THE SUNDAY OREOrONIAN, PORTLAND, JUNE 13, 1920
HERE IS THE OVERLAID SEDAN THAT MADE NON-STOP RUN FROM BLAINE, WASH, TO TIJUANA,
MEX AND THE MEN WHO DROVE IT FROM PORTLAND TO SISSON, CAL.
ROAD NOW OPEN TO
BLAZES LONG TRAIL
P
Enclosed Car Makes'Non-Stbp
Run, Canada to Mexico.
But Maxwell Finds Deep Snow
Beyond TTiat Point.
FIRST TOUR OF ITS KIND
GOING FOUND VERY FAIR
Here's Story of Portland-Sisson
Leg. 430 Miles, of 158 4-Mile
Border-to-Border Trip.
Dave Kllton IMlots Second Car oi
Season to the Camp, Road Gen
erally Being Excellent.
6
OVERLAND 4 SEDAN
GOVERNMENT
1
t .V. ' -ft: " tfj , fM.&O S&lL & AoC V. - J
1
A
, 4
(C"ntlnu-t1 From First Taa;c.V
Sisson. which is right under Mount
Shasta and the highest point the Pa
cific highway attains in California
after the Siskiyous.
From there on to tne Mexican bor
der it is either easy down grade for
the most part or paved highway.
The sedan reached Portland from
Elaine. Wash., at 9:48 P. M. Thursday,
12 hours 4S minutes out from Blaine,
With Clint Jones driving and E. 1
Marquart of the Seattle Times as ob
eerver, and was formally turned over
to H. H. Eling, manager of the Port
land Willys-Overland Pacific branch.
The oil was drained out and new oil
put in the crankcase with the motor
running quite a little feat in itself
and then the car was held a couple
of hours while the writer put the
Sunday automobile section of The Or
egoriian for that week to bed.
Car Had Heavy Load.
But at 12:50 we shoved off Harry
Hays, tales manager of the Willys
Overland branch, at the wheel; the
writer as observer, and Mr. Eling and
Henry Gilbert, mechanic and spare
driver, in the back seat.
A connoisseur in non-stop runs as
they are usually made would have
laughed at the idea of setting out in a
car loaded down as this car was load
ed when it left Portland, the idea in
most such runs being to strip away
all weisrht possible; for in a run of
hundreds of miles over all kinds of
roads every added pound of weight is
that much additional load on tne en
cine, just as it would be on a tired
man in a long hike.
To begin with, this car was a sedan,
and accordingly considerably heavier
than a touring car. Kach of the four
men aboard weighed not less than
ISO pounds. And each man had taken
along with him a suitcase or a satchel,
all making more weight. However,
on the rear were two spare wire
wheels with tires mounted in case of
tire trouble. Believe us. two spare
wheels are a heavy dead-weight load
on the back end of any car. Later on
the run the battery showed signs of
becoming run down because of using
too many lights in night driving two
big spotllehts and a couple of large
extra dashllghts in addition to regu
Iter lights; and at Roseburg an extra
battery was put aboard to play safe.
All told, fully S00 pounds, was the
load.
Breakfast at Roseburg;.
Ifone of the party had slept since
the night before, and ail had done
regular day's work before taking the
car. and with Sisson 430 miles away it
looked like at least 24 hours of con
tinuous driving. But that was a small
matter. With Harry Hays at the
wheel we headed out the east side
Pacific highway, and the miles began
to roll away.
Three hours of night driving passed
without Incident, except that half
way between Portland and Salem the
lights began to dim, indicating bat
tery trouble. We turned off the big
fclJotlights and continued with the
regular lights. The car had been too
heavily lighted for the battery. Pres
ently it became dawn and soon the
eun was up. At 5:30. a 20-minute stop
at Junction City, where George Wil
helm was waiting to supply gasoline
ana oil, and then on to Eugene. No
particular incident so far and the
roads all good.
tugene - would have been a good
place to stop for breakfast, but the
run had got into Harry Hays' blood
ana ne insisted on Koseburg. So with
only a brief stop we headed on. Harry
was not pressing the car for speed
Ho- maintained a 30 to 35 miles clip,
about as a tourist would travel, bu
he kept up this steady gait for mile
aner mile. AfCrr all. the wav to
make time on any trip is not by
flashes of 50-mile speed, but by hold
ing the car steadily to an easy speed
like 80 miles an hour and maintaining
that speed all the time.
