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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Seaforth News, 1958-07-24, Page 3Early Automobile Trails Recalled The public can take to the road this summer in a chrome- and- steel engineered marvel containingpower brakes, air conditioning, power steering, fog Lights, a radio, and plastic seat covers. It, may not, be paid Mr, but it's beautiful. It. is knownin our culture as the automobile. The., gleaming car 'will glide along six -lane superhighways built by electronic instruments that figure beam stresses and control the mixing of concrete. When the motorist gets stuck in a weekend traffic jam, helicop- ters may hover over the metro- politan trouble spots to get him out as quickly as possible. Good cars. Good roads. Good gasoline. We take thein all for granted today. Driving an auto is one of the commonplace ac- tivities this summertime of 1958. But turn back the calendar just 50 years. A cross-country drive then was a real adventure. Some people became world-fa- mous simply because they drove an auto far enough. The trails blazed by those gasoline buggy pioneers placed the internal combustion engine smack in the middle of the Ame- rican dream. Take that 'Thomas Flyer, for example. It won the New York - td -Paris race sponsored in 1908 by three newspapers. A Gotham newspaper reporter was one of its passengers. The idea of this adventure through the tinder - dry, western deserts and- the swirling snows of Siberia was so preposterous that most Ameri- can auto makers refused to en- ter it. But the Thomas, with its four cylinders and 60 horsepower, made it panting into Paris as the winner on July 31. It had left Times Square on Feb. 12 throbbing to the send-off shouts of 50,00 persons. En route, stal- lions had pulled the car through null, and a ship had carried it across the Pacific, depositing it it in Japan to brave the ` wild mountain ranges. Sputtering through Russia, It showed many a staring native his first, motor- car. But 1908, after all, was a year of great deeds. A British:' drill- ing party struck o11 iiI Persia just as funds were running out;' this was the first "black gold" to flow from the Middle East, now the world's richest oil re- gion. A pitcher for the Chicago White Sox, hurling under the imposing name of Big Ed Walsh, won 40 games in the 1908 sea- son, And that autumn, -Out in Dearborn, Mich.; --Henry Ford began to turn out the Model T, the car that promised to- make every man a traveler, if not a king. While the globe -girdling auto turned wilderness trails into headlines a half -century ago, there was a lot of steam, too, in the coast - to- coast ;adventure' in America. In 1908 a lumber merchant from Johnstown, Pa., Jacob M. Murdock, did what no man had done before for his family; he drove them across the country by motorcar. This trip is described in a re- cent issue'. of the American Pet- roleum Institute's "Quarterly," which sets this stage for the five pioneering Murdoeks and their mechanic:. "Automobiles then were so few that newspapers published the names of purchasers. Most makes were troublesome and all tires were frail. Gasoline was sold by hardware stores." The elder Murdock assembled 1,200 pounds of equipment for the 3,700 -mile trip, including a winch for extricating the car from holes, 400 feet of rope, a tank' of compressed air for in- flating the tires, a carbine; and two long hickory poles. The auto was a spoke -wheeled, high-fendered Packard. It chug- ged through the trip, Pasadena to Central Park, in 32 days without running at all on the seven Sundays. Spinning, across the desert, the . Murdoeksstopped to, ask directions when the road disap- peared from beneath their wheels. The instructions, pre- served as a bit of Americana, prove that road advice from a local citizen was ambiguous from the start. "You will come to Coyote Lake, a dry lake, which you must cross," the resident de- clared. "On the other side you will run into deep drift sand. Most cars go that far and turn back. I f you keep going ahead, you may get through." (The Murdocks got through, the sand, but only after wrapping the rear wheels with heavy rope.) This family trip, proved a boon to touring and "Motor" magazine soon was offering a silver medal struck by Tiffany to every amateur motorist who. crossed the continent, the API notes, writes Vartanig G. Vartan in he Christian Science Monitor. By this time a new phenome- non appeared on the road. The lady motorist. Later, the self- starter would increase women drivers by the millions. The API rundown on coast-to- coast trips offers this dazzling, bit of history on the woman be- hind the wheel: "Women soon became drivers as well as passengers on trans- continental tours. Alice IL Ram- sey, wife of John R. Ramsey of Hackensack, N.J., was the first. .Accompanied by three other Hackensack matrons, she drove a 30 -horsepower Maxwell from New York to San Fransisco in 35 days in the summer of 1909. She was then president of the Women's Motoring Club of New York. "As a motion -picture publi- city stunt, Anita 'King,' `the Paramount Girl; drove alone in doing the same distance in 49 drays in a Kisseikar' in 1915, and made appearances in 102 thea- ters en route." (The next year a law office stenographer from Sacramento, whiazing along. in an; 8 -cylinder roadster, did :the distance in 