The Washington herald., 1919-05-04

In telling the story OF Dodge broln-
ers' famous 20. NJ. Car" which played
a remarkable part in the motor his
tory of the recent war. a multitude
of interesting and graphic letters
have been received by the home office
from soldiers in almost every branch
of the service in this country and
abroad.
They are not letters that have been
written to Dodge Brothers. possibly
with selfish motives. but have been
forwarded on to them from friends In
every part of the country. They
merely mention the car among the
graphic details Of their narratives, be-
cause 1t was so constant and intimate
a part OF their experiences.
OF course any lengthy narration or
the cars part in the war Is out OF
the question here. 1t must suffice 10
tell how 1t quickly became known as
the Handy Man of the Army" and
was pressed into all manner Of serv-
ice.
AS soon as the War Department
chose the Dodge Brothers Motor Car
as the official car in its class thou
sands of these cars were rushed into
service as speedily as the works at
Detroit could turn them out.
The long truck caravans. or Trans
ports as they were called, which fol-
lowed one another across the country
to the seaboard. were almost without
exception led by officers in Dodge
Brothers touring cars. And then.
somewhere along the train. would be
seen the Dodge Brothers q. NJ. Car"
loaded with truck parts. food. OFF,
GERS equipment, and ready to dash
ahead into the nearest town on nee
essary errands.
Real Work Abroad.
But it was on the other side that
the real work began. One of the
many letters referred to above,
written by a typical devil-may-care
Yank, a motor car enthusiast. makes
intensely interesting reading. 1t
was written by w. A. P. John, Sec
ond lieutenant. Coast Artillery
Corps. A E. F.
whenever / have had a chance
to talk to Dodge Brothers drivers
and officers in the Motor Transport
Corps, l have done so. / have asked
what kind of hack" this Dodge
Brothers car was, then about re-
pairs, mileage. strength. roadability
and comfort.
"Truthfully. never once did ! en-
counter one of these hard-boiled,
leather-necked. two-fisted. hard
driving chaufeurs who had any
thing but praise for the car. The
first one ran into in France was
back in S. o. S. near Cijon. That
was in August, 1917. She was just
out Of America. they said and ] al
most kissed her; but this is a narra-
tive and not a home-sick drool.
Soon the cars began to multiply.
and the hard roads back there be-
gan to hum with them. But the 8,
o. g. with its wonderful organiza-
ton and perfect roads. offered no
real test of the strength of the car.
Meets Old Friend.
"One evening recently. it was just
before the attack in which 5000 guns
were massed on a front Of eleven
kilometers, 1 was walking through the
inky streets of scissors which were
not even lighted with the Pickering
aurora borealis of the barrage. That
was when barrages were five and six
day affairs and not the ferocious five
or six-hour terrors they later became.
| was lonesome. when around the
corner | heard the whirring throaty
shrek of an automobile horn. 1t was
one of your cars. I would have known
that sound anywhere.
II dashed around the korner or
which the famous Cafe Foliel OAR
stood and there was one of your tour
ing cars. with its winter top spattered
from stem to stern with mud. Out OF
il stepped two officers-single star and
spread eagle-and ducked out of it.
But presently they went in and
chummed with the driver. When fin
ally he was dismissed. we parked the
car and went over to the Lyon Rouge
where excellent wine could be had at
reasonable prices. (Oh, ancient daysO
Was Gen. Hines Car.
The car belonged to Gen. Hine:
U beIieve). who was then chief OF
artillery. They had driven up from
Paris. some eighty miles. in a little
over two hours to observe the
French artillery. Yep. he liked the
car-heavy enough to hang on the
road and light enough to keep out
of bitches. springs enough to keep
your liver from busting up. Yep
good hack