The Bearings, Vol 5, No 22
Articles in this issue
- Humorous column by Col. William Twinkle proposing a military-style cycling regiment, debating uniform materials with General Miles and calling for more courtly deportment and better-organized club runs among the wavering, zigzagging herds of Chicago wheelmen.
- Editorial marshaling reader testimonials from Albuquerque, Waverly (Ill.), and Fort Scott (Kas.) condemning the Bicycling World's monopoly of L.A.W. membership addresses, and reporting that chief consul Luscomb and League officials at the New York Division meeting in Buffalo demanded immediate reform.
- Brief department items including Frank Lenz passing through Toronto on his round-the-world ride for Outing, the Denver Social Wheel Club's disbandment and planned reorganization, and the Cook County Wheelmen's week-long Wisconsin tour via Kenosha, Racine, and Milwaukee.
- Editorial arguing that road reform, backed by the cycling movement, surpasses tariff politics in national importance, pointing to France's adoption of the bicycle for military couriers, postal service, internal-revenue inspection, and government map-making surveys.
- Editorial urging L.A.W. president Burdett to press beyond the single concession of printing applicants' cities in the Bicycling World, insisting that League announcements receive prominent space and that the Boston organ's monopoly on the full membership list be completely broken.
- Editorial celebrating the unprecedented growth of July 4 cycling festivities across the country in 1892, predicting that thousands of new riders will be inspired by racing from Maine to California, while most Chicago wheelmen head to Springfield or Cincinnati.
- Feature on Springfield as host of the ninth annual Illinois Division L.A.W. meet, describing Capitol City Cycling Club organizers John Fogarty, Charles Robinson, A. A. Billingsley, and John Amos, planned tours to Clear Lake and Cokey's Mill hill-climbing contest, and the full race entry list of 77 individual riders.
- Preview of J. E. Poorman's third annual Poorman handicap road race from Hamilton, Ohio to Chester Park, Cincinnati, with a 47-man entry list including N. H. Van Sicklen, A. E. Lumsden, and Thos. E. Jefferis; Van Sicklen won the time medal in both previous editions.
- Report on the third annual Chicago lantern parade where over 600 riders turned out on Grand Boulevard despite rain; Lincoln C.C. led with 66 men, and display prizes went to Chas. Sterner and Miss Ella Munger (Cook County Wheelmen tandem arbor) and Welton Flinn of Lincoln C.C. (single yacht).
- Race report from the South End Wheelmen's meet at Philadelphia, where W. W. Taxis won the one-mile open and championship of Philadelphia before 3,000 spectators; G. F. Taylor broke the Tioga track mile record in 2:30 4-5 in the handicap final, surpassing W. F. Murphy's mark of 2:35 2-5.
- Report on the Kings County Wheelmen's meet at Manhattan Field, New York, where P. J. Berlo won the mile championship of America over L. D. Munger of Chicago; Munger broke the Manhattan track mile record at 2:32 in the two-mile handicap first heat.
- Tom Jefferis (2:00 handicap) surprised everyone to win the Prince Wells ten-mile road race at Louisville in 41:02 over a sticky red clay course; N. H. Van Sicklen finished fifth but won the time medal in 39:23, completing the race on Howard Jefferis' borrowed wheel after his own broke near the Jockey Club house.
- The Illinois State Board of Agriculture has arranged ten bicycle races at Peoria's fair grounds on September 27 with a $2,500 prize list; Zimmerman wrote to promoter H. G. Rouse expressing interest in returning to Peoria.
- Race report from the Lakeside Cycling Club's tournament in Cleveland on June 22, where J. R. Hazelton won the quarter-mile, half-mile, and one-mile events before a crowd of 2,000; Fred Patee served as referee.
- Arthur A. Zimmerman won the mile safety championship at Leeds in 2:48 4-5, beating reigning champion Schofield by five yards, and also easily won the five-mile race over Ducros, the Irish champion, by twelve yards in 20:00 1-5.
- Correspondent C. W. Hartung reports T. A. Edge completed 1,000 miles in five days eleven hours on a Peregrine bicycle with only one puncture; M. A. Holbein rode 341 miles in 24 hours on a Marlboro Club tricycle to break the existing record by 23½ miles; and in the N.C.U. 25-mile safety championship at Herne Hill, Zimmerman crashed into Mecredy's wheel in the 18th mile and R. L. Ede of Stoke Newington C.C. won in 1:09:46.
- Report on the first annual Carthage Cycle Club meet at Carthage, N.Y.; George Potter won the one-mile club championship and tri-county championship in 2:58, with Harry Myers close behind; W. J. Eysaman of Little Falls won the ten-mile road race in 40:25.
- Report on the ninth annual New Jersey Division meet at Vineland, with 500 riders in the parade; Taxis of Philadelphia and Wheeler of the M.A.C. captured most prizes, Wheeler winning the Division championship in 2:25 3-5 despite a gale blowing all day over the half-mile track.
