The Washington times., 1908-11-27
Fault of Americans Believ-
ed to Be in Motor
Construction.
IN ENDURANCE
DOMESTICS WIN
Praise Heaped on Management
of Biggest Contest
Yet.
Bv W. NICK. WHITE.

SAVANNAH, Ga, Nov. 1.-THE exc
dus from Savannah has begun, and OF
the thousands of people who came here
TO witness the Grand Prize race only q
few hundred remain. The special trains
for the North and West began to leave
soon after the finish OF the most re-
markable speed contest ever held, led by
the now famous Wall street special, the
fastest train ever run from this city TO
New York. and followed at frequent in
teTyals by other specials and regulars,
all crowded to the limit with motoring
enthusiasts. The two A. c. A. ships left
early this morning.
Contest Remarkable
In the opinion Of al, the contests just
completed on the course IN and about
this city, were remarkable ones. the
Grand Prize for its exciting finish. ulls
light car race for its interest, and above
all, the management for the conduct
of the whole affair.
Those who came from Europe, either
to compete in, or witness the races
were uniform in their praise. They IN
hesitatingly stated that the tnterna-
tional contests on the Savannah course
were more ably and efficiently con-
Quoted than the best Europe has done
before it. The three cables, two to
Paris and one to London. which were
fed from the we'll organized and ably
handled press stand, deserved the great
est praise for this feature Of the meet
ing
Course Kept Clear.
The manner in which the course was
kept clear by militiamen and police.
together with the energy and hOspi-
tality OF the city Of Savannah and its
Automobile Club, give the Southern
ers a great advantage over the man
ayers of the Long Island parkway
IN the competition to secure the Van
derbilt and grand prize races OF 1909
FOR the Georgia course.
To be sure, there are innumerab bic
curves. twists. and turns. but not q
serious accident resulted from them
IN the big car race and II these curves
cannot be eliminated they are al least
so banked that they can be taken at
high speed. That the course Is faster
than the Vanderbilt is shown by the
average speed OF the winner and
other cars. for WagneT's average was
65.4 miles per hour, against Robert
sons 64.3, and the race yesterday
was longer than the one on the Motor
Parkway.
Average Is Better.
The average made by Hemery and
Nazzaro was also better than Robert
sons. A reason for Nazzaro's defeat
came to light after the finish, when IL
was found that the tire. company whose
tires he was using wished hiEa 20 go
through on one set of tires which would
have been remarkable. The crafty Itali-
an stopped once and wanted TO change
tires, but he was waived
The strain on the tires, however, was
TO- Fal hz
one which replaced il was soft so that
still another one had TO be fitted. caus-
ing a delay long enough to trade places
with Wagner OF the same team.
The question has arisen as to why the
American cars did not show up better
than they did; why it is so seldom that
they compete with success against the
European drivers and machines. The
only answer is lack Of preparation.
Might Change Design.
Perhaps the design might be changed,
but it does not seem that stock cars are
able TO do the work The big Simplex,
which led the American team at the
finish. had a motor Of the same bore
as the big foreigners but its stroke is
less and it's valves are In pocketo on
the side of the cylinders.
This type Of construction was gen
eral among the domestic SIX, and is not
the one used BY the foreigners IN all or
their successful races. LOng-Stroke, low
speed motors. with valves II the cylin-
der heads Is the foreign model and the
only American winner Of the Wander
bilt the LocOmObiIe. mad ons valve 20
eacVh cylinder on top.
The difficulty with the Americans
seemed to be motor trouble or inability
10 get the speed from their engines that
would raise their relative positions I'm
the score.
The Simplex was a stock chassis, with