Centennial Era Milestones - 1909

Note: Indianapolis Motor Speedway Historian Donald Davidson shares the history of important dates in the Speedway's first year, 1909, as IMS begins a three-year celebration of its Centennial Era in 2009. This file will be updated as significant dates in 1909 reach their 100-year anniversaries in 2009, so stay tuned!

Feb. 8, 1909: The Aero Club of America announced from New York that the Grand Prize event, the U.S. National Balloon Championships, have been awarded to Indianapolis and will take place June 5 at the "Indiana Motor Parkway," which was under construction. (There was some question as to whether or not work had actually started. A Feb. 20 article said it will start "next week.") The track would be renamed the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Indianapolis outbid St. Louis for the event.

The event was supervised by the Aero Club of Indiana, of which Carl Fisher was president. Fisher recently had returned from the Chicago Auto Show, and, along with his ballooning partner, Capt. George Bumbaugh, knew of the decision for several days but kept quiet.

International Aeronautic Federation rules were used for the competition, limiting the size of the balloons to 77,000 cubic feet. Entries closed May 1.

Fisher, within the last few days, made an arrangement with the gas company to run 4 miles of 6-inch pipe out to the track for the purpose of inflating the balloons.

The articles of incorporation for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway COMPANY were due to be filed Feb. 8. The process began Feb. 6, but the articles were not signed until March 20 for an unknown reason.

It was recently announced that the track was trying to land the FAM (Federation of American Motorcyclists) races, which were normally held on the East coast in July.

March 1, 1909: From Indianapolis came the announcement that the dimensions of the track that would be named the Indianapolis Motor Speedway have been changed.  

Plans originally called for a 3-mile "outer" course, which could, if so chosen, be linked up with a 2-mile road course through the infield to combine for a 5-mile lap. It has now been decided to reduce the "outer" course to 2 1/2 miles and increase the optional road course section to 2 1/2 miles so that the combined lap would still be 5 miles.  

Some sources have recently stated that the "outer" course was to have been 2 miles and the road course 3 miles, which is clearly an error in that the intent was to make the "outer" course as large as possible. The drawback with the 3-mile course was that, while it would certainly fit onto the available property, there would be no room for grandstands on the outsides of the straights.  

It was determined, therefore, that the four turns would remain at exactly 440 yards each from entrance to exit, but that by reducing the length of the straights, a 2 1/2-mile outer track could be produced, which would allow for grandstands on the outside.  

Aug. 7, 1909: Stanley Kellogg, a leading amateur rider based in New York, takes a few laps of the Speedway on a Merkle motorcycle. Rumblings are that the surface is still far from race-worthy.

A huge contingent is said to be coming down from Chicago for the automobile races. Approximately 500 people will be part of a single tour and it has been decided to have all of the 100 or so vehicles in which they will be riding come down in a veritable procession. The Denison Hotel is almost overwhelmed when it receives a block booking for 200 rooms.

Motorcycles apparently will be all over the place on Thursday. As part of the convention of the Federation of American Motorcyclists (FAM), the organization's eighth annual endurance run will conclude here on Thursday afternoon, having left Cleveland on Wednesday morning with an overnight stay in Columbus, Ohio.

In the meantime, anyone owning a motorcycle in the Indianapolis area (believed to be around 500 people) is invited to ride in a parade starting from Monument Circle at 1:30 p.m. on Thursday. The route has not yet been established, but the run will conclude at Riverside Park on West 30th Street.

Aug. 8, 1909: East Coast driver Herb Lytle, who currently is living locally, tries out the track with an Apperson "Jack Rabbit" and is said to reach 76 mph. The Marmon and Marion concerns also are out there with cars.

Aug. 10, 1909: Several participants already have arrived, including motorcyclists Ed Lingenfelder, Ray Seymour and Charles Balke, plus drivers Barney Oldfield and Walter Christie. The latter has brought along his huge front-drive car, which is made entirely out of steel. The track is open to any contestant who wishes to practice, although motorcycles will be given precedence. 

During the day, Ray Seymour, the outstanding 17-year-old from Los Angeles, narrowly escapes serious injury when his Reading Standard motorcycle hits a bump at about 60 mph and skitters up the banking. Just as he seems destined to go over the top and tumble down the other side, he manages to shift all of his weight to the left, causing the motorcycle to veer down to the inside and to safety. There is a huge sigh of relief. 

One newspaper suggests, "It is generally conceded that the track is not in as perfect condition as it will be when the track is settled" and "(The incident) caused a small ripple of uneasiness among motorcycle circles." 

Both are understatements. Several participants suggest the track is not ready and request that the races be moved to the Indiana State Fairgrounds on West 38th Street.

Aug. 11, 1909: Bill Pickens of the Buick Motor Company upstages Stoddard-Dayton with its 10 entries by announcing that Buick will send 15 cars. They will be driven in various events by five drivers: Louis Chevrolet, Bob Burman, Lewis Strang, George DeWitt and Jimmy Ryall. 

Remy Electric Company of Anderson, Ind., announces that the winner of any of the "free-for-all" automobile race events throughout the rest of the season will be awarded the Remy Grand Brassard, which is a sort of an arm plate made out of silver. Each driver will have to give it up when defeated, its current holder drawing a weekly salary of $75. 

Amid plenty of questions about the status of the motorcycle races, 76 of the 96 reliability run riders who left Cleveland in groups of four this morning arrive in Columbus, Ohio, with a perfect score.

Aug. 12, 1909: In spite of rain late last night and early this morning, thousands turn out for the motorcycle parade downtown. Many are disappointed when they learn that the "name" competition riders they expected to see are actually out at the track for some much-needed practice.

The parade route has been changed, crisscrossing back and forth through the main downtown streets and concluding at 444 W. Vermont St., the headquarters of the Indiana Motorcycle Club. There is quite a bit of congestion due to city folk attempting to go about their daily business. The affair ends up being described as a "semi race." More than 200 riders participate, and they tend to ride in bunches, speeding up and slowing down as traffic dictates, some of them even taking shortcuts. One of the riders, incidentally, is a lady named Mrs. J. F. Heatley. 

Out at the track, the practice does not go well. The combination of rain delays, extreme heat and general lack of time has left a surface that is far from ready. In spite of every intention to put down several layers of increasingly fine crushed stone, spread thousands of gallons of oil and keep everything packed tightly with endless passes by heavy rollers, the surface is uneven and it is almost impossible to locate a reasonable "groove." It is so rough, in fact, that while Ed Lingenfelder does manage to complete 10 consecutive laps at an average speed of 60 mph (25 miles in 25 minutes), some riders complain they can't hold onto the handlebars. 

