The Bearings, Vol 12, No 15
Articles in this issue
- At Fountain Ferry Park, Louisville, Arthur Gardiner, paced by two quad teams, rides a world-record mile with a final time of 1:42-2/5, and C. R. Coulter, paced by the same quads, follows with a world-record flying-start three-quarter mile of 1:18 flat, breaking Johnson's 1894 mark of 1:21.
- Peter Berlo's Humber team and W. W. Windle's team both arrive unannounced at Fountain Ferry within a day of each other, the Humbers bringing a quintuplet; the week also brings an elaborate Hallowe'en prank spree (a calf in the grandstand, a carriage hoisted onto Landenwich's roof), Ziegler's poorly-paced two-thirds-mile record, A. F. Senn's professional two-mile record, and word that Louisville wheelmen will carry the city's election returns by bicycle.
- The Morgan & Wright team's Louisville correspondent reports Gardiner beating the pacing quad easily in a windy trial and being timed at an unpaced quarter in :25-3/4, and notes trainer Tom Eck has wired Nashville to check the track there for a possible trip next week.
- L.A.W. Racing Board chairman Gideon has a stormy New York meeting with the Cycle Board of Trade over the Cabanne-Titus case, which demands to inspect J. B. Sheridan's affidavits amid claims they were doctored and threatens lawsuits and a breakaway professional circuit if the men are wrongfully expelled.
- The new half-mile wood track at Point Breeze, near Philadelphia, is fast nearing completion and is expected to be ready for a race meet about the last week in November, probably Thanksgiving Day.
- The Chester Bicycle Club circulates a petition against the Pennsylvania Railroad's new charge for carrying bicycles, arguing wheels weigh nowhere near the 100 pounds the railroad is classing them as.
- Germantown wheelman Harold Palmer rides the ninety-five miles between Philadelphia and New York unpaced in 8:47:00, a new record for the route despite soft, sandy roads, hills, and a strong northwest wind.
- Washington correspondence reports a twenty-mile team race being arranged between the Washington Road Club and the Arlington Wheelmen plus a Thanksgiving Day open road race, and recounts a late-night tandem-riding lesson for two actresses of the visiting "Twentieth Century Girl" and "A Black Sheep" theatrical troupes.
- Resting in New York on a 103-inch gear, Titus prepares to attempt a thirty-mile hour record paced by motor cycles, while Cabanne, still under the Racing Board's suspension, declares he will race no more.
- On the Denver Wheel Club's track, Harry Clark breaks every Class A and B unpaced record from three to five miles (7:18-1/5, 9:56-1/5, 12:34-2/5), beating A. F. Senn's previous marks despite a slow track and strong wind, riding a Fowler.
- An editorial on the postponed Chicago Times-Herald motor-carriage contest notes that only two of the entered "horseless carriages" started the ninety-two-mile course and describes the intense roadside curiosity of farmers along the route.
- An editorial mocks an Emporia, Kansas, city councilman who helped pass a bicycle-bell ordinance, was then himself arrested under it, and fought the case all the way to the state supreme court rather than simply working for its repeal.
- A run of short unsigned editorial notes covers J. W. Stocks' new English world's records from ten to forty-four miles, a San Francisco inventor's fantastical nine-rider "nonoplet," and W. W. Windle's old letter vowing he would never race again.
- San Francisco correspondence reports bloomer-clad women cyclists horsewhipping a carriage driver who deliberately struck one of them in Golden Gate Park, plans for a winter indoor track tournament at the Mechanics' Pavilion, doubts over Walter Foster's Napa track records, and the Southern Pacific Railroad's promise to carry bicycles free.
- The Bay City Wheelmen play an elaborate hoax on visiting "Western Pilgrims" racers, leading them shoeless through a fake secret passage to be ambushed by a crowd of local wheelmen, and the report closes with updated National Circuit point standings for Bald, Kiser, Cooper, and Murphy.
- Weekly point tables show Bald leading with 177 points and $6,605 in prizes, Cooper and Murphy separated by only seven points for second, and Spalding and Humber leading the team percentage standings.
