The Bearings, Vol 11, No 2
Articles in this issue
- San Francisco and San Jose correspondents report wheelmen emerging after two months of bad weather, four city clubs uniting to control the Bay City Wheelmen's cement track, and Thomas H.B. Varney assembling his California Rambler team; the Garden City Cyclers plan a May Day 25-mile road race from San Jose to Gilroy.
- Louisville announces a full 1895 race season: Prince Wells' fourth annual July 4 handicap at Fountain Ferry track, Martin & Dressing's June road race, R.C. Whayne's annual road race, and a proposed six-day meet during the G.A.R. encampment in September.
- L.A.W. Secretary Abbot Bassett discusses five pending Assembly amendments including full 12-month memberships regardless of join date, back-dues renewals to retain old membership numbers, increased division contributions for a better Bulletin, and his doubts about the 'white' and Luscomb 90-cent-dues proposals.
- The new Cycle Club of Brooklyn formally opens at the Clermont Rink, drawing Brooklyn's '400' at $25 per family for three months with Columbia machines and Pope instructors used exclusively; W.S. Maltby performs his dude act on the Eiffel Tower bicycle, and the Kings County Wheelmen close a contract for a $35,000 clubhouse on Bedford Avenue.
- The Bearings endorses E.S. Hartwell of Denver for L.A.W. second vice-presidency, calling him able and earnest, arguing he is far more qualified than the Illinois-nominated Billingsley, who was hissed on the Assembly floor and has little popular support.
- Editorial printing Dr. George E. Blackham's letter advocating three reforms to reverse the L.A.W.'s falling membership: abolish amateur restrictions for mere membership, scrap the initiation fee and give full-year memberships from the join date, and eliminate special voting privileges for League club members.
- Will W. Buckner of Springfield, Mo. recounts his humorous cycle trip through the West: cactus punctures in both tires, sleeping unknowingly in a roadside grave, and the endemic theft culture at Cripple Creek gold camps where even houses were stolen.
- Illustrated comic ballad about Missouri train robber Razoo Bill, who waits with his bicycle at a river embankment to rob the Denver Special in 1894; express messenger Smith, a champion amateur wrestler, overpowers him, and Bill's last wish before hanging is that Smith keep his wheel.
- Wisconsin Division Secretary Martin C. Roller plans to legally challenge the Whitefish Bay Co.'s 5-cent toll on cyclists near Milwaukee, arguing bicycles are not vehicles; 75 Marinette wheelmen pay $1.40 yearly bicycle taxes; the Wisconsin League for Good Roads executive committee meets to consolidate pending road legislation bills.
- Charles Knudson of Milwaukee writes from Mexico City after a 3,100-mile solo ride via San Antonio and Laredo; his bicycle was stolen within days of arriving but recovered using his Laredo passport; the Cyclists' Union Club of 150 members is thriving, with plans for a new third-of-a-mile track.
- Cleveland Wheelmen's Club plans to mobilize in the spring municipal elections after two members were jailed overnight for riding without lanterns; Louis Gimm trains at the Y.M.C.A. gymnasium to retake the 24-hour record; only 115 of Cleveland's 600 miles of streets are paved.
- Champion racer John S. Johnson, speaking in Syracuse, decries exploitation of Class B men at circuit meets — no pacemakers provided and advertised diamond prizes often worth far less than claimed — calling for L.A.W. legislation; the local delegate also pledges to fight the League's racial exclusion clause.
- E.W. Hope, Chief Consul of Sherman, Texas, pledges to vigorously oppose any salary reduction for Secretary Bassett while also declaring he will vote against removing the word 'white' from the L.A.W. constitution, expressing strong opposition to admitting Black members.
- Continuation of a serialized adventure story: American heiress Senorita Maria Lucas, her bicycle, pearl-handled revolver, two Great Danes, and enormous cat Miguel become marvels in the remote Mexican mountain village of San Miguel; when bandits raid the chapel for its silver cross and treasury, she shoots three dead and routes the rest.
- London, Jan. 19 dispatch: the Lady Cyclists' Association's first Cinderella dance draws 100 guests at Cavendish Rooms; the NCU, AAA, and ASA hold a joint conference redefining amateur rules; the Essex Cycling Union grows to 4,496 members in 70 clubs; Punch prints a verse vindicating Mrs. Bloomer; 30 varieties of the 'mile record' are catalogued.
