Text and pictures with courtesy of hathitrust hathtrust.org, compiled by motorracinghistory
THE AUTOMOBILE WEEKLY – NEW YORK – CHICAGO 10 CENTS – SATURDAY, OCTOBER 8, 1904 – Pages 397 – 401
VANDERBILT CUP RACERS READY TO START.
THE order of starting the contestants in the Vanderbilt Cup race was decided by drawing lots last Saturday evening, October 1, at the rooms of the Automobile Club of America. In order to make the drawing as fair as possible, a somewhat peculiar method was adopted, which gave general satisfaction. The first man to draw is usually supposed to stand the best chance of getting the best number – though he might also be said to have the best chance of getting the worst – and a preliminary drawing was therefore held to determine the order of the final drawing. The men were called up in the order thus established, and folded slips were drawn from a hat in the good old-fashioned way, most of the entrants showing a good deal more indifference than they probably felt. It was noticeable that no matter what number a man drew, he managed to find some- thing in its favor-either he was placed behind a fast car that would keep him busy, or behind a slow one that he expected to overtake, or near a friend. No one drew No. 13, because there was no No. 13 to draw, the „hoodoo“ number having been omitted. The list on the following page gives the order of starting.
A feature of the gathering was the apparent predominance of foreigners. A casual visitor might easily have taken it for a French affair, with a scattering of English-speaking men. Among the foreigners were Teste and Tarte, the Panhard drivers; Clement, the „baby driver“; Bernin, W. Gould Brokaw’s chauffeur; Gabriel, who comes across the ocean to drive a De Dietrich; M. Voigt, of the firm of Charron, Girardot & Voigt; Baron de Turckheim and Paul Sartori. The English-speaking automobilists were apparently more at home speaking French and Italian than were the foreigners in speaking English, and comparatively little of the latter language was heard. One of the most conspicuous figures was Heath, very tall, slender, and, though an American, decidedly English in appearance, with nothing to suggest the daring driver. Up to Saturday evening Mr. Heath had not succeeded in getting his Panhard racing car out of the hands of the customs officials. „I have been extremely busy trying to get my car out,“ he said, „but so far have not yet got it. I have been over the course in a touring car many times, making myself familiar with the conditions of the road.“
Mr. Heath thinks the course fairly good, though far from ideal. Replying to a question as to how far it favored his car, he said: „It would be much better for me if there were a few comparatively stiff grades. The power of my machine is so great that an ordinary hill makes little or no difference in speed and gives me an opportunity to pull away from others, who have, perhaps, less power to spare. I do not expect to have an opportunity to let out my car to its utmost.“
When asked what average speed the winning car would, in his opinion, attain, Mr. Heath was slow to reply, taking a long time to consider the possibilities. „It is very hard to say,“ he replied finally; „but I sup- pose 60 miles an hour will be about the highest speed that can be expected. I should not be surprised if it was considerably less than that. I have heard that some estimates have placed the winner’s average speed at not over 45 miles an hour; but I don’t think any such speed could win the race. It’s altogether too slow, and, it seems to me, the course will allow of better work. When it comes to comparing the Long Island course with the European courses, however, the American one must suffer greatly. The Race Commission is to be congratulated on having found a course at all; and, after all, it is not so very bad; but it is very different indeed from the courses on the other side. I do not look for any serious accidents, though of course it is impossible to guess what may happen. I, for one, am not looking for any trouble. However, by the time we have made ten rounds of the course we will all know a great deal more about it than we do now.“ And Mr. Heath smiled down from his six feet several inches and said good-night.
ORDER AND STARTING TIMES OF THE CONTESTANTS.
No. Nationality Car. H.P. Driver. Starting time, a.m.