- London correspondence covers lever-chain inventor W. S. Simpson's $5,000 wager backing his machine against plain bicycles at Catford, a fiasco six-hour multicycle race at Herne Hill, and Henry Sturmey's report that Coventry's cycle trade has trebled to thirty-five factories in a decade.
- At Louisville, Lund and Van Herik ride a paced, flying-start tandem ten miles in 20:54, while Johnson abandons a mile-record bid after the pacing quad makes bad pick-ups.
- Los Angeles correspondence reports a national-circuit date dispute between the Citrus Wheelmen and the Crown City Cyclers of Pasadena, and the Southern Pacific Railway's plan to build an eighteen-mile cement cycle path to Santa Monica with locomotive-paced record trials.
- The Fort Wayne Cycling Club of Fort Wayne, Indiana, mounts photographs of its 125 members inside a giant wheel-shaped display on its clubhouse wall.
- Toledo correspondence reports a visit from nineteen-year-old record-chaser Alexander B. McDonell, guest of the Union Mfg. Co., and describes the Toledo Cycling Club's newly redecorated clubrooms with a relocated basement wheel room.
- At the Buffalo track in Paris, Welsh rider J. Michael beats French teenager Lartigue in their much-anticipated "kids' match," lapping him before the thirty-third kilometer, while Bouhours surprises the field to win the Prix de Flore mile handicap.
- Cleveland wheelmen organize against a proposed city ordinance by councilman Case requiring bells to be rung at every street crossing, while P. W. Klinger of Greenville wins the Amusement Gazette trophy for the lowest Ohio competitive mile.
- Syracuse correspondence reports L. H. George of Brockport riding the 100 miles between Erie and Buffalo unpaced in 4:31:18 on a Barnes, cutting 8:51 off McDonell's record, while Angus McLeod rides a straightaway unpaced mile in 1:33-2/5 on a Brantford.
- Milwaukee correspondence has Walter Sanger preparing to attack the unpaced mile record at Denver and declining to race Johnson, and notes the Wisconsin L.A.W. Division has grown to 997 members while Henry Kanaska won an International 3,000-meter scratch race in Paris.
- On the Garden City Cyclers' San Jose track, Hardy Downing and Vic Benson break the world's Class A flying-start unpaced tandem-mile record with a time of 2:03.
- Minneapolis's A. A. Hansen rides 375 miles around Lake Harriet in a twenty-four-hour attempt, breaking the world's 200-mile and 24-hour records and missing the 100-mile mark by little more than a minute after tire punctures and equipment breakage.
- The Chicago Times-Herald's big motor-vehicle contest is postponed to Thanksgiving Day, and in a $500 "scrub" race held on the original date only Mueller's Benz-powered carriage finishes the ninety-two-mile course, while Duryea's machine is wrecked avoiding a collision.
- Parisian physician Dr. Tissie reports that after Huret's twenty-four-hour race win his pulse was a normal 112 and he showed no nervous exhaustion, sleeping only five minutes and reviving on a glass of lemonade.
- At Louisville, Otto Ziegler sets a new standing-start one-mile record of 1:50-3/5, and Willie De Cardy rides a standing-start ten miles in 20:45 for a new American record, while the pacing quintuplet's rear tire explodes without serious injury to the riders.
- Riding a Fowler fitted with pebble-tread Vim tires, young Urquhart breaks the Corey Hill (Brookline, Mass.) climbing record by going up and back eleven times in an hour, topping the old nine-times mark set on solid tires.
- At Salina, Kansas, Frank Eberhardt breaks four state records, including a standing-start unpaced third-mile of :44-3/5, riding unpaced miles against a strong headwind on the homestretch.
- At Rochester, N. Y., Charles Shabel lowers the world's 200-mile road record from 11:58:30 to 11:46:58-4/5.
