AUTOMOBILE NOTES. 



Edited by J. A. Kingman. 



THE VANDERBILT CUP RACE. 



As predicted in this magazine, the Van- 

 derbilt cup race, finished October 8th, was 

 won by a foreign car but driven by an 

 American, named Heath. The race was 

 attended by thousands of people, and al- 

 though no spectator was injured, 2 lives 

 were lost ; one the result of a smash-up of 

 one of the racing automobiles prior to the 

 event, and the other due to the capsizing of 

 Mr. George Arent's car during the race. 

 Mr. Arent's foreign driver was killed, and 

 although the employer was seriously in- 

 jured, he will recover. It is wonderful that 

 many spectators were not injured and that 

 more cars were not a cause of death to 

 their occupants. This is the first event 

 of the kind ever held in this country, and it 

 would appear that the managers of the race 

 could hardly be criticized for these fatali- 

 ties, occurring as they did to participants 

 and not to spectators. At the same time 

 it was not the fault of the spectators that 

 they were not killed, for time and again they 

 crowded into the course, apparently heed- 

 less of the fact that some racing car might 

 at any time come up like lightning and 

 mow them down by the score. 



A little over a year ago a road race was 

 run from Paris to Madrid, and the suicidal 

 recklessness on the part of many drivers 

 caused 7 deaths the first day, together with 

 many other serious accidents, with the re- 

 sult that the race Avas called off and every- 

 thing possible done to stem the tide of 

 popular indignation at such catastrophes. 



In reviewing the Vanderbilt cup race of 

 October 8th, it is difficult to see of what 

 practical value such an affair is to the au- 

 tomobile industry unless in the future some 

 limit shall be placed on the power of the 

 machines and a selection made of a course 

 more free from dangerous turns. 



Some persons may view the race as a 

 senseless and brutal performance, while 

 others may consider such a trial of value 

 to the automobile industry, both as an 

 advertisement and as a means of improv- 

 ing automobiles. Both .points of view are 

 correct in a measure, but if such an event 

 is to cause loss of life, it should be pro- 

 hibited, particularly if loss of life may come 

 to any spectator. Of course in the case of 

 the Vanderbilt cup race the only fatalities 

 were those of the participants who knew 

 their perils and entered the race with a full 

 1 understanding of its dire possibilities. 



There is danger in many sports, football, 

 horse racing, ice boating, and they are all 

 the more exciting because of that fact. 

 It would seem a pity to stop college 



football because there have been fatal 

 accidents. Just as well reduce the speed 

 of trains ' because there have been 

 fatal accidents due to high speed. The 

 automobile must advance, and improvement 

 can not be made without tests of this 

 kind. It would seem futile, however, to 

 continue such tests with no other limit for 

 the designer than the fact that the car which 

 is produced must not exceed 2,200 pounds 

 in weight. It has been suggested that these 

 cars should be provided with a certain 

 quantity of gasoline, only, to finish the 

 course however long it may be ; and this 

 would be a good plan except that it would 

 cause certain designers to use motors which 

 were economical but which had other fea- 

 tures not so good for general use. • Un- 

 doubtedly the best plan and one which will 

 shortly be adopted is to limit the size of 

 the engine cylinders and the speed of the 

 motor, and to make the finished motor bear 

 a certain relation to the weight of the com- 

 plete vehicle. By this we shall eventually 

 have racing machines which will be nothing 

 more or less than ordinary touring vehicles 

 with the body removed, and no one in- 

 terested in automobiles will deny that it is 

 touring vehicles which should benefit from 

 such road races. 



Experiments with freak racing machines 

 are of no value to the manufacturer, and 

 this is the principal reason why the recent 

 race was of limited value only. 



After experimenting with speed statutes 

 and local regulations which placed auto- 

 mobilists in direct opposition to the au- 

 thorities, England has adopted an act which 

 provides for the registration of cars and a 

 relaxation of the irksome speed limit. An 

 attempt is now being made to enforce the 

 automobile regulations in a sensible man- 

 ner, and the London Field, the best author- 

 ity on all topics of this sort, notes an in- 

 creased appreciation b}' the automobilists 

 of their responsibilities. When the law was 

 enforced to the limit against fast drivers, 

 there was a tendency among the owners 

 of automobiles to sympathize with one of 

 their number who was arrested, and to 

 condone his offence. Since England has 

 an act which is satisfactory as long as it is 

 enforced in a reasonable spirit and with- 

 out prejudice, the automobilists themselves 

 are most severe in demanding an enforce- 

 ment of the penalties for recklessness. 



The experience of England is likely to be 

 repeated here with good effect. Accidents 

 by automobiles are reported somewhere 

 every day, but no attention is paid by the 



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