The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-02-24
o,nFIELD AND RAINEN NET ON
ROAD BY ACCIDENT.
At THEIR BEST SPEED
THE AUTOS THUNDERED.
x,p AND TUCK THE DARING DRIV-
ERS KEPT ON.

scarcely Fifty Yards in Front OF
locomotive They Dashed Across
RniIrOad Tracks-Big Mercedes
aud the Bullet Measured Their
Speed-Meeting Was Quite by Ac-
cident.
A long looked for battle royal be-
tween Barney Oldfield on his Winton
Bullet and Roy Rainey, driving his
sixtv-horse power Mercedes French
machine, took place yesterday on the
Augusta road.
Oldfeld had been changing the gear
ing apparatus on the famous Bullet,
and in order to make sure that the
work had been properly done, so that
the machine would be in perfect order
for the races Friday, took Charles
Graham, his assistant, and travel
ed at a terrific clip out the Augusta
road.
Mr.. Roy Rainey had selected the
same route for his usual morning spin,
and learning that OIdfield was ahead
of him drove until the cloud of dust
warned him of the approach of the
champion driver returning after cir
cling the road fourteen miles from the
cjtv. Quickly cutting off the power,
Mr. Rainey swung his machine
around, and came abreast of Oldfield,
who accepted the challenge, and yell
ing a warning to Graham, turned the
carbureter feed a couple of notches.
L., To-, 1. Il
portunity to measure it's speed with the
Bullet. The Mercedes, smarting I'M
der the defeat Oldfield administered to
one of it's sons driven by Vanderbilt,
in the mile championship at Ormond,
responded gamely to the throttle pres
sure of Mr.. Rainey. But the two rec
ord breakers were not alone in their
terrific struggle for the supremacy of
the road. The limited of the Atlantic
Coast Line, whose tracks run parallel
to the macadamized road, came thun-
dering along at it's best speed.
In Front of Locomotive.
The whistle of the locomotive fell
upon deaf ears. Whether or not the
motorists heard it's shrek is not
known, but they paid no attention to
the warning, and crossed the tracks
nifty ydlno OC1OA HbAT lyAAl
train. The engineer, : knowing the
powers of his engine, pulled the throt-
tie almost completely open and waved
the auto drivers to come along. For
a moment both Oldefild and Rainey
seemed to forget each other, and CIV
ing their machines every bit of the
power they possessed began, to pull
away from the limited. Is 5
Onward the two red devils. sped, get
iV,er ,1n I, ~
pedestrians who were warned of their
approach by the cannon-like reports
from the exhaust of the Bullet. Three
miles from the city the fearless driv-
ers had left .thezstnain half a mile in
the rear and were beginning to wonder
how much farther the race was to go.
Neither had gained fifty feet in the
wild race, and neither was willing to
be the first to shut off.
shut Down Together, .s-2-
Half a mile frem the. crossing of, the
Central Railroad Mr.. Rainey raised his
hand to Oldheld and pointed to the
rise ahead which meant death IL
crossed at such a speed. Instantly
Oldfield waved his hand and both shut
off at the same moment just in time
to make the crossing in safety. Old
field was naturally piqued at his fail
lre to smother the Rainey car with
the dust of the Bullet, although his
machine is built for track work only
and not equipped with jar-resisting
springs essential for such work as road
racing.
The honors were even, but to the
man who always expects victory in
clean-cut style it compares with de-
feat, and Oldfield insists on another
chance at the Mercedes. Mr.. Rainey
has decided to compete with Oldfield
on the track in the handicap race Fri
day, and although the interest centers
in the race between the 1899" driven by
Hausman, and Oldfeld's Bullet, there
will be many who will go to the Fair
Grounds to witness the handicap. The
date has been definitely decided upon
as Friday afternoon and the track will
be in splendid condition, unless it
rains in the meantime.