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(editorial)
LEINSTER LEADER
“FIDES ET PATRIA.”
SATURDAY, JULY 4, 1903.
THE MOTOR RACE.
The Motor Race is over. It has been truly a “big event,” but
the results have after all a very small magnitude. France and Germany
beat the world in the production of the high-speed motor. This is the
sum total! The superiority of the German is, of course, merely a matter
of seconds, and a matter of mechanical adjustment. There is no question
of the human element in the case at all. England, America and France
equal if not surpass their successful rivals in the personal qualities
or nerve and recklessness. The deciding factor has been neither Gabriel,
Winton, Edge nor Jenatzy, but the inanimate supremacy of engine, valves
and working parts. A huge advertisement for German cars is, when all
is said and done, a poor return for the risks, the labour, the disorganisation
and the huge expenditure that have been incurred. The race has produced
two disappointments – one highly gratifying, the other less agreeable.
The prophet of evil and blood is over-whelmed with confusion. The Irish
Race has made a record in freedom from accident – in splendid
organisation on the part of the public departments charged with the
public safety and the transmission of intelligence – in the warmth
of hospitality extended to the foreign visitor. The disappointments
that have accrued affect speculators who have lost heavily, and in a
lesser degree some of the public who accepted exaggerated forecasts.
There has not been the mass of sight-seeing humanity expected – the
material harvests looked forward to have not been quite reaped. Nevertheless
the Irish people have reason to congratulate themselves on what has
been a splendid demonstration to the world at large of a discipline,
a courtesy and a hospitality that stands unrivalled.