The Bearings, Vol 6, No 1
Articles in this issue
- A humorous column by The Bearings' rural correspondent "William Chevinblas" recounting the L.A.W. national meet in Washington, describing in mock-pastoral terms the editorial bicycle race between L.J. Berger of The Bearings and Cartwright of the Bicycling World, and lamenting the disorienting effects of Washington's water on visiting Johnson's Corners delegates.
- Humorist Bill Nye advocates for road improvement at the Chicago Exposition, mocking American road superintendents as the "densest ass" available and urging every reader to resolve not to rest until American roads equal the nation's enterprise in every other respect.
- George F. Taylor, 21, of the Manhattan Athletic Club, breaks the world bicycle mile record twice on consecutive days at Hampden Park in Springfield, Mass., reaching 2:11 flat on August 3, 1892, with quarter splits of 33 3-5, 31 2-5, 31 4-5, and 34 1-5 under near-perfect conditions.
- A column of brief cycling news items covering Iowa Division activities, colored wheels in Pittsburgh, club parades in Calumet and Milwaukee, Miss Brooks pacing the Sioux City Club for forty miles, L. Tagholm's 173-mile Chicago-Lake Geneva trip, and a souvenir pin offered to finishers of the Cook County Wheelmen's century run.
- An editorial condemning the "pilfering mania" at cycle meets—particularly badge-collecting and souvenir theft of hotel table-ware—arguing that such behavior disgraces cycling and that cyclists themselves must stop the badge craze, souvenir collecting, and periodic drunks before they ruin the sport entirely.
- An editorial criticizing American race judging and timing practices—noting that three timers sat side by side at Washington making accurate close-finish decisions impossible—and advocating for the adoption of photography and electric timing to ensure absolute accuracy at the tape.
- An editorial analyzing the dispute between Boston's Press Cycling Club and Racing Board Chairman Raymond, who warned entrants against competing alongside suspended track riders in the Linscott road race, and examining whether the L.A.W. has authority to control amateur conduct in all contests, on road or track.
- An editorial defending the L.A.W.'s Washington national meet as a success on three grounds: favorable personal impressions made on Congress members by cycling leaders, extensive newspaper coverage secured by the capital location, and a cyclists' delegation's cordial call on President Harrison.
- An editorial quoting the New York World on how the Cyclists' Touring Club's 20,000 members influenced British parliamentary elections by pledging candidates to compulsory vehicle-lighting laws, urging American wheelmen to follow this political precedent and noting A.S. Hardin's forthcoming letter on the L.A.W.'s negro question.
- A letter from A.S. Hardin arguing against admitting Black cyclists to L.A.W. membership on grounds of alleged political unreliability, the risk of losing desirable white members, and the expectation that Black members would demand hotel accommodation and be "loud, overbearing and boisterous" at race meets.
- A vivid first-person narrative following a cyclist through a sleepless pre-race night, nervous morning preparations, a crash at the start, burning lungs and a "buzzing" head at three miles, and an anonymous finish listed among the "also finished" with time not taken.
- An editorial-promotional piece arguing that touring cyclists who carry a Kodak camera enjoy their trips far more lastingly, describing country scenes suited to photography and detailing models from the $6 Ordinary to the $65 No. 5 Folding camera as ideal lightweight companions from the Eastman Kodak Co. of Rochester, N.Y.
- A detailed race report on the sixteen-and-a-half-mile Waukesha-to-Milwaukee road race won by E.C. Hueffner of Racine ahead of 87 finishers from 100 starters, with Walter Sanger retiring due to a tire explosion four miles out, a disputed timing controversy over Fred Nessel's official 48:11 course record, and full handicap results for 83 timed finishers.
- A report on Frenchman Stephane's twenty-four-hour bicycle record of 392 miles 1,210 yards, including a 100-mile split of 5:13:45 2-5 nearly seventeen minutes inside Newland's record, with hour-by-hour distance breakdowns and details of his Clement racer and pacing arrangements under manager F. DeCivry.
- An editorial from the Baltimore Herald arguing that bicycle records—including a Buffalo tandem team's five-mile run of 12:44 4-5 and a mile in 2:11—are closing rapidly on Sunol's trotting record of 2:08 1-4, with confidence the gap will be erased as the bicycle is still in its infancy.
- Ralph Temple credits trainer G. Lacey Hillier with most of Zimmerman's championship victories in England, arguing that Hillier's split from Osmond directly cost Freddy his confidence and competitive edge, and predicting Zimmerman will retire as the undefeated amateur champion of the world.
- A three-day report on the Massachusetts Division meet at Cottage City (Martha's Vineyard), covering the opening run to West Chop lighthouse, a swimming contest won by H.S. Spear of Cambridgeport, a hill-coasting contest won by W.B.D. McWilliams (223 feet), two torchlight parades, bicycle races won by A.W. Wright and James Keltie, and a grand closing ball.
- Correspondent C.W. Hartung reports from London on the Cuca twenty-four-hour race at Herne Hill, where Frank Shorland on a Crypto front-driver safety led at 221 miles as Holbein retired at 166 miles from saddle soreness and Bates withdrew at 95 miles, plus N.C.U. fifty-mile championship results and Zimmerman's departure for America.
