Speed Lust & Disaster

This article describes the mood and attitude of spectators in the Indianapolis Motor Speedway grandstands following the fatal accident of the final day of racing during the historic first auto meet at the track. It was originally published in the August 22, 1909 Indianapolis Star. These races were conducted on Saturday, August 21, 1909.
This premise of this article is that the death, injuries and general mayhem of the first race meet of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway enhanced the appeal of the show to spectators. Part of the evidence of that is how the attendance climbed each day. This ignores the simple fact that first two days of the meet, August 19 and 20, were week days, Thursday and Friday. The final day was a Saturday.
Nevertheless the deaths to driver William Bourque and riding mechanic Harry Holcomb that occurred on Thursday did nothing to dissuade people from coming out to the track. The article reports that attendance over the three days climbed thusly: 15,900; 22,000 and 37,200. Many of these people came in automobiles and the Star reports that their numbers increased each as such: 1,500; 3,000 and 6,500.
The article suggests that despite Thursday's fatal accidents and those to spectators Homer Jolliff, James West and mechanic Claude Kellum on the final day fans during the Wheeler-Schebler Trophy (the race in which the three deaths occurred) continued to cheer with enthusiasm. The report indicates the tragic accidents were trivialized as "Smashups." An excerpt illustrates the tone of the article:
"The crowd had been feasting on accidents all afternoon, from the ditching of Lytle's car to the collapse of Mrs. William Ball, the wife of one of the mechanicians, who thought her husband had been injured. The climax was near and excitement had reached the hightest pitch when the crash came. Meanwhile the roaring, speed-annihilating racers continued to circle the track cheered by the vast expanse of lookers-on and urged to still greater speed and reckless flirtation with death."
After the officials stopped the race spectators rushed across the track from the boxes and grandstands while police and militia with bayonets tried to contain them. They were only partially successful as several hundred circumvented them and stormed the infield hospital. Lieutenet Levey of the Indiana Militia (the Indiana National Guard) was able to surround the perimeter of the hospital with guards and prevent entry by the unauthorized.
Crowd control was a challenge in other spots of the track, notably the suspension bridge north of the pit area and start-finish. At one point the bridge began to sag due to the weight of hundreds of people standing on it to watch the race instead of simply passing from one side of the track to the other. Speedway President Carl Fisher reportedly leapt into his personal car and raced to the bridge. Barking orders he pushed military and police guards to clear the bridge as there was a very real concern it would collapse.
The third day's racing met spectator attendance expectations. By 11:15 o'clock the 9,500 seat grandstand was full and two hours later the standing room in front of it was packed to maximum capacity. This undoubtedly set the stage for the tragic specator deaths and injuries.
One interesting point raised late in the article is that cooperation between the military and police was less than seamless. Both contested the other side's authority. Reportedly young guardsmen struggled with challenging recalcitrant behavior they encountered from some of the more brawny male spectators.

IMSreport082209.pdf1.71 MB