... Cover story, continued
They packed the car with camping gear and cooking supplies and were soon on their way.
instance, a cowboy lassoed Vermont and towed the car with his horse to a nearby town in Oregon. After traveling for 19 days, they arrived in Idaho. There, hoping to change their luck, Jackson purchased a bull terrier they named Bud. Bud drove with Jackson and Crocker, and they fitted him with goggles to protect his eyes from the dirt. While he probably didn’t improve their luck, Bud did travel with them for the rest of their journey. On day 46 of their trip, the trio finally found themselves back on the road after having to wait six days for parts and repairs outside of Rawlins, Wyoming. With more than half the country still ahead of them, they nevertheless maintained their optimism, which was largely fueled by the reception they received across America. Word of their trip spread throughout the country and many people from the towns and cities they passed through gathered to see Vermont and the trio of travelers for THE LAST LEG
themselves. Larger cities, such as Chicago, welcomed them with automobile dealers as well as city officials, and a convoy led them through the city of Cleveland. Vermont finally rolled into Manhattan, traveling down an empty Fifth Avenue at 4:30 a.m. on Sunday, July 26. The first cross-country automobile trip had been successful. Despite the delays they faced, their road trip only took them 63 days, 12 hours, and 30 minutes, leaving them with almost a month left of the 90-day bet. Unfortunately, the journey cost Jackson about $8,000. The trio became national celebrities, being featured in many of Winton’s advertisements and newspapers across the country. As for Jackson, tried and exhausted after his adventure, he pointed his car toward Vermont on July 30 and began the last part of his journey. The car only had enough life left in it to get Jackson home before its drive chain broke and moved no more.
THE TRIP
One of the biggest problems the duo faced was the condition of the roads. While carriages were uncomfortable, they could handle the bumpy ride far better than an automobile. However, bumpy roads were far from the only problem they faced. Automobiles at that time were prone to frequent breakdowns, and Vermont was no exception. Fifteen miles outside of San Francisco, Jackson and Crocker experienced their first delay of many: a tire blowout. Making their way through Nevada and up toward Idaho, Jackson and Crocker experienced many more breakdowns and delays, including a clogged oil line, a broken clutch, wrong turns, and a gas tank leak. With every holdup they faced, the pair was forced to wait for supplies to be delivered by stagecoach or, if they were lucky enough, a friendly passerby to help them. In one
LAWSUITS FROM BEYOND Let’s Hope There’s a Courtroom in the Afterlife
We pride ourselves on being a country where everyone receives a fair trial. And while that’s not always the case, even the craziest claims still have to be heard in some capacity by a court of law. As you can imagine, this can result in plenty of spooky high jinks in the courtroom. Let’s take a look at some of the more baffling court cases in recent memory.
occasions after his lawyer missed certain deadlines to turn in proper documents. Thankfully, the issue was resolved, but not before he had his credit cards and Medicaid revoked after appearing to be dead.
SOLEMNLY SPOOKED
DEAD MAN TALKING
An unnamed New York resident — just what on earth is going on in New York? — claimed that the house they’d recently purchased was horribly and cripplingly haunted by unseen forces. The poltergeist was said to disrupt their daily activity, and the plaintiff was suing on the grounds that the home was notorious in the area for being haunted and had a reputation as such. Therefore, the owner felt it should have been disclosed to them before closing on the home. They won. That’s right; the court ruled that the seller misled the plaintiff and should have disclosed the nature of this potentially harmful house. Shockingly enough, this type of thing is required to be disclosed when selling a house in New York. Well, at least a buyer will have peace of mind knowing that they got a sweet new pad and a ghoul for pennies on the dollar.
In something straight out of a Coen brothers movie, a New York man had to sue The New York Times on three separate occasions to get them to stop reporting that he was dead. In all fairness, it seemed like an honest mistake prolonged by the ineptitude of his public counsel and a whole lot of terrible coincidences all rolled into one. Juan Antonio Arias just so happened to share the same first and last name as one “Juan Arias”who had met his untimely demise. After it was reported in a Times article, the living Arias accidentally had his own date of birth and Social Security number added to the death certificate of his now deceased namesake in a terrible mix-up from the coroner. As a result, he sued on three
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