The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-05-27
COURSE WAS CROWDED
LACK OF CARE TO PROTECT
 PoPULACE FROM AUTOS.
Sheer Luck Responsible for the Lives of Many-Pennell Gives Graphic Description of First Stage
 of Race.

London, May 2s.--Joseph Penreli, the
 artist and writer. has sent most graphic
 description of the first stage of the Paris
 Madrid automobile race to The Daily
 Chronicle from Chartres. After describing
 the assembling of the crowds nd how, finally, the racers were seen coming from
 the top of the hill, he continued:
 N'As the cars fell-there is no other word for it-down the slopes, and approached the narrow bridge, jumped with a bound across and flew with a scream up the rise beyond, one could see by the twitch of the wheels. not half of which was caused by the road, how agonizing was the strain on the driver. forced to make his way through the endless, uncontrolled crowds which filtered the road from Paris to Bordeaux
 Much as one may esteem the broad minded views of the French government in encouraging the motor industry, the governments neglect to protect the course was criminal and nothing else. Though on the stretch of eight kilometres between Chartres and the first village, there were 900 to 10000 peaole and 500 to 1000 cars, no attempt was made to control the crowds. mostly made up of peasants and people from Paris who knew nothing about automobiles.
 The horse-drawn traffic was stopped tllC IdCOs DuI tIO IOOlB Ou DlCyCleS and the imbeciles on motors careened about and drew up anywhere all over the road and only escaped killing them selves and the racing men by sheer dumb luck which is said to protect drunken men, children and fools. Yet. people won der why accidents happened.
 ''The conduct of the military authorities was incredible. From Chartres to the mar row bridge at the foot of the hill the roadway was kept clear by a regiment of infantry and some gendarmes. and though pedestrians were not permitted to cross the bridge. but had to pass through the stream below. thus making a jam at both ends of the bridge. ordinary motor cars and motor cycles were allowed free pas sage. of which they took such advantage that one of the racing cars was stopped dead in order that a person on an ordi- nary car might crawl over. As for the motorcycles in the race, they were simply used near Chartres as pacing machines by any stray scorcher who wanted to take them on Measures for preserving the safety of the public were either non-eix- istent or of the most ridiculous charac- ter"
 MT. Pennell then describes the scenes at the Headquarters at Chartres and the ap- pearance and often hysterical demeanor of the drivers who were out of the race, and says:
 Further up the street was another car with huge gash in the tire of one wheel, the other tire down and the whole twist ed and bent in the hands of dozen workmen. Walking away therefrom was a being with part of a cap over one ear and part of pair of goggles over the other plastered with mud and oil. in rags and tatters of what had once been a suit of clothes. It opened It's mouth and said In a voice checked with tears and in the American language:
 "T do not mind breaking down again: but 1t makes me so very angry It was MT. Vanderbilt, and he had been in a ditch"