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Show I EXCITING LIFE OF THE GAY CHAFFEUR As the day has not yet passed In Salt Lake when the automobile can whiz down the street without exciting con-sidei-able attention, a few words from an expert about handling one of the self-propelled vehicles will not be out of place. Tho Impression appears to be current among the uninitiated, and they are many, that the automobile is n dangerous dan-gerous means of transportation, nn Invention In-vention of the devil and HOmethliig to he feared. They do not realize the complete com-plete mastership a good chaffeur has over his machine. B. L. (Fuller, chaffeur to Samuel New-house, New-house, Js not only the champion of Salt Lake City, but one of the best and most experienced chalTeurs in the whole country. When he Is not engaged In driving the big automobile of the wealthy mine-owner he can usually be seen about the ollice of the Utah Auto company, where ho spends a great share of his leisure time. He talks interestingly in-terestingly about his experiences nnd he has had a few since coming to Salt Lake. He refers to the cross wallts outside of the paved district as Mormon Mor-mon crossings and says he never saw anything like them In any other city. He says they are from one lo two feet higher than the street and that If not taken at an angle the bump one gets Is something awful even to remember. "By taking one of those Mormon crossings square 011," he said, "I can throw the occupants of the rear seat over on to the hood." Chaffeur Fuller also has something to say about the people here, the way they drive and walk on the streets. "They drive on all sides of the street and never look where they are going; some meander across the streets with their eyes shut and try to get under the wheels of the machine. My one delight Is to sneak down on these people and when right upon them blve the horn a toot to see them Jump. "Danger of running over them?" he partly repeated the question In surprise. "None In the world If they don't want to commit suicide. Of course, a novice might, especially In Salt'Lake, but then a man Is not a chaffeur until he has run a few people down, been arrested for fast driving and killed a dog or two, Yes, I was arrested about a month ago on Stale street for going fast, and Puller Pul-ler recited the poetry that appeared In the Dlehl's Bar column of The Tribune about his trial. "Once in a while." he went on, "a man gets in a tight place, but in all my experience I was never hung up on the road so I couldn't get in. The worst accident I hae had here was last Christmas eve, when I ran into the canal ca-nal between here and Murray. The road Is narrow and I was hitting up a pretty good clip when I saw n wagon right ahead of mo In the darkness. Thero wnH only one thing to do, and I did It. Yes, wo all got wet and had to have a. street car hitch on and pull the machine out." The nicest piece of work he ever did, Chaffeur Fuller says, was over In Colorado, Colo-rado, lie was operating a big- WInton car and had several women In his care coining Into Denver from Littleton. Rounding a turn In the road he saw a big commissary wagon coming full tilt down the pike. The mules attached to the Government wngon were running away. It was a sight to freeze the blood In the veins of a nervous woman nnd the chaffeur had to act. The team was nearly upon them and he'must act quickly. Trees lined the road on either side. Fuller saw one chance nnd took It. As the auto sped between two large trees the mule team dashed by on the road. By measurement Fuller says he steered between two trees that wcit; only two Inches farther apurt than the width of the machine and that going at a good rate of speed. There Is no denying that Chaffeur, Fuller Is an expert nt the business. Ho can drive an auto through a spnee the exact width of the machine: ho can cut a figure eight from forward or backward, in a distance twice the length of his car, and he ran stop an automobile so suddenly as to make It impossible for a person to keep his seal. One of his-tricks his-tricks with the auto Is to crack the shell of an egg without spilling tho contents. con-tents. He is willing to hot $300 that he can stop his machine going at the rate of twenty miles nn hour within fifteen feet of an egg and crack the shell with one wheel without bursting the egg. His best trick is to close a watch without breaking the crystal. A man must not only be an expert chaffeur, but he must have steady nerves to accomplish ac-complish this feat. Mr. Fuller places the watch, lid open, upon an Inclined surface; he then backs up against the watch with one rear wheel and stops the machine with such nicety as to snap the lid without In any way pressing upon the crystal. B. L. Fuller began his career as a chaffeur by washing machines In New York. To be a good chaffeur, he says, a man must start from the bottom. A chaffeur, he says, should have a similar training to that of the locomotive engineer en-gineer and when he has he commands as large a salary. Previous to coming West he was one of the best chaffeurs In the East, where he has been In many races and endurance contests. He had been In Denver but a short while and v as considered the champion there when he was engaged by Mr. Newhouse and came to this city. |
