LITMIR.BIZ

      Published by Good Press, 2019

       [email protected]

      EAN 4057664576491

Table of Contents

       PREFACE

       PROLOGUE

       CHAPTER I TRAFFIC IN NEW YORK

       CHAPTER II NEW YORK TO PHILADELPHIA

       CHAPTER III PHILADELPHIA TO WASHINGTON

       CHAPTER IV EXCEEDING THE SPEED LIMIT

       CHAPTER V ACROSS THE ALLEGHANIES

       CHAPTER VI THE DIXIE HIGHWAY

       CHAPTER VII CINCINNATI AND ONWARDS

       CHAPTER VIII INDIANA AND ILLINOIS

       CHAPTER IX STORMY WEATHER IN MISSOURI

       CHAPTER X RESULTS OF A BREAKDOWN

       CHAPTER XI THE SANTA FÉ TRAIL

       CHAPTER XII THE ROYAL GORGE OF ARKANSAS

       CHAPTER XIII IN SOUTHERN COLORADO

       CHAPTER XIV NEW MEXICO

       CHAPTER XV SANTA FÉ

       CHAPTER XVI THE RIO GRANDE VALLEY

       CHAPTER XVII THE PETRIFIED FOREST OF ARIZONA

       CHAPTER XVIII THE GRAND CANYON

       CHAPTER XIX THE MOHAVE DESERT

       CHAPTER XX I REACH THE PACIFIC COAST

       CHAPTER XXI LOS ANGELES TO SAN FRANCISCO

       EPILOGUE

       SCENE I

       SCENE II

       SCENE III

       SCENE IV

       SCENE V

       SCENE VI

       SCENE VII

       SCENE VIII

PREFACE

       Table of Contents

      A few months after the Armistice of 1918 was signed, when the talk of everyone concerned was either when they would be demobilized or what they would do when they were demobilized, two young men were exchanging views on this same subject in the heavy atmosphere of a very ordinary hotel somewhere in London.

      One was wondering how near, or how far, were the days when he would see the old home-folks once again "way back in Dixieland."

      The other was wondering what form of dissipation would be best suited to remove that haunting feeling of unrest, which as a result of three or four years of active service was so common amongst the youth of England at that time.

      "How about getting married?" suggested the one.

      Then followed a long pause, wherein the other was evidently considering the pros and cons of such a unique proposition.

      "Nothing doing," he replied eventually—"not exciting enough, old man." Another pause—"And when I come to think, I don't know of any girl who'd want to marry me even if I wanted to marry her." And as if to give a final decision to any proposal of that nature, he added—"Besides, I couldn't afford it!"

      "But I tell you what I will do, Steve," said he, "I'll go back with you across yon herring-pond and have a trot round America."

      So that was how it happened.

      Two or three months later, when I arrived at New York from Canada, I purchased a motor-cycle and set out to cross the continent to the Pacific, and I have it on the best authority that this was the first time an Englishman had ever accomplished the trip on a motor-cycle. If it is so, I don't wonder at it!

      The whole trip, which covered just fifty miles short of 5,000, was undertaken quite alone, and although spread over about three months, constituted a day or two short of a month's actual riding. For the benefit of brother motor-cyclists who may be interested in such details I may add that I dispensed entirely with the use of goggles from beginning to end, and except at stops in large towns on the way I wore no hat. I think that when the motor-cyclist gets accustomed to doing without these encumbrances he will find the joys of motor-cycling considerably enhanced.

      The total number of replacements to the engine alone comprised the following: Five new cylinders; three pistons; five gudgeon pins; three complete sets of bearings; two connecting rods, and eleven sparking plugs.

      The machine was entirely overhauled on four occasions between the Atlantic and the Pacific, and on three of these by the recognized agents of the manufacturers. The engine cut-out switch was the only part of the machine that did not break, come loose, or go wrong sooner or later. I was thrown off 142 times, and after that I stopped

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