Pitstop to Inflate Tires in the 1901 Paris to Berlin Automobile Race

 

A pitstop to inflate the tires during the Paris to Berlin automobile race.

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Approaching Finish Line in the 1901 Paris to Berlin Automobile Race

 

Approaching the finish line in the 1901 Paris to Berlin automobile race.

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Two men driving an early automobile in Paris, France

 

Two men driving an early automobile in Paris, France (circa 1900). The article calls it a Motor Break, one of the most popular models at the time.

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Young Woman Driving a Motorized Tricycle in Paris, France

 

A young woman driving a motorized tricycle in Paris, France (circa 1900). It looks like she could be a courier or postal carrier.

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Motor Quadricycle on the Bois de Boulogne in Paris, France

 

A motor quadricycle on the Bois de Boulogne in Paris, France (circa 1900). It looks like a cross between a bicycle and an automobile.

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MG Midget Special

 The MG Midget Special was a sexy beast when they ran this advertisement in 1976, and look at all those freebies—AM/FM Radio, Wheel Rims, Custom Striping, and more. Did anyone out there own one back in the day?

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Davenport Car Dealer Meets a Gruesome End

 

John Buck's second wife
Bertha threw a fiery jar
of gasoline at him while
he was getting ready to
eat supper. (The Daily
Times. April 2, 1910)

Davenport, Iowa auto dealer John Buck met a gruesome end. In June 1925, his wife, Bertha, threw “blazing gasoline over him as he was seated over the supper table.”[1]

The coroner’s inquest re-enacted the scene inside the home. The couple was just getting ready to sit down for dinner. Bertha Buck was at the stove finishing up supper. She mentioned some bills and asked if Buck intended to pay them. 

“What bills?”

“You know what bills.”

“Those bills on the sideboard are not addressed to me,” said Buck. “I can’t open your mail."

“She turned to the stove without a word,” Buck told his son Emil. “I heard a roaring sound. A flame leaped by my head. She had thrown burning oil at me. 

“In an instant, my neck was on fire, and I rose to rush from the room. I noticed the screen door was locked, and that was very unusual at our house.” He grabbed a chair and battered the door open, then ran outside.

Arthur W. Parker was sitting in his swing on the second floor of the Parkview Apartments. “We heard a scream,” said Parker. “Then Buck came rushing out the door with his neck aflame” and just stood there, bewildered.

Parker yelled at him to lay down in the grass and roll around. When he got to Buck, Parker tore a piece of cloth from his wife’s apron and extinguished the fire. Buck groaned and whispered, “my wife threw kerosene on me.”

Detective Peter Kuehl questioned Mrs. Buck the next day. There’d been trouble brewing between them for four years. And “it was gasoline, not kerosene. She lit it and threw it at him.”[2]

A jury found Bertha Buck guilty of manslaughter. She was sentenced to a term of not less than eight years in the woman’s reformatory at Rockwell City.[3]

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[1] Davenport Democrat and Leader. June 23, 1925.

[2] Davenport Democrat and Leader. June 24, 1925.

[3] Davenport Democrat and Leader. April 3, 1928.