35 Days to Deliver Letter--but It Marks Historical Event

SAN FRANCISCO —  Three antique Oldsmobiles will leave today to deliver a letter from Mayor Dianne Feinstein to New York Mayor Ed Koch.

If all goes well, the drivers hope to hand the letter to the New York mayor in about 35 days.

The three-car caravan will re-enact the first delivery of a letter across the United States by auto in 1903. At that time, San Francisco Mayor E. E. Schmitz handed over his letter for New York Mayor Seth Low to pioneer drivers Lester Whitman and Eugene Hammond in their Oldsmobiles.

The little cars took 73 days to make the delivery, including a 20-day stopover for repairs.

Eugene Hammond Jr., son of one of the original drivers, noted that there were no roads in desert areas in those days and that the original drivers forded ravines and streams by driving across railroad bridges.

Asked if there is any problem the current drivers will have that the 1903 crew did not, Gary Hoonsbeen, 47, of Minneapolis, leader of the caravan, said simply: “Traffic.”