Land Speed Record Holder?

On this date 100 years ago Mr. William Mooberry offered RL Fleming and son a drive to Pekin in his new National motor car. Mr. Mooberry assured him that he could travel the distance in a very short time. The two men and child started their journey at the courthouse square and continued apace to the Pekin courthouse.

This was a time when roads were especially rough and unpredictable, as seen in an earlier post. In dry conditions the roads would have been like a washboard, with numerous potholes and ruts. Mr. Fleming told the reporter that his friend Bill could not hear him when he asked him to slow down for the rushing wind. The houses went by so fast he could not tell if he was seeing houses or barns.

At this time the National car company of Indiana made only a six or twleve cylinder car, so I do not think that this quote from Mr. Fleming was an indication of the model of Mooberry's car:

"The speed bug had (sic) one of the eight cylinder variety had stung Bill in several places and the venom seemed to have inoculated Bill's entire system." But it was a comment on Mooberry's recklessness in speeding over a very dangerous road at high speed!

Other issues of the Pantagraph indicated that Bill Mooberry had lost a wheel on the road from Colfax and wanted to find it.