12
tTheShangl
Moody   Describes   12,000   Miles
)(
mv  Across  America
Unusual Car-And-Trailer Trip Remarkably  Low
In Cost, High In Comfort And Pleasure,
Well-Known  Auto  Dealer  Declares
Returning to Shanghai on the
impress of,Japan Wednesday with
Ms family, Mr. Mark L. Moody
head of the firm bearing his name,
brought an interesting collection o:
photographs and travelogue moving
pictures made by himself, and an
\inusual story of more than 12,00j
miles of "gypsying through America" as he calls it, in the course
of which the Moody family traveled from the Pacific Coast to the
Gulf of Mexico, up into Canada,
to the Atlantic Coast, back to the
Pacific Coast and finally sailed
from Vancouver, British Columbia,
establishing what is believed to be
a new travel record for motorists
in America.
The trip was. made in a house-
trailer which Mr. Moody refers to
as a "land-yacht." His "cruiser'
was named "Wanderer III, Shanghai, China" and will be put on exhibition for several days at the
Moody company's showrooms at
the corner of Szechuen Road and
Avenue Edward VII in about a
week, after it has beeii landed and
passed through Customs.
Across 30 States
''It was a most enjoyable and
novel experience," stated Mr
Moody in his comments on tho
trip which consumed nearly three
months' time, during which 30
States were crossed, three of them
being crossed twice, and the provisos of Ontario and British
Columbia being traversed in Canada.
The "Wanderer III," in which
Mr. and Mrs. Moody and their
three children, William, Robert
and Martha-Mae made their 12,000-
mile "cruise" of America, is named
after the houseboats in which Mr.
Moody has cruised the inland waters
of this part of China during the
last 15 years. The "Wanderer III"
Is a novel "cruiser" and has a much
wider cruising range than its
namesakes, with the opening oS
China's new roads in the Yangtze
Valley provinces.
Revelation In  Comfort
"The comfort and compactness of
the appointments and conveniences
of the 'Wanderer III' are a revelation to houseboat owners as well
as to motorists and the lay public,"
said Mr. Moody in his remarks preliminary to his description of the
accommodations of the strange
"craft" which he brought back to
Shanghai with him, and which is
described in detail elsewhere in this
article.
With the house-trailer connected
to the rear of their Chrysler sedan
car the Moodys left Los Angeles,
California the afternoon of May
29 to start their 12,033-miie gypsying jaunt over a large ,part of the
North American continent. The
first night's stop was made at San
Bernardino, California, preparatory
to crossing the great Mojave Desert
through which wends a beautiful
highway, as is attested by Moody's
photos and movies. Two days'
travel, totaling 600 miles through
great sand wastes and cactus saw
the party across the desert and
headed for the Grand Canyon
where they arrived a day later to
spend two( days viewing and photographing the worlds greatest fissure.
Grand Canyon Rated
"I just couldn't possibly describe
Grand- Canyon beyond saying it is
the one place in all of my travels
where I stood with my mouth open
in amazement for so long that I
nearly sunburned my tonsils," said
Mr   Mnnrlv     ""Burton Holmes of in-
three j^ears ago while on nis round-
the-world trip.
Fish With Major Ashnrst
The party's itinerary then took
them through the States of New
York, Vermont, and New Hampshire
and down into Massachusetts.
Near Boston Mr. Moody visited
again the family ancestral horns,
which was erected in 1CT90 and is
maintained as a family corporation.
Rhode Island and Connecticut were
then crossed when the family went
to New York City for a three-day
visit prior to going to Cape May
New Jersey to spend three days m
fishing and swimming with Major
and Mrs. W. W. Ashurst, formerly
stationed with the Fourth U. S.
Marines in Shanghai.
Fishing Good
Mr. Moody's photos prove conclusively that the deep sea fishing was
good, and he tells an unusual fish
story about their party spending a
half day hauling the fish into their
boat and then upon returning to
Cape May and counting their bag
to find that they had caught 156
fish, and as there were exactly 156
men in Major Ashurst's department
at the Cape May rifle range the
complete catch was presented to
them. '■
While the fishing party was out
at sea the Commander of the U.S.
Naval Aviation field at Cape May
paid them a flying visit and gave
an interesting demonstration of
amphibian aerial acrobatics. As Mr.
Moody had his movie camera with
him he was able to take an unusual
picture of the aerial performance.
