The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-09-20
AUTO CREW THROEA,0O FERf.
APPERSON RACING CAR A TOTAL
WRECK ON CUP COURSE.

MWI IL gAa9 ~@
Bomda In Pole and wraps Y Fashion
Around 1.-two Men Badly injured.
Georae H. Robertson Yesterday wrecked
the 90 horsepower AppersoA racing auto
mobile he was to have driven In the elimi-
nation trials for the American Vanderbilt
oup team on Saturday morning. and he
andtArthhr Warren, his mechanic. are In
the Nassau Hospital at Mineola with serious
but mot fatal injuries that preclude the
possibility Of their presence as spectators
sven at either the trials or the cup contest
on October o.
The racing car that Robertson was driving
was one Of the fifteen machines that have
been entered ca candidates for the hve
places on she American team. and Robertson
was a sArong favOrite with these who follow
the fortunes Of racing omobL lists, II
being R~encralfy conceded that he would
be ons Of ths five drivers to win the a
Of representing this county. Edgar Ia.
Apperson Of Kokono., Ind, OF tho Chicago
AutonobAe Club, owned and entered the
car, which o Is m ~irreparable wreck.
In obtaining permission for ths use OF
the Nassau county circuit for the trials
and cssp contest. the racing board Of the
American Automobile Association agreed
that racinRs cars would be limited to the
hours between 5 and 7 o'clock in the morn
ing for ten days before tho contest. a. the
time when the racers would be permitted
to practice on the course. Yesterday morn
ing Robertson started out soon after >
O'Clock from his training quarters on the
Williston estate near Albertson station
on his first round Of the circuit, accom-
panied by M. c. Krarup in the mechanics
seat.
Hphsrtson was timed from Krug's Hotel,
whera the course turns from Mineola avenue
east into the Jericho turnpike, in 81 minutes
for his, first trip around the 2S.l miles OF the
circuit. He stopped at krugs when ne
arrived there the second time, and Mr.
Kramlp resigned his seat 20 Arthur Warren,
the regular mechanic. Robertson started
away from Krug's at five minutes after Q
o'clock, accompanied by Warren, with the
Idea OF making a fast round Of the circuit.
Thu first intimation the waiting crowd
mt KruRis had Of the disaster was when Lee
A. Prayer, one Of the other racing drivers,
gtopped there about ten minutes 20 z
with the news that Robertson's car had
smaahed against a Telegraph pole ON the
his naechanic we're lying helpless at the road
side.
Thprs was a rush for tho soene OF the acct
dent, which was about three miles from
KruG's. H. N. Harding was the first auto
mobfliso to arrive on the scene. He was
hurried a short distance back along the road
70 the house of DR.. John Mann OF Wesebury,
who had been told Of the accident q Few
minutes before by a passing farmer. Hard
ing brought DIR. Mann to where the two men
were lying at the roadside.
Tr. Mann fixed them up temporarily
and Robertson was taken to the Nassau
Hospital at Mineola in a touring car by
Julius +. Stone OF Columbus, Ohio, while
Herbert Lyttle, another Of the race drivers,
cut Warren into his touring car and fol-
lowed Mr.. Stone. Lyttle passed along the
road where the accident occurred soon
after the car was wrecked and he hurried
20 his quarters, left his racing machine
and returned in a touring car.
Both Robertson m Warren were so
badly shaken up that neither could give a
coherent recital Of what had happened.
From the wheel marks in h grass at the
roadside it could be seen how the machine
had been wrecked. Robertson, da1ed, said
that the steering gear would not work,
but both Edgar l.. Apperson and hts brother.
Elmer Apperson, examined the steering
gear Amor the mishap and said hal there
was nothing amiss with it,.
The spot where the accident occurred
~ on the old Westbury road, about half
way botwesn the famous difficult hair
pin urn az old Westbury and tho point
where the road intersects Mineola avenue.
Extending for a hundred yards or so before
the spot where the accident took place
Is q double curve in the road. The hrst
D11J Oh ule curve mdkSS ~ 5AlkuG JWL8J W
the right and then the left curve begins.
Robertson reached the straight road
beyond The ouDle curve, but evidently
his racer had not lost the rocking motion
that follows such a bit Of going when COW
cred at high speed. His right rear tire
was punctured, and experienced drivers
were Of the opinion that the dragging OF
tina Cat tire DETECTED the racer from its
course The car ar diagonally OF the
ROAD to the left AMI struck the bottom
~ q fv0a that afCOd aOainaf tho fannn that
lines the a
The force OF the impact was sufficient
TO throw Robertson and Warren about
fifty feet away from the racer, both OF
them landing on the thick grass in the
shallow ditch. The racer struck the tree
a glanoing blow, tearing on some OF the
bark above the roots, and then the mo-
mentum OF the car propelled II sideways
ssSS@~ss ,o . t tSs irssl R 3 t about of *. ten ra .SeS
landed aRainst the pole with so much force
that the heavy steel frame was bent like
q letbeF u, the apex Of the bend being
at practically the centre Of the machine;
Parts OF the racer were mbedded in
the pOaB and the machine was simply stuck
against the pole, as the under side OF the
car was of the ground. The car struck
with it's right side down and with the front
pointed toward the fence. The steel beam
that formed the left side OF the frame was
torn In two and one OF the brass levers
wa crumpled up against the pole as though
made Of sheet lead.
It is unlikely that tho racer can ever be
repaired. AS soon after the accident as
possible workmen from the Apperson
camp spliced the broken frame with a fence
rail and took the ruined racer back to the
quapters.
At the hospital DR. Mann said that Robert
son had a fracture Of his right collarbone
and bod his right hip bruised. but otherwise
he appeared 20 be all right. Both Of Warren's
arms were broken at the wrist and there
was an abrasion over his right eye. 1t was
impossible for DR.. Mann TO tell whether or
not either man had suffered internal in
jurles.
He said Robertson was unconscious
when he FIRST reached him, but that Warren
was conscious. While Mr.. Stone was TAX
ing Robertson TO the hospital he told him
he v q very sorry for him. but the injured
driver smiled grimty and replied: Its
oil IN the game
Robertson is p years old and is in the
automobile business with his father in
West Thirty-eighth street. Last year he
drove Walter Christie's direct drive racer
In the American elimination trials for the
Vauderbilt cup race, when the car stopped
running on the third Of the four rounds Of
the contest.
Warren Is a son OF Louis Warren OF ITO