"Goat Pills" and "The Car Race"

Clarence's grandfather, Hyrum Claridge, was a man of numerous vocations, one of which was the raising of goats for their wool.  One of his goat ranches was in the hills at the foot of Mt. Graham, specifically in the big cottonwood wash at the crest of the road to Klondyke.  He apparently had operated this ranch for a considerable length of time, because the hills were literally covered with goat dung, otherwise known as goat pills.  The latter play a part in the incident hereinafter to be unraveled.

Clarence was about eight years of age (circa 1919).  His grandfather was anxious to entertain his grandson, so he hammered a couple of short 2x4's together and placed a seat across the middle.  It was a sled, no less.  And he instructed Clarence to drag his sled to the crest of a nearby hill.  The idea was to ride the sled down the hill atop the "goat pills", which in reality were nothing short of being ball-bearings. 

Everything went as it was supposed to.  The only unforeseen part of this reckless adventure was the speed which the "ball bearings"  generated when there was no friction involved...and no brakes to apply.  Clarence landed in a sandy wash at the foot of the hill.  The other unforeseen circumstance was that the sandy wash was littered with fresh cow dung.  Time has obscured just how Clarence managed his cleanup, but a trickle of memory has it that the watering trough for the cows came in handy. 

Prior to the "goat pill" incident there was "the car race".  It took place on that crooked but shady road between Safford and Thatcher, circa 1917.  Clarence's mother, Elizabeth, and he had been visiting Grandmother Claridge in Thatcher.  It came time to go home to their little white house behind the court house.  They boarded their pretentious locomobile and were enroute home when a local speedster in his new Grant-Six endeavored to pass them.  Now Elizabeth was of the "Barney Oldfield" temperament.  She was not about to let that Grant-Six pass her.  It was regarded as a challenge...Locomobile versus Grant-Six.  Elizabeth put her "pedal to the metal" and the driver of the other car did likewise.

Fortunately there were no other cars on the road.  Both vehicles top out at the tremendous speed of 60 miles per hour.  Throttles were wide open and the cars were racing fender to fender.  Neither car gave an inch.  Now Clarence was a youngster of seven or eight years of age...old enough to know what gravity was all about. 

As the cars raced, he sat motionless beside his mother pondering the law of gravity versus the immoveable object.  He knew they were approaching 8th Avenue where they would normally turn south to the Court House. 

To his surprise, as luck would have it, both cars plowed straight ahead when they reached 8th Avenue.  At this intersection, there used to be a considerable jog before one continued on into what was then 1st Street.  Elizabeth straightened out that jog to where today it is barely noticeable.  The race, of course, came to a halt, but not at will.  It is amazing what picket fences and trees can do to mess up a car."

[Excerpts from Clarence's Personal History]