The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-03-25

( There will be a race in France on June
IA. which will discount any contest ever
rr by he crariot drivers Of Rome ir the
/ Circus Maximus. When those ancient
chariois came laundering down the side
of the long ellipse crashing and oyerturn-
ing. the pillars at the lower end of the
arena saw many tragedies The race in
France it is hoped. will witness no trsg
edies. but the speed which viii 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 tn" automobile which IS
to represeLf this country. vas made IA
Cleveland. Ohio, last week over long
stretch Of the Cleveland Boulevard. No one
who saw it spinning over the course sus-
pected for moment that It vas the
American challenger. Alexander Winton,
inventor OF the machine. was at the lever
and he stated that his first test while
made under rather unfavorable conditions.
appeared 10 him satisfactory and that
while e would make no claims Of any
character for the American challenger he
felt that ne 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 beel taken
without his knowledge for he has Ions
been carefully guarding lbs factory against
r,s1 2 faf I-af
10 his device. He will from now o., mafe
frequent public trials at high speed over
the bouevards here until the 10th OF rext
month when the challenger will be sent tn
New York for shipment u Paris Mr.. Win
ton viii follow soon after with his fami-
~. Charles b. Shsnks. f, c. Collins, and
Le0u LepontCis.
All AutomobiIists Interested.
Automobiles throughout the country
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 will, make
creditable showing. The Winton machine
mas 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 ls'not professional
sportsman, therefore he is highly pleased
with the prospect OF entering the contest
which will be a gentlefnan's race and at
the same time represent the fastest auto
= h1eF tore in ha
The American challenger is striking
exposition Of Yankee mechanism. 1t Is
startling in its simplicity lacking in every
feature OF intricacy light and shitty 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. 1t pos
sesses about a ten-horse power. while the
foreign contestants are OF tfty-hors pow
er.
1t is equipped with a single cylinder by
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 II 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. Wiutou was
asked if he felt satisfied with the proper
lions 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 TO 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, a. l un-
derstand It, 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 massiveuess and power.
They are complex in the extreme and
every detail of design has been most care
fully executed. They are finished exqus-
itely. and are beautiful in appearance.
The detail Of the American challenger is D..
not so finely wrought. Its material is. of
course. Of the very best, but the finishing
touches have not been put on so perfectly
1t is built primarily for speed and the
longer the race the better chance it has
Of winning. IL is easily controlled, and
can be stopped almost instantly when run
ming at a high rate Of speed.
Some recent records made on the boule-
wards Of France may serve 10 show what
immense speed the American challenger
will have TO attain 10 make a showing in
the international race. N. Lemaitre with
q twenty horsepower car. won the Nice
Nice race; the hll-climbng
trials at Turbie. and concluded his per
Torrance by doing the kilometre from a
flying start in A Is seconds In the
Paris Bordeaux race NJ Charron covered
the 500 kilometre 1850 miles, in il hours
and 43 seconds. The 2,2e1 N'ometre
u 42Z.7 miles course In the tOur-de- France .
was completed by ChevHlier Rene de Kuyn
In the net time OF "A hours and i3 minutes
Antony did the 10 kilometre 1G3 milesD
In the Paris Tourville race in 2 hours and
55 minutes, which IS not far from 60 kiloms
or 80 - 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
Parish Lyons race, the machines must be
built not alone for speed but for the hard
long strain for hill climbing and other
difficulties Of the road. MIR Wipton is an
gentleman OF medium stature
not yet forty years OF age. He has been
making a close study OF the automobile
for the past FIVE years. About
year ago he came into general notice BY
a remarkable trip from Cleveland to New
York He made the run, a distance OF T07
miles. in q running time OF forty-seven
hours and thirty-f four minutes.
The Race Course Length.
The coming international race will be
run over the course between Paris and
LYnns Th. dlstance is $50 kIlonnetres- nr