The Washington times., 1912-03-11
THREE AS MUST
GOVERN ALL RACES,
INSISTS MAGNATE
G. M. Dickson Champions
Cause of Motor Speed
Contests.
By HARRY WARD

Thousands of devotees Of the motor
car are dyed-in-the-wool followers of
automobile racing, one of the greatest
or modern sports. When one of the
leading makers recently publicly at
tackled ractng and suggested that the
american iti automobile Association wash
lts hands OF its control, an able cham
pion OF the cause arose in the person
OF George NJ. Dickson, general man
ager Of one of the big Western com
was prominent contender in races of
all sorts, having won eighty four firsts.
captured the worlds stock champion
SNIP SNIP the worlds straightaway stock
The American Automobile AssocIa-
uon Is an amateur sport governing
BODY, says Dickson in reply to tho
atLack on racing made by Benjamin
Brlscoe. The Manufacturers Con-
test Association, an organization com
posed of the manufacturers themselves,
makes the rules that govern races, and
men men places these regulations in the
hands OF the unbiased sport governing
BODY, the three AS, for enforcement.
BY this method automobile racing is
Kept clean, honest, and the public is
assured OF true sportsmanlike control
OF the events. II the three AS should
surrender its control 1t would then
leave racing at the mercy of the car
builders. l shudder to think what might
then happen-wildcat races, hippo
dromes, and, in fact, commercial ex-
hlbltlons purely, and not genuine sport
ing events.
I'm short, Mr.. Briscoe's recommen-
dation seems to me to be the best way
of robbing racing of it's merit and de-
stroying the public's confidence in the
sport"
Tho baseball, basketball, and foot
pail leagues now have a new cousin"
It's the motorcycle league of clubs aid
in some parts of Middle West the
leagues of riders are very popular.
This country is constantly develop
ing an army of middle-aged and elderly
men who have come out of the COM
mcrcial battle with substantial fortunes
and who decide to devote the latter
years of their life to well-earned rec
reation," said NJ. T. Pollock, the Olds-
mobile agent. 'If for no other than
social reasons, their families buy high
priced cars from trpe to time as a
matter of course, but the man himself,
whether the family has been using cars
or not, is pretty sure to have to come
to motoring as one of his recreations.
I'm fact, for man Of the type [
have described, there are only three
standard recreations. These are golf,
travel. and motoring. While travel and
motoring are the same in some re-
spects. / make the distinction between
road and steamship on the other. Most
of these men have had their fill OF
! railroad travel, in connection with their
commercial affairs, and it is impossible
! to disguise the fact that railroad travel,
| even under the most pleasant circum-
stances, is very uncomfortable as a
steady diet. Golf has a strong hold on
many men, but like billiards or whist
IT is by no means big and broad enough
| TO be much more than a time killer 1t
| is in motoring that these men find their
truest and most satisfactory recreation.
| They and their families create a mar
ket for cars that is never-failing from
! year to year, and they will have moth
| sng but the best and most luxurious.
| They want plenty Of power, plenty of
room, plenty of speed plenty of stanch-
| ness, and plenty Of comfort
| II is expected 100000 people will wit
| ness the 50O-mile automobile race on the
| indianapolis speedway Memorial Day.
Ford dealers within a radius OF 800
miles of Detroit, frantic ct the in
ability to get cars on account of the
congestion in freight traffic, recently
/ adopted the plan of sending drivers TO
| the Ford plant in Detroit, and getting
cars TO drive back to thei' respective
cities" said Claude Miller. the Ford
agent hare. "A dealer in Toledo" he
continued. "sent fifty men CT one oc-
casion. end caravan of Ford cars i'm
| medlately started back TO Toledo. De
| spite the congestion of freight cars, the
Ford company reached the high water
mark in automobile shinmentS for 1872
last week, when 20G cars left the Ford
shipping docks in one day. The fol-
were shinped. Those big shipments
were fifty cars above the average
needed TO round out the total of "a, ,0O
| Ford cars for 1872