Who’s Who Along Automobile Row
This is W. J. HOUPT,
who puts Reo Speed Cars on
the street and has a way of
making many friends among
the purchasers of Automo
biles.
AUTOMOBILE LETTER
v By Barney Oldfield
SOMETHING ABOUT DRIV
ERS AND CARS OF THE
1923 RACING SEASON
Racing this year is going to be
a lot faster than it was last year.
Records will go and we shall see
some new drivers come to light.
At present there are between 200
and 309 registered drivers in this
country and of this number about
30 have gained some prominence
on the speedways. It is the speed
way racing that brings out the
best there is in a driver because
these races are generally for dis
tances of 150 miles and more at
high speed, while the dirt track
races are short and at lower
speeds. Dirt track racing though
is very difficult and if a driver
comes through a dirt track sea
son with any glory and money
he has done a big job.
There are a great many good
drivers throughout the country,
whose names do not get on the
front pages of the newspapers
because they cannot get hold of a
fast car and get into the big
money races' on the speedways.
These men, or I. should say, boys,
since most of them are, eventually
get to the top. Murphy, the
present title holder was once a
pit mechanic, then seat mechanic
for Rickenbacker. Milton started
from the ranks. De Palma is the
real daddy of them all, having
been engaged continuously in
racing longer than any other
driver. Most of the present crop
pf drivers are young nfen who
“love” the game. With little
capital they go into dirt track
work, because the cars do not
have to be so fast and the races
being short there is little chance
of the car breaking down. The
wrecking chance is high though.
In some cases the driver owns
his car outright, in some cases he
leases it for the season and keeps
the winnings and in other cases
he drives for the owner of the car
on ''a percentage basis. Few
drivers own their own cars, be
cause of the high cost of racing
vehicles. A speedway racing car
properly built may cost $20,000
with a -completement of spare
parts. A car requires a driver,
mechanic and in addition, a pit
crew to help put the car in con
dition before the race. Supplies
such as tires, fuel, oil, etc., must
be bought.
1922 Championship Standing
Total
Murphy . 3420
Milton ,. 1910
Hartz . 1788
Elliott . 875
Hill .'. 459
Hearne . 393
Wonderlich . 375
Sarles .. .. 280
Coopers . 260
Mulford . 255
Klein. 229
De Palma. 160
Thomas . 124
Haibe . 109
Fetterman . 108
Wilcox . 60
De Paolo. 43
Alley . 35
Miller . 26
Vail... 21
Koetzler .. 19
Shafer . 17
Morton . 15 -
Melcher . 5
•inose drivers with few excep
tions will be seen on the speed
ways this year some driving
brand new cars, others driving
rebuilt cars of last season. The
speedway races call for cars of
certain piston displacements. So
far the Indianapolis race is the
only one that calls for cars of
122 cubic inches. This is very
small. Some races are for 183
cubic inch cars. A Ford has a
displacement of 176.7 cubic
inches so you can see how small
the 122-inch cars are.
The speedier cars this year are
going to be the eight-cylinder-in
line. Such a car won the cham
pionship last year and the fir&t
race of the 1923 season was won
at record-breaking speed in a
straight eight. These engines
have a bore of around. 3 inches
and run at speeds of 4000 revolu
tions per minute. In one case the
engine is capable of running at
6000 revolutions per minute which
is about the highest that has been
attained in gas engines for com
mercial work.
Europe is sending over some
122 cars for the Indianapolis
500-mile race, but Miller and
Duesenberg in this country have
already shown the foreigners a
new speed standard. Duesen
berg sent Murphy to Europe in
1921 and the little Irishman won
the French Grand Prix, the
French almost refusing to give
Mr. Duesenberg the medal. It
took, a lot of correspondence
and a lapse of more than a year
for France to produce the medal.
It was the first time an Ameri
can had won the race.
