Show salt alt lake cites city s mayos mayor elected im in 0 safe safety ty campaign now IN ow plans to capture speed title ab jenkins to try dy f for or world record on salt F lats flats by RUFUS ne released leased by western newspaper union the unusual spectacle of a mayor of a city of driving a racing car at a speed of nearly 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 all for their mayor is ab jenkins world famous speed king who holds more world records than you could hake a stick at z S A the odd dd 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 breakie 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 kins world record attempts this summer will be made for the express purpose of winning prize money 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 ind and distance this annoyed the american automobile association contest board considerably As a matter of fact they refused to believe 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 a and nd raise his own record so far as speed is concerned this is far from a climax to his spectacular career 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 at Z i J I 1 1 WOE 1 1 iral g av 0 5 k cwg 10 val P wo adl WE maj I 1 I 1 all lu here you see alador alayor ab jenkins of salt lake city at his desk and below with his son beside the mormon III in which they will 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 that hat 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 and at bis own expense to get sir malcolm campbell to bring his bluebird out to try and reach the then undreamed ot of speed of miles an hour campbell finally came in 1935 and the result is now familiar history 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 miles an hour just to give you an idea of what jenkins has done in the way of speed he has a list of achievements that is almost unbelievable in his time he has broken more than 2000 records some of them many times 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 mechanically it embodies new ideas from tip to stern a hi horsepower orse power 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 abc 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 more than he won his position by a mar margin in of only 51 votes As mayor he is also commissioner of pu public ic safety and since he took office salt lake city is witnessing a tho thorough renovation of its police and fire departments not however along political lines 1 I dont know anything about politics jenkins says and I 1 don t intend to learn this is a nonpartisan city government and the only people im indebted to are those who elected 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 jaunt across the country as a purely good goodwill wili gesture in making this trip he will start at the new york worlds fair finish at the san francisco worlds fai 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 briefly 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 he drives continuously around a avi mile course its body is set 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 in 86 hours 1 I have time to stop and shake hands with any mayors on that trip he said so I 1 think its only fair to go back and tell then all hello this time in a city which has a large traffic fatality record hes undertaking the very tough job of solving salvini a problem for which no one has found a remedy and although it may take him a year or two to find the answer the people of his town confidently expect him to do it |