The piece
that follows was compiled and edited by Hamish Thoms - a
Clan Society member from Canada. It is based on articles
written in 1931 by his father, Bernard H. J.
Thoms.
Bernard H. J. Thoms
Eighty six years ago my father, Bernard Hunter Jameson Thoms,
just about to turn 25, embarked on a journey that took him
half way around the world - from Dundee in
Scotland to Nelson, New Zealand, via a cross-country
motor trip through the United States. I have no idea what
prompted my father to undertake such an expedition, but I
suspect it was to visit his future wife, Cynthia Mary Richmond
Fell, who resided in Nelson at the time. The two of them had
met during a skiing holiday in Switzerland in the late 1920's
and had nurtured a long distant relationship
thereafter.
*****
Bernard had been
educated at Trinity College, Glenalmond, in Perthshire until
1923, and from there attended the University of Durham until
1927 receiving Degrees in Electrical and
Mechanical Engineering. After university, he worked with his
father, Henry James Macthomas Thoms, and obtained some
knowledge of finance and bookkeeping in the stock
broking/insurance business, and considerable knowledge about
the game of chess. Henry, it seems (or "Harry" as he was
known) was a first class, ranking chess player in
Scotland(1). Perhaps it was
Harry's opening gambits on the chess board that eventually
provoked my father to book passage on the SS Lapland that
sailed from Southhampton on 26th July 1930 bound for New York
City. (Please click here to
see the relevant entry in the ship's
manifest).
The SS Lapland
******
There is no
record of the events that took place during this sailing, but
the vessel, travelling at a cruising speed of 17
knots, was capable of carrying 450 First Class, 400
Second Class, and 1500 Third Class passengers, so there
was no shortage of social interaction.
*****
I am not sure whether my father had
made prior arrangements with the Dundee Courier and Advertiser
to publish some of his impressions during his visit to the
United States, or whether he submitted them after
returning to Scotland. Whatever the case, a series of articles
appeared in the Courier from 15th to 19th September
1931, a year after the event, and some of the more
interesting segments of his travelogue appear below. The dates
above the quoted text indicate when the four articles were
published in the Courier.
*****
After the transatlantic voyage from
Southampton, Bernard and his friend Denis (whose last name is
unknown) finally arrived in New York. They had brought with
them a vehicle from Britain, and no doubt it was a touring car
with right hand drive and sufficient room for the surfeit of
luggage that accompany most Britons on journeys of this
nature.
*****
Dundee Courier &
Advertiser
15th
September 1931
A Motorist Has Some
Strange Experiences
******
We arrived just after lunch, and
saw on our left through an August heat haze the Statue of
Liberty which was given to the United States by France, and on
our right the imposing skyline of New York City. The
temperature was 94 degrees F in the shade, but fortunately,
being a Sunday, the city was almost deserted. To a Briton, the
Customs authorities are enigmatic; having an automatic pistol
and ammunition evinced no interest whatever, whereas having a
pair of 18-year-old field glasses seemed to be regarded as a
penal offense. The next two days were spent in New York
getting our car through the Customs. Here the proverbial
American efficiency broke down completely. Taking a motor into
America is like carrying coals to Newcastle. America does not
reciprocate the three months free use of their roads to
tourists which Great Britain extends to her overseas
visitors.
*****
Driving licences and number plates had
to be issued within the same state, and obtaining them
in New York was proving to be a lengthy and protracted
affair. As they had to be in Vancouver in time for the sailing
to New Zealand, time was of the essence.
*****
We therefore decided to run the
gauntlet as far as Connecticut, where we could get our
licenses without delay. One of our cousins (in New York) was
filled with trepidation when we called him on our way to
Connecticut, as we had come down Sixteenth Avenue to Wall
Street with our British number plates. He thought there were
more policemen per square yard than anywhere else on
earth, and could not imagine how we had managed to evade them
all.
*****
Prior to their departure from New
York, they did some sightseeing. As an engineer, Bernard was
fascinated by the skyscrapers of New York and the manner of
their construction. He and Denis visited Grand Central
Station, the Woolworth Building, and the Chrysler
Building.
