Evening Star Newspaper, July 12, 1925, Page 4

Peter De Paolo, snapped before he started yesterday on the race brought him victory. erroneous announcement by officia that McDonogh had won, the tographers left De Paola high and dr after the race in the the supposed victor. MECHANICS IN PITS HEPT RACERS GOING Lightning Speed in Aiding Drivers Enabled Them to Keep Pace. of each driver and le bits of machinery tore around the Laurel was a corps of ex pitmen—ever ready it to spring promptly into keep their driver in th 1 >s. And when they do on the cars they in v bowl perts—known and vig action to race at had were aid of the lap r time. T race as ti There blacl owed them mber nd the best are as necessary for the nd driver. very few tire c yesterc considering the di punishment the pneumatics received on the thundering grind, and only two flats. Most of the tire changes were made because th served to be tearing, probably the boards at the tu one of the cars with t s de were anges astrous e trouble one of the a and even before another had knocked loose the cap. Before you can rt counting 10 the old tire is off and an other mechanic has rolled another into position. Finished In Flash man working t the wheel, “home,” screws on the cap, and by the time he gives it its last knock with the hammer, the racer is rolling away—perhaps drinking water on the way He thr fore he is many screw s The jams it the cup, however, be. feet away from the pits, and he is off again, pounding over the boards. Mechanics strive to e this time, for it may mean the lap that means the win ning of the race. Cooper’s mechanics made in 13 1.5 seconds but they later reduced this in nother change to five the car had hard stoppes it was off n red Blubber, weight who picks up the whole en before the car stops until the tire change Hartz and holds made. Ha tires changed ir When Leon I tieth lap, 5 seconds. on his for. into the wheel mechanies. wrong—it nd to keep on left the car. and remained give a helping other racers that steer the one backed off the of_the race Watering a seeonds. After o mendous grind wondered t ing all the t i ¢ for water, while one of the screws the radiator cap, comes up with a recepta of water, and before the steam penned up by the car is out, the cooling water is #lowing in. and in ond the c under way a Pits Carefully Guarded. After making his fiftieth 1 Kriess remained in the pits for some minutes ed by him sco ere wag motor eventuallj remedied, but him too far be hind to catch with the others. The pits wrefully guarded ter ritory while on. None but pitmen within the en “hanics must have duties their respective > was out radiat it is © not boil comes in 19ls un nother up {neidental driversdn When R alma, riding Ralph Hepburn's was thrown into a skid, while sevbral ambulances and surgeons rushed for the man, the mechanics rushed for the car. They examined it and found there was noth- ing wrong except a badly dented tail. They rolled it to the track and Hep. burn took it out for the remainder of the race. Although there were tanks of gaso- and oil in each pit, not once did of the cars have to stop for re or reofling the crankcases. Each of the machines carries a 30-gal lon tank, and this was sufficient for all those who finished lay Mounted tires are kept in , and back of the pits were s mounted casings and tube be mounted . ready to New Wood M;Hi;g. Through a new method of molding waterproof plvwood, wood may be shaped almost as easily as metal, it is claimed, and used in_a wide variety of ways, says the Popular Science Monthly. For airplane fuselages, curved roofs of busses and street cars that are subjected to severe weather changes, the material is said to be especlally valuable. had one of his| | darted up toward the outside rail, only that Because of the Is pho- efforts to snap | | their racers and with the | | ing one of the high-banked curves. ident, which | | | inued from | retor trouble for a few seconds, regained his place in lne. Dr tue, who had been having trouble with his engine for several days, was stalled | completely before the first turn was reached and as the cars began near- |ing him on the second lap it looked | as if he might be in danger. Skid Brings but | Finally Referee Wagner 1 ;lhr track, stopped the other ca | ordered Shattuc to remove his to the pit. Trouble was not over, | however, for at the very next turn— “dead man's curve” be the dangerous humps in Comer skidded badly and | christened 16 of nt of it | tro: other to slide back in front of the | fractions | cars, which missed him by | of inches | As the little machines, now thor- | oughly warmed up and clinging to | the steep