The Washington times., 1902-09-04
Fifteenth Street North
west Is Selected for
Speed Contest.
CITY AND CLUB COOPERATE
Police Regulations Arranged and Motor
Drivers of America Are Enlisted to
Take Charge of the Great Attraction
for Encampment Week.

An automobile race. with machine
running on the a.phalt streets of Wash
iugton at over a mile minute. ha
about been determined upon as one c
the features of the coming G. A. r. en-
campment. Authority to conduct sue
a race ever a mile straightaway cours
and parade of auto carriages decorate
with f. xers has been granted the citi
zens' executive committee On the forth
coming reunion of the Grand Army o
the Republic by the municipal govern
ment of the National Capital.
With this cooperation on the par
fact. the special committee on the auto
mobile meet will now issue formal in
vltation to the Automobile Club o
America to give its sanction to &he rac'
and join with the local committees to tn,
extent of supervising and controlling th'
contest.
Meanwhile the Washington committee.
interested in the parade and races viii
arrange such preliminaries as the selec.
tion Of t e line for the parade. the loca
tion and roping off of the course for the
races, and the suitable advertisement o.
both events.
The plans OF the local committee
which are. of course. subject to the
approval OF the Automobile Club. are
that the race shall occur on Fifteenth
Street northwest. beginning just above
U Street and ending at Street, with q
sufficient space at the head of the stree,
for the running start" and at the end
OF the course-in front of the Arlington
Hotel-for the carriages to come to a
full stop.
Plans for the Races.
The contests will be in preliminary
heats of two carriages each, with semi
finals and finals for the winners in the
preliminaries. Fifteenth Street will be
roped off with heavy manila rope, and
the cross streets will be SO enclosed as
to give fine viewpoints for all the car
rfages which appear in the parade with
out interfering with the racecourse Such
program is expected to prove of the
utmost interest to owners of fast racing
".
A race in Washington will have a ma
tional character not possessed by any
contest anywhere else. 1t will corre-
spond to similar meets held in Paris.
where prizes are aw-rded in the name of
the whole French nation. A straight
away course Is the dream of the auto
mobilfst. but no suitable course has
heretofore been found. 1t is, therefore.
confidently expected that the meet will
enlist the support of every man promi-
nent in the development of the sport.
The prizes are to be handsome silver
cups. ana will be presented to the win
ners by some representative of the Gov
eminent. very possibly by President
Roosevelt.
For the parade it is arranged thar
the carriages shall form in the Capitol
grounds, proceed slowly up Pennsylva-
MIA Avenue, pass in review at the
white House. turn up Seventeenth
street or some other street parallel to
seventeenth and enter the cross streets
along the course OF the race. These
spaces are TO be reserved for the car
riages which participate in the parade
for the particular purpose OF insurinc
those automobilists who enter the line
with decorated carriages a fine vantage
point from which to view the spec i |
contest.
sufficient Eumber of carriages hav.,
already been assured the committee % |
make the parade pronounced success. |
Present indications are that between 300 |
and 500 will be in line. The occupants
will represent fully the whole com
munity of automobilists in the East
and include as well members of the
Cabinet. the District Commissioners.
and other officers of the Government.
These arrangements are the result o:
a visit to New York by Vice Chairman
Robert b. Brown, of the committee on
display. Mr.. Brown re.
turned yesterday and reported tho
greatest interest in the project every
where he went In New York, he sail.
the only question was whether the
committee would have tn.
to enlist the support of th,
Club.
Makers of machines are everywhera
sufficiently interested to send here for
he parade the finest carriages their
shops can construct. In short, accord
bg to Mr.. Brown. the meet has al
eady taken OF the aspect of a great
competition in automobile con
.truction fer the parade and in speei
for the races
Mr.. Brown called on Commissioner
Mcfarland and Major Richard Sylves-
er. chief of police, before reporting at
yesterday. The former
lad already called in Major Sylvester for
onference over the proposed meet In
of MIR. Browns visit He
ssured Mr.. Brown that he and Major
ylvestcr saw no objection to the race
nd parade il the course of the speed
ontest was suitably roped Of.
Selecting a Course. |;
Any condition which Major Sylvester !
light propose must be met by the auto ,
,obile committeeman was the only /
revision attached to the sanction of Z
be meet by the District Commission
RS. Mr.. Brown and Major sylves- $
sr then discussed the matter. agreed I
nat the race could be conducted with
ut danger. and talked over the various ;,
purses proposed for the contest. f
Pennsylvania Avenue was excluded be- d
ause of the uneven surface. frequent
lr tracks. and expense OF preparing
le street for The race. Major Sylvester
-oposed Sixteenth Street as a wide and
zen thoroughfare. but Mr.. Brown OBJ
cted on the ground that Scott Circle c
ould Interrupt the race. and add 10 \
e danger Fifteenth Street, on the a
her hand, was evenly surfaced. un- :,
oxen, and offering long course. The ~
atter Is still open. but the likelihood +
that the race Will occur on Fifteenth
rect as indicated above. "
All aufomo bilisfs who ir,a,d ~ nos