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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (April 9, 1916)
10 G AO ILLAG BREAKS WAY THROUGH ID Car Charges Waves Like Big Liner in Heavy Sea and Sticks Only Twice. BOULDERS OFTEN MENACE Tiun from Tillamook Home Is One of Continual Adventure, Ruts Being Several Teet Deep and Rocks Being Encountered. BY CHESTER A. MOORES. By coaxing- a 1912 Cadillac over the 122 miles of road that stretch through the Tillamook country and over the mountains to McMinnville and Portlana, Walter T. Ridebalgh a week ago In the center of the road, and on the bank at the side. "Some of these hills were plastered with mudhole too thick to count. Usu ally I bent a man ahead to wade through and sound them out. If they were exceedingly deep I took a sood start and shot at them under full sail. "Just the other eide of the Grand Ronde Indian agency we found another big mudhole and through the reserva tion there were many treacherous, bot tomless holes that had recently been sugar-coated with dry dirt. There was also a bad mudhole near Butler, a small town between Grand Ronde and Willa. mina. Party Lone Road. "This side of Willamina via Sheri dan. McMinnville, Dayton, . Dundee, Newberg and Tigard we had no diffi culty at all except that we got lost near McMinnville and wasted an hour anid a half. The quartet of road heroes left Bay Ciby Saturday, April 1, at 5 o'clock in the morning, had lunch at Dolph short ly after 10 o'clock the same day and reached Portland a few minutes before 5 o'clock last Sunday morning. Last year on a Hudson-Oregonian pathfind ing tour W. J. Byrne completed the Portland-Tillamook run in four hours and 49 minutes running time. Road conditions must have been somewhat different then. "Before I left Bay City I would have sold my old Cadillac fr $800; after she had hauled me through those Impos sible places to Dolph I commenced to waver a bit on the bargain; and just now I wouldn't sell my car for any amount of money," said Mr. Ridebalgh last week. "Besides burning out my clutch I broke every leaf in the left CHALMERS GOES 27 MILES ON 1 GALLON Jake Hirsch Pilots Machine Through Down-Town Traf fic on Part of Route. "COASTING" AIDS TESTS The Oregon ian Reporter Accom panies Party on Trii to Test Just How Far Fuel Can Be Made to Last by Economy. How many miles can your car make on a gallon of gasoline? When gasoline prices are on the up ward trend, what question is asked more often than the above? To answer this question for the GERLINGER TRACTOR ATTACHMENT WILL APP LY TO ANY AUTO. i" XEW DEVICE WORKI.Nti O.V EAST SIDE LOT, WITH FRED EAVIti AT WHEEL, After several months of experimental work, E. E. Gerlinger last week announced that he was ready to market a tractor attachment that will fit any automobile. With this invention, which. he has had pat ented, he expects to help solve the second-hand car problem to a considerable degree. He says that it is obvious that such an attachment which can be installed for a comparatively insignificant sum, will find ready favor among farmers. A feature of the attachment is that it can be put on and taken off easily, so it does not tie up a ma chine indefinitely. It has a gear ratio of 40 to 1 and will haul three 14-inch gang plows with ease. Mr. Gerlinger announces that the Gerlinger tractor attachment will be manufactured, along with the Ger six truck in his Tacoma factory. treated the automobile folk of the Til lamook region to just about the most startling April fool's trick that ever came their way. The trip involved rather too many terrors to make it a prank, but it hap pened on the first day of April and it completely fooled all those who have for years been coached in the belief that the Tlllamook-Portland run is not possible until about June. The roads in Tillamook County on the other side of Hebo are usually in pretty fair condition early in the sea son, and the same applies to the splen did road that leads from McMinnville to Portland. Bail Oap ConNumea Time. It is the gap between Hebo and Wil lamina, 31.6 miles, that locks the door on automobile travel during a major portion of the year and it was this chapter of the trip that consumed an "overwhelming majority" of the 24 hours, less 10 minutes, required for Mr. Rtdebalgh and his three trip compan ions from Bay City, Charles Stone, A. 1 Dansan and Rupert Anderson, to jump from Bay City to Portland. Mr. Ridebalgh is a Portlander who claims the Oregon Agricultural College as his alma mater. Without any serious intention at all, Mr. Ridebalgh jokingly remarked one day that he thought he would drive his Cadillac over the mountains to Port land. His friends, particularly those who 3rive Fords and think that vari ety of car the only pebble in the puddle, scoffed at the idea, saying quite posi tively that no automobile could hope to make the trip until long after the yords had dented the path. Scoffing; InHpfreg Effort. This attitude, more than anything else, compelled Mr. Ridebalgh to at tempt the trip, and when, many hours later on the mountain top near Dolph, when it looked like the jig was sky liigh, the stinging prediction made by the Ford disciples that the Cadillac crew would soon be back supplied the mud battlers with worlds of spunk and a determination to defeat the moun tainous road if it took a month. "From Bay City to Tillamook the roads are now in fine condition, except