R. D. Marshalls Seen
From Cape May the "Wanderer
III" wandered up to Shamokin in
Northern, Pennsylvania to visit the
R. D. Marshall family, formei
Shanghai residents. The gypsying
trail then took the Moodys through
the Gettysburg battlegrounds inj
Southern Pennsylvania en route to
Washington, D. C, where they report having spent an interesting
two days sightseeing at the National Capitol and making a side trip
to Mt. Vernon to see George
Washington's home and tomb.
Interesting points visited in Washington included. the Capitol building, the Smithsonian Institute,
Washington , Memorial, Lincoln
Memorial and the Memorial Amphitheatre at Arlington, across thp
Potomac River from Washington,
where rests America's Unknown
Soldier in a shrine perpetually attended by a guard of honor.
CIdf eld   Stages   Stunta
Leaving Washington and heading
westward the "Wanderers" crossed
Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia
and Ohio to spend two days at the
Goodyear factory at Akron where
an airship ride had been planned
for the five Moodys. However, a
big windstorm prevented the safe
removal of the airship from its
great hangar and arrangements
were made to take them up in a
Goodyear airship at the World's
Fair at Chicago to" which point the
"Wanderer III" proceeded from
Akron, for a four-day stopover.
At the World's Fair the Moodys
viewed the fair grounds from the
sky as guests of the Goodyear Company airship and made a moving
picture of the trip. They visited
the principal exhibits at the fair
including those of Chrysler, Ford
and General Motors. At the Chrysler Motors speedway and "punishment pits" a special demonstration
of    spectacular    driving    and     car
graphing of large wild  animals in
their native haunts.
Over Old Oregon Trail
Again heading toward the setting
sun, the "Wanderer III" traversed
the States of Montana, Idaho,
Oregon and Washington to cross
the international boundary line between the United States and Canada,
to sail from Vancouver, British
Columbia, for Shanghai.
A large part of the trip through
Oregon was along the famous trail
of the covered wagon days and the
Columbia River highway, which Mr.
Moody pronounced by far the most
scenic and beautiful in America and
an impressive climax to their 12,000
mile  "cruise."
Commenting on various phases of
the trip Mr. Moody said in part:—
4Tt would be putting it mildly to
say that the adventure was novel
and enjoyable. I realize this now
that the trip is over more than I
anticipated it beforehand. The size
of the trip did not dawn on me
until we reached New York. There
we were told frequently that we
were the first to appear that far
east with a house-trailer from California and several times people
seemed to be skeptical that our outfit had actually covered the distances which we had made. However, it will not be long before touring in housetrailers will become
immensely popular as it has definite
advantages over other modes of
travel for the motor tourist who
has the time and desire to travel
and see things.
Marketing Cheap
"Distances, hotel accommodations
and camping facilities, or lack of
the latter, present no problems to
tourists in housetrailers as they are
free to stop anywhere they choose
when nightfall overtakes them, as
they have their 'homes' right with
them. The modern conveniences
which the trailers are equipped
will make the preparation of meals
comparatively simple and easy.
Pepping and marketing are done
with the least possible effort and
at lowest prices when touring. This
is particularly true in connection
with nearly all kinds of foodstuffs
as the buying is invariably done
along the highway direct with the
producer, all middlemen thereby being   eliminated.
"The elimination of hotel bills,
easy economies in the purchasing
of supplies and the attractive flexibility of itineraries make traveling
by housetrailer popular and I am
sure that the highways of America
will see hundreds of thousands of
them rolling along in the next two
or three years. Several small factories have commenced manufacturing housetrailers in the last year
or so and the possibilities are just
beginning to be realized.
5 Bods In Trailer
'Our trailer Was built in a small
factory in Los Angeles. It has five
very comfortable beds with inner-
spring mattresses, electric lights
and fans, a shower room and
shower, a large clothes closet, a
long folding portable table and
chairs, roomy kitchenette with
numerous lockers and drawers, kitchen table, porcelain sink, large
icebox, gas stove, water tanks and
ceiling ventilator. Also, there n
ample room for storing a considerable amount of baggage and provisions. We carried a large awning
to go around the rear end and side
of the trailer to provide shade when
parking in the open.
Travel Economical
"As the trip was the first of its
kind for me, I was extremely curious
to know what kind of performance
I would secure from my car under
carrying conditions, and when I
looked at the housetrailer attached
to the back of my car and tnoughi
of its weight and the great ranges
of mountains to be traversed I was
somewhat apprehensive about main
taining the schedule and itinerary
I had planned.