The Daily Alaska empire Newspaper, July 17, 1948, Page 11

SATURDAY, JULY 24, 1948 BIG RACE TOMORROW AFTER 3 MOS. WORK; 31 RACERS ENTERED It all happen within a few | hours tomorrow afternoon when up- wards of thirty-five boys from sit- | ka, Douglas and Juneau race their stream-lined and newly painted scap box cars down the 12th Street Hill to determine which Boy bes the fastest car and who makes that coveted race to Akron for competition in the national event. When the last spectator has gone | home and most painstakingly built racers have found their way to; the shed for the kid brother to build from next year, the boy| to compete in the national race in Ohio will be known. R(‘gret-: ful as it is, the fellow with lhe‘; fastest car is the only one of the before you knew it there stood the | entire field who can make the trip | to Akron. To him, the race has just Legun, but to most other ere tries, sponsors and spectators, the ! classic will be buried in the files! until summer rolls arcund in 1949.;' But that isn't the case; every!| boy in the race tomorrow (win| or lose) will at many times in his| life to come lock back to the final | run on July 18, 1948, and class it| with the best times in this life. True, the deserving Juneau cham- pion will be the envy of every en- ©.'s c,¢, and 12th Street will be; just ancthed hill until next/ yeor, but tomorrow’s race will live | untic the list participant is gone. | Take that day around the first | of April when a few feet of snow | was still on the ground and soap | box racing was a distant thought. After thoroughly reading the fun-| niés, you glanced at the sport] page and then tossed the messed| up paper on the divan for dad| to read when he came home. “Hey, wait a minute, what's that on the: back page abott soap box movies | being shown at the grade school| gymnasium tomorrow night?” Yep, | that was the first thought you had given to soap box racing in nearly | a year, but from then until now | you've had a good portion of rac- ing and car building with every meal. And it's been fun! . Well, the first thing was to start making plans for the car. Too, there was one outstanding item to be considered before getting on with the actual project. The regu- lation soap box wheels were! scheduled to be in Juneau within fhe next month, and by some scheming method you had to have the cash on hand before making ‘further plans. A few.ygars,ftom now when you're working in the downtown office, ten dollars will be nothing more than & bill the sbutcher’s counter. boss hands you on Saturday at 5 o'clock and you hand tothe gro- cery clerk just seven minutes later. But when you were building that racer and needed twelve one dol- lar bills for the wheels, you might well have wished for all the money in the bank. But you didn't let that stop you. Merchants and other per- sons in town said they would let you work for the money and you were quick to make a bargain, Sure, there were afternoons when you would much rather have gone skiing than down to the corner grocer'’s to sweep up behind the And that dog of Mrs. Murphy's—walking that mut for thirty minutes each after- noon for just two-bits was torture in itself . . . gee whiz, he didn't even look like a dog. But there were wheels to ke had and you knew how to get them. Forgetting about skiing for the day and dis- regarding that Mrs. Murphy's pooch should be given to the zoo, derby wheels and all yours. It was tough sledding then but will be a scurce of pleasant laughter in the future. On with the bullding. Now building that car’s not so tough, but when a fellow just has six terial involved, (it requires much more than just a little thought. That afternoon you were brows- ing through the garage and spotted it was a great relief. Out came the measuring stick and to work went the saw, and in little more than an hour the racer was taking shape in prize winning form. That evening at supper you thought once or twice of mention- ing the lucky find, but on think- ing it over, you decided it might be just as well to forget the whole |- thing. It had been in the garage for a long time and from all in- dications it wouldn’t be missed . . . but then again . .. it might be justas well to forget the whole matter completely. Several days later a roox-shnb‘ tering roor was heard emitting from the garage. Suspecting it to be a brown bear battling for his life, your mother hurried to the garage and swung open the door. There sitting in the middle of the garage floor was your be- loved father. Half crying and with a painful expression com- pletely covering his face, he was lieebly pointing to your racer. It was sad that night when you come home for supper, and even more painful when learning that that platform in your racer was a treasured piece of birch which fatber had been saving for seven years. You went back to the gar- age . . . but not to work on your racer! : THE DAILY ALASKA EMPIRE— JUNEAU, ALASKA e ————————————————eee e e 12th Street Hill were to be held in a few days. That's what you had been waiting for big chance to try it out. Sure, you'd had it on the sidewalk sev- eral times before without the wheel$ falling off, but you were sure anxious to see how the pride of your life acted on her first run down the hill. You were sure she'd perform just as exepected but none the less, you could hard- ly wait to run her down the hill. And it happened just as had ev- erything else, when they shoved you off the starting blocks you had the broadest smile of any kid on the hill, but when your steer- ing gear broke just 50 feet away from the starting point, life had just ended as far as you were And there was the time when dad instructed -you, in a somewhat impressive manner, that nails were to be pulled from the boards be- fore using the saw. Gosh, he was mad, but a few years from now it'll be remembered with nothing but a chuckle. Through toil and hard-spent af- ternoons, the car body was linally finished, fitted with the wheels, and almost ready to roll. You look- ed her over and couldn't find a flaw. She was without a doubt the fastest racer in town and would walk off hands down, easily, with the big event. But then again, just in case she didn't win the race for some unforseen reason, you might as well be in the run- | ning for another of the prizes.