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i
ne ' COMMODORE CARL G. FISNER
A Biographical Sketch
By Fred Wellman
Commodore Carl G. Fisher, of the Miami Beach Yacht Club, Miami Beach,
Fla., whose outspoken condemnation of hydroplane racing and advocacy of displace-
ment contests, culminating in the gift of the Fisher Gold( Challenge Trophy for
displacement races to be conducted under the auspices of the American Power Boat
Association, promises to revolutionize motorboat racing and to direct the activity
of builders and racing enthusiasts into new and practical channels, with marked
imerovement in boat construction as a result, is one of the outstanding figures of
American public and private lifo, typically American in his self-made career of
business achievement, and with a Rooseveltian capacity for attaining distinction
in widely varying fields of endeavor. :%uccessful manufacturer, real estate promoter,
good roads advocate, yachtsman, balloonist, and polo, tennis, baseball, swimming,
canoeing, aviation, and bicycle and automobile racing enthusiast, Commodore Fisher
has succeeded in filling nis life with a diversity of business and sporting in-
terests that is truly remarkable.
rnea4,..elee2ra bnrn_a2ld. bred, Commodore Fisher's love of water sports has
been one of his distinguishing characteristics since boyhood days. Re .came.to..zk 4
wide attention in the realm of aquatic sport through his promotion of the Miami Mid-
Winter Regatta, which, during the last half dozen years, has loomed up with ever
increasing magnitude on the calendar of the world's motor boating conte ts, until
today it rivals the American Power Boat Association champion.hip races on Lake
Jeor;e and the Detroit River, and the contests of the Mississippi Fever 3oat Asso-
ciation in interest and importance.
The life of Commodore Fisher-has been a crowded hour even in this rapid
moving day and age, where men experience morevvieissitudes end witness greater events
in a year than our forebears did in a lifetime. To start, he had the same assets
that have served so well mane ofoour noted captains of industry, a sound body and
mind, tireless energy, and an ambition to get ahead. Coupled to these must be men-
tioned a capcity for visioning the future, to look ahead and see as a concrete
reality the facts of life that were shaping themselvesfor the morrow.
Reared in a rquntrye tawfi.i} India2aa, Commodore Fisher came to Indianapo-
lis as a youth of seventeen, and first thrust himself upon the consciousness of the
community he hed decided to call his home in the capacity of salesman in a bicycle
and accessory store. Though a distinct success at his profession, he was nevertheless
O
in hot water with the management nearly all the time, due to his penchant to
try out new sales and advertising ideas, being hired and fired, several times
before the soundness of his judgment had become firmly recognized. Once he had
gained the confidence of his boas, he lost little time persuading the latter
that he could make more money with two stores instead of one, and got himself
backed in a btoycle shop cn his own account, with himself ostensibly in the
role of proprietor.
here he proceeded to give full vent to his instinct for doing the
unusual, and emarked ,on a series of advertising stunts that soon made his es-
,
tablishment the most widely kno\n in the city. One of his exp:.oits was to drop
a bicycle from the top of a seventeen-story building to prove its strength. Luck-
ily, the machine lit in such a way as to be only slightly damaged, and was pod-
armed. aray from the scene of the test, with what gain in prestige it can be im-
agined. Another time he hwd a balloonist who was visiting the local state fair
drop a machine from a height of more than a thousand feet, with similarly fortu-
nate results, only the seat and handle bars being seriosly damaged.
As the result of such ne:baactional methods in bringing his business
to the :fore, coupled. with sound administrative ideas, it was not long until the • l
youthful merchant _found his establishment on a highly profitable basis, and the .
road to success began to linemarReeezcei-earepe clearly before him. _ti.
Man does not live by bread alone, ,- at least this has always
been Fisher's theory of life,- and consequently his interest in sport began to ee
make itself manifest cotncident with his initial business success. starting in
the days of the old high wheelers, he was prominent in organizing cycle clubs - '
and promoting outings into neighboring hem)ets. Later, when the two-wheeled safety
bicycle came upon the scene, he was an active competitor in century runs and in i
track events, successfully
red44441143
1i#:t Newby Oval, the Hoosier capital's famous �i `:
,
board cycle track of early days, and horse, tracks throughout Indiana and adjoin-
ing states, both individually and as a member of tandem and quad combinations.