Springs Smooth Out Bumps.
Beyond Cottage Grove the highway
began to roughen, but the Overland,
with its easy-riding triplex springs
didn't have to slow up. Jt was re
markable how that car took the
bumps. Ahead of you would appear
a series of ridges and ruts in the road
and you would instinctively look at
the speedometer and grab something
to hang on by. And yet nothing would
happen, absolutely nothing. With a
slightly swaying motion the little car
would take the bumps and be on its
way at from 25 to. 30 miles an hour.
Koseburg at last, at 9:45 in the
morning, not quite nine hours from
Portland. Very good time, though
nothing extraordinary. But especially
good considering how heavily the car
was loaded. Ralher late for a break
fast, to be sure. But not a man aboard
would have stirred another mile with
out breakfast, not if a dozen non-stop
runs'had depended on further fasting.
At the hotel they thought Portland
had run short of food supplies, for no
Portlanders ever there made such in
roads into the supply of ham and
eggs.
At Roseburg the battery which had
shown signs of being overloaded in
the night's driving was tested after
breakfast and proved the diagnosis.
Taose In the plrrore hit. left to rlgrht Henry Gilbert, mechanic and relief Jrlrert II. H. (Bert) EUnjr. Tlllya-
Uverland Pacific man nicer In Portland, and Harry C. Hpj, aalea mmier, who drove moat of the 430 tnllea from
Portland to SUaon, by Ions odda the hardest lefc of the non-stop Journey, ft waa not a non-stop run In the sense
that the car was not to stop, bat In that the engine nut keep running; at all times, and this It did. And while
In no aense a speed run, either, the total elapsed time from Portland to Sisson, where another crew took It,
was only hoars 17 minutes, which averages nearly SO miles per hour. And at that SVi hours of the 22 bouri 17
minutes were night driving.
It was very low and there was no
chance to recharge it. of course-. So
for precaution an additional battery,
making more deadweight, was put in
the tonneau to replace the other if
need arose. A coil of wire also was
taken along so the change could be
mado without stopping the engine.
Hard to Keep Awake
Before reaching Roseburg we had
to take the old, rough, steep road over
Rice hill. On a run over the highway
the week before to log it for the Ad
club caravan, the new pavement elim-
nating the old Rice hill grade had
been open to travel. But this day it
was closed for further paving work,
and there was nothing for it but to
take the old road. As the car rolled
into the next town, Oakland, one of
the rear tires picked up a nail or
something and we bad our first puncture.
The 128 miles between Roseburg.
which we left at 11:10. were in some
respects the hardest of the whole
run. After working all the" day and
driving all that night, there is going
to be a time in the following day
when you want to go to Bleep. More
than one run of this kind has ended
in wreck when the driver nodded
near a curve.
But Harry Hays did not nod. how
ever much he may have wanted to.
Hour after hour and hour after hour
he stuck at the wheel, keeping the lit
tle car steadily on its way. The en
gine at times seemed to hum a hyp
notic tune of sleep. Wre took to talk
ing and telling stories to keep awake.
and If momentarily someone would
nod, he would be pounced upon and
shaken and pounded into wide awake-
fulness.
Up over the steep ascent of Rob
erts mountains and down the sharp
pitch on the other side, with its Dead
Man's curve, where many a car nas
gone over the brink; through Cow
Creek canyon, a mixture now of fine
new road and old grade skirting the
deep ravine; up curving Glendale hill
and down the new grade on the south
loDe: nast Wolf creek, station and up
the new paved Wolf creek grade, and
then the heart-breaking climb oi -
ton mountain, sped the sedan.
Kngrlne Begins to M Ins.
It was about as we started the
climb of Sexton mountain, a long
grade at any time, with nlany 6harp
curves, that the engine began to give
signs of distress. It had run per
fectly up to now, but an occasional
miss seemed to be developing and on
this climb it heated and boiled fur
iously under its heavy load. At the
watering trough half way up fresh
water cooled it considerably, but as
Harry headed up the grade from
there, the miss became more pro
nounced. From intermediate he had
to go into low, and with the missing
more pronounced than ever, hobbled
over the summit.