Several riders again request that the races be moved instead to the Indiana State Fairgrounds, but FAM officials side with IMS, feeling that every effort should be made to support track owner Carl Fisher and his partners in view of the Herculean effort everyone has made. 

One positive observation about the track is that the automobiles likely will fare much better due to their greater weight.

Of the 96 riders who left Cleveland on the endurance run, 64 arrive in Indianapolis, 52 of them beating the time deadline. It takes a little while to go through all of the scorecards, but it is eventually determined that 38 have earned perfect scores. Among those who encountered difficulty and could not complete the run is E. G. Baker (later to be nicknamed "Cannon Ball"), who is one of those entered for the motorcycle races Thursday and Saturday. He has to ship his motorcycle back to Indianapolis from Ohio by interurban.

Aug. 13, 1909: Ominous Friday the 13th. Everyone awakens to falling rain, and after some consultation, it is decided to postpone until tomorrow, with tomorrow's card pushed to Monday due to the IMS policy of not conducting events on Sundays. 

Because of the texture of the multilayered surface, the optimistic estimation is made that once the rain stops, the track could be dried in only 15 minutes. So why not wait until later in the afternoon before "calling" the day's activities? As bizarre as it may seem, one reason given is concern over the anticipated emergence of a large number of snails!

Aug. 14, 1909: The rain has moved through, the track is "as dry as a bone" and the afternoon is described as "sizzling hot." 

Workmen continue with track preparation right up until noon, after having worked in shifts around the clock for several days. 

No sooner has practice begun than a rider is injured, Albert Gibney laying down his Reading Standard at 60 mph. He suffers some injuries and is taken to the city hospital. His normal occupation is of interest: He is an Indianapolis motorcycle policeman. 

The races are due to start at 3 p.m., and with one hour remaining until that time, the estimate is that 3,000 people are on the grounds. The numbers pick up a little before starting time, but not nearly in the quantity hoped for. 

The races get underway, but as has been well documented, due to the condition of the surface, many riders elect not to participate in the "mixed bag" of events. It is also felt that many riders simply were not comfortable with the sheer immensity of the place, many having typically raced on tracks of not more than 1 mile per lap. 

The one major injury of the afternoon comes at the conclusion of Lap 2 of a four-lap professional event in which only two riders participate. Jake de Rosier, one of the best-known riders in the country, goes down on the main straight when the front tire blows and wraps itself around the forks, throwing him over the handlebars. He crawls over to the side of the track, and while one newspaper reports him as being "near to death," he is released after a couple of days. The other rider, Ed Lingenfelder, solos to win. 

Only seven of the eight scheduled races are held, the last of them, the ambitious 10-lap, 25-mile championship, being canceled by the FAM representatives due to track conditions. They further announce that Monday's program also has been canceled and that no further events will be scheduled here until the surface has been satisfactorily improved. 

Event No. 7, the 10-mile FAM championship for amateurs, which proves therefore to be the last of the day, is won by the Indian of Erwin Baker, the local lad who eventually will become the famed perennial coast-to-coast record-breaker "Cannon Ball" Baker. 

One magazine points out that because the attempts on the flying mile were started in Turn 3 and concluded at the start/finish line, those who paid to sit in the Turn 2 bleachers saw nothing of this event at all! 

Between heats during the afternoon, a couple of automobiles make demonstration runs, Billy Bourke in a Knox lapping in 2 minutes and 20 seconds for an average speed of 64.28 mph. 

Other than for the problems with the races, the FAM convention is considered a huge success, and a local man is voted in as the organization's new president. He is Fred I. Willis, secretary and general manager of Hearsey-Williams Co., a large automobile and bicycle agency (dealer) and parts supplier in the downtown area. In addition, with Charles Wyatt, president of the Indiana Motorcycle Club, being named western vice president, the headquarters will be moved to Indianapolis. 

Although there will be no competition tomorrow, the track will, in fact, be open for practice by the automobiles.

Aug. 15, 1909: Several hundred people go out to the Speedway after church services to witness practice by the automobiles. They are not disappointed. Among the notables who take advantage of the track's availability are Barney Oldfield, Johnny Aitken and Walter Christie. The Marmon, Marion, Knox and Stoddard-Dayton teams also are out there, the fastest lap of all being 2 minutes and 2 seconds by Len Zengel in a Chadwick. Zengel is also credited with covering one mile in 45 seconds, the average speed being 80 mph flat. 

Aug. 17, 1909: Of all the numerous claims made over the decades regarding the year or the identity of the first female allowed in the pits at Indianapolis, not one of them can possibly come anywhere close to that of Miss Betty Blythe. She doesn't just enter the pits; she is actually taken for a ride in a race car. Miss Blythe takes advantage of an opportunity offered by publicity-minded Bill Pickens of the Buick team, who puts her in the riding mechanic's seat next to driver Bob Burman. She hangs on for dear life as he takes a couple of laps at an average speed of about 60 mph, and in the following morning's edition of The Indianapolis Star, an article beneath her byline recounts her impressions. 

Roland Mellett, sports editor for The Indianapolis News, has a similar opportunity with the Buick team and is paired by Pickens with Louis Chevrolet. Mellett's stirring account, which appears the following afternoon, reports that they took one lap, came in and then went out for two more laps, the fastest claimed to be turned in 2 minutes, 6 seconds. If true, that's an average speed of 71.4 mph. Mellett notes having had a hard time holding on and several times having lost his grip on the side of his seat.

Aug. 18, 1909: With just one day remaining before the three days of automobile racing competition is scheduled to begin, much interest is generated during the morning by the firsthand account in The Indianapolis Star of Miss Betty Blythe's high-speed ride around the Speedway in the Buick of Bob Burman. A little later in the day, the equally captivating account of Rolland Mellett's ride with Louis Chevrolet appears in The Indianapolis News. 

Still more excitement is generated when word reaches the downtown area that during the trouble-free two hours of practice, Barney Oldfield took out the mighty Blitzen Benz and became the first person to lap quicker than two minutes. His time of 1 minute, 58 seconds, translates to an average speed of 76.2 mph. 

The special "convoy" by road from Chicago arrives, comprising 65 cars rather than 100, a number of people having decided instead to come by train. They left downtown Chicago at 4 a.m. 

