New-York tribune., 1910-12-11
ACROSS ALKALI PLAINS
Terrible Strain on Auto Run Over
Great American Desert.
LITTLE WATER TO BE HAD
Motorists Often Compelled to
Drink from Radiator and Lose
Sense of Direction.

Few persons who are Unacquainted Nth
the hardships 70 be encountered on South
western roads appreciate the extreme dan
ger experienced by drivers o. the racing
cars who were entered in the Los Angeles
to- Phoenix run. In fact Il is difficult ade-
quately to impress upon one who has not
actually experienced the sensation o. driv-
ing over q trackIess wilderness and throuSa
a trackiess desert the extreme peril 20
which these Diucky drivers were subjected
or the courage II required TO drive these
, cars at a breakneck speed night and dsv
during this contest which was not only a
race but an endurance run as well, in the
strictest sense of the word Ross Hsnwo06
who drove the Ohio car in the free-for-alI
Santa Mon;ca road race as well az The
race from Les Angeles 10 Phcsfirx. has de-
scribed the conditions under which thiz
great race was run. It might be added
that Mr. Feuwood and the FIVE other cor
testants ere caught in a cloudbCrsc on
their way from Phornix 70 Los Angeles on
the return trip They were thirry-siz hours
in mud and twenty-five hours without food
and In the end were obliged 70 ship Their
cars from Salome 70 Los Angeles
/ The cars started from Los Angeles az {.
/ O'Clock on the night OF November 5. snd
the race finished at Phcenix on the after
noon OF November Z When the word vas
given each contestant shot ont Of Main
street Los Angeles at sixty niles an hour
From that moment until the Colorado Rive-
was reached there was not q single let-Uo
/ hv any OF the contestants. except for such
adjustments as might he rendered usces-
sary owing 70 the terrible sand bottonless
chuck holes ard other road CONDITIONS TIE
strain on the drivers. a. we'll as On ths
rnachines. was great that tt = al5nosr
/ II conceivable that flesh or metal could stand
up under IL for the terrific drive OF tS
miles from Los Angeles 70 PhcenIx-
/ After being ferried across the Colorado
/ River by Indians the drive 70 Ph-aulz.
\ Arfz was frought with extreme peril. As
/ for IZ5 miles il was over the trackiess
| American aIkaH desert The only way n
/ which the contestants had any means
/ whatever Of knowing the general dI-ectIou
was by means of the compass and markers
| placed at different points on the desert
/ during the path finding runs
/ It is no uncommon thing FOR motorists
! crossing the desert to become bewildersd
! and lose all sense OF direction. in soma
/ cases being Obliged to drink the water from
! the radiator and run for miles with simply
/ a supply OF OIL in lieu of better cooling, the
! water holes being seventy-fivs miles apart
/ r. is not an uncommon thing after trail
/ has once been laid ouJ for sands ~ shift
| SO that on the following day the trail viii
/ be FIVE miles from the original point An
| other thing with which the drivers on this
| race must contend is the fact that fre-
| quentIy afrer they have made q path ind
| ing trip putting up their markers. cached
| oil and tires which they may need in case
of an emergency, these markers are
| knocked down by wild beasts or vandals.
| who in many cases steal the oil and tires,
/ because it is always known before a race
/ of this kind that these preparations are
/ made and the incentives to deeds OF law
| Iessness in an unsettled country are very
| great.