Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1921-02-05

trict involved a decided lack of 49,
omy and resulted in waste Of roos.
and effort
Next to New York. the mavor sat-
Boston is the most densely populatsS
city in the country. the ration of No.
lulation being 1900 to the square MI, s
-
The Wild West of Far East char,;,.
Bandits in Flivver
Aatomobilfng in the Cobb desa,,
country of Mongolia must be f.soi
mating sport. but the man who bsv
told about it makes it quite clear that,
to enjoy it to the full the tour;s,s
need to take along an extra summit
of. nerve and a weli-developed sens
of humor. 1t is also apparent that
certain amount of mechanical abil;,r
and fertility of expedient are likewise
requisite. Charles L. Coltman. thu
president of the Monaghan TRADING
Company. draws vivid picture IN
the Trans Pacific Magazine in telling
of some of his own motoring exneri.
ences. A map of Northern China and
Eastern Mongolia shows a beautifull
red road leading across the Cobb for
700 miles from Kalgan, a little mora,
than 100 miles from Picking, to Urrs
something less than 200 miles south
Of the Siberian border of Mongolia
In the first place. Mr.. Coltnan takes
pains to state that the Cobb is NOT. in
the strictest sense, a desert, and that
at the present time there are occa-
sional houses and, wells and some.
times a garage or an inn will be en-
countered along the main caravan
read. He also calls attention to a de-.
cided innovation that automobile
drivers find of no small advantage at
times, in the form of free spare paris
stations. These have been estab-
lished by the Chinese Government
quite inadvertently. however, and
consist merely of disabled official cars
that their inexperienced drivers have
been unable to repair and have aban.
doned by the roadside. Nor is the
road always a lonely one, for there
is a certain amount of wild life in the
way of marmots and wolves, and then
there are the occasional picturesque
caravans, not to speak of bandits.
Mr.. Coltman and a companion had
the distinction of being the pioneer
motorists across that country, driving
a fiivver. They seem to have had
such a good time on the road TO Urga
that they pushed on to the Siberian
H. Cd af Lob tIals
only to find on arrival that they were
short of gasoline, and that none was
to be had at the outpost. Alcohol was
obtainable, however, in the form Of
vodka, and with this they tanked up
in a literal sense. having first ad-
justed their mechanism TO stand up
to such strong drink. At the first sip
of the unaccustomed fuel the muffer
blew off, and with roar like a
machine shop, and emitting smoke
like a locomotive. the car took to the
road and raced back to Urga, though
possibly not without a stagger.
Everything in the country seems
consumed with desire to race any
car that looms up on the horizon
The little MongoI riding ponies can
usually win out if the road happens 20
be poor. Even wolves appear to en-
joy testing their speed powers against
the machine, and although they can
at times do thirty-five miles for a
brief space if pressed, twenty-five is
about their limit. His most thrilling
speed contest was with riding camel
that for a distance of thirty miles
kept up a twenty-five mile clip, and
was still going strong when tire blew
out with a report that served to ac-
celerate the animal to tremendous
pace. That incident caused Mr.. Colt.
man to allude to another camel epi-'
sode that occurred while he was at.
tending to some little repair. The
hood was up and the engine idlinc
when two wandering camels drifted
along, and one Of them. becoming
curious as to the interior workings o.
the machine, .poked his nose in far
enough to encounter a spark plug,
thereby creating a commotion.
Once when carrying a woman and
4 sick child, he discovered that his
oil tank was aleak. They
were far out in the desert and twenty
miles from water. Through some
he had no spare oil aboard.
He did have two pound tin of butter
though, and that carried them to
water, where, by good chance. they
found a Mongol encamped from whom
they secured some mutton tallow ana
, little cheese, which mixed with
pound Of cup grease. carried them
300 miles. That was an experience
with tragic possibilities, but the story
of his encounter with fifty armeu :
and mounted bandits is perhaps tne
most thrilling of all. There were out
TWO men in the car, each with fort!
Ave six-shooter, to stand up TO tue
or they were fairly upon the bunch
before discovering them, and tneF
were headed straight for them on
town. grade. A bold charge was tnelr
,nly hope. The driver handed MS
gun to his companion, stepped on the
lccelerator, held down the horn but
on and opened the cut-out. He saiu
nat he did not have a chance to iooh
It the speedometer. but he did eaten
slimpses of what was happenihs
ahead. In just no time those han
AIMED Mongol ponies broke for the
iorizon, plunging, rearing and BUCK
ng, half the riders were soon un-
1orSed, and the others had Their