New-York tribune., 1902-06-05
THINKS MA CHINE IS NO FREAK
OWNER OF AUTOMOBILE WRECKED AT
STATEN ISLAND FINDS 4 CHAMPION
WHO DRAWS LESSONS.

To the Editor of The Tribune.
Sir: The tragic accident which cut short the
Automobile Clubs speed runs May 81. and
by which several were injured and two were
killed has led to unjust criticisms of w. c.
Baker designer and constructor and driver Of
the electric racing machine which swerved into
a throng of sightseers with such disastrous re-
suits. The writers for the daily press have
dubbed Bakers racer freak"
None of these at least pointedy implied ac
cusations have the slightest foundation in fact.
The round. double pointed body form of racing
machines has often been employed, and is we'll
known to be the most suitable for rapid move
ment in water in air. and 1t is also the form
which infiicts the least injury upon a crowd Of
human beings against which it may be acci-
dentally impeIled Had the racing machine
been built with a square front instead of point
the loss of life would undoubtedly have been
much greater.
Great skill shown in providing new ap
planes TO inclose and protect the driver and
avoid wind resistance. giving the driver full use
Of all his faculties in the tremendous task of
steering the racer at speed of over sixty miles
an hour on rough road. The uitability of the
body design is proved by the fact that Messrs.
Baker and DenZer came out Of the wagon after
the crash but slightly bruised
The accident comprised three events, in
quence never to be certainly determined. The
pneumatic tire of one wheel either punct-
wood rim of the wheel failed. and the vehicle
then passed of steering control. At some
time in this disastrous instant Mr. Baker ap-
piled the brakes and shut off the current and
the remainder of the flight of the machine was
due to the momentum Of its two thousand
pounds weight moving at a velocity of about
! seventy miles an hour
High speed automobiles are d necessary feat
| ure in the advance of power driven road wagons
| toward perfection and safety at low rates of
| progression, suitable for every day on high
ways. High speed means the best of designing
| and the extreme Of endurance of the materials
employed In construction, and there is no posi-
! bic way to decide what design is best or what
materials are best, except TO put them to the
final trial of rapid running. Such trials OF
speed viii always be of the greatest interest to
/ the public, and will always be fraught with
danger to the daring drivers who guide their
| fleet creations, Baker drove his on Nav 81:
but with proper policing, a straightaway track
| in the best possible condition. and fixed safe DO
! sitions for onlookers. we may expect to see the
mile made in forty-five fifty seconds without
/ such wholly unrecompensing personal injuries
and remorse compelling loss of life as the Staten
| Island speed trials produced.
Mr.. Baker, at great cost to himself has
valuable certainties: He has proved the ,-ire
! spoke wood rim wheel to be a bad combination
and he has also shown how drivers of fast au-
| tomobiles may be protected to have the
full use of all their bodily powers in their eff
| forts to break records, and how the lives Of
such rash may be saved. even in case Of
| failure of their racing machines at seventy miles
! an hour speed. HUGH DOLNAR.
| June 3 1902.