The Bearings, Vol 11, No 21
Articles in this issue
- Fred Nessel wins the time prize in the run-off of the Chicago road race from Highland Park through Evanston, covering twenty miles in 49:40 despite riding the last three miles on a flat rear tire, with William De Cardy second and A. C. Van Nest third; only 38 of 125 eligible men started, and formerly disqualified prize-holder George L. Emerson did not appear.
- Brief race report on the ten-mile Castalian Springs road race at Durant, Mississippi, won by Ernest McLellan from a thirteen-minute handicap, with time prize taken by Will H. Pickens of Birmingham, Alabama in 27:40.
- H. H. Maddox defeats W. F. Sims and Conn Baker in a ten-mile paced race at the New York Division L.A.W. meet at Manhattan Beach, breaking the world's competition record by over three minutes with a time of 21:39 2/5, paced by a Syracuse quadruplet and a tandem; the meet also featured wins by E. C. Bald (one-mile Class B), Elmer Hodgson (Class A mile handicap), George Reith (novice), H. P. Mosher (state mile championship), and W. C. Roome (five-mile metropolitan championship).
- An estimated 5,000 wheelmen and wheelwomen took part in the cycle parade formally opening the Coney Island cycle path in Brooklyn, led by Lt.-Col. Chas. H. Luscomb with military bicycle escorts from three N.G.S.N.Y. regiments; the parade preceded the division races at Manhattan Beach track.
- Editor Barrett's editorial hails Maddox's new ten-mile competition record of 21:39 2/5 as the season's greatest performance—averaging under 2:10 per mile for ten consecutive miles—and argues that race promoters should schedule more long-distance events, since spectator enthusiasm is never as intense over short contests.
- Editorial arguing that using tandem and quadruplet pacemakers in short races degenerates competition into a scramble for position behind the machine rather than a genuine test of ability, and proposing instead to offer prizes for intermediate distances to prevent loafing without sacrificing racing quality.
- Editorial condemning the endless newspaper talk of a match race between A. A. Zimmerman and John S. Johnson as either cowardice or an advertising scheme to inflate purses from competing track promoters, urging both men to stop posturing and race.
- A conversation at Worcester's B. & A. R. R. depot with Tom Sullivan, former trainer of champion Willie Windle, hints that Windle—now employed as a cloth designer—is taking renewed interest in racing and might return to the path before the current season closes or the following year.
- Letter from C. R. Zacharias, chairman of the Asbury Park Wheelmen's press committee, alerting readers and advertisers that a souvenir programme being solicited by J. E. McLain of 21 Beekman Street, New York is unauthorized and unconnected to the club's official publication being arranged by George W. Cole.
- Brief note observing that Maddox's world ten-mile competition record of 21:39 2/5 was set on a Sterling bicycle, requiring an average speed of better than 2:10 per mile, making it the most noteworthy single-machine performance of the season.
- At the Minnehaha Park meet in Minneapolis, W. E. Becker deliberately blocked A. A. Hansen during a 100-mile record attempt—crowding him to the fence and urging W. B. Jackson to take advantage—for a full mile before being expelled; Hansen nevertheless finished in 4:55:59, establishing records from 60 to 100 miles.
- At the Hamilton Bicycle Club's annual meet on the Hamilton Jockey Club track, Angus McLeod of Sarnia broke the Canadian half-mile open record with 1:04 1/5, and Percy Brown and A. E. Young of Toronto set a new Canadian tandem mile record of 2:08; Harley Davidson won the five-mile race in 12:17 2/5, the Canadian competition record for that distance.
- P. B. Wilson of the Chicago Cycling Club won the second annual Elgin-Aurora road race with ease from a 5:30 handicap, covering 22 miles in 55:50; C. V. Dasey and A. A. McLean were ultimately awarded tied first time prize at 55:27 after judges corrected a handicap-class error, while scratch men Dasey and Frank Osmun both suffered accidents on the course.
- The second annual Halliday road race at Mansfield, Massachusetts saw John Hudson of Matfield first over the tape and Joe Smith second (later disqualified for not completing the full course); Burns Pierce of Malden took first time prize in 45:12 across a fifteen-mile course with 104 starters and $1,200 in prizes including a horse and buggy.
- The Hyde Park Cycling Club's ten-mile road race on Chicago's South Side boulevards featured strong riding from young participants, including 12-year-old Jimmy Phillips—The Bearings' own office boy—finishing second from the 5:30 mark on a 19-inch frame; H. Spear won the race and A. Gould took first time prize in 30:19.