sides of the tra s like so many flies, turned the back stretch on the next lap the referee velled for the timers to get ready, and as De | Paclo and Duray passed him he dropped the red flag. Like bulets, the | bits of steel shot down the stretch | ! toward “dead m 's curve” and were off on their mile journey. Banking high at every turn, Kriess ame from fourth to second, but he wvas hard pressed all the way by Du- ray, holding the rim of the track all the way banking at an_angle of 45 degrees. Kreiss immediately pass- ed De Paolo, too, and took second | position. Both were an eighth of a {lap ahead two more times around | When Robert McDonogh tried sev- eral times to squeeze out of a pocket Wagner signaled the cars ahead that | he wished to pass, and at the far turn | he shot out like a bullet. At the | thirteenth lap Duray was leading, fol- | lowed by Kriess. Others Forced Out. Phil Shafer, driving a Duesenberg | Special, quit after the third lap. Shattuc was obliged to pull up after finally getting started with a steam- adiator. Far outdistanced, he was however, and with hasty | | drink of water went on. Benny Hill | dropped_a valve in the twenty-first ), and he backed his car off the |track. Shattuc, hopelessly outdis- | tanced, also retired Already five laps behind, De Palma burst a tire in the thirtieth lap and stopped to have it replaced. It took only 30 1-5 seconds to change the tire. Benny Comer also developed tire trou- ble, and it looked as though his mech- anicians beat De Palma’s time for the change. After leading almost from the start, Duray smashed his steering gear and was forced to leave the race. It was an unfortunate break, for Duray had been running smoothly and slowly | drawing away from all contenders. De Palma Also Quits. With this removal from the race De Paolo took tbs lead in the forty- second lap. The cars were running smoothly and there was no anxious crowding at the turns. With a tre- mendous burst of speed Harry Hartz shot high to the rail in the forty- fifth lap, and, maintaining that posi- tion with daring determination, gain- ed ground in the forty-seventh lap. Earl Devore, driving for Hepburn, ‘was second. The little monsters were darting around the arena with such Ralph De Palma, hero of many a race and sury shave, had reason to thank his lucky stars again when he was spilled round- This shows him a few minutes after the left him bruised and cut i-peed that the eye could scarcely follow, and condition changed almost THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, JULY r of many a close and limping, but not seriously \DE PAOLO WINS AUTO MARATHON, RECHECK OF FIGURES REVEALS)| Bob McDonogh, First Reported Victor, Shown Be- hind Italian; 123.33 Average Speed Attained in 250-Mile Grind at Laurel. with the hands of the clock. fifty-first lap Hartz led Devore slipped from one of the high turns down to the sandy bottom and turned completely around twice. It looked like a bad spill, but, fortu nately, no other cars were near He skidded around into position and continued the race without even losing his place. De Paolo took a long chance and scraped close to the out side rail at dead man’s curve and lap- ped McDonogh. He was racing mad Iy There was no change in positions in the 76th lap, De Paolo, McDonogh and Hartz running in the order named. In the 79th lap Harry Hartz blew a tire and stopped for a change Although it took only 1425 seconds to replace a new tire, he fell back to In the | second place, being passed almost im- mediately by McDonogh because of mechanical difficulties in the 50th lap. He was already too far behind the leaders, however, to have hoped for victory Only Nine Left In. At this point only 9 were left in the race, being Elliott, Cooper, Comer, Devore, De Paolo, Morton, McDon: ogh, Hartz and Milton. The others had withdrawn. Comer, De Paolo and McDonough gave the thousands the thrill of the day when the three fought for positions three times around the lap. De Paolo took long chances and the referee waved Comer, who was hugging the highest possible point, that De Paolo wanted to pass. Comer gave away at the next turn, d De Paolo and McDonogh fought it out at close quarters. ooper's mechanics set a new rec- ord fer tire changing whep he stop- ped in his 92d lap for a tire change and was on his way again in 13 2.5 seconds. At the 1024 lap De Paolo was stlll in_ the lead, followed by McDonogh, Hartz, Comer and Eiliott. McDonogh and De Paolo were fight- ing it out, with McDonogh only a few lengths behing De Paolo. McDonogh was keeping De Paolo smashed up ainst the rail most of the way to keep from being tied. Hartz lost half a lap. At