Los Angeles herald., 1908-01-09
ROAD RACE
IN FLORIDA
HARD AUTOMOBILE RUN DRAWS
GREAT INTEREST
Drivers from Over Entire Country Will
Compete in Long Endurance
Tour from Jacksonville
to Miami

b The most severe and interesting road
run ever given in this country Will be
that in Florida in February, the exact
date of which has not yet been set
tied.
1t will be in reality club run, OF
the most severe type, Notwithstanding
that the distances for each days run
seem short The run Will be from
jacksonville to Miami. 366 miles, and
under the auspices and direction Of
the Florida East Coast Automoolle as
sociation, the president of which, Ma
jor Arthur B. Foster, is taking a great
interest in it, as are the directors OF
the association.
Major Foster will start the run from
the Times Union office, corner of Bay
and Hogan streets, Jacksonville, and
will welcome the drivers at ST. Au-
gustine, on the first leg of their jour-
ney From that point, President FoS-
ter will go to Daytona either by auto
mobile or train and arrange a recep-
tion to the sand -pluggers at the beau
tiful home of the Florida East Coast
Automobile association on the famous
Ormond- Daytona beach.
About the Start
The start will be made early in the
morning and the drivers will make
control at Alcazar, ST. Augustine, and
there take lunch and be checked by
the mayor of the city, Postmaster Alba,
Manager John Anderson of the Hotel
Alcazar, and other prominent citizens.
From that point the drivers will hit
the Kings highway for Ormond. The
distance from Jacksonville to st. Au-
gustine is thirty-seven miles, and the
total distance for the day to Ormond
will be 104 miles
Speaking of the Kings highway, it
is we'll known that King Georges
troops built a road from Marysville,
Ga, through the Florida forests, which
is still in very fair condition in places.
Thomas White. father of Windsor
White, president of the White COM
pany of Cleveland, has recently per-
sonally supervised the work of a force
of men who are placing the FSng' 5
highway in tolerable shape in the
of Ormond.
Mr.. White is q winter resident OF
Florida and is particularly anxious to
see a road built from Jacksonville TO
Miami, or a road so improved that au-
tomobiles can drive the entire length
of the peninsula.
Some Rough Going
The second days run will be to Rock
ledge, 175 miles from Jacksonville, total
of seventy-one miles for the day
Half of the distance, however, is very
rough. going over trail merely showing
the way,
The third days run will be from Rock
ledge to bort Pierce, $40 miles, or sixty
seven miles for the day. This days run
will be through barren waste and some
creeks will have to be forded and pos
sibly a little bridgework built but the
of the county will give a
hand in making the road passabe by the
time of the run
The fourth days run will be a stem
winder, and the sand crabs" as the
drivers have already been
dubbed, will have a day of strenuous
work. as the going between Fort Pierce
and Palm Beach is said to be something
awful, even no trail in some places, and
connections will have to be made with
sundry turpentine roads cut out of the
big wheel turpentine carts
Speaking of these roads. it will be well
for all drivers to use 60-inch tread in
order to follow the turpentine carts and
not the regulation 56-inch tread, as 1t will
be much easier going j., they can follow
the ruts made by the turpentine carts
and sundry other vehicles of a similar
tread used almost exclusively in Florida
And Then EIyslum
The fifth day will be "waff1es and
honey" for all hands. as the beautiful
road, narrow though it is, built of soft
limestone by Dade county. assisted by
Mr.. Flagler, from Palm Beach to Miami.
is thing of joy. after coming out of the
wilderness of bad roads.
Controls for the night will be at Or
mond, Rockledge, FIT Pierce and Palm
Beahc, and drivers will not be allowed
to start before o'clock in the morning.
The rules of this club run (which will
be of national character) are summed
up in four words by the representative
of the Florida East Coast Automobile
association in New York, and those are,
Start and get therew,'' and that is about
all that will be required with the ex-
ception of the controls, made both for
the safety and comfort of all.
Jacksonville In Line
About fifty members of the f. E. C.
A. A. have their cars with them at Day
tona and other points, and It is expected
that they will make quite a few entries
for the run. Any kind of automobile is
eligible, and among the first entries were
two from Hutto & Co, Jacksonville, who
enter two single-cylinder Detroit ma
chimes.
One of the drivers of the later machine
is a native Florida cracker" who knows
his way through the woods, and he is
expected to make the running for the
rest, although the road will be well de-
fined by a pathfinder, who will in about
two weeks time go over the road with
pencil camera and lay out the entire
The controls may be slightly altered,
IL his investigation shows that to be
The end of the run will be at the Royal
Palm, Miami, where Hon. John Sewal1,
Joseph p. Greaves and other prominent
will check the survivors.
No secret is made of the fact that the
I,o ,d rood rim 10 er1va,, Fo,. tbo ,o,,r,@oaa