The sun., 1908-05-17
Observation-Disclosures
W0Rks HSRDER. PHYSICALLY
THAN DEIyER orr cAR.

Carlo Capra. Raclng Companion OF Finan-
= uel Cedfiao IN ths }Aat. Would Rather
centsnue to ne . Gsad Mechanic Than
y Rssk Beias an Unsuccessful riict.
To the thousands Of enthusiasts who watch,
the progress OF a big automobile road race.
such as the recent Briarciin trophy stock
car event in Westchester county, the cars
and the drivers mohopolise the interest.
and the hard working individual who occti-
pies the mechanic's seat at the drivers loft
Is either totally ignored when the, contest is
discussed or IL at best spoken Of ~ 1the man
who rode with Strang, or Cedrino, Lytle or
Vaughan, as the case may be.
Even the programme makers generally
take no heed OF the existence OF the rme-
canicien, as the Europeans term him, and
tho official BriarcliR programme had no
space in all It's pages for the names Of the
men who in purely physical way worked
far harder during the progress Of the eight
round struggle than did the drivers them-
selves. But upon the watohfulness and
care Of these same humble men much OF the
success or failure Of a driver depends, for
1t Ia the mechanic upon whom rests the task
Of Watching the fuel and oil supply, and
should he fail In either task the skill, OK
perience and daring Of even tho most
famous driver must come to naught.
It In no ea1y task, being mechanic Of
o fast car In D big road race. Ono Of the
chief duties OF q mechanic is to keep q
continual watch to the rear. to warn the
driver Of the approach Of a car that may
be overtaking the ono In which he 10 riding.
n, . c,,,rao hat 10 all or avau nj
comparatively smooth courses where the
speed that can be made magnifes all OF
the inequalities Of the road until the effect
is that Of travelling over bumpy surface,
1t becomes an interesting problem for
mechanic to keep his place in the enan
hard seat beside the driver. The latter
is held down in his seat by his grip on the
steering wheel and at all times must keep
his head to the front. 90 that he knows
beforehand when bumpy place in the
road is,eo be gone over. But the mechanic.
with his head turned In the opposite direc-
tion most Of the time, 10 bumpedand bounced
out of his seat continually because he cannot
tell when the car will take another jump
through the air after striking q raised
place in the surface Of the roadway.
Even provided that driver and his car
are smiled upon by -fickle fortune to the
unusual extent that no tire replacemerts
are necessary. big road race Is q very
strenuous affair for the man In the
mechanics seat. Along with his regular
duty Of keeping strict watch to the rear.
he must have an ever watchful eye on
the pressure gauges that tell OF the amount
Of. pressure for the gasolepe tank and the
lubricating oil tank. It is necessary TO At
a hand pressure pump on the oiling system.
as the exhaust WHICH is used, for pressure
under ordinary conditions cannot be utilized
on racing car owing to the FREQ exhaust
on account Of the absence OF the munier
that would be used on touring car.
Another hand pressure pump Is lifted to
the fuel tank and between the times when
he ID looking back for . possible nearing
pursuer and hanging onto bis seat as best
he can the mechanic sits and works one
or the other. perhaps both. Of these two
hand pressure pumps. -
uell Cedrino In the Fiat that made the four
fastest rounds In the Briarolm race, may
well be called a typical racing gnschapic,
and it il safe to say that sof all the thou
sands who have watched Cedrino drive and
those many other thousands who have read
breaker at Ormond beach OF race con-
tender at many another speed contest not
per cent. have ever given asecond thought
to the man who has shared the perils, vic
tories and defeats Of Cedrino. f"F .
Oapra was born in Turin. Italy on
November Is, 1881. and HIS sister is Mira
Emanuel Cedrino. Cspra himself is Still
a bachelor He learned the trades OF
toolmaking and Woodworking and began
working for a subsidiary company OF the
Fiat concern at Turin six or seven.. years
ago. being, employed ss an ,iron.orker N
tenders and other parts Of Fiat cara were
made. He changed from this to the Fiat
works and worked for eight months In
the motor department OF tho Fiat factory
before coming TO this country in October.
agency In this country ever s'nce, and two
years ago began driving cGss himself, as
part Of his regular task OF adjusting chassea
before turning them over TO coach builders
for the bodies to be fitted to them before
delivery to customers.
He has been with Cedrino in many OF
the latter's races during the last couple
Of years and sat with him when the famous
driver was making new long distance
records with the Fiat Cyclone at the Ormond
Beach race meet OF the Automobile CLUB
of March. He was also with Cedrino when
the latter was one Of the winning team
that won the second twenty-four hour race
at Morris Park last fall He has driven 30
much with his brother-in-law that they
understand each other perfectly and Co.
drino does not have to tell Capra what to do,
as the latter knows what is expected OF
him and does 1t promptly,
Capra scorns thoss mechanics who fix
handles on the backs OF their seats to hang
on by while race Is in progress. and asserts
that q good mechanic should be able to
stay In his seat without handles and should
keep his hands busy with the pressure
pumps anyway. During the Briarclif race
he was not called uJ,on to do any tire re-
placing. but couple Of ready fiated tires
mounted on detachable rims were carried
on the fuel tank behind Cedrino and Capra.
Even II they had no chance to show how
quickly they could change tire. they had
plenty Of this sort Of work during their
practice, as E. r. Hollander. who entered
the Fiat they had charge Of, insisted that
they keep on practising the work OF taking
OF and replacing tire until they had done
this about thirty times and had become
very proficient at the task. but luckily their
slxill h this direction was not needed.