- A.G. Spalding & Bros. purchases John T. Bailey & Co.'s entire Philadelphia sporting goods and bicycle business, transferring stock to a new Chestnut Street store formally opened with Walter Sanger and Cabanne attending; the Indiana Bicycle Co. also opens at 813 Arch Street for Waverleys.
- Madison, Wis. dealer D.D. Warner holds a two-day private cycle show at his store with Andrae, Columbia, Ben-Hur, and Dunlop tire exhibits, drawing large crowds; the event closes with dancing on a cleared floor and is pronounced a social and business success.
- Nationwide trade briefs: new stores in Washington DC, Connecticut, Iowa, and New York; Pierce-Thompson Cycle Co. formed in New York for Pierce cycles; Cleveland's Winton Co. opens a 14,000-square-foot Biclorama riding school; Indiana Bicycle Co. leases 11 East 59th Street as a Central Park headquarters and showroom.
- Gormully & Jeffery's novel single-steering quadruplet, weighing 73½ lbs. with a 100-inch wheelbase and 90-inch gear, is described from its debut at the Chicago and New York cycle shows, built on Rambler racing lines for Pacific Coast agent Thomas H.B. Varney.
- The Associated Cycling Clubs' local show (Feb. 7-8) generates strong dealer support; the Pastimes club faces revolt over winter dues; the Victors club splits into the Olympic Bicycle Club, shrinking from 200 to 50 members; H.G. Wolzendorf is expected to be re-elected St. Louis Cycling Club president.
- Salt Lake City: Co-operative Wagon & Machine Co. opens a new cycle store on First South Street; Salt Lake Cycle Co. expands its repair shop with natural gas enameling ovens; Class A riders negotiating with manufacturers — Weiler may ride Sterling, Evans likely goes east with the Falcon team, Jensen aims at the 100-mile American record.
- W.C. Dunn of Logansport, Indiana demonstrates a 'speed accelerator' that couples alternating handle-bar motion to the rear wheel via rods, ball joints, and a chain-driven sprocket, harnessing arm muscles to supplement pedal power.
- H.J. Davey, an English racing man in Kennington, London, writes that no English maker will build a road bicycle under 23 lbs. for him and asks whether an American manufacturer can supply a 19-pound road mount suitable for a six-footer.
- New York roundup: Barclay Cycle Co. opens at 10 Barclay Street as job-lot wheel dealer; Overman Wheel Co. displays an animated jointed wooden mannequin riding a Victor in its store window; Porter & Gilmour move to 16 Warren Street with E.L. Blauvelt newly signed; Humber signs C.M. Murphy for the 1895 racing season.
- Editorial reprinting a Sporting Goods Dealer passage praising advertisers who pay for reading notices rather than demanding free puffs, arguing that a dignified publication is ultimately worth more to the advertiser than one that prostitutes its columns.
- London, Jan. 12 dispatch: Humber & Co.'s American licensing deal may net them a year's profits; cycle makers are advised to pivot to ball bearings for carriages; Preston-Davies Tire Co. reports a $35,000 annual loss blamed on public prejudice for Dunlop and Palmer brands; bamboo bicycles are dismissed as absurd; J.K. Starley & Co.'s Rovers praised as 'second to none.'
- The Irish Cyclist interviews eight leading British road racers — Shorland, Mills, Fletcher, Wridgway, Carlisle, Bidlake, Binns, and Edge — on path-racers for road use, weight limits, and ideal road racer specifications; consensus favors approximately 26½ lbs. with a gear-case at around 66½-inch gear.
- Trade column: Oliver & Co. of 21 Park Row, New York offers agents above-average discounts on Elmore bicycles at $65–$75; W.G. Rankin introduces two new toe-clip patterns; Joseph Gunther joins Gormully & Jeffery's retail store; W.F. Sims of Washington, who swept Class A in 1894, signs with the Columbia team for 1895.
- Morgan & Wright's trophy for the fastest unpaced mile on their tires in 1894: after Walter Sanger's 2:11¾ and Harry Maddox's 2:10⅙, Harry Tyler sets the world record at 2:07¾ at Springfield on August 28 to claim the 2½-lb. pure gold medal valued at $569.68 in gold.
- Monarch Cycle Co. clarifies that C.F. Guyon & Co. is its company-operated eastern branch; Spalding denies the Cycle Board of Trade's new show rules target Chicago; M&M Warehouse Co. imports 160,000 feet of Mannesmann tubing to avert a bicycle tube famine; Graham Cycle Co. moves to 601 Madison Street, Chicago.