The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1899-10-01
Automobile and Motor Cycle Races
to Take Prominent Rank.
AN INTERNATIONAL CONTEST
Believed To BE One OF the Events
Which VIII Inauguratc the Begin
ming Of the Twentieth Century.
Some Automobile Points.

great sports 20 delight the hearts OF low
ers of contests of speed. Now that the
end Of the century is approaching. how
ever. the glory of saese modes Of racing
is passing for the race of the future is to
be no mere contest OF endurance on the
part OF either man or horse. 1t is to be be-
tween automobiles and motor cyc.es, 10
win which win require perfection OF
Workmanship as well as skin and cndrl-
ance on the part Of the operator so tnat
the races OF the future will no longer be
mere exhibitions Of brute force but rath-
or a brilliant combination Of mind and
matter. what innovations are % be made
in other branches OF athletic sport time
alone can tell. but that these are TO be
two OF the gas.imcs Of the twentieth
century must be admitted By all who
have followed the course OF modern ~
yenuon.
Already there Is every reason 10 be-
lievc that the twentieth century IS 10 be
-inaugurated by a brilliant Information
al long distance race in which the auto-
moiies OF every country vii fight for
supremacy and there is little doubt that
the achievements along the line OF motor
cycles viii be of sufficient imIortaucc 10
assure some wonderful races In which
these marvellous machines viii participate
before the first year of the new century
has closed. Long ago those Who become
acquainted with the principles OF waat IS
now known as the internal machine
were satisfied that the invention when
perfected might be made 10 accomplish
great results. Confident as they were Of
The ultimate results. however. few mag
ined that such a short time would cl1o-e
before the invention would be brought TO
| a state Of comparative perfection, but now
that this has been accomplished they are
I lust as positive that the entire system
of b'cyce racing the world over is 10 be
| reyoluti0nized within the next few years.
While this is very plain 10 those VINO
nave seen the internal machine at
work Others who have not witnessed the
opc~ation Of VI. Di0n-B0uton's insiru-
ment cannot realize the extent of the
work that has been accomplished. I'm
aginc. IL you can. the spee1iest race
horse I'm the world coming rown the
stretch as II ON wings of The Wind
Imagine a fast express train rushing ON
with q GEAR. straigh1 track before IL
and YOU may have some idea of The CHAR
acter Of the machine that is TO play a
leading part in the races Of The next
century.
In suite Of an this It is a simple inyen-
ton. "a motor composed OF equal parts OF
compressed air and gasoline and yet no
race lMi SO lilAA ENtl AANNN VIZ ""N.
could equal the pace that Is set by this
machine when propelled by clever BIZ
cyclists. When such a pace setter Is pro
vided snaCe seems TO be ooliterated and
the wheelman simply speeds on, as ooli-
vious 10 distance as to time.
THE DEMON RIDE
Long before ". Fourier came 20 this
country he was known as the demo
rider While Bouton's was the brain
90 perfect the instrument he was the
ideal man to operate II and suDerstitious
persons who have watched his perform
ances are sometimes inclined 10 believe
that he is possessed that he is the de
mon RIDER On fact as well as i'm name
He is q Frenchman who has been speed
ing bicyc'es ever since the early days
of the wheel and what he does not know
about racing Is scarcely worth knowing.
His career IN France was a triumph. His
success I'm this country has been Dhe-
nomonal.
The Internal Quad. which has Of late
become so familiar 10 racing men as the
fastest bicycle PAGER In existence. Is Of
American build. Il was constructed by
the Orient company. Of Waltham. under
the direction of VI. Fourier himself. end
was built with a care to the minutest de-
tail that has seldom been given even 10
racing machines. When one has seen the
Internal quad In c-erati0n. however. he
IS not surprised that those who were TO
ride the demonic machine should have
insisted that IL should he perfection in
overy detail or its construction. Jus.
how fast It can go no one knows but It is
certain that at the speed already develop
I'd a faw or an imyerfectiOn that would
lie sufficient 10 cause an accident would
mean instant death for each Of the fou-
riders.
To hear NJ. Fourier describe the inven-
tion. however. once kind Of an ac-
chlevement in mechanical c%ontriv-
ance. 1T is not ar all intricate"
he said. Just as simple as you could
wish. The three riders sit In front.
the man who operates the motor has the
last seat. The air motor proper Is In
front OF the first man. Between the third
and fourth man are the gasoline tank
and the air pumps. as wei as the reguia-
tor with its keys and communicating
wires. which are under the control OF the
operatOr. touch a key and Just so
much air is forced into the motor from
which the air is drawn through a pipe
into the gasoline. / touch another key.
which starts the electric spark. which
grows larger and larger under the grad
ual force of the pressure. Naturally
the more power there is the more speed
Is developed and this | can hold in check
increase or decrease as may seem neces-
sary TO me. That is all there is 10 II
cor the riders DO the rest.
Although this pCrion Of the work IS
dismissed without much conmsnt by u.
Fournier he is fully aware Of the va,ue OF
this feature In the making power OF
the three riders Is a great aid TO the air
pressure and moving together harmoni-
ously as the two forces must do. a pace
is set that cannot fail TO be revolution
airy In the racing Of cycles.
BEARS THE TEST.
Although comparative few expert
menfs have Teen made In this country as
yet the tests that have been made ave
been sufficient 10 prove that the new in
fernal machine has not been over-esti-
and already cyclists from all
parts of the country are wild TO get into
with this innovation in the art Of
racing. Among those who have rode
miles paced by the demon quad are Harry
Elkes and Burns Pierce. Fixes fastest
unDaced record was 2:02, but with the
aid Of this machine he was able to sur
prise even himself. At Manhattan
Beach he did a mile In l:3S and later.
he broke his w record when. at WASH
Ington. he covered a mile In l:3l.
The actual time made by Pierce was
not as good as that OF Elkes and yet his
achievement was a most marvellous one.
Ills position as the champion 100 mile
rider OF the world has long been admitted,
but he never imagined hat he could coy
IT that distance i'm three hours. twenty
seven minutes and five and two-ffths
Despite the faith OF the new invention.