The Dillon herald. [volume] (Dillon, S.C.) 1894-????, 1910-11-17

Ht<otNel crowd OF SeNeFak thOuSand
persons, all as completely lost in
the excitement of the hour as are
the spectators in the grand stand
& We had left seven miles away. On
this stretch OF track the cars some
times attain speed OF 100 miles an
hour and 1t seemed to us that the
nrst car to pass after we reached
the track came by like a cyclone.
1t was not thrilling. 1t was simply
amazing, awe-asplSing. fearful and
at times horrible Here, as at 9TH
er places ON the great course
crowds of spectators lined the sides
OF the tracks, and IL at any time a
driver had lost control OF his car
scores OF human beings would have
gone down before ii like blades OF
grass before a moving machine. So
reckless were the drivers that they
seembed literally to court death. At
the most dangerous point on the
track the wreck OF the car which tn
day before had crushed the life out
on a mechanician lay exposed to
their view, while the blood-stained
log upon which the poor fellows
brain had been dashed out gazed
I'D at them with sickening horror as
they sped by, seemingly unmindful
OK the fact that probably a few
yards away q similar fate awaited
them. Fortunately only few ac-
ctdents marred the pleasure of or
added to the excitement of the sa-
yannah races. Only one man was
killed outright, boy was killed by
falling flag pole, driver and his
mechiniciah were seriously injured
by an overturned car and another
was thrown fifty feet from his car
into clump of trees but fortunate
y escaped without serious injury.
So great was the crowd that many
OF the spectators were not aware of
the accidents until they returned to
the city and read accounts of them
in the afternoon papers.
Handling the Crowds.
takes system to handle
crowd of 100000 people. Seating
the vast crowd that thronged the
grand stand was one of the prob
lens that confronted the officials,
but the arrangement was so per-
tect that 1t was carried out with the
precision of clock work Officers
stood guard at every entrance and
the most perfect order was main
tanned An event of such world
wide interest naturally attracts per-
sons of all classes and distinctions
and the idle rich as well as the new
8 rich were very much in evidence.
Two hundred private Pullman cars
standing on convenient sidings ac-
cessible to the race track, was
evidence that many states of the
union were represented and further
evidence of this was seen at the
speedway. Seats on the grand stand
were SO each while boxes sold for
500. We never did like boxes and
our choice fell upon a seat In the
boxes diamonds we're very much in
evidence The women, gorgeously
dressed, were loaded with brilliant
stones. They wore them on every
finger. in their brooches and in
their ears. We did not have an op-
portunity TO see how many they
wore on their toes. A strong gale,
ics-Iaden, was blowing from the
northeast, and wrapped in heavy
coat we sat upon the grand stand
shaking like a dish OF gelatine
while a few feet below us was a
box party of Gotham's fair sex lit
orally buried under a mountain of
furs. They, too, were gorgeous in
diamonds and jewelry and wore cos
tunes cut low--very low--in fact
about as low as the laws OF nature
would allow. Notwithstanding the
seanty under costume the poor, de-
luded creatures did not seem to
mind the chilling winds as they
laughed and chattered and made
big wagers as the great monsters of
death spun and roared around the
course. And there was the hobble
skirt everywhere you saw the hob
ble--of such extremes that locomo-
tion in difficult places was only
possible on the hands and knees.
The "Pool of Death"
AS it is morally certain that be-
fore the race is over one or more
lives must be sacrificed, it is a GUS
tom among the men who dare death
In such a reckless manner to as
semble the night before the "day
oil execution" and form what is
known as the Pool of Death" In
10 this pool goes a certain per cent.
OF the winnings and this fund is di-
yided among the unfortunates who
the next day must give up their
lives for the amusement of the spec
tators. Then n glass is drunk
to the future" of the ones who
VIII fall by the wayside and the
y party disperses to complete their
pians for the next days work Of
slaughter. The entire State militia
Is pressed into service to guard the
track, with strict orders TO shoot
down any person who attempts to
cross the fatal speedway. and
every few yards one sees a man in
Khaki pacing slowly backward and
forward with a loaded carbine up
or his shoulder. Another sight
that impresses the spectator are the
squads Of striped convicts placed at
the most dangerous points along the
course, quietly awaiting the moment
when they will be called to lift a
mass OF twisted steel and iron from
tile body OF some unfortunate driv-
er who is caught beneath the wreck
age of an overturned car.
II was n cruel and brutalizing