Wichita Eagle

November 4, 1916 – Page 8

Across State in 5 Hours

Speed Demons Carrying Meridian Road Message to Gulf Average 48 Miles Per Hour

Test to Show Uncle Sam Road’s Value

            John Nicholson, president of the Meridian Road, reported last night that the sealed message that was carried across Kansas yesterday by Glenn Breed, driver of the Hudson Super Six, and Nels Blondefield, mechanican, both of Salina, reached South Canadian River, Oklahoma at 3:55 p.m.  Mr. Breed drove a distance of 277 miles in 5 ¾ hours.  He left Chester, Nebraska at 6:30 a.m. yesterday morning and arrived at Caldwell, Kansas at 12:08 p.m.  The message was carried from Caldwell, Kansas to South Canadian River, Oklahoma by Gentry and McClelland, who averaged 48 miles per hour.

            The message was taken from South Canadian River to Red River by F.F. Thompson of Lawton.  D.P. Tally of Wichita Falls carried it from there to Waco, then on to Austin, San Antonio, and on to Laredo.  It was thought that the epistle would reach San Antonio early this morning.

            “It was the original plan of the Meridian Association”, said Mr. Nicholson, “to have the message start from Winnipeg, Canada and be taken to the Gulf of Mexico in an automobile to prove to the United States government that it is faster to use automobiles on good roads for delivering important messages than to use the railroads.  It turned out that the roads of the northern states were too heavy from heavy rains so that we had to start the message from the Kansas – Nebraska line.”

            Glenn Breed was in Wichita last night and reported that they had a good reception all along the road.  “In some districts, they dismissed school while we tore past.” said Mr. Breed.  “We made the entire trip of 277 miles on 18 gallons of gasoline.” He told M.G. Riddell of McPherson who trailed him from McPherson to Wichita, if he should find him unconscious or dead by the side of the road, not to stop to bother with him, but to take off the coat that contained the message and drive south.  Riddell stated that Breed stayed so far in advance of him that there was no chance to watch him.  “The best I could do was to stay twenty or thirty minutes behind him,” said Mr. Riddle.

            The log of the trip is as follows:

            Webmaster’s Note:  Miss Irene Gorman, 1145 Bitting Ave., Wichita, Kansas won a substantial cash prize from race the organizers for correctly guessing that the winner (Breed) would cross the state of Kansas in 5 hours, 45 minutes in this race.

            Glenn Mark Breed was born on May 4^th of either 1880 or 1881 in VanBuren County, Michigan and moved to Kansas shortly after the turn of the century.  He raced automobiles professionally on dirt racetracks all over Kansas before moving to Dallas, Texas around 1918.  He returned to Michigan in 1948 and worked at the Gobles Auto Supply in Gobles, Michigan.  He also worked as an engine rebuilder for the Troy Motor Company in Paw Paw, Michigan.  Glenn died on November 11, 1960 at Paw Paw, Michigan and is buried in the Robinson Cemetery at Gobles, Michigan.

Glenn Breed’s “mechanican”, Thomas Nelson "Nels" Blondefield, was born on April 3, 1886 and grew up at McPherson, Kansas.  He is known to have entered a Buick in a race at Winfield, Kansas on July 4, 1913, a race that was won by Glenn Breed in another Buick.  Nels lived at Lyons, Kansas and Salina, Kansas before eventually moving to California.  He died on February 27, 1964 and is buried in Lakeside Memorial Lawn Cemetery in Sacramento, California.

“Mechanican” is an archaic word meaning “mechanic” and was usually used when referring to a riding mechanic in an auto race.