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Weekly News July 17, 2017Description
A. H. Kellogg-Clarke (1909- ? ): At the end of World War II, A. H. “Jim” Kellogg-Clarke of Buffalo, New York, fell in love with antique automobiles. Despite his hyphenated name, he was not from the United Kingdom but rather descended from the Kellogg cereal family of Battle Creek (MI). He had inherited a wholesale grain company in Buffalo called Verity Mills. Surrounding himself with good managers like Burrows H. “Bud” Gilbert, he ran his company with a flair, having frequent seminars for his salesmen at the Hotel Hershey. My father and I first met him on the Glidden Tour through New England in 1947.
With his young wife, Althea, and Bud Gilbert accompanying him, he was driving an attractive 1911 Jackson touring car with a lot of polished brass. They were making out well, but when he saw the vapor flowing from the rear of our 1910 Model 71 on a cold New England morning, he determined that he HAD to have a Stanley. He introduced himself and talked to my father several times about buying one of his cars. By the end of the tour, my dad told him he had nothing for sale, but he would try to find him a Stanley.
Our longtime friend Frank Gardner had sold a 10-H.P. Model 65 (1913) Stanley to Jim Keith, then of Charlottesville, Virginia, early in 1947, and Keith attempted to drive it home from Boston. Somewhere north of Delaware he had trouble and loaded the car on a truck for the remainder of the trip to his home. Stopping at Auburn Heights, he asked my father for advice. My father told him he might make out better with a Model T Ford. Before 1947 was over, my father had traded a Model T and some cash to Jim Keith for his Stanley. We went to Charlottesville, towing the “T” behind our ’37 Packard with a self-steering tow bar and brought the Stanley home the same way. We began a mechanical and rough cosmetic restoration of the ’13 Stanley for sale to Kellogg-Clarke.
The Annual Meeting of the Antique Automobile Club of America was held in February 1948 at an armory on North Broad Street in Philadelphia. There was room in the armory for 10 or 12 antique cars, and members were encouraged to display one of their cars for interest and “atmosphere” (James Melton had a newly restored 1903 White steamer on display). The meeting itself took place on Saturday afternoon and evening; the cars could be brought in Friday and removed by Sunday. Kellogg-Clarke and Bud Gilbert came to Yorklyn and rode with me in their newly acquired Stanley to learn the operation. My father followed us in his Model 76. It was a cold day, but we had no trouble. Saturday night, however, it snowed, and the roads were treacherous on Sunday. Arrangements were made with John Mercer of Bucks County to bring the cars back to Yorklyn on one of his trucks. I promised Kellogg-Clarke that I would come to him in warmer weather to continue his driving lessons. He soon sent a truck and transported his Stanley to Buffalo.
In 1948, the Pennsylvania State Trapshooting Championships were held in mid-June at the Bradford Gun Club, about 80 miles south of Buffalo. I planned to spend a day or two with Kellogg-Clarke and his new Stanley and then take in the shoot at Bradford. I was treated royally in Buffalo. The Kellogg-Clarkes lived in a fancy apartment in a tree-shaded section of the city. The first evening I was there, their close friends John Oishei Jr. (pronounced “O-Shy”) and his wife came around for a visit in John’s 1932 V-12 Cadillac dual-cowl phaeton with a chrome-plated hood. Oishei owned the Trico Company, which made most of the windshield wipers on American cars. The next day, we undertook the operation of Kellogg-Clarke’s new Stanley.
My hosts also owned a manicured farm property on the shore of Lake Erie, southwest of downtown Buffalo. Here had been built a small museum to house the growing collection of antique automobiles. Kellogg-Clarke prided himself in telling visitors that he could start every car in the collection. It seemed there were between 12 and 15 cars on display, including a Wills-St. Clair, a Velie, a curved-dash Olds, the ’11 Jackson that was on the ’47 Glidden Tour, and two exceptional Pierce Arrows, a 1913 Model 36, and a 1917 Model 48. He said he would sell the Model 48 for $1,700, which had 12,000 miles on its odometer, and all the original Pierce tools in the driver’s door pocket (my father bought it about three years later, but the tools were gone).
We pushed the Stanley out, and I fired it up. As a trial run, my host said we would go to a country club in Orchard Park for dinner, about 25 miles east over straight country roads. I think I drove part way, and Kellogg-Clarke drove part-way, with his wife, Althea, in the passenger seat. I know he drove back in the dark using the gas lights -- Althea was on the front seat, and I was observing between them from the back seat. The car ran well, and for some reason I thought the owner could run it on his own and that he was ready to tour in his Stanley. Unfortunately, Kellogg-Clarke had no mechanical ability, but he had good mechanics and early restorers working for him.