In his excellent 1961 book "500 Miles To Go," Indianapolis Motor Speedway publicity director Albert W. Bloemker reveals that among those in the convoy was 15-year-old Thomas W. Milton, who, with his brother, Homer, and two friends, had driven a 1908 Oldsmobile over from Minneapolis in order to link up with the Chicago group. Not only would young Tommy Milton go on to drive in the "500," but with victories in 1921 and 1923, he would become the classic's first two-time winner.

Aug. 19, 1909: Opening day of the much-anticipated three-day meet of automobile racing finally arrives. 

Thirty minutes of practice are offered between 8 and 8:30 a.m., but there are few takers. Workmen still are frantically preparing the track, doing their best to sprinkle down as much oil as they can on the surface, the scorching August sun making their task far from pleasant. Many of them have worked through the night. 

An estimated 15,000 people pour into the track, many alighting every few minutes from the special trains arriving from downtown, at the depot across the street from the main entrance, just as Lem Trotter had envisioned almost a year earlier. 

And, in recognition of the fact that not everyone will be arriving by either train or automobile, 3,000 hitching posts are in place for those whose transportation is either a horse or horse-drawn vehicle. 

The newspapers remark on the surprisingly large number of women who are in attendance, but this actually is a trend which will continue at the track throughout the next 100 years. In a delightful observation, The Indianapolis Star notes that the grandstands "are a blaze of color" and that many women carry Japanese parasols of red, yellow, white, green and blue, while also making reference to "multi-colored millinery" and "gala attire." 

The proceedings begin promptly at noon, with five cars taking off for a two-lap, 5-mile, standing-start dash. This one is for stock chassis, powered by engines of between 161 and 230 cubic inches. The winner, in a time of 5 minutes, 18.40 seconds, is a Stoddard-Dayton driven by Austrian-born Louis Schwitzer, who eventually will become a leading industrialist in the city as well as technical chairman for the Indianapolis 500. 

Of the next three events, all short dashes, two are won by famous names of the future, Louis Chevrolet (Buick) and Ray Harroun (Marmon) both winning four-lap affairs. 

The third winner does not fare so well. Knox driver Billy Bourque defeats Chevrolet and Bob Burman in a two-lap race for cars of cubic-inch displacement between 301 and 450, but the poor fellow does not even make it through the same afternoon. Just past the halfway mark of the featured 250-mile race for the Prest-O-Lite trophy, he spins out of Turn 4, hits an infield ditch, flips over several times and ends up hitting a post. Bourque and his luckless riding mechanic, Harry Holcomb, both are thrown out, neither of them surviving the accident. 

It is nearly 7 p.m. when Burman is flagged in as the winner, the 250 miles having taken almost 4 hours and 40 minutes to complete. 

Officials of the American Automobile Association (AAA) discuss cancelling the remaining two days because of the deteriorating surface, but the persuasive Carl Fisher manages to talk them out of it.

Aug. 20, 1909: With the tragedy of yesterday still on everyone's mind, and tributes to Bourque and Holcomb appearing in the newspapers, the program moves ahead regardless. AAA inspects the track and gives it an OK, but requests the application of more oil. 

As with the motorcycles, there is an endless cycle of problems. The drivers and riding mechanics are either having to contend with rocks being flung back into their faces and bodies by the vehicles ahead of them, or the further crushing of the rocks by several passes with heavy rollers result in a powder fine enough to cause blinding dust, or the competitors become covered from head to toe with the oil that is applied in an effort to lay the dust. 

The crowd estimate is 22,000, an increase of 7,000 over yesterday. 

There are eight races today, compared with yesterday's five, but the longest is only 100 miles (the G & J Trophy race, won by Lewis Strang in a Buick), and everything is concluded by 5:30 p.m. Thankfully, there are no injuries. 

During the afternoon, several drivers make attempts on what is billed as "the world's record" for the flying mile. The Blitzen Benz of Barney Oldfield requires only 43.1 seconds to cover the distance, averaging 83.5 mph in the process.

Aug. 21, 1909: A huge crowd estimated at 37,000 turns out for the third and final day of automobile racing. There is even a lengthy line waiting to get in when the gates open at 9 a.m. Fans are four-deep in the region of the start/finish line when the feature of the day is ready to start, and the claim is made that the crowd on hand is the largest to have attended any event in the city's history. 

The day begins with attempts at the "world's" record for the flying kilometer. Once again, Barney Oldfield is "the man." He covers the distance in a mere 26.2 seconds, at a blazing 86.5 mph. 

The feature of the day—and the final event of the three-day meet—is the longest of all, the 300-mile race for the gigantic $10,000 silver trophy put up by Frank Wheeler and George Schebler. The maximum engine displacement for this one is a very generous 600 cubic inches. Oldfield, Burman, Chevrolet and Harroun are among the 19 drivers who line up in addition to Herb Lytle, Lewis Strang (Walter Christie's nephew) and future stars Johnny Aitken, Charlie Merz and Ralph de Palma. 

The race does not go the full distance. 

At 175 miles, young Charlie Merz blows a tire on his National as he enters Turn 1. The car goes out of control, clears the embankment and ends up tearing down some outer fencing before coming to rest within feet of where the creek bends around to head south and flow out beneath the track. 

Merz, the son of a city policeman who is on duty at the track, escapes with barely a shaking-up, but Charlie's riding mechanic, Claude Kellum, is not so fortunate. Kellum and two spectators are fatally injured. A few other spectators are injured, as well, each of them standing in an area where they should not have been. The police had made several attempts at clearing people away from the outer fence in the turns. 

Just a handful of minutes after this disaster has taken place at the south end of the track, the Marmon of Bruce Keen hits a pedestrian bridge at the north end and turns over. 

There are no injuries to speak of in this one, other than a scalp wound suffered by Keen's mechanic, but the AAA officials have seen enough. They come over to talk with Fisher, Wheeler, Allison and Newby, who already are huddled together in deep conversation. Everyone agrees that the event should be stopped. It already has been running for well over four hours, and only 235 of the 300 miles have been completed. 

Fred "Pop" Wagner holds out the checkered flag, and Leigh Lynch, holding a full-lap lead over Ralph de Palma, apparently is flagged as the winner. Referee F. B. Stevens, however, almost immediately rules that it will be considered a "no-contest" with no winner. 

The Jackson Motor Company, for which Lynch was driving, will not take this lying down and there will be plenty of repercussion over the days and weeks which follow. 

