Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1917-08-11
CHALMERS MAKES
GREAT RECORDS
Skaters Previous Mark at
the Sheepshead Bay
Speedway

A stock Chalmers chassis was
driven over the Sheepshead Bay
speedway 1898 miles in twenty-four
hous at an average actual running
speed of S1.09 miles per hour. This
dazzling run is the highest perform
ance ever made under the observa-
ton of the American Automobile AS
sociation.
The Chalmers thus shattered the
best previous record of 1,S19 miles in
twenty-four hours, which was made
by the Hudson in May, 1916. The
start of this record making run was
made Wednesday afternoon, Au-
gust 1.
The Chalmers was driven by Joe
Dawson all but five hours when Joe
Gardham, another member OF the
Chalmers factory experimental staff,
took the wheel in relief.
The feat of the Chalmers is the
most remarkable performance to the
credit of any motor car. The Hud-
son, which created a worldwide sem
sation when it Travelled 1873 miles
in twenty-four hours, has a motor
with a piston displacement of 2SS
cubic inches, whereas the Chalmers
stock motor which travelled 1888
miles in the same time over the
inches displacement.
The canvas covering over No. 3
pit at the Sheepshead Bay speedway
tiapped vigorously in the wind. The
sky was overcast. Alongside the pit
stood a little car, as 1.-THE as q gray
hound. as sturdy as an oak. There
was crash of thunder, vivid flashes
of lightning, and then the rain de-
scended. The men in the judges
or n ol4 20 Nf
the stand in an attempt to escape
the downpour. The attendants at the
pit sought dry spots. The starter
who had been waiting patiently at
the starting tape while the electrical
timing device was tried out ran for
shelter. Only the little black and
white car stood in the rain, seeming
to set at defiance the elements. Soon
the rain had spent its force, though
it continued to fall. A Whitehead
driver climbed into the left-hand seat
of the little car. There was a whirr
of the self-starter and then a savage
bark that told that the gasoline had
taken hold. A strong left hand
gripped the steering wheel; the right
hand gripped the shifting lever, and,
as the left foot threw out the clutch,
the car was thrown into gear; auto
matically the hand then moved to
the right and released the emergency
brake; the clutch was eased in; there
was series of louder explosions, a
slowly quickening turning of the rear
wheels on the wet track, gear shift
to second, then into Highland Joe
Dawson, no longer smiling Joe Daw-
son. but grim Joe Dawson, was on
his way to prove that the Chalmers
with its 224-inch motor was speedy
enough and sturdy enough to do
what no other car had dared try for
q year-break the existing twenty
four-hour stock chassis speedway
record. Three times the car flashed
past the judges stand and then the
starter waved it down. when it was
seen that it would take several min
utes to fix the tape that was to re-
cord the miles. The track was so
slippery that Dawson warned the
starter not to permit anyone to even
cross the track while he was in mo-
ton because it would have been i'm
possible for him to stop suddenly.
Again the little car flashed around
the course and Fred ]. Wagner. the
starter of all of Americas important
auto events, waved it on it's way. The
attempt at the record began at so
p. m. Around the two-mile saucer
sped the car and the tape clicked as
it crossed the line. Down the Slip
perry track and into the turns it
flew, it's motor murmuring as con-
tentedly as a brook on its way to the
sea.
One hour passed. Eighty-three
miles was recorded, against n for
the first hour of the former record.
Round and round came the car. Soon
the moon, evidently ashamed of the
part the elements had played in the
program. smiled wanly. Time wore
on. a hundred miles was passed in
l hour IL minutes and 1917 seconds,
at SO miles an hour. higher aver
age than for the hour. The pit at