South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1919-04-13
TRUCK HELPS ON
THISFRUI.T FARM
Enables Owner to Bring Pro-
duCe to Market Quickly and
in Good Condition.

Back in October. 1917. Roy o..
Thomas. who had until a few
months before that time. been a cog
in the wheel OF city life in various
American cities. but who had for
isaken the city and turned 10 the
farm after "A deep and exhaustive
study Of the motor truck situation
(and il should be remembere that
the truck industry was at that time
q mere infant selected the Acme as
the make Of truck which in his
opinion. would earn dividends for
him. He purchased a two-tOn
Acme. his first work being that Of
delivering apples to the grocers OF
aIuskegon. a little city OF about So
600 inhabitants. situated p miles
southeast of his farm. which he
afterward named Acme Fruit
Farm" in honor OF mis- truck
Winter in Michigan is seldom a
thing OF JOY. the fan of snow az a
usual thing being any place between
two and eight feet. The first win
ter OF Mr.. Thomas truck experiences
the winter OF 1861, saw an un-
usually heavy fall OF snow and in
places Mr.. Thomas says the snow
was 50 deep that the road was
above the level OF the top Of the
fence posts, but in spite of this he
did not miss trip during the entire
winter. delivering considerably more
than 10000 bushels OF apples 10
Muskegon grocers during the winter
making one trip each week.
IL requires on an average one
hour and thirty minutes to make-the
trip from Acme Fruit farm to Mus
kegon, and the average load is 12t
bushels Of apples.
Driving Truck Is Easy.
Asked regarding the days work
ne was best suited with. Mr.. Thomas
replied that one day he covered 90
miles. and put in storage 504 bush
els Of apples. Thomas has beer
driving passenger cars and trucks 70
the last ID years. and he makes tn
statement driving his Acme is al
easy as driving any passenger car
and that the fruit is in as good con
dition in every way when it reache
the market as it was when he lef
the farm, and that he has yet Z
break the first glass in MOVING
household furniture, which he doe.
during the off season for fruit.
Thomas has made a number OF
trips with household furniture from
Muskegon and Grand Rapids TO De
troit. and from Detroit to variou!
parts OF Michigan. A recent triI
Oh FOfa
mileage of 40 miles. In reply to a
question put 10 him regarding num-
Der of miles secured on an average
from gallon OF gasoline. Mr.
Thomas stated that his records
showed an average Of II.
This truck, which is here shown
coming out OF the garage covered
with mud from one end to the other
has covered 1900 miles. with a re
pair bill OF exactly $21.7O. an amour
per mile so small that it's hardl,
worth figuring up
II should be remembered tina
Michigan Goes not as yet have al
efficient highway system. and tn
mileage given above covers every
thing from the old fashioned cor
duroy' roads still found in variou
places in Michigan, 10 the mos
modern concrete construction foun,
i'm the vicinity or Detroit and il
spots all over the state. sand, gravel
every kind in fact.
II would be interesting TO know
Just how long a truck would run
under careful handling. if every foo
OF road covered was of concrete
smooth, hard and wide. and hoy
much smaller the repair bin woul
be.
IL will. OF course. be inferre
from this record that Mr.. ThOma
is a careful driver and that he
quite competent to take proper car
OF his machine. but only 10 a degre
that every careful driver does.
This is certainly a wonderful eN
ample of truck efticiency-16, Z 0
miles OF fairly heavy hauling. wit
a repair bill OF a triae over 81 pc
thousand miles.
pPECI0ENT'S pARTY MET