This year there are six speed
ways at which important events
will be held. They are as fol
lows:
1923 SPEEDWAY RACES
Indianapolis Motor Speedway,
Indianapolis, Ind., 2 1-2 mile
brick track, 500 miles; Los An
geles, Calif., Speedway, 1 1-4
mile board track, 250 miles;
Fresno, Calif., Speedway, 1 mile
board track, 150 miles; Tacoma,
Wash., Speedway, (approx.) 2
mile bc»rd track, 250 miles; So
noma County Fair, Cotati, Calif.,
(Santa Rosa), 1 1-4 mile board
track, 60 and 100 miles heat;
Kansas City, Mo., Speedway, 1
11-4 mile board track, 300 miles.
Rim* - Fender* - Bendix Starter*
Roller and Ball, Connecting Rod,
Crank Shaft BEARINGS
Engine Valve* for AH Make Car*
COLUMBIA SALES CO.
2018 Atlantic Avenue
Velocipedes - Bicycles
A. E. BOYCE
2 South Indiana Avenue
Just Around the Corner Marine 2276-J
Parkway Garage
WALTER T. BEW. Prop.
Boston Ave. and Parkway
Atlantic City, N. J.
ATTRACTIVE MONTHLY RATES
Sporting Reminiscences of
William A. Brady
As Told to George B. Underwood
CHAPTER XIX—Continued
The Men in the Corners '
Delaney, McVey, Jeffries and
myself were in Corbett’s corner.
Martin Julian, Fitzsimmons’ man
ager and brother-in-law, Dan
Hickey, who became boxing in
structor at the New York A. C.
upon the death of the late Mike
Donovan, and Jack Stelzer, who
gave up firing on a railroad in the
East, and went West to become a
fighter, handled Fitzsimmons.
For six rounds Corbett, with
masterly skill and science, made
a chopping block out of the small
er man. Bob that day only
weighed 15714 pounds, ten pounds
less than publicly was announced.
Fitzsimmons could not evade
Jim’s lightning left and his cross
ing rights. Corbett baffled Bob
with his dazzling footwork, his
rapid feints, leads, blocks, ducks,
and counters. The Cornishman
landed himself occasionally, but
never with much effect.
By the sixth round, Fitzsim
mons, who had been bleeding like
a wounded boar, was redder than
a Nevada suifset. His lips were
bruised and bleeding, eyes puffed
and swollen, and his face severely
cut and lacerated. Midway of the
round Corbett drove a right to the
body in close, and Fitzsimmons
sank to his knees.
I watched, him closely. I saw
him coolly clear his throat of the
blood that he had swallowed and
squint knowingly at his wife, who
sat in an arena box. He stag
•gered'to his feet at the count of
nine. We shouted to Corbett that
Fitzsimmons was feigning and to
took out. A little later the gong
rang. Bob’s knees knocked to
gether and he staggered to his
corner.
The betting, which had opened
with Corbett a 10 to 6 favorite,
went up to 10 to 4 at the end of
the sixth round. No man ever j
appeared a surer winner than the j
champion. But neither Delaney i
nor I was fooled by the strategy j
of the wily Fitzsimmons. Wej
warned Corbett to keep on the i
alert, for Fitzsimmons was strong j
as a bull.
Despite our warning, Corbett
was little prepared for the Cor
nishman’s opening rush in the
seventh round. Jim scarcely had
his hands up when the supposedly
weakened Fitzsimmons, fresh as
a daisy, was upon him with a hur
ricane of blows. After an ex
change, Corbett danced away, but
a few seconds later, Fitzsimmons
succeeded in sliding in close, and,
working his famous shift, drove
a left to the stomach.
I saw Jim’s abdominal muscles
contract spasmodically. His face
grew ashen white. But by a su
perb display of ring poker, Cor
bett covered up his hurt and
stalled and fiddled around until he
got his wind back. Only a real
champion could"- have turned off
the effects of the blow as Jim did
in the seventh round at Carson
City.
