The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-11-27
RACE COURSE AND RACE.
Detailed Description of Great Auto
 Contest.


 Detailed Description of Great Auto
 Contest.
 Race Course, Savannah. Nov. B. Down a vista of 402 miles of circllng roadways, sleek with oil and danger ously allurtng in their invitation to ; that full-throttled speed which carries always it's inseparable menace to life and limb. twenty of the most daring drivers of racing automobiles, this newest of pulse-quickening sports, has ever brought together, lined up for the start of the first American grand prize race today and looked through weath- CT beaten goggles toward goal that glittere1 with a cup of beaten gold and purse of s4.00o as a portion of the winners share In the honors of q hard set victory.
 Conducted under the auspices of the Automobile Club of America with the sanction and approval of the European Racing Association. today's grand prize has taken rank with the most notable of motor events planned on either side of the Atlantic and is the longest and most difficult race ever arranged in this country.
 Notable not only for the spectacular fame of the drivers and the records of victories behind the cars that entered the list of starters, the race has been looked forward to as setting q new record of speed for American road ways.
 With a strong cordon of militiamen thrown about the course and acting under martial law. the drivers of the competing cars were given the pro- All the sharp turns were heavily bank ed and cemented and everything that could possibly induce to record-break- ing speed was done. The Savannah Automobile Club, cooperating with the Automobile Club of America, had charge of the preparation of the course which lies partly in the city limits but runs most of it's distance over the convlct-built roads of Chat. ham County. The holding of the big race here has been a matter of State and city pride and the citizens have done all that lay in their power to make the meet successful
 The gathering of the crowds today to witness the flights of the racing cars around the twenty-five mile course had none of the picturesque features of the before-dawn pilgrimages from New York to the Vanderbilt cup course on Long Island, with roadways choked with touring cars and thousands of acetylene lanterns throwing their piercing white rays through the riIsts of that darkest hour which comes be- ". But there were other interests to hold the attention of the onlookers and the hour of the start scheduled for o'clock together with the accessibility of the grand stands, made the alI- night vigil and early morning Journeys unnecessary,
 Course is Described.
 The course laid out for todayts race has few equals In its wealth of scenic beauty. There are frequent long stretches that permit of the use of the last ounce of power in each throbbinR engine and where the drivers predicted that maximum of more than 100 miles an hour will be attained. Al other points there are difficult and sIn- uous serpentine pathways that tested To the fullest the capabilities of the men at the wheels. The course has no "hairpin turn" so famous along tbe Vanderbilt route, but 1t has an "an- pendix curve" just before the cars enter the long home stretch.. -
 Leaving the starcing line on the nome stretch the course leads to the left around a nearby turn and entera the four mile straightaway of White Blum road. Under a canopy of over hanging live oak trees heavily dranaA with Spanish moss, the cars piungs into the twilight shade of the dense and picturesque foliage. From the Whlte blun road the course. leads through the lanes of deciduous traes just finding their vari-colored tinfs of autumn and then enters the three. and a half miles of arrow flight speedy1Sv offered by the specially constructed Ferguson Avenue. t-sF
 This road. sixty feet in width was cut through virgin forest and isl lined on either side by stalwart ptueg- The ever-changing scenes of the course lead next through lanes of palmetto palms, by broad and silvery tidal streams where the air Is redolent of the tang of the sea, through the front yards of complacent citizens. in ana out among towering trees of oak. and there is at last a turn into the stretch which leads to the finish. The onrushing cars were visible far mile or more down the stretch today 10 the thousands gathered in the grand stands which were constructed at such an angle as to give each spectator a view of the course as far as the "elbow" where the flying contestants flashed into view from time to time.
 Savannah Suspends Business. Business in Savannah was entirely suspended today because of the races, and the city proper was deserted long before the hour set for the start. All along the course the crowds gathered and there vera the usual compositions '