The Bearings, Vol 12, No 10
Articles in this issue
- Thirty-three racers from nearly every major team have gathered at Louisville's Fountain Ferry Park, plugging steadily through daily training rides and informal sprints while awaiting the arrival of quad pacemaking machines for the record-breaking campaign.
- The Bearings describes the cheerful routine of the racing men—early morning miles, baseball at the center field, a pet raccoon adopted by the camp, and moonlit walks along the riverbank—painting a vivid picture of off-season training life.
- Charging hard in training and now aware that Chairman Gideon will lift his suspension if the Fort Worth charges are withdrawn, Mary Anderson rides ferociously through practice sessions, clocking a paced quarter in 25-3/8 seconds.
- Record specialist John S. Johnson prepares to join the Fountain Ferry camp with a full string of pacemakers, with manager Eck wagering that Johnson can ride a faster mile than any other man currently on the track.
- Remarkable training times emerge from Fountain Ferry: Coulter rides an unpaced sixth-of-a-mile in 17 seconds, Gardiner covers an unpaced quarter in 26.5 seconds, and Cox is paced to a quarter in 25-3/8 seconds behind Van Herik and Lund.
- Updated team standings accompany the announcement that the western boom party will consist of Bald, Cooper, Bliss, Kiser, Murphy, Wells, Terrill, and Maxwell, traveling by special car to California for circuit racing and records.
- In the first national circuit meet at Louisville, Cooper takes the two-third-mile open and the mile open while Anderson springs a surprise in the two-mile handicap, with Bald making a bold but unsuccessful sprint in the two-mile open.
- A Philadelphia city official recalls a footrace during 1891 government survey work in Minnesota, when "Dute" Cabanne, given only a ten-foot handicap, outran three challenging Sioux reservation runners by fifteen feet.
- The Thistle Cycling Club's second annual ten-mile Oak Park road race draws 2,000 spectators as F. Taylor wins on handicap after paced leader D. C. Blair is disqualified, while the Lincoln C. C., Clarendon Wheelmen, and Columbia Wheelmen's Plautz Cup finale, won by W. J. Clausen, round out a windy weekend.
- New London, Ohio's first annual racing tournament draws about 800 spectators despite morning rain, with Bert Hamilton sweeping several events on a track in good condition.
- At Minneapolis's Minnehaha Park, Weinig and Crooks lower the tandem half-mile record to :54 and Steenson rides an unpaced half-mile in :55, while John S. Johnson clocks an unpaced quarter in :24 3/4 but fails to better his own paced mark.
- The Bearings presses its case that the rival Referee accepted bicycles as ad payment in violation of the Associated Cycling Press agreement, citing Mr. Jaffray's own admission and further correspondence with the advertiser involved.
- An editorial defends The Bearings' percentage system as the fairest index of a rider's ability, noting that only poorly-placed riders and rival papers unable to replicate the data have objected to it.
- Bert Repine, A. A. McLain, and L. A. Weidlein split honors at the Kewanee, Illinois meet before 3,000 spectators on a fine track.
- The Eastern Shore Wheelmen's Racing Circuit meet at Easton's Idlewild Park, held under the Avon Cycle Club, sees W. L. Eckhardt and professional Jack M. White win despite high wind and a dusty track.
- Pennsylvania wheelmen protest tolls of up to 2 cents a mile on turnpikes near Philadelphia, an outrage riders in neighboring New York, New Jersey, and Delaware do not face.
- The McGrew Guards and the St. Louis Cycling Club each hold twelve-mile Forest Park road races, with Al Brueggemann winning the first and Bert Harding lowering the course record to 34:12 unpaced in the second.
- George Banker wins a walkover for the world professional mile championship at the Velodrome de la Seine but is beaten by Morin in the Grand International after a grueling week of racing, while Choppy Warburton challenges Michael to race John S. Johnson.
- John S. Johnson rides a mile in 2:09 1/4 behind a quadruplet on day two of the Sioux City tournament, while O'Connor and Kramer split the professional handicap events over three days of racing.
- A Halifax, Nova Scotia correspondent describes the region's purely amateur racing scene, where no salaried Class B riders exist and clubs race mainly for modest medals worth $5 to $15.
