Los Angeles herald., 1909-04-26
MOTORCYCLIST
HURLED 40 FEET:
TWO MEN DYING
SAUCER TRACK ACCIDENT MAY
BE DOUBLE FATALITY
RACER THROWN AMONG CROWD
is UNINJuRED
Four Thousand Spectators See Man
Travelling at Terrific Speed Flung
Into Grandstand in Sensas
tiona Accident

" OWARD H. PIPER and Charles
III c. Henry, two boon companions
IL are dying at the receiving hos
pital in the city police station, the VIC
tins of a spectacular accident at the
Coliseum motorcycle track yesterday
afternoon, while Elbert Earhart, tne
rider who made the ath-dealing night
through the crowd of spectators, traV-
cling at the rate of more than a mile
minute, is practically uninJured'
though badly shaken up.
The accident was productive OF one
of the most intensely tragic scenes ever
witnessed on a race course. How Ear
hart escaped a horrible death, as ne
went hurtling through the crowded
grandstand after being shot from the
81. idle of his machine at such terrific
speed. and on through an opening IN
the end Of the grandstand until stop
ped by his contact with the hard eartn
twenty feet below, is a miracle ex-
plainable only by the fact that the
riders life must be charmed one
Piper and Henry received their IN
juries as a result of being struck by
Earhart, their bodies serving as a buff
fer in breaking the speed of Earharts
flight The terrific speed at which he
was travelling is indicated by the fact
that the fatal injuries to both Plper
and Henry are due to crush skulls:
Piper is believed to have had his skull
fractured by direct contact with Ear
hart's body, while Henry is believed to
have been injured by being hit by
Piper. r. Boyd, who was sitting I'M
mediately alongside of the two injured
men, had his right arm badly wrenched
by being hit either by Earhart or by
one of the injured men.
The accident occurred during the
ninth race on the card. 1t was an anna
teur five-mile event for motorcycles
| of 1880 cubic inch piston displacement,
| the days program having been the an
nual race meet of the Los Angeles Mo-
torcycle club, to whom Jack Prince and
George Kreamer the promoters and
| owners of the track, had turned ove-
| the grounds for this special purpose.
Five Riders in Race
| Five riders had started and were
speeding around the banked circle, do
| ing miles in less than one minute, and
were beginning to pull away from each
other, according to their success in the
race
! Earhart has not been regular rider
at the track and probably would not
have ridden yesterday had 1t not been
club meet and had there not been a
number of club challenge cups hung
up for competition which every mesii-
| ber of the club is anxious to hold for a
year. Because of his not having ridden
! constantly on the track he naturally
| lacked the experience that the more
seasoned riders acquire, and when the
accident occurred was unable TO save
himself as other riders have done who
have been threatened with even more
dangerous accidents.
Earhart was speeding along between
the two black lines which indicate the
| foul and fair riding ground, with one or
/ L.. xNG Ill v1d a
| behind him. AS the riders passed from
| the back straightaway into the banked
curve Huyck, in fast burst of speed,
made an effort to go past ,Earhart by
riding higher up on the bank. Just
what happened was all done so quickly
that no two eye witnesses saw the ac-
cident in the same way. Earhart
| claims that he was riding between the
two black lines at this particular point
| and that as Huyck passed him he cut
across his front wheel too closely. fore
| ing Earharts front wheel to foul with
Huyck's rear wheel, although Earhart,
| travelling at a high rate of speed, hau
no alternative than to keep on going,
regardless of consequences.
Say Racer Rode High
| Huyck claimed at first that his wheel
did not touch Earhart's, but later ne
! stated that in passing Earhart the
latter rode little high, passing out
side of the fair line and on foul
ground, and that his elbow grazed with
Earhart's body.
| 1t was apparent to the spectators
that something had gone wrong with
| Earhart the moment that they saw him
take a quick glance over his shoulder
and then to travel in an erratic man
ner toward the top of the highly banked
curve, Immediately beneath the grand
stand at that portion of the track.
TRY hard as he did to regain control
over the head of his machine 1t be-
came more and more unmanageable,
the front wheel gyrating in such per-
ilous manner that it was the veriest
miracle that Earhart could even re-
main in his saddle. With the speed OF
his machine unchecked and following
| it's course toward the top OF the saucer,
| the four or five thousand spectators
were horror-stricken when they real
lied that he must inevitably be cata-
paulted against the base of the grand
stand. which comes flush with the top
edge of the track. Thus Earhart,
| driven at a terrific rate, rode for fully
seventy-fve or a hundred feet, the
spectators closing their eyes to shut
out the spectacle of the rider being
crashed against the obstacle ahead of
him. For a moment he appeared to
get sufficient control of his machine to
give 1t new course and to make it
run parallel with the grand stand, but
| it was for only a moment, and again
the head of his machine gyrated with
| lightning speed toward the Mortified
spectators who had arisen to their feet
in an agony of suspense
Then came the crash when the ma
chine struck. the base of the stand.
bringing the motorcycle to an almost
instant, though temporary, standstill.
while Earhart's body, under tremend-
Gus momentum, went catapulting
across the top rail OF the stand and
into the crowd of spectators who had
pushed forward to the rail to witness
the impending accident.
without hesitating in his fight, Ear
hart plowed headfirst through the
crowd, his body apparently sliding
portion of the way along the rail of
the grand stand, then on across the
narrow footway between rail and seats.
only to disappear through an aperture
at the end of the grand stand but
trife larger than his body. The Inn