for a few minor washouts and along those 22 miles from Tillamook to Hebo the way was so inviting that I'm ashamed to report how fast we actually traveled," related Mr. Ridebalgh soon after his arrival in Portland. Sharp Boulder Encountered. "The road just this side of Hebo is Ibadly cut up into ruts and no work has yet been done in removing rocks and other results of washouts. In places it was necessary to dive into holes three or four feet deep and then climb un the other side of the depression. There were boulders there sharp enough to tear any tire to shreds. About half way between Hebo and Dolph towns, 11 miles apart, we met our first bad mud obstacle in the form of a quarter-mile stretch with "gum strewn alons to a thickness of three feet. "Here four heavy, well-trained draft horses were hitched on, but they couldn't budge the car from its posi tion in the deep groove. Tire chains were useless. In their place we em ployed stout rope and got busy with shovels, crosscut saws and lines. After digging out what seemed to be several acres of mountain road real estate the anxious little engine and the four horses turned the trick. Horaca Again Employed. "For three-quarters of a mile this elde of the big mud we had to pull- up a 5 per cent grade that was rough but hard-crusted, and it seemed almost as food as smooth cement after what we had Just tackled. Later we met lots of mud a foot and a half deep that re quired low gear orders and plentv of backing up and charging for a mile. We dug out of one bad hole without horses. "On the steep climb about 100 yards the other side of the Dolph postoffice at Toll Gate we had to call again for horses to pull us through the slush. "On one of the many hills lust this Bide of Dolph I burned out my clutch in fighting heavy odds with three sep arate charges. It took us an hour and a. half to cover one 50-yard dash and then we had to throw In a lot of dry dirt to correct certain impossible places. Deep Rnta Straddled. "In watching the car from behind the boys told me it took the 'waves much like an ocean liner, with its tail high In the air part of the time. The rut were so deep in places that I had to ttraddle them by placing the wheels front spring and had more-than half a running board ripped off sharply by a rock that was mashed down in the mud at some place or other. , But I feit lucky to have 49-50th of the rig left and mightly certain that there is noth ing like it for toughtfets. Scrapers Might Save Day. "If the road workers get busy with scrapers right away, which I am hardly optimistic enough to predict, the road to Tillamook ought to be ready for travel after 10 days or two weeks of consecutive good weather. It wouldn't take long to fill up those big chuck holes once the scrapers were placed in use. The roads from Tillamook to Ne- FAMOUS 925,000 O O I, D K N CI1ASSIS TO BE IX PORT LAND APRIL 20-22. W. C. Garbe, manager of the Oregon Motor Car Company, Studebaker retail dealers, an nounced last week that the gold en - stripped Studebaker chassis, which created such a sensation at the Eastern automobile shows, would arrive in' Portland April 20 and remain on display in the company salesrooms, Davis and Park streets, for three days. The chassis is said to have cost $25. 000, containing 350 ounces of pure gold, and is guarded jeal ously by detectives on its trip over the country. halem and Neah-Kah-Nie are now in good condition and permit an average speed of 20 or 25 miles an hour." In case weather conditions are fa vorable Mr. Ridebalgh may return in his car in the near future to Bay City on a business errand for his father, W. W. Ridebalgh, of the Oregon Fisheries Company. How would you like to go along? Xearly 100 of Towa's 0O0 dangerous rail road grade crossings will be made safer for travel this year. benefit of all those who might ask about the appetite of the new Chal mers slx-30 car, Jake 'Hirsch, Pacific Coast manager of the Chalmers Com pany, guided one of the newest rigs out of the Keats store a week ago, or dered it loaded with precisely one measured gallon of gasoline and then sent it skipping out the Sandy road with the automobile reporter of The Oregonian as official observer for the test trip. The carburetor connection was chopped off squarely at the intake, leaving no possible source of supply ex cept the gallon can of gasoline placed under the hood. Start Made Dnrlna; Rain. The start was made at Burnside street and Broadway in a driving rain that made the pavements slippery and both ered Mr. Hirsch not a little as he tried to pilot the car as economically as pos sible across the Burnslde-street bridge, out Burnside street to and through Laurelhurst to the Sandy boulevard. The rain handicap was particularly noticeable on the hills because the car was equipped with Goodyear Cord tires without the supplement of anti-skid features. Taking advantage of every "coast" he could, Mr. Hirsch kept the Chalmers rolling over the Sandy road at a speed averaging about 20 miles an hour and didn't turn around until he reached Fairview, where the Stewart speedom eter registered exactly 13.3 miles from the starting point. Route Is Retraced. Then the 13.3-mile route was re traced all the way to the Keats garage when it was found the car still had "juice" to spare. Accordingly it was turned loose on the park blocks and played back and forth between the Custom-house and the Home Telephone building. When it finally went abso lutely dry the register showed that it had traveled a total distance of 27.2 miles on the single gallon of fuel. True, the ordinary driver will not get 27.2 miles of travel out of a Chalmers or any other car, but Mr. Hirsch's ex periment undoubtedly demonstrates the remarkable fuel economy possible with the new Chalmers car. Mr. Hirsch did CHALMERS "6-30" RUNS 27.2 MILES ON GALLON OF GASOLINE. I y . hhc t ft hp t'MaeS 4 1 ' s-' 1' X x-jfi-. rt'',,',k. s ... "I :AiSa h ' A 1? r y j II. 1- KEATS (STAMIISG), COXURATILATI.VC JAKE HIRSCH OJT RESULTS OK RECKM ECOXOMY RO TO VAIRVIEW AiD BACK. Whe you y you $25 to $4 lay a St SAVE f 00 isde- STUDEBAKER Datrolt. Mich. Sauth Banii, Ind. WalkarviUa. Ont rOUR-CYLINDCR MODELS Tearias Car, 7-paaaansar 79 Raarfstar. 