The Oskaloosa herald., 1913-09-04

Elgin, ILL.,, Sept 1.-"Gil' Anderson,
who has been knocking at the doors Of
the automobile hall of fame since 1909,
finally burst open the portals when he
won the race for the Elgin national
trophy over the Elgin road race course,
travelling the 305 miles in Stutz car
In 4:l3:3S 57-l00. He averaged Ills
miles an hour. .....
Ralph Mulford took second place in
q Mason and Spencer Wishart in his
Mercer took third. 1u =aaa-. ..f
iG Erwin BergdoIl, with third place
within his grasp, failed to watch his
gasoline supply and was put out of
the race in the thirty-second lap,
when he ran out of fuel on the back
stretch.
Harry Grant. in an Isotta, the only
foreign built car in the race, finished
in fourth place. and Ralph De Palma
was fifth. These places Melted them
nothing but honor. ....
Bill Endieott and Dawson were still
on the track when the race was de-
clared finished
HnocTSon Popular NiCtOFs
Anderson's victory was popular, al
though he was not a favorite at the
start. AS soon as he leaped into the
lead the crowd began pulling for him
10 win. .E.
His driving was the most consistent
OF the day, but milford and Harry
Grant rode him close race. Grant,
although he did not finish In the
money. got every bit OF speed his car
possessed, and did not make a stop
until he finished his thlrtieth lap. He
was always hanging on, ready to grab
q place II any of the leaders fell down.
Anderson was the only driver In the
race who has finished in every race he
has started. In nearly every event il
which he has participated he has been
In the money. Bad luck kept him
from winning other events, but in this
race his troubles were almost none
and his victory was the only logical
outcome of the combination of good
fortune and heady driving.
Wishart Starts Things.
Spencer Wishart started out to be
the hero. He showed it was to be
record breaking contest by Keeling of
the first lap in six minutes and 81 sec
onds. the fastest ever made over the
course. When he came right back on
the second lap In six minutes and IS
seconds. almost seyenty-six miles an
hour. the crowd in the grand stand
stood up and yelled madly for more
speed. Wishart had done his best. al. {!
though he kept coming in the third in
g:42, but on the fourth he took more
than nine minutes.
In the meantime Anderson, who had
made the first lap in the comparative
ly conservative time OF 1907, had
found himself. His second lap was
done7in 6:51. his third in $50, his
fourth in 6:49. and from then on he
reeled OF lap after lap with but q few
seconds variation each time.
On the fourth lap Anderson took the
lead when Wishart was laid up by tire
trouble, and he never again was head
ed At the end OF the fourth lap An.
derson's time was 1887 and Wisharts
2s;21.
Improvement is Shown.
How the class of the Elgin races has
improved is shown by a comparison
OF the average speeds for the four
years OF the Elgin National. In 1910
Ralph Milford in Lozier went the
distance al an average speed OF 62.5
miles an hour. In 1911 Len Zengel in
National boosted the average to
66.45 miles an hour, and last year in
the free-for-all, run at the same dis
lance as the Elgin National the other
three years. again raised the average
TO GsS miles an hour.
This year Anderson's average was
7l.5 miles an hour, Mulford's was 69.7
miles an hour and Wishart's was SIS
miles an hour. The winner of second
place this year averaged nearly a mile
better than the winner any previous
wear