The Washington herald., 1913-09-24
MOTORING NE WS
AND VIEWS
FOR THE CAR
OWNER AND
THE TRADE
BY AUGUSTUS ). FERTIG.

1--WE will pause here a moment, ladies
and gentlemen, TO allow you to contem-
plate the sight Of Iifetime-an automo-
bile making the assent OF the Peak"
Thus spoke the ''spieIer'' on the cog
| railroad that scales Pixies Peak TO a del
egation of touring Knights Templar and
their wives.
The ear, a long. rakish Studebaker
, Six" OF touring model, and carrying
five men, had already passed the timber
line that marks an elevation Of II, 400 feet
and was engaged in a battle with the
bare granite mountain side, which was.
in many places. as steep as the roof Of
house. Its course was an alternate Sc
ties of rushes. punctuated with pauses.
when the crew piled out and rolled big
rocks out Of the way or filled gullies in
the trail which had been abandoned more
than ten years ago on the completion
OF the railroad.
SwiTls of cloud occasionally hid the
car from the view of the excited watch
ers. Intermittent dashes of rain blotted
IL from sight again and again. But al
V avs, when the air cleared. the car came
into view nearer its goal at the summit.
The last 1000 feet Of the climb the rain
changed to snow. which added further
difficulty to the task often pronounced
impossible.
The cog train dashed for the summit
and its passengers waded through the
snow to the top of the old trail ana
GaZed down toward the invisible world,
more than 1900 feet below. listening in
tently. Their wait was short From al
most beneath their feet came the hum
of a powerful motor. doing the bidding
OF its driver. who was calling on 1t for
all II had. In a cloud Of snow, flying
from all four wheels. and bounding over
the great rocks which everywhere serried
the trail, the car fairly Ieaped the steep
gradient at the top, and, with a cheer
ing crew. pulled up on the little plateau
beside the government observatory.
The knights TemplaT and their ladies
echoed the cheer and snapped their cam
eTas. The climb was history. The coast
downward was made with perfect ease.
The Studebaker is the third car TO
make the ascent, it having been pre-
Ceded by a little runabout of the push
mobile type and by a light racing car.
the crew of which made good use of an
ingenious arrangement of block and
tackle. Nothing of this sort marked the
first ascent of the peak by a fully
equipped touring car. nor had there been
any special preparation whatever for the
climb. The day itself was most unfa-
vcrabIe, due to the weather.
Throughout the Rocky Mountain region
the exploit now furnishes the most fer
tile subject of conversation in motoring
circles
The car was driven to the timber line
by G. W. Hubert, OF Denver. He was
relieved on the final dash by w. w. Bee
son. now manager OF the StudebakeT
branch in Atlanta.
Seventeen light cars started in the race
for the Grand Prix at Boulogne. France.
last Monday. The weight OF each car
was limited to 1880 pounds The dis
tance was go miles BOillot finished first
In a Peugeot car, making the distance in
hours and : minutes GOuN, in a
Peugeot was second. with s hours and II
minutes. Guinness, in a Sunbeam, came
In third, in s hours and IS minutes.
The Buick car struck postman, who
sustained serious iDjuries