New-York tribune., 1908-03-01
AUTO RULE AT 0RMOND
OLD RECORDS IN DANGER.
Promise Of EXCITING Sport on the
Florida Beach This Week.

z IOffNU ID DC;FCH Il HtS " CCh.
speeding like lightning over the sands of the
Florida coast between Ormond and Daytona the
daring drivers of racing cars will strive for new
records honor and glory this week. The sport
,yill begin Tomorrow. For pure unadulterated
sreed there is no straightaway course to equal
she long strip of sand in the Palmetto state.
The meeting will be under the auspices of the
Automobile Club of America Many of the
xas,est cars and most skilful drivers will COM
,e.o in the various events which make up the
small. though excellent. programme.
Every one Of the worlds records from
Eilornetre 10 one hundred miles straight
a,,sx course was made at Ormond in 1906.
7ast wear the track was not in good condi-
,ion as The year previous and no new marks
,ere made This year reports from Ormond
say that TIE beach never faster. and with
,,o advancement made in the automobile in
s,e+rv since 1a06 ii seems highly probable that
l5 Father Time will be hard pressed this week.
"croed, Speed Speed" is the cry of the
.,,,o,rohile enthusiast. and at Ormond IL is
r,oth;ng but speed. speed, speed all the time.
VITA endurance as a secondary consideration.
The records made at Or;nond cannot be
,,resss5 by any other word except marvellous.
II 1905 Fred Marriott shot over a mile of sand
IN os1-5 seconds and Victor Demogeat. for
eic,sr covered two miles In less than a minute.
or 10 he exact IS 40 seconds. 1t is almost
5r,nossihe 10 realize what these times mean.
To the srectator the car is like meteor shoot
ing through the sky, with an additional roar re-
.ornblir,r thunder. The driver has only one
sl,5nr in rnind-to hold fast to his steering
wheel. After Marriott broke the worlds record
for the mile he told his experiences for the 2S 1-5
seconds as follows:
fairly tore my face, and my eyes felt as If they
we're melting even under my wind glasses. ]
c~ippeG the steering wheel like the last thread
of life croucied so that nothing except my
goggles were above the top of the car, and kept
that position until I thought il was over. I
couldn't hear anything, and the only thing that
KEPT passing through my mind to hold
tight 70 the steering wheel and not let the car
STerTc Toward the end Of the run it seemed
as Z the top OF my head would be swept away.
Many New Workers viii see the races and. in
fact lovers Of the sport from all over the coun-
1Ty VIII throng the long. wide beach Several
excursions left this city by trains last week and
last night the majority Of them had arrived at
ornond- Crowds Of Northerners spending the
winter at Jacksonville and St Augustine will
journey over to Ornond- Needless to say.
this meeting is of the social features of the
winter in Florida Among those who went South
last week especially TO attend the races were
T. }. Wagner. the official starter; Alan R Haw-
ley and several friends Russell A. Field. secre-
tary O. the Long Island Automobile Club; A H
Whiting, A. L. Riker, ". F. Sperry, Of New
Haven: Nr. and Mrs. ]. NJ Gilbert. Lieutenant
Philip =. Sayles. of the New York Timers Club:
Milo n Belding jr. E. r. Hollander, w J. Nor
gan Of the New Jersey Automobile and Motor
Club: y. Lazarnich. z. c. J. McShane, S. B.
Stevens, Colgate Hoyt and Paul La Croix
There e q possibility that the one mile
worlds record Of 28 Is seconds. made by the
cigar SHAPED Stanley steamer in 1906, wifi be
broken. II is certain that the mile Will at least
be done under thirty seconds. for these cars are
entered in the short dash: Christie Hotchkiss,
Haynes and Fiat.
Especial interest Will centre in the races for
gentlemen drivers. a number being the
programme. Some Of these events are the
12S-nile race, the 100-mile race for the cup Of
fered by the Minneapolis Automobile Club and
mile dash Among the cars entered and the
men who VIII drive them in these races are w.
Gould Brokaw, Christie car: p w Buckley,
Fiat car: James Loughlin, Sd, in a Cleveland
Car; John J. Ryan in a six-cylinder Stearns
car. Dr. W II. StinsOn, in q 40-horsepower
Franklin car; Louis J. Bergdol, in an S0-horse-
power Benz. and J. II. Gilbert, in a 30-horse-
power Packard runabout.
TIE Orrnond races come a little later than
usual this year. Generally they have been held
in the last week Of January. but the adjourn
ment 10 March IS expected 10 prove beneficial IN
many ways. The beach should be in better con-
dition. This is the height Of the winter season
al the summer health resorts, and. the auto
mobile shows being over, the manufacturers
have more time TO devote 10 racing.
The worlds records made at Ormond, the
driver and car follow: