The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1911-08-01
TELLS Of
LONG AUTO TOUR.
PROUD or THE RECORD or THE
TWO FLANDERS CARS WHICH.
FINISHED HARD GRIND FROM
ST. PAUL TO HELENA WITH
PERFECT SCORES.

". Clete Mulick, the Fargo automo-
bile man who was one OF the officiaI
observers on the recent reliability tour
from the twin cities to Henela, Is
back and Is greatly elated over the
showing made by the two Flanders
cars which finished the tour.
Two Flanders "2Us" finished in the
twin city to Helena reliability contest
with perfect score being the only two
cars out of twelve of that class to
perform this remarkable feat. The
average person can hardly appreciate
at the first glance what a perfect score
in a 1,40O mile reliability run means
and the fact that the two silver cups
were won by cars selling at q price
that is in the reach of the general
public and running against cars up
to 40 III. r. show the remarkable eff
flcency that the winning cars have
been brought to.
Leaving the Raddison hotel at Min
neapolis at SIT a. m. on July 20, the
cars ran through drizzling rain to
st. Cloud, Mimi, distance OF sixty
six miles where they stopped for din
ner. The afternoon run over Mime
sofas sandy roads terminated at
Alexandria.
The second days run was to Fargo,
distance of 124 miles, where the
tourists were entertained at the fair
grounds and In the evening at the
commercial club.
The third days run from Fargo to
Devils Lake was the beginning Of the
real test, with noon halt at Grand
Forks after ninety-eight miles, over
the famous RED river gumbo roads,"
From the noon control to Devils Lake,
distance of 102 miles, the run was
made through a drenching rain and
from three to six inches of mud. 1t
was at this point number of con-
testants began to experience troubles
with their cars The tourists spent
Sunday at Devils Lake and left Mon
day morning for Berthold, distance
of $50 miles.
The sixth days run was to Culbert-
son, Mont, distance of 1853 miles,
where the tourists were entertained
with sham battle and war dance, in
which the 1900 Indians from the Fort
Peck Indian reservation participated.
Malta, Mont, q distance of 1873 miles
and over roads that are little travelled
and long to be remembered in the
minds of the autoists for their rough
ness.
The eighth days run from Malta
to Great Falls, Mont, distance of
Eat miles, was probably the longest
and hardest single days run ever at
tempted by an American Automobile
association reliability contest, forced
to travel over thirty-five miles Of
bench lands to get away from the ia
nous Mosquito flats Of Montana which
had been entirely covered by water
from a cloudburst the night before,
many Of the tourists had their first
experience of travelling across the prai-
RE with no road in sight and the
ground literally paved with cobble
stones. After the FLATS" had been
passed, the schedule route was again
taken and the noon halt was at Havre,
Mont. From there to Great Falls, the
run was made over the Bear Paw
Mountains and through the foot hills of
the Rockies and as the officials check
ed in the cars at night, it was found
that only two cars in the four pas
senger class had been able to with
stand the gruelling run.
The final days run to Helena,
through one of the Rockies most beau
tiful canons and a royal welcome was
rendered the tourists by the residents
of Montana's capital city.
When it is taken into consideration
that an American Automobile assoc
citation official rode in each car to
see that there were absolutely no adj
justments or requirements made and
that gasoline, oil and water were put
in only at the controls, and that the
cars averaged at least eighteen miles
an hour for the 1,40O miles over all
kinds and conditions of roads, it shows
that at last a car has been built that
is able to Withstand the hardest kind
Of usage and road work and yet LIS
within the reach of the average person.