The Washington herald., 1910-07-03

trolJ July y, -, and 30
For about a week the Flanders "29'
Under Three Flags automobile has been
engaged in testing the merits Of Two
famous national highways. built in the
days when the country was new and
transportation OF families and household
effects by wagon was the standard meth
cd Away back In Canada the crew be-
gan hearing about the great national
road built by the government Of the
United States from Pittsburg TO St
Louis. 1t was said to be simply a
dream. The tourists began TO look for
ward TO IL as q sort OF aviation arena
More was heard about the road in De-
troit and Toledo. But as the car ap-
preached IL at the rate OF l60 miles a
day over the excellent gravel of Ohio
and Indiana the enthusiasm Of the road
+, experts seemed to wane When the road
was actually encountered on the run be-
tween indianapolis and St Louis IL was
found to be only a very poorly kept up
highway, spots OF gravel alternating
with sand and clay. Nearing st. Louis.
it was In such shape that had the
weather been wet it would have been
well-night impossible.
But once into ST. Louis there stretched
ahead, somewhere IN the West, that his
/ toric highway over which passed hun
dreds of thousands emigrants, who, nifty
years ago. began streaming toward the
setting sun TO people the great domain
/ beyond. Tie old Wire road they
called it in St. Louis. because the gov
/ eminent had followed its establishment
/ by making It the route of the first tele-
graph line which penetrated the South
west Just where it began and how il
could be reached was something regard
/ Ing which st. Louis was a bit vague.
/ In fact. nobody could be found who had
ever Travelled il IN an automobile or
otherwise. No road map was available,
/ either
The tourists left ST. Louis one after
noon about ; o'clock by the best street
available and Bruske showed AIeinzinger
the setting sun.
There she is. George: chase it." was
the only road direction at hand. Some
where out there is the old Springfield
road we want to find it"
The car made sixty miles 10 Union that
night, and there was found a rveryman
who had been over the road as far. as
Arlington several years before. On his
| information the tourists entered the
/ Ozarks. At Sullivan the road began to
! grow very rough. At Rolla the steep
/ hills began TO appear. At Arlington and
Jerome motor car had never been seen.
/ and cliffs, ruts, stumps. and washouts
/ formed incessant road perils. while the
| climbing in some places would have puZ-
/ zled anything less active than a squirrel
AT Dixon it was farewell to bridges. AT
/ Lebanon nobody could be found who
1 trfss ffral,
next town And always the creeks grew
! deeper. the hills sleeper. and the rocks
| bigger. Mountain families heard Of the
| approach of the car and herded indoors,
| terror-stricken. Road directions were
/ limited to the old government telegraph
line, which still remains. the monument
| Of the once famous highway. These con-
/ ditiOns prevailed 10 within a dozen miles
of Springfield.
The old wire road" is a thing of the
! past Where il has not been fenced in
! as a part OF a neighboring farm-its a
great country for semi-wild hogs and
steers-it has been so washed out by the
rains of the years that there no longer
remains any cushion whatever for the
bed rock tnat forms the basic mateTia
for the whole country. Often it is grown
up 10 brush, and wide detours are neces-
SaFy peioFS the inevitable tWO-armeC
| poles that mark the general course again
appear
The car has now reached Texas on its
way to Mexico City.
Mr. John Tonner. of the state Depart
ment left yesterday on an autonobil,
tour TO Gettysburg, by way of Frederick
and Braddocks Heights. He was accom-
panied by Mr.. ]. A. Boteler. the treasurer
of the Capital Bicycle Club. Mr.. n. Mac
daniel and Dr. Bart. Hills, also mem
bers of the club, left at the same tim,
on their motor cycles for Gettysburg
The quartet viii return tomorrow after
noon.
L The zen Motor Car Company report tn,
delivery of a Hudson roadster to P. r
Pullman and a Chalmers roadster to o
H. Billingsley. Mr.. f. A Bennett ha
also recently purchased from the sam
company Hudson touring car full.
equipped
Miss Blanche Younger. a pretty maidei