Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1908-03-09
De Dion Meets With More Hard
Luck OH Auto Race From
New York to Paris
DRIVE SHAFT is BROKEN
Car Will Probably Be Laid UP Two or
Three Days for Repairs-st. Chat
fray cornes to Town Overland and
Leaves for Omaha to Get Broken
Part-Meteor Arrives.

After being laid up almost week at
Cedar Rapids repairing broken 1ra1he'
DE Dion. the big French car in the Ne"
York to Paris automobile race met
with more hard luck after it reaeheo
this county, and at point one anu
one half miles west of LeGrand, proks
its lower drive shaft. This VIII necessA-
tate another delay of two or three
DAYS. or until the broken part can eth
or be secured or manufactured at OH
aha.
q. Bourcier ST. Chaffray, Paris
,ewsnaner man and correspondent OF
lie Matin, which originated the race
reached the city at 2:20 this morning,
being driven in by S. r. Piper, near
whose place the car was broken. ST
Chaffray left at 40 for Omaha, where
he will secure a duplicate of the brok-
en- shaft The jack shaft of the ma
chine was also bent, but can be re-
paired here. There is believed to be
De Dion owned in Omaha, and IL the
part needed is not available, the shaft
of the Omaha car can be secured as
pattern. The big car is being housed
in L. G. Knudsons barn
Autran Refuses Teams Aid.
Before leaving for Omaha ST. Chat
fray gave orders to the Neutrality-suspicious.
Company to take teams to LeGrand
and bring the car into Marshalltown,
where 1t could be repaired to better
ADVANTAGE The teams reached the
knudson place this morning, but Nj.
Autran, rhe driver, refused to permit
it removal. NJ. Autran said that ST.
Chaffray was the first to enter a pro-
test against the American. car because
own power He said that the car
must stay where it was until repairs
arrived, and it could move itself.
Autran thinks that De Dion would for
felt its position in the race if teams
were permitted to bring the car int
Marshalltown.
M. ST. Chaffray, who was made di-
| rector general of the entire trip by Lee
| Matin, is a dapper little Frenchman
| five feet, seven inches tall, weighs 100
pounds and is SO years old. He speaks
English brokenly. De Dion is rated at
thirty horse power, and is four cylin-
] der machine. 1t is carrying $500
pounds.
| M. Autran, driver of the car, is
racing man of much experience. He
| finished second in the race from Pekfn
| to Paris, and he is counted on to be es-
pecially valuable in crossing Siberia.
New Car Shows Up.
Indicative of it's name, new car
showed up on the early morning hori-
zon in the shape of the Meteor. out OF
Davenport, bearing a message from
Col Frank Hobbs, commander Of the
Rock Island arsenal, to Col. Frank
West, commanding officer at Fort Des
Moines. The car also bears a message
from the Davenport Times to the Des
Moines Capital.
On the car were A. l.. Petersen,
president of the Meteor Motor Com
pany, of Bettendorf. Iowa: P. G. Deu-
err, Of the Auto and Cycle Company,
Of Davenport, eastern Iowa represen-
tatives of the Meteor; and CAL"
O'Hearn, sporting editor Of the Daven-
port Times.
The Meteor Is fifty horse power
four cylinder machine and. by the
way is the first fifty horse power auto
mobile to be built west of the Mississ
ippi river 1t left Davenport Thurs
day morning at 10 o'clock in a storm
Of rain and hail, and reached here at
1920 this morning. The car is travel
ing mostly at night, as Mr.. Petersen
claims it can make better time. 1t
reached Cedar Rapids Saturday NOR
ming at II o'clock and left Cedar Rap
ids at 1906 Sunday morning. Arriv-
ing at Belle PLANE the car left Sunday
evening at $3.50. 1t left Ce-
dar Rapids one hour and twenty
five minutes after De Dion, and
reached Belle Plaine nearly three
hours earlier. A new set of tires with
which the car was equipped Sunday
morning, We're entirely worn out by
the time it reached here, and were re-
placed today at the Eldridge-Beebe
garage The Meteor expects to leave
for Des Moines at 2 o'clock in the
morning. and expects to reach Des
Moines by 10 o'clock Tuesday.
The Meteor is equipped with steel
wheels, which are manufactured by
the Indestructible Steel Wheel Com
pany, Of Chicago, of which Harry Fish,
formerly of this city, is part owner.
Fish is associated with Robert Metz
gar. brother of Louis Metzgar, for
merly superintendent of the Fermen-
ich Manufacturing Company, Of this
city.
Ray Allen. of Tama. piloted the
Meteor into this city. Wood, of Cedar