Not only that, but Fred Wagner informs the four track owners that AAA will sanction no further events here until something has been done about the terrible surface.

Aug. 23, 1909: The Labor Day balloon and "aeroplane" races have been called off, the reason given as too few entries. More likely, the recent trials and tribulations probably have kept anyone from even thinking about this event, Labor Day being only a week away. At this point, however, the 24-hour race scheduled for Sept. 24-25 is still on.

Since Saturday's Wheeler-Schebler Trophy race was called after only 235 of 300 miles and quickly declared a "no contest" by AAA representative F. B. Stevens, donors Frank Wheeler and George Schebler have decided that their $10,000 trophy will not be presented at this time. The Jackson Motor Company (from the Michigan city of the same name) believes that since one of its entries was well in the lead when the race was prematurely halted, it is entitled to claim the prize.

In spite of the problems with the track surface and the tragic loss last week of five lives (two drivers, one riding mechanic and two spectators), the three days of automobile racing have been warmly received by the city of Indianapolis. The newspapers carry several positive editorials. The three-day attendance total is claimed to have been 75,000, and all of the city's hotels and restaurants report glowingly of having been overwhelmed with business.

IMS and AAA jointly agree that since the longer races are actually tests of automobile rather than individuals, no driver or riding mechanic should be permitted to remain in a car for more than 100 miles before handing over to someone else. Not only that, but each should have to be cleared by a member of the medical staff before being permitted to return for another stint. Further, each car should be inspected by AAA officials before being allowed back on the track following a stop, and all repairs during an event should be performed by the driver and riding mechanic only, as is the practice in European grand prix events.

In a very sensible safety move, it is decided, in retrospect, that the individual VIP mini-grandstands on the outside of Turn 1 probably weren't such a good idea after all. As great a view as they afforded, the point where Charlie Merz cleared the embankment on Saturday was just a few yards past the last of these. They will be moved, instead, to the inside of the turn.

Aug. 24, 1909: Jake de Rosier, who was injured during the championship motorcycle match race with Ed Lingenfelder on Aug. 14, leaves the hospital and returns to Springfield, Mass. Al Gibney, the local motorcycle police officer who crashed in practice on Aug. 12, is still hospitalized.

Aug. 25, 1909: The 24-hour race scheduled for Sept. 24-25 has been postponed until sometime in October.

Track management announces that $150,000 will be spent on track improvements and that a completely new surface is being discussed. Consideration is also being given to sand being laid around the outside of the track for runoff purposes.

Officials of the Jackson Motor Company file suit in an attempt to claim the Wheeler-Schebler trophy. Named in the suit are the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Company, the Wheeler-Schebler Company and the Fisher Automobile Company, the latter actually being in possession of the $10,000 trophy.

Aug. 26, 1909: Just days after American aviator Glenn Curtiss has been "the star of the show" at the international "aviation week" at Rheims, France, Carl Fisher wires Curtiss there, inviting him to enter the proposed "motor and balloon carnival" at IMS for which no date has yet been announced. Frank Wheeler suggests that a contest for the Wheeler-Schebler trophy might be part of this program.

Aug. 29, 1909: In spite of the recently tragedies at the track, and much negative press from other cities, The Indianapolis Star publishes almost half a page of supportive letters from a number of local dignitaries.

Aug. 30, 1909: Late in the day, Carl Fisher receives a reply from Glenn Curtiss. It turns out that Fisher has offered Curtiss a mind-boggling $10,000 in return for bringing several leading aviators along with him for the proposed meet in the fall. Still no date has been announced. Two local newspapers report that Curtiss intends to bring none other than Louis Bleriot, who just four weeks ago became the first person to fly the English Channel in an aircraft. Fisher is also hopeful (not surprisingly) of attracting Henri Farman, Hubert Latham and the Wright brothers. 

It never does become clear whether there was some misunderstanding concerning the Curtiss message, either due to its brevity or perhaps when the track's Ernie Moross was attempting to relay its content to his newspaper colleagues. A report a few days later states that Curtiss has informed Fisher that he will bring two aircraft, one of which was built by Bleriot, there being no mention of the Frenchman himself. Another article states that Curtiss and Bleriot have agreed to appear jointly for $10,000. Still later, a report mentions that Bleriot is among several leading aviators who are expected to attend. Whether or not Bleriot himself ever intended to come will remain a mystery. 

In the meantime, Fisher's aeronautical friend and partner, Capt. George Bumbaugh, is in the process of constructing two huge dirigibles.

Aug. 31, 1909: Elated over the winning of the International Cup for aviation by Glenn Curtiss at the recently completed meet in France, Courtlandt F. Bishop, president of the Aero Club of America, suggests that the United States should play host to the competition in 1910 and urges major cities to post bids. Ernie Moross is immediately instructed to offer $10,000 in prizes for the event to be held at IMS, $6,500 of which would be for aircraft, the remaining $3,500 for dirigibles.

Sept. 1, 1909: IMS management is pressing ahead with addressing the issue of the track surface, and while concrete did receive quite a bit of consideration, a firm named the Warren Paving Company has already begun the process of laying down about 200 yards of bricks and mortar on the main straight. This is as the result of a strong recommendation by representatives of the National Paving Brick Manufacturers Association. Once the section has been laid down and given a couple of days to harden, several rigorous tests will be carried out to determine its stability.

P. T. Andrews, the New York engineer who supervised the building of the track in the spring, has been called back and is currently over in Crawfordsville, Ind., for the purpose of obtaining cost estimates from brick companies in that area.

Experiments also will be carried out on a couple of other alternatives, including one of creosote-soaked wooden blocks.

Sept. 4, 1909: The dates for the forthcoming aviation meet are finally announced as Oct. 14, 15 and 16. E. A. Moross explains that the delay was mainly due to ensuring there would not be a conflict with other meets. This one will include endurance contests as well as short speed races. It has been decided to drop the automobile racing portion of the program, a separate meet to be held later in the fall.

Well aware that Glenn Curtiss is receiving lucrative offers to fly at other venues, Moross wires Curtiss a stipulation that as part of his agreement with IMS, he cannot fly anywhere in this country until after he has appeared at the Speedway.

Sept. 5, 1909: Some 50 new garages for automobiles will be erected as part of the Speedway's $150,000 improvement pledge. Rather than being individual garages, they will consist of separate partitioned areas inside of one huge building, which will measure 200 feet long by 50 feet wide.

