wishes or were currently working on them, the writer maintains. Indeed, one of their main preoccupations was how to reconcile the prerequisites of comfort with streamlined design, a subject covered under the headline, "Automobiles of tomorrow", in Al-Ahram of 18 May 1934. A vehicle resistant to wind was a major obstacle to velocity, the article stated. For example, a car travelling at 50 kilometres per hour exhausts half the power of its engine in fighting the oncoming wind and five-sixths of its power for that purpose when travelling at twice that speed. There were, thus, only two ways to enable a car to increase its speed -- "either you increase the power of its engine or you reduce its wind resistance. However, doubling the power of the engine would put the price of automobiles out of reach for anyone but the rich. The only economic solution, therefore, is to reduce wind resistance."
In order to solve that conundrum, automobile manufacturers brought in technical experts who, in turn, found their answer in nature. Fish, with their rounded heads and slender, tapered bodies, were equipped to combat the resistance of water which is much denser than air. When automotive engineers applied these principles to cars, they discovered that their sleeker, streamlined vehicles consumed a third of the gasoline consumed by older models at a speed of 70 kilometres per hour and half as much at speeds of over 90 kilometres per hour.
Another new development in the history of the automotive industry at the time was the intense competition between Germany and Japan to produce an inexpensive vehicle. "Germany promises the world cheap cars!" announced the Al-Ahram headline, under which it reports that German car manufactures were racing to beat Japan "in the arena of price reduction, which the Oriental kingdom has long been aspiring to achieve". Adolf Hitler had previously signalled Germany's entrance into the competition. Marking the inauguration of the German automobile exhibition, Hitler declared that it was his hope that German car manufactures would devote particular efforts to the creation of a sturdy, inexpensive car that every worker with means could afford. German automobile magnates were quick to comply. The result was a four-passenger coupe with a speed up to 50 miles per hour and costing only 1,000 marks. The article notified readers that they, too, could look forward to "new cars that are readily affordable by most people". Perhaps the Volkswagen "Beetle", long reputed as the most practical and cheapest car in the world, was the product of these efforts.
The "Automobile and Aviation" page was also keen to keep readers up to date on the latest speed and distance records. One source of great jubilation was the precedent set by an Al-Ahram staff writer who drove from Suez to St Catherine's Monastery in 24 hours. "Prior to this there were only two ways to get to St Catherine's," he writes. "Either one could travel from Suez by camel, which would take eight days. Or one could take a boat to Al-Tor and complete the remaining 140 kilometres to that historical mountain on camelback as well." Describing the 24-hour automobile trek, the writer relates that after Suez, one passed southwards through Moses' Springs "which places the Red Sea on the right and the Wall of Mountains on the left. Most of the water in the springs that dot these oases is foul tasting," he adds. Then one turned into the ancient Pharaonic road which cut through many tree-filled wadis as it climbed towards Gabal Al- Tahouna, just before reaching St Catherine's. "The monastery itself is situated 5,014 feet above sea level and 2,350 feet below the peak of the mountain."
Under the headline "A new route around the world", Al- Ahram reports on another record-making feat. The German, "Herr Kahler" and the American "Mr Kenn" had just arrived in Cairo, a midway stop in their marathon automobile journey from the northern ends of the earth to the south. Starting off from the northern icecap, they travelled down through Europe, passing through Sweden, Norway, Germany, Switzerland, France and Italy. After crossing over to Algeria, they headed first westwards to Marrakech, then traversed all of North Africa until they reached Egypt. "Their plan now is to drive southwards through Sudan and central Africa until they reach Cape Town." In addition to its ambitious distance, the pole-to-pole trek was also important because on their way the German and the American also attempted to take as many roads as possible that had never been used by cars before. "It is though these intrepid drivers have determined to pave the way for overland communications between nations," Al-Ahram remarked.
But even as it dwelt on the marvels of which the automobile was capable, the new Al-Ahram column kept readers down to earth with a focus on many of its problems and shortcomings. Of foremost concern were the costs of maintaining a car. In a letter to this column, Shafiq Ghandour stated the obvious fact that it was ultimately cheaper to maintain a new car than an old one. But in all cases, "car owners should treat their vehicles wisely and carefully. If they attend to the necessary oiling, greasing and cleaning and other such periodic services, they will find that their attentions will not have been futile, for in so doing they will have tangibly reduced their maintenance costs." Following a series of complicated calculation, Ghandour concludes that an eight to 10- horsepower car could be kept in use and maintained for LE4 a month. That was a tidy sum for those times.
With the spread of the automobile came one of the most disturbing problems of all: noise pollution. That this plague must have already afflicted Egypt is indicated by an article on the actions officials in various major international cities had taken to combat it. Authorities in Paris had issued a series of regulations "to ensure that this beautiful capital city remains also the most tranquil and peaceful". Under the new codes, drivers were prohibited from blowing their horns after 10pm, "regardless of the cause", and blowing horns in the daytime was restricted to "only absolute need". In Madrid, traffic authorities formed 24 policemen and 10 more on motorcycles into "silence patrols". These would go into operation at 1.00am, and "whenever they hear a horn they halt the vehicle responsible, present the driver with the regulation and exact an on-the-spot fine."
