New-York tribune., 1909-09-30
DEATH In AUTO RACE
LYTLES CAR WRECKED.
cbs,roIet Thunders OUer Course IN
Record Time.

Record Time.
l..hoad- ~ -Mattituck course yesterday in Suffolk
A,v which was won by Ralph de Palma in a
Oo -. car in hours SS minutes IS 6-iO seconds was
s,oa by an accident that resulted in the
- NJ J. c. Bates. mechanician 20 Herbert Iyytle.
osSr osS1-.n6erblt Cup fame. and the serious in
q !, the latter when the Apperson car skidded
J. 80 road into an embankment with sickening
~ = hurting the high into the air
-sa accident happened in the first half hour
,,be contest cast gloom over the onlookers
sb a lust for speed that even the daredevil
a-,n0 Of Louis Chevrolet could not allay Che
c. c., won the Class b contest at a distance of
w. miles in the worlds record road time OF
Lour 81 minutes and Sc seconds He fairly flew
sr the course at speed OF seventy miles an
hour.
a, had descended steep grade and was about to
- nm another. According to those who saw the
.,5ent the big 50-horsepower car which was
ling along at siNty-five miles an hour became
Manageable and skidded into some sand on the
a. of the road and then lurched TO the opposite
- and plunged up the embankment, on which
ere some logs At the same time he front right
Aeel came OF and rolled along the road Bates
vss thrown against post and picked up in an
1conscious condition. while L.ytle was thrown
,venty feet in ths air and landed In a heap near
the car
injured men were hurried 10 farmhouse
,sar the scene of the accident. where Bates died
vi,bout negaining consciousness. An examination
nv Drs Stevens and Peteiso showed that he had
spsiained a fracture OF the skull and had one OF
ts arms and both legs broken. Lyle was suf-
sing from internal injuries, and II was some time
tstore he regained consciousness. Both his eyes
rsre blackened and his face bruised, but the
sociors believe he viii recover.
The machine badly wrecked the steering
rod on the front right wheel being broken and the
rod Of the steering wheel almost bent in two
srou coming in contact with Lytle's body Three
tires were RIPPED OF and the frame bent and
twisted
This was the second time that mechanician has
been killed with Lyle driving the car. Five days
bsfore the first Vanderbilt Cup race on Long ISL
and in la0s. Lyle drove his car into A fence
While on a practice spin TO avoid running into
horse drawn vehicle. J. 5. Rigby his mechanician
received such injuries that he died the fol-
loving day. Lyle was only slightly hurt
Mrs. Lyle, the wife Of the unfortunate man, was
a the race yesterday with her infant child and
fastened 10 the farm house where her husband
vas taken. When the news reached the grand
stand that Bates had died Mrs. George Loft caused
her husband 10 withdraw his Mercedes car, driven
BY G. Armstrong, in the big class. just as the car
had completed its fifth lap in second place.
James Bates. the dead mechancian, leaves a
wife ana child, living in Kokomo. Ind where
be went with Lyle last July. when the latter be-
seven years old and had been with Lytle two
years Previously both men lived in Toledo.
The twenty-five and three-quarter mile circuit
was in excellent condition and even after the acci-
cent the cars went laundering by with little re-
gard for anything except speed. About ten thou
ssnd persons the race. the start being made
81 Rverhead, where the grandstand situated
The race divided into five classes. and covered
various distances, according TO the selling prices
cf the machines. The machines were sent away at
0ne-minute intervals, the first at o'clock in the
morning.
The race furnished lots Of excitement and for
good part OF the time the machines followed each
Oher in punches. being so close together that
tie SPECTATORS fairly gasped they rushed by.
The driving Of Chevrolet was the feature Of the
contest He led all the in the other classes
ster the second round until he flashed by the fin
ish with whirl and . roar. His fastest round and
he fastest circuit OF the day the fourth, which
he covered in u minutes and 20 seconds. close TO
sagenty-hve miles an hour His other four rounds
we're as follows: 1913 2Oss 2lO9 and 1901 Bernin.
the other Buick car, was close second 10 chev-
Tolet. in the same class.
De Palma drove a steady consistent race in the
Derby. and the only one to finish in the big
dsss, when the race was called on. The Palmer &
Singer car. which in Class d. made a fine
slowing It's time for the l2 miles was 5:ls:O4.
Maxwell cars took first and second honors in Class
al ninety-one miles. See being first in In D.
~ lass Z the cnarp ATIOW cdE hdo q hdAhOseE
and covered the 1865 miles IN 2O9:04.
One Of the most thrilling spectacles ever seen
marked the early part Of this race Shortly after
Louis Disbrow had passed the stand on his fourth
hp in the Rainier car No. ! the steering pin broke
and the machine threatened 10 become unmanage-
able. Disbrow's mechanician. Herbert Bailey.
GaKied over the hood and sat facing the radia-
Tor with his feet spread across the axle. holding
the broken steering gear together with one hand
while with the other he clutched the hood. thus
rsianing his balance. In this manner the car
made almost entire circuit before the pits were
reached and the broken parts repaired.
The order in which the cars finished in the five
classes and the time made by each follow:
Class A-FoR CARS SELLING AT ss5I TO sl,25o-
MILES.