The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-08-02
AUTO TRIP ENDS
pR. JACKSON TELLS or HIS 5000
 MILE JOURNEY.


 | Dr. H. Nelson Jackson of Burlington. Vt. and SewaIl R. Crocker. his chauf- | feur, completed at 4 o'clock yesterday l morning an automobile trip across the continent, which began in San Francisco, May 23. Their goal was the Holland House, at Thirtieth Street and Fifth Ave- nue.
 It was the first time that an automobile has made the trip from ocean to ocean. A bulldog named Bud, which Dr. Jackson picked up in Idaho. made the journey to New York with him.
 It was a battered old machine of dis reputable appearance that startled the sleepy night porter at the Holland about the time the milk wagons were going their rounds. The body and running gear were scratched and battered and covered with mud. and the guard over one of the rear wheels had been carried away entirely. The tonneau was filled with luggage and an extra tire.
 Dr. Jackson and Chaffeur Crocker wore canvass suits and caps, which showed signs of rough usage Their faces were | bronzed to the shade of saddle leather. Physically they looked vefy fit. Joyous Footing of Horns. The tourists were accompanied during | the last few hours of their Journey by the wife of Dr. Jackson, Hary Fosdick of Bos- | | took run up the Hudson in an auto to a point beyond Fishlxill to meet them. There was a joyous footing of horns when the Holland House was reached. Dr. Jack sons father. who is an Episcopal clergy man. was waiting there to meet him. At his apartments in the Holland House yesterday afternoon Dr. Jackson gave an account of his adventures:
 | '"The trip had It's origin" he said, 'in an argument at the University Club. San Francisco, early last May. I maintained that an auto could be taken across country | to New York and there were those present | who said it could not be done. The trir was to settle the question.
 | We were about sixty-three days malS- ing the trip, which covered over six thous. and miles. There were nineteen days when when we did not run.
 But Few Mishaps.
 When we left San Francisco we went 1890 miles up the coast before starting eastward through Nevada, Utah and Colorado. From beginning to end we had no serious mishap. Once. in Nevada. we broke our front axle and repaired it by fitting the broken ends into a piece of iron pipe. Another breakdown ,Wag&eRMeed by our losing a hub nut aAd a ipart of our running gear. We only had four real breakdowns in the trip and, as we carried a small machine shop with us, we were always able to make repairs promptly.
 T was told that 1t would he impossible for me to get through the sands of Ma vada. They were bad enough, but found the greatest difficulty of the trip in the swamp lands of Nebraska. Sometimes our machine sank into the mub until the wo- tor was entirely submerged
 Tn these emergencies we used block a tackle making the block fast at a point some distance ahead. We would then at- tach the rope to the car. start the engine and make the machine literally pull itseli | out of the mire.
 | Another common obstruction we en countered was the rivers and small streams. We generally rode into then full force, and where the water was deer we would float and the revolution of thu wheels would act as propeilers. We lack ed steering gear, however, and in severa instances Crocker was obliged to swim ashore with a rope which was attached tC the machine. He would fasten the other end on shore and would start the engine and I would start the engine and wind the machine in.
 About three thousand miles of ouI trip was through a country where they had never seen an auto before Our com ing was known in advance in some of the small Western towns. and there We would find crowds waiting us. Some cowboys rode seventy or eighty miles to get look at our machine. We had to be very care full not to frighten horses or mules. "We carried a supply of drinking wa
 ter in a water bag in crossing the desert
 but used alkali water for the engine
 Sometimes we ran out of food in the vii derness. and on one occasion we were
 thirty-flve hours without food"
 Dr. Jackson and his wife will remain