Los Angeles herald., 1907-12-05
AUTO RECORD
SPLM7ERED
:-ALF HOUR CHOPPED OFF PRE-
Wous RUNS
PoPE-HARTFoRD DOES TRICK;
SPRING BROKEN
Many Accidents and Annoyances Are
Al That Hinder Merry Drivers
from Taking off Two
More Hours
nY Z. GEO. THoMpsoN

Thirty minutes was clipped off the San
Francisco-Los Angeles automobile record
by Pope Hartford driven by ]. ]. Flem-
ling and Rudolph Habenicht from San
Francisco to Santa Barbara and by Billy
Reuss from Santa Barbara to OILS An
geles.
The time made 10 Binini baths from
the Chronicle building in San Francisco
was IL hours and S. minutes, the car
leaving at 10:30 Tuesday night and arriv-
ing at Bimni at 4:25. The machine broke
down at Bimini baths and could be sent
no farther or the time to the White gar
age, which was to be the finishing point,
would probably have been an even is
hours. The record was held by a Column
bia, which had eight drivers. who sent 1t
over the road in relays. while the Pope
Hartford had only three. Jack Fleming
took the wheel leaving San Francisco
and as he was the only one in the party
of four who knew the road he drove
from 1O:S0 Tuesday night until O'clock
Wednesday morning. when Rudolph Ha-
benicht took the wheel at daylight
During the eight hours that Fleming
drove. the machine covered 215 miles.
and an hour and a half of that time was
lost because of the escape of the water
from the radiator when potcock in the
bottom of the radiator fell out. At that
time the car was about eighty miles out
of San Francisco and it was five miles
to the first place where the radiator could
be filled BY plugging up the opening
with handkerchief the water was kept
In until at the next stop for gasoline a
pipe fitting was screwed into the hole.
Early yesterday morning one of the
tires picked up a nail and ten minutes
was taken up in replacing the inner tube
Sprinu Breaks
A short distance from Santa Maria and
about two hundred miles from Los Ange-
les a front spring was broken by hitting
a bad chuck hole. BY telephoning ahead
to Santa Barbara, where Reuss and
George Adair were waiting, block and
straps were made ready and put under
thel spring. Fifteen minutes were lost at
Santa Barbara by fixing up the spring
and taking on gasoline. From there Billy
Reuss drove the machine and notwith-
standing bad luck all the way in and
the difficult steering he managed to
trim IL minutes from his former time
from Santa Barbara, which was the rec
ord for that trip. Leaving Santa Barbara
at 1874 the crippled car was sent at full
speed over the roads where fast running
was permissible, at least ten minutes be-
ing saved on the Casitas pass by the IA
miliarity of Adair with all of the turns.
NGHlufd anu WSlC phSSCu Will
out special incident, but at the top of
the Conejo the fastenngs of the spring
were lost and some time was taken up
in fastening it up with rope that was
used to keep the axle from slipping back
in the left side where the back half Of
the spring was gone. At this point the
block and straps were lost and two of
the tires pulled off.
The two tires were replaced in five
ls14- <~f
from the Coneio to Los Angeles was
made with the frame of the machine rest
ing on the front axle.
A rope tied from the point of the
spring to the axle kept the wheels in
line and when the rope broke, as the car
reached Bimini baths. the entire strain
came on the spring clips on the right
hand side, and the whole thing gave
way.
The extra strain was caused by loose
dirt on the road and while the car was
going at a rate of thirty-five miles an
hour it stopped in very short distance.
Driver Thrown Out
The car was thrown directly across the
roadway and George Adair, who was sit
ting in front beside Reuss, was thrown
out and somewhat bruised. Reuss and
Habenicht jumped while Fleming re-
mained perched on the high side of the
car ready to leap if the machine turned
turtle He Immediately filed claims to be-
ling the only genuine hero as he alone
remained with the boat.
Adair limped back and entered a pro-
test claiming that he was coerced into
leaving as he did and denying any sug-
gestion of Observation-Disclosures.
AS soon as a telephone message was re-
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