Sept. 7, 1909: In spite of Marion County authorities granting liquor licenses to some 70 applicants, still no action has been taken on the proposal to erect a tavern near the Speedway's main entrance. It seems that a number of farmers in the area are dead set against such a thing.

Sept. 9, 1909: The laying of a 200-yard, or so, experimental section of brick and mortar on the main straight is completed before the end of the day and will be given a couple of days to harden before thorough testing.

Sept. 11, 1909: After being allowed to sit for a couple of days, the experimental section of bricks and mortar on the track's main straight is given a vigorous workout. Johnny Aitken conducts several tests with the same six-cylinder National in which he established several records during a 100-mile event here last month. He races up and down the stretch several times and then tries a series of heavy braking tests mixed with a few not-so-gentle standing starts to see if such punishment will disturb the surface. It does not.

The most dramatic test comes when a couple of ropes are tied to either the frame or the front wheels, with the other ends being lashed to a pair of posts which have been sunk into the ground and mired in concrete. Aitken then presses down on the accelerator, the rear of the car swaying from side to side as the wheels churn away at the bricks, clouds of acrid-smelling smoke billowing from the spinning tires. Aitken shuts it down, and everyone runs over to see if there is any damage to the surface. In spite of it having been completed only two days ago, there does not appear to be any.

The anticipated inspection by officials does not take place and has been postponed until Monday, two days from now.

More tests may be conducted next week, with a section of creosote-soaked wooden blocks also supposedly to be given a workout.

There is still no definite word from Glenn Curtiss with regard to the request that he not appear at any U.S. venue before coming here.

Sept. 12, 1909: The stock of aviator Glenn Curtiss rises even higher when the winner of the recent International Cup at Rheims, France, triumphs in the grand prize at Brescia, Italy.

Sept. 15, 1909: Although Glenn Curtiss, the champion of the recent Rheims and Brescia aviation meets, has been offered numerous additional contracts to fly in European cities, he has decided instead to sail for home.

Sept. 16, 1909: Bricks it is!

To the absolute elation of the representatives of the National Paving Brick Manufacturers Association, Speedway management has agreed to their suggestion. A veritable army of workmen will embark immediately on the ambitious task of paving the entire 2 1/2-mile oval with street-paving bricks, the eventual number to be around 3.2 million.

The present surface of crushed rock and tar will be subjected yet again to a treatment by the heavy rollers, after which several inches of sand will be placed on top of it. Into the bed of sand, the bricks will be laid on their sides and staggered in rows, with a small separation deliberately left on all four sides of each brick. Once a section has been declared completely flat, mortar will be poured into the separations for the purpose of ensuring as strong a surface as possible.

The estimated cost of the job is $180,000, of which $30,000 is just for the cement. It has been an expensive few months for the track's four owners, this latest expenditure bringing their total investment up to around $700,000.

The company winning the bid to supply the bricks is the Wabash Clay Company in Veedersburg, Ind., not far from the Illinois border. Producer of the Culver Block, it is company owner and block designer Reuben Culver who signed the final proposal on behalf of his company two days ago, while Fisher and Allison sign the acceptance today.

Many carloads of brick already have been delivered by rail, shipped directly from Culver's siding in Veedersburg and then unloaded and transferred to horse-drawn flatbeds at the station directly across from the track's main entrance at what eventually will become the corner of West 16th Street and Georgetown Road. The plan is for 20 carloads to arrive daily, the goal being to have the last brick delivered by the end of this month, just two weeks from now. A really ambitious projection has the entire job being completed in just three weeks!

Reuben Culver immediately will increase his workforce to 200.

Working closely with the track's P. T. Andrews will be W. T. Blackburn of Paris, Ill., Major Edward L. Middleton of Indianapolis and William Blair of St. Louis, who is believed to have been the person who so thoroughly convinced Fisher that bricking the track was the best solution.

Much interest has already been shown in non-racing areas, representatives of several major cities in other states planning to be on the grounds over the next few weeks to observe the work with a view to possibly paving the streets of their own cities in this fashion. Six delegates will come in from the United Brick Association of America to work with Andrews, and they will stay until the work is completed. Andrews says the actual work of laying the bricks probably will be performed by three or four contractors, Frank Meredith of Terre Haute already appearing to be one of them.

Work on the infield road course has been halted for a while, but the suggestion is made that when completed, the surface will still be of the dreaded crushed rock and tar, rather than bricks, so that it will resemble a country road.

Sept. 17, 1909: There are several interpretations concerning the exact size of the nearly completed aviation hangar, one suggesting it measures 350 feet across and 110 feet high. The claim is that it will hold either 10 aircraft or two fully inflated dirigibles and that it is so big a dirigible could be flown in one side and out the other. In fact, this feat may even be demonstrated during the Oct. 14-16 meet.

Sept. 21, 1909: Triumphant aviator Glenn Curtiss arrives back in New York from Europe by sea and says he will meet with representatives from St. Louis, Chicago and Indianapolis, all of which wish for him to fly in their cities.

Sept. 25, 1909: Cincinnati has made a bid to the Aero Club of America for the 1910 international meet IMS is trying to land.

In the meantime, IMS may be indirectly facing yet another challenge over the Oct. 14-16 aviation extravaganza to be held here, with the sobering news that Wilbur Wright says he and brother Orville will file suit against anyone who tries to fly a Bleriot, Farman or any other aircraft imported from Europe in an American event. The Wright brothers claim the builders of those craft are guilty of infringements on their patents.

Sept. 26, 1909: Carl Fisher's friend and aeronautical partner, Capt. George Bumbaugh, is on his way to completing a massive balloon which the pair plan on taking to the Oct. 4 meet in St. Louis. Said to be the largest balloon ever constructed, it apparently will measure 150 feet from top to bottom and be powered by a 44-horsepower engine.

Sept. 30, 1909: Although the bricking of the track is well underway, there is still much to be done. Nevertheless, Director of Events Ernie Moross says while the American Automobile Association has not been approached about a sanction, IMS plans to run an automobile racing program Nov. 1 on the bricks. Barney Oldfield, who until quite recently was a client of the flamboyant Moross, says he will compete.

Because it will very likely be far too cold to conduct races of any distance—and management is anxious to show off the place—the program will consist of short sprints and record attempts. Predictions have the single-lap record being lowered by as much as 10 seconds.

Oct. 1, 1909: The Oct. 14-16 aviation meet is off!