1
Despite F'isher's multifarious activities in the world of cycledom, :al
this was nevertheless not his favorite field of sport. His love of the water,
born in the days of the old swimmin' hole near his birthplace, was still pre-
dominant within him, and accordingly, when in quest of genuine relaxation, he
spent his hours in the cool purlieus of V�/hfito River, north of eche city. here he ,ti
launched his first boat, a small gasoline matt, that he christened "Eph," in
memory of a favorite dog, the initial craft of a series of thirty or forty that , -
t
he has owned since, culminating in the swift 30-mile-azi-hour express cruisers
1110
that are his favorites today. Next to motor boating, he valued swimming
and canoing, and one of the greatest triumphs of his early career was when he
won the trophy in a half-mile race conducted under the auspices of the Indiana-
polis Canoe Club, against a strong field.
Ile day of the bicydle was but brief, being superceded by the motor
car. Fisher, foreseeing the trend of events, was the first Indianapolis citi-
zen to align himself with the new mode of transportation, becoming agent for
the Winton and the single-cylinder Oldsmobile. His sales methods were as novel
in this field as they had been in the realm bf b cycling, one of his earliest
stunts being to stage a race between a fast pacer and one of his horseless car-
riages on a prominent boulevard of the city. :enis ran. at was won by getting
ea
the jump on the quadruped, the fr ighteneu animal 'refusing to pass its fearsome
rival once it had taken the lead. A little later, .he invaded tae field of bi-
cycling with his gasoline propelled vehicles, doing several laps against ties
on the narrow and steeply banked cycle track at Newby Oval, at the risk of his
life. such exploits as these served quickly to lift the motor car into the lime-
light, heemermr, and proved good business tactics.
Me most sensational stunt of all, however, was performed in the
air. Fisher h_:d begun to take a keen interest in ballooning, a sport that he
subsequently followed for many years, as the result of forming a relationship. - _
with Captain G. L. Bumbaugh, a netted aeronaut. After having taken several flights,
Fischer conceived the idea of using an automobile for a basket, and, after having
effected a landing, loading the balloon into the automobile and driving home.
The attempt was carried out successfully, the balloon and its unique cargo alight-
ing safely several miles south of the city, and being in. turn transported back to
the city on its former load. `'ation wide prominence resulted, the exploit rank-
ing as the sensation of the day and one of the most marvelous in history.
Having exhausted the field of stunt performances with ordinary tear-
ing vehicles, Fisher took up automobile racing, a sport that was just beginning
to lift its head, and for a couple of seasons campaigned the dirt tracks all
the way from Dallas to Detroit in company with such early day racing celebrities
es Barney Oldfield, earl Kiser, lomc Cooper, Webb Juy, And others. Fisher proved
himself the equal of the best in these encounters, end for a time held the
world's mile straightaway record, made with an air-cooled overhead-valve Premier
that in some respects resembled the racing creations of today.
Meanwhile Fisher had riot neglected his business, with the result
that it was leading a highly prosperous existence and establishing the foundan
for still greater success. When opportunity knocked on the Boor in the form
of a discouraged inventor who had vainly endeavored to interest scores of other
people in a system for storing acetylene gas in tanks for purposes of automobile
lighting, Fisher vas ready for it and gave the idea a practical test. Several
mechanical difficulties had to be overcome, however, these were solved by patient.
experiment, and the apparatus finally reduced to practicable form. A small comp
pany was formed, with Fisher end the man who waa destined to become his best
friend and life long business partner, James A. Allison, as chief stockholders,
and the manufacture of compress as in portable tanks begun. Thus was inaugur-
ated the Prest-O-Lite 'otnpaew, destined to rank as one of the largest and strong-
est institutions in the automobile industry.
Like all new concerns, the infant business had severe growing pains,
only in this instance they seemed to multiply beyond all precedent, due to the
inflammable nature of itslproduet• Several times the plant was wrecked by explo-
sions, however, after each catastrophe, fisher and A lison, under the spur of fac-
ing total beck uptcy, went to work again, until finally they achieved astounding
success, with a world. wide distribution of their commodity and the brevet of mil-
lionaire es their reward. After having won the_ sstragg e, *eieher:stated that if
he had known what he was getting into he never wazld have started, but once on his
way Vit was a case of either seeing the thing through or going broke.'
