Los Angeles herald., 1910-08-21
THREE FLAGS CAR
RIVALS RAILROADS
Flanders '20' Makes Remarkable
Trip from Quebec to the
City of Mexico

The Flanders Twenty "Under Three
Flags" car, which started from Quebec
June 6, ended the long journey at
Mexico City August 8, and is now on
the way home, the return trip being by
rail. as originally planned, although
urgently requested the privilege of re-
turning as they had gone. Permission
might have been granted but for the
fact that Driver Lane is scheduled to
open new branch of the EMF COM
pany at Buffalo In the immediate fu-
ture, arrangements for which have
been left, pending his return.
The total mileage Of the car over the
long trip was only slightly in excess of
the shortest railroad trip between the
two terminal points, the final register
denoting 4t02, of which s12.5 miles were
Travelled in Canada, 21S0.9 in the United
States and 1895 in Mexico. Had 1t not
been for the devious route necessary In
Mexico, the car would have been able
to actually lower the shortest distance
by rail, so direct was the line which
was pursued from terminal to terminal,
regardless of the natural obstacles en-
countered.
DELAY AT CUSTOMS HOUSE
From Quebec to Laredo the car
Travelled daily, averaging 1895 miles
for every one of the twenty-nine days
spent en- route. The first non-running
day occurred at Laredo, pending the
delay incident to passage through the
Mexican customs and the necessity for
Quitting for the desert country In the
sister republic. Two days were lost
here. The trip from Laredo to Mexico
consumed twenty-eight days, an aver
age travel of forty-one miles day. A
total of fifty-nine days were consumed
on the trip, making the net mileage
seventy day, inclusive of stops.
Accurate record was made of the
consumption of gasoline and oil,
though these figures will not be avail
able until the return of the crew from
Mexico City.
The trip was undoubtedly the longest
public performance on record by 20
horse power car and was made with
surprisingly slight mechanical diff
Guilty. The motor gave absolutely no
trouble throughout. One rear fender
was broken in the Ozark mountains.
Several prestolite clips succumbed to
vibration and required replacement In
Mexico a differential shaft key was
sheered off, requiring a short delay
while Mexican blacksmith forged an
other to take it's place. These COM
pleted the mechanical difficulties en-
countered.
The cars record for tire efficiency
has never been equaled in any run of
this kind. The four tires pumped at
Detroit when the, car was shipped to
Quebec for the start required no atten-
ton through Canada. At Detroit the
rough-tread fronts were replaced with
smooth-treads This outfit of four
went from Detroit to Laredo without
attention. At Laredo an admiring
spectator picked nail from one of
the fronts, opening a puncture which
required the first use of pump on
the entire trip.
THORNS ENDANGER TIRES
In the Mexican deserts thorns and
knife pointed rocks abound Several
pupctures we're sustained and one rear
casing was renewed. This was the
only replacement of the entire trip and
the car reached Mexico City with De-
troit air in two tires, in one Of which,
the right front-there had been abSo-
lutely o>adulteraiton.
In general the road was found to be
about as advance reports had indicat-
ed would prove to be the case. The
mud from Quebec to Montreal was al
most bottomless, but from Prescott,
Ont, to Sullivan, Mo-, the highways
ranged from excellent to fair. There
were 200 miles of very rough road in
Missouri and about the same amount
of treacherous stump studded highway
in oklahoma. There was practically
no road whatever between Monterey
and Saltillo in Mexico, while the 20Ql
miles preceding the advent into the
final terminal were covered with water
in many places to such an extent that
the car had to be preceded by a wader
who picked out the high spots beneath |
the surface.
The trip proved an exceedingly ardu- !