In the moments following the starting gun shot in Times Square, protocol still prevailed. The American Team as the host of the foreign competitors, dutifully followed the  other cars up Broadway aimed for Albany, NY to the north. Thousands cheered as we passed mile upon mile of spectators, sometimes 8-12 deep each trying to get a glimpse of this international spectacle.   It would have been hard for any of us* to guess just what lay ahead in the 169 days to follow. We may have had serious second thoughts had we known!

Antonio Scarfoglio  was aboard the Italian Zust as reporter for his father’s il Mattino, the Neapolitan daily newspaper. At 21 years-old, he was one of the youngest competitors. His father had objected to Antonio’s notion of entering such a Race when first approached with the idea. So Antonio countered with a plan to drive a motor boat across the Atlantic Ocean. The son won the debate, and was now in the Zust as Captain of the Italian Team. Scarfoglio described his fellow competitors: “! The US entry, the Thomas Flyer ! sleek and low like a dolphin! the German Protos, short and squat on its rough wheels! the three French cars: the pyramid-like De Dion-Bouton  , the small Moto Bloc and the fragile Sizaire-Naudin as if all cars the manufacturers’ have built bits and pieces of the national psyche into their cars! including our own Italian Zust  slim and nervous.”

The first day, Wednesday February 12^th Lincoln’s Birthday started clear and cold, but that was to soon change. Weather forecasting in those days was not the science of today. The Farmers Almanac, the color of caterpillars, “red at night sailor’s delight” and assorted wive’s tales were considered the most reliable means of determining what weather was to confront us. Snow began falling as we cleared New York and accumulated some 2 feet that afternoon. Coupled with the fact that there were no snow plows (or even paved roads in most areas we were to cross), it soon became apparent that just making Albany, NY would be a test. That proved especially true for the French Sizaire-Naudin. Its 15hp single cylinder was no match for the rough conditions, dropping out of the Race at Red Hook, NY and on the first day we were down from 6 to 5 competitors.

We entered Hyde Park, NY and  Roberts was familiar with this particular stretch of the road. As we passed an impressive estate on the left side of the road,  Monty yelled out above the engine noise “That’s the James Roosevelt place, where I delivered a Thomas three or four years ago. They traded us a belt driven-Benz on the deal. I stayed two weeks teaching the chauffer and also young Franklin Roosevelt, just out of Harvard, how to drive the Thomas.” Young Franklin of course later became President of the United States, re-elected four times. We reached Hudson, NY to spend the night.

We weren’t the only ones finding the going to be rough. LT. Hans von Koeppen (an aspiring German Army officer on leave from the 15^th Prussian Infantry), who led the German Protos observed later that: “The United States have a young culture. Good road building has always been arrived at by old culture, and mostly by military necessity! American commerce is carried by rail and water development instead of building good roads.”

Scarfoglio also complains Americans seem to be spending all their money on trains and nothing on roads. Antonio later writes “we follow the Thomas, Schuster the mechanic proceeds the Thomas with a long alpinestick which he plunges into the snow. When it’s too deep, he explores for a place to cross to the fields. He breaks a wire fence and we advance bumping across invisible ditches, farmers cabbages, staggering, stopping, then on again, always following the zigzag tracks of Schuster. It was thus that we traveled today for 10 hours to reach Albany, 22 miles.”

The Thomas Flyer arrived in Albany, NY at noon on February 13, with the Zust and De Dion close on our heals. After lunch, we turned from north to west taking to the Erie Barge Canal. The tow path used by the barge tow mules proved a better alternative than the “highways”. However, as snow turned to sleet the threat of sliding off the crowned path into the waters of the Canal  was too great a risk. We were forced to take to the open fields, crossing farm yards and open fields slowly making our way towards Buffalo, NY.

You have to remember that the first coast-to-coast road in the US, the Lincoln Highway, did not open until 1913.

We passed through Schenectady, NY and finally arrived at Fonda, NY at 7:44 PM the night of February 13^th after covering 90 miles for the day. The others would often be invited to banquets, and making of speeches in the evenings, while I as mechanic would have to work long into the night repairing the damages incurred during the travel that day. One of the last tasks each evening was to drain the water from the radiator. Antifreeze had not been invented yet, so the ritual of draining, then refilling each morning was a daily responsibility.

The next day, we parallel the Mohawk River, passing through Utica then on to Canasota, NY. Saturday the 15^th, we seemed to make better time through Syracuse, Auburn, then on to Seneca Falls, NY. It was there they were marking the 60^th Anniversary of Elizabeth Cady Stanton holding the first Women’s Rights Convention in 1848. We later arrived in Geneva, NY where we spent the night.

Sunday morning we were especially eager, since our home city of Buffalo, NY would be the next stop! As we passed through Batavia, NY some choir boys ran to the entrance of their church and cheered us on as we passed by. Mr. E.R. Thomas, head of our company  with a crowd of spectator cars met us on the outskirts of the city of Buffalo, and Monty put on a burst of speed for their benefit as we roared down  what is now Route 5! Unfortunately, the right front tire blew out just prior to crossing the City line delaying for a bit our triumphant entry into Buffalo . The De Dion followed some two hours later, and the two crews went on to the Iroquois Hotel for a banquet. I took the Flyer to the Niagara Street Thomas factory, then I finally got to go home to see my wife Rose and young son George Jr.

*About the author: The above is written in the first person as Jeff Mahl heard the recollections from his Great Grandfather, George N. Schuster, winner of the 1908 New York to Paris Race. Jeff is seated to the left of “Great Gramp” holding the 45 star US flag which flew from the Flyer, with his brother Matt and sister Jenny. For additional information visit: TheGreatAutoRace.com

Previous BLOG entries dating back to 13 February 2007 can be found by clicking: BLOG Archive

Copyright © 2007 Jeff Mahl - All Rights Reserved

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