the 141st lap Frank Elliott had passed Hartz and was close to McDonogh and De Paolo. rl Cooper quit the race nearly 30 aps behind. Narrowly Misses Death. Frank Elliott missed death by inches when he skidded badly in the 155th lap on the trick back turn. Elliott was running third at the time and had been given & signal by the ref- eree that De Paolo and McDonogh wished to pass him. With a sports- manlike spirit he swerved to the side at the near turn and was noticed to slide badly. When he took the back turn, however, his car darted high, and only the sharp ascent saved him from plunging into space. Still going at a terrific pace, he turned around twice and darted toward the dirt. Elliott knew how to handle the car and let it drift down to the level, from where he continued to his pit, where it was learned a blow-out had caused the accident. The tire was changed in 21 seconds, but it cost Elliott third place, he being passed not only by Hartz but also by Comer. In the 175th lap, equivalent to about three-fourths of the race, De FPaolo was leading McDonogh by a lap, who in turn led Hartz by two laps. Fred Comer was fourth and Elliott ffth. Up to this point neither McDonogh Kriess quit The Laurel track as seen from an airplane a little before the racers got under Wni‘ 5 o'clock, and 15 minutes las Field in & commercial airplane charte; red by The Star at 2 12, 1925 Scenes at Laurel Yesterday When De Paolo Won the New Sp PART 1 "y ter was circling over the field. (v yesterday. The cars are lining up at the start. The delay eedway race got under way, when it dashed back to Bolling Field. The pictures were rushed to The Star office in time for use in the 5:30 final yesterday. Bob M'Donogh, whe was credited check-up gave him second place. grind of 2 of tires or for any purpose since they left the starter’s tape. De Palma Re-enters Race. As they came pounding around and around the track toward the last few laps the spectators got their real thrill of the whole race. Apparently nobody knew it but the officials, who had failed to make the announcement, but De Palma had replaced Hepburn in Devore's car and he was still in the race. As De Palma rounded the steeply banked curve beyond the grandstand his machine was above the second white line. It started slip ping, fell rapidly, turned completely over twice and the awe-stricken watchers in the grandstands saw the driver’s body shoot out from the ma- chine, fall through the air and land after a sickening slide along the track and into the sandy border next the lower rail But De Palma was game, and, while the crowd expected worse, he rose and waved both hands In the air to show that he was unhurt. The first-ald boys, who had been walting impa- tiently all through the race for some thing to happen, rushed toward the driver, and, while he consented to a little hasty treatment in the first-aid camp, he quickly returned to the pits. He was slightly cut and bruised. Meanwhile the car had been put in the race again. End Comes as Surprise. The finish came before those in the stands realized it. If there were any signals to designate the last lap they were not noticed by the crowd. The end of the race was signaled by the names of the winners on the score- board. The crowd cheered some, there was a rush of photographers and officials toward McDonogh's car and evidently it was all over. It was not until some hours after the race that it became generally known that De Paolo had asked the officials for a recount, which, taken at the New Willard Hotel last night, showed him the winner. The offical order in which the racers came in after the two winners, made available last night, follows: 3—Harry Hartz. 4—Fred Comer. 5—Frank Elliott. 6—Tommy Milton. 7—Jimmy Hill 8—Ralph Hepburn. 9—Phil Shafer. Division of Money. Under the terms agreed ufin in advance there is to be $25,000 divided among the ragers. Of this De Paolo will receive $9,000, McDonogh $8,500, Hartz $3,000 and the others the fol- lowing amounts: Fourth, $2,000; fifth, $1,500; sixth, $1,000; seventh, $900; eighth, $800; ninth, $700, and tenth, $600, while all of those who started ! will receive $500. There was some good-natured kick- ing last night at the Willard, where most of the racers gathered to hold the usual post mortems. The kicks were directed against the gasoline, which, they say, was the commercial grade sold to motorists and not the usual higp-test stuff the racers had ordered, but which failed to reach them. If it hadn't been for the poor 5 had stopped for a change | gasoline, they said, there would have with winning the ra Here he is, “all in,” after the grueling 0 miles which he made without a stop. been some new records made on the Laurel track “It we had been able to get our own gas in time,” said Jimmie Hill, veteran pilot, “our time would have been much better. The gas. |ever, got hung up somewhere {traffic and we had to use ordinary | commercial stuff that has no power. 