Years Hunt by Motor Car: Detroit Mans Novel Trip after Game and Health on New Lines, Daily Racing Form, 1919-01-20

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YEARS HUNT BY MOTOR CAR Detroit Mans Novel Trip After Game and Health on New Lines. lne.st All Around Was Successful and Route from Coast to Coast. Claude AV. Doty of Detroit, Mich., has realized his boyhood dream of "going all the way from the Atlantic Ocean to tiie Pacific Ocean in a wagon." The only variation in the fulfillment of the realization of the dream Is that the ride was made by the use of gas instead of horse power, says a correspondent of the New York Sun. Probably the boyhood dream would never have come true if something had not interrupted the busy life of tho Marion, Ohio, boy who became a New Yorker, and now prefers this city. The interruption came in the form of a nervous breakdown. The outdoor life for a year that it required to make the trip has returned Mr. Doty to health, strength and business efficiency. He has just returned full of "pep" for the new year and enthusiastic for the out-of-doors as a healer to tired nerves. Mr. Dory in his trip from the Atlantic to the Pacific did it in an apartment on wheels, "five rooms and bath," as he ehucklingly puts it. He is an automobile man and he knows every part of the auto and the "improvements" before they were put in. The "five rooms, and bath" on wheels cost ,500. The underpinning of tho apartment was an automobile chassis, 1917 model. Thi! body was built on the lines of a bus and its advantages can be briefly summarized: Interior electric lighting system, full-sized bed, radiator, suspended wire baskets for storing clothes, ventilators, complete kitchenette, including gasoline stove, cushioned side lounges for rest during the day, under-seat space for storing steamer trunk, lavatory with hot water from the radiator of the car, closet for linen, ice box, gun and fishing tackle cabinet, acetylene lamp in case of need, stationery music box, space for additional comforts installed when needed. It might be added that the bed used was . a regular slumber accelerator with springs and khaki covered mattress built in three sections, which during the day were piled and strapped with the bedding in the rear room. Army blankets were used for covering. AUTO FOLLOWS DUCK FLIGHTS. Mr. Doty began his outdoor trip as n guest of William B. Boulton of New York, president of the Flanders Club of Long Island, where he outlined to his host his idea of traveling all the way from the Atlantic to the Pacific. That was in the fall of 1917, when the field shooting opened on Long Island and the ducks were beginning to wing their way along the Atlantic seaboard. From the Flanders Club the next objective was Currituck Sound, North Carolina, and botli in North Carolina and Virginia Mr. Doty experienced the thrill and pleasure of good duck shooting. Invariably he got the limit permitted by law in the ten days he was there and" left before the close of the season because of the arrival of ice and snow. Mr. Doty improved in shooting following his Flanders trip and used the battery method of bagging canvasbacks and redheads. His splendid bag ranged from twelve to twenty-five. Mr. Doty attributed his previous poor shooting to the lack ot opportunity and the sudden change from trap shooting. "Geese, brant and swan," remarked Mr. Doty, "were to be seen by the thousands almost any time of the day." Some of the game Mr. Doty carried with him making good use of the gasoline range on the way. MANY TROPHIES OBTAINED. The next stopping place for the owner of the five-room apartment on wheels was Lordsburg, New Mexico, where the surroundings were so pleasant Mr. Doty, instead of spending four weeks, remained four months. Here he found deer, ducks, jack rabbits, the cottontail and California and mountain quail. "Mountain iiuall are so numerous, along the bottoms of the Gila, River,.!.. says. Mr, Doty.. tliat farmers consider them a. pest." With a professional hunter the man whose boyhood dream was in the fulfillment went into the Mack Range with a professional bear and lion hunter employed by the cattle association in cleaning up the predatory animals, and hunted and trapped for "six weeks, the bag being four lions, six wolves, five bobcats, a fox and a skunk. The hides were made into rugs, and these, with a magnificent mule deer and a white-tailed deer head mounted, make quite a showing in trophies. From there the trip was made to the coast, where fishing was indulged in, and last fall found the five-room apartment on wheels near the end of its return transcontinental trip, which ended fn the Adirondacks. One year in the open, with mind set on outdoor pleasures and the thrill of the rod and gun. restored tired nerves and convinced not only Mr. Doty but his physician of the value of the outdoor life as a restorer. Jlr. Doty is back in the harness again, "benefited beyond words," he says, and feeling "ten years have been added to my life." American Field.


Persistent Link: https://drf.uky.edu/catalog/1910s/drf1919012001/drf1919012001_2_2
Local Identifier: drf1919012001_2_2
Library of Congress Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/unk82075800