1. German Mercedes 60 Campbell 6:00
2. French De Dietrich, 80 Gabriel 6:02
3. American Royal Tourist 35 Tracy 6:04
4. American Pope-Toledo 60 Webb 6:06
5. German Mercedes 60 Arents 6:08
6. American Pope-Toledo 24 Lyttle 6:10
7. French Panhard 90 Heath 6:12
8. German Mercedes 60 Hawley 6:14
9. German Mercedes 90 Werner 6:16
10. Italian F.I.A.T. 90 Sartori 6:18
11. French Renault 60 Bernin 6:20
12. French Clement-Bayard 80 Clement 6:22
14. French Panhard 90 Tarte 6:24
15. French Panhard 90 Teste 6:26
16. American Packard 30 Schmidt 6:28
17. American S. & M. Simplex 75 Croker 6:30
18. German Mercedes 60 Wormser 6:32
19. Italian F.I.A.T. 90 Wallace 6:34
Note. There is no Number 13 in the race.
Ten times around the course will make the total distance exclusive of the neutral ground in the controls, 284.41 miles which the racers must cover.
The last obstruction to the holding of the Vanderbilt Cup Race disappeared when the antagonistic faction, which had circulated an anti-race petition and threatened an injunction, failed to make out a semblance of a case at the public hearing held at the Mineola County Court-house, on Tuesday, October 4.
Vague rumors of an injunction continued to float around for some days after the hearing, but soon died a natural death. In the meantime, the final preparations for the great event were carried on without interruption, and though there was a good deal to be done at the last moment, the officials on the group who forsook business for the time and devoted all their energies to race work disposed of each case as it came up. One determination arrived at only after much serious consideration was that the Truffault suspension, a device for absorbing shocks caused by inequalities of the road, could not be used unless made in the same country as the car to which it was applied. Absolutely every part of a car must be made in the same country as the car itself, and an American machine may not even carry a tool of French manufacture.
Official Instructions Issued to Drivers and Judges in the Vanderbilt Cup Race by the „Commission for 1904.“
INSTRUCTIONS TO OPERATORS.
1. Keep to the right when being overtaken.
2. Keep to the left when overtaking.
3. Give due warning of your approach, by horn or trumpet.
4. Motor exhausts must not be directed toward the ground.
5. Stop on the tape when entering a control.
6. Start, standing, from tape when leaving a control.
7. No supplies of oil, water, fuel, or batteries can be taken on board while in control.
8. No repairs to tires, cars, or equipment can be made while in control.
9. Start from standstill.
10. Finish at speed.
11. Numbers will be drawn Saturday, October 1, 1904, at 8 p.m., at the rooms of the A. A. A., 753 Fifth avenue, N. Y.
12. At the time numbers are drawn, the assignments of instant of start will be made. Your time will be taken from that instant whether you start or not (see Condition 21). COMMISSION FOR 1904.
INSTRUCTIONS TO MOUNTED JUDGES AND CHECKERS.
1. Cover your patrol station in both directions.
2. Watch carefully that the barricaded highways are not used.
3. Check on your card each car as it passes each time.
4. Keep well out of the way of the contestants.
5. At the conclusion of the race, go to the nearest turn, telephone the Judges, and when instructed collect from the Judges at turns their reports, seeing that they are signed, and the location given.
6. Go to the nearest control station, telephone the Judges, and when instructed, collect from the Timers and Judges at control stations their reports, seeing that they are duly signed by the proper officials.
7. At the earliest moment, after collecting these reports, proceed with expedition to the Garden City Hotel, and deliver all reports (your own Judges, at turn, and Timers‘ and Judges‘) to the Chairman of the Racing Board at the Board’s headquarters. COMMISSION FOR 1904.
INSTRUCTION FOR JUDGES AT CONTROLS.