1 honestly believe a new record for | 250 miles on a board track might have been established with the kind of gasoline both the drivers and cars had become accustomed to. | “Those high curves are beauties. | They're not a bit too steep, but the straightaways should be lengthened and ‘humps’ removed from one or two places. There are bad ‘humps’ par- ticularly in front of the first curve thet made that turn extremely dan- | gerous. We had to change our posi- ions every time we hit that curve, |and that is really what caused Ralph De Palma to have his accident. Add an eighth of a mile to that track and it will equal any in the country.” CROWD OF 30,000 SAW MOTOR RACES, GETTING BIG THRILL (Continued from First Page) road crossing near the track must have been well repaid for his sagac- ity. He had three tubs of those funny little orange ice lollypops, protected from the slowly oncoming cars by his parked motor cycle. He was about the busiest youth in Maryland for an hour after the race, trying to meet the incessant demands for the cooling “sticks,” at 10 cents per chill. Ambulances on Field. Several ambulances, one of them la- conically suggestive of a hearse, were parked nearby the pits at one end of the inclosure. They were grim r minders to those assembled that th were witnesses of a sport fraught with potential dangers for the intrepid participants. f A complete fleld hospital also was | close at hand to render first ald to! spectators or drivers, as the need might arise. Considering the size of the assemblage and the circumstances of their unusual meeting, the hos- pital staff had little to do. A number of women, whe succumbed to the heat and excitement, ere revived in the restrooms. But who could say what the day would bring forth for the hapless vic- tims of the glaring afternoon sun? Thousands of men scoffed at conven- tion and shed not only their coats, but their fast wilting collars, replacing the latter with their handkerchiefs. Those who were sticklers for what is and is not proper at fashionable sport- ing events were content to suffer, however, and the probability was that many a race fan would pay for his fastidiousness with a sunburned neck. ruined oollar and perhaps shrunken clothing. de Paolo, winer of the race, took no chances with the broiling sun prior to the start. He carried an umbrella above his head as he watch- A Roun ed his mechanicians putting the final | touches to the engine on which his fate in the race depended. De Paolo wore white duck trousers and a sail- or's hat. He looked more like a man | on his way to a picnic than a speed | maniac preparing to gamble with death. | Inside the monster bowl were hun dreds of private passenger cars, whose —_—_—— | th they mfortable g a steep curve on the track at Laurel. traight stretch of track just before passing the grandstand. higher Of cours rill, all r inclosure knew, too were ill-fated enough 17 leap the r: would flying mechanism. e that be cht Three drivers up. out of chairs Those w tlat if range of -and Inaugural | Carl Thoner, staff photographer of The Star, left Bolling in starting the race kept the plane near the track until the the would have heen but not the kind t were looking for vesterday The terms of Morris Plan Loans are simple and practicable and fair. Thoughtful people who do not abuse credit facilities will find it their advantage. LOANS—FOR _THE AVER- AGE MAN. The mechanic, clerk, professional or business man of moderate means who needs $50 to $5,000, or more, is as welcome at THE MOR- RIS PLAN BANK of Washing- ton as the more proesperous merchant is at his commercial bank. Loans are made for any sound and sensible reason—past due accounts, sickness, home im- provements, taxes, discounting bills, and many other demands. TIME—TWELVE MONTHS S. MORRIS AN notes are usually made for 1 year, though they may be given for any period of from 3 to 12 months. possible to borrow on The Morris Plan to PAYMENTS—WITHIN THE SE_OF_YOUR_EARN. INGS. For each $50 or frac tion borrowed you agree to de- posit $1.00 per week on a Sa ings Account, the proceeds. of which may be used to cancel the note when due. Deposits may be made on a weekly, semi-monthly or monthly basis as you prefer. It is suggested that borrowers ar- range to pay on their own pay- days. SERVIC PROMPT AND CONFIDENTIAL. 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