Los Angeles herald., 1910-01-17
DEATH DEFIED
IN AUTO RACES
HISTORY OF TRACK SHOWS
CHANCES TAKEN
MANY DRIVERS ARE AFRAID TO
BE AFRAID
Everyday Occurrences of Fatal Acci-
dents Fail to Deter Speeders
Who Risk Their Lives
for Coin

the most dangerous sport in the world.
Death turks at it's skirts all the while
! Frequently it reaches out for VIC
| tim. Accidents are more or less usual
Yet the colony of auto racing profess
sionals is growing rapidly. It's his
tory is forgotten. Only its sensations
| are evident now.
Shaking dice with death" is a phrase
brought to us by the transformers
who took charge of auto racing a few
years ago when public sentiment al
most crushed it because of the horror
of many accidents in quick succession.
1t was coined by a press agent whose
talents were directed to attracting
crowds.
In the last few years some of the
notable victims of the sport have been
it's greatest votaries. Yet the popu-
larity of the game has increased de-
| spite the toll.
Drivers today know they are ''shak-
ing dice with DEATH" They have rae
ing history to inform them and almost
every day accidents to drive home the
| knowledge. 1t is always with them
this knowledge of danger-but they are
afraid to be afraid. Just before he
started in the race which cost him his
life at Birmingham November II, 1908,
| Stricken was asked if he ever thought
of the time when newsboys might be
crying the story of his own misfortune.
His answer is characteristic:
Il never think of that" said he. 81
| know that some time an accident will
occur if l continue driving. Suppose
I brooded over the probability?
| could not drive. My very carefulness
would result in disaster. 1 never give
danger a thought when in a car. 1t is
not because 1 am bold. 1t is not be-
cause I do not know of the possibili-
ties It is because l am afraid to be
| afraid"
"The Saint of Luck"
Three weeks before this in New Or
| leans, Stricken Lewis Strang and l
were eating dinner with newspaper
| interviewer came over to talk with us.
Stricken had an unusual watch charm,
! and the reporter asked about it. He
winked at Strang and me and replied:
"That is the Saint of Luck, the
patron of the autoists. 1t was given
me by a sweetheart in Italy. All driv-
| ers over there wear one. 1t protects
! them in races"
The reporter quoted him seriously,
and until today does not know Strick-
er was joking. Stricker's death was
| particularly a personal loss to me.
| To Strang it was even more. In talk
| ing of it Strang gave the most Won
| derful idea of the psychology of the
| question l have ever heard:
"While Strickers death was deplor-
| able and affected me more than any
| thing else could, 1 can not truthfully
say l was surprised" he said. "Such
tragedies will happen any moment.
We recognize this fact. Stricken was
| so we'll aware of the chances he ran,
| and was so Injured to the ubiquitous
| nd 1T,iro rorpcpnt 61noaT that hn
sidered it almost a thing of common
place nature. All of us do. We are
| compelled to that attitude. We real
| iZe that from a personal Wow automo-
bile racing is the foolhardy sport of
| fools. But there is the great benefit
to be derived by the people as a whole
in the perfecting of cars, parts of
which we show to be defective. And
that's one answer for our sticking
to it,
| George Robertson, winner of the 1908
| Vanderbilt cup and one of Americas
few great racing drivers, is a fatalist
upon this subject He rarely talks of
| it, even when questioned. He realizes
the ever-present closeness of death,
however. He says:
Can Avoid Disaster
| "Of course, know the element of
danger, but a master hand can many
times avoid disaster. L realize I may
| get caught any time in a race, but I
am always too busy to think of it. If
it's going to come to me, it will come.
| That's all there is to the question.
| So why ever worry?"
That is the sane attitude. 1t is the
only safe one for man who expects
| to achieve greatness to take it. 1t is
| held by the men of America who have
achieved such greatness.
| Barney Oldheld, the man of all men,
who has been through accidents ga
lore, and who bears the marks of
trees and fences upon his body, says
he almost lost his nerve thinking of
accidents two years ago. A month
1 ago, in telling me his plans for this
| year. he said;
Il am going to drive faster than
ever if my car will stand it. 1 am no
has been" L do not need to come
back L have not always driven my
fastest of late because 1 have not had
I to. But 1 have not had an accident
in two years, and now have no fear
of dust, so L know I can drive as fast
as ever. 1 knew it last winter when
1 found myself driving into thick
clouds of dust and around track turns
without cutting off power That was
my supreme test. Until it happened,
| had made up my mind to quit the
/
nerve, and old Barney will be with
j the boys again. L realize that some
day a flaw in some part of the car
will show. Then will come the end
I want it always said, however, that
Barney was going some.'
Sealing the Mind to Fear
There one has the answer again. The
recovery of nerve is simply the show
| ing of fear to be afraid; of putting
thoughts of consequences aside. Drivers
who do not never achieve real success
At Birmingham, in May, the steer
ing wheel of Strang's car broke, and
he lost control of the machine within
fifty feet of where Stricken was
killed. He jumped and rolled across
the track. He was badly bruised and
81 ocked, but at the time of the
accident he decided upon one of two
possible courses of action, because he
! was afraid to be afraid. He was go