1. Keep in close touch with the official timers, one at the entrance, and one at the exit.
2. Allow no supplies to be put on board while in control. No repairs to tires, cars or equipment allowed.
3. See that a pilot accompanies (precedes) each car.
4. See that competitors follow the pilots from entrance to exit.
5. See that timer’s card is deposited in time check box before the car leaves the control.
6. See that the card is signed by both timers before it is deposited.
7. Make sure that no equipment is dis- carded while in control.
8. Report promptly to the Referee, by telephone, any irregularity, or accident to car or operator.
9. Have time of arrival and departure immediately reported, by telephone, to the scorers at the starting line.
10. Cars must come to dead stop at entrance (take time then).
11. Cars must start (standing – from tape) from exit. COMMISSION FOR 1904.
An important decision arrived at by the Race Commission, and one that is without precedent in the annals of road racing of this class, is that contestants will be permitted to have all the assistance they want in making repairs, either to tires or the mechanism of their cars, as long as the work is done outside of controls. If a car breaks down within the limits of a control the driver and his mechanician may push it out of the control, have it towed out or get it out any way they can, and if the car cannot be moved without making repairs, the necessary work may be done inside the control, and the time so occupied will be included in the running time of the car. In other words, the time of the car will be taken from the time it should leave the control, whether it actually does so or not. A smashed wheel, a broken cylinder, or other important part, cannot, however, be replaced either in or out of control limits; neither will it be permissible to change wheels in cases of tire trouble. While supplies may not actually be taken on board while passing through control, cans of gasoline and lubricating oil may be picked up before reaching the control entrance and poured into the tanks while passing through the neutralized sections.
Another decision of the Commission, and one that has given much satisfaction to the contestants, is that there will be two tapes at each control entrance, 25 feet apart, between which the cars must come to a stop. It was originally intended to require the cars to stop with the front wheels on the single tape that was to have marked the control entrance. The evident difficulty of making anything like such an accurate stop under the circumstances led the Commission to make the new arrangement. The same thing was done at the controls in the Irish Gordon Bennett course, and worked well.
The first car, which will start at 6 o’clock, will be notified at 5 minutes before 6, as it stands at the head of the line near the starting point, that in five minutes it will receive the word. About two minutes before the time, it will be called to the line, and when the timer’s watch shows the right instant the starter, C. H. Gillette, will give the word. „Go.“ If the car fails to start through any derangement of the motive power, it will be pushed across the line and to one side of the road, out of the way, and its time taken as if it had started promptly. As soon as the first car is out of the way the second will be brought to the line, and about the same time the third will be notified to be in readiness; and so on through the list. A car, if unable to start at its time, may, after going to the line, delay starting until after the last machine has gone, but will, of course, be timed as having started according to schedule. Associated with C. H. Gillette, the starter, will be Emerson Brooks, George Farrington, R. E. Morrell and M. M. Belding, Jr., who will have the cars in charge just previous to their going into the hands of the starter. If necessary, a fifth official will be added. Messrs. Riker and Birdsall, the official weighers, who will have sealed the cars after weighing them, will be on hand to see that their seals are intact, and no car will be permitted to start if the seal is not perfect.
Photo captions.
Page 397.
ONE OF THE SPRINKLING CARTS OILING THE VANDERBILT CUP COURSE ON LONG ISLAND WITH CRUDE PETROLEUM.
Page 399.
Werner at the Wheel of C. G. Dinsmore’s 90-H.P. Mercedes.
Bernin at the Wheel of W. G. Brokaw’s 60-H.P. Renault Cup Racer.
Clarence Gray Dinsmore, well known on Both Sides of the Atlantic.
Isidor Wormser Steering his 60-H.P. Mercedes.
William Wallace in the Driver’s Seat of his 90-H.P. F.I.A.T.
OWNERS AND DRIVERS OF FRENCH, GERMAN AND ITALIAN ENTRIES IN THE 1904 VANDERBILT CUP RACE.
Page 400.
SARTORI AT THE TILLER OF ALFRED G. VANDERBILT S 90-H. P. FIAT CUP RACER.
FRENCH AND AMERICAN RECORD BOXES.
TESTE AT THE WHEEL OF ONE OF THE 90-H. P. PANHARD CUP RACERS.Page 401.
Housing One of the Big Racers at a Garden City Garage.
Pumping Crude Oil from a Tank Car into One of the Sprinkling Carts.
An American Entry-Frank Croker’s 75-H.P. Smith & Mabley Simplex.
A French Entry-Albert Clement Jr.’s 80-H.P. Clement Bayard.
SNAP SHOTS TAKEN DURING THE WEEK ALONG THE ROUTE OF THE WILLIAM K. VANDERBILT, JR., CUP COURSE IN NASSAU COUNTY, LONG ISLAND.