'he funds acquired from Prest-0-Lite enabled Fisher to pursue on a
larger scale his three favorite sports, boating, ballooning ani automobile rac-
ing. Re built several beats of thesph series at Indianapolis and at St. Joseph,
Mich., where he established a summer home, and later started the construction
of a series of larger carft known as the Raven. In one of the latter he journeyed
down the Mississippi =liver andy crossing the Gulf of Mexico, went round the tip
eeevecaneeeeet
of Florida into v.iem; , emderewahis first glim:,se of the city that is now his
permanent home and the harbor of most of his interests. ne instantly fell in
love with the ideal climate of Miami, its wonderful stretch of cruising waters, •
and iLs picturesque tropical surroundings, and marked it upon his mental chart
as a spot to visit again, though at the time he did not tarry long, being called
back to Indianapolis by the demands of business.
In .the field df ballooning, Fisher distinguished himself further
by building one of the first dirigibles ever constructed in the United States,
and conducting some flights with it, though the craft did not prove itself es-
sentially practical. He also promoted the largest balloon meet ever held in the
Middle West, attracting a score of competitors to Indianapolis with gas bags
of all oizes and descriptions. Fisher went aloft in one of the aerial vehicles
g
himself, landing in the mountains of Tennessee after an all dray and all night
journey. It was on this occasion that Fisher experienced a precursor of the anti-
aircraft fire of modern warfare, beim shot at several times by Kentucky moun-
taineers who fancied an enemy in the huge silken globe that floated overhead. For
a time Fisher imagined that the reports he heard on the ground below were frieud-
ly salutes, until he was startled by the whine of a bullet min uncomfortably
close, when he promptly list out ballet and "got away from there."
It was in the realm of automobile racing, however, that Fisher
achieved greatest distinction during this period, promotin; , wits James A. Al-
lison, A. O. Ilewby and Frank H. Wheeler, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, which
has now stood for ten years es the scene of the greatest apocd contests in the
world, with the foremost racing star: of both ::urope and _nerican in annual com-
petition. :rival •opeedways have attempted time and again to emulate the success
of the lioo: ier track, hoeever it has maintained itself at the forefront against
all assaults, this year's event, after a hiatus of two years due to trey war,
attracting mere than 80,000 spectators, closely approaching the record.
Viith the Indianapolis speedway in successful operation, Fisher di-
rected his attention toward another phase of automobile activicity,- good roads.
One evening he called a meeting of Indiana euto:mobi:e manufacturers and business
men and lauached aPproject to build a coast-to-coast highway, designed to stim-
ulate interest in good roads construction throughout the United States. the en-
terprise
n-terprise thus born was later called the Lincoln Highway, now well on the road
tovard completion, a monument to Fisher 's vision and public spiritse aaee
Simultaneously with his development of the 2 rest-O-Lite business,
Fisher had carried on his automobile establishment, though the active management
of this concern was delegated largely into the hands of others. Perceiving the
demand that would soon exist fora centralization of automobile and accessory con-
cerns along a single business street,. Fisher bought a considerable stretch of .`
property along an up-town boulevard, and proceeded to erect a series of build-
a
Ings for a future "Motor Row." His judgment at the time was euestioned in many
quarters, however, as usual it vindicated itself in the light of actual results,
with a corresponding increase to his fortunes.
continued hard work was beginning to tell on Fisher, and he be-
thought himself of Miami, that semi-tropical paradise to which he had cruised •
several years before, where the very atmosphere seemed restful, and the broad
p.:narama of sunlit waters gladdened the eye. Arriving in Miami, he found the town
greatly changed. Others had heard of its virtues and a cosmopolis of health and
pleasure seekers from all parts of the world was in the making.
Accurately forecasting the tremendous development that was to
follow, and finding in Miami the combination of ideal climate with every oppor-
1
•tunity for sport and recreation that he craved, Fisher decided to make the city
his permanent home and to snare in the upbuilding and progress of the community.
Accordingly, ho bought a large stretch of uncleared land on what is now known as
Miami Beach, a *,{ 7,dsrit peninsu&a about a mile wide lying between the Atlantic Ocean
and Biscayne Bay, across whose three-mile width runs a broad concrete causeway
connecting Miami Beach and Miami. Thia spot Fisher proceeded to transform into
an ideal community where beautiful residences , provided with every modern Comfort,
would be surrounded with unexcelled facilities for outdoor pastime. To supplemert
the marvelous Gifts of nature with men-nude attracteoas that would create life's
perfect enjoyment wale his plan, and, at an expense of several millions of dollars,
it was carried into action.
Today, Miami Beach is gaining recognition throughout the United
States y virtue of the attractions ebpressed in its community slogan, "America's
Winter Playground," and still greater plans for it are being formulated that will
eventually make it the most favored as well :mss most unique winter resort in the world.
