THE OREGON STATESMAN, SALEM, OREGON
SUNDAY MORNING, NOVEMBER 22, 1923
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DRIVER OF COVERED WAGON NOW
DRIVING NEW-FANGLED GAS RIG
The drama of American trans-1
portation has been enacted within
the 90-VMr Ufa unnn -.-!..
' Joel Mulcy HobatJc, one of the
few surviving links between the
romantic day of the cohered wa
gon and the modern automobile.
i i Captain Iioback who formerly
drove a covered wagon now la an
enthusiastic motorist.
In 1845 when only 10 years old J
ne arove iour yoke of oxen as
they plodded slowly westward
with a rreaking prairie schooner
in which he and his parents mi
grated 15fl roiles.jto Winniemac,
Indiana, then a frontier town.
In crossing the Wabash river
the eight oxeft became frightened,
got beyond control of the clilld
driver andlgnged away through
nhoulder-deepj water. They near
ily upset the wagon but finally re
turned to 'the east bank of the
river at the battle ground near
I-afayette, Indiana, where Harri
son a few yeara before, had de
feated a large band of hostile In
dians. ...;'
Today, 80 years later Captain
, Hoback, erect, alert and with the
. clear eye of the frontiersman, is
I enjoying transportation of a far
different type. After hesitating
for 10 years. "to tackle the new
fangled gasoline rigs,", he has pur
chased a Chevrolet touring car.
"Goes, like a scalrt rabbit," said
- Captain Hoback. "Easy to drive
too. I thought a body had to be
v pretty good with machinery to
handle a car. Mebbe that was
true way back when I first started
to hanker after a car when I was
only 80 years old but It shorely
Isn't true now. I missed a lot of
fun by waiting so long."
Captain Hoback drives f re-
What More Could
You Ask?
Jxng Mileage and
Perfection Skid
1''
quently in tne Ticlnity of Britton,
Oklahoma, where he now resides.
He has bnilt a garage for the car.
The Captain rents .out the large
farm which he homesteaded after
joining te land rush from Okla
homa City in 1889.
"I had been prosperous and
snceessful in Indiana and later
Arkansas,", he explained. "I
owned two saw mills and a plan
ing mill, but lost them during
the Cleveland administration, l
went to Fort Smith, Arkansas.
Learning of the proclamation
opening land in Oklahoma, I walk
ed from Fort Smith to Oklahoma
City. My dogr Old Pal, went with
me. I was broke, but that didn't
matter to OH Pal. It took us
nearly 10 days. We lived off the
country. Antelope and deer were1
as thick as crows in a cornfield.
"During the excitement of the
land rush I lost my Old Pal. A
man offered me a ride in a wag
on. Old Pal was standing nearby
when tne whistle blew as a signal
that the rush was on. Guns were
fired, everybody shouted and lash
ed their horses. The long race
over the prairie was very thrill
ing. I staked one of the most
valuable farms in the state but I
lost Old Pal. .
"That was long ago and of
course he's dead now," the old
man added wistfully. " But
would give the whole farm to have
him back with me now."
After living 16 years . on the
farm, Captain Hoback moved in
1905 to Dixon, Oklahoma, where
he was postmaster, railroad agent.
marshal and mayor. He came to
Bsitton in 1909. He has been
married twice. His second wife
-died In 1923. During the Civil
War he answered Lincoln's first
call and served five years as a
Captain of Company H, 57th In
diana Volunteers. He was re
ported dead at the Battle of
Shiloh. The Captain still has
the sword which he carried
through the war.
On the occasion of his 90th
birthday recently, Captain Hoback
entertained his friend M. E- Trapp
governor of Oklahoma, and 100
other guests Including many pio
neers and members of Grants
Post No. 1, G. A. R., of which he
is the only surviving charter mem-
McCL AREN CORD
'Biir
Smith & Watkins
Snappy Service
PHONE 44
ber. In the near future Captain
Hoback will test his newly-acquired
skill as a motorist on a tour
to the home of his daughter, Mrs.
