The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1906-04-01
ON A CIRCULAR TRACK
WITH BARNEY OLDFIELD
BY BozEM AN c. suLeER.

TO me- As I passed over the top
Of the hood and looked ahead l saw a
fence directly in front of u.s. | was sure
we We're going to crash through ii. My
time had come. | was specializing on
whether they would cremate or bury me.
But, instead, we swerved and started
around the turn. i had heard of the
awful dangers of the turns. but somehow
was relieved to know that we had
cleared that fence that | welcomed any
thing that meant a moments respite. As
We Strengthened Up IN the back stretch
Barney put his mouth N, to MY ear and
yelled something. | could not tell what
he said. but l took advantage ofN The
usual three guesses and guessed 1t right
the first time. 1t was hold tight" Then
Barney reached for a little lever that |
afterwards learned was the spark adj
vance. | felt the machine Jump ahead
Now, there was no fence. no landing,
nothing but roaring sound in my ears
and a consciousness of eternity looking
something like the blur before my ewes
That awful rush and roar of the wind
could not get my breath and my chest
seemed to be caVing in. | thought we
were going a fast as human Ingenuity
could contrive to annihiate space, But
when we reached the home stretch Old
field reached for that little lever and
HAiitu IL bdN Us 1dI us II would The
machine seemed to have been trans
formed Into some wild beast of the inn
| gle In captivity 1t was in a death strug-
gle to rid itself of it's keeper | remem-
eered that no wild beast had eyer been
more cruel or blood thirsty towards its
keeper than the old Green Dragon 1t
snorted, shrieked and groaned and
/ shouted. as the wheels whirred. the en-
elne thumped and the exhaust became
louder than that of a locomotive | put
my head under the edge of the hood
just allowing my eyes to be above it.
Ny face was jammed against the ma
ehinery of the engine. 1t seemed but n
second before we were at the next turn
| wondered why Barney waited so long
before he put that lever back little
lie never touched II and kept the spark
all the way UP and the throttle wide omen
Had Barney gone crazy9 Then we struck
the turn. / was nearly torn from my
frail seat. I could feel my nails imbedded
in the steel lining of the seat supnort 7
vas holding to. Surely Barney would not
attempt another turn without shutting off
little But he never did Around the
turn we travelled at that awful rate. The
rear wheels tried their best to slew
around ahead of the front ones. Once |
thought they would. But Barney kept
the green devil straight and we tore into
the next stretch. blowing out into the
middle looked ahead and saw the
grandstand and the black spot-the crowd
then batted my eyes for a second.
When | opened them we had passed II
by and were skidding into the next turn.
Barney looked over at me with a cynical
smile The expression on my face evil
IDENTIFY did its work, for on the next turn
he shut off the power and we coasted the
next mile, pulling mp at the grandstand.
1t was with a feeling of utmost relief
that stamped the ground. How fast
We're we going that last mle?" I oueried
There was that same cynical smile again.
If there had been official timers in the
stand Barney answered, Il would have
mad new worlds record to my credit,
and the rules don't call for carrying an
extra passenger, either