- Results of the Oak Park Cycling Club's field day, including handicap races from half-mile through two miles, a one-mile club championship won by W.F. Knott in 3:11, and a ten-mile road race won by George P. Sharp (4:30 handicap) with W.W. Hughes taking the time medal in 31:48.
- English champion Fred Osmond publishes a letter to the cycling press defending his non-appearance in the national championships against Zimmerman—citing poor fitness, not disrespect—and denying he made disparaging remarks about the American or ceded the task of defeating him to Schofield, adding that Zimmerman had a clear chance to meet him in the Brixton Cup race.
- Beer-wagon driver George Colebeck ran down Sam T. White of the Cook County Wheelmen on Chicago's Robey Street on July 16, knocking him off his wheel and allowing a horse to trample him; Colebeck was arrested for assault with a deadly weapon and is being prosecuted civilly by White's employer, Charles F. Stokes, with L.A.W. attorney C.R. Francis handling the criminal case.
- Six Lincoln Club cyclists on a century run through Cicero were harassed by an allegedly drunk farmer, then allegedly beaten by police officers Schaefer and Schweig; C.W. Platt was arrested and acquitted of using vile language, and cyclist Joe Guinea now plans to sue officer Schweig for assault and perjury.
- Otto Fabian, 21-year-old foreman at the Ames & Frost bicycle factory in Chicago and sole support of his aged parents at 11 Orchard Street, was fatally injured when two excursion trains collided at Milwaukee's union depot on Sunday morning shortly after a train bearing Chicago wheelmen had departed, dying at the emergency hospital.
- A description of the Crescent Wheelmen of Cincinnati's annual midnight run covering over 40 miles through the Miami River valley to Franklin and back, with riders noting the unusual spectacle of a "mist-bow"—a moonlit equivalent of a rainbow—forming over the river in heavy early-morning mist.
- An editorial observing that Washington cyclists favored painfully upright riding positions and "pinky-dinky" accessories—ribbons on handlebars, bells, squawk-horns, and braided uniforms—that Western riders would mock as outlandish, inverting the expected East-West sophistication hierarchy.
- A travel essay praising cycling from Baltimore onto the Pimlico macadam road, describing old-fashioned road houses with vine-covered verandahs and rocking chairs reminiscent of Dickens's "American Notes," and recommending Halstead's house near the Baltimore record-breaking track as ideal lodging for a racing man in training.
- A work of speculative military fiction by "Sandy Hook" in which the Barnsville Cycling Club serves as cavalry in a future war with Mexico, using pneumatic-tired bicycles to flank enemy positions at night, laying machines across a mountain ravine to trap retreating soldiers, and capturing an enemy battery in a decisive nocturnal charge.
- Illustrated profiles of four leading American racing cyclists: Charles W. Dorntge of Buffalo (co-holder of the five-mile tandem world record with Penseyres), Hoyland Smith (calculating handicap tactician), George "Kid" Banker of Chicago (known for his toeing style and pace-making at Dorntge's Baltimore record ride), and Herbert Githens of Chicago (frequent challenger of Eastern cracks).
- Correspondent "Anglo-Americus" criticizes the N.C.U. for permitting 27 riders—many unknown novices—to contest Britain's twenty-five-mile championship, causing four crashes that brought down Zimmerman, Bradbury, and Stroud, and asks why England does not require divisional titles before admitting riders to long-distance championships as America does.
- Two Chicago Evening Post quotations criticize the Bicycling World and L.A.W. Bulletin for failing to distinguish "push" (the rowdy crowd element at meets) from "push off," for misspelling "Banquo" as "Banco," and for fabricating the claim that Emperor William threw his crown in the air yelling "Go it, Zimmy!" at the Berlin races.
- The Moffat Cycle Company of Chicago was closed on a $8,992 judgment note held by the wife of treasurer M.W. Hill; total liabilities stand at about $35,000 against $69,000 in assets, with a conflict between president George D. Moffat and majority stockholder Hill over whether to seek a receivership.
- A trade insider follows up on last week's overproduction report, stating the situation is worse than described, with dealers quietly running auction sales under assumed names, 10,000 machines sitting unsold in one unnamed city, and a Chicago manufacturer receiving 15 high-grade machines returned by an over-stocked dealer.
- Hot summer weather has severely dampened Chicago bicycle sales, with most dealers reporting slow business; exceptions include A.G. Spalding's offer of Victors at 39 cents per day causing a rush, while the Marble Cycle Mfg. Co. reports more demand than its limited stock of eight machines can satisfy.
- A judgment of over $14,000 has been confessed against Philadelphia's Sweeting Cycle Co., with the Stover Bicycle Mfg. Co. owed a further $10,000 and total liabilities possibly reaching $30,000; company head T. Henry Sweeting has not appeared, and some judgment holders are reportedly members of his family.
- Brief trade column noting Fred Dickinson's departure from A. Featherstone Chicago, the George R. Bidwell Cycle Co. taking sole charge of St. Nicholas Mfg. Co.'s eastern trade, fifteen Sercombe-Bolte "Telegrams" completing the Waukesha race without incident, and Schoverling, Daly & Gales receiving Humber track racers at 22 pounds with silk racing tires.