Lt Miami Fisher found unexampled oeportarity for indulging in his
favorite water sports, especially motor boating, the thousands of square miles of
tropical bay and ocean affording an endless cruising terrain of strange and be-
wildering beauty. Casting his eye over the landlocked bay, he saw a made-to-order
motorboat course for speed contests, and accordingly launched the .Miami Mid- ;inter
Regatta, which he personally financed to start, though in recent dears the event
h: s been conducted under the auspices of the Miami Chamber of Commerce, with Fish-
or as chairman os.' the regatta committee. Fisher invariably enters all of the
events on the regatta program, PTO usually wins a liberal proportion of the tro-
puss, handling his boats with great skill. rjhe worldis record for express cruis-
ers, 30.3 miles an hour, was made by himself at the helm of Shadow III, which he
later sold to the United 6tate s government fur use en submarine patrol. During
the last regatta, with prospects bright for breaking this record, with a new
cruiser, Shadow V, he sacrificed his chances by crashing into an empty skiff
that knocked a hole in the side of his boat, to avoid running down the launch of
the assistant starter, which had run into the cuurse by mistake.
Severe]. years ago Fisher took a marked interest in hydroplanes,
building a number of them, called "Presto," and racing them both at =eel and in
other waters, princippoly in the Gold Cal., contests at + anhasset Bay, L. I. Recent-
ly, however, he has turned his attention wholly to displacement boats, his conten-
tion being that hydroplanes have no practical value, whereas displacement craft
are essentially worth while. Eventually, he hopes to see the devlopment of
roory, comfortable express cruisers cape of averaging 40 or 40 miles as hour
•in which long distance 'cruises can be undertaken at automobile speed.
At this time Fisher also has under preparations plans for a
40-mile-an-hour ocean going steam yacht to ply between Miami Beech and neighbor-
ing ports, such as Nassau, Bermuda; Havana, Cuba; Kingston, Jamaica; and San .
Juan, Porto Rico; _caking the 160 mile trip to Nassau, for instance, in 4 1/2
hours. This yacht is to be operated in conjunction with a new X1,500,000 hotel,
"la
The Flamingo, that elpizAbuilding at Miami Beach with his life long association,
James A..Allison, to be completed for the season o.: 1920-21.
In connection with his motorboating activities at Miami, Fisher
hes been instrumental in forming,; t1NC club, that are; certain to receive increasing
attention as the years roll by. One of these is the Cocolobo Cay Club, a yachting
and cruising organization whose purposes are chiefly social, and the other is the
Miami Beach Yacht Club, tikeeelm of which is to stirrralate aed supervise racing com-
petition. The underlying plan of the Cocolobo Cay organization is to build club
houses for its members on the various Floridaaeys and other islands within cruis-
ing radius of Miami that boast of exceptionally good fishing or other natural at-
tractions, such as submarine gardens and the like, at whit h club members can stay
as long as thee desire, surrounded by' all the comforts of civilization. The club
now has two establishments, one on Adams Key, south of Miami., a beautiful building
fitted with every imaginable convenience, includine electric refrigeration, and
the other on Bimini, a tiny outrider of the Bahamas east of Miami in the vulf
stream. A third club house is under const:•uotion on another island in the Bhhamas,
and eventually it is planned to have half a dozen such buildings scattered among
the South Seas. ;eedlses to say, the members of the Cocolobo Cay Club are all men
of prominence and distiecti.on, and tis orgdnizattou promises to become one of
the most noted among the yachting institutions of the United States.
The Miami Beach Yacht Club officially supervises and conducts
the annual Miami Mid-Winter Regatta, held under the auspices of the Miami Cham-
ber of Commerce, and lends encouragement to aquatic sport in every form. A hand-
eoms clubhouse is planned for this organization, to be situated on star Island,
in Biacayno Bay, between Miami Beach and Miami, end it is expected to become
one of the most popular in Florida.
In point of deep and lasting importance, however, there stands
at the head of Commodore .Fisher's activities since arriving in Miami an enter-
prise that is of public rather than of business or social value, with a fame
that has spread throughout the nation,.. the Dixie Highway. Realizing that the
most effectual barrier to the development of the South ant the formation of a
closer kinship with the forth lay in the lack og good connecting roads, Fisher
launched a plan for the construction of a through connecting highwely between
Chicago and Miami, to form the backbone of a system of supplementary road dev-
elopment that would eventually link the North and South in close union and ob-
literate
b-literate the 'liason and Dixon line.
