The enterprise. [volume] (Harlem, Mont.) 1899-1926, 1909-08-25
TWO KILLED IN
SPEED CARNIVAL
BOURQUE, KNOX DRIVER, AND
HoLCoMB, MEcHANICIAN,
CRUSHED UNDER CAR.
CAUSE OF ACCIDENT UNKNOWN
OIdfieId and Chevrolet Break I and 10
Miles Reeords.-Several Ora.
matte Episodes Mar Open.
ing Of the Auto Races.

!
ing Of the Auto Races.
Indianapolis, Ind, Aug. 20.-Twe
lives were lost and two records brok
en- during the inauguration of the
Indianapolis motor speedway. Will
liam A. Bourque, driver of the Knox
| car in the $50 mile race, and Harry
Holcomb. his mechanician, were kill
ed in the frenzied carnival of speed
Barney Oldfield, driving a high pow
cred Benz, covered a mile in 431 sec
onds, breaking De Palmas mark of 81
seconds, and Louis Chevrolet, in a
Buick, negotiated ten miles in the
marvellous time of 1855 4-1O, cutting
Oldfield's time of 9:12. Both of these
are new American track marks.
Robert Burnman, in Buick won
the ESQ mile race, the feature of the
day, and the contest that cost Bour.
que and Holcomb their lives. The
winners time was 4:33:57 4-1O-slow
because of the many accidents that
marred the race. The Stoddard-Day-
ton (Clements) was second in 4:4601
$40 and the National (Merz) finish
ed third in 452:39 ITO. Another Ma
tional with Kincaid at the wheel was
the only other car of ten starters to
finish the long grind.
Track Full of Ruts.
The death of the two men caused
the American AutOmOhi1a Association
to issue an ultimatum to the owners
of the big track that certain changes
must be made or the sanction for the
event will be withdrawn. The Ameri-
can Automobile association demands
that the track be freed from the many
and dangerous ruts, which are said to
be unavoidable in a new track, and
that every inch of it be thoroughly
oiled and tarred.
Only a short portion in front of
the grand stand was oiled and the
dust on the other parts is blamed for
the collapse of two drivers in the
long race-Louis Chevrolet and Fred
Ellis-who were blinded by the dense
white mist that covered the major
portion of the track
Two records were broken and the
first day of the immense track proved
fair to be an unqualified success, when
pail was cast over the crowd of
100000 speed-mad spectators by the
sudden death of Bourque and Hol-
comb.
The Knox car was in second place,
with Burman. in his Buick, leading
and had covered nearly $50 miles
when the crash came. While coming
down the home stretch, the car sud-
denly swerved and tore into the fence
pletely over and pinning it's two oc-
cupants beneath it. Both men were
alive when taken from under the ILL
fated machine, but Bourque died in
the ambulance on the way to the
emergency hospital. Holcomb lived
few minutes longer, but was dead
soon after he arrived at the hospital.
Cause of Accident Obscure.
Stories as to the cause of the &C.
cident vary and no one will ever
know what really caused the car of
death to swerve from the track. Ac-
cording to the story told by Private
Frank Brandoor, Company H, Second
regiment, Indiana National Guard,
who was nearest to the scene of the
accident and had narrow escape
from injury, something caused both
men to suddenly turn and look be-
hind. AS they did so, the steering
wheel slipped from Bourque's hands,
and he threw his arms helplessly in
the air. Then came the crash.
One of the rear wheels was found
a few hundred feet from the scene of
the accident and this has led to the
advancement of the theory that the
axle nuts on it had not been properly
frightened when the machine had TAX
en- on a new tire shortly before The
men probably felt the wheel slipping
off and after they looked behind they
realized their helplessness to prevent
an accident
Auto Upsets; Driver Hurt.
st. Cloud, Minn.,, Aug. 2O-A. G.
Adams, one of the Winnipeg autoists
on return journey, suffered a frac-
tured shoulder and broken ribs, when
his machine overturned at Clear
Lake, pinning him underneath it.
There were two in the machine and
they were driving at a high rate of
speed. They had turned out to pass
a rig and when trying to regain the
road the machine skidded and turned
turtle ini,ring Adams
The other occupant escaped un.
scratched. A passing automobile
brought Adams to st. Raphael's hos.
pital, this city.
HENRY HUDSON STAMP ISSUE.