The Bearings, Vol 16, No 2
Articles in this issue
- William J. Reid's illustrated travel serial (Chapter VIII), recounting his bicycle journey through the Elburz mountains and Persian provinces past Sakis, Kadish and Yengidsha amid robbers and villagers who mistake his party for raiders.
- F. Ed. Spooner's racing column, in which James Peabody, father of Chicago's crack amateur, condemns the abominable treatment of riders at the Philadelphia national meet, with Tom Eck vowing never to send a rider there again.
- J. H. Wisby reports that Mayor Strong refused to sign the L. A. W. road-rule ordinance, the arrival of French stayer Albert Stein under trainer Pognon, and prospects for Bald, Kiser and Gardiner racing in France.
- Staff correspondence (Geo. K. Barrett and G. M. Diddlebock) on the eighteenth annual L. A. W. meet at Philadelphia, with 15,000 visitors, the Wissahickon and Navy Yard runs, ladies' entertainments and the social side of the largest league meet on record.
- Report on the national championship races, where Fred Loughead captured the one-mile and quarter-mile titles, Earl Kiser and O. Mertens starred among the professionals, and favorites Bald, Cooper and Gardiner failed to win.
- Abbot Bassett's historical survey of previous L. A. W. annual meets and their place in the league's history.
- Special correspondence rounding up cycling news from Glasgow (the I. C. A. world championships), Paris, Topeka, San Francisco, Cincinnati (Zimmerman at Chester Park), Denver and other cities.
- F. Ed. Spooner shows how the Philadelphia meet upset Bearings' gauge of merit, with Kiser, Stevens and Loughead climbing out of the bulb while Cooper drops to fourth and Bald leads, plus the circuit meet at Reading.
- Editorials hailing the Philadelphia league meet as the most successful in L. A. W. history, debating the use of high gears, and noting Chicago cyclists scoring two championship points.
- Special correspondents review the bicycle trade in Toledo (the Snell Cycle Fittings Co.'s '98 plans), Cleveland, New Orleans, Cincinnati and Washington.
- J. W. Anderson's illustrated digest of newly granted cycle patents, including Lilly's galloping bicycle, Shephard's pedal/shoe attachment and Bell's separable crank hanger.
- Trade and personal notes covering the new Gentry chainless ball-bearing gear, the use of transfers, gear-cases in military service, the Pierce cyclers, Andrae winnings and a promised gasoline bicycle.
- Short trade items, including W. W. Hamilton pacing the fastest race at the national meet on a Lindsay gear, the Ohio Tube Works resuming after a coal shortage, and F. W. Home's machine-tool orders for China and Japan.
- City-by-city compilation of trade happenings, fires, judgments, incorporations and new bicycle stores from Allegheny, Buffalo, Cleveland, Columbus and elsewhere.