Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1902-03-13
SHIPS TO SAIL DESERT sANCs.
Fast Graft that Astonishes Southern
California.

Fast Craft that Astonishes Southern
California.
Strange tales of phantom ship dat
come from the dreaded MojaYe desert
in Southern California, have founda-
ton in fact, for gliding over the Eath-
less stretches of shifting sand is the
queerest craft that ever sailed. 1t is
a yacht on wheels, a graceful land
going clipper, faster than any that ever
rode the main, and aptly named
| Desert Queen" To the very heart of
the sun-blistered, forbidding waste this
, odd thing carries its plucky nav
| igators, and ludicrous stories are
brought to the outer world by the
solitary prospectors who in their roam
ing have seen its white sails 81 nou-
cited against the ever-changing back
| ground.
Who would not be surprised, or even
awed, by the remarkable spectacle of
trim craft such as ordinarily belongs
to the sea skimming swiftly over this
barren region, where not even a drop
Of water ever falls?
This is beyond doubt the most
unique vehicle ever conceived to be
propelled by the wind, and was built
| by two miners, Charles S. and Carl H.
Hoyt of Cleveland, o., six months ago,
1t has been in use ever since, covering
| thousands of miles. The Hoyts have
| a gold mine in the buttes near Rosa
mond, Cal, and live nine miles away,
-, oh Of 1Tyv rob
which is hard as concrete and swept
smooth as a tennis court by the sands
| forever driven over it by the fierce
winds rushing through Techichipa
pass. This level tract suggested he
novel idea of a sailing machine, AID it
was built of odds and ends picked up
about the camp.
| For the front support an old buggy
axle was used, and to this we're at
| tached two iron wheels, 80 inches in
diameter, which had done service on
| farming implement. Other parts
| were improvised with similar ingenu-
| ity, and the result is a stanch ''DJat'
! IA feet long eight feet across in front
and tapering to the rear, with mast
| boom and 10 feet on the mast, Jill and
| jibboom to match. The steering con-
| trlvance is like that used on a hook
| and ladder truck. The Ship answers
her helm perfectly and sails about as
! close to the wind as the ordinary
water craft. On her initial run Desert
Queen got beyond control and while
! +ao oil of n
grief with a crash Broken timbers,
| bruised men and wrecked sails were
| Uttered on the ground, and it look
many days to repair the damage. Now
she carries her owners and their sup
plies and tools to and fro from the
mine every day, and often they take
out excursion parties of half dozen
people. She is the wonder of all who
have heard of her, and hundreds have
gone to Rosamond from many places
to see her.
| The speed of the Desert Queen is
her astounding quality, however, and
almost beyond belief. Fifty miles an
hour is often attained on the dry lake
under favorable wind, and her owners
claim that she could readily make rs,
but the danger would be too great, l he
| longest fast run was 40 miles on the
open desert in 80 minutes. What the
possibilities of a carefully balanced
machine, with ball bearings and RUBBER
tires and plenty of canvass would be
on the smooth lake bed can hardly be
| coniectured, but it is to be demon
strated Several mining men are CON
sidering the building of two such CT aft
for racing and for experimental pur-
/ poses in other directions. This invan-
ton has suggested various possible
ties, including new, quick and cheap
I mode of transportation across the Sa'
hara. where winds are said constantly
to prevail
No more exciting or thrilling eX
perience can be imagined than last
ride on the Desert Queen, amid sur
roundings more desOlate than the sea
itself. You go lodging between the
dots of greasewood and cacti as you
leave the camp when the wind rises;
here and there grotesque yucca II -es
stand like sentinels, with limbs out
stretched like long arms to reach you
horned toads scurry away over the hot
sands. and lizards dart, licking like
5 blue streaks, for the shelter, but mo-
: always quickly enough, for the Queens
: wheels have crushed many before they
t could move; iackrabbits go skitterins
: through the brush, and little ash
: colored desert chipmunks scatter The
: sand about in their frenzied haste t
set into their retreats and an occa
sional coyote, long and gray and lean
the picture of starved want-rl8e:
: upon its scraggy legs and shifts: nov
and then you may run over a deadl.
D "sidewinder" (rattlesnake). or pas!
the bleaching bones of some poo
creature, human or otherwise that SUI
l fered the horrors Of starvation AM
probably sucked blood from its Owl
g tongue before the end came.-PortIanc
b | OregOnian.
:. THE GARDEN-PLoT.
Within the garden of my heart foun
n But yesterday a plot of empty GROUND
S Then saw you, o golden-eyes, and Il
5 Now in that erstwhile barren spac
doth blow
5 Loves perfect f1ower-to me divinel
b sweet
I pluck the bloom, and lay it at you
Il feet.