| Show mayor elected in safety campaign campala 11 now plans to capture speed title X A 00 4 Z here you see mayor ab jenkins of salt lake city at his desk an and d below with his son marv beside the mormon ormon meteor III in which will they attempt to establish new speed record also top to the right the bonneville salt flats the salt surface is as hard as concrete and perfectly flat it is the worlds fastest speedway is the claim salt lakes chief clinef magistrate will try for world record on salt flats will also tour united states by RUFUS HARMON released by western newspaper union the unusual spectacle of a mayor of a city of driving a racing car at a speed of nearly mues miles an hour will be enjoyed by several thousand salt lake city residents this midsummer to them however it wont be an unusual event at au alii I 1 for their mayor is ab jenkins world famous speed king who holds more world records than you could shake a stick at the odd combination of mayor and speed king is just another chapter in the amazing story of mayor jenkins building contractor automobile barnstormer stockcar stock car record breaker world speed king and now mayor and police commissioner of his own salt lake city aids his livelihood breaking records is no publicity stunt for jenkins for many years its been the means of his considerable livelihood and inasmuch as the mayors job in his city pay a very large salary jenkins world record attempts this summer will be made for the express purpose of winning prize m money oney to balance the jenkins family budget it is in other words his job he broke into national prominence in the summer of 1932 when he drove 24 hours without relief to set a new worlds record for that time and distance this annoyed the american automobile association contest board considerably As a matter of fact they refused to be hieye it at all so the next summer he returned to the same speed site the now world famous bonneville salt flats in western utah and with the watchful eye of the AAA on him proceeded to do the same thing and raise his own record so far as speed is concerned this is far from a climax to his spectacular career for he intends before he hangs up his goggles to bring the worlds land speed record to america aiming at miles theres quite a story behind these flats jenkins first drove a car on them in 1926 and was so certain that here was the ideal speed course that he finally badgered an automobile company into letting him try for the worlds record which he set in 1932 then with bigger things in sight he labored unceasingly singly and at his own expense to get sir malcolm campbell to bring his bluebird 0 out u t to try and reach the then undreamed of speed of miles an hour campbell finally came in 1935 and the result is now familiar his tory ry campbell did better than miles an hour and was followed by two of his countrymen cobb and capt george eyston who between them have pushed the land speed record to its altitudinous miles per hour figure now jenkins wants that and hes aiming at mues miles an hour just to give you an idea of what jenkins has done in the way of speed he be has a list of achievements that at is almost unbelievable in his time me he has broken more than 2000 records some of them many times ti the le passing show twenty two years ago joseph J powell low ell milwaukee braved gunfire at i C chantigny cantigny Cant igny france to deliver a message to the american troops las st week he was given a medal for or it motherless and fatherless victor si encile 17 of chicago was scolded cold ed by his older brothers for pla P abing aying yang truant from school that night ent he hanged himself motor for 2800 nix this mayor has a spare no orthodox mayor is salt lake cites ab jenkins the fire department needed a new motor for one of its hook hok and ladder wagons A requisition requisite on for the motor was brought to the mayors desk nothing doing doine said he twenty eight hundred dollars is is too much ive got a motor the department can have ab take money for it either he turned the motor over to the city as a gift and was genuinely surprised the newspapers gave the story a big play he now holds world speed records he is the only american to hold any world speed records makes tours for safety most of these have been made in his revolutionary series of mormon meteor cars his present car of the series is the mormon meteor III in which he believes he can travel better than miles an hour our mechanically it embodies new ideas from tip to stern a horsepower giant that is the racing mayors brain child in every respect but this is only one angle to the amazing achievements of the salt lake city mayor for years he has toured the nation in the interests of safety he speaks with authority tho rity for he has driven nearly miles without an accident of any kind it was on a safety platform as a matter of fact that he was elected mayor that happened last november when from a popular vote of mor ethan he won his position by a margin of only 51 votes As mayor he is also commissioner of public safety and since he took office salt lake city is witnessing a thorough renovation of its police and fire departments plans good will tour not however along political lines 1 I dont know anything about politics jenkins says and I 1 dont intend to learn this is a nonpartisan city government and the only people im indebted to are those who elected rrie me entitled to the best I 1 can give them and what im going to try and give them in addition to his world record runs on the salt flats this summer the mayor also is planning a little ja jaunt across the country as a purely go goodwill 11 gesture esaure in making this wi trip he J wi will 11 start at the new york worlds fair finish at the san francisco worlds fair and between these two spots will greet mayors of cities at each stop hell invite the mayor to come to salt lake city the center of scenic america the trip will be interrupted b briefly rief at indianapolis where jenkins has been accorded the coveted honor of driving the pace car that officially fici ally starts the annual indianapolis speedways Speed ways mile memorial day classic jenkins car is built to travel in a circle for on the bonneville salt flats h he e drives continuously around a 12 mile course its body is set oil off center to assist steering this trip was inspired by an earlier adventure of mayor jenkins in 1926 he broke the cross country automobile record he piloted a car from new york to the golden gate in 86 hours 1 I ha have ve time to stop and shake hands with any mayors on that trip be said so I 1 think its only fair to go b back ack and teu tell them all hello this time |
