The Logan Republican. [volume] (Logan, Utah) 1902-1924, 1916-08-10
Stevens Smashes TransCondnentd
Auto Run In Preparedness Test

would be done If the ordinary lines Of
communication were Interrupted in
other words, to see II a motor ve-
hicle could give reasonably quick
service.
At this stage of the proceedings,
Mr.. Stevens had gone so exhaustive
ly into the subject, that the trustees
OF the American Defense Society
came to him and said, You seem to
know more about this than anyone
else, won't you personally take care
Of making this trip?-so that is how
Mr.. Stevens came to make the run :.
1t would have been out of the
question, however, to have successful
ly engineered such a move, withcat
the most careful advance preparation
in the selection Of relay drivers and
pilots and arrangements for obtain
ing food and sleep for Mr.. Stevens
along the way. for, Of course, it would
be physically impossible for him per-
sonally to have ridden in the car the
entire distance.
Mr.. Stevens also said that 1t would
have been hopeless for him to have
started with the car and finished with
the car had 1t not been for the SPLEEN
did cooperation which he received
from the railroad officials along the
line, and also from the Western I'm.
Ion Telegraph Company officials, who
kept him and the car in constant
touch with the officials of the Ameri.
can Defense Society, the Marmon fac
tory, and The b. F. Goodrich Rubb9'
Company. and the Goodrich and Mar
mon stores all along the line OF rav-
ell.
Mr.. Stevens plan was this lie
would drive for 400 or 500 miles at a
stretch until he could make some con-
nection with fast express. Then
he would telegraph ahead so that the
express would be waiting for him.
Then he would board a sleeper,
snatch a few hours sleep and again
meet the Marmon car at some point
arranged for, when he would again
drive for 400 or 500 miles and again
board the express.
To see how perfectly all of Mr..
Stevens arrangements were and how
wonderfully we'll the Silvertown tire
equipped Marmon kept to schedule
there was only once where the ex'
press train had to wait for Mr.. Ste
vens arrival and that was at Omaha
The delay, however, was in no way
due to the car or the tires, but to a
mistake of 100 miles in making out
the schedule between Chicago and
Omaha. In other words, Mr.. Stevens
had to cover 100 more miles between
Chicago and Omaha than he expected.
This brought him into Omaha 90
minutes late for his train, but thanks
to the foresight Of Mr.. Fort Of the
Union Pacific Railroad, the train was
waiting for him when his Marmon
rolled up to the railroad station.
Mr.. Stevens was especially enthus
iastic over the record made by the
Silvertown Cord Tires with which
the car was equipped. The distance
between New York and Omaha is
1855 miles, and was covered in IL
hours without a bit Of tire trouble,
The same set OF tires was used as
far as Cheyenne, where they were
changed as q matter Of precaution
The tires, however, according to Mr.
Stevens. showed almost no wear
whatever. He attributes full meas
ure of the success Of this trip ant
the remarkable time made to the re
silence of the tires which increased
the engine efficiency of the car to
marked extent, aside from the free
dom from tire trouble which Is al
ways the jinks of speed records.
There Is one correction which
wish to make in regard to the length
of time 1t took us to make the trip,
said Mr.. Stevens. 1T was three
hours longer than the published rec
ord. We made the trip in 8 days, IL
hours and 22 minutes, instead OF II
is hours as originally published II
other words, in computing the actu
al running time between hdse an
New York, hours should have beer
added to make up the difference be
tween New York and San Francisco
time.
"As we started by New York time
, the finish should have also been CON
=. puted by New York time-while 1t l
, true that we reached here exactly a
s o'clock in the afternoon, by New
: York time It was three hours later
: 1--WE therefore beat the best prev