Winner of 500-Mile Automobile Race -- May 30, 2015

On 31-May-1915, Ralph DePalma won the 1915 Indianapolis 500, driving a Mercedes.  The photo is from the 01-June-1915 New York Tribune.  Dario Resta finished second in a Peugeot. 

Most Remarkable Photographs Ever Taken -- January 28, 2013

This image, from the 09-October-1912 Tacoma Times, is an aerial view of the 1912 Milwaukee Grand Prix. Be sure to click on the image to see a larger version.  Driver Ralph De Palma wound up in the hospital, seriously injured, a short time later.  He has shown up before in this blog: http://cablecarguy.blogspot.com/2008/07/ralph-depalma-july-31-2008.html

Young aviator Farnum Fish has also shown up before on this blog: http://cablecarguy.blogspot.com/2008/04/eighteen-year-old-farnum-fish-starting.html

MOST REMARKABLE PHOTOGRAPHS EVER TAKEN

PICTURES FROM SKY; FROM AN AEROPLANE GOING 60 MILES AN HOUR, SHOWING GRAND PRIX RACER GOING 72 MILES AN HOUR

The Times is proud to present to its readers today the above remarkable news photograph of this year's greatest and fastest automobile race —a picture of the marvelous Grand Prix race taken from ABOVE the racers—taken in fact, from the clouds.

The camera is rapidly becoming the eye of the world and the Times shows today how the camera and the airship can unite to educate and interest us.

The photograph shows graphically what an automobile speeding at 72 miles an hour looks like from an airship whipping the ether at 60 miles an hour.  It was taken by the noted press photographer, Hugo Wagner, in an airship driven by the spectacular 16-year-old boy aviator, Farnum Fish, (on his sixteenth birthday, by the way). The swiftly speeding auto race seen on the road is Ralph De Palma, who won the Yanderbilt cup race three days before and who met with disaster five minutes after this photograph was taken in trying to pass the winner of the race, Caleb Bragg. De Palma is now in a hospital. Note the car number, 35. The photograph was taken from a height of about 300 feet, at an acute angle.

The large white streaks forming an angle at the right side of the photograph are the bars of the biplane's skids. Note the men and women walking at the side of the race course, and their shadows, even bigger than themselves. This is the first time that one of the great world's automobile races has ever been photographed from the air, although unsuccessful attempts have been made. The tremendous speed of both racing automobiles and speeding aeroplanes has always foiled the daring aerial photographer until now.

The photographs are printed in Tacoma exclusively by the Times. It is proper to say that such an interesting and expensive achievement, at such a distance, was only possible to the Times by reason of its membership in the Newspaper Entcrprise Association, which carried through this remarkable enterprise. The photograph reproduced above was taken Saturday afternoon, Oct. 5, on the race course near Milwaukee, during the world-famous Grand Prix cup race. Immediately thereafter it was put in the mail and rushed by special delivery to the Times.

Ralph DePalma -- July 31, 2008

Ralph DePalma, an Italian-American driver who went on to win the 1916 Indianapolis 500, at the wheel of his car in a 1912 race near Chicago. His riding mechanic is Tom Alley. I like the ergonomic positioning of the levers. I suppose the spare tires indicate that this is a road rather than a track race.

The photo comes from the Library of Congress' wonderful American Memory site (http://memory.loc.gov/). SDN-057946, Chicago Daily News negatives collection, Chicago Historical Society.