The evening world., 1911-06-01
R'Gr&
TX
-
Old Nero and His Followers May
Have Thought Chariot Races
the Most Thrilling Sport Pos.
sIble, but They Didn't Com
pare to Our Modern Death
0eaiinQAuto~C Contests.


md yeass ago. Great sport
N01M1oe sa~cang-wfsh plenty OF good.
OGn1ng killing In IT. Down IN the old
0p0sum they had . email track with
- turns. 20 that the ohariots would
.And bump into a other 10 make
Il Uogs nsrvs rackfng and give old
49, and hAs followers in tho first tier
beuu f0w moments of real pleasure
nv ~ then. Onoe In q while the nrst
S1ng6Ge wouAd turn over. with the others
- eDoos behind that they oouidn't
suorvo Z a the way. and then there'd
b Q G3prtcus mixup. with all tho neck
ssoon6ng and back breaking trimmings
90 ssuid wish for.
81. sven at the best. the ancients
wprp 4 bit slow. They didn't have The
aAvpnGaess Of modern civilization. Poor
old Nero missed II. being born away
bad there nearly q couple of thousand
ysess ago-with his tastes. Imagine
.whes Gun ~ could a had In the old
Colosseum, with Its small. unbanked
traOk, n he could only have used racing
automobllss instead Of s'x-horse chart
otsi What q crash they would have
madsi And then. In smashing up and
killing OF the drivers and mechan-
icians. their gasoline tanks might have
exploded. toe. and perhaps have cooked
q few Of the spectators. That would
be one advantage In the Colosseum
traCk over our modern auto courses.
The spectators used TO be banked right
down close TO the course. But there
was q DISADVANTAGE. too. for the lowest
row Of Keats was raised eight or ten
fest ana there would have been prac-
ticsaly no chancs 70 provide amusement
nv having a machine dash Into the
crowd anywhere. II 10 arranged much
better In our track and road races. We
Let the crowd got out and run across
the course, 30 there's always . chance
10 sec O good killing. And even when
the mob 10 kept back there's seldom
anything in front OF them but . nimsy
fence, that 10 a cinch for any ecdn cal
that gets out Of control.
Then. even at the best. the most Opt
mistic old Roman would hardly have
the nerve 10 claim that II II As exciting
20 see q few numbering horse team
and small racing chariots upset as 1t Il
70 zee q powerful racing auto turn
turtle while whizzinE along at a rate
OF seventy miles an hour But they
>hsA one Advantage. You could see al
accident from any part OF the Colosseum
Of course. Nowadays our race course
ass 90 large that a dozen people Nigh
be Killed In . race. and with a $5 sea
IN ne grand stand you might not b
sbas 20 - . single fatality. After pay
ing your fifteen you may easily b.
bunooed. while some fellow who crawle,
unAor the fence along the backstretcl
mag happen TO Do right near the spo
wh0s everybody else Is slaughtered en-
tiroay by accident. and II he's luck.
enough he may even have time to eli
on q few souvenir buttons before tn
ambulance people get there. Each sys
ten has It's advantages. The underlyin
spogtinG spirit OF soma 1000 years az
hasn'6 died out yet. n after all that
the main thing. Auto racing. on unpro
tsCtsd tracks will Keep 1t alive for
long tine
AN M'KETRICK. who with Til
Hurst ran the Pastime's amateu
tournament at which the EnI
lish team boxed. explains why Hu
nag1o didn't compete against Erskir
Of Scotland. Nick etrick say that Hu
magic came 20 the club prepared to q
on, but In the presence Of the pres
dent Of the Pastime Club demanded :
'~sxpsnssS." This. he explained. VI
TO cover two weeks salary at SIS
week. and Sb for actual training e.
pensss. Tho decided tn
they wouldn't pay the amateur boxe
and ne was dropped.
The English and the Canadians we
real amateurs. The English even 7
fused TO consider their tips on q
steamer az part Of travelling expens,
and insisted upon paying them out
their own pockets. The CANADIAN
whom forced 10 walt over a week
4 New York. stipulated that only III,
actual hotel expenses should be pa
for them. This is quite a contrast
the actions OF some of the Americ
alleged amateurs" one Of these, fr,
Boston. was 10 have had $40 to co,
his trip. but wired down that he want
$40 more" lie didn't get II. IIaf
that $50 would have covered his leg,
mate expenses literally.
Here's work for The Registration Co
mittee OF the A. A. u. There sur
is no reason why amateur sport In /
country should be less genuinely IAN
teur" than In England n Canada.