Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1902-03-10
SHIPS TO SAIL DESERT SAN
East Craft that Astonishes Sout
California.


come from the dreaded Mojaye dc
in Southern California, have fOi
tion in fact, for gliding over the
loss stretches of shifting sand is
oueerest craft that ever sailed.
a Yacht on wheels, graceful
going clipper, faster than any that
rode the main, and aptly IL
.Desert Queen" To the very hea
tbe sun-blistered, forbidding waste
odd thing carries its plucky
ieators. and ludicrous stories
brought to the outer world by
solitary prospectors who in their
ing have seen it's white sails 81
cited against the ever-changlng
ground.
Who would not be surprised, or
awed, by the remarkable spectac
trim craft such as ordinarily pe
to the sea Swimming swiftly over
barren region, where not even
of water ever falls?
This is beyond doubt the
unique vehicle ever conceived
| propelled by the wind, and was
by two miners, Charles S. and Ca
Hoyt of Cleveland, o., six months
It has been in use ever since, cove
thousands of miles. The Hoyts
a gold mine in the buttes near +
mond. Cal, and live nine miles a
at the other end of peculiar dry
which is hard as concrete and
smooth as tennis court by the s.
forever driven over it by the' n
winds rushing through Techlc
pass. This level tract suggested
novel idea of sailing machine, az
was built of odds and ends picke(
about the camp.
For the front support an old 81
axle was used, and to this Terf
tached two iron wheels, 80 meme
diameter, which had done service
farming implement. Other
were improvised with similar ing
ity, and the result is stanch ID
IA feet long. eight feet across in Ii
and tapering to the rear, with n
| Is feet high; mainsail 10 feet on
boom and 1G feet on the mast, 11b
iibboom to match. The steering {
triyance is like that used on n
and ladder truck. The "Ship" ans"
her helm perfectly and sails about
close to the wind as the ordln
water craft. On her initial run Dies
Queen got beyond control and wi
tearing along at terrific rate came
grief with crash. Broken tinlot
bruised men and wrecked sails "
Uttered on the ground, and 1t Il
many days to repair the damage. n
she carries her owners and their S
plies and tools to and, fro from
mine every day, and often they t
out excursion parties OF half DO
people. She is the wonder of all
have heard of her, and hundreds 81
gone to Rosamond from many pi4
to see her.
The speed of the Desert Queen
her astounding quality, however,
almost beyond belief. Fifty miles
hour is often attained on the dry !
under favorable wind, and her own
claim that she could readily make
but the danger would be too great
longest fast run was 40 miles on
possibilities of a carefully batan
machine, with ball bearings and rub
tires and plenty of canvass would
on the smooth lake bed can hardly
conjectured, but it is to be dem
strated. Several mining men are {
sidering the building of two such q
for racing and for experimental i
poses in other directions. This I'M
ton has suggested various possIi
ties, including a new, quick and CHI
mode of transportation across the
hara. where winds are said constaA
to prevail.
No more exciting or thrilling
perience can be imagined than
ride on the Desert Queen, amid :
roundings more desolate than the
itself. You go lodging between
dots of greasewood and cacti as
leave the camp when the wind ri5
here and there grotesque yucca TT
stand like sentinels, with limbs {
stretched like long arms to reach y
horned toads scurry away over the
sands, and lizards dart, licking
blue streaks, for the shelter, but
always quickly enough, for the Quet
wheels have crushed many before T.
could move; jaclIrabbits go skittef
through the brush, and little q
colored desert chipmunks scatter
sand about in their frenZied haste
get into their retreats and an OF
sional coyote, long and gray and lea
the picture of starved Want-rl
upon it's scraggy legs and shifts; i
and then you may run over dea
"sidewinder" (rattlesnake), or p
the bleaching bones of some p
creature, human or otherwise that
fered the horrors of starvation ;
probably sucked blood from its g
tongue before the end came-~Porttt
Oregonian.
Police Watch Women's Clubs.
All on account of Emma Goldr
- lnn A.,H