- Carver sweeps the five-mile handicap, mile open, and quarter-mile open at the Grand Traverse fair in Traverse City, Michigan despite a high wind.
- Sixty members break away from the Olympic Club to form the rival Olympic Cyclers, while San Francisco considers banning baby carriers on handlebars and Supervisor Wagner pushes a restrictive eight-mile-an-hour speed ordinance.
- The Orange County Wheelmen formally open their new three-lap track with Horace Slater edging McCrea and Ulbricht in a closely fought Class B final.
- Walter Foster lowers the half-mile record to :48 flat behind the Rambler quad team at the Napa City Cyclers' three-day meet, while Chapman and Parker set a new unpaced tandem quarter-mile record, though attendance is a flat failure throughout.
- Walter Foster falls just short of the world paced-mile record at Napa, clocking 1:48 after losing contact with his pacing tandem in the final quarter.
- The Monarch Cycle Mfg. Co. fires off a scathing open letter to Racing Board member D. W. Robert of St. Louis, mocking his threat to expose the company over Bliss and Cooper's non-appearance at his race meet.
- Utah dealers report unusually bright prospects for 1896 with clear stores and early model arrivals, as the Salt Lake Cycle Co., M. R. Evans, the Western Hardware Co., and the Inter-Mountain Wheel Co. finalize their lines for the coming season.
- England's cycling union moves to abolish the three-class system, F. W. Chinn rides a 1:54 3/4 mile at Catford, and George Hunt and Wridgway battle for the lead in the Anchor Shield twelve-hour race at Herne Hill.
- M. H. Brown wins New York's crowded ten-mile Coney Island Boulevard handicap over 156 starters, though badly bunched scoring leaves several finishing positions in dispute.
- Chicago riders including George W. Mitchell and G. E. Bicker win most of the events at the Sterling, Illinois athletic association's bicycle races.
- The Victor Cycling Club's plan to hold an unsanctioned "outlaw" meet on a new St. Louis track collapses after the track's owners are warned it would cost them L. A. W. sanction for regular events.
- New Zealand and Australian cycling clubs report booming membership, and the New South Wales League of Wheelmen dangles a $2,500 prize to tempt Zimmerman, Johnson, Tyler, or Sanger to compete.
- Arthur W. Porter out-jockeys a slow-riding Berlo pacing quad to beat Peter Berlo at William J. Corcoran's Waltham benefit meet, while Eddie McDuffie and Nat Butler set two tandem world records the same afternoon.
- Rockford, Illinois cyclists win a council committee's recommendation to amend the sidewalk-riding ban, permitting bicycles on unpaved-street walks if riders dismount for pedestrians.
- A detailed look at how the L. A. W.'s Boston headquarters, under Secretary Bassett, processes the flood of membership applications and renewals during the busy spring season.
- The Diamond Bicycle Club's Greensburg, Indiana tournament draws 3,000-4,000 spectators and 235 entries, with Barney Oldfield winning the one-mile open and a boys' half-mile the same day.
- Wisconsin Division officers push railroads to adopt a standard low fee for carrying bicycles as baggage, and investigate Anton Stolz's disputed late entry at the Walworth County fair races.
- At Marshalltown, Iowa, Repine and Jackson split the day's handicap and open events despite high wind and dust, with Elder fouled and thrown along with five others in the five-mile handicap.
- Boston's Clover Y. and C. C. plans to revive the historic Corey Hill climbing contest, last held in 1886, recalling record ascents by W. W. Stall and other high-wheel riders of the ordinary era.
- Joe Hocker sweeps the Pittsburg, Kansas Wheelmen's three-day fall meet, which includes the first night bicycle races held west of Chicago, and sets a new Kansas unpaced mile record of 2:20 1/2.
- Bliss chases down Dasey in the five-mile handicap at Valparaiso, Indiana's first tournament but is caught at the tape by Bowler after killing himself in the effort.
- Thirteen-year-old Arthur Roadhouse of DeKalb, Illinois, who has only one hand and no feet, learns to ride a specially built bicycle in a few hours and can already cover a mile in under five minutes.
