Evening star., 1919-03-16

HHeSt StfalghtaWay. i Qldnt forget
any Of that either in preparing for the
squirt or as l came down the course
when l asked De Palma. as he
stopped his car at the end of the dash,
what were his uppermost thoughts
while actually making the mile he
replied as coolly as IL just out of the
surf:
"Oh. a thousand things. mostly un-
related" he said. laughingly. You
know. there is something faster than
the twin six, after all. Thought, es-
pecially the feeting thought. travels
much faster than any other kind Of
electricity. and beside 1t even 215 feet
say l was thinking Of such and such
or so and so. don't think because 1t
takes me a little while to tell 1t and
you some time to hear 1t. 1 couldn't
have thought Of them all in twenty
four seconds. My mind went some-
NOW for it. mademoiselle! Pink
up your heels! We have to be going
100 miles an hour even this far. two
miles from the starting line. That's
good. That's better. Now we're going.
Aha! Beach not so hard and dry as It
right. We have enough reserve to
take US over the line we'll under the
record.
"'Nice day we have. mademoiselle.
Clear course. That black line off there
is the grandstand; the blue out there
from him. Tick-tock. A little sway
there. That's right. Keep the finely
shaped head straight down the fair
way, and we're going fine. Oh, beau
tiful!
"'You'cs in perfect tune, my dear.
And such delightful color-all
cream. with unshine playing on it.
time to see you.
ga German record. eh? Well. we
replace that scratchy eagle. There's
no doubt. There's no doubt.
"'Flags, thick black spots up the
beach: wire--the starting line Now
for it! Just as steady and sweet-run-
ming as ever will do the trick nicely.
Bob had no such car as this. He bump
ed Now. now no swaying. Why.
there's no tremendous rush of wind
past US; we can even feel the light
cross-current breeze. That's what the
aircraft designers have done for us.
This is just like flying around in the
clear sky-only faster.
Another wire-start of the kilo-
meter. Fine balance perfect poise. II
we had little better beach! No conf
planning. It's all right. We're get
ting there. Wish now | had not spun
you up and down the beach so often
better care of you. chere But it's all
right. All right. That German record
is doomed unless little tachometer Is
fibbing with the needle. He resents
that. He tells the truth. See him nod
his head--more up than down to that
nod, though.
Here we come--1ags-
mass of people-theres long thin
pencil of black against the sand. Wish
people would-but it's holding out
black dot It's Wag. Grand man.
Wag Minneapolis, twelve years ago.
Barney got mad at Wag for telling
me how to beat him in five straight
aces. Kid then. Green at it, How Sc
riously We took it--snal's play along
side this, for speed-but mans fight
for roughness, those old race-track
affairs. Lots of good boys. Big hearts.
They all taught me good deal-but
Wag-isn't he genuine? A precious
character.
Now. Wag, quick, flags. Fine! Now,
Captain Leavel. your timer! La! La!
Easy, slow bit, now bit more.
down, down. They're cheering back
there by the timer. A new record,
they say. That's fine. One hundred and
fifty miles an hour. Fastest in the
world. Where's the German now? But
it's trife slow for us, car O. mine.
Let's look inside and see if there
isn't enough to clip four-fifths off
that PAP. l thought so. Good enough.
It's all right. It's all right. An Amer
lean record. 1t has to be all right"
De Palma moved toward his car and
dashed for the garage.
Ralph De Palma, the man, the me-
chanic and the most daring speed
artist of his time, possesses personal
qualities which distinguish him from
the De Palma one not knowing the
daredevil would first picture in the
mind De Palma is not the nervous,
superstitious sportsman often told
about in stories Of his career, but a
man from whose general countenance
radiates the eloquence OF a polished
gentleman; he enjoys an equilibrium
easily explaining why he selected the
hazardous profession of automobile
speeding as life vocation, and is
guided in his racing exploits by an at
titude of commendable independence
in every transaction connected with
contest where his name Is heard.
He buys his own tires, his own ac-
cessories and his own racing cars and
pays his way in full
He speaks French, Italian and Eng.
lish fuently and has mastered an
other language now dead. and one of
ms most pleasing characteristics is "a n