The Coconino sun., 1927-11-25
(Coconino Sun of Jan. A, 1902

(Coconino Sun of Jan. A, 1902
The first automobile trip from Flag
staff to Grand Canyon was begun on
January A, 1902.
The owner was Oliver Lippincott,
Los Angeles artist On the trip with
him were Thos. NJ Chapman, of Los
Angeles, w. C. Hoganboom, Sunday
editor Los Angeles Herald, and Al
Doyle of Flagstaff, guide.
The car arrived in Flagstaff by
train the day before Here is it's de-
scription:
The much-talked-of automobile ar
rived yesterday morning and was run
over our streets. It's operation was en-
tirely satisfactory to its owner, Mr..
Lippincott, who is as proud of the
fine machine as the proverbial boy
and his red topped boots.
From bell to whistle it is a perfect
locomotive. It's engines are 10-horse-
copied after the U. S. torpedo boat
style, fitted with water coil and flash
boilers.
There is a storage capacity for thir-
ty gallons of oil and fifty-seven gal
Ions of water. The water reservoir
is filled by patent siphon operated
by the engines own steam. It's speed
test, which was made between Toledo
and Detroit, is forty-two miles an
hour under ITS pounds of steam. The
tires of the machine are four inches
in width, with solid rubber an inch
and half in thickness.
The weight of this powerful ma
chine, ready for the start, is about
1900 pounds, and mud, snow or ice
cannot seriously impede it's progress.
Back of the dashboard is the air
gauge and marine clock. On the right
driving wheel is a cyclometer, record
ing distances travelled, so arranged by
an electrical contrivance as to regis
ter each mile and the time in which it
is made. 1t registers the time of all
stops made for renewing fuel or wa
ter.
The start to the Canyon was made
today and Mr.. Lippincott expects to
reach the Grand View hotel in three
and one-half hours after leaving
Flagstaff.
But the trip wasn't made in three
and one-half hours. Here is the story,
in part, of the expedition as printed
in The Sun of February 8, 1902.
We started at 2:10 o'clock on Sat
urday afternoon, January 4. The peo-
pie of Flagstaff were out en- masse to
see us off, and it was amusing to lis
ten to the conjectures they made in
regard to our trip. They gave US any
where from six days to six years IN
which to make the journey.
The machine worked splendidly-
until we were out of sight of the as
setnbled populace. We were thank
full for that. But before we had COW
cred the first ten miles it got to act
ing up, and our whatever
the deuce that means said that the
trailer was bearing down too hard on
the s'hind" axle. So we got off, un-
loaded the outfit from the trailer and
fixed it in such a manner that 1t
couldn't bear down too hard. And
when we got through with that job
and got the baggage and ourselves on
board again darkness was nearly upon
US.
We sped on and on. Fantastic
forms of bears and tigers and ele-
plants and alligators and the prehls-
toric animals that thrive in the Smith
sonian institution and the Sunday pa
pers; terrible monsters that we feared
might bite US.
But we went so fast that they only
stared at us and disappeared, and
Chauffeur Lippincott said that If we
didn't run against any of those fallen
trees or charred stumps we would get
through all right. We hoped so, but
it was hard to believe.
1t was a cold night-cQld for US
thin-blooded Californians, at least
and we suffered some.
After about two hours of this thing
Doyle, the guide, suggested halt.
Ahead of us, he said, there was par
tieularly bad stretch of country, and
it would be better to go over 1T in
daylight. This was a disappointment
to all of us, for we had promised the
people of Flagstaff that we would
make the whole journey to the Grand
Canyon that night, and what is more
we really expected to do SO. And to
prove to them that we really expected
to, we had made no provision for a