3-patnfr - SSO Lanaau-Raadstar. 3-paaa. 11BO Saaaa ..... 2S2S SIX-CYLINDER MODELS Taurine Car, 7-paaaansar StOSS Raadstar, S-paaaansar . 1060 LandaH-Raadstar. 3-pasa. 13SO CuM.4.patn(r - - 1600 Saaaa ..... 17S Umausin, 7-pasaancar . 2500 r. O. B. Datra4t This $250 to $400 represents the difference! between the price of a Studebaker and the price of any other car "that equals it in value. The reasons for this difference are immaterial to you as a buyer. What you WANT is the car that gives the most for its price. And when you find, as you will, that cars with the same power, size and quality that the SERIES 17 Stude bakers offer, cost hundreds of dollars more, make the salesman tell you WHY. If a car gives no more, there's no reason at all for paying a higher price, is there ? Just see these SERIES 17 Studebakers. Make your own com parisons with other cars then ask the other salesmen why THEY want from $250 to $400 more than the Studebaker prices? Thirty minutes spent in making such comparisons will save you several hundreds of dollars. Oregon Motor Car Co. New Location Local Distributors Park and Davis Sts. Phone Bdwy. 616 not coast down bills as much as has been the custom on previous gasoline economy tests in Portland. Whenever he reached the top of a sharp, long hill he turned the engine off and let the car sro hunsrry as loner as it would at a respectable speed before he gave it nourishment again. Mile Traversed Without Fuel. Between the city limits and Park- rose he covered more than a mile with out paying a drop of gasoline, but there were not many other coasts on the entire trip, and when he did coast he did not wait for the car to come to a complete stop. At no time did he drive faster than 35 miles an hour. even when coasting down steep hills because the pavement was slick and It didn't take much to put the car on skidding- lurches that were dangerous. The complete fairness of the test is shown by the fact that Mr. Hirsch chose to go through congested traffic near the heart of Portland, where starts and stops were absolutely necessary. and by th fact that ne returned over the same course that he went out on, thus climbing all the hills which he coasted down on his way out. As a matter of fact, the average own er of a Chalmers sisc-30 could get the same results Mr. Hirsch achieved the other day if he would economize when ever he could on the hills and would maintain a "light" adjustment on his carburetor. The entire 27.2 round trip to Pair view consumed an hour and 40 min utes' time, proving that Mr. Hirsch did not poke along to get the full advan tage of every down-hill grade. Firm Makes 175 Miles or Batteries. The following shows clearly to what extent storage batteries have become a factor in the building of modern mo tor cars. Some figures furnished by the Willard Storage Battery Company, of Cleveland, show that there are over 800.000 Willard starting and lighting batteries in use at the present time. Allowing an average length of 16 inches, these batteries, if put end to end. would make a line 175 miles long. Good Roads Linked With Autos. If automobiles had never been built, there would be comparatively few good roads. And the good roads laid be cause of the automobile have created a demand for more automobiles. Good roads have put new life into trade by annihilating time and distance. They have brought great dividends in. pleas ure. They are an economic success. BOTH DAY AND NIGHT We Are Running Our Machine Shop Doing Cylinder Grinding and Machine Work Beginning Monday, April 10, we will put on a night crew in our ma chine shop, so that we can give our patrons more prompt service. Work called for and delivered in daytime. Phone East 4814, C 1148. COOK & GILL COMPANY, INC. 120-122 Union Avenue North, Portland, Oregon. i I 1 Kissel Kar 32-Four The biggest motor car success of 1916 .... Convenient, roomy four door body .... Divided front seats . Luxuriously comfortable Marvelous power. Flexible Kis sel Motor. . . . Westinghouse Ignition I., Stewart Vacuum Feed System 115-inch Wheelbase .... Com pletely built under one roof. . , .The car with an insistent appeal. The 5-Passenger $1050 32 High Efficiency Four 5-passenger Touring car at $1050 Other Kis- selKars, $1250 for the 36-Four Tour ing to $2100 for the 42-Six 7-pas-senger "All-Year" Sedan. All prices f. o. b. Factory. - The Pacific Kissel Kar Branch raeUte Const Distributors BROADWAY AT DAVIS STREET, PORTLAND, -Temporary Addrraa, 58-60 Twenty-third St. Telephone Slain 6214. San FranrlMO. Oakland. Los Anireles. Fasadrna. San Diego. aTj " V;' ' - . i - ' r. r i ' , i !