The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1904-02-06
Repairing Storage accessories
RIDING 9l MILES AN HOUR
HENRY FORD DESCRIBES HIS
RIDE OF A MILE IN 80 2-5 SEC
ONDS AT BALTIMORE BAY.

Henry Ford, the automobilist who
on Jan. IL at Baltimore bay, near
Baltimore, Mich, drove the big racing
car 999 a mile in SO 2-5 seconds over
an ice: track, thus describes, in the
New York Journal, how it feels to
travel ninety-one miles an hour:
1T was bitterly cold and showing
at o'clock in the afternoon. 1t was
so cold that [ found 1 could not keep
my foot safely on the throttle, so I got
Edward Huff to ride on the front of
thet car for the purpose of adjusting
the carburator. 1t took a lot of nerve
to cling to that water tank in the way
Mr.. Huff did. In fact, it was about the
nerviest thing ever saw done by an
automo bilist. 1t was too cold to wear
goggles. They would have become
frosted and therefore useless.
eve went up the path mile or so
above the starting point and turned
around. We signalled that we were
get the machine exactly in the middle
of the path. Once we were started
right all 1 had to do was to hold the
wheel perfectly tight. We were soon
flying along at a great rate. The wind
and snow cut my face like a knife,
and I had to keep bobbing up and
down behind the shield, only catching
et . iAAAAGoC VI Vic pClIll IlOW dllu lllCll.
when I thought we were near the
starting point I let the machine out
at full speed. The car seemed to
bound along instead of run. They
tell me that the car leaped fully thirty
| feet as it passed the timers at the
starting point. 1t seemed to me that
| we sometimes .leaped fully fifty yards
The course appeared like long, black
| thread stretching in the distance.
could see practically nothing but this
strip of black and the form of Mr.
Huff clingfng to the water tank.
Soon after passing the crowd at
the starting point felt the car swerve.
saw we had left the path and were
in the snow. Gradually brought the
car back to the course A sudden
! turn, however small, might have up
set us when travelling at that speed.
1t took fully 100 yards to get the ma
chine back to the track. Before ]
could fairly. realize it we were flying
past the shanties of some fishermen
and happened to remember that the
shanties were opposite the finish point
of the mile.
L let the car fly along in order tC
make sure that I had passed the fin
ish line while going at top speed
Then I began letting off power, but
we seemed to bound along as fast az
ever. Soon we were off the path ano
| plOW Ing Ill lIS SUI SllO" dl Il u e
mendous pace. The snow was thrown
up like white sheet and 1 coulc
hardly see anything ahead.
"Suddenly made out a long, blacl
object about 200 yards in front of us
and, for the first time, I almost los
my nerve. 1 realized at once that the
black object was the wreck of an ole
schooner. We were still flying along
at too great a rate of speed to make al
abrupt turn, so I changed our course
gradually Owing to snowspray WE
could not see how close we came tc
the wreck, but we found out after
wards that we had cleared it only
thirty feet.
I'VE finally stopped the car by run
ming it into a big snowdrift. Mr.. Huff
was SO mpletely$eXhausted and stiff
that I had to help him from the car
There was peculiar sensation in my
lungs and my eyes smarted SO that
could hardly keep them open.
thought we would surely suffer some
i'll effects from the ride. We were al
right the next day, however,