New-York tribune., 1909-10-31
GRANT WINS THE
VANDERBILT CUP
Continued from first page.

won the Massapeuua Sweepstakes lie
drove 1850 miles ten laps. i'm hours
,uinutes and % seconds. This was at an
average speed OF $50 miles an hour
,,or,arLahle uace for small car in such
= race. The Wheatley Hills contest Tor
,he cars i'm the class next 10 the ones
eligible for tho Vanderbilt Cup, was won
u Rsv Hall-o,yn, in a Msrmon, who Gov
.red fifteen laps. 1896 miles, IN hours
- minutes and a. s. seconds His
average speed was $500 miles Al hour,
amazing speed also
Grants time was the merest shade
more than 81 miles an hour. which was
amazing. considering the terrific jam in
The carly laps. Robertson drove at
rate Of 642S miles an hour in 1908, but
conditions we're better. Grants time
VAS hours - minutes and ~ seconds;
Parker's hours 80 minutes 5S 80 sec
onds. Tho course WAS lightning fast. as
was shown by the terrific speed reached
by Louis Chevrolet I'm his fourth lap.
which he completed in 9:57. the fastest
lap Of the race. That meant AN average
speed Of more than 76 miles an hour,
and no one even approached it during
saw the race vary, Of course. They
must. Of necessity. But although some
said that 100000 persons were on hand.
not more than half that number in all
probability, saw the contest. They made
more Of a showing. TO be sure, because
they were spread over only 1854 miles
Of road. as against g miles or more last
year, but that is the estimate agreed
upon by those most qualified to judge
the size of such crowds
Not a single accident involving life or
limb marred the race. Narrow escapes
there were, of course. and one man was
killed and two others badly hurt while
they were on their way to see the con-
test But in the race itself. or the three
races, rather no one of the accidents to
cars resulted in injury of any sort 10
contestant or spectator, and the fifth re-
newal Of the American automobile classic
established a new record in this respect
The big ambulance corps of nurses and
surgeons around the grandstand was
never called upon for active duty and
The men who managed the race were
subjects of congratulation on all hands
when IL was over
POLICING OF COURSE EXCELLENT.
The policing of the course was mag
nlficent. and. considering the absence of
troops. compared favorably with the way
The work was done AT Savannah Around
the grandstand. where "A year ago the
crowd surged over the course long be
fore the race was over. the deputy sber-
ifs and the Pinkerton men kept the
parkway absolutely clear Away from
the grandstand the course was invaded
no" and then, but. generally speaking.
1t was kept clear. and The drivers had
'he chance 10 get what speed they could
out Of their cars
Fred Wagner sent the cars AWAY like =
starting machine. and, using intervals of
fifteen seconds instead Of the time hon
"rod minute in dispatching them. had
mo fTst Vanderbilt entry. The eleventh
csr 10 start. away at three minutes after
O'Clock. just three minutes after the
hrS' Of III" little fellows in the Massa-
Ioqua contest had started. II vas -
brilliantly successful start but about ten
minutes later Wagner and every one else
officially connected with the race must
hav" felt as man does who has acci-
dentaliN walked into a hornets nest or
upser 4 basket Of live crabs.
CONFUSION AFTER THE START.
Cars were going by every minute.
CONFUSION reigned among the scorers and
held every one who for any reason want
ed 10 keep track Of the racing machines
in its grip. The wonder was not that
there was a mistake about the scoring of
one lap. but that one mistake was all
that was recorded. Reports of cars in
trouble came constantly. Lewis Strang.
first away for the Vanderbilt Gun. was
lost on The first round, and TT seemed
ages before anything was heard of him.
otner cars came buzzing by so fast tha.
II was almost impossible % keen any
sort OF track of them. One looked for \
number, and had TO take a flying glance
as Two or three cars swept by together.
Cracking. swapping. roaring exhausts
barking like pack of hungry collies at
meal time, the stream kept shooting bv
But it got smaller gradually. as car after
car was reported out from one cause or
another. and by noon II was possible 70
DO some figuring as TO just how the cars
stood and what were their chances of
winning. There had been such a slaugh-
ter OF the favorites then that no one
knew what TO expect. Chevrolet. Sey-
nour. Strang and most of the other ia
nous drivers had vanished from the
contest or were tenderly steering cam
aged and hopelessly distanced cars
around the course in the hope of winning
the honor of being in action at the finish
John =. Rockefeller and Sir Thomas
Upton were among those who sat in
the big grandstand 10 see the sport
Neither had ever seen a race before, and
Roth seemed 20 be entranced by the spec
tacle. They had no comments 10 offer,
however, although Sir Thomas congrat-
ulated Mr.. Vanderbilt Oh the interest the
spectacle seemed 20 be affording.
CARS IN SOLID MASS.
The big stand was almost empty 4
short time before the race, but It filed UP
ri an astonishing rate when the special
tfains began 10 come in and the strag-
CLING hne Of automobiles became a solid
mass on the white roads in trains and
touring cars, in tsxicabs and rubber
neck sightseeing wagons. fresh from the