The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1902-03-15
q Real ship
Of the Desert
Remarkable Graft Which runs Fifty Niles an
Hour Across the Kojaue SANDS.

bouthefn California, have foundation in
TACT, for gliding over, the painless
stretcnes OF shifting sand is the queerest
craft that ever sailed 1t is a yacnt on
wheels, graceful land going clipper.
raster than any that ever rode the main.
and IS APPLY named Desert Queen To
the very heart of the sun clustered for
bidding waste this odd thing carries it's
plucky navigators, and Iudicrous stories
are brought to the outer world by the
solitary prospectors who in their roam
Lss nave seen its white sails silhoultted
against the ever-changing background
VINO would not be surprised or even
aWed, by the remarkable spectacle Of a
trim craft such as ordinarily belong to
the sea Swimming swiftly over this bar
rem region where not even a drop of wa
ter ever falls?
Inns is beyond doubt the most unioue
Vehlele ever conceived to- be propelled by
the wind, and was built by two miners,
Charles s.. and Carl H. .Hoyt of Cleve-
land, Ohio, six months ago. ! It has been
in use ever since covering thousaods of
1nlies. The HoNts have a gold mine in
the duties near Rosamond Cal, and live
nine miles away at the end of a peculiar
dry lake, which is as hard as concrete
ahu swept smooth as tents court by
the sands forever driven over it bv the
nerce winds rushing through Tehacbeni
pass. 1Th1s level tract suggested the novel
ldea OF sailing machine, and it was
built of odds and ends picked I'D about
/ the camp. -
For the front support an Old buggy axle
was used. and to this-were attached two
IRON Wneels,. 80 inches in diameter, which
mad done service on a farming implement
Other parts were improvised with similar
| ingenuity, and the result is stanch
| boat IA feet long, feet across in front
and tapering to the rear. with mast Ii
feet high. mainsail, 10 feet on the boom
and lO feet the ISL. ND
to match. The steering continuance is like
that used on a hook and ladder truck The
SNIP 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 tearing along at terrific rate came
70 GRIEF with crash. Broken tin1bers.
bruised men and wrecked sails were lit
| tered on the ground, and it took many
days to repair the damage Now she car
RES her owners and their supplies and
tools to and fro from the mine every day
and often they take out excursion parties
or half dozen people. She is the wonder
of all who have heard of Eer, and hun
dreds have gone to Rosamqnd from many
places to see her. Aaa Eksssx.
| The speed Of the Desertpueen" Is her
astounding quality. however, and almost
beyond belief. Fifty miles an hour is
often attained on the dry lake under IA
Vorable wind, and her owners claim that
'iiS SoulO EIeddHS Ildk6 SeNenCy-HNe, DuI
the danger would be too great. The long
est fast run was forty miles the open
desert -in5 eighty minutes. What the pos
Slbllities@ of a carefully balanced machine
with ball-bearings and rubber tires and
plenty of canvas. would be on the smooth
lake bed can hardly be conjectured, but
it is to be demonstrated. Several mining.
| men are considering the building of TIVE
such craft for racing and fer~experin,sntat4
purposes in other directions This inven-
| ton has suggested various. possibilities,
including a new quick and cheap mode of
| transportation across the Sahara, where
winds are said to constantly prevail.
| No more exciting or thrilling experience
can be imagined than fast ride on the
| Desert Queen amid surroundings more
desolate than the sea itself. You go doGg-
ing between the dots of CROSSWORD and
cacti as you leave the camp when the
wind rises; here and there grotesque
yucca trees stand like sentinels, with
limbs outstretched like long arms to
| reach you; horned toads scu9ry away
| over the hot sands, and lizards dart, look
ing like blue streaks, for the shelter but
| not always quickly enough. for the
| Queens wheels have crushed many be-
! fore they could move; jack raj /go
| Suffering through the brush, and little
ssh-colored desert chipmunks scatter the
sand about in their frerZied haste to get
into their retreats; an occasional coyote,
long and gray and lean-the picture Of
! starved want--rises upon his scraggy hind
legs and shifts; now and then you may
run over a deadly 'iside winder''> ira tile
! snake or pass the bleaching bones of
some poor creature, human or otherwise,
that suffered the horrors of starvation
and probably sucked the blood from its
own tongue before the end came
At first you notice these things But
the wind increases and the pace grows
madder. You tie string to your hat and
anchor 1t to your suspender; your hand
kerchtef is whipping from your neck and
GOES sailing and writing up and away
away out OF sight almost before you see
1t Is gone. This is different wind from
any that ever blew in any other part of
the world. You are fairly flying now.
and but little sail is up The air is
filled with sand and pebbles as large as
buckshot and they pelt you hard; all
around towering spirals of dust-smaIl
end of. the Spiral down-go springing
across the plain, whirling up sand to feed
the terrible storm that is sweeping from
the Sierra Madre mountains to Death
valley. Wilder becomes the pace of the
queen and YOU hang on frantically
| with both hands, and find 1t hard to catch
your breath. The man who steers and
the man who hauls In canvas are TOD
Dusy TO see you gasp and shiyer b,t at
last the latter has the sails lowered and
| the voyage is ended. And then Won are
Ioid that 1t has not begun to blow vet,
1hirty minutes later you could not stanas
erect anywhere on the ground over which
|. YOU. have passed.
For an adventure neNcr to be forgotten
4 night on the Desert Qneen,'' in the
weird surroundings that are iler element,
might be recommended as more impress
sive than a voyage over the most tenn
pestuoas sea. There is something un-
y.1,r or
noiselessly through the moonlight like
white-sheeted specter, and when just
launched" stray travellers who mot her
Were frightened almost out of their wits.
One evening just at dusk the Queen
passed a rowing band of Piute Indians
gathered around their campfire near
Mojave. With wild Whoops of alarm the
frightened natives made a rush to get
away, the braves trampling the sqiaws
and papooses under foot. They evidently
thought their time had come, and the
food they had prepared was thrown
away. After the strange white monster
had gone all hands turned to and prayed
Throughout the nigTt-and 1t requires a
great scare to make Piute think of his
prayers.
The ever-present mirage has played sur
Iprtsing pranks with the new land yacht.
A hundred miles from Rosamond sail
ing vessel has been frequently seen, APP
parently going through the air like
balloon. and sometimes inverted and
seemingly suspended in the sky again
the ship appeared just on the horizon
resting on calm sea, and sometimes
have been sighted what looked like
score of schooners standing one above
another. These phenomena have been
observed at distance In various direc-
lions from the borders of the Mojave de-
sert. al doubtless all were but the re-
Elections