Gilbert, the mechanic, waa listening
intently with puckered brow. What
was the trouble? It sounded like a
cracked Epark plug, but might be
something else. All hands began to
ook worried. To let the engine stop
on us was not to be thought or, dui
to determine what was wrong and
adjust it with the motor going was a
real problem. But about this time
the car got over the crest, and from
there on all was down hill and no
trouble Into Grants Pass.
There was a brief stop for oil and
gasoline, and then on again over fine
new paved highway. But here the
miss became- prominent again.
"Well." said Gilbert. "I think It's'
a spark plug. We might as well stop
right here and make the change."
Foor New Spark Plugs.
Did you ever change a spark plug
while the engine is turning oyer?
It's an interesting operation. To
make perfectly sure that he would
get the right plug. Gilbert took no
chances but changed all four of them,
one at a time, of course. He would
unscrew a plug, and then with the
compression whistling and shooting
hot gas on his fingers, would ecrew
down the new plug. He completed
the operation successfully in five
minutes, and his diagnosis proved
absolutely correct. With fodr new
spark plugs the motor turned over as
sweetly as any racing driver could
wish.
From Grants Pass Into Medford It
was easy to make good time, the road
being uniformly good and much of It
paved. At 5 P. M. the car stopped at
the Overland dealer's in Medford and
THIS IS THE CONDITION OF THE ROAD FROM GOVERNMENT
CAMP THROUGH THE MOUNTAINS TO CLEAR LAKE. -
5- V
5 J
a. v x
A -
- ' J ?L til s
all hands tumbled out for dinner. All
but Harry Hays. With Sisson still a
good hundred miles ahead, the Slski
yous yet to climb to a height of 5000
feet, and the road beyond an unknown
quantity, he was like a caged tiger
to be on his way. Not a bite would
he eat.
The time to Medford from Portland
was 15 hours and 40 minutes, includ
ing all stops, not a record, but sur
prisingly fast for an enclosed car,
loaded down as this one was. It was
5:45 when we set out from Medford
and headed for Ashland and, beyond
that town, the Siskiyous and Cali
fornia.
Long Climb Over Siskiyous.
The climb over the Siskiyous is a
long one and a hard one, with eight
miles of rough, cut-up road in the 13
miles of mountain going to the Oregon-California
line. But the sedan
plugged right along and soon this
obstacle had been put behind us. On
rushed the car over good roads in
northern California and presently was
in the winding canyon of the Kla
math river.
It was now turning dark. With
misgiving we decided to turn on the
light switch, wondering how that
weakened battery would take the
strain. Sisson was jet far ahead,
over unknown roads. We dreaded the
possibility of having to undertake the
ticklish job of changing batteries and
perhaps stalling the motor as we
did so.
Golly! We held our united breaths
as Gilbert, who had now "spelled"
Harry Hays at the wheel, turned on
the lights.' Ah! They burned!
Burned with a bright glow, throwing
a good driving light well ahead.
"Good," said Gilbert. "They'll hold
out till morning."
At Medford we had been advised to
take the canyon road to Yreka rather
than the more used highway via
Montague. It was dark as we turned
away from the Klamath river and
took the highway up the narrow, deep
canyon towards Yreka.
l"p the Canyon at Night.
What a road to drive at night!
Luckily for us. perhaps, we couldn't
see what was below us as we swung
around hairpin curves "alone the
brink. We did see this road by day
light next day when we returned to
Ashland from Sisson in another car,
and were just as well pleased that
we hadn't known its full possibilities
there in the dark. If you have ever
been ovetthe Tygh Valley grade in
north centralCregon, you can get an
idea of this one. which reminds one
much of the Tygh grade. A beauti
fully built road, at that, but whip
ping and twisting around the canyon
wall and skimming the edges of pre
cipitous drops into a rushing stream
below.
The truth is. that Gilbert, driving
over this road neltt day, could not be
persuaded to hit 'er over 20 miles an
hour. But he took It that night at
25 and 30 and Hays in the back seat.
was worrying because we were not
going faster.
