Snow Cruiser Scheduled to Go Thursday

The $150,000 snow cruiser to be used by the U. S. Antarctic Service expedition underwent minor repairs and adjustments today after a laborious 13-mile test run through Chicago streets. Departure of the 27-ton mechanical monster for Boston, the embarkation point, was postponed about 24 hours until tomorrow morning as a result of its imperfect performance last night. As a result, it will not roll over northern Indiana until Thursday. The exact time it will reach Westville on U. S. 6, nearest point on the overland journey to Michigan City could not be computed. New plans call for the cruiser to leave Chicago at 2 a. m. Thursday. A short test will be made on Indiana sand dunes west of Gary before the trip will be continued. Thus, it is possible the cruiser will pass through Westville anytime after 4 a. m. It must reach Fort Wayne by nightfall. Not Dissatisfied Dr. Thomas C. Poulter, designer of the novel land craft said he was not dissatisfied with the shakedown cruise in Chicago last night. He emphasized the test was intended to show up minor defects. It did. It took the cruiser five hours to travel from the Pullman- Standard Car Mfg. Co. shops at 111th St. to a parking lot on the lakefront near Soldiers field. Jamming of an automatic jack used to change the elevation of a wheel was blamed for the longest of several halts. During one half-hour wait, at 73rd and Jeffrey Ave., Dr. Poulter insisted there was no breakdown. "We're just making minor adjustments," he said. Reporters button-holed an assistant. "We're just stopping for a coca-cola," he said. It's Huge Machine The snow juggernaut--55 feet long, 15 feet tall, 19 feet wide, with four 10-foot rubber tires, each weighing 1,500 pounds-- was designed to cross crevasses as much as 15 feet wide and generally conquer the most difficult terrain to be found in the south polar regions. It is powered by two giant Diesel engines, coupled to electric motors in the four wheels. The rear wheels may be turned independently of the front, enabling the craft to move sideways. It will carry an airplane on its turret. It was not, however, designed to defeat Chicago's streets. Indiana state troops will meet the cruiser at the Indiana- Illinois line early tomorrow if the long-awaited cross-country jaunt is started. They will then convoy it along U. S. 6 to LaPaz, thence along U. S. 31 to U. S. 30, thence to Fort Wayne.