The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-05-09

l passed Edges record of 1881 miles and finished at 6.04:46 with a record I of 1919 miles,
 Ezra NIeeker- Story
 For the second time Ezra Meeker
 will make a transcontinental tour on
 the now nearly Host Oregon Trail. He
 made one trip from coast to coast
 driving a yoke of oxen in the year 1910,5 1911, 1912. His first trip was
 from Indianapolis to Oregon in 1852
 and was an almost fndescrfbabIe ser 1 ies of hardships and -privati ons This
 present trip will be far different. In stead of the oxefl-drawr1 prairie schooner, crampede and uncomfor-
 table as a cage, creeping and bump ing along a ribboned scar across the deserts. the wilderness, and the snowy 1 Rockies, to a promised land of pIen- ty, this journey will be made in a. l twelve-cyinder motor car, equipped
 properly for such a long distance and
 on roads, which while in many places leaving room for great improvement 1 by comparison are smooth as paper.
 Ezra Meeker is old now, or as he says, ..85 5 years young,'' but the unquenched
 fire of youth still burns in his veins He is no longer the sta1wart young sZnan with the indonitab1e pioneer courage that was ready to face the
 weary march, the contingency of
 meeting savage Indians, diseases and the gnaWings of famine. He is slight 1y stopped now and his snow white
 hair flows to his shoulders, but in spirit at least, he is novo1der than the twenty two year old youth of f52-8 for he has a mission in life. This is to instiI the flower of patriotism in the breast of each person with whom hhe comes in contact, and to fittingly1 commemorate with solid ecomiums the work of the pioneers in penetrat- ing t1le virgin West, by erecting stone monuments, along the old Oregon Trail Much of this work has already been done by Mr. Meeker, by driving a yoke of oxen from the Atlantic to the Pacific, a trip which took twenty two months, selling his books along the route, the proceeds of which are donated to a self appointed task. MT. Meeker was born at Huntsville, Ohio, December 29, 1890. His parents mov- ed to Indiana near the village of String Town, now called Indianapolis, when he was a toddling youngster. Here he grew to manhood following the usual life of the pioneer boy. He which is now covered with factories and resi dences. He was unable to secure much schooling-six months l was the actual time he attended | school, but he has always been a vor- aclous reader and attributes the abi1- 1 fty he possesses of speaking and writ ing the purest English diction to | reading the country's leading newspa- | pers. For a time MT. Meeker worked | in the Indianapolis Printing Office as | stdeviP' for s. ". B. Noel But the | confining indoor work did not appeal | to him so he became a farmer, till | ing the soil, harvesting and doing the | countless other duties of farm life in | the crude naakeshift manner that was current in those days. The call of | the open road too him and. the desire for land of his own caused him to [ start on his first journey over the broad expanse to the Pacific. At the age of twenty-one he. married and soon after with his young wife set out to an unknown destination, yelled F in the mysteries of secret dangers, Il that led him after much delay, to N Portland, Oregon II
 His car is special job. being strip ped to the chassis and prairie schooner body and top built on. He says I chose this type because intend to live in the car until the trip is com p1eted. By careful planning and min imizing useless space, it is surprising ] how much prairie schooner body | will carry and still be homeIilze in- | deed. '' IT