“Speeding
between thousands of thrilled citizens who lined both sides of the serpentine
course, dozens of motorcar and motorcycle owners raced against time on Saturday
morning in an endeavor to reach the summit of the Strongman mountain road in
the shortest possible time”1
1
“Thrilling
Incidents in the Hill Climbing Contest : Wolseley Car, Owned by Toronto
Enthusiast, Won Spectator Trophy, Pope-Hartford Roadster Made Best Time”
Hamilton
Spectator. May 26, 1913
It was the first contest of its kind,
not only in the city of Hamilton, but in all of Canada.
Using Hamilton’s famous mountain, an
access road up the face of it and a city street leading to the access, a hill
climbing contest, involving both automobiles and motorcycles, took place on the
Saturday of the May holiday weekend in 1913.
Organized and conducted under the
auspices of the Hamilton Automobile Club and the Hamilton Motorcycle Club, with
a first prize trophy provided by the Hamilton Spectator daily newspaper, the
event, as noted in that newspaper “proved the Mecca which drew thousands of
spectators from the city and surrounding countryside, and motor enthusiasts
from Montreal, Toronto and other points.”1
The course, 1.17 miles in length,
began at what when then Hamilton’s Haymarket, on the east side of John Street
South, just south of the Toronto, Hamilton and Buffalo Railway track. Following John street south to the base of the
escarpment, the course took a sharp turn to the left at Arkledun avenue, up
towards the base of Strongman’s road where a sharp right turn was located at
the intersection with the Jolley Cut. The course then followed the extremely
steep Strongman’s road to the top of the escarpment.
It was a particularly challenging
course for both the drivers and their vehicles:
“The course brought out the driving
ability of the various contestants and the endurance of each machine.”1
The local municipal
officials with the City of Hamilton had co-operated very well with the contest
organizers. The roadways had been officially closed to public traffic by means
of temporary legislation. Also the roads were in excellent shape:
“The works department ided by
repairing portions of the road and widening the turn at the Strongman road
intersection, the Spectator paying part of the cost of the latter work.”1
By the time that the
event was scheduled to begin, the whole length of the course, including the
steepest sections, were lined with people, all enthusiastically taking in the
thrilling event:
“There is always a strong fascination
in witnessing expert motorists driving their machines against time – in
watching the cool daring which demands a nicety of judgment second only to recklessness.
“The people saw all that, and more,
too, saw big cars, loaded with passengers, take turns with only a hair’s
breadth between dangers, saw motorcycles with side cars coursing up John street
at thrilling speed to make the turns at startling angles and witnessed the wild
scrambles of nervous spectators who dodged behind posts as the careening
machines rushed towards them at top speed.”1
The Spectator
providing the account of the contest noted that some viewing locations for the
thousands of race enthusiasts were better than other of the possible locations
:
“At the corner of John and Arkledun
avenue, hundreds stood. That was probably the best vantage point, for they were
an excellent perspective view of the cars and motorcycles as they raced up the
street.
“Another favorite spot was where the
Strongman mountain road starts – where the old toll gate used to be. The
mountainside and brow afforded a natural grandstand and were lined with people
who were in position of being able to secure an excellent view of a long
section of the road without running the risk of being maimed in case one of the
machines got beyond control when making a turn.”1
At each turn, a
number of people from the St. John Ambulance brigade, accompanied by doctors,
were located to render first aid in case of an accident, but they were
thankfully not needed for that purpose as the event without any incident of
that nature.
A detachment of Boy Scouts were
organized as patrols to look out for any medical emergencies that might take
place among the spectators
The event was not a race as such. The
vehicles did not all engage with each other in real time, but instead it was a
race against the clock. The winner being that vehicle crossing the finish line
on the mountain in the best recorded time.
Each entrant began with a standing
start at the Haymarket, and a “flying finish” at the end of the course:
“A special telephone line was strung
from the starter’s station on the Haymarket to the summit. When one contestant
reached the summit, and the time of his arrival telephoned to the starter,
another one was given the signal to proceed, and in that way the entire contest
was run off in two and a half hours, with practically no delay.”
The usual time
between the start of each vehicle averaged about three minutes.
There were three separate events : one
for motorcycles with sidecar and passenger, another for motorcycle and driver
only and the third for automobiles.
The first event had many thrills for
the spectators:
“Motorcycles are celebrated for their
speed, and as the first one appeared burning the wind on the John street
ascent, with the sidecar passenger leaning far out to facilitate the making of
the turn, dozens of people stationed on Arkledun avenue ducked for shelter,
fearing that the driver would be unable to round the corner owing to his great
speed.”1
When
opposite St. Joseph’s Hospital, one motorcycle had to drop out crestfallen as
the drive chain on his machine broke. Another spun out of control running off
the course into an embankment at the Hair Pin turn located at the base of
Strongman Road. The driver and sidecar passenger were jolted, but not thrown
out their machines.
The second event featured powerful motorcycles,
most with twin seven horsepower engines:
“At the second turn one of the boys indulged
in an unconsciously spectacular stunt when he gyrated twice seeking to make the
turn.”1
The two complete revolutions didn’t faze the
driver. He ended up facing the right way on the course, and just continued
ahead as if nothing happened.
There was an amusing occurrence in this race:
“There was a laughable incident on the
Strongman grade, ‘Red’ Dixon mounted on an Excelsior, had made good time and
had navigated the difficult curve at fair speed. He was near the summit when
his gasoline gave out, and he was forced to return.
“He was headed down the course, just coasting
when Police Sergeant Bettles undertook to stop him, informing him that he could
not go down that way.
“ ‘ I have no gas. I can’t go up,’ retorted
the driver. With the emphasis on the ‘up’ as he continued on his way amid
general laughter from the spectators.”1
The final event involved powerful
automobiles, most with 35 horsepower engines.
The winner was a Pope-Hartford roadster with
a 45 horsepower engine. Driven by Oscar Coolican, the roadster completed the
1.17 mile uphill course in 2 minutes, 38.40 seconds.
However there was some complaint about
Coolican’s win, “on the ground that it was not a regular five-passenger touring
model, and was a roadster with two rumble seats, and consequently had a lighter
body than the other entries.”1
Herbert McPhie, secretary of the Hamilton
Automobile Club, quickly called a meeting of all those in charge of the
hill-climbing contest. It was decided to award a special prize to Coolican, and
declare that A. Sharp of Toronto, driving a Wolseley, with his time would be
awarded first prize, his time being 2 minutes, 42 seconds.
Most of the entrants in the contests were
drivers from out of the city, but there were six Hamiltonians entered: William
Vallance Jr. in a Hudson, Chester Walters in a McLaughlin, James Moodie also in
a McLaughlin, H. Lampson in a Overland
and Z, M, Armstrong in a Mitchell.
