The Wolf Point herald. (Wolf Point, Mont.) 1913-1940, 1921-02-17
WHEN FIRST U
DRIVEN in BUTTE
AL FRANK, MINING ENGINEER.
TELLS OF HORSELESS CAR
RAGE OF 20 YEARS AGO.
was a Single Cylinder Machine, and
han Better Backward Than For
ward; Owner Developed Large Ac-
quaintance With Farmers in Tow
ing Machine Back to Butte.

Nh"Sihuc bdCk 10 butte.
one of the first ~"horseless car
rlages" brought to Butte became tb,
property of Al Frank, mining engi
neer and operator. 1t was a ont
cylinder affair and George Robinson
general manager of the Montana Ore
purchasing company, purchased it il
the east, and after vainly trying t.
coax 1t to run, sold it to his asso.
clate Al Frank, for $3.50.
1T had two seats for regular ser.
vice." said Mr.. Frank when In a
reminiscent mood the other day, "and
two more seats could be arranged by
turning down a ~contraption in the
back. Occasionally it refused to run
II either of the extra seats we're oc-
cupied.
1t could not be said 1t u better
ter backward than forward, but it
certainly developed more power in
the reverse. Whenever we attempt
ed a hill and stalled shopelessly on
the forward movement, we could al
ways master the difficulty by turning
the car about and backing up the
hill.
The 16-mile hill was one of the
insurInountable decliyities. The car
became $. accustomed to that grade
that Wht never we reached the point
where The engine was about to stall
the ca would give Il couple of deep
muffled coughs aud whirl itself
around and start to back up hill.
Called it "Annctte.'
l don't remember what was the
polite name l gave her, though l can
readily remember any number of
m that 1 applied to her at times,
but these latter appellations are bar
red from a family newspaper. 1
think her company name was Annette
or something peaceful like that.
Some of the old-time drivers were
far-sighted enough to have a repair
man with his kit follow them on a
bicycle when they went out to en-
JOY an auto ride. l carried instead
a stout manila rope. 1 think 1 wore
out two of these in a year through
uoihS thOn do LOW llu0S.
Every farmer within a radius of
so miles knew Annette. Even his
horses knew her. When the farmers
drove along the road and met An
nette silent and mediating in the CEN
ter OF the highway they usually call
out, Got your tow rope hitched?"
The horses used to give a smoker of
recognition and Annette would rau-
,ously cough back.
You remember the make of the
Ear known as the E. M. F., which the
Wild owners construed to stand for
every morning fix it,? Well E.
VI. F. were Annettes middle initials,
90, and she lived up to them.
A Blue Atmosphere.
l attribute my wide and intimate
lcquaintanceship with sacred writ
ngs entirely to her. I browsed con-
family through the pages of the holy
writ to find appropriate expressions
+ denunciation of sinful behavior in
hope that if / could find some
7here find a passage that would do
ustice to her studendous acts of me-
han1cal %depravity / might some time
ct her to change her ways.
l v succeeded. In spite of de-
unciatiOn, villification, v~ituperation
nd education, Annette pursued her
ectic and erratic way calmly and in {
differently. I
She had one good point, and that t
'asnt much-she was light on gas-I
ut gas In those days was cheap and t
ne cylinder couldn't burn a lot. She +
get more h~eartbreaks out of a S
Int of gasoline than a modern car s
)uld get out of the Standard Oil
)mpany. '
What became of her? Please v
revive sad memories. She has b
one long since to that bourne from 4
hich no automobile ever returns"
Its Makeup. f
In it's day the automobile which
r. Frank owned was some horse
IS carriage" The body resembled q
light buggy. 1t had a low curved /,
lsh and whenever the driver applied +,
e brakes the passenger who accom- n
MED him had to hang onto the back +,
the seat to prevent pitching head q
ng owe the dash. This pioneer a.
ug wagon was strictly up to date n
to wheels, for it was mounted ON 2,
ur wire wheels with small pneu-
attic tires. Today such wheels a
ould be called bicycle wheels. The p
eering apparatus was primitive. a
lie machine steered with a rod like "
Q rudder of a boat, only this rud-
r went out forward instead of be-
nd. The spring outfit, so import
t in automobiles of today, was also
Mechanics and design
were taken up with the task of Ell
owing a gas engine and applying d
wer from engine to wheels. They lie
It the matter of springs and JUS n
to another generation of tai II
t. The machine was suspended on h
ggy springs. The engine was neat
tucked away under the seat and a
back part of the ~"tonneau,"
neither driver nor repair man
uld get at 1t. The single cylinder
Grated a flywheel, which was
lighted on one side SO as to COM
lfn tho -0ry~1- %4l L., IT,