Los Angeles herald., 1909-07-11
SIDELIGHTS ON RACE

"a curious thing about handling
crowds in this section which we no
ticed today" said Z. II. Brady, VINO
had charge of the Pinkerton men, "is
that Los Angeles crowds are different
entirely from any in the other se1-
tions of the country. In st. Louis
Chicago, New York or elsewhere IN
the east we know just how to handle
the crowds and how to make item be-
have, but it is a fact that the crowds
here puzzle us. They are different IN
some way, but just how don't know"
L. M. Tefft and J. II. Clark Of the
| Western Motor Car company were kept
extremely busy at the timing stand at
the east end of Nevada avenue. A
great many persons thought that 1t
was an information bureau, but the
two men were equal to any emergency.
The straightaway stretch east on
Nevada avenue gave numerous oppor-
! tunities for good exhibitions of real
automobile driving and the spectators
sometimes forgot the scoring of the
race in watching the spirited contests
for position by the competing drivers,
| In the heavy car race special interest
was turned in the first laps to the
race between the Studebaker and the
Rambler. These cars kept close to
each other, and first one was ahead
and then another until a radiator hole
! put the Rambler out Of business.
! The manner in which the Mitchell
and Studebaker EMF were sent
around the turns in the second race eX-
cited the interest of the crowds at the
| Nevada avenue and Palisades corners.
When Bob Greer put his Mitchell at
Aa- IL sfrHra ut
would lean far out to counterbalance
! the car Several times at the turn
| into Nevada avenue he narrowly
grazed the tree on the inside corner,
! but always had an eye on the space
and swung inward enough to miss it.
The crowd began to look for the Nit
chell to make the turn, and on every
| lap there was cry of, Here comes
No. 8; watch the man"
Kennedy threw the EMF car
around at a swift pace every time.
which threw dirt and pieces of piled
street about lavishly. The spectators
began to expect this and made bets on
whether he would get over the planks
without touching the edges. He al
ways allowed a safe margin, however,
and fooled the spectators who wanted
spill for their moneys worth.
The hole which the Haynes made in
the palm tree near the Nevada avenue
turn undoubtedly will attract many
curious visitors today. 1t was in
spected by many yesterday who We're
curious to see how far Shannon could
drive a big car into tree and then
crawl out again. A number of per
sons carried away small parts Of the
palm tree as souvenirs.
The first real enthusiasm yesterday
morning was aroused just at daylight,
when a sandwich man on an old
fashioned bicycle pedaled by a row of
all-night automobiles "Oh, you Six
Sixty" shouted the automobile occu-
pants in unison.
Dick Ferris endeavored to keep
seat where he could watch the race,
but the crowd wanted to shake hands,
and made him keep a position down
on the ground where they could get at
him. "I feel like a politician with
this shaken arm," said Dick. "Pll tell
you what 1 think of the race tomorrow.
It's certainly worth coming for"
An appreciated feature Of the ar
rangements was the excellently ar
ranged telephone Cystem, which COW
cred the grounds with telephones con-
veniently placed at short Intervals
| along the course, and central ex-
! change at the press stand which con
nected with the city systems. The
telephone service was well carried out
at all times which many persons had
| reason to appreciate.
The veterans from the Soldiers home
and Sawtelle were among the most in
terested spectators of the race and
kept as accurate tab on the progress
of the cars as many automobile enthu-
siasts A number were at the course
from early in the morning until late
in the evening.
The acrobatic matchinist in Bob
Greer's Mitchell car kept the fair six
enthused by the daring manner in
which he hurled himself far out at the
side of the car in an effort to main
tain a better equilibrium when taking
the curves. The Mitchell seemed to
run very smoothly and was consis-
tent contender throughout the race, but
appeared unable to make as high speed
as it has on many former occasions.
The Mitchell still is able to maintain
its boast that it rarely has to stop
for repairs of any sort, as yesterday
1t ran a very steady race.
The croakers who were predicting
dire things on the turns did not know
the fine type of drivers Los Angeles
has developed.
The automobile and foot bridge at
Fourth street was fine piece of engi-
neering and was constructed in so
thorough a manner that 1t had the
confidence of all who saw 1t. 1t was