|
next page | preceding page |
|
who had suggested duplicating the Cleveland-
to-New York drive. There also would be eight other Wintons, all but one privately owned. The exception was a 1921 owned by the museum but driven by James R. Garfield II of Mentor, a great-grandson of President James A. Garfield, and Robert Ellis of Rocky River. It was also the newest model on the trip. Another Winton great-grandson, James A. Winton Jr. Rocky River, would drive a 1916 owned by his cousin, Wake. |
The wisdom of physicians Cleveland is renowned for its medical care, but there was one reason to wonder about whether that was the case in 1899. The headline in The Plain Dealer the day before Winton and Shanks left declared: "Novel Method of Transport. The Plain Dealer is sending a Horseless Carriage to New York. In additon to proving the feasibility of the horseless carriage, Shanks wrote that Winton had been |
advised that riding in a
topless, windowless, windshield-less
machine
for 700 miles over bad roads would be good for
his health. "Mr. Winton has not been enjoying the very best of health of late and he has consented, on the advice of his physician, to make the overland trip, entertaining the hope that the several days' service in the open air will produce improved conditions physically," Shanks wrote. If that did not work, the physician's next idea would probably have been |
keel-hauling Winton from a
Lake Erie steamer for a day or two. Nevertheless, it was an interesting concept: the 1899 Winton as a health device. We did not entirely disagee, viewing ours as a mobile sunning or moisturizing salon, depending on the day. Wednesday was a moisturizing day. As we left Pittsford, N.Y., and headed for Syracuse 100 miles away, there was a steady downpour that we tried to think of as a gentle, cleansing rain. We were wearing rainsuits that |