The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1910-02-26
PLANS MADE FOR
GL|DD[N TOUR
Frank x. Zirbies Starts With Path
finder to Cover Route
of Tour.
Especial to The Richmond virginian.)

Especial to The Richmond Virginian.)
CINCINNATI, o.. Feb. 2s.--With
Frank X. Zirbies, Americas most IA
nous road driver. at it's wheel. the
Mitchell Ranger. which recently acted
as pacemaker- in the National High
way Tour from New York to At
lanta, after having few months be-
fore successfully carried war dis
patches fF0In Major General Leonard
Wood. U. s. A.. in New York to Ma
jor-General Weston, U. s. A.. in COM
mand at the Presidio, San Francisco,
In the first transcontinental war mes
sage mission ever essayed in this coun-
try, started from here at noon to-day
to cover the 1910 route of the Glidden
your. which begins here about the
middle OF June and winds up about
three weeks later In Chicago.
The early start of the pathfinding
naser3ohiio over the 6iidden tour
route that traverses ten States nearly
half Of them below the Mason and
Dixon line, and much of the itinerary
over territory never before invaded
by the big annual touring cavalcade
is in response to an unparalleled de-
mand from motorists all over the
country, as well as the big manufac-
turers. for data on the course select
ed for the greatest reliability contest
OF the Western Hemisphere. That
the sixth Gfaden touf=WiH be q su-
preme test for the mechanism OF the
best cars made In the country Is the
verdict Of the technical automobile
men. who laid out the touring route.
That the car that biaxed the way on
the big New York-Atianta National
Highway run for a record breaking
field of contestants and subsequently
conquered all manner Of climatic,
road and physical difficulties In the
transcontinental dispatch mission will
go through from the Queen City to
Chicago via Texas. is the firm con-
viction Of the designer of the Mitch
ell Ranger. The widest variety of
road conditions expected in Ken
lucky. Tennessee, Arkansas, Texas,
Oklahoma. Kansas Missouri. Iowa
and Illinois. Advance Information
gathered by Driver Zirbies is that
floods. ice, snow and deep mud may
be encountered at intervals a1onE the
entire route, with a possibility OF en-
forced detours in the Mississippi river
valley on account or fnundations.
Whatever the obstacles encoun-
tered" says Zirbies. the Mitchell
Ranger will surmount t;lem---lt snouia
be only an ordinary path-finding tank
after the conquest Of Wyoming fresh
cts on the war message trip. The
motor world will keep Its eye on the
Mitchell Ranger blowing over roads
that never before were traversed by
an automobile as well as other high
ways that are seldom travelled by
motor cars"
The Glidden tour annually has been
increasing in strenuous features, due
to the development of the cars and
the industry. In 1905 1t began in
New York City, and terminated In
the same city after trip of $40 miles
In the New England district. The
following year the strenuous task
from the starting point at Buffalo led
the tourists through Ontario and
Quebec to finish at RanEeiey Lake.
Maine, 1.lSQ miles, In ie91tife start
was made at Cleveland, Chicago be-
ing the Western terminus and New
York the concluding point. O distance
OF 1870 miles. In 1908 the tour be-
gan at Buffalo, and running through
Pennsylvania. New York and Maine.
It finished at SARATOGA, a distance OF
1.670 miles. In 1909 the longest and
severest tour of all began IN Detroit.
and Was concluded on a hard run
east from Denver 10 Kansas City
after having touched Chicago. Min
neapolia and OmahR. the total dir
tance having been 2.640 miles.
AZ planned for 1910, the tour will
be about 2.20O mifes.a The principa,
cities In which controls may be az
pected after leaving Cincinnati are
Louisville. ky: Nashville and Mem
pitts. Tenn: Little Rock and Texar-
kama. Ark: Dallas and Fort Worth.
and Wichita. Kansae. St Joseph, Mo-:
[Des Moines. Cedar Rapids and Dav-
ennort Iowa; Rock Island, Moline
and Chicago. I'll.