11 days.) . . •:. . The fenders and 'the -tool -box and the,gas'lamps :ara.gone: now froth the pioneering auto of 50 years ago. . But some things :never change. When the 'Ford people wanted to dramatize a secret, pre - saleroom model of their 1958."marvel, they hit upon this Idea:'"Let"s drive lt•around the world!" '5o Ford took to the global roads under wraps. The cars kicked up the high dust of Af- ghanistan, glided along the steep hills of Yugoslavia and passed the camels in Pakistan. Socony- Mobil Oil Company sent along a' man with the motoring cara- van and Ford Ifacked cameras into a station wagon to adver- tise later to potential car own- ers just how a 1958 model could perform, even on foreign soil. MERRY MENAGERIE "Yee, T did take a short cut through the orchard -how did you guess 1" 6. Hard of hear- 3d Provided CROSSWORD, iMade of 84. Monetary unite flowers_ 47. Precious PUZZLE 10. A llowstone 40. Purse 11. Affirmative, . 42. rook a seat .r•--- 16. Neon symbol 46. Baked food ACROSS DOWN 18. Steep 47. Near 1. Vigorously' 1. Of thls woman 20. Akin 46. L possible 6. Fish bird Humming- 21. Out of money 49. 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RED WARNING FLAG BLINKER LIGHTS "WALKIE TALKIE" POWER STEERING REAR-VIEW Mir ffiR eselleee FENDRS SMALL SEAT AND SAFETY BELT FOR CHILD ( FIRE EXT....._ •-::"R .+COUNTING STEPS BUMPERS ENGINEERED FOR SAFETY -Farm people lose more time from injuries than any other working group. In Ohio, accidental deaths on the farm rank third, led only by the construction and mining industries. Because accidents involving tractors stand high on the list, 1,800 women of the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation conducted a survey asking farmers' suggestions ,for additional safety features on •these machines. Some 15,000 farmers wer interviewed in 53 Ohio counties. Drawing above incorporates a few of their suggestions in a model safety -first tractor. Other ideas include an "upset warning" device, tow cables, springs and a lower top speed. -Mechanized farming a devel- opment of the present century, has revolutionized Canadian agriculture. Tractors and mount- ed implements have ended the drudgery of farm work; trucks haveexpanded farm markets; and „automobiles • have :.ended rural Isolation. In all of these de- velopmentsthe tire has played a prominent role -a role which began thousands of years ago and is today continuing in indus- trial research laboratories. 0 • • Mechanized farming may well be a development of the present century, but its first erode be- ginnings can be traced;back be- yond recorded history:' It began when man first, disc covered that circular wooden discs placed under a heavy bur- den would permit it to be' rolled rather than carried. From this humble beginning -the birth of the wheel -has grown our great transportation industry with the multitude of ,trucks, automobiles and tractors so essential to mo- dern farming. • * •. The evolution of wheeled ve- hicles was a slow process, with each age bringing new require- ments. 'Circular wooden discs were adequate for early Egyp- tian chariots, Grecian , agricul- tural carts and Roman baggage wagons, but wooden carriage wheels with iron tires were needed by the time of the post - chaise, the landeau and the brougham. They were needed, too, to roll the ungainly Cones- toga wagons across the North American prairies and to move lumbering stage -coaches along early Canadian roads. In the latter part of the 19th century, when comfort -loving travellers demanded smoother rides, carriage -makers began to cushion tires with rubber. Both solid rubber and pneumatic tires were in use before the arrival of the automobile. '• • - When early automobiles and trucks took over the evolution of the wheel, there was little im- mediate change. Wooden. carriage wheels, or wire bicycle wheels were still needed to hold the car body high off the badly rutted ground. Gradually roads ' im- proved and smaller, sturdier wheels became practical. By 1917 .steel wheels, now standard equipment, began to replace all other types. Tires, too, underwent changes. Smooth treads were replaced with angular non-skid treads. Quality and durability were greatlyimproved and safety and comfort, factors stressed. Balloon • tires appeared in 1922 and large pneumatic tires, reinforced to provide resistance to .bruising and cutting, were gradually de- signed for trucks. After initial distrust, automo- biles arid trucks were welcomed by the farm population. The automobile meant the end of rural isolation and the truck greatly expanded farm markets and rapid transportation of crops and supplies, But neither car nor truck could be 'hitched, to a plow to reduce the drudgery of farm work. This required the tractor. * * * Early tractors were clumsy affairs considered suitable only for seed -bed preparation until 1923, when the general-purpose tractor was introduced. Mounted implements which could be at- tached to this tractor were in- vented soon after. Farm mech- anization now lacked but one thing -a suitable tire. This was provided in 1932 with the per- fection of a low-pressure, pneu- matic tire which offered farmers increased economy, traction and comfort. * e * The story of the wheel is, how- ever, an unending one, with present-day, evolution continuing in the research laboratory. There old products are being