Several reasons are given, chief of which is the exorbitant amount of money Glenn Curtiss has now asked for his appearance here. Curtiss, who previously had agreed to $6,000, is now suggesting $12,000 for himself and one other pilot (who is not named), plus $5,000 in prize money, and yet another $2,000 guaranteed against potential accident damage. Not only that, but he expects to be paid in full even if no ascensions are made at all, due to weather and so forth.

Curtiss previously had agreed not participate in any meet or demonstration west of New York until after the Indianapolis appearance, but then asked permission to compete at St. Louis just the week before regardless.

Because Henry (later Henri) Farman had agreed to appear but could not guarantee that his aircraft would arrive from Europe in time, some thought was given to postponing the meet by a few weeks. This was quickly dismissed after considering the potential of heavy winds and deteriorating weather in late October, not to mention that work on the bricking of the track would have to be curtailed for a few days.

Oct. 2, 1909: The massive, nearly completed 100,000-cubic-foot dirigible of Carl Fisher and George Bumbaugh is said to be 166 feet long and 32 feet in diameter. Fisher says its maiden voyage will consist of taking off at the track and then going down to encircle the Soldiers and Sailors monument before heading for Dayton, Ohio.

Oct. 5, 1909: No more has been said regarding Wilbur Wright's statement that he and his brother will sue anyone who tries to fly a Bleriot or Farman aircraft in this country because of alleged patent infringements, but he does take another rather interesting stand.

After having made a variety of well-paid appearances, flying around such famous landmarks as the Eiffel Tower, the Statue of Liberty and Grant's Tomb, Wright states, "I do not think I shall ever again take part in a flying meet for money." This is based on the fact he feels he has disappointed too many members of the paying public by being grounded due to mechanical issues, weather and so forth. Henceforth he will concentrate on experimental and development flying in which the only people who stand to be disappointed would be the brothers themselves and their immediate crew.

One wonders whether or not Wilbur might be taking a potshot at Glenn Curtiss when he responds to a question about the huge amount of potential appearance money he apparently is prepared to turn down. "My brother and myself," he says, "are not in the sideshow business."

Oct. 8, 1909: Ernie Moross, the track's director of events, has returned from the aviation meet in St. Louis and relates that many fliers now have a strong interest in participating at IMS. Aware of the permanent hangars at the Speedway and the facility's sprawling grounds, they state that several of the venues they have recently visited were far from adequate and that the St. Louis event was held in a public park, one-fifth the size of the Speedway's infield. And, obviously, there were no hangars.

Glenn Curtiss, who priced his services so high that IMS finally decided to cancel the Oct. 14-16 aviation meet here, now says he plans to come over and take a look. Lincoln Beachy is another famed aviator who wants to pay a visit. J. W. Curzon, described as a young millionaire theatrical manager, will come to the track from St. Louis on Monday and will have his Farman aircraft shipped over. He has made an arrangement with IMS to make a few test flights at the Speedway, for which management will waive any charges.

Oct. 10, 1909: Somebody has figured out that if all of the bricks being laid down at the track were placed end to end, they would cover 453 miles. If each brick was placed 3 feet apart on the ocean floor of the Atlantic, the line would stretch all the way from the North American mainland to the coast of Ireland.

Oct. 11, 1909: Evidently, Carl Fisher and Ernie Moross are pulling out all of the stops. Just days after IMS canceled the Oct. 14-16 aviation meet, largely due to Glenn Curtiss wanting too much money to appear, they are now inviting Curtiss here with a view to having him relocate his entire aircraft-building business from Hammondsport, N.Y., to the Speedway's infield!

Curtiss, who during World War I ultimately would produce the famous "Jenny" aircraft, is, at the time he visits the track, unofficially the fastest man on land. Two years earlier he had developed a 40-horsepower V8 engine which he fitted to a motorcycle. At a time when the "world" record for the flying mile by an automobile was 127 mph - by Fred Marriot's Stanley Steamer at Daytona Beach - Curtiss blazed through the mile at Ormond Beach,just north of Daytona, at an average speed claimed to have been in excess of 136 mph! This would not be beaten until Bob Burman would record 141 mph with the Blitzen Benz on April 23, 1911 at Daytona.

In preparation for J. W. Curzon's practice flights this week, and yet another step toward trying to land the 1910 "Cup de Internationale" aviation meet here, several telephone poles and other obstructions are being removed.

And, while it now may seem like some sort of joke or else shocking audacity, Moross has written a letter to J.K. Sullivan, secretary of the National Amateur Athletic Union, inquiring about what it would take to have the Olympic Games take place on the Speedway's infield!

As preposterous and as far-fetched as this now seems, it should be borne in mind that the Olympic Games, then known as the Olympian Games, had only just recently been revived, the first modern renewal having taken place in Athens only 13 years earlier.

Oct. 12, 1909: Glenn Curtiss arrives from St. Louis along with an amateur flier named A.P. Warner, and is treated to lunch down at the Columbia Club on Monument Circle. He is then taken out to the track by Carl Fisher, Arthur Newby and Ernie Moross. He is quite taken by the sheer size of the place and the facility in general. He says he would like to come back and take a few flights, perhaps in conjunction with next month's auto racing program.

AAA has taken disciplinary action against the Jackson Automobile Company over its role in the Wheeler-Schebler Trophy dispute, suspending the company from further competition until after Jan. 1, 1910.

Jackson made the mistake of advertising that it had been awarded the Wheeler-Schebler Trophy for winning the 300-mile race at IMS on Aug. 21, after the AAA referee had already ruled that the event was a "no contest" due to only 235 of the 300 miles having been completed. In addition, the company did not help its case by filing suit against IMS, Wheeler-Schebler and the Fisher Automobile Company, even before AAA had a chance to rule on the original appeal.

Some feel Jackson probably is getting off easy, considering that the suspension will be up in just over three months' time and that the season is virtually over anyway.

Oct. 14, 1909: Several of the St. Louis flying meet participants pay a visit to the Speedway, among them J.W. Curzon, Charles Grout, Albert Paulson and Georges Osmont, a Frenchman currently living in New York. Others are expected. Some of them are talking about setting up a flying school at the track while others discuss the possibility of building aircraft here. Curzon's Farman 'plane' is expected to arrive here within the next day or two.

Oct. 18, 1909: The Farman aircraft purchased by J.W. Curzon arrives in Indianapolis and is taken out to the track during the afternoon. It is understood that this is the very same craft Henry Farman flew at Rheims last month, remaining aloft for three hours and 15 minutes.

