Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1916-11-11
|CADHLAC TEST A
CONSTANT GRIND
Car on Go Twenty-Four Hours
Every Day For Two Years
Under All Conditions

Automobile manufacturers, as n
rule, subject their cars periodically
to driving ever the roads for sew
eral weeks o. Il month or so. But
it ia doubtful ie any ether car has
ever come In for " test quite as
grue!lmg and continuous rs that
which falls to tha lot ef the Cadillac
Eight "twenty-teur hour car"
This car Is operated by the factory
at Detroit not only twenty-four
hours a day, but every day winter
and summer In fair weather and
foul, through sand and mud and
It knows no rest, and the object of the
drivers la TO sec how much punish
n,ent and abuse they can give it, Such
car haa been on tho roads of Michi-
gan for tho last two years. Four ex-
perimental drivers, working in pairs
each pair driving 10 hours, pilot the
car ON It's ceaseloss grind. The fall
ure OF deliberate attempts by the
drivers to break and wear out various
parts constitutes q source of daily
reinsurance to Cadillac engineers.
A Detroit newspaper reporter who
Silent part of u night In the twenty
four hour car" wrote OF his adventure
as followss
"The top was up, the side curtains
were down, for II was raining, and the
whole car was covered with mud. And
when ! say covered, I mean plast-
cred,
MY first impression was that was
not alone in tho tonneau, There was
something lying on the floor in front
of me. I kicked It. and it did not
move, Then I touched 1t and 1t felt
cold and clammy. I recoiled sQueam-
ishly,
IF those sand bags are in the way,
just kick 'em around any way 'you
please said one Of the experimental
men. Ten of 'em 75 pounds apiece,
Same Us five 150-pound people,
I'VE soon reached the concrete out
side the city. Although it was wet
and slippery, the size, the noiseless-
ness, and the smooth running Of the
car gave me sense Of absolute Sc
curity.
The concrete ended abruptly, and
we were upon treacherous clay
road, The Windshield was so spat-
tered with dirty water that II was
occasionally necessary for one of the
men to sozzle off a portion OF the
glass with his glove.
Some other reckless voyageur OF
the night had apparently preceded us,
for tire tracks corkscrewed from one
side of the road to the other. 1t was
apparently a lighter car, and every
thing indicated that it was having a
rough voyage. And ours was by no
means smooth. Thirty, thirty-fve
forty-five miles an hour
II lunged from one side of the ton
neau to the other. If the car had
been anything but Cadillac Eight,
and the man at the wheel anyone but
master, I should have given up all
hope. Mile after mile of lunging.
buffeting, ramming.
Presently we saw the tail light of
! the other car and we soon passed it
with a swish. AS 1 had guessed, 1t
was a smaller, lighter car. AS they
saw us roll past them with such un-
swerving power, an expression OF ad-
miration must have passed their lips.
"All the time the men had been
silent except for such occasional re-
marks as:
"'Never saw these roads so treach-
erous.'
"'Say, but this car has = bump
into a Extraordinarily! -
AT about four o'clock the one who
was not driving began to sing = an
attempt at grand opera. It exasper-
ated me because 1 wanted to sleep.
In spite of the grand opera and the
threshing around, 1 finally did doze a
little.
when 1 awoke the rain had ceased
and the roads were nearly dry. We
swung along more steadily than be-
! fore, and I was able to sit back COM
fortably. We removed the side cur
| tains. The musical one began hum
ming ragtime. An ungodly hour for
ragtime, / thought. AS we passed a
| farmhouse. we saw man with q
lantern on his way to the barn. Morn
ing was coming.
| AT one point there was bad
serdy stretch beside the road. The
stoical gentleman at the wheel SEEM
/ ed possessed of sudden facetious
mood. We left the road completely
and plowed through the sand - on
high gear.
! "It was beginning to become light.
We pulled up a long, hard hill, and
| from it's crest we caught the first
/ glimpse of that days sun. The hor-
rors of the night faded from my
mind. 1t seemed like an old legend
in which one comes upon a beautiful
enchanted valley after a perilous trip
through dark forest, beset with
dragons.
Beautiful. isn't it? And see that
| little river oyer there said the music
/ al one.
"'Uh huh.' grunted he at the wheel,
I guess we'd better stop at the next
town for some more gas"
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