The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1910-06-28
REMARKABLE PHASE IN GLIDDEN HISTORY
Present Tour Featured in Many Ways Over Previous Events
 For Famous Trophy.

Harry D. Gates, of the Fairfield Auto Co. of this city, in speaking of the Glidden Tour of this year said today:
 The Glidden Tour of the American Automobile Association of the year 1910 will long be rembered in motoring annals for the unusual circumstances which have arisen around and within it. Not only has the annual event this season been much longer than previously, but, the difficulties encoun- tered have been greater, the daily schedule the hardest, and the actions of the contestants open to newer spec lation and interest. It is fact that not a hundredth part of the private owners and those interested in this Glidden touring classic realize the manner in which the contesting cars are sent over the route, over bad roads and no roads, over ditches, trails and railroad ties, through creeks and swamps compelled at the same time of the three thousand miles included in the present itinerary.
 "The tour has a harder course and fewer entrants than in the past, but the interest in the southwest has been enormous and is a feature of the event. Another item of still greater prominence has arisen in connection with the dependence which the off, cials of the tour have been compell- ed to place upon the contesting cars, or at least upon one ofthem, in order to insure the daily continuance and success of the tour. Not only have the officials been hampered by made quate official cars, but the newspa- per men have labored under disad- vantages and have frequently found it necessary to use the trains instead of the cars to which they were as- signed. In particular there has been enormous interest in the six cylinder Premier car driven by Ray F. Mo Namara, which has day after day act ed in official capacities, as well as in it's own capacity of contestant.
 From the very start it was seen that the non-cOntesting machines car- rying the officials of the tour would have trouble and Premier No. 1, whose number entitled it to be the first of was early depended upon to pick up the pilot who preceded it by three hours and the pacemaker which left one hour before this first contestant. The dependence of the official has worked out admirably and despite the trying schedule imposed upon the big car it has never failed them and of ficial duties have come to it thick and fast On the second day the Columbia pacemakere began to have tire trouble, and 1t was so delayed that Referee Whiting transferred his flag to the Premier and took it right into Nash vile, over half of the entire days trip. The third day it was unencum- bered but on the next, the terrible run into Memphis from Sheffield, where time was extremely valuable, the Pre- mier was called upon to do our car duty, first when it passed the Chal- mers confetti car and took the noon
 IL minutes to spare. Later in the after noon it was discovered that the off cial Columbia pacemaker had lost it's way and the Premier then assumed that position until it came up to the the other Chalmers Pilot car. Finding this out of commission with a strip ped differential gear, the big bale of confetti and 200 pounds Dia Lewis was loaded aboard the Premier, and a fast trip to Memphis begun. The conditions were almost beyond coTn- prehension but the Premier was at the night stop with minute to the good despite the fact that it travelled upon a 20 mile an hour schedule, this be- ing required of, the large cars while the medium machines are only obliged to travel IS miles an hour and the small cars 16
 "This has been the program daily. The officials have invariably looked to sure means of carrying on the tour. The pilot confetti pacemaker contes- tant role was also asumed upon the 20 mile trip i0nto Lawton, Oklahoma from Dallas, Texas. The three regu- larly appointed official cars have been replaced by the Premier at the same time that it is being run as a contes- tant, and on the run into Dallas it was not only forced to assume the duties of the Chalmers cars but also a Hudson runabout which had been secured by the officials
 Among the newspaper correspon- dents the action of the Premier rep resentatives and of the machine itself are indeed considered remarkable and