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Show Joys and Tribulations of a Trailer "All Aboard" T IMMEDIATELY following my interview with "grandmother," "grand-mother," who left her New England home with two grandchildren, set out in a rolling homestead, for reasons rea-sons by her set forth more or less minutely, and published in this column, I began preparations prep-arations for a trek southward. south-ward. I was anxious to know why, after half a century in one section with all the roots and attachments linked with the heart and with the memory, mem-ory, a normal human being desired an immediate and perhaps permanent perma-nent change. Perusal of all the available literature lit-erature convinced me that in order to know the ways and wherefores, I must join the procession of trailers trail-ers and get the truth first hand; in other words, live the life of an auto-Bedouin myself, for better or for worse, and record the result. And so, six days later, traveling light, and with nothing else in mind other than this safari into the balmy South, I boarded a New York train, arriving the next day at St. Louis, Mo., and stepped into a fully equipped auto-trailer, fresh from a Buffalo factory and already, I might say, house-broken by a young married mar-ried couple who quite opportunely invited me to join them on the open road. May I escort you through the property: The house complete is 19 feet long by 6 feet 8 inches wide; headroom inside 6 feet 4 inches. Two rooms, one at each end of the trailer, contain con-tain adjustable double beds, 4 by 6.6, with cushions, springs and lockers for blankets, pillows and linen. The aft apartment is convertible into a sitting room with dining table and comfortable seating space for four persons. Plenty of Cupboard Space. Cupboards for a complete assortment assort-ment of pots and pans, canned goods and cooking utensils are ingeniously arranged within reach of a spacious sink, a two-burner gasoline cook stove, and a small coal-burning stove for heating purposes. Dressers, Dress-ers, five and three-drawer types, and a full-length closet provide ample am-ple space for wearing apparel. Dome electric lights supplied with power from the motorcar and 110 volt fixtures operating off outside current that can be plugged in at service stations, produce rich illumination. illum-ination. A 24-gallon tank of fresh water supplies the household through pump action. A lavatory, equipped with septic toilet and every ev-ery modern comfort, is located amidships. The room units are divided di-vided by sliding panels. Six large windows, wire-screened, supply ventilation. ven-tilation. There is but one entrance, and exit. Everything essential to housekeeping on a small but sanitary sani-tary scale has been installed with an eye to economy of space. Davis Writes While Riding. It may interest the reader to know that this story is being written writ-ten at forty miles an hour on a portable typewriter occupying a center' table that, when the day is done and the hours for rest draw near, will be converted into the mattress floor of a double bed composed com-posed of cushions from the wall settees, snug as a bug in a rug every one of the twenty-four hours that constitute day and night. Overhead Over-head and cross-current ventilation is such that the trailer can be air-conditioned air-conditioned at any time and the odors prevalent and disagreeable in many occupied houses abolished before be-fore they take over the rolling residence. resi-dence. The better class of trailers are all steel, welded construction made up of channel and box sections for maximum strength and rigidity. Brakes and shock absorbers are part of the equipment the former co-ordinated with those of the motorcar mo-torcar and automatically operated in unison by the driver as the demands de-mands arise in transit. The feeling of security is enhanced by the fact that high speeding with an equipment equip-ment of this sort is out of the question. ques-tion. There is a certain insurance in this. No man wants to smash up his motor, his residence and perhaps some of his family to gratify a speed mania or play the role of a road hog. With a vehicle from 35 to 40 feet over all, the economic eco-nomic element is bound to exercise its influence upon the driver, thus making for safety to the nth degree. de-gree. About five hours out of St. Louis, over the almost perfect highway routed 65 through Missouri, we slowed down in the suburbs o f Rolla, picked out a level spot upon which to camp for the night and went to housekeeping in the most approved and up-to-date style. From our refrigerator, which carries forty pounds of ice and has three compartments for provender, w e selected a meal of soup, bacon and eggs, fruit and coffee and put the kitchen in shipshape before shaking down the sleeping paraphernalia for a nine o'clock "nighty-nighty." WNU Service. |