Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-10-04
CONTEST ENDS AT 1890 Pm.
One Man Dead. Five Persons Injured
and Half a Dozen Costly Ma
chimes Wrecked.
Score in Automobile Race.

BRIGHTON BEACH RACE TRACK.
October 3-Amd the widest excitement
George Robertson, driving Simplex car
No. g. flashed across the finish line at
the Brighton Beach race track. at 1890
o'clock tonight, the winner of the second
international twenty-four-hour automobile
race Of the Motor Racing Association.
Harry Cobe. driving a fifty-horsepower
LoZier machine. was second. and Monta-
sue Roberts. at the wheel Of n seventy
two-horsepower Thomas. was third. Six
cars finished. all of them being Ameri-
cans. The foreign cars. two French and
two italian. were put out Of the contest
by accidents, as were three American
cars. The Simplex car covered LIZ miles.
the best previous record being .107 miles.
The Lozier car covered 1,125 miles, also
beating the previous record.
The struggle for second place threw
both grandstands into the widest tumult
Roberts, driving like one possessed.
again and again caught up with and pass
ed the LoZier car, driven by Cobe, cutting
down the latter's lead from nine to four
miles in the twerty-third hour. But Rob
eIts' car could not stand the strain, and
just as it seemed as if second place was
his the motors went wrong and he had
10 retire TO his camp for new rubbers.
When he returned to the track the Lo-
Zier car had improved its opportunity
and the gap between the two was eight
miles. At this juncture. the referee
ordered the Cleveland and Stearns cars
to turn in and give the leaders a clear
field to finish the race.
What the Race Cost.
One dead and five injured. half dozen
costly racing automobiles smashed into
worthless masses speed records for a
circular track shattered-this tells the
story of the great race.
AS the nerve-straining contest drew to
a close a crowd of more than 10000 per-
sons gathered at the little race course
by the sea. There was excitement "a
plenty from start to finish of the race. for
hardly an hour went by without acci-
dent happening. The terrific speed main
tanned by the racers cut the soft track
into deep ruts and every now and again
the automobiles would swerve into the
low fences.
There was keen disappointment in the
crowd this evening when car No. ).
Renault driven by the team of Strang
and Basle, was put out of the race by "A
mishap. Almost from the start the Re
nauit had been the contender for first
honors being on equal terms and some
times ahead of car No. q. which car.
during the closing hours of the race, was
fifty or more miles ahead of the other
racers.
Death of Pickett.
With victory apparently assured by the
mishap to No. 3, Lescault. who had sue
ceeded Robertson as driver OF the Sim
pleX No. 6, slackened speed and drove his
car carefully so as to avoid mishap. 1t
was the Simplex that was responsible for
the death of Thomas Pickett, the special
policeman who was run down last night
as he was trying to drive some boys Off
the track. and il was impossible for the
crowd to forget this incident the Sim
plex spun along in the lead. Pickett died
today in the hospital.
After the Renault was knocked out OF
the race chief interest was as TO which
car would get second place. The struggle
for this honor was between No. =.
Lozier, and No. 4 a Thomas car. Rob-
erts. driver of the Thop3as kept. the spec
tators in a state of excitement by his dar
ing driving. He took the Thomas around
the mile track at the rate OF fifty miles
an hour, but unfortunately for him his
car was followed by persistent bad luck.
the motors working poorly and the
shoes repeatedly getting out OF order.
Roberts had cut down the lead of the
LoZier car from eleven miles in the nine
teenth hour to eight miles in the twenty
fl. ST hour despite his machine troubles.
This squirting by the Thomas and Lo-
zier ears lessened the lead of the Sim
pleX for the Thomas and IspZier ma
chimes We're constantly tapping the
leader in the race until No. 6S lead of
sixty-one miles dwindled to fifty-nine
miles ia the twentieth hour.
Accident to Gratjen.
In the last half of the twenty-third
hour of the race the ill-fated Zust car,
driven by Gratjen, dashed through the
outer fence and turned turtle. Gratjen's
mechanician sustained a broken leg and
possibly internal injuries. Gratjen es-
capped with slight bruises. The injured
man was taken to the field hospital for
treatment II was said he would not
die. The Zust car had been compelled
to withdraw from the race temporarily
several times and had no chance of
catching the leaders. but Cratjen be-
lieVed he could reel off some record
miles and this was the reason he took
his machine on the track again.
The Simplex was given an ovation when
il darted by the Srandstand on the tnou-
Sandth lap Of the race. baNing made a
new record for the thousand miles. IL
covered the / .uou miles in 20 hours
minutes and ~ seconds. the best previ-
Gus record for the same period OF time
having been 312 miles.
The hourly scores Were posted >on a
bulletin board and the crowd could east
ly keep track of the individual work OF
the drivers. These scores also showed
that the fareign-made automobiles had
been gradually eliminated from the race
until the final struggle was leit ehereiy
tha' Arne N