The L'Anse sentinel., 1921-07-15
Auto Tourist Who Has Driven
More Than $4,000 Miles Gives
Result OF Observations.
NO TWO GOOD ROADS Alike
"Don't Take Strange Road at More
Than 20 Miles an Hour" His Ad-
vice-Car Doesn't Drive Twice
Alike in Any Roadway.

Little Falls, N. Y.-Archie Baker
claims to be confirmed automobile
tourist of long and varied experience.
He says he has driven upward of 5O.-
600 miles In his 1916 seven-passenger
six; and the car looked 1t when Archie
and his family pulled out beside the
road just west of Small Gulf, between
Little Falls and Herkimer, to camp
In one of the most noted of Mohawk
valley tourist parking places.
Baker and his wife and twelve
year-old son and ten-year-old daughter
said that touring agrees with them.
They gave the impression OF having
an independent income.
MY experience is that lot OF
tourists don't know very much, and
don't stop to learn anything, either"
said Mr.. Baker. The result is, they
have lot of hard knocks. When we
were coming into New York state,
about 250 miles from here, we turned
Off down a side road to camp by Lake
Erie. There was an outfit down by.
the lake which claimed they had had
lot of hard luck. They dished
wheel; they tore up a tire; they lost
q tent off the back end of the load;
they slept cold nights, and they were
just about ready to quit. But,
shucks they won't quit. Nobody
ever does quit once the family have
gone to touring right-the way 1t
can be done. Their dished wheel in
terested me. The man claimed he
didn't drive fast, but he skidded.
caught the weight of the car on the
right rear wheel, and smashed 1t all
a-blim.
This was on strange road. out In
Indiana. he said, and it sure did look
all right. But it smashed him, and
II was pure luck that he didn't roll
over. asked him about the kind Of
road, and he couldn't tell me; said
II was pretty muddy. but had gravel
on 1t too.
"There you are! He smashed up
and was taught a lesson, and didn't
know what the lesson was. The fact
Is there are more than 200 different
kinds of good roads In the United
States. I've been on most kinds. I'll
recite a few Of them-mountain
contract roads. stone water-bound
concrete roads. oil waste roads,
gravel, sand and clay, broken down
stone roads, cut and fill crushed
stone surface, cinder, shell, bank
gravel, beach gravel. desert two
truckers. and so on,
"No Two Good Roads Alike"
mo two good roads are alike.
Good and careful driver as / am,
l darn near rolled over out west of
Salt Lake City last summer, skid
ding in the dust-dry, fluffy dust.
Why, IL I'd been driving 20 miles
instead of careful ~ miles an hour,
we'd rolled end over applicant, and
1t was n good road, II you knew how
to drive 1t. Yes. sir. There is not
road In all this United States, not
the best. widest, finest, smoothest
road. that isn't treacherous IL a mans
not used to It. / don't mean Wild
eyed hummers. but just common folks
lie me.
~ you don't believe II, you study
the road accidents you come upon as
you ride across the country. Half
the skidding Is done where the road
type changes. where a man leaves
concrete and hits oil surface or where
he leaves the waterbound stone for
hard pan.
"a car doesn't drive twice alike on
any roadway from New York to San
Francisco. ! know. because I've made
the trip. Where do tourists coming
east bang up with troublef It's when
they come OF bad roads into good
roads. You take the western part Of
New York state. and people leaving
the good roads of Ohio after crossing