The success encountered by this plan it is hardly necessary to
relate. There are now two Dixie Highways penetrating the mountain regions of
',2ennessee to the southern states beyond, one out of Cincinnati and the other out
of Louisville, and keen competition exists between these thoroughfares first to
reach the stage of perfection. -Good roads construction in the South is on the
increase, and the time is not far distant when every winter will see thousands upon
teousands of northern tourists emulating the annual bird. migrations in their
evenonene
search foe warmer climes er excellently paved roads all the way.
Though Coeimod.ore Fisher's lenal residence is in Miami, he still
spends a large part of ais time in Indianapolis. Some time ago he disposed of his
holdings in the Prest-0-Lite Coman.y, but his interest in the Indianapolis LIotor •
Speedway, his automobile business, which he hap continued uninterrupted from the
early days, largely for the sake of sentiment, and. his extensive real estate •r:.
holdings still require a considerable amount of attcntioe.
During the war, he turned the Indianapolis Motor Speedway over
to the government for use as a laming field and testing ground, without cost,
with the result that one o:: the largest aviation repair depots .gin the country
grew up around this institution. Ilwso11„easichairman of the Landing Fields and 'Ely-
. ing Routes Cormittee of the U. S. Govennment, he was instrumental in the estab-
lish. snt of lending fields throughout Indiana for the training of bombing squads
for overseas duty, and is now engaged, though in a private capacity, in the promo-
tion of an aerial route paralleling the Dixie Hi 'hway for the advancement of coag
mordial flying. Though not a pilot himself, he has often been aloft, and recently
bought a twin-motored six-passenger plans in which to make the trip from Indiana-
polis to Miami in the future. It is thought that the joe rney, which measures 1100
miles by air lino, can be regularly accomplished in from 10 to 12 hours, or be-
tweca daybreak and dark, with a stop at some mid-way point, such as Atlanta,
for lunch and reple.nisning the fuel sapply.
For relaxation, when in Indianapolis, r iaher turns chie fly to
tennis, which has become a favorite sport of his in recent years, combining a
maximum of action with keen personal rivalry. both at Indianapolis and Miami
he has erected large glass covered indoor courts for use in rainy weather, though
f 1
i the latter is but seldom candid upon. Despite the fact that he took up the net
• pastime ata late awe, comp.ratively speaking, he plays a rsmrkably fast and
consistent game, holding his own in the stiffest competition.
Last winter, 'Miami, he made possible that is probably the most
unique tennis tournament every played. A challenge to .:embers of the Miami Beach
Tennis Club, of which Fisher is president, was received from a quartet of crack
net artists stationed at Arcadia Flying Field, on the west coast of Florida, the
challengers propesiing to use planes as their means of transportation to and from
the scene of the contest, provided a match was arranged. fisher irmrsdiately ac-
cepted the challenge, and the tournament was held as scheduled, the Araadiana
appearing out oftthe sky just prior to the contest, and winning. their way home
Al ee-s' °
again in the saes manner, after hr:e1ng anteeeeedAa sound drubbing.
Iso iR�J{ {% a13 polo. As presidentMi of the ami
tt �c o
Beach Polo Club, he caused to be constructed at uiami Beach one of the best play-
ing fields in the country, .with the finest club house, stables aed equipment in
the United states. Several matches between prominent visiting teams were held on
this field last winter, and Fisher promises to get into the sera himself tart:.
teato; te24 :.Maw egttr.a1 ponies fee. the purpose.
One of Fisher's final acts to further aquatic sports in Indianapolis
was to endow the Indian polio Canoe !'_luiz,the scene of his early day Later carni-
vals, with. a site and building fund tent enabled the erection of one of the most
attractive club houses in the Middle West, p vying a debt of gratiduae far many
hours of whole hearted and care free amusement.
One could go on indefinitely relating anecdotes aro: interesting
tales out of the rich experience of thismany sided individual. Today, with a
record of achievement that would more than satisfy any ordinary individual behind
taste 4c,
him, and an accumulation of honors that would - le prompt thoughts of re-
tirement from active business and publid life, he is as receptive to new ideas as
ever, :.nd follows the goal of fresh adventure with tireless and unabated vigor.
As has life's work, he has dedicated himself to dbvp i ig r c 'budengia.a -is public
knowledge that wonderful strip of sub-tropical country lying at the southern tip
of Florida, where springtime is eternal, and a matchless climate, coupled with all
the arts and pastimes of civil'lzation, have it in their power indefinitely to add
to the enjoyment and to prolong the existence of man upon this terrestrial sphere.
FINIS