Los Angeles in the 1900s

September 1908

by
George Garrigues

Los Angeles Examiner, September 10, 1908

DIETRICH WINS L.A.A.C. MARATHON

Finishing 2 1/2 miles ahead of his closest competitor, E. Dietrich won the L.A.A.C. Marathon race to Venice yesterday.

. . . Dietrich broke the tape . . . in 2 hours, 1 minute and 30 seconds.

Charles Boscha crossed the finish line five minutes behind Dietrich, with George Retzer third a minute and a half later. Chester Lawrence took fourth place and Joe Pensa fifth.

L.L. Burke was almost exhausted and was so far behind that his time was not taken.

Jay Welton and Roy Snyder both dropped out of the race at the West Adams Street hill. . . .

Al Treloar, the wrestling instructor at the [Los Angeles Athletic] Club, acted as referee of the race.

Charles Eyton, W.F. Henderson and James Morley were the timers.

Perhaps the most remarkable performance in the race is the run made by an unofficial starter, little Harold Bailey, 8 years old.

He lives in Los Angeles at Main and 15th Streets. When Harold saw the runners go by, he could not resist the temptation.

Hatless, without shoes, he started after them at a pace that astonished the contestants.

Gamely the little fellow stuck to his task. He kept up the pace

 set by L.L. Burk, one of the contestants, and side by side the athlete and the little boy reached Palms after a fast run of over 10 miles [actually, about 8.66 miles; go to this map to see how far the boy ran).

There the youngster, far from giving out, became anxious about his return trip.

The journey from Venice to Los Angeles did not appeal to him after the foot race and, as he had no money for carfare, he decided to walk back from Palms.

But before he could carry out his intention, Burk spied the automobile carrying Van Cort and a number of the officials.

The unofficial entry was placed in the tonneau and taken to Venice.

Los Angeles Times, September 10, 1908

CRASHES INTO FENCE AND SMASHES SKULL.

While practicing for the motorcycle meet yesterday morning at Agricultural Park, John F. Derkum lost control of his swiftly-moving machine, crashed through the fence and was so badly injured that he died . . . .

[He] . . . was the brother of Paul J.C. Derkum, the professional motorcycle racer, and was himself an amateur rider who was regarded as being one of the fastest men on the track.

He had made a circuit of the inside track in fifty-eight seconds, the fastest time he had yet accomplished. Continuing, he seemed to be going faster. At the three-quarters turn . . . Derkum, instead of following the inside fence around the bend, seemed to continue in a straight line toward the outside palings.

With a crash he went into the fence. His machine carried away one post, and his flying body, catapulted by the shock, struck the next post, carrying it away also. The back of his head was fractured, and he suffered internal injuries. Motorcyclists . . . rushed to his assistance, and he was taken to Sisters' Hospital as quickly as possible. There it was soon discovered that little could be done for him. He lived for about five hours. . . .

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