Daredevil, also known sometimes as Daredevil Duke Lockwood but to family and friends as plain old Harold, was a Hollywood stuntman who parlayed his adventures into a career that took him from one end of the United States to the other during the 1920s.
His earliest stunts were airborne, but during 1924-26 or thereabouts he worked with automobile manufacturers and dealers to promote their products with 100-hour driving stunts like the one that brought him to Chariton.
Yes, Daredevil completed his tour of central Iowa as planned on Saturday afternoon --- then got magnificently drunk in Des Moines that evening and spent some time in police custody before moving on with his entourage to their next promotional assignment.
Here's the report of his visit to Chariton as published in The Herald-Patriot of May 21, 1925:
+++
No little interest is being aroused here over the widely advertised 100 hour non-stop run which Daredevil Lockwood of aviation and movie fame is attempting this week in a Chrysler automobile. The run started at Des Moines at noon on Tuesday and will close at four o'clock on Saturday afternoon.
Chariton is on the scheduled route of the tour, the first appearance having been made on the streets here at about ten o'clock Wednesday forenoon. The driver is due here again at 5:30 this afternoon and it is said that a trip will be made through here sometime on Friday.
On the long drive, which is continuous for four days, four nights and four hours, a Des Moines newspaperman is a passenger in the Lockwood car. The driver is handcuffed to the wheel and the hood of the motor is sealed, having been closed under lock by city officials at Des Moines. Gasoline, oil and food are taken on the run, there being no allowance for any stops for adjustments, sleep or rest.
The car was in motion all the time on the streets of Chariton Wednesday. Several trips were made around the square and a few passengers taken on and discharged, but this was done by merely slowing the pace of the machine, no dead stops being permitted unless to comply with traffic rules.
The Manbeck Motor Company, Des Moines, under whose name the feat will be attempted, has agreed to pay Lockwood a purse of $3,000 if he is successful in his undertaking. Also it is said, the driver has been offered a purse of $1,000 if the car fails to stand up to the grind. The 100 hour continuous run is advertised to be a most grueling test of both mechanical and physical endurance.
The sole nutrition during this 100 hour trip consists of milk alone, according to the bulletin information. The car is equipped with many spotlights and is illuminated all through the hours of the night. A super-hetradyne radio receiving set is carried by which the driver through the night listens to the various stations and particularly receives messages broadcast from Des Moines.
T. A. Reed, local Maxwell-Chrysler dealer, is helping to sponsor the run. At his place of business on North Grand street a bulletin board is posted setting forth the schedule of the driver as he speeds along over the streets and roads of Iowa. The tour is mapped to extend over an area within a 100 mile radius from Des Moines.
No comments:
Post a Comment