- The L.A.W. Racing Board is considering suspending all riders who competed in bicycle events at the Boston Athletic Association meet on June 11, where managers refused to secure sanction despite warnings, in violation of the A.A.U. alliance.
- Brief editorial clarifying the L.A.W. racing board's definition of novice: winning any prize — first or fifteenth — in any track or road race ends novice status, per Racing Board members Thorne and Collister, even if the prize was won between entry date and race day.
- Report on the second annual 25-mile Inter-Club League race at Boston over a very muddy course; Cambridgeport Club's Taylor, Kehew, and Doane finished together in 1:25:15, defeating riders from Waltham, Hyde Park, and other clubs to secure the inter-club cup.
- Isaac Baird, an American unfamiliar with the Irish roads, won a 100-mile road race on June 6 in 7:04:00, breaking R. J. Mecredy's record of 7:31:00 and winning three prizes — time, first place, and special — on a model D. Ormonde racer.
- George H. Strong of the Mining and Scientific Press, a witness at Waller's 24-hour ride at Alameda on June 10, defends the timing arrangements and reports that Waller was hampered by saddle-soreness and an obstinate refusal to stay off his wheel, but clearly earned the record.
- Chicago training notes: young James Thorne of the Chicago C.C. rode a mile in 2:25 trailing Lumsden with pace-makers, Barrett is making quarters in 34 1-5, and officials including L. J. Berger and W. C. Thorne have been nominated for F. E. Spooner's 24-hour attempt on July 8-9.
- Report on the 240-mile Michelin race from Paris to Clermont-Ferrand on June 2, won by young Farman in 17:52:00; promoters Michelin & Co. deliberately spread nails on the road to force riders to repair their own tires, and not one pneumatic finished without a puncture.
- Department column with brief international items: R. J. Mecredy broke the Irish quarter-mile record in :31 4-5; Emperor William applauded Zimmerman's half-mile win at the European races in Berlin; Pittsburgh cyclists are planning a 400-mile relay race from Washington to Pittsburgh on July 8.
- Calendar of L.A.W.-sanctioned meets and Chicago club events for July through October 1892, including the Illinois Division meet at Springfield July 2-5, the national L.A.W. meet at Washington July 18-20, and the Wisconsin Division meet at Oshkosh July 7-8.
- Col. A. A. Pope is circulating proposals to fund an independent road construction and maintenance building at the World's Fair, while The Bearings notes neither major political party inserted a road-reform plank in their recent convention platforms.
- The proposed Chicago ordinance by alderman Potthof requiring a $2 bicycle license and sundry restrictions has been returned from the judiciary committee and ordered filed without a formal vote, effectively killing it.
- Trade feature reporting that A. Montgomery Ward, a heavy investor in the Humber-Rover Cycle Co., has returned from Europe and authorised full promotion of the business; a Bearings representative verified invoices for 1,074 Humbers and Rovers now en route from Liverpool to Chicago.
- Product write-up on the new Elliptic bicycle from Freeport Bicycle Mfg. Co. of Freeport, Ill., featuring an elliptical sprocket wheel said to virtually eliminate the dead center, giving a mechanical advantage on hills and long distances; the scorcher model weighs 35 pounds with Morgan & Wright or Strauss pneumatic tires.
- Trade feature on the Imperial bicycle from Ames & Frost Company of Chicago, whose factory output cannot keep pace with demand; sales representative L. D. 'Birdie' Munger is credited with popularizing the wheel, with Sieg & Clementi of Wabash Avenue as Chicago agents.
- Industry analysis of the United States Rubber Company's $12.5 million acquisition drive; a large rubber-goods producer tells The Bearings the combine is a 'gigantic scheme to unload' built on overvalued worn-out plants, and predicts it will not affect bicycle tires because tire-making demands specialized expertise entirely outside the combine's reach.
- Trade department from Cincinnati: the Buckeye Cycle Co. has opened at Ninth and Race streets with plans to expand into manufacturing; Eichelberger & Co. have contracts for medals at the Ohio, Michigan, and Carthage races; and J. E. Poorman is overwhelmed with correspondence ahead of his July 4 road race.
- Brief trade items from Chicago: the Aeolus racing wheel was the first in the city to go under 2:30; Columbia racing wheels (26 pounds) received by Lumsden and Githens; and a new Chicago Bicycle Riding School has opened at Nos. 42-44 Peck Court under Washburn & Prouty with veteran instructor S. W. Skinner.
- The Kenwood Company's Wabash Avenue retail store posted over 450 Democratic National Convention bulletins via private wire, beating newspapers and hotels in giving Chicago crowds the first word of Grover Cleveland's presidential nomination throughout the night session.