Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-05-20
NOT RACING FOR Fun

IT met and had an illuminating talk
with Barney Oldeld. the top-notcher ameug
all the automobile racing men, not long
ago" said a Washingtonian who meeF
up with the celebrities as he goes alonsA
He Is a square-jawed. good-looking, big
man-very much bigger than I ever imag-
tned him to be-and the possessor OF
mighty shrewd sense of humor. He told
me that the newspaper stories in which he
is invariably represented as just, maniac
on the subject of speed are always divert
ing to him.
They picture me a plain, ordinary,
common or garden variety of bug on this
speed question: he said to me. and then
some of them go right ahead and solemnly
recount the singular fact that my life Is
perfectly miserable when I'm not mixing
along at a 1OO-miles minute rate. They
say that I'd prefer to eat my meals ana
take my baths and get my sleep wniie
whizzing along at that rate or hotter
one, if the matter could be so arranged,
and all that sort of bally rot-al OF H.
however, highly entertaining reading to the
humble subject of the nonsense
Let me make that story right, once for
all. / am not crazy the speed question.
I am not jeopardizing my life for fun or be-
cause it is the kind of thing that l like
best to do. AS a square matter OF fact
don't like it all, and / could mention, Off
hand, fifty kinds of work that I'd a heap
Their do if l could get an equal amount of
money out of those kinds of work. The speed
bug. so-called. has never bitten me III any
part of my anatomy, and If there IS Such
an insect extant l don't know it
The answer to all of this speed mania
humbug that's been written about me Is
mighty simple and commonplace. but L
might just well get il out of my sys-
tenn at any other time.
It's simply this: I'm in the game for
the money 1 can pull out of it. and 1 am
overjoyed to be able to add that l am pull
ing the money out of it. and hope to go on
doing so as long as l last at it. l could
quit riding around in fast buzz wagons
right now. this minute, and never think
of one of the things again, If L had money
enough sailed away to enable me to do
that thing with satisfaction to myself and
without regrets to the profitable bust
ness l would be allowing to slip away from
me. I've been through three mighty hard
fences already, and have had some ShaveS
that make me shudder to even think
about-for don't you believe for minute
that I've got that icy disregard for death
that's been ascribed to me. L don't want
to die any quicker than I've got to, and II
1 take big chances it is, as l say, simply
because the auto racing game offers me
better opportunities to pick up living and
something better than anything L am con-
yersant with.
IF | want to keep up with and a little bit
ahead of the auto-racing business, I've got
to keep right on going faster and faster
and always faster. and that's exactly what
l mean to do as long as I've got the ability
to do it and the nerve left. But it isn't
any recreation for me. and I'd rather go
fishin any time
1T the plain open-and-shut matter
of getting the money that dragged me into
auto-racing. You remember, l suppose,
that was bike rider. Well 1 was never
any better at that work than dub second
rater. and knew it. in which respect had
lot of the other dub second-raters skin
ned. Physically, l was always too big and
heavy a man to make a frst-notch bike
rider, ard it didn't take me so many years
to get wise to that obvious fact. l was
bit ahead of the rest of the gang in being
able to perceive that the racing of automo-
bles was going to be the next big thing
to swing along. and l went at that end of
it early-ahead of all the rest. believe.
l didn't know the first thing about the au-
tomobile business when l made up Qly mind
to flag bike racing and become driver of
racing cars, but [ went to work, for the
practice. on a little old runabout and thus
got into the swing of the thing. Then L
gradually contrived to get EN- to believe
that | capable of taking care of their
fast machines in contests, and that's the
way l got to going in the whizz- tracing busi-
ness
Il know that I'm the worst living risk from
the point of the life insurance companies,
and / know also that when it comes my
turn there's going to be no way for to
wriggle out of whatever kind of beauty
spelling frame-up 1 run into. But I'm get
ting little bit weary of this thing of being
regarded a straight-out fool who risks
his life just for the sake of feeding a bug
that he can lay no claim to.
ION the several occasions, while racing,
when I've been close enough to death to
feel the clamminess of the tomb all through
my system. I've had 1t flash through my
mind that the writer's of these yarns would
marvel If they really knew how a-skeeart
| really was at such times. I'm just taking
a chance, that's all, and chance that I'm
not enamored Of but the boys who write
the speed-mania stories will never find it
out, apparently"