The Washington times., 1908-09-13
Thomas Flyers Driver Pays
Tribute to American
Equipment.
ALL AROUND TEST,
SCHUSTER CLAIMS
New York to Paris Run Made Easy
by Absence of Petty
Troubles.
By JOHN B. ROWLAND.

4 q
hand of one or two heroese in my time.
but I've never seen such a modest chap
as George Schuster. Apparently he
doesn't realize what he has accom-
phshed.
/ met him at the New York to Paris
lecture several nights ago at the Auto
mobile Club Of America. why 1 have
not done more than any other fellow
could do" said ne. when he locked my
hand in his vise-liked grip. "Give as
much credit TO the other fellows as to
myself If 1 had not had the right car
and the right equipment. 1 wouldn't
have had a ghost Of a show"
Equipment. what do you mean by
that?' 1 remarked.
Let me tell you" sale he, the equip
ment, the accessories. played a very i'm
portant part in this race, much more
than the average person could realize.
place under this head the lamps and
gas tank which made night travel pos
sible; the shock absorbers, which pre-
vented springs from breaking and made
II more comfortable to ride; the Mag
neto. whose efforts insured perfect igni-
ton; the tires. which are always neces-
sary. and last, but not least. the tire
chain grips. which made it possible for
us to negotiate the worst condition Of
roadway; on ice, in mud. and stand. and
without fear Of skidding. 1 think you'll
agree with me that these accessories
were absolutely necessary
Turn Down Advisers.
For instance, the first day out, Lin
coins birthday. we were driving along
at a pretty good clip-Roberts was at
the wheel. We ran across the De Dion
the crew was having a time. trying
to get out Of a snow drift Their stud
ded tires would not hold; they were
spinning like so many tops We stopped
long enough 10 suggest that they put on
their grips. The Frenchmen didn't ap-
pear to like our suggestion and told us
TO mind our own affairs-they were
capable Of looking after themselves.
Later in the day when We stopped to
feed-the De Dion came along and com
fOrtably resting on each tire was 4
weed chain. These grips really proved
invaluable. In the Indiana mud we
would not have made two miles a
month without them. At times on the
mountains, when the path was hardly
wide enough for the car, the least little
skid would have meant destruction
and the end of the race as far as we
were concerned. Do you know that we
went ali the way from New York to
Paris-2L00O miles-without breaking a
single spring. l guess that's a rather
good testimonial for the shock absorb
err
Tire trouble is always anticipated
but If we hadn't tires we could not
have started OF course, we didn't finish
IN Paris with the same set that was
put on in New York. but on the whole
they stood the test far better than I
ever anticipated"
Streams and Rocks.
If you could have seen what we were
up against-nOt only on the almost ira
possible roads, but in the streams where
we couldn't see bottom, sharp rocks had
Il habit Of placing themselves right in
our patch III bet we crossed triple
the streams in this event as did the
Pekin-to-Paris racers, and yet our Mag
netO has never missed. When we
reached New York and gasoIene was
put in the tank she started at the first
turn of the crank.
Il had funny accident happen Just
outside Of Nighni Novgorod. I'm Russia,
where one of my headlights was
smashed-that is, the glass was broken
by a pigeon flying up against It. I stop
ped the car To satisfy Captain Hansen
and McAdams, who both claimed that
the pigeon was still in the lamp. Miller
here said: Get back in the car, we
haven't time for squads now That was
the only lamp trouble had all the way
through Except when we reached
Paris We ran out of carbide. and some
French officials tried to arrest us for
driving without lights. Forget it Nc
Adams told the French COP, this IS
the Thomas, winner Of the New York to
Paris race. We're glad we're here. SO
that we can now start toward Broad
way; when does the first boat leaveg
a which the Frenchman threw I'D his
hands and let Us depart in peace.
We'll, old man. Schuster continued.
holding out his hand for a final shake.
I'm talking away your time; when
you're in Buffalo look me up. But
don't come around for three weeks. for
I'm going to lose myself in the woods"