INITIAL 'JOY' RIDE TO NEW SPEEDWAY

Party of Dignitaries Arrive at Site in Series of Debates With Balky Auto.

OFFICIALS DRIVE STAKES

Work of Building Track for Racers to Proceed With a Rush.

Various dignitaries, some newspaper men, and a few photographers piled into two seven passenger taxi-cabs in front of the Shops building early yesterday afternoon to out to drive the first stake for the Des Moines Speedway. Geis Botsford, master of ceremonies, was taxed to keep his company of dedicators together long enough to get them safely in the machines, because Mayor Hanna had to go to the bank, and other folks had various other things to which to attend. But the task finally was accomplished, the dignitaries were sandwiched in between cameras, photographers and each other, and the procession of two automobiles blithely headed west on Grand avenue.

Logan Represents State.

Adj. Gen. Guy E. Logan was there, representing officials of Iowa: the mayor went along to represent Des Moines, and Councilmen German and Myerly were in the party largely because they had come to the chamber to attend a franchise conference about that time and found that the conference had been postponed.

Then there were B.F. Williams, who represented the Chamber of Commerce, the master of ceremonies, Henry Gering and Samuel Orluff of the Prince Speedway company, and Harry Burton in the party. Both machines were well filled.

Everything went happily until the taxicabs were forced to leave the pavement on the way to Valley Junction. Then the clutch on one of the machines began to get unclutched regularly. A block away from the paving a rear wheel sank heavily into a rut. The cab was carefully unpacked, and everybody pushed the machine out of the rut. The other machine went past, and everyone in it laughed.

Another Pushing Bee.

Out of the rut, the taxi was repacked, and it strove bravely against the double odds of rutty roads and a refactory clutch, for about a mile. Then somebody in a machine going the other way yelled to take the "hillside road." The taxi made a noble effort to take the hillside road, when it got to that highway, got about five feet up the incline, and started to back up very deliberately. Everybody got out again and pushed. Then everybody got back into the taxi. It coasted down the other side of the hill, ran about 100 feet out onto the muddy level, and stopped again.

Everybody decided then that they would rather walk anyway, and Mr. Botsford explained as he was climbing out of the cab that this was the road the Valley Junction people were going to surface with gravel before the speedway races came.

Walking Was Good.

Relieved of this burden of dignitaries, the taxicab sprang forward light heartedly. Those who had been riding in it sauntered on toward Valley Junction's main street. The people in the other taxicab looked back and laughed again.

The taxicab was discovered marooned in front of a drugstore, when downtown Valley Junction was reached, and the driver was buying some fuller's earth, which is regarded as good stuff to feed stubborn clutches. He reloaded the machine and started for the speedway, which is at the other side of Valley Junction.

But there was another mudhole, and the taxi by this time was panting and exhausted. Somebody in a Ford came up behind, and half the taxi's load got into the Ford. Lightened, the taxi managed to steam out of the mudhole. Far ahead, it could be seen that the other machine had stopped to allow Fred German to get his hat, which had blown off.

On Site of Speedway.

But everybody finally arrived at the site of the speedway - a ninety-six acre field, level as a floor, bounded on one side by beautiful woods, on one side by the roadway, and on a third by the Rock Island right of way. John Prince, speedway builder, already was there, with a big cedar stake, a few surveyors, and a collection of workmen. Mayor Burt of Valley Junction and J.W. Mullane, Valley Junction banker, who owns the land, already were there, and a number of other Valley Junction people.

The photographers unlimbered their tripods, and set up their picture machines. Everybody gathered in a half circle, facing the cameras, and Mr. Botsford made a speech. Then Mr. Prince, standing up like an orator behind the big cedar stake that later was to be driven by the dignitaries, explained where the speedway was to run.

Describes Landscape.

"You see way across there those two dead trees?" he questioned his auditors. "Well, this stake here is going to be the middle of one end of the speedway, and the other end is going to be right near that biggest dead tree, the one that you can't see very well, but it's there just the same even if you can't see it."

"The speedway will curve gracefully from this point to within about 150 feet of that bush," a sweep of the arm to the left - "on the other side it will run close to that fence." Mr. Prince concluded his explanation by swinging the other arm in a half circle.

Then the driving of the stake was in order. Nearly everybody but the newspaper men and the photographers took a hand in it, but the photographers were so busy catching the dignitaries posed behind the sledge hammer that they didn't have time to ask to help drive the stake.

Logan Starts Things.

Adjutant General Logan started the stake driving, then Mayor Hanna rapped it. In rapid succession, Mayor Burt, Councilman German, Councilman Myerly, B.F. Williams and Henry Gering took their turns with the sledge. A photographer made Mr. Williams hold the sledge at an angle of 45 degrees back of his head while he got a picture.

When Mr. Gering got through mauling the cedar stake the photographers all had run out of plates, so everybody got into the taxicabs and came home. While the dedicatory ceremonies were in progress the taxi driver had fed his clutch whatever it was the druggist had prescribed, and the homeward bound party had to get out and push only once.

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