The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-05-19
AUTO RACES S,72S
MILES IN II DAYS
New Record for Coast to Coast
Travel Is Made by Stutz
Roadster.
DRIVEN BY ONE MAN

There came INTO town yesterday
morning n mud encrusted automobile
! bearing two only slightly fatigued and
supremely happy men who. when they
| stopped the car in Columbus Circle. had
| completed n jaunt of 3.72s tand four
,enths, to be exact) miles from san
/ Diego. Cal. In eleven days seven hours
fifteen minutes This performance beats
every known record for transcontinental
traffic by motor vehicle, the more so
that one man, T.. q. Baker OF Indian
apolis, drove the car every yard or the
way. Hitherto some c~ross-cont!nent
trips not nearly so fast aave been made
who last year. Just about this time, rode
a motorcycle across the continent by a
trail $50 miles shorter In eleven days
twelve hours and Ave minutes. Thus he
drove the automobile further In about
FIVE hours less time.
Along with Baker came W. r. Sturm.
an indianapolis newspaper map. His
job was TO sit still. as near as chuck
holes. thank you marms. &c. would per-
init him. and keep notes on the towns
passed through. the amount OF oil. gas
olene and water taken on and get sig
natures from garagemen and others In
the various towns to show where they
went. His records of this sort are so
complete that there cannot be the least
doubt that the motorists made the trip
as they said.
Mechanical trouble. aside from a
couple of shock absorbers broken, was
nil. The engine in the car, which is a
Stutz Bearcat. n roadster made in In
dianapolls, has an odd history. II was
In a car sold here IN New York by Will
lam Parkinson. the local Stutz dealer.
The purchaser complained the motor
wasn't right, so Parkinson made good
with him by taking It out and ordering
another from the factory. Meantime
the motor that wasn't right" went back
to the factory and without change was
placed In the chassis subsequently
turned over TO Baker. As Il went
through from coast to coast without
trouble, perhaps that customer had the
wrong idea.
The Goodyear tires on the car came
through intact. The front shoes have
California air still in them. The rear
castings are the same. but two tubes
had TO be changed In each. There was
one %puncture 10 each rear wheel and
one tube IN each burned out"
Baker and Sturm left San Diego on
May s at midnight and established sew
eral speed marks In the next two days.
They covered 400 miles the first day
through snow and sandstorms. at one
stage being at an altitude OF 5000 feet
and later 800 feet below sea level. On
this part Of the trip the car ran for
twenty-elght miles through sand axle
deep. The first days run ended at
Phoenix, Ariz.
II was on the second day that real
high speed was notched, After about
I'VE hours sleep the crew started out
over the sandy desert and notched of
5aa miles until FL Paso. Tex. was
reached. On this days run there was
mountain climbing up to 200 feet.
The mileage was lower on the third
day than Baker had expected. Fording
a stream near Roswell. New Mexico,
the car got into quicksand and was
sucked down. II took -four horses TO
pull II out. but the water was drained
from the carhureter and after things
had dried out. OFF II went again. Tho
run 10 Roswell was 24i.l miles. The
fourth day in" run ended at Plain View.
Tex. This WAS through the ranch coun-
try and Sturm had TO get out 10 open
and close fifty-two ranch gates that
day. Nashouts were encountered in
Oklahoma and Baker II Stnrm had 20
do some digging TO get the car out.
The fifth day brought them 10 Plains.
Kan, a run OF 37+ miles and they got
to Emporia at the end of the sixth
day. having clicked 2.i1a.1 miles.
In order to get the shock absorhers
! fixed six hours were taken up IN Kan