The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-08-25
A VERY SEVERE TEST.


 Against the advice of friends and contrary to the past performances of any motor car, c. l.. Butler, of Berke- ley, California, in a Peerless Eight, manufactured by the Peerless Motor Car Co.,, of Cleveland. Ohio, has made a record run in Yosemite Valley, which is the envy of all automobile men. In spite of dangerous turns, tricky roads and rigid driving laws, Butler with a companion made the round trip from Oakland, Calif., to Yosemite Valley and return, a trip which ordinarily takes two days each way, in 19 hours and Is minutes.
 Buffers record was the result of efforts on the part of the Oakland Chamber of Commerce to convince the Oakland citizens that the trip to Yosemite Valley could be made in two days, one day for going and one day for returning. With full confi- dence in the Peerless Eight. Butler announced that he was roing to go both ways the same day. Several newspapermen and others who had been over the route advised him not to attempt the making of a record on his first trip. They said 1t would be impossible for him to accomplish anything extraordinary because he was not acquainted with the roads, the crooked turns and dangerous hills.
 Anxious to make a real record, however, Butler decided to make the attempt. Leaving Oakland at mid night, he had 154 miles of state high way before him which he made, in- cluding two stops totalling Is minutes and two misjudged roads which cost him about five minutes more, in the elapsed time of three hours and 50 minutes. The car ran consistently and co~>r~-'n"'-- t54 miles an hour xcept over rough roads, grades and culverts. 4..o end of this stretch brought Butler and his companion to Madeira at which point they left the highway for the rough country.
 The grades became steep and rough and the turns were sharp, but Butler sent the sturdy car through as rap idly as possible, saving the machine from the wicked and perilous chuck holes wherever possible.
 Even with his careful driving, he said the Peerless Eight seemed to be on the axles much of the time. Be- tween Madera and Raymond, he ran out of gasoline, but luckily he had a can of the fluid with him which kept him going until Raymond was reach ed At that point, ten minutes were lost while Butler and his companion attempted to awaken the garage pro- prietor. Water, oil and gasoline were taken on and the car sped away toward Wawona, a. resort just outside Yosemite National Park. They reached Wawona about o'clock. Ten minutes were spent in registering and getting their record signed and they were on their way again with the first government checking station as their objective point. Another five min utes were lost there.
 At this point the trip became most exciting because they had to base their driving schedule on the rules of the government checking stations, which permit cars to move in only one di- rection at time on the roads to and from the floor of the valley. They had to reach the second checking sta- ton between 9:20 and 9:25. If they arrived before 9:20 they would have violated the speed regulations of the Park; if they did not reach there un- til after 9:25 they would have to wait until the next checking in at II a. m.
 Not knowing definitely where the next station was. they had consider able difficulty in arriving on schedule. To overcome this disadvantage, how ever, they drove the car up to within a short distance of the checking sta- ton where one of them went ahead as scout and. waiting behind a bend in the road from 9:10 to 9:20. Butler drove the car up to the line exactly on time. Five minutes more were used up here while they had the ranger sign their record books. From