Arizona republican., 1909-03-13

Hldue that rellectS glory on tne OiuS-
 mobile. and will probably not be brok-
 en soon. It was the climbing of Fish
 Creek hill on the return trip a grade | about two miles long and, as most
 people know. the most spectacular
 point and the longest comparatively
 straight and high grade on the entire
 road. The party was informed at Fish
 Creek station that the record for
 climbing the hill was thirteen minutes. | There were no teams in sight, the lit
 tie engine in the buzz wagon was rest | less and Hughie was keen to win a wager of 1000 in stage money, so he | hit the grit on the intermediate and | rounded the top curve in seven min utes, with never a hitch, a halt nor a waver. Nor was the stop made there. | The little hurry-cart kept pounding
 along to the summit. two and a half miles from Fish Creek station. topping the ridge in ten minutes even. The last | half-mile was not as speedy as the | Fish Creek hill, but it is as crooked as
 a snakes back. and it is the turns that
 take power as well as the grades.
 That is the only record made on the | trip save the one big stunt which was | its primary purpose. that of going | over the road from Phoenix to Globe | on the high-spee gear. To elucidate | the feat it will be necessary to do a | little explaining that may be tiresome | to automobile experts but instructive | to others. On automobiles there are | two or more speeds. the low, the inter
 mediate. and the high speed. some | having four. The high is used for fast work on a good road, but can be I held down by the throttle and other | devices. so the car will run as slow as under the other gears. It is not neces- | sary, therefore. to break speed limit with the ordinary stock car, merely because the high gear is in use. The
 advantage of the low gear is that the | pulling power of the engine is greater In starting a machine it is customary to start on the low gear. then change the levers to a higher gear as desired | This would be the practice with the | Oldsmobile. the same as any other car. But the contention Of the owners of this car is that its engine is more flex- ible than that of any other car. at least of any other that has been tried here. and the assertion was made that the car could cover the road to Globe taking all the turns and all the grades
 on the high gear that could be climbed 1 by other cars only by using the low gear on the hard pulls.
 The demonstration does not mean that in ordinary use the high gear should do such work, for in an or dinary car. starting on high gear burns the clutch, because the engine is not flexible. With this car the clutch is let in at the start and the engine is flexible enough to pull the car from
 a standstill. But it is of course a hard test of the rhechanicru, and continually
 used in that manner would shorten the life of the machine. In this instance
 the high gear lever was thrown in
 place. locked with chain and paddock
 and the keys placed in the pocket of
 the newspaper man. who was to sur
 render them in case of an abandoning
 of the test. if Ii should be necessary
 to give it up and lower the gear to
 climb the hills. Such did not prove
 the case, and the trip was made with
 out even puncture or other trouble.
 except the breaking of a little casting in the throttle lever. which MT. Hughes
 wired together in few minutes.
 But it was a supreme test. If I'd
 o knoun the roud was SD blawsted steep and had SO bloody many turns in
 1t. I would never have undertiken the
 trip said "Ughie" at the top of the first real bad one. She's a dandy"
 he said a little later on. "an' I'll bet
 money there's no other car can due 1t, an I doun't want to due it again"
 As mentioned before it is not neces- sarily the big, long grades that give the trouble, especially with the car on the high speed gear. Often the short. steep ones which allow no accumulated velocity for start. by reason of the short turn at the top and at the bot tom. are more embarrassing than the long. straight pulls. It is altogether likely that with an inexperienced driv- CT the machine would have stuck on many of the hills. hut MT Hughes took every possible advantage in cut ting corners to accumulate velocity for the next grade. and fortunately is com potent to do so. There is as much in knowing how to pet and fondle and hypnotize an automobile as though it were woman. and good driving counts for as much sometimes as does good machinery. The nearest approach to a failure was on one of the first little steep grades encountered. just beyond Government Wells So unim- portant does it appear to one with the low speer available that on the return trip the spot could hardly be remem- bered when it was passed over
 "A bit of a climb that" said "Ughie" as MT. Hilderbran slipped off the front seat for a ground view of how she was acting. but as 'Ughie began at the same time to throw out a bunch of the "Hinglish aitches" he carries for ballast. it was suspected Franks cu- riosity was merely a little diplomacy to help the engine, and the custodian of the sacred keys began to feel ner- ovusly for them. It did not prove necessary, and on sped the car. which. by the way. is a thirty horse power vehicle. known among the motorists as a 3O-40
 Columns could be devoted to the scenery and other interesting features of the ride. and to a description of the road, but that is an old story and will not be dwelt upon. Fish creek station. first viewed from the top of the hill, is an inviting little green spot hundreds of feet below and feels when one gets there. just as 1t looks