The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1909-03-11
MAD RACE OF AUTOMOBILES CAUSES
 DEATH OF A. ". WALLACE AND ARREST
 OF LACROX FAMOUS FRENCH DRIVER

Wallace Was We'll Known Business Man and Prom
 inent Member of Masonic
 Fraternities.
 Trying to escape what he believed to be death. or serious injury, Aaron w. Wallace. aged 52. the wealthy cracker baker, jumped from his coupe. this morning, on the Boston Post Road west of Ask Creek Bridge. and was Instantly killed, by striking upon his head. The horse. drawing the vehicle, had been frightened by some Of the contestants in the New York automo- bile endurance race from New York who were racing their cars through Fairfield with their mufflers open and making a tremendous noise.
 The cars were four in number as they passed the Wallace coupe.s They were racing. The race had begun at the library in Fairfield Center. At that point two cars were abreast. Three were scattered. but close in the rear- They were running a whirlW1nd race. Thick smoke poured from their exhausts. Their mufflers were open and they made sound like dis charge of gatling guns. It was prob ably, indeed it was undoubt ally, the unusual noise of the bombarding muf- Hers that frightened the horse. which though a spirited animal was used enough to automobiles as they ordi- narily appear upon the highways. One car, however. evidently had>i dropped out, as there were but four in the group of machines that shot by Wood ward. the coachman, at Grasmere.
 When the body of Mir Wallace was fal< dn fI,a d in 10 1nic oh borhood of Ash Creek bridge. the mad dened. animal had run mile. It had another mile. or more, to the v1aduct across Fairfield avenue. before it's driver a trained horseman and man of strong muscle. had pulled it down to a walk.
 Y It was only then that the driver learned from the conductor of pass ing trolley car that the runaway had cost the life of his employer.
 There can be little doubt of the man. ner in which MT. Wa11ace's death oc- cured. because he was seen by Ter conveyance. It was Garrity who sum moned help. and Garrity who testifies to the immediately fatal result of the venture.
 In the meantime. while the body of Mr. Wallace was being tenderly cared for, the automobiles continued their swift and thunderous journey toward this city The noise and smoke of the
 
 A dozen persons in Fairfield sought the telephone for the purpose of calling Che police in Bridgeport. It was Dr. w. H. Donaldson who finally secured ham. and asked for the deadly speed CTS.
 How Birmingham caused a 30 foot American flag to be erected as a barri- headquarters. and how Paul LaCroix the dare devil driver of the French Renault car. drove through the flag with throttle open wide. dehed the halted and placed under arrest. with his wife in New Haven. is a story told, in it's proper place.
 Lacroix now under bonds of $500. and again in the court. will be charged with reckless driving in Fairfield. Stratford and New Haven. In Bridge port he will also be charged with de- facing the flag. which every man is statutes of Connecticut.
 John R. Woodward. the coachman, got control of the frightened animal after it had run a distance of about two miles and he reached Horan's greenhouses in this city before he was aware that MT Wallace was not in the coupe. His attention was called to the fact by William DunWorth, conductor on an Ash Creek trolley car who had seen a crowd of Fairfield residents gathered about the prostrate body of Mir. Wallace several hundred feet west of the line terminal.
 Mr. Wallace had been in poor health HH winter an.i it had been his custom tos ride into business in this city from his home in Fairfield. He lives in the house formerly built by Col. William H. Stevenson. a mile and a quarter from Ash Creek bridge. The driver was John R. Woodward, aged 55, former circus driver of eight horse teams and considered an excellent hnrSRn,an- The horse dra xyirp the coupe was a handsome big dark brown. one of a pair owned by MT. Wallace for several years. The coupe is a light vehicle with a single seat and closed in with heavy plate glass
 Mr. Wallace sat in the coupe wrap ped in a big buffalo robe and was reading the New York Herald on his way to town, as was his custom. At the west gate of Grasmere farm four big automobiles swept past like a whirIwind. The mufflers were off of tn, cars and the din caused the horse to bolt as Woodward mas never seen the animal act before.
 Refusing to heed any word from the driver or any pulling on the relns, the ntrnal seemed to have gone crazy With fright
 It is apparent that Mir. Wallace. an experienced horseman himself. saw the | dilemma of the coachman. and feared Tor his safety. cooped up in the Ilttle | vehicle as he was and he leaped rom Ine door on the right side
 Terrence Garrity, superintendent of Enc farm of Miss Anna B. Jennings. | was an eye witness to the hazardous leap or MT. Wallace. Garrity was dr1v- Ing toward Bridgeport. when the Wal lace turnout swept by him. drawn by the Frightened horse. and with Wood ward using all the skill known to a horseman to keep the animal in the |  Garrfty saw the door on the right F hand side open and he saw Wallace leap out He saw that Wallace struck face downward and that he tried to break the fall with his hands, but be ng hurled with tr m n d ous force from the vehicle he struck upon iis face in the hard macadam road.
 pr. Donaldson. the Fairfield medical