- Thirty-five members of the Chicago Cycling Club turn out on high-wheel "ordinaries" for their fourth annual run to Pullman, fining riders for headers and dismounts, with C. V. Dasey sneaking in from a hidden shortcut to dodge the leader's entry fine.
- Secretary-treasurer W. S. Bull announces I. B. Potter elected chief consul of the New York State L.A.W. Division, revealing the entire 9,000-ballot election was financed by selling advertising space on envelopes and in a division pamphlet, costing the League nothing.
- In Emporia, Kansas, Dr. E. W. Wagoner and lumber dealer/councilman J. E. Evans, arrested for failing to ring bells at street crossings, lose their appeal when Judge Randolph rules the bell ordinance constitutional, and carry the case to the state supreme court.
- An anecdote recounts traveling cycle salesman "Whit" Whittaker spotting an attention-seeking spectator wearing an oversized ribbon bow tied to his calf at a Buffalo race meet and loudly announcing that the man's "necktie" had slipped.
- At a Syracuse race meet, pranksters paint a green stripe on announcer Whittaker's new white trousers, and he gets his revenge by secretly cutting the crown out of fellow salesman "Billy" Perrett's new straw hat.
- Cycle salesman "Billy" Perrett talks a Sioux City clothing store into displaying a Dunlop tire advertisement on a revolving bicycle in its window in exchange for buying a new suit, then spreads the trick to a hat store and a shoe store.
- In St. Louis, Vice-President Morrison tricks L.A.W. President Willison into preparing an hour-long theater-intermission speech on "Good Roads" that is never called for, then confesses the audience "wanted to get home."
- A report on the 1896 Athens Olympic revival notes $30,000 raised from Greek expatriates and a cycling programme of unpaced 2,000- and 10,000-meter track races plus a paced 100-kilometer distance contest and twelve-hour track race, with professionals excluded.
- Writing in Sidney's Referee, "Wheeler" argues Australian champion Megson can beat Arthur Zimmerman on the Adelaide grass track, since Zimmerman's fast American times were set on specially prepared tracks.
- At New Orleans, W. Coburn and W. M. Randall, pacing Frank Wing, lower the world's unpaced, flying-start half-mile tandem record held by Titus and Cabanne to 55 seconds flat.
- A technical survey by J. W. Anderson of patented saddle designs, including pneumatic, wire-spring, rattan, and leather-and-wire-net constructions, describes how each addresses stretching, sweating, and rider comfort.
- Buffalo's Bicycle Row is in upheaval as H. C. Martin converts his old riding hall into a winter dancing academy, G. N. Pierce moves to larger quarters in Green's flats, and D. H. Lewis & Co. takes over Pierce's vacated store.
- Toledo trade news covers the Dauntless Bicycle Co. assigning J. P. Klotz a western territory, the Yost Mfg. Co. shipping sample Falcons to the Paris and London cycle shows, and the Lozier factory reporting 375 wheels sold in a single week.
- The Hay & Willits Mfg. Co. of Indianapolis enters its second year with the $85 Outing bicycle, built from Shelby Steel Tube and other name-brand components despite its modest price.
- The Keating Wheel Co. of Holyoke, Mass., previews its 1896 line, retaining the distinctive curved center tube that allows an extra-long chain without altering the frame's main angles.
- A Kennedy Bros. employee in Minneapolis invents a leather-cased, waterproofed puncture-proof tire that manufacturers are reviewing for a possible launch next season.
- The Sager Mfg. Co. of Rochester, N. Y., opens a new four-sided, slow-burning factory with a 2,000-saddle daily capacity run on Westinghouse motors, already holding fifty-eight contracts with high-grade manufacturers for 1896.
- In a letter to the editor, W. I. Wilhelm denies rumors, sparked by a change of ownership, that his firm's wheel guarantee is not being honored, insisting the new management is shipping as many 1896 models as any competitor.
- The North European Cycle Export Co. of London closes a deal to handle E. C. Stearns & Co.'s bicycles across Europe after its head, John Tourunen, toured America specifically to choose an American make.