improved " and new man-made materials, such as neoprene and nylon, adapted to tire making. The con- tribution of science to a 'better, stronger and safer tire is 'illus- •'trated by the improvements which have been made in tire cord fabric. A tire consists of several lay- ers of cord fabric inseparably ,bonded together: Over them the 'tread is applied. The basic fea- tures of today's tire, its strength and its ability to withstand heat generated by high speeds, are largely due to the kind and quality of this fabric. How Corny Folks Can Get; An uncompromising drive by Senator Paul H. Douglas (D) of Illinois to make the corn tas- sel the national flower of the United States reached the Senate dining room July 2. Senator Douglas promoted a corn -filled menu there, and also provided his colleagues with corn tassel boutonniers as part of his appeal for their support. He even invited Senator Ever- ett M. Dirksen (R) of Illinois, who has called the corn -tassel proposal a silly idea, to join him as a cosponsor of his bill. Senator Douglas and Repre- sentative, Walter H. Judd (R) of Minnesota introduced their corn -tassel measures last year. Despite expressions of support from the Illinois and Minnesota Legislatures, the bills have not taken root in Congress, which has never authorized any na- tional flower. The Senate dining -room menu includes corn chowder, chicken with corn fritters, corned beef hash, corn sticks, corn bread, Indian pudding (made from corn), and fresh compote with popcorn on the side. In addition,.. the menu will have one corn derivative: pork chops. Following lunch, some of the corn -filled senators will attend a reception honoring the symbol of the corn -tassel idea, Miss Margo Cairns, the 'Corn Tassel Lady" from Minneapolis, Senator Douglas prepared the Senate July 1 for tate onslaught of corn by contending that the torn tassel -not the rose as pro- posed by some members of Con- gress - is America's distinctive flower, "The rose is not really an American flower," said Senator Douglas, whose Capitol Hill of- fice door is decorated with. the picture of a corn tassel. "It is the national flower of Eng- land... "I believe in. cooperating with Great Britain, but I do not be- lieve we should slavishly adopt its symbols and emblems as our own." In contrast, he said, corn was here before Columbus. INGENUITY Little Mary had been sent to make her first pot of tea. Time passed and mother began to wonder what had happened to her. Eventually she returned. "Why were you so long, dear?" asked her anxious ,mother. "I couldn't find the tea strain- er," answered Mary. "Well, then, how did you strain it so well?" "I used the fly swatter;" came the reply. Upsidedown to Prevent Peeking MOM ©GG© PEM num MEE EMU I3 iIOM EUREE Z LND MENEM rF-it PA mu] MOM Utir 1G .!<i0UM E4Ei EU common 60 MOE WOWU UGf1Ei Jam 55E Emu numin EGO MOt7EiER ©CiI©I F BUJ© MUM ME ©oM num r nom UHDAY saw LESSON' By Rev. R. Barclay Warren B.A., MD Justice Begins at home Ephesians 5:21-31; 6:1-4; 1 Timothy 5:8. Memory Selection: Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Philippians 2:4. If the teaching of today's les- son were practised by all, what a dicerent world this would bel There would be no broken homes. The union of a man and his wife in the one -flesh relation would persist. No third party could in- tervene to disturb that sacred relation. Homes would be havens of. happiness. The wife would not try to dominate but would be subject to her husband as God first told Eve. The husband would love his wife as he loves him- self. So sacred and pure is that love that Paul compared it to the love of Christ for the Church which was His Bride. "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it" The husband would give "honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life." 1 Peter 3:7. In such a home there would be no problem children. Of course, there would be children with problems. The children would. be taught to obey their parents and in doing so would learn to honour them. Fathers would re- member not to provoke their children to wrath: but to bring them up in the nurture and ad- monition of the Lord, He would not teach one standard of con- duct to the children and prac- tise a different one himself. He wouldn't send his children to Sunday School and Church; he would take them. The father would provide for his family. To -fail to do this is to deny the faith. He might not be able to supply the latest mo- aels of all the latest gadgets but, anyway, these are not eeeehtia'i to the happiness of a home. The mother would be the keeper at home. 'Titus 2:5. The care and culture of his children would be vastly more important to her than making money to keep right up with the latest fashions. Are there any homes like the one we have pictured? Yes, there are some but not enough to safe- guard the welfare of the rising generation. It takes much of God's grace and all the good sense we can muster to build a happy home where justice pre- vails. 0 MISS 4 -H -Judy Russell, 18, of Madera, Calif„ was chosen "Miss Young America 4-1i" at the national 4-H conference. HIS HOBBY'S ALL WRITE -Raymond Palm shows off some of the 10,000 pencils he has collected over a 30 -year period. He started on day when he needed a pencil and couldn't find one. Most of his collccticn was obtained in trades with other collectors.,