In July 1948, the first-ever steam car tour was hosted by the Henry Wings Sr. and Jr., Stanley Ellis, and Frank Gardner at Charlemont on the Mohawk Trail, about 15 miles west of Greenfield, Massachusetts. Everyone known to have an operating steam car was invited to attend. My dad and I attended with two cars, his Model 76 and my Model 607 (every one of the 11 cars attending that tour was driven over the road). Kellogg-Clarke planned to drive his Stanley from Buffalo, a distance of over 400 miles. We had it planned that we would meet at the old Williams Inn at Williamstown early on a Friday afternoon, and we would go over the Berkshires on the Mohawk Trail together to reach our destination. With our two Stanleys, we had spent the night before at Kingston, New York, and arrived in Williamstown on time. After waiting for an hour or so, we went to the desk at the inn and found there was a note there saying that Kellogg-Clarke was not coming, that his car had failed. It turned out that the boiler was empty when he tried to fire up, and that was the end. He sent the car back to Yorklyn to have it “fixed” and soon thereafter offered it for sale.
In 1950, Kellogg-Clarke sold his Stanley to Bill Swigart of Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, and again I tried to teach a new owner how to operate his steamer, with similar results. The car has not run since 1950, but is still on display in the Swigart Museum near Huntingdon. I last saw Kellogg-Clarke at the spring meet of AACA at Cornell University in 1956. He was driving his 1913 Pierce Model 36.
Work Report: On Tuesday, July 11, 12 volunteers were on hand, viz: Larry Tennity (in charge), Mark Bodenstab, Steve Bryce, Mike Ciosek, Ted Kamen, Bob Koury, Brent McDougall, Jerry Novak, Matt Richard, Bill Scheper, John Schubel, and Tim Ward. All fittings under the right side of the boiler in the Model 76 were tightened and checked under pressure, and the fuel lines to the low-water shut-off were also attached. When maintenance on the burner is completed, all can be put back together and the car should be operational.
Installation of the right running board trim strips on the ’37 Packard continued. The trench was dug for the foundation wall for the new A.V.R.R. car shed behind the museum. Locomotive 402 was cleaned from its operation on July 2. A short circuit was fixed on the Lionel track of our electric train layout. The Models 725 and 735 were prepped for the Ice Cream run on July 13. In cleaning the 735’s pilot, something prevented the needle from going through its nozzle. The oil sock was changed in the 735.
On Wednesday, July 12, five volunteers were on hand: Jerry Lucas (in charge), Bill Schwoebel, Larry Tennity, Tom Marshall, and Steve Bryce. The glass globes on top of the gas pump were removed for safekeeping, as this pump must be taken down for repair and possible relocation. The pilot in the Model 735 was removed and thoroughly cleaned. A carbon chip in the nozzle prevented the pilot pin from going through the hole. The car was further prepped for the ice cream run. The throttle on the Model H-5 was slightly realigned, with the hope that it will be tight when closed.
The Model 87 was fired up and brought to the upper garage for further water pump work. The gravity line from the tank was blown back several times, and a good flow of water was achieved. The front pump, which on this car is the “second pump” was thoroughly examined, and the seat on the inlet check was not good. The temporary steel ball was stuck on the seat which was observed to be very wide (on the taper). With the pump tool made years ago by Herb Kephart, the flat part of the seat was cut down substantially, and a very thin tapered portion was cut. The lift was re-set and new nylon balls were inserted in both pumps, inlet and outlet. It was hoped that the pumps work well enough on the road to make the Ice Cream Run on July 13.
On Thursday, July 13, our second and final Ice Cream Run of the summer took place, with 4 cars and 11 people participating. In the Model 71 were Kelly Williams, Greg Landrey and Lynne Landrey, in the 87 were Steve Bryce and Tom Marshall, in the 725 were Tim Ward, Dave Leon, and Larry Tennity, and in the 735 were Jerry Lucas, John Schubel, and Mark Bodenstab. Jerry Novak also came to Woodside Farm with his beautiful 1931 Chevy roadster. It can be noted that the water pumps on the Model 87 worked perfectly, and it’s good to have this car back on the road. Future work on this car will include rebuilding the feed water heater (which is presently by-passed), and the possible installation of new perch poles.
Ted Kamen continued to work on the trim for the right running board on our ’37 Packard. On Friday, Steve Bryce straightened the wire wheels on the cart of our Cretors popper, which had been bent out of shape by trying to move the cart sideways.