- The Bolte Cycle Mfg. Co. of Milwaukee's new tubular hub uses a continuous oil channel through the dust-cap and four double spokes per hole to avoid the old weakness of headed spokes.
- The Palmer Tire Co. secures a temporary injunction against the Newton Rubber Works for patent infringement, though Newton's representative says the firm had not yet been served notice.
- E. C. Stearns & Co.'s Syracuse works add a new paint tower, a power house, and a four-story brick office building to keep pace with continually increasing demand.
- London's "Will o' the Wisp" reports Humber and Raleigh share prices nearly doubling amid amalgamation rumors, England's cycle export trade climbing to $1,616,340 for the July-September quarter, and Rudge-Whitworth previewing 1896 crank-bracket and pedal improvements.
- The Bridgeport Gun Implement Co.'s redesigned Brooklyn stand adjusts to any tubing size and crank-hanger and can be raised on castors to lift a bicycle clear of the floor for cleaning.
- Mills, Truesdell & Co.'s new front-fork combination lock offers 140,000 possible combinations, weighs just 3.5 ounces, and retails for $1.
- The Plymouth Cycle Mfg. Co. secures the only patent yet granted on a bicycle finish, for the aluminum finish that will distinguish the Smalley from its black or maroon-finished siblings.
- New York trade correspondence reports lingering complaints over cycle-show booth assignments, including Morgan & Wright's William Herrick planning a "Morgan & Wright tires are out of sight" sign painted on the moon, and J. C. Spiers & Co. withdrawing from the open market to build wheels exclusively for an eastern concern.
- The Veeder Mfg. Co. of Hartford's new cyclometer is less than half the size of competitors' yet keeps large, saddle-readable figures that register up to 999 miles before repeating.
- The Crown Cycle Co. of La Porte, Indiana, exhibits its 1896 roadster, racer, and ladies' models, made almost entirely from its own parts in a two-building factory.
- The Bearings relays inquiries from dealers seeking suppliers, including Lenn & Sons of La Porte wanting a full jobbing line and the Delker Cycle Co. of Owensboro, Ky., seeking material for a high-grade wheel.
- The Julius Andrae Sons' Co. of Milwaukee's 1896 Andrae line features 1-3/8-inch tubing, detachable front and rear sprockets, and new barrel-pattern hubs across roadster, ladies', and racer models.
- Cincinnati bicycle dealer J. E. Poorman, organizer of the city's Poorman road races, files a confessed judgment for $5,980 to his wife's estate and then an insolvency assignment naming D. W. Huntington, with liabilities of $30,000 against $25,000 in assets.
- Prominent trade visitors in Chicago that week include Pope Mfg. Co.'s Col. A. A. Pope and George H. Day, and the Boston Woven Hose & Rubber Co.'s C. E. Weaver and J. Edwin Davis.
- The new Cline Cycle Mfg. Co. of Chicago will build 3,000 to 5,000 Rainbow and Sunshine wheels for 1896 with Swedish-steel reinforced joints and an option of enameled handle-bars matching the frame color.
- The Warman-Schub Cycle House's Cataract parcel-carrier tricycle, with its box mounted up front for visibility and safety, weighs 37 to 38 pounds without the box and will see expanded production next year.
- Thieves break into 4344 Greenwood Avenue, Chicago, and steal J. H. Bawden's single-steering Rambler racer tandem, No. 16,530, said to be the only machine of its kind in the city.
- Philadelphia correspondence reports Abe Powell's Powell Cycle Co. taking the local Peerless agency and Hill and Lyster, the young Humber agents, preparing for a big season.
- Milan correspondence previews the Second International Cycle Show set for March, notes Raffaele Gattii's return from a polar-circle cycling tour, and urges American makers to copy the Gladiator-Phebus Cycle Co.'s new Paris cycling academy and track.
- The Hunt Mfg. Co. of Westboro, Mass., keeps up with 1896 orders by stockpiling over 30,000 tool-bags and 15,000 to 20,000 saddles in advance, expanding its factory to meet demand.
