The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1903-08-16


IL to drive an automobile one mile
in thirty-fve seconds! II nerve
viii do it. Oldheld's ambition will De
realized for already he has proved HIM
self the most daring chauffeur i'm Amer
lea. it is doubtful if there are more
daring in Europe.
II was easy TO reconcile the maker OF
worlds track records with the square
shouldered young Hercules OF the
laughing brown eyes who talked WIN
me Of miles Travelled faster than the
wind and of the almost limitless oossl
bilities of the automobile of the future
He spoke as composedly as If the SUD
Ject were one for drawing room dlEeI-
sion, but his strong jaw and fearless
mien gave indication of that intrepidlty
that had guided "a space annlhliatlLS
machine at a rate Of siXty-hVe miles
an hour around the curves OF the EN-
pire City track at Yonkers only rev
days before.
He laughed at that speed-this gen
tlemanly young fellow Of the shlilhS
face. who has gone faster around a CIT
Gle than any living man. A mile III
ffty-four and four-ffths seconds, he
admitted. is fast for the Empire track.
when il is taken into consideration that
the oval had been designed for trOtters
with two minutes as probable limit
What is the automobile limit?
W TN the lldIh anu lAAN NA'-E AAC -
dicted he would reduce the record for
mile on an elliptic course TO fifty sec
onds or betterl Whew! That is az
the rate Of seventy-twO miles or more
an hour-including curves, too, re-
member.
And the mile straightaway?
with the day and the course il viii
be done in thirty-five secOnds-more
than a hundred miles an hour, Dou-
bic the speed of the Empire State eX-
press,
That. Barney Oldfield, demon among
chauffeurs, promises to do with his
present ninety horsepower motor
racer-when he finds the course that
will permit of it.
Automobiles may be built, he says,
with speed of practically no limit. They
can be made of such power, he believes,
that no human being will dare to eX-
tend them to their grOund-eating ca
pacity. From this list he does not even
exclude himself.
But with present day machines Bar
ncy Oldfield stands eager to meet any
racing automObilist in the world. He
has authorized me TO make his chal-
lenge broad and sweeping. He bars
none.
He prefers to meet Henri Fourier
because of the latter's great reputation
y
other European racing experts who he
thinks he will be harder to beat than
Fourier. These three are JenatZy, the
Belgian, who finished first for Ger
many i'm the international cup race:
Gabriel, the hero Of the Curtailed Paris
Madrid race, and Charles Jarrett, the
Engiishman. who was injured in the
Irish contest.
Any of these Oldfield will meet on Il
track or, an enclosed course. either n,
Europe or America. If sufficient in
dUcements be offered for a match
across the water he will sail on a
weeks notice. or if any of the foreign
cracks will come to America for N
series Of match races he viii personally
guarantee expenses. and find backing
FOR himself to the extent Of $4,000. He
specifies only that the contests must
not exceed five miles. His reasons
therefor are given further on.
So eager-is the American champion 10
meet Fourier that he offers the Paris
ian crack 50. 900 outright to come to De-
troit for a single match race at five
miles. best two in three heats besides
q percentage of receipts, a size bet and
as many matches TO follow as Fourier
wants.
If Oldfield fails to make a match with
any OF the European experts this year
he pans 10 cross the Allduilt IN lii-
spring of 1904 and enter every race
abroad i'm which he will be eligible 70
compete. With this purpose i'm view
he already is having built by Henry
Ford at Detroit a race machine that
will be more powerful and yet lighter
than his present record Smasher. To
use his own words. it will be the fast
est automobile ever conceived"
His present time demolisher by the
way, is as wonderful as its driver. Old
field is confident he can beat anything
on wheels. He thinks its work OF
O.55 As on dirt trotting track with
sharp corners. built for a twO-minute
clip. UNNECESSARILY superior to NJ.
Anglers mile record Of 0:46 with a
MOrs racer over the straightaway
Dourdau road in France. He figures
that there is at least fifteen seconds
difference between the two courses. He
expresses absolute confidence of COINS
under forty seconds on the Dourdan
route
Oldfeld is proud Of his machine be-
cause he helped to build it, Some aU-
tomobilists who looked the affair over
while il was at Empire park last week
were not slow 10 declare il a freak
They averred il to be absolutely use
less except for short trials Of speed
over a perfectly level surface.
Briefly. the machine consists of a
square frame with an engine mounted
I'm front and geared to one wheel a
cooler. four wheels and a seat. There
you are; everything except the records
and they come when the engine runs.
The entire mechanism is exposed,
there is no oiling system. no exhaust
system or muller. no crank case. only
one speed ahead. and that is on the
high gear; no differential. no reverse
no rear springs. no governor. and di-
rect drive with only the rear outside
wheel.
The racer cannot be used on the road
unless perfectly level and can turn
corners or curves only to the left 1t
has 10 be oiled by can, one Oiling last
ing not more than fifteen or twenty
miles. The steering mechanism is dan
geroUsIy light, and handle bars take
the place of a steering wheel.
Under the rules of the Automobile
club of France the vehicle would be
barred from open competition in that
country, as il would also in other Eu-
ropean countries. Automobiles built
for general road use must necessarily
be handicapped when entered in speed
competition on the track against such
a craft.
Barney Oldheld is quite honest in not
staining his machine to be anything
out a track racer. At that il beats the
world His story of its construction is
interesting.
About two years ago" he said
b.