New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1910-10-01
BROADWAY GOES TO RACE
Continued from first page.

with the first streaks of the coming sun
the roaring bark of the automobiles
that have been putting and snorting all
about will be merged in the sharper,
quicker yelping Of the racing cars, muf-
f7ers out of commission. giving tongue
like the hungry pack that. on other
mornings, pursues the elusive aniseseed
over this same country before the riders
of the Meadow Brook Club.
Sleep and a Vanderbilt Cup race don't
so well together. Perhaps the men who
will be racing around on the thin stretch
of cement that makes the parkway are
asleep. hidden away somewhere in their
training camps. but IL they can sleep
within miles of this place tonight they
are well qualified by the absence OF
nerves for the test that awaits them.
trying to sleep. and about nine-tenths
of the temporary population is doing its
best to prevent the other tenth from
sleeping, even if it wants to-
There never were so many automobiles
around before. The ground Is simply
fitting here and there in the darkness.
moving around like ghosts, and shooting
eerie CLEANS of light high against the
star-specked sky as they pass, more cars
are constantly moving. They are coming
from New York, from further out n
Long Island. from all directions. by
every road, snorting along, looking 'o-
a resting place, cars OF all sorts It's
sort of advance automobile show, with
an historical section thrown in, for
there must be cars here that were old
the night before the first Vanderbilt Cup
race was run, six years ago
Now and then a dainty, rakfsh, low
built runabout. racing along with silent
purr of high strung motor. whizzes by
the idle monsters that house whole
parties in comfort. getting the feel Of
the parkway. spinning over the road the
racers are to take, that the spectacle to
come may be more real Again. IT is
numbering, wheeling, antiquated old
buzz wagon groaning as with rheu-
matte age as il passes you, with half
dozen laughing youngsters aboard, prop
erly chaperoned to be sure, ready TO
have as much fun in their own way as
those with twice the speed and power.
Here and there you can see fires, and
they are not half bad on such a night as
this, with the chill Of fall making itself
felt, so that the warmth that comes IS
grateful, even though the smell of the
acrid smoke goes with II. Some have
their coffee in bottles that keep It hot
for twenty-four hours; others would
rather make it fresh. and have the fun
Of cookery thrown in.
Luncheon baskets of every sort are
here. One crowd has a meal-cold, to
be sure. but dainty - prepared in
hotel in New York, while another IS.
amid shrieks of uproarious delight. fry
ing eggs over a brush fire, and wonder
ing what Tom did with the salt and
why no one remembered the Plates.
The automobile dominates the whole
show, of course, for show 1t is. This Is
the night of the automobile. the period
in which 1T rules Long Island as undis-
puted king, and In every way u makes
its sway apparent The pervasive smell
of gasolene is everywhere 1t nningles
with tobacco: it drives out the fainter,
less robust perfumes of an effete civil
ization. Exhausts roar on every side,
nluff1ers are cut out, gears whining and
clanking make the night resound with
noises hideous. perhaps, to the unac-
customed ear, but breathing the very
spirit of the spectacle for those who
have been here before
In cars the waiting spectators stand
UP and hail each familiar face in pass
ing machines. Good fellowship reigns,
among men and women alike, every
where, and those who are spending their
first night on the Hampstead Plains
waiting for the rush of the cars in the
morning are easy TO pick out from those
who have seen it all before.
Motor cycles, buzzing. barking, snap
ping here and there at the heels Of the
big cars. serve as a symbol of authority
They typify. in a sense. the control Of
the whole assemblage. and their riders
are to be the police of the course. the
bearers of tidihgs. the ready rescuers Of
those in distress.
Over at the Garden City Hotel are
some who wonder why they tried to go
to sleep. A constant stream of motor
cars is passing around the hotel, COM
ing from New York. going to the park
way. 1t looks over there Ike a scene
from Dante's Inferno" Big. stripped
touring cars. open exhausts splitting a
weird blue flame, fill the night with the
crackle of small arms. Busy officials,
making sure that all Is we'll. scurry here
and there, seeing to the last details of
the arrangements that must make or
mar to-morrow's race.
Inside the big hotel at Garden City the
scenes that five races have made famil-
lar to the oldtiners are being enacted
Some lucky ones have rooms. having re-
served them for varying periods OF time.
beginning with the day after last years
race They may be in bed, and lights IN
some of the windows indicate that some
use is being made of the precious rooms
But mostly the guests OF the hotel are
up and around the corridors. comparing
notes, meeting old friends and getting
ready for the race IN thousand ways
that do not involve going 10 bed
Probably most OF those who have