*****
The last, the highest building in
the world, is faced in black marble and rustless steel. The
spire is of rustless steel also, and is most impressive when
seen in the scintillating sun. The Farmers Building, now in
the course of erection, will be still higher. The Roxy and
Paramount Theatres are magnificently finished cinemas and are
both partially refrigerated in hot weather. It is a great
relief to go from 90 degrees F or more in the shade to a mere
75 degrees.
******
Dundee Courier &
Advertiser
16th September
1931
We Interview a Speed
Cop
*****
I must say that there were two of
us. We had nearly half a ton of luggage, which later in the
journey proved rather a handicap owing to the bottoming of the
car's springs. The car was an eight cylinder"LaSalle" drophead
coupe with right
A publicity photograph for a 1927 LaSalle Drophead Coupe
hand steering. It's petrol consumptionwas about 12.25
miles to the gallon, and owing to the hot weather, she was
very heavy on engine oil. The price of petrol varied from 17
cents to 46 cents including tax. We had approximately 4000
miles to cover by the shortest route and 13 days in which to
do it.
For the first two days we were
dogged by minor troubles. Before we had covered ten
miles, we were stopped by a 'speed cop.' I was the
passenger, Denis the driver. There was the roar of a motor
cycle exhaust and a hand was put on the door. Naturally he
came up on the left side of the car, and we looked at each
other in amazement. He, because there was no steering wheel on
the side he expected, I because we had so soon got on the
wrong side of the law.
*****
Denis pulled up, and then, 'Say,
how fast were you going?' After some friendly discussion he
decided for us that we were exceeding the speed limit by 13
miles an hour (40 being the limit in that state). He asked us
where we were going and what the GB on the back of the car
meant. We used both sets of number plates, hoping we might
enlist sympathy if an occasion such as this
arose.
*****
Pointing out to the officer the great loss of time entailed
'in coming along to see the judge right away', $5
changed hands surreptitiously, and all was well. He gave
us much helpful advice as regards roads and the traffic
regulations in the various states through which we would pass,
and also advised us to buy chains, a rope, and a shovel. We
parted as best of friends, with a card he had given us in case
we again got into trouble with speed cops in the next 300
miles. It was inscribed thus - 'Please extend courtesy to
bearer' and signed with his name, address, and rank in the
police force.
*****
Later in the day, Bernard and Denis
arrived in Philadelphia, had dinner with friends, and
participated in our first experience of the almost
universal attempts to break the Volstead Law. Our hosts
provided us with dandelion wine and Italian vermouth
cocktails. Prohibition, of course, had been in
force since 1920 and was not repealed until 1933. The
next day they crossed the Alleghany Mountains and went through
the beautifully wooded country of Pennsylvania. Skirting
Chicago, they only saw the impressive outline of the buildings
against the backdrop of Lake Michigan. The next day at
breakfast in Mason City, Iowa, we were told of the horrid fate
of some people touring from Canada in an Armstrong-Siddeley.
Not liking a foreign car, some gangsters had shot it up for
them.
We left Mason City at about nine
o'clock, and driving continuously, arrived in Rapid City,
South Dakota, at six next morning. Just at dawn we had driven
through the northernmost part of the Bad Lands. This is just
desert, and, apart
Mount Rushmore in 1930
from occasional scrub, is bare of vegetation. This was the
11th of August and we had covered about three-fifths of our
distance in under five days, so we decided to have a day's
rest. During the day we visited the Custer district situated
in the Black Hills. We visited Mount Rushmore, where statues
of the more famous Presidents are being carved in reinforced
concrete by Gutzen Borgium. So far the date of independence
and George Washington have been completed, and while no doubt
the finished work will be a great work of art, I cannot
believe that it is an improvement in a district of such rugged
grandeur.
*****
Returning to Rapid City for the
night, we were overtaken by a deluge of rain. Magnificent
effects on the jagged pinnacles of rock from the summer
lightning which played, without thunder, for nearly two hours
were perhaps the finest things I have ever
seen.
******* Dundee Courier &
Advertiser
18th September
1931
Over the Big Horn
Mountains
*****
Next morning we entered Wyoming,
and after an evening meal at Buffalo, we bought chains for the
car, a shovel and rope, and also a fairly plentiful supply of
food. We were now at about 5000 feet above sea level, and
meant to go on for another few miles before stopping for the
night. I was driving, and on a corner, I ditched the car. This
was about ten o'clock, and it was nearly dark. Whilst building
up stones under the two wheels in the ditch, five men in a
passing car helped us, and after some attempts in
three-quarters of an hour, we got it out. We spent the night -
very tired we were, too, when we got into bed - in a log cabin
7500 feet above sea level. The accomodation cost $1.25 for the
two of us, breakfast and another supper being 75 cents
extra.