- London correspondent C. W. Hartung covers the opening of the new Wood Green track by the Essex Cycling Union (12,000 attendance, H. Armstrong winning the open mile handicap in 2:18 2/5), Whit Monday racing at Plymouth and Aston, Holbein and Stocks setting a tandem 100-mile road record of 4:46:18, H. Wiseman lowering London-to-Manchester to 12:40:00, and J. H. Petersen riding London-to-York in 11:49; includes a detailed description of Wood Green's construction and steep banking.
- Feature on John Lawson, a Swedish-born rider of the Monitor Cycling Club who mystified Chicago road-training riders before the Decoration Day race on a heavy rattling wheel, later placed on the 4:60 mark; Lawson recently broke Bainbridge's five-mile road record, clocking 11:33 2/5 on his second attempt after his first trial in rain produced 11:41.
- Paris correspondent reports Belgian champion R. T. C. Protin's comfortable two-heat victory over compatriot Houben at the Velodrome Bruxellois, while Little Michael lowered the 100-kilometer record to 2:20:25 2/5 and won the 50-kilometer race at the Paris Buffalo track in 1:07:04; George A. Banker won a 2,000-meter scratch at the Buffalo track and the Austrian Derby in Vienna.
- Two-day report on the 11th annual Kentucky Division L.A.W. meet at Maysville: first-day races on a dust-choked dirt track produced A. J. Nowlin winning the division mile championship in 2:38 4/5 despite a multi-rider pileup; the second day's hill-climbing contest went to C. O. Updike in 5:18, and Owen Kimble rode an exhibition mile in 2:23 2/5 against the track record of 2:32.
- After weeks of posturing, Zimmerman conditionally consented at Mount Holly to race John S. Johnson for $5,000 a side, with Tom Eck posting the forfeit at the Philadelphia Inquirer and articles to be signed the following Wednesday; Zimmerman insisted on naming the track and both parties declined Asbury Park.
- Brief follow-up filed June 19 reports that Zimmerman failed to appear at the Philadelphia Inquirer as agreed to sign race articles, leaving Tom Eck waiting and casting fresh doubt on whether the match race will ever take place.
- New York dispatch describes Asbury Park press agent Guy P. Wilson announcing at Manhattan Beach that a Zimmerman-Johnson match for $5,000 a side plus $5,000 added purse has been arranged for League week July 8-13, while Zimmerman separately told The Bearings' correspondent he did not believe the race would ever come off and planned to go to Australia in the fall.
- The defunct St. Louis Pastime Athletic Club is to be replaced by the new West End Athletic Club using the same clubhouse, refitted with a buffet and barring ladies and young members; a Chicago note covers a public hearing on the Heckel bicycle ordinance where wheelmen proposed limiting speed to 15 mph west and 10 mph east of Grand Avenue, with fines of $3 to $10.
- Cleveland's assigned national circuit race date is going unclaimed because the Glenville track is occupied by horse racing, Newburg's grandstand is too small, and C. A. C. park is in worse condition than when Class B men refused to ride it the previous year; C. W. C. riders Hamm and Lindmueller also set a new Cleveland-to-Elyria road record of 1:18:30.
- Lewis Gimm, who broke the 24-hour record the previous fall, collapsed at the Newburg track in Cleveland while attempting the 100-mile competition record; after passing 75 miles in 3:20:02 and developing stomach trouble, he fell twice near the 82nd mile and sustained a cut below the eye requiring stitches, ending the attempt.
- Ray Macdonald and W. F. Sims plan to sail for France in July to race professionally, following the example of Zimmerman and Johnson; Tom Eck and Johnson will also go to France after their match with Zimmerman.
- Rain ended the national circuit meet at Syracuse after the first day had yielded a phenomenal novice record of 2:15 won by John Schaefer (paced behind a tandem) and H. G. Winters' Class A half-mile in 1:06 2/5; a second-day thunderstorm converted the track to mud before the Class B half-mile final could be run.
- The 12th annual Illinois Division meet at Galesburg was marred by incompetent local officials and a wind-blown, dust-covered dirt track; the feature one-mile Class B open was won by A. U. Kennedy in 2:12 2/5 over Tom Cooper and Arthur Gardiner, and J. D. Erskine of Chicago captured the Illinois Division quarter-mile championship in :36 1/5.
- Summaries from the postponed Decoration Day meet at Independence, Iowa (run June 11), where Rush Park was too muddy and the county fair grounds were substituted; A. R. Coyle won the mile open in 2:38 2/5, J. J. Berend the half-mile open and the mile handicap, and Paul Sigsbee the boys' half-mile.