- Strong wind slows times at the Springfield, Illinois meet, where A. C. Burgdorff, J. W. Bowler, and W. E. Kenyon take the featured events.
- Walter Sanger sweeps every event he enters at the South Jersey Agricultural Society's Gloucester, N.J. track meet, while Starbuck narrowly loses the six-mile professional handicap after over-extending himself chasing the field.
- The Racing Board's weekly bulletin suspends trainer E. B. Tallam for a year and processes a fresh batch of professional declarations, transfers, and reinstatements.
- Morgan & Wright team riders at Fountain Ferry play an elaborate practical joke on "Mary" Anderson and Van Herik with hot lemonades and a mountain of bedding after Anderson's suspension is reduced.
- The New York Athletic Club's fall games at Traver's Island see William T. Ehrich win a heavily handicapped two-mile race on a poorly banked five-lap track.
- G. A. Beelby sweeps the five-mile handicap and three-mile lap at the Washtenaw County fair before a crowd of nearly 5,000.
- Brothers J. E. and G. H. Morrow dominate the Marshall Cycling Club's Missouri tournament, sweeping the open and handicap events between them.
- The Salrodalica Wheelmen's charity meet at the Morristown, N.J. Driving Park, benefiting the Memorial and All Souls Hospital, draws a fashionable crowd led by F. W. Hopler and Ray Dawson.
- J. E. Walsh sets a Vermont state record in an exhibition half-mile and sweeps three events at the Londonville Wheelmen's first annual race meet.
- Adolph Oatman sweeps the one-mile, two-mile handicap, and half-mile races at the Manhattan Bicycle Club's Class A club meet in Plainfield, New Jersey.
- George N. Jordan of the National Cycle Mfg. Co. previews the 1896 National line, including a new interchangeable crank-bracket bearing design and the company's first tandems.
- The Canton Cycle Mfg. Co. of Ohio completes a new factory aiming to build 2,000 to 3,000 wheels for 1896, specializing in tandems and light road wheels under manager C. H. Parker.
- Rouse, Hazard & Co.'s new three-story Peoria factory nears completion ahead of schedule, with boilers, engines, and automatic machinery already on order.
- Inventor N. T. Mills introduces the new Climax bicycle bell, fitted with a lock clamp and a rotary hammer that delivers twenty-six blows per lever pull.
- C. H. Metz of the Waltham Mfg. Co. is so impressed testing the Sager Mfg. Co.'s pneumatic saddle that he immediately orders 5,000 for exclusive use on Orient bicycles.
- The Hartford Rubber Works announces it will sue makers of single-tube tires for patent infringement, noting the B. F. Goodrich Co. has already applied for a license under its patents.
- A Bearings staffer's own test of the Sager Mfg. Co.'s pneumatic saddle confirms its twin air chambers prevent bunching, matching the maker's claims.
- Boston dealer B. B. Emery & Co. places an initial order for 2,000 America wheels and will handle the brand throughout New England.
- The Marion Cycle Co. adds Porter & Gilmour, of New York, as agents for New York City, Brooklyn, Staten Island, Long Island, and the Hudson River territory to Albany.
- The Indianapolis Chain & Stamping Co. moves into a new 30,000-square-foot factory with capacity for a million chains a year and room for 600 employees.
- St. Louis dealers recommend standardizing bicycle serial-number placement on the seat-post lug to help police and repairers spot stolen wheels more easily.
- The G. M. Shirk Mfg. Co. of Chicago promotes its bicycles with a Denver agent posed atop a huge elephant, the latest in its run of attention-grabbing ads.
- The American Dunlop Tire Co.'s Kirk Brown says the Dunlop tire will see only minor construction changes for 1896, continuing to ship exclusively with laminated wood rims.
- Contractor Allington completes the Eclipse Bicycle Co.'s huge new Elmira, N.Y. factory in just sixty days, complete with its own gasworks, water tanks, and automatic sprinkler system.
- Church & Co. incorporates as the Sherman Cycle Co., unveiling a 22-pound roadster and a 37-pound double-top-bar tandem with barrel-shaped hubs for 1896.
