New-York tribune., 1908-10-25
THRILLS At S-CURVB
CROWD CROSSES TRACK.
Farmers Garner Rich HarUest from
Their Brood0Cay Friends.

10y rseSTspA 20 THs TrforrsI
Bethpage. Long Island. Oct at Is ezr ~
from sethpass Broadway and mighty long
5aunt from the srandstand. especially on dr.rziy
October morning hours and hours before break
fast. with the wind sweeping across the Long
Island plains Ike Kansas cyclone PIoddinE along
through coruneIds stumbling over stones and dods-
ing snorting automobiles hurryfng 20 the grand
stand whenever the course seemed prefs-abIs TO
short cuts lots. hundreds OF automobile s1tHu-
siasts made their vsy here all through the early
morning. with the famous 's-' curve their goal
What crazy fools all arsr' said the novfce
as he sleepily stumbled over stump No uors
Vanderbilt races for muh! They aren't worth it@
Wait TIL you get your eyes open. old man" r.
Piled the veteran. who knew all about chain and
shaft driven machines u wouldn't miss Il
had walk from New York"
Say, amt doing that nov-- ssksd the uneu-
thusiastic hrst daybreaker.
Two hours later, when the Locomobfis driven By
Florida came tearing down the course on the frss
lap Of the great race the novice was bowling tuss
a he would have done II Aerkls had touched sec
ond and the Giants
But that trip from the grz1dstand here had 20
end time. and IT aid tust about an hour before
the rather tardy daylight The driZZle had oecon1e
more OF shower than a vapor bath but IL didn't
dampen in the least the ardor OF the rhoCsanos No
lined both sides Of the ZigZag course as IL winds
through this place There were more newspaper
umbrellas than could be rainy day at the
trying TO get IN five innings before the urnpr7
called the game. There might have been deluge.
but It wouldn't have thfnned out me croNu II '0
lea st FOR there shelter 70 seek
Although a large part OF the crowd that lined ms
course all the way from the grandstand 70 Beth
page was made up OF enthusiasts VINO hAo come
down from New York the natives formed no sT'iaiA
part Of II And they had II on their city nretAren
in several WAYS II the first place. nearly eVery
rar+v was well supplied with heavy horse blankets
hardly as elegant the huge FUR robes IN some OF
the cars. but every bit as serviceaols VINE 4
drfzzed and tried hard TO rain, on every sloe on
could see little knots snugggiet close together VII
q big blankst drawn around them Then- WIZ tnS
breaking OF dawn and the dtsappearance OF IH9
drtzzle these blankets were spread out On Ins
ground and breakfast was served upon men
Where = good view Of ths course could oe rad
there was great market wagon rgsed up Ike an
observation car az the boat races and spectator
in every seat The less fortunate enthusiasts from
the city had 10 satisfied with the fence rails or.
more often the none TOO warm ground BVe no
complained
And by the way. perhaps the farmers In this
part country don't enjoy an autorrooie race
and then, again. perhaps they do. Every one TiIn-
In a quarter OF mile OF the course gresped tns
opportunity 20 reap fall harvest The farmers
we're the reapers all right and the city folk were
the harvest Last night every farmhouse was q
hotel and the natives slept n the barn one house
short distance from Bethpage has four bedrooms
Last night Il had twelve guests at - apiece And
today IL vas hotel Three hams made hundred
and frry sandwiches. and there wasn't even the rtd
OF a ham about the house 81 hour before TIE rac7
was over Coffee, which was cof-ss By name ONLY,
was gulped down AZ Is cents drink and the Sc
called bakers rai.fn cake ro- 10 cents sfver
and no questions asked Some Of the farmers took
other means of making money. Near Central Park
one native who Is something q carpenter erect
ed = grandstand The roof o. his barn, Whlcn
stands fully three hundred feet back RON the
course There wasn't empty seat. although II
cost 81 play the part q The crew and perch on
the roof
GasoIene was sold at fabulous prices and ths
needy otor1st considered himself f0rtunats TO get
the fluid no matter what the cost No one blamed
the farmer for ga-ner1ng his late crops with 4
nercilsss scythe- So every one was happy and
there undisputable evidences here now OF re-
turning confidence and heavy Republican vote
Election Day
The crowd employed ITSELF IN various ways be-
fore the cry OF Car coming was rOered out soon
after daylight One who had been reaching
around 10 his hip pocket at frequent intervals n
an effort 70 keep awake finally came 70 life and
Ushered IN the dawn with political speech. which
greatly amused his audience and proved the uIl'
doing OF his derby hat when he was rolled down
into sandpt from his railroad re rostrunl- some
the natives grew deeply interested II the slick
shutting Of three cards IN the hands of negro
He also rsaped small harvest Of greenbacks. but
the crop blasted early by the heavy hand oc
the law. The vendors of sandwiches. peanuts,
peunants and picture postals cried their Ike
barkers at Coney Island and sales were fast and
furious.
There were two good reasons Why Berhpags was
selected as an observation point by thousands.
Here the drivers had exhibit all their skill n
rounding curves, and here. also there was chancs
that OF the would turtIs skid or
the course. Those who came here expecting ID
see an accident went home disappointed. but thoss
who were here TO skflruI and daring driving
got thrill after thrill. for the the going
a top speed. swung around the curves was moth
ing short OF marvellous
A description OF FIorida's arst lap IN the Loco
mobile is good any. He the first one 20
reach this place and naturally MS driving made ths
deepest impression A quarter OF a mile down
the course OF the guards waved red flag; an
instant later there humming sound which
grew stronger and stronger and finally became =
steady roar Crouched over his wheel. Florida
hugged the inside rail vel Is a bicycle rider
with q laundering roar and great burst OF srnoks
and flame in its wake An instant later the daring
driver had swerved his car across the track and
gliding around the next curve he had %
take four distinct in than a minute a.
did every other driver. but there -.
ter break.
Car after car sped BY IN rapid succession until Il
became task to keep track o. their time Oe
course. each driver had MS friends who gave the<
fruitless cheers the men in the machines flew
by Lyte, Robertson. Strang and Foxhau Kee1s
were howIed al and waved az tranticaIIy bur AL
in vain. far the drivers were concerned. for
their eyes never left the white stretch in 'front.'
OF them for instant
Probably the most spectacular driving was dors
on the stretch about mile and a halt from ths
grandstand. where there are two steep hills with
level track between them These two hills are
AT the wantagh and Nerrick Road crossings. whers
the highways pass under the cup course Two
hundred yards from the summit OF the first rfss
was sign which read Slow 70 twenty miles an