Louisa Hale, at Heber Springs,
Arkansas.
SALEM
SHOWN
S'
TO MANY TOURISTS
Visitors Always jiager to See
Surrounding Country; and
MoVo Routes Needed
AM SIX WINS IN
I
1 1
Trip From Los Angeles to Al
buquerque Trims Time
From Fastest Train
trails. ., The last 60 miles was a
sea of water and slippery adobe
mud that made going both diffi
cult and dangerous.
The run was completed without
a single motor adjustment, and
with only one minor adjustment I
to the left rear brake. And in
checking over the car In Albu
querque before the return trip,
it was necessary only to tighten
one bolt on the spare tire carrier.
The following' interesting dis
cussion of the tourist and road
problem is taken from a recent
issue of ; the Salem Chamber of
Commerce bulletin.
Hundreds of tourists who stop
at the office of the Chamber of
Commerce all ask one question:
"What is there to. see out in the
country?" Tourists, many of
whom are looking for locations,
want to make a loop drive into
the country.
For the prune country, tourists
are often routed south through
Liberty, to Rosedale, thence east
to the Pacific Highway and then
back to Salem.
For the cherry country and a
fine view of Salem, tourists are
sent across the river,, thence north
to the Oak Grove or Orchard
Heights road. Thence west swing
ing around to the Dallas paved
road.
Tourists would like to travel
out by the Cottage Farm, the
State Training School for Boys
and then back by the Institution
for the Feeble Minded. But it Is
not all paved.
If there was a loop to Silver
Creek Falls by way of Howell
Prairie, Silverton, thence to the
Bridge at Silver Creek Falls and
thence bac to Salem through the
Waldo Hills. Marion county would
have as guests for several days,
thousands of tourists.
As it now stands; according to
the five year program laid out by
the county court, there will be no
good road3 into Silver Creek Falls
unless the road district in which
the Falls are. located will vote a
millage road tax.
EIKER'S
GUARANTEED
tf j USED.
FORDS
-EBICED RIGHT
THE BLUE FRONT,
.Iferta cad Vmjj
1
Before buying any automobile in the thousand
dollar field, ask yourself these five questions
3 Is it as beautiful and comfortable as the new Oakland Six?
? Has it mechanical Four Wheel Brakes?
Does it combine such advanced features as Air Cleaner,
j Oil Filter, Full Pressure Oiling, and The Harmonic
Balancer an exclusive Oakland feature imparting
- unmatched freedom from vibration? .
Can it duplicate Oakland speed, power, acceleration,
flexibility and year-in-and-year-out dependability ?
And can it equal Oakland's amazing value at the new
prices 70 to 350 lower?
Because no car in the field can answer these questions satis
factorily becauseno caf combines these features atanywhere
near Oakland's new low prices this is the car for you.
$ 97f (CM Price $1095) s LaU Cmmp fllSf (Old Price T $1295)
Gtt 1MI (Old Price . 1095) SccUm . . (Old Price 1545)
. . (Old Price 1215) Uadaa Mm lf (Old Price 1645)
AO price fcmj -'- 'Gmcre! Mrtort Tfau Fipai Koto, tmucftn & Umum te du
mdmtrksmim mail jnhmm,Ymcnw$mHamuskM$49$tQlm9mmtima$a9mimt tmm, '
4
VICK BROTHERS
4 High Street at Trade
WINNING AND. HOLDING GOOD WILL
OAftlAND SIX
PRODUCT OF CENERAL MOTORS
From Los Anseles to Albu
querque in 26 hours and 8 min
utes! That is the record Just es
tablished by a strictly stock Ajax
touring car.
The time of the fastest train be
tween the two cities is 28 hours
and minutes. Two hours langer
than it took the Ajax, and the
distance by rail is shorter by 14
miles.
The Ajax left Los Angeles with
two members of the local Ajax
dealer organization as drivers,
and a newspaper man as observer.
