The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1913-09-25
AUTOMOBILE NEWS
Ccontinued from Page s.)


 plainly in sight. Further away they saw the smoke of an active volcano, Mt. Sanford, whose elevation is 14,- 900 feet.
 Three days of constant trai1-b1azing and pathfinding brought the truck to Paxson on the Gulkana River in the foothills of the Alaska Range. Following the military trail straight north they began a gradual ascent into the ice-c1ad mountains of Alas ka's principal range. The trail car ried them high on the sides of the mountains, giving magnificent views of a number of large lakes. Accord ing to the engineers, the grades aver aged only 6 per cent. but there were many places where it was necessary to climb a sixteen per cent. grade on solid and rough surface of ice.
 To guard against skidding and the possibility of sliding off the innumer- able cliffs, the crew made use of a coil of steel cable and wound the wheels. the same as they had pre- viously done with rope. This ex- pedtent proved highly successful in giving traction for the climb but did not eliminate skidding. While climbing cautiously through one of the passes, along the edge of a steep precipice, the bank gave way under the weight of the truck and the en- tire outfit had a narrow escape from sliding off into a violent glacier stream.
 Near the summit they passed a massive peak which had been worn into the shape of perfect dome. The higher the altitude the sleeper they found the grades. It was a common occurrence to be halted on the side of mountain by small wash outs due to melting glaciers.
 At several points the grades-were so steep and the turns so sharp that it was necessary to maneuver with the reverse gear to make the turns. No trouble was experienced in keep ing the engine cool. In fact the cool ing water did not boil at any time on the entire trip despite long pulls on low gear. $.
 The descent from the summit pre- sented no difficulties other than the necessity for frequent inspection of the trail for considerable distances before driving ahead. After Q. long spell of cautious and skilIfu1 driving, they dropped down into the valley of the Delta River and >camped all night on the Guncreek flats which were composed almost entirely of glacier mud and quicksand.
 Leaving the flats there was a mark l ed change in the character of the | country. Flats and marshes were l succeeded by giant boulders, subject | ing the truck to fearful tests of dis 1 tortion. Rain added to their discom- 1
  ana River passes a place known as Donnelly and here the crew found 1 evidence of real road work. A clay | and gravel surface with a fairly good l foundation began at Donnelly and | lasted for ninety miles over a rugged | country with many stiff climbs and | scarcely any snow or ice.
 The truck was carried across the 1 Tanana River on a ferry to the town | of McCarty and then driven along 1 the bank of the Panama to Munson's. l On the ninth day, after covering 379 l miles from Valdez. it reached the l northern end of the journey at the i town of Fairbanks, which is situated | on the Panama. This is a branch of | the Yukon and Fairbanks is the ex- treme point of navigation, 2 degrees | from the Arctic circIs.
 Three days were spent in Fairbanks l preparatory to the return trip. The truck was again loaded with supplies | and mail. Colonel Richardson took | personal charge on the return trip. | was 2,1OO pounds, 500 in excess of l the capacity of the truck.
 Leaving Fairbanks August 9, i again in a downpour of rain, they re- | face and weather conditions would | permit. When they reached the Gun creek flats they found that the steady | rain of three days had made the | glacier mud very sloppy and wiped | out the trail for considerable distan- ces. Quicksand was also a constant | Despite the use of much | brush and timber the danger could | not be entirely avoided and the truck settled deep enough to lose traction. Similar conditions existed through out the entire dash through the Gull kama and Copper River deltas.
 Near Gulkana, they met a military pack of six horses, an army field wag- on, a blackboard and a detachment of troops in command of a f1rst-lieu- tenant, sent out by the War Depart ment to investigate an alleged gold | strike on the Chisana River. Six horses were required to pull a two- ton load and most of the load neces- sariIy consisted of feed for the horses
 Twenty-six miles south of Gulkana, at Willow Creek, they made a detour to Chitina, adding 68 miles to their journey and lengthening the return trip to ten days.
 At Sheep Creek, just before re-en- tering the Keystone Canyon, they were compelled to cut swath in the woods for five hundred yards to avoid a bad washout caused by the tor rent of a melting glacier. A bridge, twelve feet above the water when the truck crossed it on the outbound trip, l had been completely carried away and 1