|.oncerned. However, when she | Your brakes are good, the Steer-igwgs gl fixed up two days later {ing excellent, and the designing|ang ready for the next run, life |perfect . . . but there WAS ONE|g,¢ reglly worth living again. more prize . . . that given for the Well, here it is, time for the }bcst upholstered car in the race.|ysco Since that day last April | Ther. was no doubt about it, YOU| yhen you went to see the soap were after that one too. Ebnx movies in the grade school had one big i Now there was a problem. Just|gymnasium, you've |as with the wheels and pieces of [thing on your mind . . . winning {lumber, upholstery material costs|the race. You've worked in the !money and since beginning toafternoons when you would rather build you had learned that it does‘lhnvc been swimming; you've saved Inot grow on trees. “Let's see now,|your money when the downtown llast week when you were in the!movie would have been the more | closet looking for your boots, thcre}'enjoyahle and many, many times {dollars to spend for all the ma-|yas some old-looking cloth on the you've been in the dog house with !back shelf.” You were right,|mother and dad because of the {there was no reason to ask mom |racer. Look back at it now, see {about it 'cause it had been there!it as a lot of fun and practical lan awfully long time and she training, and best of luck to you | the perfect platform for your car,!gould have given it to you anyway. | tomorrow. { So away you went with scissors and cloth to the garage, and after | ey e a:sr::‘;s:{Pflkfislml\l!%mm iran into the house to get mother | {and ‘show her the best upholstered | fcar in the league. “The whole | inside of it's solid blue, mom, and‘- ‘the niftiest job you've ever seen.”|the parade last year before the She was cooking supper, buz}race as it began moving along { without hesitation went with you|downtown at 2 o'clock along Wil- to the garage to see the best de-|loughby Avenue, and then up 12th ' signed and upholstered car in the|Street. Led by Leo Osterman and league. And it was a good job Jerry Chapman, former winners of . . . so good that when your|the Derby, the parade was com- !'mother had taken just one glance posed of the Juneau Fire Depart- |she fainted. It's really workman- | ment truck and the 26 entrants of | {ship when you get results like that.|the race who rode in state witl | Well, it wasn't your fault, how|members of the Juneau Rotary {were you to know that seemingly|Club pulling the cars. Trailing |useless piece of blue cloth was the along at the end of the parade {family treasure and had been were the clowns, Jack Burford, Dr. brought to America from the Guld(Wilham Whitehead, Michael Wade Coast of Africa in the days ef!and Stuart Whithead. They kept slave ships. Despite the fact that|the crowd amused during the par- your mother gave you a great deal ade and during the derby. more than the blue cloth before the! Score cards were passed out to |evening was through, you figured the bystanders by Rotarians. The !it was worth it. The cockpit in Juneau police cleared the track of | your racer was the best looking | dogs and kids and the races be- of all the cars, and anyway, the! gan as scheduled at about 2:30 treasured cloth looked .better in|o'sicck. ‘the car than in the back of thel| (closet. | A 1nok-out wwer for pirates stands i, There it was already about ll\t‘lin tiz center of Havana's Malecon ‘middle of June when you got word [or sea wall drive. It was built 400 that the first trial runs on the 'years ago. > for . : Winners Good Planning Sound Building make a WINNER ® COLUMBIA LUMBER CO. - Mills and Retail Yards Building Materials Suppliers | 7w Here's fo the Little Guys in Class “C” Race Champs of the Future GUS GEORGE GOOD LUCK to all Soap Box Derby e e e e ) e RACERS FAMILY SHOE STORE and HUDSON'S that | Juneau was well represented in' o 1 ' said young again FRANK MAIER PROVES ... """ do the next best GENUINE CHAMPION " | I ,,,,, g First! Stay off the track Displaying the spirit of a real|tomorrow—and make sure that all champion, Frank Maier, winner of [ the smaller fry do the same the 1947 Soap Box Derby in J.A-' - -ro — neau, has been cooperating with| Saftey First! Stay off the track the race directors this year in an | tomorrow—and m sure that allf attempt to made it the best cvent|the smailer fry do the same [of its knd yet. In addition to ad- AR | | Vising his younger brother relative| Saftey First! Stay off the track {to the recommended points of con- | tomorrow—and make sure that all structing a racer, Maier has at- {tended the meetings this year and|.ue smaudcr Liy w wic sane. '"lent a hand whenever possible { i BODDING'S TRANSFER| | i Complete Delivery Service ‘ STURM LOCKER SYSTEM L REMEMBER Meat at Cost SURE WINNER! JUNEAU YOUNG Hardware Company Alaska’s Finest Hardware | and Furniture Store FURNITURE | & TOY ; DEPARTMENT onthe 5 MEZZANINE I Floor Acknowledgement of a Fine Builder of MANHOOD ATEST AMATEUR RACING EVEAT 1N THE WOAL LR UL R TILIY A ALASKA ELECTRIC LIGHT & POWER (0. JUNEAU and DOUGLAS ALASKA Cheerful Dispensers of Friendly, Dependable 24-Horr Electric ervice ” AND Relailers of General Electric . Hot Point @ Kelvinaior ® Bendix and other siurdy elecirical appliances TELEPHONE — 6 and 16 DOUGLAS 18 COMPLIMENTS of ELTON ENGSTROM and MRS. ELTON ENGSTROM UP THE CORNERS WITH T e neo. us Jeat ore @ Have you always wanted to frame that favorite view from our e—with a larger window? You can have that Picture Window you've always nted by installing Libbey -Owens: Ford’s Thermopane ~—the 'windowpane that insulates. - mopane e ates the excessive heat smission so common with single glazing. At the same time, you have no extra glass to put up, take down and store when scasons change. 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