The party traveled through Vic
torville, Barstow, Ludlow and
Amboy, reaching Needles, 300
miles in 7 hours and 45 minutes.
From there the car sped on
through Kingkman, Seligman,
Flagstaff, Winslow, Holbrook,
and Gallop to a point just 836
miles from Los Angeles, where
the 24 hour part of the run was
completed. Then it crossed the
Continental Divide, and ploughed
on through the mud to Albu
querque. The total distance of
906 miles vas covered in an
elapsed time of 26 hours and S
minutes. The fastest limited
train was beaten by exactly 2
hours and 1 minute. -
The car was an Ajax touring
which had done a little over 2000
miles as a demonstrator and was
absolutely stock mechanically, its
only extra equipment being a
spotlight, bumpers, motometer.
stabilators and two spare wheels
(with tires mounted) instead of
the one which is regular equip
ment. The tires were those
which were on the car when ship
ped from the factory. In adition
to the three passengers, it carried
considerable baggage in fact an
average tourist load.
The run was performed 'under
the most trying conditions. All
sorts of bad roads were encoun
tered deep heavy sand, rutty
rocky roads and steep winding
Fl
Bull PI!
T
IB UK IITI1
Expenditure of Over Half
ion Dollars Is Found
to Be Necessary
PONTIAC, Mich., Nov. 21. In
order to meet the demand for an
increasing number of bodies tor
the Oakland Motor Car Co., and
to provide adequate facilities for
producing bodies for the new six
cylinder car to be Introduced early
next year as a companion to the
Oakland Six, the Fisher Body Cor
poration Is expending approxi
mately a half million dollars in
aditional building and equipment j
at its Pontiac plant.
The present Fisher Bo'dy Cor
poration's $2,000,000 plant has
been devoted exclusively, begin
ning two months ago, to building
Oakland bodies, due to the tre
mendous demand that followed the
appearance of the new Oakland
and the monthly breaking of sales
records since that time. The build
ing additions will add 60,000
more feet of floor space.
This enlargement for body
building requirements follows
closely the appropriation of three
quarters of a million dollars for
equipment in the Oakland factor
ies to increase production on the
Oakland Six and three million dol
lars for tools and equipment to
build the new six cylinder car
which will be produced and dis
tributed by the Oakland organi
zation. All additions and equipment at
the body building plant will have
been installed before the end of
this year.
7i liiMS 1 ill "
WVJUi i w ' -s - V-s- ;v -
i Reductions rC
ii in 1 ii i
up tp
Nash has reduced the price of this Special
Six 4-Door Sedan to $1445 f. cx b. fac
tory without sacrificing one iota of
QUALITY, It's exactly the same car with
the same fine features including luxuri
ous mohair upholstery, silver-finished fit
tings, heater, Nash-design 4-vvheel brakes,
full balloon tires and 5 disc wheels.
Kirkwood Motor Co.
311 North Commercial Telephone ail
O
mmii i ii ii W im n- i i i - ' ' .
"M
Iwater1
III iiiii" II It I
VM VJ S RJ2!1 till I
1 1 SiWeStv!
66,
ill
You'll find him all about ydu, close to your home and handy
to your place of business. You can spot him by his attractive
green and white service station or garage and by the famous
green-and -white signs that announce his products, T
He's the Authorized Iridependent GENERAL Dealer and his
name is legion. Wherever you find him it will pay you to know
him because he's a fellow townsman of yours and he "aims to
please." His business is his own arid he is selling old-fashioned,
modern-process GENERAL Gasoline because he believes in it.
'He knows that it starts quick, burns clean, ; imparts full power
and gives maximum mileage. Ask him about it,
GENERAL Products Are Sold Only by ' Authorized ;
Independent Dealers at the Green - and -White Sign.
Till Up Your TaiJc and Let Your ENGINE Decide!"
T
T
D
V
W. R. SPECK, Distributor
Telephone 2102 Salem, Oregon '
S3