*****
Before leaving South Forks we put
chains on the back wheels, and, having had an early breakfast,
we set off. We were on the east side of the Big Horn
Mountains, and after two hours run, reached our highest point.
This was Muddy Pass, 9666 feet above sea level. Here and also
later on when we climbed to over 8000 feet, we noticed a great
falling off in power. A car can only produce about two thirds
of the horse power at this height than it can at sea level,
owing to the rarity of the air, and this caused us a great
deal of trouble with our heavy load. We also had to carry
large quantities of water for the radiator, as at this height
water boils at 195 degrees F.
*****
World's Worst
Road
*****
On very greasy roads we descended
5000 feet in a dozen miles with considerable difficulty, and
arrived in Tensleep, Wyoming, where we saw nearly one hundred
cars belonging to tourists who had been advised not to proceed
in either direction. In spite of much persuasion to the
contrary, we went on, through surfaces that are composed of
volcanic soil, locally called 'gumbo'. When wet, the surface
to a depth of four inches becomes like vaseline, chains are
little or no help, and the only hope is to keep the car in
second gear and keep the wheels going round at all cost. To
stop or change gear was a hopeless task as the car immediately
slid in whichever direction there was the slightest downward
slope. After about four miles we came to what we thought was
the world's worst road, so we stopped, as there were huge
pools of water all round. After another mile there was a skid
of more than usual violence, and we were off the road, such as
it was, and at rather an unpleasant angle in what was meant to
be a ditch.
*****
I was secretely rather pleased at
this as Denis was driving, and had laughed at me the night
before for ditching the car then. After two or three attempts,
finding it was hopeless to drive it out, we started to collect
scrub and pile it, along with the driest mud we could find,
under the front and back wheels in the ditch. Whilst doing
this, a very old Overland came slithering along and stopped
just behind us. A friendly voice from under a sombrero said,
'You appear to have got yourselves into some small difficulty.
Can we help?' This offer was gratefully accepted,
and the four of us got the car out. For the next five miles we
proceeded crabwise whenever there was any gradient and kept in
company with out friends in the Overland. Eventually, after
five hours, we reached Worland, having managed to average just
over 3.5 miles per hour from Tensleep.
*****
Our First
Bootlegger
*****
This had all been very exhausting,
so one of our friends, who called himself the 'Wyoming Kid'
thought we had better go and have a drink. Denis we left to go
to the bank to change some money, and the Wyoming Kid, Jack
his friend, and I went to a small house on the outskirts of
town. Here I met my first bootlegger, and had a couple of very
acceptable and drinkable whiskeys. This was produced from
inside the wall behind a large gramophone. After this, Denis
joined us and then the four of us went into town again and had
supper. The Wyoming Kid then came out of his shell a little
and told us although he was called Kid, he was really 27, and
had spent two years bootlegging from Canada to Chicago, but
had eventually stopped a bullet in a scrap (he showed us the
wound) and had taken to this quiet life in the
West.
*****
After our supper we parted, and
Denis told me that the banker had asked us to call at his
house. Whilst there he told us he had been to one of the
Scottish public schools, and although I have now forgotten the
name, he mentioned someone whom I knew in Dundee. He produced
some pre-prohibition port in our honour, and found us rooms
for the night.
*****
The next morning, Bernard and Denis
tackled another stretch of dangerous road, complete with
detours and washed out bridges, and then began the climb into
Yellowstone National Park.
***** Dundee Courier &
Advertiser
19th September
1931
Eighth Wonder of the
World
*****
Yellowstone is one of the wonders
of the world, containing as it does geysers, a mud volcano,
waterfalls, and a canyon or gorge whose vertical sides measure
in places more than a mile in depth. Nearly the whole park is
densely wooded and shortly after entering we passed a little
gem of a lake completely surrounded by trees, with a
snowcapped mountain behind it. This was a perfect picture of
stillness and serenity to be dispelled from our minds a few
miles further on by the mud volcano which bubbled ominously
and emitted heavy, sulphurous
Image of the Original Newspaper Article
in the Dundee Courier & Advertiser.
vapour, which choked us, thus adding to the uncanniness of the
surroundings. Leaving this in five or ten minutes, we were
gazing at the Lower Falls. The river, compressed by the
converging rocks above, takes a plunge of three hundred and
fifty feet. The canyon, here one thousand feet deep, the
stupendous character of the scenery, and the river flowing far
below like a silver ribbon threading its way to the distant
Atlantic Ocean, is a sight never to be
forgotten.
