MOTORING 



AUTOMOBILE NOTES 



BY JOHN B. FOSTER 



Whatever specific complaint may have arisen, 

 now and then, regarding the conduct of a speed 

 road race in the United States of the magnitude 

 of the Vanderbilt Cup contest, it is an unquestioned 

 fact that the news announcement that it is to be 

 held again this year was received with interest 

 amounting to enthusiasm, not only on the part of 

 those who are directly concerned with automobile 

 building, but on the part of the general public. 



The experiment of holding the first race in this 

 country was viewed with some trepidation, and 

 provoked some local opposition on Long Island, 

 which was chosen for the course. At one time the 

 opposition amounted to an attempted public 

 demonstration, which failed, however, to carry 

 much weight, owing to the fact that the locality 

 most affected was divided in opinion as to the 

 possible benefit and disadvantages of the contest. 



That it proved to be an overwhelming financial 

 assistance to the community in which it was con- 

 ducted may easily be verified at any time by ques- 

 tioning the suburban hotel and restaurant pro- 

 prietors, whose faces ever relax into a broad grin 

 when they speak of the profits of "cup day," and 

 the weeks which preceded it That it is attended 

 by unusual and positive danger to the section in 

 which it is run is perhaps too much of an exaggera- 

 tion, although it is conceded that a competition of 

 its nature is not without an uncommon risk. At 

 the same time, it must be admitted by even those 

 who are most violently opposed to such a race that 

 the risk is one from which all persons, who are in 

 the least watchful and observant, may protect 

 themselves. 



The feature of the Vanderbilt Cup race which 

 most appeals to the general public is its striking 

 immensity. Everything is on such a magnitude 

 that the sentimental part of mankind becomes 

 interested in the struggles of these wonderfully 

 powerful machines for supremacy. Add to that 

 the speed at which they fly over the course, and the 

 certain amount of personal danger which attaches 

 to those who operate the cars, and it is easily per- 

 ceptible that the exhibition is one that impresses 

 the most stolid disposition. Then, too, a race like 

 that for the Vanderbilt Cup is purely a public 

 entertainment. It is free to all who are willing to 

 take the trouble to journey to the course, and 

 speculation on the probability of its outcome 

 becomes as locally exciting as settling upon the 

 fastest horse in the village, or deciding what human 

 happens to be the fastest runner. 



Every boy, now grown to man's estate, must 



remember how he and other boys were wont to 

 assemble at the side of the railroad track to watch 

 the fast trains as they entered the village. Perhaps 

 the train, in a great many ways, resembled most 

 other trains, but the mere fact that it was adver- 

 tised to be fast, to run at express speed, so appealed 

 to the curious side of the youngsters that it was a 

 gratification about train time to gather in groups 

 near the main track, listen intently every now and 

 then for the first rumbling of the ponderous loco- 

 motive away off somewhere in the distance, catch 

 the first faint wreath of smoke that announced its 

 appearance on the horizon, and secure some special 

 vantage point to be safely near it, when it thun- 

 dered by in a cloud of dust and confused noises. 

 Watching an automobile race, of the character of 

 that for the Vanderbilt Cup, appeals to almost an 

 identical love for excitement. No matter whether 

 there is the slightest personal interest in cars 

 which are running for the prize, there is a tre- 

 mendous interest in the abstract to be one of the 

 thousands which sees such a race run. For that 

 reason the Vanderbilt Cup contest quickly passed 

 from a novelty to a really great public affair. 



This seemed to be fully proved in 1905. Thou- 

 sands witnessed the contest for the cup in 1904, 

 but it was largely because nothing of the kind had 

 ever before been attempted in this country. In 

 1905 the day of the race became a gala occasion on 

 Long Island, and the only railroad which could 

 carry passengers to the course found itself, at the 

 hour of four o'clock in the morning, utterly unable 

 to transport all those who desired to go. Passen- 

 gers even rode on the locomotives, and the interiors 

 of the cars not only were packed until it was impos- 

 sible to squeeze another person within, but the 

 platforms were loaded down with scores, who 

 wanted to see the race for the spectacle it pre- 

 sented, and not because they owned motor cars, 

 or were even interested in their operation, other 

 than the interest which attaches to each fresh 

 evidence of the evolution of modern comfort. 



When the most conservative estimate can 

 hardly place the number of spectators scattered 

 around the twenty-eight mile course on a crisp 

 October morning at less than 200,000, possibly a 

 fair idea may be had of the drawing power in these 

 mute machines and their somewhat famous 

 drivers, who were to provide entertainment solely 

 on the basis of speed and mechanical develop- 

 ment. 



It is too early now to state exactly what condi- 

 tions will be made for the race of 1906, but the fact 

 that the cup is to be contested for again, on this 

 side of the ocean, opens a broad field of possibili- 

 ties, the more so that it is probable no French cars 



