Chicago Race Meet

This article covers a race meet at Chicago's Harlem track featuring Louis Chevrolet (Fiat), Barney Oldfield (Peerless Green Dragon) and Webb Jay in the White Sewing Machine Company steam engine car. Jay was blazingly fast and was one of the great stories of the 1905 racing season. Like many manufacturers, the White Sewing Machine Company got into the burgeoning market for automobiles and chose steam engines for their power plant. The car was nicknamed "Whistling Billy" because its engine emitted a whistle similar to a steam kettle. White moved away from steam engines as did the industry, and shut down their car operations after a number of years. Interestingly, they remained in the truck production business into the 1980's. The company still produces White Sewing Machines.