- Washington, D.C. correspondent reports a movement among leading dealers to close at 5 p.m. weekdays and 1 p.m. Saturdays; new stores opened by R. B. Bond (Gendron at 912 Pennsylvania Avenue), W. D. Hadger (Liberty, two locations), L. Tindall (Warwick and Dauntless at 607 F Street), and J. C. Dakin's Central Bicycle Store at 412 Fifth Street specializing in second-hand wheels.
- Technical note on a double-leg front fork that improves rigidity and reduces handlebar vibration by forcing the tire to absorb road shock; heavier and more expensive than standard forks, it is deemed most suitable for tandems where front-fork strength is an absolute necessity.
- Regular column of brief trade notes covering store openings, incorporations, factory expansions, and business changes in Washington, Hagerstown, Brockton, Providence, San Diego, Indianapolis, Elkhart, Minneapolis, McMinnville, Jamestown, St. Louis, Buffalo, Rochester, Chicago, Elgin, and other cities; highlights include the Monarch Cycle Co.'s new $80,000 factory on Halsted and Fulton streets and the Marion Cycle Co.'s dedicated new factory in Indiana.
- London correspondent Will o' the Wisp covers the pre-Whitsuntide rush for bicycles with London depots crowded and supply short, the aristocracy's continued enthusiasm (Lord Hampton buying a safety, Hyde Park to open to cyclists), F. J. Glynn's move to the Marvel Cycle Syndicate promoting the Shewdra spring frame, the wood-rim versus steel-rim debate, Holbein and Stocks' 220-mile 12-hour tandem record, and the National Crystal Palace Show announced for December 6-14.
- Philadelphia trade correspondent covers the impending relocation of the Union Cycle Mfg. Co. branch, Columbia combination tandem sales at Hart Cycle Co., strong Morgan & Wright tire satisfaction in the city, and the controversy over race-meet promoters awarding diamond prizes worth far less than advertised—'Bob' Terrill receiving a claimed $150 diamond actually worth half that from the Rochester meet.
- Preview of the January 4-11, 1896 Chicago Cycle Show to be held in the new Coliseum at 63rd Street, offering 231,000 sq. ft. of pillar-free floor space accommodating 300-350 exhibitors with over 200 applications already in hand; a four-lap board track will be built and a four-day race meet featuring top talent is planned for October.
- National circuit races at Waltham, Massachusetts drew 8,000 spectators and featured Tom Butler setting a new Class A competitive mile record of 2:10 2/5, E. C. Bald winning the one-mile Class B invitation in 2:16 1/5 after the Mayo-Saunders tandem's chain snapped at the pistol, and Callahan and Thatcher winning the tandem handicap after Mayo-Saunders slipped a pedal on the final lap.
- John S. Johnson raced professionally at Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, setting a new world's professional competition record of 2:15 2/5 for the mile while winning every event entered, including the half-mile dash (flying start, :30 2/5), mile handicap, half-mile handicap, and mile scratch.
- Over 3,000 spectators at the Mount Holly Athletic Association's annual meet watched A. A. Zimmerman, paced by a tandem, ride an exhibition mile in 2:07 looking fit and in fine form; Carroll B. Jack won a majority of the other prizes at the meet.
- The Philadelphia Y.M.C.A.'s first annual cycle race meet featured Frank B. Marriott winning the mile handicap after pacing most of the race and outsprinting Butscher in the final lap; David Parkhill suffered a broken collarbone after a fall in the two-mile handicap final caused by the track's bad corners.
- At the second evening meet of the Toronto Ferry Co.'s Bicycle Race Association at Hanlan's Point, Harley Davidson won the quarter-mile flying start in :30 1/5 and the two-mile tandem race with Robertson; Callahan, Lutz, and Penseyers of Buffalo failed to win any first places; Marshall Wells joined the Brantford team alongside Davidson, Angus McLeod, and S. H. Gibbons.
- A Springfield, Massachusetts ministerial convention promptly tabled a resolution against Sunday wheeling moved by Rev. E. S. Ufford of Willimansett—the same clergyman who had previously decorated his pulpit with cycling insignia to attract wheelmen; Springfield racing notes mention the Sterling and Spalding teams arriving, with Maddox, Brown, Warren, Murphy, and Cabanne among those present.
- Regular column of brief news items: Justice Vann vacated an injunction against John S. Johnson leaving for France at a cost of $10 in court fees; A. L. Banker named to represent America at the world's championships at Cologne in August; Stearns machines won 16 places at the Syracuse meet; Charles Kilpatrick and wife completed a New York-to-Chicago tour in eleven riding days; the new America Cycling Club of Chicago established a downtown clubhouse for wholesale-house employees.