*****
It was with much regret that we
could not stay longer in the park. However time was becoming
short, and at the next station we sent nearly all our luggage
by train to Seattle, as we hoped that by doing this we should
be able to make better time.
*****
Luck now seemed to be rather
against us. In spite of our lightened load the car gave
trouble nearly all day and overheated badly. At about 5:30 we
arrived at Butte, Montana, and went to a garage. We left the
car and arranged to go back about 8:00 o'clock. Butte is the
state's capital city, and is one of the gayest
(traditional usage) cities I have been in. It is
almost continental, having large race-courses, casinos, and
innumerable speak-easies - the last two, of course, illegal.
Unemployment was rife, as we found it in all other parts of
the United States, but seemed to make little difference to the
gaiety of the place.
*****
An Obliging
Policeman
*****
Now I come to our tale. There was
a policeman conducting traffic in the middle of a cross-road.
He appeared somewhat erratic and misjudged the oncoming
vehicles' speeds constantly. There was only one conclusion to
be drawn, and we were also thirsty. He was approached by us,
was most friendly, and left his post. Coming down from his
little pedestal he said that the condition for taking us was
that we should also buy him one. To this we naturally agreed.
He put his cap in his pocket and led the way. It was just
around the corner, and might have been just an ordinary
English 'pub'. There was no name outside, but otherwise
everything seemed quite normal.
*****
We chatted to the owner on the
prohibition laws and the running of the casinos. The State of
Montana had not voted for the stopping of gambling or for
prohibition, so the state authorities observed neither. Once
in three or four months the Federal agents came round, and
everything was closed down for the day or two they were there,
then everything opened up as before. The system worked well,
and no one grumbled.
*****
Penalty of
Politeness
*****
We had our evening meal, went back
to the garage, and found the car nearly finished. The mechanic
had never worked on a right hand steered car before, and
suggested that as we did not know the town he should drive us
round to show us the sights. Wanting to go on, we were not
keen. However, as he had worked overtime to help us, we
agreed, and went out with him. It was with much disgust that
we found an entry in our bill for $1.50, for taking the car
out for a road trial.
***** We slept in the car just beyond
Anaconda and the next day had some difficulty changing money
in Missoula, one bank offering us $2.50 for £1.00 instead of
$4.86. Eventually we changed some and then went on to Coeur
d'Alene in Idaho, and then to Spokane. In an evening
newspaper, during our supper there, we found an account
of the state of the roads where we had been three days
before:
The rain since Monday has made
the roads over the Big Horn and between Tensleep and Worland
virtually impassable. Tourists from almost every state
in the union are stuck in the heavy gumbo and are
spending the nights in their cars on the flats by Crazy
Woman Creek. Telegraph and telephone communication from
Tensleep to the outside world is severed, and this
Associated Press dispatch was taken through the
dangerous mud to Worland by a gasoline truck equipped with
chains, ropes and shovels. It was the only truck to get
through.'
It was dated the day we
were there, and to our knowledge two other cars got through as
well as ours. The next day we drove comfortably to Seattle. It
was a Sunday, so after an evening meal, Denis and I separated.
I went to the talkie version of 'The Jouney's End'. On
Monday, we collected our luggage and went leisurely to
Vancouver, passing Canadian Customs on the way. Excluding the
day we spent at Rapid City, and the run from Seattle to
Vancouver, we had driven 3900 miles in 10
days.
*****
The day and a half we had in
Vancouver was spent pleasantly with friends. On Wednesday we
sailed for New Zealand, the thought of 17 days rest was most
attractive.
Author, Hamish
Thoms, writes that he was fortunate to inherit a
very handsome chessboard that once belonged to his
grandfather. However, he displayed none of the skills
required to adequately challenge his father, who
defeated Hamish at every single sitting throughout
his lifetime.
