The independent-reporter. [volume] (Skowhegan, Me.) 1909-1955, 1924-02-07

climbing up those stairs where l had
made my undignified entrance a lit
! tie previous, | proceeded to the near
est subway entrance and there spent
another part of my railroad ticket
Upon arriving at the terminal, was
little uncertain which trolley TO
take to set me on the Newburyport
! Turnpike. l stepped up to young
fellow who appeared to be in some
way connected with the Terminal
Company and inquired the best troll
ley to mount He informed me that
he was going out to the turnpike and
that if | would kind of hitch on to
his apron strings he would pilot
me there. We fell into conversation
and the representative of the Termin-
al Company inquired my destination.
When | told him it was Skowhegan,
he nodded and seemed perfectly fam
iliar with that name, whereupon |
asked him il he had been up in that
part of the country. He replied that
/ he didn't know much about Maine, but
/ that Skowhegan was more famous to
out of state people than any other
town or city in Maine. This must
surely be due to the fact that there
is only One Skowhegan." My mo-
torman, as he turned out to be, ush-
cred me into a car and after short
ride | descended on the famous turn
pike.
Autos seemed to be very plentiful
on this broad highway but rides
quite scarce, and it was with a sigh
of relief that l sat down beside the
/ driver of ten ton truck. travelling
to Portsmouth, n. II. Now a ten
I ton truck Is great article for freight,
/ but as pleasure vehicle | would
recommend a mule team. There was
no doubt at any time as to whether
the engine of the truck was running,
although you could never discover
whether or not you were moving by
putting out your hand and waiting for
the wind to whistle by. 1t reminded
me of these slow motion pictures we
sometimes see at the Opera House.
l was not the one to find fault how
ever, because / can fairly say that it
was much better than walking. We
reached the city of Newburyport about
| four-thirty and had bite to eat that
always helps, and then continued on.
AS darkness came on, the noise of the
engine died down somewhat and we
were able to converse until our
| throats got sore from the hollering
we had to do, The driver of our
little sport model was an ex-seryice
man and he had all kinds of exper-
| fences to relate, so | let him get a
sore throat and listened to the hor-
! rors of war, some of which made my
blood run cold even on that hot night
| in December. My friend had very
strong throat, or perhaps it was be-
cause he was more used to talking
against such competition, being a mar
ried man, and he was able to hold
forth all the way to Portsmouth. He
mentioned the fact that two other
freight trucks were going thru to
Portland and would pass through
Portsmouth about steven o'clock,
moreover he said he would see that
I got chance to go through with
them. After such comfortable
ride in the truck from Boston | jump
ed at this chance and SO it was ar
ranged. Since this night parlor car
of mine did not leave until after Il,
/ betook myself to the moving pic
lures where | had a fine two hour
and a half nap that kept me occu-
pied till nearly tenthirty.
| wandered out onto the street after
the theater and surveyed the city.
4 had always imagined that Ports
mouth was quite some little size, but
l discovered that riding thru in an
automobile one could sec the entire
place without going Off one route. AT
eleven o'clock / found myself at the
| freight sheds where the night express
was scheduled to stop, but I found
that the machines were little off
schedule. There is an all night res
taurant in Portsmouth, and | walked
into the place about midnight, for |
had heard that the drivers always
stopped there for lunch, and the out
side atmosphere was growing decid-
eddy chilly. 1t was two o'clock be-
fore the trucks came in from Boston,
after having trouble on the road, and
it was 4 a. m. when we finally got
started Sn our way, for one of the
drivers had apparently received ord
ers to take me along with him. The
night was certainly black. and as we
coasted down into the blackness it
seemed like picturesque story until
we hit some OF the-what you might
call irregular spots in the road. Those
trucks are not built for speed and
it would DO miracle if anyone could
get anyspeed out of one, but fifteen
tons of steel and boxes of freight
when coasting down an incline can
certainly develop an eormoUs force.
There was no speedometer on our
Pierce Arrow, for it was really car
of that make, but l will wager on the
fact that we attained speed of at
least 40 miles an hour on some of
the down grades between Kittery and
Biddeford. II our machine had ever
collided with another car on those
slopes, 1t would have been similar to
an irresistible force striking cream
puff. However, no such accident oc
cured and we rolled into the city of
Portland after about four hours of
travelling. The Y NJ. C. A. was my
first landing place after reaching that
port, and / simply revelled in the
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