From Yreka. reached at 8:50, to
Sisson. 40 miles, we felt our way and
blessed the California road signing
system. At every place where we
could possibly have gone astray was
a reassuring sign and an arrow, with
the distance to Sisson plainly stated.
The Oregon state highway, commis
sion has just officially adopted, the
California road sign system for Ore
gon, and the blessing of all motorists
should be bestowed upon the com
missioners for their action. Speed
the day when all our roads are signed
like the California highways!
They "W ere tonic, Lang Miles.
No need to detail the final two-
hour drive through the dark into
Sisson. Desire to sleep had long since
gone. But never were there longer
miles on this continent. We reached
Weed, finally, six miles from Sisson,
and then the lights of Sisson glowed
in the distance. The engine was run
ning beautifully, the lights of the car
burning without a flicker. But we
had driven far enough. Twenty-two
hours on the road is a long, long
time when you begin the 22 hours
after a day's work and without the
little matter of preliminary sleep.
At 11:00 o clock the night of Friday,
May 14. 22 hours and 18 minutes after
we had left Portland, we drew up at
the hotel in ssisson.
"Where's that other crew?" asked
Hays.
'Down at the garage. Drive down
block." someone answered. We
drove down there and into the garage.
a man stepped rorwaro.
Are you Trenery, who waa to
meet us?" inquired the observer.
"Yes."
"Then sign this, quick."
And he thrust at Trenery the offi
cial observer's book, with this to
sign: "Received Overland sedan with
engine running from H. H. Eling,
11:07 P. M., May 14, 1907."
Trenery signed.
"Brother," said Bert Eling sol
emnly, "the car is yours. The engine
is still running. Now take it and
break it if you want to. I'm going
to sleep.
From Portland to Sisson. 430 miles
by the speedometer, we had made In
27 hours 17 minutes total elapsed
time, with all stops, including several
for photographs, just under 20 miles
an hour for the entire distance. And
at that, 64 hours of the 22 were
night driving, three and a half hours
of the night driving being; over un
familiar road.
Total stops for all purposes were
4 hours and 15 minutes, making the
total driving time 18 hours 2 minutes.
Total gasoline used, 20 gallons, 'which
is 2Hi miles to the gallon. And
that not by a light touring car, but
by a sedan, under actual touring con
ditions, loaded as a tourist party
would load it. but driven harder than
any tourist would drive his car and
under conditions that made it im
possible to save gasoline.
Never at any time was the ignition
plug disconnected when going down
hill, for the rules of the run required
that the engine must run at all times
under its own power.
IS
OAKLAND SALES MAXAGER
XOff ASST. GEXEBAL HEAD.
The road to Government camp at
the base of Mounts Hood, though not
yet In good shape all the way, is now
open to travel by automobiles. There
s some snow along the road on the
final hill, though not much, and only
patches of snow remain at Govern
ment camp. From Government camp
on to Clear Lake, however, the road is
still closed by snow.
Dave Kilton. salesman for the C.
L. Boss Automobile company, drove
to Government camp a week ago in
a Maxwell car. He intended to press
on to Clear Lake, about 12 miles fur
ther, and hava some good fishing, for j
the water at this lake teems with
gamy trout. But he revised his plans
after running into mqow four and five
feet deep three miles beyond Gov
ernment camp.
Mr. Kilton s Maxwell was the sec
ond car of the season to arrive at
Government camp. The first car there
was a Ford sedan belonging to tne
Palace Garage company, which went
out for the cup offered by Mr. Pride-
more to the first car reaching the
camp each year.
New Road From Toll Gate,
To Government camp is 56 miles !
from Portland, or was by the old road
via Toll Gate. But Mr. Kilton says
motorists going there now will be
surprised to find that the old Toll
Gjjte road has been partly replaced by
tx now ana very niuun uciLcr i vau,
which is part of the grade for the
projected Mount Hood loop. This
new road is now In such good con
dition that 30 to 35 miles an hour
can be made over it for four or five
miles. Imagine trying to do that on
the twisting, tortuous old Toll Gate
road!
