The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-09-18

when the last of the Vanderbilt Cup
 contest was decided over the Long
 Island roads. no auto race of national
 importance has. been held in the vicin- | ity of New York. Today, however,
 when the new Shepshead Bay Speed way and Sports Arena will be formally
 opened the eastern owners and drivers of high speed racing cars will be af- forded an opportunity of testing what promises to be one of the fastest tra cks I in existence. After an automobile 1 parade. under the auspices of the Mo 1 tor Club of New York, has reached the course. today there will be time trials and Tecord tryouts over the new
 two-nlile course, which has a surface i of wood in. preference to one of brick I or concrete.@ Engineers and racing asItoists believe that the smooth sur face and the curved banks will in duee a speed of almost 120 miles an hour on this track which has been
 eonstructed>by men who had the ad- vantage of studying the construction of the Chicago Indianapolis and other new tracks throughout the country l The first big prize to be contested for over this course will be the Astor Cup, a silver challenge trophy, do- mated by Vincent Astor for which l there will be five annual competitions l at SheepsAead Bay. Each year the kcup will be entrusted to the custody tof the entrant of the winning car for l twelve months. At the end of five years the cup will be awarded ot1t-s 1 right to the entrant whose cars shall 1 have earned the greatest number of i points during that period in the an nual races. In addition to this trophy cash prizes amounting to $5O,0Oo will | be divided among the placed drivers in the event, s2O, 900 in gold being ap- l portioned as the winners share. @ l. Two weeks hence, Saturday, October l 2, the initial Astor Cup contest will bring together thirty-twos of the fast est cars ever built. They will be manned by foreign and American l drivers whose skill and daring are un- questioned and experts predict that the Astor Cup inauguration race of $50 miles at iSheepshead Bay will be the greatest of all speed struggles during which new records will be established. It is expected that the average speed of the winning car will exceed 100 miles an hour-something that l has not, as yet, been seen in the East. The. elimination trials have been set flor September 24. 25 and 27 over the two mile circuit which is made up of two straightaways and two curves of haf-a-nile each.
 | George F.. SIosson, the veteran 'bil- tliard player. whose ba1lk line cue work has won him an enviabIe reputation
  the ranks of the three cushion carom players He will represent New York in the Interstate League contests which will begin next week and con tinue until early in May, next year. In addition to his strong ba1k line play Slosson for many years has been con- sidered master cueist at single cush- ions and his many friends predict that | at three cushions he will prove to be equally adept. The entry of The Student" as Slosson is fami1iarly known in the world of billiards, will add a. great deal of interest. in the coming tournament, which opens with games at Cleveland, Indiana polls,
 Milwaukee and Pittsburgh next Mon day night. In all twenty-five players will take part in the tourney which
 will consist of over 500 games, repre-
 senting fifteen cities. In addition to those named the itinerary includes the Following cities: Chicago, St Louis Detroit, Cincinnati. Toledo, Buffalo, Rochester, Boston, ,Philad de1phia,
 Brooklyn and New York
 l In winning the National tennis sin
 gles title at Forest Hills recently, Will liam M Johnston of San Francisco, played seven matches in eight days de- featfng in turn: H. H. Hackett, G. c. I IPelI,1D. A. Walters K. H. Behr,s c. J. | Griffin, R. N. Williams and M. E. Me lLoughlinN At the beginning the youth from the Pacific coast found himself in one of the hardest sections of the draw and his feat in coming through
 and winning the championship left no question in the minds of tennis follow CTS as to his right to the ranking of foremost player of the year.
 A study of Johnstons section of the draw and the record he made therein shows that he played and won seven | matches against the best of the east Ter md l During these matches Johnston faced I opponents in twenty-seven sets of
 which he captured all but six Re duced still further the score sheets prove that his progress ithrough the ltournament was accomplished by play. ing 269 games of which he won 16s and lost 106. tsS
 The complete record of the tourna- ment which opened, with an entry of t12S players showed three defaults in the first sixty-four matches after | whiche every contestant was on the baseline when the umpire called | play As a result there were 124
 matches held aggregating 445 sets and 4.183 games.
 I The complete record of Ty~Cobb's
 ten years in major league baseball is a clear index of the wonderful ability of this diamond star. Cobb joined the i Detroit Club on August 26, 1905, and
 during the decade in which he has
 played for the Tigers has rolled up a.
 grand batting average of 1858 in 1 ,239 games. In this period Cobb went to bat 4,6S5 times making. 1,729 hits and 1875 runs. He also has 485 stolen bases
 to his credit, average of 48 and a fraction, a year.
 That the National game still holds a big corner in the hearts of Ameri-
 cans was never more clearly demon Il strated than when a few days ago President Wilson pitched ball out on the diamond at the opening of a game between amateur teams near
 Washington, D. c. The occasion was
 to raise funds for the entertainment of veterans at an encanpment Al
 though matters of grave international