Omaha daily bee., 1919-12-07

iholS OSiSiS tiAS FNSh
farming district the reliability Of the
truck. its adaptability to the farm
ing districts nd to the business sec
tons in country, surprising in
business prosperity almost anyother
section of the country today.
This First National Motor Truck
Endurance contest is the out
growth of an effort on the part OF
S. P. La Due, automobile editor of
The Omaha Bee, to arrange a
truck demonstration which would
acquaint the consumer with present
day truck possibilities and the man
ufacturers with the wonderful pos
sibilities in the middle west. Ar
thur Capper has fttingly described
the middle west as the Money Belt
of the United States" This run
will be within the confines of the
Money Belt as described by SEN
ator Capper.
Much Preparatory Work.
In August of this year a number
of the Omaha truck distributors
were guests of The Omaha Bee at
the Commercial club and it was de-
cided that a truck demonstration Of
some sort would be great public
benefit. Numerous ideas for con-
Quoting the run were advanced and
suggestion made by John M. Rob-
bins of the John M. Robbins Motor
company that an A. A. A. COMPETE
tive contest be staged" was finally
decided upon as the logical means
OF conducting this demonstration.
An investigation developed the
fact that it would be necessary in
order to handle such contest I'M
der the rules of and with the sane
ton of the American Automobile as
ISOLATION to do an immense amount
of preparatory work and invest a
considerable amount of money to
underwrite the contest. Every
event conducted by the American
Automobile association is thorough
~ official and all technical points
are handled by men fitted through
years of experience for the work.
Mr.. Rosewater Agrees.
After reviewing the outline of pre-
paratory work and the possibilities
for bringing Omaha and the middle
western states into prominence, Vic
tor Rosewater, publisher of the
Omaha Bee, agreed to underwrite
this development contest. 1t has
been sanctioned by the American
Automobile association as the First
National Motor Truck Reliability
contest.
As further means of promoting
this run The Omaha Bee has Sc
cured the services of F. Ed Spooner
of Detroit and c. P. Root of Chi
cago, both men of wide experience
in promoting events of this charac-
ter. Mr.. Spooner is a veteran in
touring and pathhnding circles. dat
ing from the great Pittsburg en-
durance run of 1908, having partici
pated in the annual tours Of both
passenger cars and motor trucks
| since that time.
Prominent Road Official.
Mr.. Root is the official American
Automobile association representa-
tive i'll Chicago, also a member Of
the contest board Mr. Root was the
general executive and promoter of
the first Elgin road race in 1910;
conducted the first and all other
Algonquin Hill Climbs" and has
been prominently associated with
number of road races and reliability
contests such as the Times-Herald
race staged on Thanksgiving day,
1895. and the Around Lake Michi-
gan Reliability Contest" held in
1912. Root was also starter and
general adviser for the first mo-
tor truck reliability contest conduct
ed by the Chicago American in the
fall of 1911.
| In connection with this contest
il is interesting to note that this is
the sixth national event promoted
by The Omaha Bee. In fact, every
national event OF this character
which has been promoted in Omaha
has been underwritten by The
Omaha Bee.
| Promoted Six Events.
Edward Rosewater, founder OF
| The Omaha Bee, was the first sub
scriber to the promotional fund for
the Transmissippi and international
exposition held in Omaha in 1893.
| In addition to this, The Omaha Bee
promoted the National Corn show,
held here for two successive years,
| 1908 and 1909; the Omaha Land
show. a national event, staged here
in 1910 and 1911; the Fremont Trac-
tor show, which, although started in
1912, was made a national event in
1914, 1915 and 1916, and the National
Swine show, held here in 1917.
| These events with the exception
OF the Transmissippi and Interna-
tional exposition were promoted and
underwritten by The Bee Publishing
company.
The first National Motor Truck
Reliability contest is the sixth ma
tional event promoted by The Oma-
: ha Bee.