The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-10-13
THE REcKLrss RACERS.

THE RECKLESS hACERSs 1 Last Sundays newspapers gave de- tails of the auto race on Long Island on Saturday, and. strange to relate. only one person was killed and but one seri- ously injured. That the casualties were not greater may be attributed partly to the fact that people kept out of the way and partly to the fact that Providence which watches over and protects certain beings. But the fact | that public highways were. given over to a swarm of vehicles speeding at a dangerous gait is causing no little com ment. and much of 1t. we are pleased to note. is unfavorabie.
 It does seem that in a country of law 1 such exhibitions as this could be pro- hfbited and prevented. In the inter- ests of public convenience and public safety we have laws to prevent horse racing on the public highways, but an ordinary horse race does not approach. as menace to the public. race by a number of machines running at a speed of from sixty to ninety miles an hour. The auto is yet in It's infancy, and the best ones that are made are liable to break down or suffer from some scci- dent which will imperil not only those in them. but others as well. It is a mechanical and physical impossibility to guard against accidents when ma chimes are run at such a high speed as Is done in these tests.
 Is 1t not likely that if the law con- tinues to condone such exhibitions the people who are deprived of the use of the highways. and whose lives are put in jeopardy. will at length find their patience exhausted and resort to metn- ods of their own to protect themselves? The New York Times thus speaks of the Long Island affair:
 The worst enemies of the automobile are those who are making 1t odious in abusing public patience by misusing highways to the inconvenience and dan ger of others. A road race such as that in Nassau County. L. l., will encourage gross violations of law everywhere and create popular antagonism to the automobile and those who use 1t which will not be. overcome in long time. ebeSeus wTs ncf Sry out tn s
 
 derived from it is that probably 1t IS the last motor vehicle race to be run on public roads Tn this country. No doubt 1t was much less fatal than was ex- many of tine contestants dropped out on the third and subsequent laps. As it fs- the casualties. consisting of one death and at least one serious injury. are enough to make racing of this character abhorrent to the average American citizen.
 We are not so optimistic as to be- lieve that the somewhat discouraging results of that race will tend to do away with them In future. If the law and public opinion suffer them to take control of the highways, the evil will go from bad to worse and the end can hardly be anticipated. If no one was injured or incommoded but those who indulge in such sport. we cannot say that much harm would be done, but. unfortunately, 1t Is not the offenders alone who are made to suffer by reck- less speeding on public roads. It is the general public, which has no interest in these affairs, that has most cause to feel outraged and indignant. And, as The Times we'll says, these reckless riders are really the worst enemies the new carriages have. They cause all automobiles to be regarded with dis like and thus tend to bring all of them into disfavor. There should be a rem- l edy for what Is likely to become a real evil, and in this connection this from The Philadelphia Record is both timely and pertinent:
 The automobile race for the Wander bilt cup was an occurrence of undoubt- ton upon the urgent necessity of ade- quate legislative restraint upon the usa of these vehicles upon the public roads. Of undoubted service and of capabili : ties of usefulness as yet undiscovered, when so constructed and so managed a s not to constitute a peril to life and limb. in the hands of reckless drivers automobiles are such a menace on thoroughfares devoted to public use as to invite repression under severe penal ties.
 The automobile Is a dancing devil whose movement Is not confined liks that of steam or street cars by the rails on a fixed roadway, yet 1t is pushed about with locomotive speed. This Is an intolerable condition. It constitutes a denial of the inalienable right to life which men, women and children who go about their business on the highways are supposed to possess in this free country.
 wISCONsIN's FRACTIONAL FIGHT.