Through Wickliff, Willoughby, and Mentor the road is a smooth, hard gravel.
Arriving at Painesville a few minutes after seven, we took in gasoline, had supper, and prepared to start for Ashtabula.
It was dark, so we could not see the tires; but just before starting I gave each a sharp blow with a wrench to see if it was hard,--a sharp blow, or even a kick, tells the story much better than feeling of the tires.
One rear tire was entirely deflated.

A railroad spike four and three-quarters inches long, and otherwise well proportioned, had penetrated full length.

It had been picked up along the trolley line, was probably struck by the front wheel, lifted up on end so that the rear tire struck the sharp end exactly the right angle to drive the spike in lengthwise of the tread.
It was a big ragged puncture which could not be repaired on the road; there was nothing to do but stop over night and have a tire sent out from Cleveland next day.
While waiting the next morning, we jacked up the wheel and removed the damaged tire.
It is not easy to remove quickly and put on heavy single-tube tires, and a few suggestions may not be amiss.
The best tools are half-leaves of carriage springs.

At any carriage shop one can get halves of broken springs.

They should be sixteen or eighteen inches long, and are ready for use without forging filing or other preparation.