Show P By ay IRIS The early cars that coughed and crept along our roads were not so much a means of transportation as they were an emerging way of 01 life I 1 doubt for tor Instance whether It could be said uld one owned a T. Model-T. It was more apt to be the other way around It took a lot of pioneer spirit to get gel In a T Model-T Ford with the fixed idea of getting from one given point to another Too often that was an unwarranted assumption EVEN THOUGH I was very small when our family was owned by its first T Model-T I 1 still sUU remember a good deal about it Who no matter how young could forget the adjustments adjustments adjust adjust- ments necessary to become motorized motor motor- hed I dont don't remember the cies cles of a Ts T's innards that made backing up hills easier than attacking them But I 1 do dor r recall call more than one occasion when the family climbed from the car at atthe atthe atthe the foot of 01 some steep or winding hill while father lather removed his hat scratched scratch d his head and made the remark we all expected Well I 1 Iguess Iguess guess we back backer er up this one And back er or up it we did IF WE MADE IT to the top the passengers breathed a sigh of relief because backing up beat pushing Even backing wouldn't work when we encountered one of the early natural obstacles of motor travel Only a a little rain turned the roads to solid or rather quivery mud and child chUd power employed behind the wheels was often the method used to get a aM M T Model through Children in those days if It they rode much much- were apt to develop muscles In s strange t ran g e places We weren't t undisputed owners of 01 the roads either such as they were Not only did we have to pull out to let teams go by while their drivers glowered at us but we came to a ahalt ahalt ahalt halt for lor cows sheep deer and chickens chickens chickens chick chick- ens among other things IF THE TUE ENGINE DIED while we waited for lor the livestock to amble by father would have to get out and crank again What I recall best about this operation was the oft repeated sMut shout Advance the from the cranker at whoever assisted from from the front seat I t thought it was an In in- in I guess It was And although al although al- al though I 1 had heard Interesting starles stories stories stor star ies les of arms being broken during the cranking I never saw that happen What did happen usually was the cranker lost temper Ms-temper temper after ab about ut uta a half halt hour of unrewarding labor and threw the crank off to the side of the road Again the passengers w were e put to work searching for It it M Model Ts del Ts were conditioned From all directions The riders in front were vaguely protected by bY bYa a strip of glass but the occupants of the back seat resembled happy motorcyclists motorcyclists mo mo- if It they carelessly took up smiling and ended up with bugs on their te teeth th THERE WERE NO springs in a Model T. Every bump in the road and they were a long stretch of nothing nothing nothing noth noth- ing else was felt from Irom one end to the other We children made mada a game of this guessing how high we would be jounced jounce by the bumps coming up It wasn't unheard of for one of 01 us to get Jounced right out of the car which m mother ther felt was going too far Flat tires were such a common occurrence occurrence that I remember one tenmile t ten q mile mUe jaunt when we asked mother when we could stop for lunch She said When we have the next fl flat t tire which did didn't nIt take long We set setout out ut the food while father got out the patches and fixed the tire T That hat didn't take long either Hed He'd had a alot alot alot lot of practice e. e TRAVELING IN A T Model-T Ford was hazardous exhausting and stow slow but the passengers could be sure of 01 one thing They didn't just go along long for the ride They were made to feel useful and th they y were |