The sun., 1903-11-27
VANDBRBlbY'S NEW RECORD,
W., H., JR., BEATS ALL COMPETI-
TORS At AUTO HILL CLIMBING.
He Makes the Ascent 10 Eagle Rock In !
MtRute 80 3-4 seconds with His French
Racpr--F. A. La Roche Runs Into
Dltch-gsIg crowd Watches the sport.

W. Il. Vanderbilt, Jr.. now holds the
record for the one mile climb up the Eagle
Rock hill at Orange n. j., with his big
thirty horse power Mors racing car, the
same one that he used in making the record
of 81 seconds for kilometre on the Dour-
dan course in France in 1901 Mr.. Vander-
bjt drove the car himself yesterday. with
chauffeur sitting on the step, when he made
the new record in the third annual hill
climbing contest of the Automobile Club
Of New Jersey.
The performance of Mr.. Vanderbilt
made sweeping cut in the record for the
famous hill and was the sensation of the
day The former record for gasolene car
was 2 minutes As seconds, and 2 minutes
AZ seconds for stea m car. both made
last year. MIR Vanderbilt made it yester-
day in minute 36A seconds.
Mr. Vanderbilt was not however, the only
one who drove far under the record. 1t was
a day of record breaking for hill climbing,
and as such sport goes it was excellent.
There were thirty-six entries for the contest,
and nearly all participated. The result of
the davis work il that the Eagle Rock hill
is now to be reckoned as "A standard course
by which to measure hill climbing per-
formapces This is made so by the fact
that famous racing cars, the speed qualities
of which have been determined on worlds
standard courses, such as the cars OF Mr..
Vanderbilt and MIR. La Roche, who drove
his FORTY horse power Darrocq racer have
shown what it ia possible to do on this hill,
and other performances can be measured
from the standard set. The hill is a little
over q mile long, and just one mile of it has
been surveyed for the climbing course.
The average grade Of the rise is per cent,
though in couple of places it is 10 per cent.
The timing of the cars was done by the
French electrical apparatus adopted by the
Automobile Club of America. {. II. Gillette
was the starter at the foot of the hill, and
S. NJ Butler, secretary of the Automobile
Club of America. and Dr. Truman j Martin,
president of the Buffalo Automobile Club
read the time at the top of the hill.
Only one car was allowed on the hill at a
time The first car was started up the
grade at lOOs:58 O'Clock, and the contest
continued without halt until 2:80 O'Clock.
The road was in fine condition, and the keen
dry air made the ccUditions favorable for
fast work.
Next to the performance Of Mr.. Wander
bilt' car the best record of the day was
made by j. NJ. Uppercue in an American
machine of seven horsepower. Mr.. La
Roche, in his forty horse power French
racer, was second to Mr. Vanderbilt in
the event in which they were classed, he
scoring 1 minute and 46 seconds
The affair was admirably managed.
and while few cars got stuck on the steep
est part of the hill, there was only one
accident This happened to F. A. La
Roche when he was making his run in the
special event, for cars under 800 pounds.
He was going at full speed and trying TO
beat Mr.. Vanderblt's record, but at the
second sharp turn from the top Of he hill he
could not hold the car, and went of into a
deep ditch.
The companion of Mr.. LaRoohe, G. W.
Sass, was thrown out violently, but baRoche
remained in his seat. Mr.. Sass was not
hurt. The two wheels on the right hand
side Of the car sank out Of sight in the mud
and water OF the ditch. but score of willing
hands lifted it out and it was found to be
totally free from damage. 1t completed
the trip up the hill, but it's time was not
taken.
The car of j. Nj. Uppercue was protested
and will probably be disqualified from
the touring car class because it was en-
tirely stripped to the chassis. The motor
bicycle of P. Fl. Johnston also will probably
be ruled out Of this class.
There We're several thousand spectators
out to see the sport. the whole one mile
being lined with people In all their were
eight events.