Oct. 21, 1909: The new surface of bricks and mortar is still being laid down at an amazing rate, but while no official statement has been made, it does not appear as if the track will be ready for competition by Nov. 1. Later in on November now seems to be the thinking.

Oct. 23, 1909: Readers of The Indianapolis News open their Saturday afternoon edition and learn that, earlier in the day, Carl Fisher had completely surprised his friends by taking Miss Jane Watts as his bride.

This would be a fairly straightforward item if not for claims made in a book authored by the bride almost 35 years later, giving birth to one of the most persistent and apparently inextinguishable myths in all of Indianapolis Motor Speedway folklore. In her 1947 memoir about life with Carl, entitled "Fabulous Hoosier," Jane Watts Fisher, long since divorced from him, states at least a half-dozen different times that when she married the 35-year-old Fisher, she was only 15!

Although this quite controversial and rather suspicious claim seems to have been universally accepted as gospel ever since - perpetuated in several published articles even during 2009 - there are several pieces of evidence to suggest that she actually was quite a bit older.

While she further claims that she had always worn her long hair in pigtails until the day of her marriage and that, for the first time, it was "up" and rolled in the back, the photograph in The News of her wedding day shows a serene and confident-looking woman who appears to be a good deal older than 15 and who likely has worn her hair "up" many times before this. In fact, the accompanying article states that "the bride is well known in social circles" and "there has been rumor of an engagement for several months."

As an aside, there are numerous exaggerations and errors of fact in her book, not the least of which suggest that the Speedway was 15 miles out of town (it was/is 5), that their home on Cold Spring Road was 12 miles from downtown (it was/is about 4), that there were 75,000 people in the grandstands for the 1909 balloon race (there were about 3,000) and that Carl announced after the disastrous 1909 inaugural automobile races that starting the following year, only a once-a-year "500" would be held, when in fact there were a trio of multi-day events held in 1910. And so it continues throughout the book.

Part of the challenge in trying to research Jane's formative years is that not only was she adopted (her surname at birth is believed to have been Millsagle), but that, as confirmed by friends with whom she grew up, she was known as "Jennie" rather than Jane. This is reflected in census records and in at least one street directory.

Unfortunately, while marriage application records from the time typically show a full date of birth for both bride and groom, the entry for Fisher and Watts lists only a year. And that can be explained. With the nuptials to be performed at the home of the bride's parents at 724 N. Capitol Ave. at 11 a.m., Fisher suddenly realized, with little more than an hour to spare, that he had neglected to obtain a marriage license. He and a friend, Frank Moore, went tearing out of the house and made a spirited drive down to the county clerk's office several blocks to the south. While it is understood that the office in those days more than likely would have been closed for the weekend, the energetic and persuasive Fisher obviously had plenty of connections and was able to get some special attention. There was one further predicament, however: the application required the signature of the bride-to-be.

So back up to the home of the parents they raced, grabbing Jane's signature and thundering south again to the county clerk's office, finally to return to 724 with everything in order, the scheduled 11 a.m. ceremony finally getting underway about 20 minutes late.

While Jane would claim in decades to come that Carl had advised her to "fudge" about her real age to prevent tongues from wagging, it appears that any "fudging" came much later and was hers alone. Her year of birth given on the marriage application—1885—appears to be correct, making her 24 when she married Fisher, not 15! This is backed up by the fact that in the 1900 census records she is recorded as already being 15, while the 1907 Indianapolis city directory (effectively carried 1906 information) lists her as being a stenographer at a time when, according to her claim, she would have been 12!

The best guess is that during her several decades of being a socialite in Miami, she would tend to knock off a year here and there to the extent that when it came time for her to write her book, she had to make herself 15 in 1909 in order for everything to work out.

So she absolutely wasn't 15 when she married Fisher, and yet it is apparently going to take some sort of a miracle in order to finally quash this persistent 60-plus-year-old myth.

Oct. 28, 1909: Another surprise announcement comes with IMS publicist Ernie Moross stating he is going to leave the Speedway on Nov. 14 to become associated with a similar venture planned for Detroit. (It will never see the light of day.) He says his new situation will allow him to be involved with several tracks whereas his contract with IMS is exclusive. Carl Fisher and Arthur Newby are out of the city and unavailable for comment.

Oct. 31, 1909: The resurfacing of IMS with bricks is being pushed by management in an effort to try and have the job completed by sometime next month. Although it now appears obvious that completion will be too late in the year for races, Carl Fisher and company are still anxious to hold a series of speed trials to wipe out the bad memories of August and prove how good the new surface is.

Further evidence of Fisher's stature within the community: Fisher and George Bumbaugh cannot decide on a name for their new dirigible, believed to be the largest ever built, and so a committee has been formed to select one from those submitted by the general public. Assisting with the process will be the anonymous "balloon editor" for The Indianapolis Star. The three-person committee will be made up of Charles A. Bookwalter (mayor of Indianapolis), Fred A. Sims (Indiana's secretary of state) and Dr. Goethe Link (secretary of the Aero Club of Indiana). It is understood that the maiden voyage of the vessel will be next Wednesday.

Nov. 1, 1909: Several items have been appearing in the newspapers recently concerning the status of the Chicago Auto Club's Cobe Cup event, which was held in June over county roads running back and forth between the northern-Indiana towns of Crown Point and Lowell. Won by Louis Chevrolet in a Buick, the event was an artistic success but a financial disaster, largely due to the majority of the crowd figuring out they could watch at no charge from various points out in the country rather than pay an admission to sit in the start/finish line grandstands.

While the organizers still insist the event will be held there again in 1910, the grandstands were claimed by creditors and carted away within days of the race. After several weeks of optimistic statements by the Chicago Auto Club, it comes to light that the club's debt is so large that they have little to say about the future of the Cobe Cup. The rumor is that the 1910 running will take place at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, which indeed it does.

Nov. 2, 1909: If the weather is favorable and the winds hold down, Capt. George Bumbaugh may try to make the maiden voyage tomorrow with the massive, as-yet-unnamed dirigible he owns jointly with Carl Fisher. The plan is to lift off from the infield of IMS and head to the center of Indianapolis -- assisted by a 35-horsepower engine -- where the dirigible will circle around the Indiana Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument before returning to the track. The gas bag is said to measure 166 feet by 32 feet, and requires 10 hours to inflate.

Nov. 3, 1909: Readers of The Indianapolis Star learn that, late last night, George Bumbaugh was obliged to postpone today's scheduled maiden voyage of the massive dirigible he owns with Carl Fisher. Forecasts of winds of up to 18 mph made it too dangerous to consider trying to encircle the Indiana Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument downtown. No word, yet, on the name to be selected for the vessel from those submitted by members of the public.