- Philadelphia dealers gear up for 1896, with the Standard Typewriter Exchange taking on the Pierce line and H. D. Le Cato staging a sign-plastered "Class B Graveyard" stunt at the South End Wheelmen's tournament grounds.
- Adam Seipel of the Bridgeport Gun Implement Co., long a fixture in eastern territory, is sent west to grow the firm's cycle-accessory business.
- The G. M. Shirk Mfg. Co. clarifies that its bicycles are built at a new Canal Street factory in Chicago, not at Peru, Indiana as rumored.
- Parkhurst & Wilkinson becomes exclusive selling agent for the North American Rubber Co.'s tire and sundry line after A. C. Banker's tour of eastern tire manufacturers.
- A tour of Hartford's Pope Mfg. Co. and Pratt & Whitney Co. finds both running at full capacity, with Pratt & Whitney's work establishing a standard thread gauge highlighted.
- Saddlery firms Sickles, Meyer-Bannerman, and Hinton all move into the St. Louis cycle trade as W. P. Laing leaves the Laing Cycle Co. to run Sickles' new cycle department, taking the Rambler agency with him.
- John F. Palmer closes deals for 60,000 sets of Palmer tires for 1896 and unveils a new electric vulcanizing apparatus for absolute repairs.
- The Hunter Arms Co. of Fulton, N.Y. expands into bicycles on an extensive scale under treasurer and manager Thomas Hunter.
- Fire destroys the Gormully & Jeffery Mfg. Co.'s Brooklyn branch on Flatbush Avenue opposite Prospect Park.
- G. A. Pleus, the announcer for the A. F. Shapleigh Hardware Co.'s Crimson Rim territory in St. Louis, is profiled as a familiar fixture at race meets.
- The Pope Mfg. Co. and Morgan & Wright both advertise in Italy's Gazzetta Ciclistica, translating their slogans into Italian for the foreign trade.
- The Sterling Cycle Works formally opens its San Francisco branch at 314 Post Street under W. V. Bryan and C. G. Field, to handle all Sterling business for California, Oregon, and Washington.
- The Hunt Mfg. Co. of Westboro, Massachusetts triples its saddle output for 1896 and adds a new seventeen-ounce racing saddle to its line.
- The Shone-Hanna Mfg. Co. of Rochester introduces a toe-clip designed to prevent lateral foot slippage and press on the instep without pinching corns.
- The Cycle Improvement Co. of Westboro, Massachusetts overcomes prior production bottlenecks under new treasurer F. P. Clement, now able to turn out 600 to 800 pedals a day.
- The Phillips Mfg. Co. of New York opens a factory for its radius-beam drive bicycle, claiming a 100-inch gear that pedals as easily as a 68-inch ordinary rotary drive.
- The Emerson Electric Mfg. Co.'s pivoting lamp bracket keeps a bicycle lamp upright and prevents smoking or spilled oil when the machine leans or falls.
- Morgan & Wright's new rubber toe-clip replaces the rubber bands racers had long improvised to keep their feet from slipping off the pedals.
- The Garvin Machine Co. markets a new machine that spins uniform rivet heads onto bicycle-chain links automatically, extending chain life by about 25 percent.
- A roundup of incorporations and changes nationwide includes the Oswego Tool Co.'s purchase of the Ontario bicycle plant and Frank H. Bolte's withdrawal from active management of the Bolte Cycle Mfg. Co.
- The Lodge & Davis Machine Tool Co. of Cincinnati's new hub-forming machine draws orders from Ames & Frost, the Bolte Cycle Co., and eight other manufacturers.
- The Simonds Rolling Machine Co. of Fitchburg runs 23.5 hours a day filling orders for its bicycle balls, supplying the largest factories in America, Canada, and Europe.
- A new Waltham, Massachusetts firm launches the Waltham Comet, a 1 1/8-inch-tubing wheel with barrel hubs and invisible joints designed by F. L. McKenzie.
- The Nies Emergency Tire Clamp Co. of Brooklyn markets a clamp that seals a punctured or burst tire so a rider can continue home without walking.
- The Premier Cycle Mfg. Co.'s new Bridgeport factory nears completion, with western agents already ordering 4,000 machines for Pacific coast territory ahead of the November 1 sample date.