That blow in the seventh round,
however, was the turning point of
the fight. In ever increasing
spurts, Fitzsimmons succeeded in
tearing in close and reaching Cor
bett with lefts and rights. Cor
bett slowed down and weakened.
The end came in' the fourteenth
when Fitzsimmons laid Corbett
low with the same kind oi a blow
with which he so grievously had
hurt him in the seventh round—
the punch to the solar plexus.
This time Corbett could not call
enough stamina and reserve to
gether to weather the blow and he
sank to the canvas in agony. Game
as a bulldog, Jim crawled to the
ropes and tried desperately to pull
himself up. The spirit was
willing, but the flesh was weak,
j The champion still was on the
floor when Referee Siler’s hand!
Exceptional Values In
USED CARS
1921 Oakland Sedan, overhauled and repainted, ©7CA
1920 Hudson Speedster, overhauled and repainted, ©7Cfl
beautiful car .., M> « Olf
1917 Packard, 7 passenger touring, all new cord
1921 Hudson Coupe, run only 8,000 miies, (PI 1 AA
excellent condition .. Vi 1 ”V
1922 Essex Touring, used as demonstrator, per- ©QCA
feet condition . . vOOv
1921 Ford Touring, good condition ..
$200
1917 Hudson Sedan, good running order, three ©CCA
new tires .. VvOU
1920 Hudson 7 Passenger Touring, 6 wire wheels, 4 new
cord tires, 2 spare tires, overhauled and
painted ...
$800
ANTRIM MOTOR CO.
40 N. ALBANY AVENUE
_ Hudson and Essex Distributors
Radio and Automobile
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Scientific Experts
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401-07 ATLANTIC AVENUE Phone—Marine 4234-W
came down on the fatal ten that
proclaimed Corbett champion no
more, and crowned Fitzsimmons
as his successor.
In an endeavor to save the title
I rushed into the ring and ques
tioned the correctness of the
count. Naturally it was without
avail. Crazed with pain and dis
appointment over the loss of the
coveted championship, Corbett, as
soon as he got to his feet, attacked
Fitzsimmons. For a few seconds
the place_was a bedlam. The men
finally were pulled apart and we
led Corbett from the ring.
It was a gray day for Corbett
and myself. The championship
was gone. The receipts, forty-four
thousand dollars, were disappoint
ing, doubly so, considering our
treatment by Dan Stewart over
the moving picture privileges, of
which by the original contract,
Jim and I were given full con
trol. I already haye told you how
we finally dgreed to accept
twenty-five per cent, of the pic
tures, but never received the full
amount due us.
Every cloud has a silver lining.
If Corbett never had fought Fitz
simmons at Carson City I never
would have discovered my second
world’s champion, James J.
Jeffries.
SCREENS
SUN PARLOR^
Uade and Completed
Ask for Estimate
Ventnor Woodworking Mill
B. G. BROOKS. Prop.
Phone—Neptune 8
Screens, Storm Saahea, Genera] Mil)
Phone—Neptune 61-W
How I discovered Jeffries in the
Corbett training camp at Carson
City and some interesting events
which followed the Corbett-Fitz
simmons’ fight, I will tell you of
in the next chapter.
(To be Continued)
The Ideal
Way to Buy
Good Tires ’
IS A MATTER OF
SERVICE
Unusual features are
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Phone 3114
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Rittenhouse
IheTIREMan
DDLIN & BINGHAM
SOUTH JERSEY JOBBERS
WITH PHILCO RETAINERS
Guaranteed Two Years
3 North Arkansas Avenue
PHONE—MARINE 3981-J Atlantic City, N. J.
LINCOLN TOURING <. $2,600
This car is perfect mechanically, has been repainted - -
and is an exceptional car at the price
COLE ROADSTER . $1,700
Mechanical condition perfect. Repainted and ,
in appearance that of a new car
These car,,represent the better class of used cars, and
are not so-called bargains. f
Charles E. Henkelman
2205-17 Pacific Avenue