JACKSON, MI – Babe Ruth smashed his first career home run, a German U-boat sank the Lusitania and the U.S. House voted against giving women the vote.

But in the summer of 1915, Jackson gave to the nation what might be called “Cliff & Harry’s Excellent Adventure.”

Newspapers all over America carried the accounts of Clifford and Harry Sparks, Jackson teenagers who set out from Chicago to San Francisco in a new Ford Model T truck putting up road signs that proclaimed “Safety First – Sound Sparton.”

The boys were the sons of William "Cap" Sparks. From humble beginnings, he partnered with two Withington brothers to build Jackson's Sparks-Withington Co. into a major industrial operation and a major player on the supply side of the early auto industry. One of its products was the innovative all-electric Sparton car horn.

“In the summer of 1915, an event occurred that was to be an experience for my dad, who was 19, and my Uncle Cliff, who was 17 – an experience they would never forget,” Harry’s son Sparry, now in his 80s and still living in Jackson, writes in his 40-page collection of family reminiscences. “They were called into Granddad Sparks’ office and there they heard about the ‘summer job’ of their lives.”

A 1915 trip that Harry and Clifford Sparks, sons of William "Cap" Sparks, took across country to place signs along the Lincoln Highway touting the safety of Sparton Safety Signals. (Coutresy photo | Mlive.com)

The route the boys followed was America’s first transcontinental highway – the Lincoln Highway. Dedicated in 1913, it went coast-to-coast from New York City to San Francisco. In 1915, much of it was impassable by modern standards, and its closest pass by Jackson was 50 miles south, through northern Indiana.

Much of the story of the boys’ trip is told by them in telegrams they sent home and are now preserved on the yellowing pages of a scrapbook donated by Sparry Sparks to the Ella Sharp Museum. Here are some excerpts.

• Harry Sparks sent the first telegram midday on July 8 from Chicago Heights, Ill.: "Just reached here OK. Expect to reach Joliet tonight. Have gone now 78 miles, 24 signs. Could put up no signs to Laporte (Ind.) because of detour. Will need only 40 signs at Marshalltown and Carroll because of short jumps. If possible send screws with stronger and larger beads."

• On July 14, Harry reported from Missouri Valley, Iowa: "75 miles today in soft gumbo after rain, 24 signs."

• From Clarks, Neb., on July 16, Harry wrote, "90 miles 20 signs. Bad rains last night, cyclone in Omaha, but we were 20 miles out. Pulled a car out of hole today. Had to ford a couple of streams."

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• On July 28, they reached Evanston, Wyo., 6,300 feet. Wrote Harry, "Mountainous country today with steep grade. Had first puncture yesterday. Saw lots of prairie chickens today, but of course didn't shoot as season is not on."

• Still at Evanston the next day, Clifford reported they were being held up by a bad differential gear. "When other was put in, it was put in wrong. Will probably get out of here tomorrow morning. Do not expect us to make time as roads are extremely bad across the American desert. Will spend Sunday on the desert. Never felt better."

• On Aug. 3, they were at Ely, Nev., altitude 6,300 feet. Harry wrote, "Got across the desert up to this point in much better shape than we expected. Cannot believe that Hades is any hotter than the desert."

• In a long report on Aug. 5, from Austin, Nev., Harry shed light on their difficulties: "We have been experiencing trouble with the grades. We got stuck twice yesterday. You remember I said we were going across the desert with two other cars; well they are still staying with us, and they stop at the top of steep grades and come down and help push us up. We have two or three times unloaded to make grades."

• As for their daily routine, "We get up anywhere from 4:30 to 6 o'clock and drive until dark. First it is up a 5 mile grade, then down, then across a valley, up, down, etc., all day long. I haven't written much lately, but we are so dead tired at night, that we stop and go right to bed. But we are both feeling fine; the air is wonderful."

• On Aug. 6, Harry wrote, "Between washouts, cloudburst, chuck-holes, desert and mountains the little Ford is still holding its own."

• On Aug. 8, Cliff wrote, "Arrived at Lake Tahoe, yesterday. Climbed a grade of 11 miles, used 5 gallons water going up. Went in swimming this morning. All the water in this lake is from melted snow. Magneto has gone bad and we are going into Frisco on batteries. Bad mountain climbing ahead of us. Dinner is ready so will have to go. Oh, yes, enclosed find rattle snake tail with 10 rattles of rattler killed at Lake Tahoe."

• Finally, on Aug. 14, Clifford wrote, "Arrived safe taking 30 days actual traveling. Mother and party met us at Santa Rita, 40 miles out, and believe me some surprised party."

That was the destination of the trip, but the boys still had to make their way back home – by a southern route that would take them from California into Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Kansas. There were more adventures.

On Saturday, Sept. 25, Harry messaged his father from Dodge City, Kansas, and received this reply: “Ship car by freight. Take first train for home to get ready for school. Dad.”

Within days of their return, both were attending classes at the University of Michigan where Cliff became a star quarterback on the football team.

In 1917, both brothers entered the U.S. Army and served through 1919 during World War I. After their service, the brothers both went into industry. Harry eventually became general manager, and then president of Sparks-Withington Co. Clifford had positions in Sparks-Withington and several other companies. Both were active community leaders. Harry died in 1972; Cliff, in 1975.

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