The daily palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1904-1905, 1904-07-25
AUTO RACE MEET
WAS A Big FROST
"999'' REFUSED TO WORK AT
ALL-LocAL RACERS QUIT
ALMOST A RIOT
Ensued When, After Four Hours of
Waiting in Vain, the Crowd did
not Get it's Money Back.

AS real out and out frost, fraud,
a delusion and snare, the automobile
race meet at the Driving Park Satur-
day afternoon Cor EVENING" was
gem of the first water.
A riot, small but warm, was avert
ed hut narrowly when, after waiting
four hours or more in the hot sun for
few glimpses of 1899" at work,
the crowd was not only deprived OF
this, but when it asked for its money
back, this also was refused. Then
the hotheads got in their work, and
talked and argued, and made vain
and futile threats.
The race meet, and "999's' special
stunt :, of a mile in a minute, was
scheduled to come off at 4:3O prompt.
By three O'Clock there We're several
hundred people on the ground, in the
hope Of seeing some Of the prellmin-
airy practice Of the racers. -Four
thirty came and went and no autos
on the grounds even. About 8 O'Clock
about ten of the local machines chug-
ICED in, and these were followed by the
|redoubtable "999' itself, which by
the way looks like anything but an
auto, being low, heavy and with an
enormous engine, which was pulled
out behind a wagon, it's great speed
preventing it from being run over a
country road. But "999' refused to
! work (or the driver, a young fellow
who did not show much familiarity
with the machine was afraid to run
it). With crowds Of people standing
around and rapidly losing all their
patience, the driver and his assist
ants, voluntary and involuntary, tink-
cred around the machine until about
half past five. At this time Fred
Wilke, driving Rambler stripped of
all woodwork for racing, appeared but
one Of his cylinders refused to work.
and this practically knocked him out
although he did go around the track
several times in good form and with
some show Of speed. The tinkering
with "999' still continued and as
the patience Of the crowd had by this
time all oozed out, Will Vaughn, Clar-
ence Gennett and Omar Murray gave
a few exhibitions of how they would
run a mile. Vaughn and Gennett, es-
lpecially, made excellent time.
AS it was past the dinner hour fol
most now, and as "999' showed
still no symptoms of working, the
complaints arose with great force anC
frequency. When half past sever
rolled around, and the big car refused
to work still, the audience, grown te
large proportions, was ready to quiz
and asked Of course.> for its money
back.
The charges of admission had beer
outrageous, but several had paid then
} and did not feel inclined either il
, purse or spirit to be beaten out O
fifty cents or a dollar. Then it wa
discovered that the man with tn
money had decamped. Bedlam almos
+ broke loose, and several harangue'
their hearers on the sin of being al
lowed to cheat and voted to attach tn
machine or do anything. After sew
eral minutes had passed and no none
was forthcoming, the crowd broke fo
. the eigh o'clock street car in a n
very amiable frame of mind.
1t was a downright shame for tn
management to charge such price:
[ and then refuse to refund them whe
nothing was done in the way Of enter
. tainment
Attachments of over one hundre
S dollars have been filed on the machin
: for printing, repairing, ETC., and
is probable that no one will get hi
5 money back out of the affair.