The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-06-27
DETOURS

1 fllvrer till they see d nice toppy hlll with a Few morasses en the side of 1t where hidden springs are coming up for air: If there are no weeds be- ! tween them and the hill they go along tlll they find the same kind of hill ! that Is entirely surrounded by weeds. Weeds, as Seu knew, conserve the
 water supply, making roads muddy all
 the year round. Whereas roads that dent have any woods on them dry up In the summer months and become
 moderately passable. This latter ls
 eehditieh which utterly units any de- tour for It's purpose,
 1 When the Requisite hill and the feeuslte woods are discovered, tho
 ma bers ef the deteaf beard chop 4 few trees down here and there, and nail on other signs bearing the single word, 'Deteur," with hand pointing in the direction ef the deepest mos
 resses You can feilew these signs like
 the pioneers followed the old blazed trails, only hot nearly so rapidly.
 GETTING READY FOR BUSIN ESS Having nailed up their signs, the
 detouf makers ED back and notify the
 boys at the blacksmith shop that there ought to be good business up on
 smither's hill for the next six months, and advise them to telephone Into the
 
 tires of assorted sizes,
 Then they rest up for another de-
 tour locating expedition on the follow Ing day.
 IL Is your turn next, You roll mer- rtly along telling yourself that she's not missing on q single one, and that you ought to make 1t an average of
 twenty five a day at the least, Suddenly you are confronted with ba ain i sharply to the right, but you don't swerve very far. It becomes almost im- m ediately necessary to stop, get out and lead away a fallen tree which the
 axmen didn't want to take out of the new road.
 1 Fallen trees aren't lightly brushed aside like tobacco ashes. You are pretty | tired when you get the job done. Along you go for six or eight feet. Then down you go to the hubs in a sink hole. That means a little more patient labor, say about two hours of it. A few more holes. in and out and you gain the rocky hillside. That Is better going, but it is hard the springs-so hard in fact that unless | they are very 1.-the and athletic they are likely to break, break. break in l a way that would show up the sea on l its cold gray stones.
 WELCOME AT GARAGE It is a matter of brake control go- | ing down the hill which, if the detour l has been used by anybody else, will 1 be worn into little pillows like a short, sharp surf on a shingly beach. l Bounding over these pillows makes you 1 seasick, but seasickness is nothing at all to a man in your frame of mind. Half way down the hill is the new garage. You are ready for it, but not half as ready as it is for you. In l fact your sigh of gratitude at dis covering it is multiplied many times by that of the garage man who sees you coming.
 There are three or four garages on the detour. You. need all of them. Also you need watever you have. brought in the way of assets, including a first second and third chattel mort gage blanks on your car. We intended to write, when we be- gan this article, our own experiences with detours, and also a chapter on trying one of them at night, since which time we have never been entire 1 ly sure of our arrival on the better shore.
 But we cannot do it. Sorrows crown l of sorrow is remembering bitterer | things, and although we have had many rough experiences since that
 time this one so far eclipsed them all I in bitterness, that We are not going to remember any more of it than we can 1 help.
 Copyright, 1920, by the Bell Syndi- cate, lnc.)