This new road not only Is oil a bet
ter -grade but it shortens the dis
tance quite a little to Government
camp by eliminating many of the
jogs and crooks of the old one. It
is now completed about half way
from Toll Gate o Government falls.
according to Mr. Kilton, but from the
end of it to Government camp the
old road still is the only router How
ever, a crew is now at work at Yoak
um falls, two miles below Government
camp, continuing the grade which
eventually will be built to the camp
itself.
Mr. Kilton left Portland at 5 o'clock
in the morning and reached Govern
ment camp at 9:30, which of itself
indicates that road conditions are not
bad. Four persons were in his ma
chine. Though he took chains along
he didn't have to use them between
Portland and the camp.
Drive This Sedan
For Economy
- Rich Gaaofine Mileage; Low Upkeep Cost; ,
Greater Comfort: Because of Triplex Springs
THE OVERLAND SEDAN AND COUPE have all
the convertible car's advantages but they have more
amazing economy ! In the recent 355-mile Los Angeles-
Yosemite Economy Run, an Overland Sedan took first
place in Class Two with a gasoline average of 27.6
miles per gallon! Such performance emphasizes again
Overland' s stamina and low-cost of operation. This
economical Sedan keeps you cool on sultry days, shuts out '
the rain and dust and gives you greater riding comfort,'
Touring, $985; Roadster, $985; Coupe, $1525; Sedan. $1573
Price f. a. a. Toledo, subjoct to chaace without notice
Willys -Overland Pacific Co.
Broadway at Davis St. Phone Broadway 3555
FAHM EXPERT IS HUD
B. KROH MAKES ADDRESS AT
TRUCK QUARTERS.
Motorirc-the-Farm Man Gives Ex
pert Sale Talk and Demon
strates W ith Cljdesdale.
and that at lower relative costs and
with less labor. He cited figures
showing labor costs to farmers have
increased from 19 per cent in 1913
to S9 per cent In 1519.
A large number of Goodyear em
ployes heard the lecture. In the
course of which. Mr. Kron "sold"
them the truck. During his visit In
Portland he made several other ad
dresses, including one before the,
Chamber of Commerce.
JllllllllillllIlllllllllllllllllllllllllllllIIlllllllllllllllllllllllllIlllllIlllIIIIlllllltlllllllH
Favorable Comment Made Over
Selection of Man AVho Is
Popular in Trade.
W. H. Masten, for four years gen
eral sales manager of the Oakland
Motor Car company, has been ad
vance4 to assistant general manager.
Announcement of his promotion is
made at the factory. Pontiac. Mich.,
by Fred W. "Warner,- president and
general manager.
C. J. Nephler. Masten's aid of sev
eral years, has been appointed gen
eral sales manager. Both Masten and
Nephler have assumed the duties of
their new positions.
The advancement has caused favor
able comment and feeling throughout
the Oakland organization and
branches, for they are further proof
of Warner's determination to train
men already in the organization for
the bigger positions, rather than to
import outside talent. The wisdom
of this policy is stressed at this time
because of the extensive and en
larger porduction plans of Oakland,
which call for familiarity with the
corporation in direction and execu
tion.
The change will not affect in anv
way Oakland's policy of furnishing
tne most economical means of mod
ern transportation," it is announced.
Masten was here a few months ago
looking over the Pacific Coast territory.
Tar plcrare shows a MsxTrrll car in fonr feet of snow three miles beyond
Government ramp. It was driven to Government (imp a week ago San
day by Dave Kilton, salesman for the C, L. Boas Automobile company,
betas; the second car of the season to reach there. Klltoa -thought he
would drive on to Clear lake and do some fishing, bat ke got only three
mules, and the. picture saowa wby. - .
Closing Out Sale
Trailers
2 and 4-Wheel Models
- 750 to 1500 capacity
Camping and Commercial
Trailers
Write for prices NOW
. Our stock will not
last long;
,,"
Speedometer Sense.
When the car has a transmission
driven speedometer the rear wheels
should never be spun or permitted to
slide. This habit is likely to spring
or break the speedometer shaft, some
times causing an error in odometer
reading of anywhere from 2 to 6 per
cent.
Final Hill Stl Rough.
To Rhododendron and Toll Gate he
says the road is now very fair, though
a good many of the light planks laid
last year are out. There is some mud
but very little of ft. Beyond Rho
dodendron comes the new road de
scribed. The final hill into the camp
over the old road is still very rough
going.
