Los Angeles herald., 1908-08-09
( e ssss NNEFZCHS
LH4N-PZOV
> PLZLZZNC PHOTOS
OUT OFNCLD-
RG[S.SLA.

ing the machine got from such treat
| ment can well be imagined. Many of
the bridges were swept away, forcing
the crew to ford rivers.
On the way out of Vladivostok the
| Protos, which had stolen. a march on
the Thomas by starting earlier, was
found stuck in the mud and pulled out
bv the Thomas-Lieutenant Koeppen
opening a bottle of wine for the court
esy. After the experiences and diff
culties above mentioned. the car floun-
dered on, reaching Nikolsk on May "a.
Leaving Nikolsk on May rs, the Ger
man car took the lead, taking the rail-
road bed, while the Thomas went over
the prescribed route.
The first section of the road in ST.
IBERIA proved as strenuous as any SIM
liar stretch in America. The cars had
not run one hundred miles when they
found the roads, impossible in mire,
practically abandoned since the open
ing of the Trans-Siberian railroad. The
Thomas was stalled and returned to
Nikolsk to find that the Protos had
gone ahead along the railroad bed and
was actually in the lead. The Thomas
chased it for two days, with both cars
making slow headway, encountering
many obstacles and Drawing death from
the flying trains that came unheralded
along the tracks. The American car
then suffered a breakdown of driving
gear and was forced to lie idle for five
days, while the Germans were drawing
away from them.
At Chita the American car was only
two days behind the Protos, which won
the $1,000 prize offered by the Imperial
Automobile club of Russia for the
first car entering Chita.
Through Bridge
Leaving Chita the Thomas, after
herculean efforts and the breaking of
the car through the planking of a
bridge in the city, which required hours
of labor to extricate it, arrived in Po-
gramitchnaya with the Protos only six
teen miles ahead. Expressing the
heaviest part of their equipment
ahead, the Thomas started on its chase
to overtake the Protos. Still using the
railroad tracks the Americans were
held at all stations to meet train sched-
ules, delaying them unnecessarily, ana
daily receiving notice of attempts to
stop them by 0andits and predatory
tribes of nomads.
Arriving in Idkutsk, the American
car was only a few hours behind the
Protos.
The Thomas made exceptionally good
time from Verhnaloondinsk to Irkutsk,
arriving June 21, making 210 miles in
forty-eight hours, and cutting down
the Protos' lead to nine hours. The
German Protos, however, arrived at
Kansk. half way between Vladivostok
and Moscow, and 1896 miles west of
Irkutsk, on June "a, with the Thomas
about 100 miles ahead.
The Thomas left Irkutsk at p. m.
Sunday, June 81, and after race un-
equaled in the history of automobiling,
overlook the Protos at Tomsk.
A =, frrfrn
misadventures and numerous delays
from Irkutsk. The ferry between two
villages sank with the car and many
hours were lost in extricating the ma
chine.
Leaving Tomsk the Protos again got
away In the lead, and owing to long
delays in obtaining gasoline, the Thom-
as was again compelled to follow, but
by superhuman endurance caught and
passed the Protos just before reaching
Kainsk, June 30. The flying Germans
were overtaken after a most discour-
aging chase; the Thomas getting away
from Tomsk fifteen hours after them,
reaching Kainsk at p. m. Monday,
June 30. struggling through twenty
miles of fog and mud after a short
rest of five hours.
Leaving Omsk on Wednesday at 4
p. m. the Thomas ran thirty miles to
the Irish river, which 1t crossed sue
cessfully 1t then encountered a swamp
a mile wide, the road showing only
occasionally above the water.
The road in places had been covered
with straw to prevent wagons from
sinking. The ferryman warned Sehus-
ter of the depth of the swamp beneath,
but he persisted in refusing to be
stopped by any obstacle, ana pro-
ceeded.
The car set out and was almost
across when the rear wheel broke