Did you know?
“ENGLAND AND GERMANY NOW FORMALLY AT WAR,” read the bold headline on the front page of the Uniontown Morning Herald on Aug. 5, 1914.
While the hostilities that marked the official start of WWI had taken place on July 28th, the news that England had declared war on Germany was an indication that much of Europe would be engulfed in war.
“Russia, France, Great Britain, Servia (Serbia) and Montenegro Now Arrayed Together in Gigantic European Conflagration,” one sub-headline said.
The United States wouldn’t officially join the fray until April of 1917.
“The war to end all wars,” as it was called, would last until November of 1918, and cost the lives of 9 million military personnel.
And it certainly wouldn’t, in actuality, become a war that would end all wars.
One item on the front page of the Morning Herald on this date in 1916 caught my eye.
“SPEEDWAY MAY BE BUILT HERE,” read the headline.
There was a proposal that a brand new speedway could be built in an area near Leith.
“The speedway is to be constructed entirely of wood at a probable cost of $68,000. Outside capital is believed to be backing the proposition, although it has been reported that a canvass it (is) to be made of local automobile enthusiasts who will be offered stock in the concern,” the report said.
Of course the speedway was built, but not in Leith. Hopwood was selected for the first of two tracks that would be named Uniontown Speedway.
Not much time elapsed between that report of the initial proposal, and the first race that would be run on the finished track.
On Dec. 2 of that year, a Swiss-born American named Louis-Joseph Chevrolet won the “Universal Trophy” in the first big race at Uniontown Speedway.
That race had two very important points of interest.
Louis Chevrolet was the co-founder of the Chevrolet Motor Car Co., which, not coincidentally, manufactured cars bearing his last name.
But there’s more.
The reason the initial winner of the big race at Uniontown Speedway would be awarded a shiny silver “Universal Trophy,” was because the president of the Uniontown Speedway Association who sponsored those races, had another interest that had gained widespread (or should I say “universal”) acceptance around the world.
Carl Laemmle was one of the original motion picture moguls.
He would eventually produce and distribute more than 400 movies under one of the earliest film studios – Universal Motion Picture Manufacturing Company (or, as we know it today, Universal Studios).
In fact, looking back at ads for movies in Uniontown’s newspapers, the name Carl Laemmle was used as a selling point for many of the movies that were shown in local theaters.
It’s not clear why Laemmle chose Uniontown and its new speedway as a place to diversify his interests.
But it is clear that he planned to capitalize on the growing interest of motor racing by filming events and packaging them with the theatrical releases he distributed to the nation’s movie houses.
I haven’t been able to find any evidence that Mr. Laemmle ever even paid a visit to Uniontown.
However, it was reported that he did plan to visit for first races at Uniontown Speedway.
“$3,000 CUP BY THE UNIVERSAL FILM CO. FOR BIG RACES HERE,” read the headline on the front page of the Nov. 11, 1916 edition of the Morning Herald.
“President Carl Laemmle Personally to Present Cup – Scenario Being Prepared for Race Picture Featuring Universal Stars and Thanksgiving Speedfest,” read the sub-headline.
But in the end, just a few days before the official race day, it was reported that Laemmle wouldn’t be coming east from Hollywood.
“H.H. Van Loan, publicity representative of the Universal Film Manufacturing company, who arrived in the city several days ago, last night announced that President Carl Laemmle, of the Universal company will not be able to attend the races and present the Universal trophy to the winner because of illness,” said the front page report on Nov. 29.
These days, there is increased scrutiny of the off-field exploits of professional athletes.
Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice was recently suspended for two games after he’d been caught on camera carrying his unconscious girlfriend out of an elevator in an Atlantic City casino.
In fact, there’s a web site (http:// utsandiego.com) that lists all of the arrests of NFL players. According to that web site 30 NFL players have been arrested so far this year.
But professional athletes who run afoul of the law, certainly isn’t anything new.
According to the Aug. 5, 1929 edition of the Morning Herald, Harrisburg native Samuel “Red” Crane, a former third baseman for Boston, had been arrested after fatally shooting a 28 year-old man, and seriously wounding his 26 year-old girlfriend.
Crane would eventually be convicted of murder, and he was sentenced to a lengthy jail term, until his parole was arranged by Philadelphia Phillies owner Connie Mack in 1944.