Evening star., 1939-07-09
Phone Calls Tell
III Mother Of Sons
Wayto DerbyVicto
Father Reports Progress
Heot-by-Heot Of
Carl Cederstrund, Jr.

The telephone jingled constantly
In the home where Mrs. Carl Ceder-
strand lay ill abed yesterday aft
ernoon. But the calls did not
annoy her-in fact, she frightened
after each one.
For the calls came from her hus-
band, reporting the progress of
their 12-year-old son, Carl, jr.,
through the trial heats and up to
the final race of the Soap Box
Derby. When Mr.. Cederstrands
excited voice announced at last that
Carl had zoomed down the steep
Massachusetts, avenue hill to vic
tory, the boys mother was almost
ready to leave her bed.
II bet this will help her get WELL"
Carl declared at the finish of the
days racing. Mrs. Cederstrand is
recovering from an appendectomy.
A Gordon of police formed circle
around the boy at the close of the
race to protect him from the mob
that fought to see his bright, grim
covered face. He was as happy as a
kid can be, which is pretty happy.
"At first they told me I had lost"
he said. so I just figured I had
better 60 home and start a better
car for next year. But when I
found out had won-oh, boy! 1t
was swell race"
Car Cost Him $685..
Carl spent about two and half
months working on his racer at his
home. 1t cost him 1895 and
weighed 246 pounds. This was
Carls first try in the Derby, al
though he was a spectator at last
years. His father is an architect,
employed in the Indian Bureau.
The boy who came in second by
an ants eyelash was disappointed
but glad that he had done so we'll
He is Clark B. Stewart, IA, of 3l2
Elm street, Chevy Chase, Md, who
took his heartbreaking loss with
good grace
I'll build another one" he de-
clared. And I'll be back next year"
The loss was doubly tragic for
the boy, because an erroneous re-
port reached him following the race
that he was the winner.
Il felt awfully good when they said
I'd won. but I wasn't disappointed
too much when I found this was
wrong. 1t was a close race and 1
really thought the other fellow had
won by 6 or inches"
Clark, dark-haired and handsome,
was in the Derby last year and
reached the semi-fnals. He spent
two months working on his racer.
SpOrtsmanship Prevails.
The cheerful craftsmanship with
which the two accepted the result
was typical of the whole day. The
young boys, although almost fierce
in their desire to win, were all good
friends when the day started-and
when it had ended.
They visited with each other back
of the starting line, praised each
others work and at the bottom of
the hill the losers rushed up to slap
the winners on the back. Each boy
who won heat seemed to win also
three ardent supporters for the next
race-the three boys he had beaten
In one of the early heats, Maurice
Barco, IA. of 2700 Twentv-fourth
street NE, and Francis Barnard,
Is, of 3707 Thirty-frst place NV,
came down almost neck and neck.
Maurice was declared winner but
after crossing the finish line his car
collided with Francis.
The wheels on Maurices car were
broken in the spill. Francis took
the wheels off his racer, installed
them on Maurice sand rooted for
him to win. When Maurice dropped
by the wayside, the boy he had
beaten earlier was the most disap-
pointed in the crowd.
Excitement Gets Gene.
Gene Bean. II, of 608 Rittenhouse
street NV, tried his best to stick
in the Derby, but adversely finally
got the better of him. The excite
ment of winning his first heat got
Gene little woozy. He insisted on
going on, however, and just as he
came up for the second heat his
racer broke down
Mechanics came to the rescue and
fixed it up in time for Gene to 60
on and win later race. But when
he finished he was too shaky to race
any more. One of the youngsters
he had beaten took the controls of
hic h,1t lnct iy, 1e
The only protest during the entire
day came, not from an entrant, but
from an over-zealous adult sup
porter of one of the boys. The man
protested that the start had been
uneven and the judges agreed to
run the race again. Result: The
same.
Brice Toole, jr., II, of lis oxford
street, Chevy Chase, Md, brought
along Photographic log to prove to
the judges that he had built his
racer himself. Brice is talented
craftsman and was afraid that the
judges would not believe that he had
done the intricate work on his car
His log proved it. Brice won his
first heat. but came in second in the
next trial.
Probably the sentimental favorite
of the crowd was Francis Hornings
Thunderbolt. 1t was the super
streamlined "tear-drop" racer, mod
eled exactly after the famous Brit
ish speed wagon.
ThunderbOlt Is Beaten.
The Thunderbolt was thing of
rare beauty, that moved with a
great roar and seemed to be going
like the wind. But it was beaten,
after winning the first heat-beaten
by a ramshackle little racer that no