After reaching Government camp
Mr. Kilton shoved right on for Clear
Lake. To his surprise, he found new
road for a mile beyond Government
camp, this also being a part of the
Mount Hood loop.
From this new road the Maxwell
traversed about a mile, pretty well
clear of snow, and then hit the big
tlmbe. That was as far as the trip
went, for immediately the car ran
into snow which soon became four
and five feet deep.- Mr. Kilton put
on his chains and bucked some of it.
but desisted after a time and walked
ahead half a mile to look things over
There seemed to be no end to the
snow, which became deeper instead
of the reverse, so he postponed his
Clear Lake trip for a few more weeks.
He figures that by two weeks from
today the road should be open to
that point, and very shortly there
after to Wapinitia. .
From the snow Kilton drove back
to within a mile and a half of Gov
ernment camp, where he and his party
pitched camp and remained for the
night. The following day tbey took
a side trip to Mirror lake near Gov
ernment camp, fished a little with
some success, and then drove back to
Portland. It snowed quite heavily at
Government camp on Decoration day.
White Tires.
Almost one-half of the compound of
the many automobile tires on the
market today Is lead-free zinc oxide.
This filler- gives the tire its white
color and resiliency and increases Its
tensile strena-th and durability.
J. B. Kroh, representing the motor-
ize-the farm bureau of the Goodyear
Tire & Rubber company, while in
Portland a week ago on a tour of
the Pacific coast in th interest of
farm motorization, made an interest
ing sales talk and demonstration at
the quarters of the Butler Motor
company. Tenth and Glisan streets,
distributors for1 the Clydesdale truck.
Mr. Kroh used a Clydesdale as the
theme around which his talk was
based and illustrated many points in
it from the truck, which was pneu
matic-tire equipped. He spoke very
highly of the truck.
- Mr. Kroh cited figures relative to
the number of farmers in the coun
try with and without trucks. He
said there are only 13.TJ0.O00 farmers
in the country today who produce
food for 115.000.000 people. Of this
number, he declared, only 80.000 as
yet have motor trucks, and in Ore
gon the number of farm truck own
ers he put at only 318 out of about
5000. .
By motorizing their farms, he as
serted that the farmers can consid
erably more than double production.
DOMINANT' MOTOR TRUCKS
l1, 2y2, 316- 5 Tons
FAGEOL SEVEN-SPEED
COMPOUND TRANSMISSION
Give five forward and two reverse speeds by the use of a
variable speed countershaft with no more gears than in an
ordinary four-speed transmission, and has an OVERDRIVE
for speed and GREAT GEAR REDUCTION for power.
Without added Motor power, this gives
36 More Truck Speed and
91 More Pulling Power
TIRES
Your Own Price
All sizes, new or used. Some
guaranteed, some not.
nox.t'i Used Tires S4.00 to 8.00
New fl3.O0 to JI26.0O
Other sizes in proportion.'
Trade Your Old Tires for New
tines. We handle both old
and new.
Weaver Tire Co.,
333-333 Burnslde St., at Broadway
fllLMf
FAGEOL SALES AGENCY, Inc. j
SALES
411 DAVIS
SERVICE
riiiiiiilliiniiiilllliiiiiiiiiiiiiiliiililiiiililiiliililiiiiiiiillliiiillllllillilllllilllliiiiiiirc
Waukesha Motor
V?4?f8X. ti: IsmmamM ..J.'
tlmmsmmsmtml
' i S. 1
fcd !. . wi.s'w an, Bssmiisiii nnnj, Z -Vj3Ltg
(Pi
Timken Worm Drive
EVERY Acason built is render
ing satisfactory service. Aca
son ideas are right.
A Complete Line
Immediate Deliveries
Acason Motor Sales Co.
326 Hoyt Street. Broadway 1431
E3
f3
of your car with safety to lives and
property is not confined to the throttle
-and steering- wheel. Your brakes are
most often the final resort.
To be properly efficient, brakes must
be correctly lined. Insist that the brakes
on which you rely for safety and service
are lined with genuine
Identify it by The Silver Edge
The Raybestos Company
Bridgeport, Conn.
mm
. .