Charlevoix county herald., 1914-03-21

AUTOMOBILING
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GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA
4 BY WARD MORTON 4
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BY WARD MORTON

San DieRO, AdillOIitlds III q oman
automobile four men covered approx
imately $500 miles of overland travel
with all that the words overland
trave' means-in 2S days actual run
ming time and without a serious mis-
hap
That's going some.
On Monday morning, August y,
1912, a small touring car costing less
than $500, four men and loaded with
a camping outfit, which included an A
tent, blankets, raincoats, Overcoats,
Winchester rifle, shotgun and Colts
revolver, together with cooking uten-
sis packed away in narrow box
built on to the running board of the
car, pulled slowly out of the wind
ing. woody rOadways of that portion
of Gun Lake summer resort known as
The Cascades (near Orangeville,
Mich.), leaving behind with shouts of
good luck" and "have good time"
relatives of the departing tourists,
who had gathered on the hillside to
bid goodbye TO the travellers. few
days previous TO this the party had
" been to Grand Rapids to secure need
ed supplies for the trip.
The tour had been talked about Tor
weeks by several men and the four
n who finally decided to tackle it were
Will l.. Thomas of Hastings, Mich,
owner of the car; his brother-in-law,
Chas. w. BabCock; Ward Morton Of
Grand Rapids, Mich and his son, W.
Day Morton, of Philadelphia, an OK
pert automobile man.
The objective point was San Diego,
California, and on the way 1t was de-
cided to travel due west to San Fran
cisco, and then south along the Pa
cine coast to the city of marvellous
climate, real estate agents, boosters IN
general, get-Tich-qulck men, scenic
beauty, Jumping OF lace-Of America
and opportunity with a big Q.
The reading of the speedometer
showed that the car had previously
travelled 2,255.9 miles. AS matter OF
fact the car had travelled some $50
miles more that had not been regis
tered on the dial, owing to a slight
break i'm the specdOmeter gear. The
car was bought new i'm 1909, when
that type sold for 5000. In 1913 the
same type of a car sold for 5000 The
owner had made a trip TO Virginia
from Michigan in October, 1910, COW
ering a total Of 800 miles on the
Journey. lhe car had also been used
IN ordinary running about and usual
side trips made by owners who have
time and money TO spend in pleas
lie riding. The state of Michigan is
not famed for it's good roads and If
ordinary travel in other states will
use up a car any faster than it will
be used up in Michigan, 1T ought to
be recorded as a warning to automo-
bilists.
Notwithstanding two seasons Of
hard wear previous TO this transcOn-
tinental tour, the car was in good con-
ditlon. A new engine was put in, two
new rear tires added, the top taken
off to reduce weight, and the car car
riel besides its own weight about 800
pounds, consisting of four men and
luggage.
Good cheer marked the occupants Of
the car as it gathered momentum on
the smooth country road into Orange
vile hamlet, where il stopped just
long enough to let the boys get a sup
ply of smokes Though reasonably
familiar with roads and directions,
the party drove a few miles out OF
the way IN getting onto the main road
running north and south. These cross
roads were rutty and bad and less
than II miles were registered in the
first hours travel. After striking the
main road better time was made and
the tourists pulled up in front of the
Burdick hotel in Kalamazoo, Michi-
gan, at 11:15-one hour and thirty
minutes after leaving Gun Lake.
Twenty minutes were spent here in
buying some little supplies and as the
car pulled out of this city it met three
H.
showed the wear and tear of a long
trip and their pennants told us they
had come from Denver and st. Louis
respectively. They hailed us and
asked the best way to Kalamazoo
We hurriedly advised them and as we
did so all Of US made a mental note
of the thought that if these people
could come east from Denver we GER
tainly could go west to the same point
and-perhaps- farther! At any rate
the sight Of these travel-stained cars
gave us added courage and we caught
up the speed with hearts beating 4
lively tattoo Of hope and enthusiasm
We were soon pl0ughing our way ovel
some Of Michigan's worst roads. A!
events proved roads between Kalama
zoo and Niles were nearly as bad a!
any we encountered on our entire trip
They are not any too good under ia
vOrabe conditions and had been made
doUbly bad 10y an unusually heav!
rainfall a couple of nights previous
At l:l5 that afternoon We pulled M
under a fine old shade tree and ate GU
basket lunch, fifty miles from on
starting point.
Near Niles, Michigan, we encoun
tered two creek crossings, whore th'
bridges had been swept away by
rain storm, which was said TO have
been as bad as any that had ever Wis
tied that section The banks of thu
streams bore evidence of the truth %
the statement. The streams wer,
small normally and as the flood ha'
spent itself, temporary crossings hac
been laid, over which we passed il
safety. Farmers with teams Were
working at one point and as our ca
ran into the soft dirt that had beer
dumped in single pile il ran amuck
One of the teamsters Obligingly