Los Angeles herald., 1910-06-05
CLIMBS MOUNTAIN
TOP WITH CAN VAS
Sacramento Driver Pilots Auto to
Within $50 Yards of Top of
the Lake Tahoe Road
MAKES TRIP THROUGH SLUSH
Boughs and Cloth Give Machine
Traction in Hard Up
Grade Trip
MAKES TRIP THROUGH SLUSH

Mountain snowdrifts, two feet in
depth and fairly churned into ooze'
have no terrors for Halsey w. Smith,
a Sacramento driver, who devised the
first satisfactory system on record 1or
combating what has come to be re
garded as the one insuperable road
obstacle.
A FLANDERS go" evergreen branches
nlentifuIly distributed over the high
way and two canvas strips comprlseu
the outfit with which Smith recently
bucked the drifts on the Lake Tahoe
road.
The ascent of the Lake Tahoe auto
mobile road is regarded as classic
in California. On an average about
six cars jim seven which attempt the
feat even in the most favorable con-
ditions. fail before reaching the sum
NIT The grades are sometimes as
steep as Is per cent and the ascent Is
always an appreciahle factor aIter
Placerville is passed
THE FIRST UP
In the winter the road is frankly out
of the question for any car not
equipped with a tunneling device
When the first warmth of spring be-
gins to soften the drifts, however. the
Sacramento motorists begin their at
tempts to scale the heights. To the
first who succeeds there is always ac-
corded a glory halo which lasts until
the next spring sees a successor in
stalled.
-Four high powered cars had failed
the ascent before Smith. the Flanders
"20' and the other outfit mentioned.
Smith worked his way through the
moist snow, over grades and alongside
cliffs thousands of feet in height, and
attained considerably greater altitude
L 1 I'D
before he called into play the ingen-
ious arrangement mentioned. He was
then two miles from the summit.
When the car had apparently attained
the limit with its regular equipment
Smith and his two passengers began
to cut branches and lay them on top
of the snow The canvas which they
brought along was cut into two strips,
each less than twenty feet in length,
and the strips were laid over the
branches.
The Flanders took hold of the ex-
tempore road and the car proceeded,
the passengers shifting the boughs
and strips as the car proceeded. In
this way a point was attained $50
yards from the very pinnacle of the
road. Here, however, 8. new difficulty
appeared. There is no opportunity for
q car to be turned around at the top
of the mountain, descent heing pos
sible only from the other side of the
mountain. Usually this is easily ac-
complished by means Of the brakes
But with a hard rain falling and the
snow treacherOusIy slippery locked
wheels would have been of no avail,
and the party would have been dashed
over the first of the many declivities
encountered in a drop which would
have mashed men and car into an un-
recognizable mass against the rocks
far below.
Smiths outfit did not include a der
rick and the car could only be driven
to the last spot where sne could be
turned around.
The descent was a thrilling one and
Smiths feat was welcomed all along
the line of the return trip. The motor
ON the entire trip never missed a shot
the carburetor required absolutely nc
adjustment in spite of the 70OOfoot
rise and not mechanical part was
touched on the entire trip. Brakes
and springs received a thorough test
on the return trip, but did evervthine
asked of them.