Driverless Car Causes Commotion in Hickory, Aug. 9, 1919

From the Hickory Daily Record, Aug. 9, 1919

Racing Car Hits Telephone Poles

The most exciting and single automobile race ever staged in Hickory occurred last evening about 8 o’clock when Mr. S.L. Whitener’s large Buick cut loose from the top of Thirteenth avenue and raced down the street, cutting down two electric light poles in its mad flight and heading for Mr. H.S. Leonard’s new bungalow. It had crossed the curb looking for other poles or pillars to conquer when James whitener jumped from another machine, boarded the raging monster and put on the brakes in time to prevent another crash. Just how the automobile escaped serious danger is a point that everybody was arguing today; another point under discussion was whether the engine was connected in the downward sweep.

The damage to the machine consisted of a broken wind shield, a chunk out of one of the tires and a dent in the radiator. Otherwise the car was none the worse off apparently.

Two small Whitener boys, Charles and LeRoy, were waiting for their mother to come from the house for a ride when the machine moved off. One lad took hold of a front wheel and another a rear wheel in a vain effort to stop it, but the machine started to glide. Sailing was easy. The smooth, steep hill afforded a swift race track and the Buick gathered momentum with each yard.

Mr. W.T. Councill had started out for a spin when the driverless speed fiend came racing by. Mr. Councill cut into the curb and watched it whizz, his hair slowly settling into its accustomed position. Bang into the pole crashed the blue lightning. The pole snapped at the bottom and broke again four feet higher before touching the ground. The Buick slid under, not touching the pole. A few feet down hill the machine hit another pole and snapped it in two, then shot across the avenue, bumped over the curb and started for Mr. Leonard’s bungalow.

Mr. Whitener and his son James were going home in Jake Geitner’s car and had  turned the corner of Thirteenth street and were going down Thirteenth avenue when James recognized his father’s machine coming down hill. They saw part of the excitement. When the Geitner car was near enough, James jumped from it and with rare presence of mind leaped into the run-away and cut off the engine before it could hit the Leonard bungalow. Examination disclosed little damage to the machine.

Persons who saw the racing car would not venture an opinion as to its running capacity. They referred to the smashed poles, one of them broken in two places, and to the further fact that the Buick ran under them before they had time to reach the ground as proof that the runaway was in motion.

Just how the machine got loose is a question. It is probable that the little boys jarred it from its position by getting in and out, though this is not certain. In any event they made heroic efforts to hold it down, and failing, saw it go downward with a mighty spurt.