The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1891-08-22
A QUICK TRIP.
Herman Oelnik's Journey From
San Francisco
10 New York In Four Days, Eighteen Minutes
and Twenty Four SecOnds-It Was in
the Grassmere

New YORK, Aug. 2l.--Four days, is hours,
a minutes. This is the record that Her
mann Oelrichs has made in the private car
Grassmere from San Francisco to New
Gork. Mr.. Oelrichs arrived at the Grand
Central depot yesterday afternoon at 2:1O
O'Clock, having made one Of the speediest
runs ever recorded between the Atlantic
and Pacific. About ten days ago, Baron Won
Schroeder started out of San Francisco to
smash the transcontinental record into
splinters. 1t didn't occur to Mr.. Oelrichs
to try and go the baron one better till he
was under way. If Mr.. Oelrishs had
thought much about it before he left San
francisco, he thinks that he could have
done better than he did To Mr. Oelrichs
the lnsurmountable obstruction in the Wsy
OF his lightning like progress came at
Preston, Iowa, where his car was ordered
cut OF from the Chicago fast mail and at
tached to the regular train. This caused
Mr.. Oelrlchs to arrive in Chicago an hour
later. IL also prevented him from
reaching New York at $50 o'clock
thursday morning, which would have been
run unprecedented for a parlor car in the
annals of railroading. Mr.. Oelrichs is very
well satisfied, however, with the record of
), 400 miles In days, Is hours and "a min
utes.
1t was 7:30 o'clock Saturday evening,
August ID, when the Grassmere, attached
to the regular Central Pacific train. was
pulled out OF the station at Oakland and
started on It's transcontinental journey to
the Grand Central depot in New York.
nearly quarter of the distance around the
globe was reached. The party in the
Grassmere consisted of Mr.. and Mrs, Gel
rlchs, Mrs. Oelrichs' maid, the porter.
William Patterson, and Patterson's assist
ant. As the train started on its wav
across the SIerras Mr.. Oelrichs picked up
copy of San Francisco newspaper of
that date and read statement to the effect
that he (OelrlchS) would try to beat the
palace car record made across continent by
Baron Won Schroeder This paragraph
aroused MIR. Oelrichs' ambition and he de-
termlned to see what he could do. The
first stopping place was Sacramento. The
Grassmere was part of Central Pacific
regular fast train till Ogden, Utah. was
reached. From this point the route Law
over the Union Pacific to Omaha. At
the Grassmere was attached TO the Omaha
last mail. Omaha was reached at
$50 Tuesday afternoon. An idea of
the rate at which the train flew
east can be obtained from the fact
that the terrific speed caused Mr..
Oelrichs' maid to be attacked with nausea.
She has crossed the Atlantic thirty-four
times and was never seasick. She sue
cumbed, however, to the motion of the
flying overland mail. At Council Bluffs
Iowa, across the Missouri from Omaha, the
Grassmere CAME to temporary stauds6ill.
The car was covered with the alkali dust of
the plains and caked as if it had been
through blizzard. Agent Robbins, of the
Pullman and Wagner Palace Car com
panies, and Agent Foster, of the Chicago
Burlington & Quincy, asked Mr.. Oelrichs
II he wanted the car washed and stocked
with water and ice, which had run out.
Mr.. Oelrichs said that he preferred to 90
right ahead with the fast mail. Messrs
Foster and Robbins told MIR. Oelrichs that
his car should remain on the fast mail over
the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy, which
would arrive at Chicago at O'Clock
Wednesday morning. a run of two and a
half hours was made with the fast mail
from Council Bluffs, when at Preston.
Iowa, orders were received for Superin'
tendent Wilson, of the Chicago, Burling-
ton & Quincy, to detach the Grassmere
from the mail and drop it from the regular
train, which the Grassmere had so Sill
perciliously left at Council Bluffs.
Mr.. Oeirichs was much disappointed
at this unexpected delay. He has since
heard OF rule that prevents the attaching
"a P.lnaeo Cais w last mdll trains east of
the Mississippi On account of this set
back the Grassmere did not reach Chicago
TIL 3 O'Clock Wednesday morning, an honr
too late TO catch flyer, which would have
landed the Oelr1chs party in New York at
s 80 o'clock Thursday morning.
II quick connection could have been mazda
at Chicago, Mr.. Oelrlchs would have
knocked the parlor car record from ocean
TO ocean higher than kite. There was no
help for it, however, and Mr.. Oelrichs was
reasonably happy when the Grassmere
rolled into the Grand Central depot at 10
o'clock Thursday afternoon. The party
generally had pleasant time during the
trip. Mrs. Oelrichs was especially de-
lighted with the adventure and seemed tn
be more enthusiastic over it than did her
athletic husband