Nov. 5, 1909: It is not a foregone conclusion after all that the Chicago Auto Club's Cobe Cup will be contested for at IMS next year. Not only is the Chicago club still scrambling to find another track in its general area that will agree to take it over, the Automobile Club of Wisconsin is putting in a bid.

Nov. 6, 1909: Carl Fisher, still a boy at heart in many ways, will offer a silver cup and $25 in cash for the best model of a flying machine produced by any member of the boys' department of the YMCA. The maximum length will be 4 feet, and no engine will be required. Entries close Dec. 1.

Nov. 10, 1909: The Atlanta (Ga.) National Automobile Show is being held this week in conjunction with the opening of a brand-new (but short-lived) 2-mile dirt track in nearby Hapeville (eventually the location of Atlanta International Airport). Word comes back on a daily basis that records set at IMS back in July are falling by the wayside, but there is every reason to believe that IMS will reclaim the records once the resurfacing job with paving bricks is complete.

Nov. 12, 1909: George Schebler, the inventor who is the partner of IMS co-founder Frank Wheeler in the Wheeler-Schebler Carburetor Company, never rests on his laurels. He takes to the city streets with a modified passenger car into which he has placed what may well be the first 12-cylinder engine ever built. The configuration is assumed to be a pair of six-cylinder engines, one in front of the other, because apparently it will run either as a "12," or as a "six" with either one or the other set of six cylinders being switched off.

Nov. 15, 1909: There is quite a stir in Indianapolis this morning, as indeed there will be for the remainder of the week.

Although automobile racing receives excellent coverage in the local newspapers, as do several other sports, the two which receive by far the greatest attention are baseball and boxing. For the past several months, there has been considerable speculation over whether or not retired undefeated world heavyweight champion James J. Jeffries will come out of retirement to try and take back the title from the very controversial John Arthur "Jack" Johnson, the current holder, who is black. It has recently been announced that articles have, in fact, been signed and the date of July 4 has been agreed upon, although the site has yet to be determined.

While the majority of the citizens of Indianapolis are waking up this morning, still slumbering in a Pullman car in a siding at Union Station (the train arrived from Chicago at 4:30 a.m.) is none other than Jack Johnson. He is here for a series of vaudeville appearances at the Empire Theater on North Delaware Street, where he will perform warm-up demonstrations of rope-skipping, shadow boxing, etc., each afternoon and evening for the next five days.

Towering above everyone, the nattily dressed Johnson draws a crowd wherever he goes, well-wishers running alongside of him with adulation while others mutter racial slurs. He is used to all of this and takes it in good stride. He spends plenty of time with the local media, and they are amazed to learn that while he is more than happy to talk about boxing, he would just as soon discuss auto racing! He states that he plans to enter several auto racing contests next year with a Chalmers-Detroit car he has commissioned, and he expresses disappointment that it was not ready in time for him to bring down here for the week. He seems to possess much knowledge of the sport's history and is familiar with many of the current drivers, stating that Walter Christie recently took him for a ride at faster than 100 mph.

One of Johnson's first visits here is to the Marion Motor Car Company, where he is loaned, for the week, what is believed to be the car Adolf Monsen drove in one of the support races at the recent Vanderbilt Cup on Long Island. It is never quite clear as to whether or not Johnson actually gets to drive on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, but it is known he is disappointed that the brick surface is not yet in shape for him to take "hot laps."

In an item which appeared in the sports sections just a couple of weeks ago, Johnson identified several boxing colleagues who are fellow speed aficionados, challenging several of them to $10,000 winner-take-all match races on a dirt track. Among those specifically mentioned were Stanley Ketchel, the world middleweight champion (and a frequently arrested speeder), who was knocked out trying to lift Johnson's heavyweight crown in California just a month ago; as well as the nationally known former welterweight champion "Kid McCoy," who was Norman Selby when he was growing up in Rush County, just south of here. Films of the Johnson/Ketchel fight, incidentally, were being run in Indianapolis theaters just last week.

Nov. 16, 1909: Carl Fisher, the local agent for Stoddard-Dayton, has just taken delivery of what is believed to be the first passenger car equipped with a streamlined "torpedo" body, in which front and rear doors, on either side, hide all but the tops of the seats. In addition, an upturned aerodynamic cowling flowing out of the engine cover supposedly eliminates the need for a windshield. The 60-horsepower version will sell for $3,000, the 50-horsepower version for $2,500.

Nov. 17, 1909: Among those returning from Atlanta, where Indianapolis-based teams made excellent showings in the racing events over the last several days, is E. A .Moross, who says he has now withdrawn his resignation from IMS and has agreed to stay on as the director of events for another year. He says they are hoping to be ready in time to hold speed trials on either Dec. 10 or 11. (He is off by about a week.) In typical Moross fashion, he goes on to claim that he expects Victor Hemery to bring over the huge Benz with which the Frenchman recorded almost 128 mph for the flying half-mile at Brooklands in England a couple of days ago (Hemery doesn't come) and that records runs will be attempted all the way from half a mile up to 1,000 miles!

Heavyweight champion Jack Johnson is a little disappointed when he pays an unannounced visit to the office of Indiana Gov. Thomas R. Marshall only to discover that the governor, a leading Democrat whom Johnson greatly admires, is in Fort Wayne. It is Gov. Marshall who was supposed to have given the "send off" for the balloon races back in June, only to become mired in traffic and arrive on foot after the balloons had already ascended. In a little over a year's time from now, Gov. Marshall will be the Vice President of the United States.

Nov. 18, 1909: There is a surprise visitor for Jack Johnson in the form of Mrs. F. O. Morgan, now an Indianapolis resident, who as a teacher in Galveston, Texas, 20 years ago had "Li'l Arthur" as one of her students. She tells the newspapers that he was a bit of a prankster until she decided to give him a "thrashing" one day, after which "he was a good boy." She is Johnson's guest for the next couple of days.

Nov. 20, 1909: Dave Beecroft, the Chicago Motor Club's technical committee chairman, states that by next year he expects five major new tracks to be up and running, specifically in Chicago, New York and San Francisco. Beecroft, in his role on the AAA Contest Board and as managing editor of Motor Age magazine, later will be the prime force in AAA finally agreeing to conduct a true National Championship based on points awarded at major events, in 1916.

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