Los Angeles herald., 1908-03-01
RECORDS ARE
SMASHED IN
HILL CLIMB
tJACKRABBIT" SURPRISES THE
SPECTATORS
APPERsoN MAKES THE RUN IN
1885 ia
Actions of Official Call Forth Gen.
sure, but Otherwise the Con-
test is a Great
Success

is the title that can pc justly Ci1iiiiSl NJ
bv the Apperson "Jackrabbit, II the
Altadena hill climb contest 10 d @'"i
dard to judge by.
with a speed that surprised every
bodv who saw the hill climb contest at
Altadena yesterday afternoon, the Ap-
nerson '.Jackrabbit' fairly flew up the
acknowledgements grade in the re-
1narkably fast time of 1:36 Ia. Inc
hest previous record was made by the
Packard last year and was 2;lo' SO
that Edgar Apperson is to be congratu-
iatad on setting a pace that it will
be found hard to follow by other hldhes
OF cars. -.
The Stearns runabolt was the next
fastest car and ran the course III
1857 3-4. s.,,.s
There were a number of drivers
who have been over the course
in former contests who thought thdt
two minutes would be the best tlIne
made this year. and they were simply
stunned when word came back over
the "HeraId" telephone that the Jack
had made 1856 20.
Tn place of the first event, which
was to have been for runabouts, tne
committee had Paul Derkum and wal
fer Collins ride an exhibition. Both
of the plucky riders met with accldents
but stayed with the game to the nm
iSh, DGrku1l Sdll6Q llSi ONNA NA'N
at the railway crossing and Whe-4 ne
came down he had a broken handle
har He finished at the same high
speed notwithstanding, making the
time of 1:17.
Plays in Bad Luck
Collins had worse luck and ran into
+be hack of an automobile that was on
the course and was backing down into
his Way. The car had no business
there and as a result of the careless
ness of its driver Collins sustained
badly cut and bruised hand and had
10 ride the rest of the way with one
pedal and one handlebar. He made
the time in 1920, over fifteen SECONDS
faster than the fastest STOCK car III
America.
The official time, as given out by the
hill climb committee, is as follows:
Second event-Tourist, 2:41; REQ,
1854; Buick, 1855.
Third event = Kisselkar, 2:46 Ia;
Jackson, 2:51; Oldsmobiie, 2:51 ga;
Tourist, 1852 1-2.
Fourth event-Rambler, 227; Reo'
2:3O 1-2; Pope-Hartford, 2:So; Elmlre'
S:55.
Fifth event-Oldsmobile. 2:25; Tour
ist. 2:3O IL; Thomas Detroit, 2:4O IL.
sixth eyent-Thomas Flyer, 4:37 IL;
White, did not finish.
Seventh event-Scratched on account
Of withdrawal of Peerless.
Eighth event-Kisselkar 2:22 3-4;
Stoddard Dayton 2:33 IA; Tourist,
2:41 IL; REQ, 2:58 IA.
Ninth event - Apperson, 1856 Ia;
Stearns, 1858; Franklin, 200; Packard,
2:O9 Sd; Pope-Toledo, 2:20; Haynes,
2:30 1-2.
Tenth event, for four fastest cars
Apperson, 1856 Ia; Stearns, 1:54 Ia;
Franklin, 1857 ga; Packard, 2;12.
Cars Ready on Time
The conduct of the races was ex-
ceptionally good and reflects credit on
Mr.. Shelter, who started the cars off.
He had announced that the cars would
have to be ready and they were ready
long before the winning cars came
back down the course.
The program was over by 8 o'clock
and the hundreds of motor cars ana
the two or three thousand spectators
that lined the course had chance to
get home early.
Thera was some criticism of the way
in which Mr.. Shelter started some of
the cars, and unfairness was alleged
In the case of one of the Kisselkars
that got bad start he recalled it and
started it over. To be sure he fined
himself s., but that was cheap COM
Will NlIIlIlllS tiiN Ae'NNs NAllNil
he did when q few seconds lost on
the start would have put him second
or third.
When the Jackrabbt got away it
was ten feet past the line when Shet-
tier ran after it and started it over.
On the first trial Apperson had neg
lected to throw in his gears, and when
he applied the clutch he found that
there was nothing doing. 1t cost APP
he said gftppyVaT1 n that
he was willing to pay the fine and
appreciated the kindness of Shelter
in starting him over again. Apperson,
however, was game and would have
taken his chance with the bad start
anyway, as he is no gutter
1t was feared by some of the dealers
that the arrangement of the commit
tee not to announce the time might
leave an opportunity for some one to
fix the schedule between the hands of
the timers and the announcement so
IL at to assure the contestants of a
square deal The Herald had a private
wire put in and, with the cooperation
of others of the press, took the time of
the cars and announced it.
Has Special Line
This was not in line with the wishes
of Mr. Shelter and he very arrogantly
assured The Herald representative that
he would see that the wire was cut.
When he was confronted with the prob
ability of arrest and prosecution at the
hands of the press and the telephone
company he cooled down, but not until
after attempting to have those who
were assisting with the timing to
Gesert.
A. j. Gmith tried the same tactics at
the top of the course and threatened
to cut the wires but he too failed to
carry out his bluff
Previous to the contest Shelter heard
from the telephone company that a pri-
vate wire had been ordered by The
Herald, and he used all of his influence
to have them refuse to put the line
in, but in that he failed too, although
re did not hesitate to misrepresent the
facts to gain his point.
Then, to cap the climax, he had the
cerVe to tell the reporter that he would
rot be allowed on the course, but the
Pasadena police could not see it that