Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 203, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 12 September 1917 — Have Trouble On Southern Trip. [ARTICLE]

Have Trouble On Southern Trip.

Elizabethtown. Ky., Sept. 11, 1917. Mdtoring in a strange country has its pleasures as well as drawbacks, and one contemplating a trip of this kind should make up his mind to put up with both. We left Rensselaer for Mississippi Saturday morning at 7:30, and reached Spencer, Ind., that evening, Bloomington being our destination, but getting on the wrong road we landed in Spencer, after getting stuck a mile from town on account of a defective clutch. A passing Ford pulled us up the last hill, when we were able to get into town by coasting down grade the last mile. Sunday morning we left for Bloomiqgtonandafter going 10 miles on the wrong road we back-tracked and reached Bedford about 2 in the af-_ ternoon after passing over some of the worst hills yet encountered on our journey. A bad spark plug caused us all kinds of trouble and we only got over the hills by backing down and getting new starts, some of which finally carried us over. Finally the expedient of getting up as far as possible and then putting rocks under the rear wheels to prevent the car backing down the hill was resorted to and we made better progress. We would make a new start and go about 20 feet and then use the rocks again. But at last we came to a hill that we could not get over. A farmer said he could pull us over but we would only encounter worse hills ahead, and suggested that we detour around, which we did and finally arrived at Oolitic, where we had to buy a new tire to replace a bad blow-out which happened while coasting down a steep hill and which might have resulted disastrously. After leaving Bedford, where we secured a new spark plug, we got along nicely until within a mile of Gaston, Ind., 9 miles south of New Albany, ,a town of a dozen houses, just before .dark, when the driver failed to see

;a bad piece of road and ran directly Tinto the washout at a speed of 25 miles an hour. Ike Glazebrook and the writer both gave a yell as we saw what was coming. The car stopped. Ike struck the top of the ear. Before we discovered what damage had been done we attempted to pull out of the rut, and succeeded, but the car started for the opposite side of the road toward a deep ravine and was only stopped when it ran into a fence. Other cars soon collected at the point, but when one attempted to tow us in the car again attempted to go down the ravine, when wiaffiscovered that the front axle had been bent so badly that further progress was impossible. After walking to town and telephoning to New. Albany for help, which we were unsuccessful in getting, we gathered up some of the natives to help us out, but after working an hour or two we gave up the attempt to get into town and decided to camp by the roadside, as there was no hotel or restaurant in town and no bed to be secured. Ike and Will, owing to their age, were allowed to sleep in an upright position in the car, while the writer spread out the hood cover at the side of the car. He must have dozed off to sleep once or twice in the night, only to be awakened by Will and Ike, who spent the night in telling stories. Ike is a good story teller and quite entertaining. The atmosphere was very damp and that Sunday night was one long to be remembered. Monday morning about 8 o’clock we finally found a machine to help us out. After removing the axle from the car and straighttennig it at a blacksmith shop, he was able to haul the car to town, and at 2:30 in the afternoon he had it fixed and we proceeded on our way with nothing to eat but cheese, crackers and bologna obtained at a country store. To make up some of the lost time we passed right through Louisville, where we took the Dixie Highway, and nofstopping for anything to eat we reached here at 8 last evening, where we’secured a good supper and bed and now feel fine. The weather is vry cool here today. We expect to cross Kentucky today and get into Tennessee. LESLIE CLARK.