The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-03-25
AUTOMOBILES TO RACE
The Coming international Contest
Over a French Course.
The Run to BE Made From Paris to
Lyons. Distance of :..,5 Miles.
lenger Coptrasted with the Bulky
Machines of Foreign Opponents

There will be race in France on June
II. which will discount any contest ever
rr by the crariot drivers of Rome in the
Circus Maximus. When those ancient
chsriots came laundering down the side
of the long ellipse crashing and overturn-
ing. the pillars at the lower end of the
arena saw many tragedies. The race in
France. ii is hoped. will witness no trag-
edies. but the speed which will be attained
would put the feet Roman charioteers to
shame
| This contest which promises SO many
| dramatic features and so much excitement
! is the long distance automobile race for
! tn. James Gordon Bennett cup.
The first test of the automobile which Is
to represent this country, was made IN
| Cleveland. Ohio, last week over long
| stretch of the Cleveland Boulevard. No one
who saw it spinning over the course sus-
/ pected for a moment that 1t vas the
American challenger. Alexander Ninton.
| inventor of the machine was at the lever
| and he stated that his first test while
made under rather unfavorable conditions.
appeared TO him satisfactory and that
while re would make no claims of any
! character for the American challenger he
/ felt that he was justified il stating that 1t
! had in every way met his expectations. He
was much surprised when shown picture
/ of the challenger which had beea taken
without his knowledge for he has long
| been carefully guarding his factory against
! the possibility of any publicity being given
hi. H.. rNgNF : a
! frequent public trials at high speed over
| the boulevards here until the 10th of rext
| month when the challenger will be seat Il"
| New York for shipment II Paris. Mr.. Win
ton will follow soon after with his fami-
! ", Charles B. Shanks, +. c. Collins, and
| Leou Lepontcis.
All AutOmobilists Interested
Automobiles throughout the county,
are becoming greatly interested in the
prospective international race. Notwith-
standing that France had the start of this
country by two or three years in the mat
ter Of general production on this side of
the Atlantic the American product has
reached such a high degree OF efficiency
that enthusiasts here feel that the Ameri-
can contestant in the race willie make
creditable showing. The Wintor machine
has as its motive power gasoline. 1t VIII
be operated in the race by the inventor.
Mr.. Winton is a careful but wonderfully
skilled operator He isinot professional
sportsman, therefore he is highly pleased
with the prospect OF entering the contest
which will be a gentlemans race and at
the same time represent the tastest auto
mobiles and best operators Ill the world.
The American challenger is striking
exposition of Yankee mechanism 1t Is
startling In its simplicity, lacking in every
feature OF intricacy, light and shifty. The
few who have seen IL and who are familiar
with the French machines are surprised,
and wonder at Its fate when put to the
supreme test beside the gigantic racers
which the French are building. Il pos
sesses about a ten-horse power, while the
foreign contestants are Of tifty-horse pow
er.
1t is equipped with single cylinder hy-
dro- carbon motor which is not unlike the
standard motor, save that its power has
been sufficiently increased to permit the
speed which will be necessary. and the
body Of the carriage has been slightly
changed. Compared with the French
racing machines IT looks tame. 1t exhibits
no complicated machinery, nor does it look
like locomotive. This unassuming
American machine is to compete with ra-
GERS which already have wonderful rec
ords to their credit. Mr.. Winton was
asked II he felt satisfied with the proper
tions OF his machine; II he was not afraid
OF being beaten by reason OF the tremen-
dous size and weight OF his competitors.
He declined 10 discuss the merits of his
carriage, but one of his representatives
said: Every carriage in the race will have
power sufficient for very high speed. The
difference between the machines, as | un-
derstand 1t, is that the foreign products
will have two, four, and some eight cy.in-
der motors while the American machine
will have the single cylinder hydro carbon
motor
Foreign Competitors' Plans.
The foreign competitors are all built on
the French plan of massiyeness and power.
They are complex in the extreme and
every detail of design has been most care
fully executed. They are finished exquis-
itely. and are beautiful in appearance
The detail OF the American challenger is
not so finely wrought. Its material is, of
course. of the very best, but the finishing
touches have not been nut on so perfectly
1t is built primarily for speed, and the
longer the race the better chance 1t has
of winning II is easily controlled and
ming at high rate Of speed.
Some recent records made on the boule-
wards of France may serve to show what
immense speed the American challenger
will have TO attain to make a showing in
the international race VI. Lemaitre. with
a twenty horsepower car. won the Nice
CSstellane- Nice race; the hill climbing
trials at Turbie, and concluded his per-
Torrance by doing the kilometre from a
:
Paris Bordeaux race VI. Charron covered
the sos kilometre 1850 miles, in II hours
and 43 seconds. The 2,2g1 kliometre
Il 1922. : miles, course in the our-de- France
was completed by Chevalier Rene de K..yff
in tn. net time OF "a hours and i3 minutes
Antony did the 10 kilometre 1O3 miles,
In the Paris Tourville race in 2 hours and
55 minutes, which is not far from 60 kiloms
or 33 12 miles per hour
Special dashes with flying starts over
short and perfectly level stretches have
been made in time more startling than
the records shown in the foregoing con-
tests. but over long distances, such as the
Paris Lyons race, the machines must he
built not alone for speed, but for the hard
long strain for hill climbing and other
difficulties OF the road. Mr. Winton is an
unassuming gentleman of medium stature.
not yet forty years Of age. He has been
making a close STUDY Of the automobile
proposition for the past FIVE years About
a year ago he cap.e into general notice by
a remarkable trip from Cleveland to New
York He made the run, distance Of 7O7
miles. in a running time Of forty-seven
hours and thirty four minutes.
The Race Course Length.
The coming international race will be
run over the course between Paris and
L ,.a.. TIL di.tanca is hkn ,a..a=. -.