The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1901-10-11

An automobile running an an oval
rotting track at Empire City Park yes
erday travelled one. two. three, four.
I've and six miles. each and all I'm faster
ime than any man. machine or beast
ever went around track before. The
line for the six miles was minutes. ~
seconds. The fastest mile, the third, was
lone in 1:O6 As.
ihis is faster time than has ever been
made on straightaway road by horse.
bicycle or any machine except a locomo-
tive running on rails. The only feat that
compares with II is that of Charles MUIR
ply, who rode a bicycle under abnormal
conditions behind a locomotive, trailing
a car with a hood, in 81 4-5 seconds I'm
.ls9g
The automobile that performed the
great feat OF yesterday was one OF French
make. IL was manipulated by Henri
|Fournier and his companion was William
Is. Vanderbilt Jr., who was a guest The
rules require two men 10 he i'm the motor
vehicle In any record-making or endur-
|ance test. The second man is needed for
ballast and usually he Is a mechanic.
MIR. Vanderbilt did not act as mechanic.
millionaire sat erect and smiled and cha;-
ted simply as If out for a pleasure "trip
while going around the one-mile dirt g'r-
die at a faster clip than he had ever
Travelled before unless IL was behind one
|of the locomotives i'm which he holds q
|share of interest.
The circumstances OF the ride were
somewhat peculiar. and I'm way regrcr-
table. The track had been scraped ana
rolled for the benefit OF Albert C.. Bost-
wick. who tried last Thursday to break
the record, but failed although he estnb.
lished some new figures for several inter-
mediate miles. Mr.. Bostwick did not APP
pear until late. about ! o'clock. In the
meantime. although IL was a private trial.
crowd had assembled
Among those who came i'm automobiles
were w. Il. Vanderbilt. Jr, i'm n white
French machine. Fournier. with his pom
derous racing machine. camc ia with lit
tie Tod-Soane I'm the French ai,adricyclc
that was the winner Of iis class I'm the
Paris Berlin race. J. Dunbar WRIGHT,
second vice president of the Automobile
club. was the guest Of Mr. Vanderbilt.
There were I'm all about 10 motor vehi-
cles assembled on the sward I'm front OF
the graudstand besides couple OF score
OF bicycles. many persons wearing auto
mobile hats and a crowd OF hoodlums.
The chief timer was Charles Dieges OF
the Royal Arcanum Wheelmen. who
timed the great ride OF Charles Murphy.
The other official timer was j. +. Boyle
ot the Pastime Athletic club. These Of
ncials were ably checked by Superintend-
ent Treanor and several horsemen. who
had watches split to quarter seconds and
stood on the track I'm front OF the Judges
stand
10 was 4:29 o'clock when Mr.. Bostwick
started TO go for five miles. The track
was I'm fine condition. better, than last
week. and there was no breeze 10 speak
OF. Mr.. Bostwi-< had his mechanic Muir
ply. crouched I'm the front OF the ma-
chine. and he hung out on the inside in
thrilling style when the turns wee made.
MIR Bostwick went one lap TO get head
way before his timing began Ills first
mile was done IN 1913 2-5 seconds.
The best record was 1.i3it seconds The
second mile. 2 minutes eS 3-5 aeconds. vas
behind the record. The third mile. : min
utes g As seconds. and the fourth mile.
6 minutes As second. were both new
worlds records.
Mr. Bostwlck . these two records
for about ~ minutes. for AZ $50 o'clock
Fournier started and quickly made them
look chan. I'm the nth mile Mr.. Bost-
wick's cylinders heated and he began 10
miss explosions and slacken. He went
slowly. pulled out ~ the bank and quit
After a 2o-minute walt he tried again.
but did rot do az well as before
Tho crowd thought II had seen wonder
ful travelling when the Bostwick machine
went AROUND. but the difference between
that and tnis going NJ Fournier was
startling bcvond expression. lie did not
pinch the corners as closely az had Bost-
wick and ne made more noise and dust,
but his machine WAS as steady rs To-
<a.ser the sixth mile Fournicr