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Show AD CLUB AUT01STS ; HAVE WOEFUL TOUR i Battle With Elements on Trip From San Francisco Fran-cisco to Salt Lake. VANGUARD IS HERE Reach Stopping Point One Hour Behind Schedule Arrangement. "Life in the trenches must be one srand pastime to what members of the San Francisco Ad club are experiencing in their "On to St. Louis" trip across the country with automobiles, according to the advance suard which reached Salt ake at S:4o o'clock last night. Four mud-smeared cars that probably were bright and shiny when they left San Francisco comprised the first delegation, but the khaki-clad occupants of the autos still had the sparkle of battle in their eyes. For the past four ays it has been one ' continuous fight against the odds pro- ! duced by rain, hail anl snow, according to men who are attempting to ieach St. i Louis in twelve days. Considering these elements, the advance guard is to be complimented for reaching Salt Lake only one hour behind the schedule prepared , before the start from San Francisco. To them it appears that the worst of the battle certainlv must be over, at least J. A. Houlihan, father of the idea and adjutant general of the caravan, hopes this is so. ! To furnish an idea of what the San I Francisco autoists have encountered in ' their trip across Nevada and into Utah, ' mud guards were chopped or broken from j cars when the mud was so deep that the ! guards interfered with progress. In some respects the trip has assumed the nature of a competition among rival makes of automobiles to see which will attain the record for the cross-country trip. Driv- ; ers of one make have been told not to return to San Francisco if they fail to reach St. Louis in the prescribed schedule of twelve days. Met at Tremonton. i The head of the line was met at Tre- i monton and Brig ham City by a delega- ; tion of Ogden men headed by O. J. Stil- . well, secretary of the Ogden publicity ! bureau. After the lunch at. the Weber : iub the Ad club members comprising the advance delegation left for the run j to SaJt Lake. It was reported at Ogden that some of i the other cars would reach there three hours behind schedule, while the last of the oncoming motorists would not ar- rive there until Friday afternoon. The caravan has been reduced to twelve autos, i which are reasonably sure of completing ! the trip to St. Louis, the occupants of i ; the others to make the trip by rail. J ! Throughout their travels in Utah the 1 j San Francisco men have been greeted by j ' the members of civic and commercial j ! organizations en route. The Tribune-Buick press car, with F. I A. Timmerman, Tribune automobile edi- j tor. and A. V. Olson of the Randall- Dodd Auto company was the only Salt ; Lake car to welcome the members of the caravan at the Utah state line. When the first cars of the caravan skidded Into Monte! lo, Xev., early Wednesday night in a downpour of rain they were met by this car and welcomed into Utah and assured of good roads to Sat Lake. However, How-ever, heavy rains set In following the passing of the press car which turned the smooth, hard roads of the northern part of the state into slippery, dangerous and almost impassable ditches. Blaze Trail to City. ' An hour before the caravan left Mon- tello the Tribune-Buick car started forth to blaze the trail into Salt Lake. Heavy : mud was soon encountered and it was I necessary to equip the car with chains i on all wheels in order to keep out of the deep ditches at the roadside. Markers j containing an arrow and the slogan of the j Ad caravan, "On to St. Louis. " were : posted at all road intersections, as well as j markers which told of dangerous places I along the route. After leaving Monte lo. with the ex- i peption of a stretch les than five miles j in length, the cars were in heavy and Bilppery mud at all times until Brlgham j City was "reached. There a brass band met the Ad club delegation and made tilings merry during the ten-minute slop, i From Brigham City the members of the : caravan had clear sailing over beautiful j roads into Salt Lake. Several well-known race drivers were ! at the wheels or' the cars that arrived ' last night. J Gurley was driving the j pilot car. He was accompanied bv Carl Wallon of the Hearst-Pathe picture corporation cor-poration who is acting as official photographer pho-tographer on the trip. Chester X. Weaver, president of the Studebaker corporation on the coast, was also in the pilot car. This car was decorated with a map of i California on one side and on the other ! side showed a large map of the Lnl'.ed : States, with the roads to be covered in making the trip to St. Louis drawn in relief. Trie San Francisco Call had a Pierre-Arrow Pierre-Arrow i-ar in line, made up as a prairie echooner. A Morelan two-ton tru'k, made on the coast, was in line and has been jogging along at an average speed of thirty miles an hour for the entire trfp lo Salt Lake. Thi trick wf loader with supplies and various accoutrements of the caravan. |