Evening star., 1939-07-08
Derby
Continued From First Page.)

Derby course under the direction Of
Acting Capt. Harry R. Lohman.
Commissioner Melvin C. Hazen
sent the first group OF four boys of
on the initial heat at 11:l4 am. This
was won by Paul Bowser, Is, of 140
Thomas street NV, in 4468 Sec
onds.
Heats continued swiftly under
bliStering sun before a throng that
filled the course solidly. Most of the
crowd stood in the blazing sun, but
some of them found shade under
trees.
Derby officials estimated that the
youthful speedsters were averaging
80 miles an hour on the fast
course, with some exceeding this
speed. Cheer after cheer came from
the crowd as successive groups of
four racers each were sent plunging
down the ramp at the starting line
and dashed to the finish. Some
of them showed great skill in
manuevering their tiny racers,
avoiding spills when some car got
out of hand and threatened to
crash.
The officials were taking every
precaution to avoid additional acci-
dents. They were patrolling the
course carefully between heats to
see that no obstruction had been
tossed out inadvertently and that
the crowd stayed behind the ropes.
The judges finally removed the
starting ramp because of the dam
gerous speed at which the boys
we're dashing down the slope This
reduced the speed somewhat.
The judges and officials were on
the job early The inspection of
cars this year was unusually tight
and adjustments were required in
a number of cars in efforts to assure
their safety. The weighing in of the
toy racers had taken place last night.
Some 10 entries were required to
repair brakes or steering gear.
AS the zero hour for the start OF
the Derby approached trucks drove
up every few minutes discharging
fresh racers. The cars were painted
in every color of the rainbow and
were in a wide range of designs.
Spectators began filling the spaces
outside the ropes between the start
ing stand and the finish line. A
large force of Legionnaire policemen
guarded the approaches to the
course. The judges were busy ad-
justing last-minute difficulties in
entries. Strengthening out a few
omissions in qualifications which
had been made inadvertently.
Norman Rocca, Is. who won the
Washington Derby last year and
placed seventh in the National
Derby at Akron, Ohio, was on hand
to start the Derby by riding down
the course alone. He was not eligible
to compete this year.
Among the more strikingly de-
signed racing cars lined up early
close to the starting line was No.
281, which was built like a projectile.
1t was entered by William Elan.
Another was No. 104, which looks
like a rocket-ship starting for the
moon. It was entered by Lances
Morning.
The Evening Star and the Ameri-
can Legion sponsored the race for
the first time here in 1898. Boys
between the ages of 10 and Is years
are eligible for the race, and were
required to build coaster racer
within a cost limit of $40. To the
boy who survives the elimination
rounds goes the majority of the
prizes, including the M. E. Coyle
Trophy. and a round trip to the
national and international Soap Box
Derby finals at Akron, Ohio, as we'll
as whatever heat prizes he may
have won.
Workmen Busy Early on Course.
Workmen were at the scene at s
am. today preparing the course and
the equipment for the start of the
races. The starting ramp was set
up first, while telephone connections
were made and young amateur
racers lodged around the course
hunting their automobiles and
shouting for their friends. At the
bottom of the course American Au-
tomobile Association officials set up
the electric timing device to deter
mine the exact time Of each heat.
The electric eye" is a duplicate of
the equipment used at all the major
professional tracks.
Shortly after the workmen began
to make the course ready some of