- A technical piece signed "Cycle Trader" explains how diluted nitric acid distinguishes steel from iron (steel blackens, iron stays grayish) and describes a French expert's hydrochloric-acid process for revealing flaws in machine parts.
- The A. R. March Mfg. Co. of Chicago sells rear fork ends, head stampings, and fork crowns to the trade and is building a diamond-frame tandem with two independent chains giving a five-inch tread.
- Central Cycle Mfg. Co. president L. M. Wainwright, touring New Mexico, discovers Santa Fe assistant postmaster Fisher had named his son Ben Hur after General Lew Wallace's novel, and signs him as agent for the Ben-Hur wheel in the very room where "Ben-Hur" was written.
- The Ariston Mfg. Co. of Westboro, Mass., opens a fully equipped new plant, while the Everett Cycle Co., successor to the McCune Cycle Co., plans to build 5,000 wheels next year.
- Rouse, Hazard & Co.'s new Peoria factory begins operations on a ten-model 1896 line listing from $40 to $100, while Gendron Wheel Co.'s Frank Kendall reports the Toledo maker will build 15,000 wheels next year, half of them the medium-priced Reliance.
- The Syracuse Cycle Co. leases the Mammoth Bradley Company's quarter-million-dollar hammer-and-wagon plant for fifteen years, planning to employ 2,500 hands in one of the largest bicycle factories in the world.
- The Zenith Cycle Co. of Binghamton, N. Y., previews a seven-model 1896 line weighing 19 to 23 pounds and listing at $100, featuring large tubing, large hubs, and reversible handle-bars.
- Frank Wenter, president of the Gladiator Cycle Works, wins re-election to the Cook County drainage board with 11,000 more votes than his nearest Democratic rival despite a Republican landslide.
- Overman Wheel Co. president A. H. Overman builds a two-seat motor vehicle at Chicopee Falls fitted with three two-horsepower Pennington gasoline engines slung low between four bicycle wheels, aiming for a December 1 trial.
- Illinois L.A.W. chief consul L. C. Jaquish organizes the Continental Cycle Co. of Chicago with attorney M. H. Guerin as vice-president and A. M. Farnsworth as secretary-treasurer, equipping a plant for 3,000 wheels.
- William H. Ruef, who reorganized the Krupp Gun Works while with the Atlas Engine Works, becomes the Indiana Bicycle Co.'s new superintendent and has already reorganized its plant since September.
- The El Dorado Cycle Co. of Chicago hires M. E. Meader away from the Ariel Cycle Mfg. Co. of Goshen, Indiana, to run its sales department.
- The Eclipse Bicycle Co. opens a Boston branch at 257 Columbus Avenue under H. E. Walker to handle all New England correspondence and agencies.
- A roundup of new incorporations and sales includes the Bradford Cycle Co. ($6,000 capital), Sharpless & Watts of Philadelphia launching the $100 Quaker City wheel, and the Hampshire Cycle Mfg. Co. of Northampton, Mass., incorporating to expand from 1,500 to 2,000 bicycles.
- A large roundup of trade notes reports veteran actor Joseph Jefferson ordering a Stearns tandem, Eddie McDuffie preparing a paced straightaway-mile attempt near Boston, and J. H. Sager of the Sager Mfg. Co. laid up with a broken kneecap.
- The Slaymaker-Barry Co.'s new brass sprocket locks, sold through John H. Graham & Co. (makers of the New Departure bell), allow over 200 key combinations and have already seen strong advance sales.
- N. W. Rubel & Co.'s $8 Manhattan electric bicycle headlight runs off a frame-mounted battery good for twelve hours of light and rechargeable for 10 cents.
- After three years traveling Iowa for H. A. Lozier & Co., A. D. Brown switches to the Davis Sewing Machine Co. to sell the 1896 Dayton in his old territory.
- The Cincinnati Milling Machine Co. previews its 1895 plain and universal milling machines, widely supplied to the cycle trade, with a redesigned automatic feed and reinforced overhanging arm that lets shops mill a double row of sprockets.