Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1910-08-14
MOTOR CYCLES FOR
The AMERICAN Army
OFFICERS TAKE LONG RIDE TO
PROVE THEIR PRAC.
TICABlLI1Y.
Trip Was Made in Fiercest Kind Of
Going But Was Successful and Rec
concentrations Will be Made Soon.
Special to The Tribune.

Special to The Tribune.
Cosgrove, American Lake, Aug 49,
The next innovation in army transpOr
tation promises to be adoption of thu
motorcycle for the use of officers an(
men in progressive map making OF
other detail duties involving rapit
travel afield. A severe test Of thu
motorcycle for such purposes was
made by First Lieutenants Roy c
Kirkland and Frank B. Kobes of the
Fourteenth United States infantry the
last week in July, while their regiment
was hiking from Fort William H. Har
rison and Missoula, Mont, and Fort
Lincoln, N. D., toward American Lake
The officers rode $50 miles, from Bis
marck, N. D., to Billings, through the
Little Bad Lands, up the sides of steep
mountains, through mires anc deep
sands and reached Billings thoroughly
convinced that the motorcycle is prac-
ticable for army use. Lieutenant
Kirkland will transmit a full report of
the trip, through the department of
Dakota, in which he is stationed, to
Brigadier General James B. Aleshire,
the quartermaster general of the army,
with a recommendation that the quar-
termaster's department give the two
wheeled buZz-craft serious copsidera-
ton. -
Lieutenant Kirkland is we'll known
on Puget Sound. having made numer-
GUS maps of the country around Ia
coma prior to the maneuvers of 1908.
He is enthusiastic over his recent ride,
although admitting It was the hardest
kind of hard work, fraught with almost
constant hardship.
THE quartermaster's department de-
clined to supply motorcycles tor the
kind of a test we made" said Lieu
tenant Kirkland today, "but Lieutenant
Kobes and myself obtained permission
to use our own machines and we left
Fort Lincoln, Bismarck, the night of
July ID, reaching Billings July "a,
which gave us about ten days on the
road. 1t was the widest kind of coun-
try almost all the way. Through the
Little Bad Lands it was go as you
please, up steep banks and through
narrow ravines. In one place we cross
ed a ravine twenty feet deep on a
plank twelve inches wide. l carried a
heavy rope and whenever we would
get stuck, which was frequently, we
would take turns pulling the cycles
free. One time we pushed the 200.
pound vehicles up steep railroad EN-.
bankment; another time, near one of
the government irrigation bitches, we
struck mud eighteen inches deep that
would have blocked an automobile, but
that proved a small hindrance to the
cycles.
Many Of the districts had been new.
ly fenced, and we rode over section
after section that was virgin plains,
without roads or anything else to point
the way. We made on an average of
twenty-five miles day on the straight
line, which is not much for a motor
cycle, but which is strong showing
when the character of the country we
crossed Is taken into consideration. l
suppose the average days run was
from sixty-five to 100 miles. For miles
at time there was no water to drink, |
strongly alkaline liquid |
that looked like tea and would have |
been undrinkable at any other time.
We had no difficulty getting gasoline.
The farmers and ranchers all through
the country have their own automo-
biles and there are gasoline supply
tanks in nearly every town. We struck
but one that had none. But we went
up slopes so steep that gravity would
have drawn all gasoline in an auto
mobile tank away from the intake
pipes and made the route impossible.
I'VE caught our troop train enroute
'or this point at Billings, tired and
but enthusiastic. am con-
7inced that the motorcycle is prac-
;icable for certain kinds of army work,
especially progressive map making. OF
course, in sandy country like many
parts Of Texas, it would be out of the
question, but our run through the Bad
lands proves the cycle is practicable
n the toughest kind of country. I
shall transmit a full report of the trip
o the quartermaster's department
through departmental channels, with
! recommendation favoring the motor
cycle"