In Germany, the newspaper reported, officials had come to the realisation that "most drivers imagine that they have more rights in the street than pedestrians and that their horns must be obeyed." For this reason, German officials introduced a "How to drive week", in the hope that every German city would become like Stuttgart which was famous for its calm. "Just to shout in the streets of that city will land the shouter in jail."
This news item appeared under the headline, "Germany prohibits noise. Hopefully Egypt follows suit." The appeal was explicit and whether it was this he heeded or the desire to emulate European capitals, the governor of Cairo soon issued the necessary regulation. Appearing in Al-Ahram of 21 December 1934, the new regulation prohibited "vehicle warning devices that issue a disturbing or annoying noise" and insisted on the simple or bulb horn. Drivers were enjoined to use their horns solely for the purpose for which it was intended and only when necessary and never when the car was standing still. Violators risked a fine of up to 100 piastres and up to a week in jail. It has now been 70 years since that regulation came on the books, though clearly it never came into effect.
Another concern, or at least one that bothered New Yorkers, was the transformation of their streets at night into "free parking garages". The New York traffic authority issued a warning that those who left their cars illegally parked in the streets at night "should not be surprised when they wake up the following morning and find that it has been moved and put temporarily out of commission". The caution added, "Car owners, not the police, are responsible. You have been warned!"
As the livelihood of more and more people had become directly dependent upon automobiles, the nascent "Automobiles and Aviation" page took pains to address this segment of the population, notably dealers, drivers and repairmen. To the first category, the column imparted advice on the art of the sales pitch. "The right word at the right place and the right time will sell a car" should be the salesman's guiding maxim, the column suggested, but attitude towards the customer was equally important. "How do you greet a customer you do not know but who you want to turn into a client for your store?" it asks. Salesmen should neither be too obsequious or too aloof "for the former makes the client cautious and the latter offends him. But between these two extremes there is a natural point of pleasantness that is neither too relaxed nor too stiff. The expert salesman knows that point and adheres to it strictly." By way of illustration, it said that the salesman had to learn how to say "Welcome" in a manner that conveyed the true meaning of the word and not, "Just give me a bit of time and I'll have the clothes off your back!"
After having established the proper level of cordialness, the salesman should address the concerns of the customer, listing the specifications of his merchandise in order of the priority of their importance, beginning with the excellence of the materials and equipment that went into the manufacture of the car and then proceeding to appearance, speed and fuel consumption. At all times, he should pay attention to the tone of his language. For example, instead of confronting the customer with the question, "Did you understand?" he should say, "I hope my explanation has been clear."
Al-Ahram reminds the salesman that they must bear such considerations in mind until their parting words to the customer. Moreover, it provides him with specific phrases to use. If he closed the deal, he should say, "After you have driven it for a while you will see how wise your choice was, because I know this machine." On the other hand, if he was not so successful, he should offer words of apology that the price or specifications did not meet the customer's satisfaction, and then add, "But I am confident that the next time we will have what you are looking for because it is our business to please you."
On numerous occasions, the "Automobile and Aviation" page gave sound counsel to drivers. However powerful they may feel behind the wheel, they should bear in mind certain "ethics of the road". Drivers should "weigh every movement they make in terms of what it may lead to". While driving they should ask themselves "whether the errand they are racing to complete is more important than the lives they are putting to risk, whether they have a greater right to the road than others using it, and what use it serves to overtake that other car or beat that pedestrian to the crosswalk".
According to one reader, however, pedestrians also had a responsibility to shoulder. Raymond Gamil, as he was called, complained of bicyclists who cut in front of your car after you honked to caution them, of those pedestrians who insisted on chatting in the middle of the road oblivious to oncoming vehicles and of those tramway passengers who had the habit of suddenly hopping off the tram in the middle of traffic. "Whom should we blame for accidents in these cases?" Gamil asks.
Unfortunately, Al-Ahram was not about to abandon the subject of road safety without a word about "female drivers". It reported that a study conducted by an American professor concluded that women on the whole had more traffic violations and more road accidents than men. The article added, "It is as though the main preoccupation of female drivers is to see how many laws they can break."
On automobile repairmen, Al-Ahram informed its readers that in "advanced countries" these professionals were called "car doctors" because "engines fear them and only work properly when they are near". True, this doctor may not be nice to look at, covered as he is with oil, grease and dirt, and he is so irascible that he could be ranked as a combustible substance, but, surprisingly, he is not hated or shunned. "On the contrary, when he finally condescends to crawl beneath the car to mend it, he never lacks for an audience to listen to his grumblings and curses. And although his opinions on the machinery and how it is assembled and how it functions, are purely theoretical and more often than not a question of taste and disposition, his audience remains mute and respectful, never uttering a word to contradict him." The author of this article is quick to reassure readers that the car doctor loves cars and is therefore directing his curses not at them but at their drivers or owners. More importantly, "he is adept at his work, an expert in his craft and rarely makes an error of judgement." One wonders whether this diagnosis holds true today.
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