The Bearings, Vol 6, No 20
Articles in this issue
- A nostalgic fiction-essay recalling rural Christmas customs of twenty years past—homemade gifts, Kris Kingle, sleigh rides, and family dinners—contrasted with the hurried commercial Christmas of 1892; signed William Twinkle.
- Behind-the-scenes account of producing the Christmas number: months of planning, the Behring Engraving Co.'s zinc and copper process, press statistics (23,600 pounds of paper, 480,000 impressions, 44,000 folds), and the division of labour across the four-storey Chicago plant; signed Phoenix.
- A five-stanza Christmas poem by A.W. Bellaw celebrating the cyclist's holiday—memories of the season's rides, the winter dance, toasts with his 'summer girl,' and hopes for the coming year.
- Seasonal editorial wishing readers success and affirming The Bearings' independence from any cycle manufacturer as the paper approaches the close of its third year.
- Editorial supporting L.J. Bates's petition to Congress for rural free postal delivery by bicycle, noting The Wheel's concurrent campaign and outlining The Bearings' broader plan to circulate petitions through L.A.W. chief consuls and governor-elects.
- Editorial and open letter by Orville W. Lawson of Louisville urging the L.A.W. to exclude Black members from southern divisions, arguing it would more than double southern membership; The Bearings endorses Division option rather than a constitutional exclusion clause.
- Department column with short items: the A.C.C. of Chicago's slim meeting attendance and proposed expulsion rule; visitors to The Bearings office including H.C. Wheeler and Joseph Goodman; Baltimore cycling club oyster roasts; Thomas Keene the tragedian's bicycle bet on a Washington street; and Kentucky's model macadamised turnpike maintenance.
- Historical retrospective covering cycling events of 1883–85: the Springfield bicycle show with Pope, Overman, and others; the 34-man Big Four Canadian tour from Detroit; L.A.W. Division formations; and records including Hendee's defeat by Sandy Sellers.
- Account of the Columbia Bicycle Prize Cup, a $1,500 silver trophy offered by Pope Mfg. Co. for a series of 20-mile amateur track races in the mid-1880s, whose engraving dies were afterwards destroyed; the cup is now owned by N.H. Van Sicklen.
- Fiction by 'President Bates' in which government scout Queemash, condemned to Sioux justice for stabbing a rival over a bride-price dispute, is trained by Surgeon Tuck and races a bicycle 20 miles against ten mounted warriors on a prepared trail to win his freedom.
- Feature on Detroit boneshaker devotees Lyman E. Stowe and Thomas Crane, who still rode velocipedes from the 1860s in 1892; Stowe recounts how riding his velocipede during a political campaign cost him election to Congress in 1880.
- Critical essay by 'A Practical Mechanic' attacking fad-driven cycle design—cushion tires, wheel counts, fluted cranks, dust caps—arguing buyers should apply the same common sense they use when choosing guns or boats, and proposing that a cycling paper systematically test and publish definitive mechanical verdicts.
- Practical guide by 'Nibs' for bicycle agents on essential tools (spoke grips, nipple turners, crank removers from Overman and Gormully & Jeffery), spoke and nipple repair, crank straightening with copper-padded steel levers, tire cementing with gas tubing, and frame alignment using a straight board.
- Trade column by a traveling salesman discussing the 1893 market outlook—oversupply fears, new models from Lovell Diamond, Vincent Cycle Mfg. Co., Winton Bicycle Co., and Stover Phoenix—and individual dealer and sundry-maker news.
- Essay by George K. Barrett on the art of bicycle salesmanship: the premium placed on personal popularity in the trade, how to approach dealers, and why hardware houses and implement firms will become major cycle factors in smaller cities.
- Feature on the newly renovated Coventry Machinists' Co. showroom on Chicago's Wabash Avenue—plate-glass windows, French mirrors, oak ceiling, Turkish rugs—showcasing Swift cycles including a 21-pound racer; the company is simultaneously building a factory at Richmond, Indiana.
- Short satirical fiction by 'N.D.' in which a prosperous cycle manufacturer, obsessed with perfecting his machine, dozes into a cigar-smoke dream of triumph only to be woken by a pneumatic tire exploding near the stove.
- Profiles of three Union Cycle Mfg. Co. traveling representatives: Irish-born John McDowell (Boston territory, ex-Union Pacific Tea Co.), Oscar W. Temple (rode the first Springfield Roadster, attended the first L.A.W. meet in Washington), and English-born Alfred Stainforth (advertising and repairs).
- Illustrated history of the bicycle from Ozanam's 1693 French four-wheeled vehicle and the 1818 Niépce two-wheeler through Cruikshank's comic 1819 caricature, Michaux's 1868 iron machine, the addition of rubber tires and toe clips, and the rise of the modern safety.
- Collection of reminiscences from pioneer cyclists: C.A. Hazlett (N.H. pioneer, riding since June 1877, 30,000 miles logged), Edward J. Shriver (New York), Albert W. Gump (Dayton, selling bicycles since 1880), Joseph Pennell (touring Europe and America by wheel since 1876 with Mrs. Pennell), Charles E. Duryea, William V. Gilman (Nashua N.H., L.A.W. treasurer 1882–83), and George H. Strong (organized the San Francisco Bicycle Club in December 1878).
- Brief notes from veterans who could not contribute full articles—including Burley B. Ayers's extended reflection predicting storage-battery safety cycles within five years and George C. Oeters's warm memories of club runs of the 1880s.
- Illustrated humorous poem about Irish laborer Denny L'Anigan, who borrows a wheelman's bicycle on impulse, manages a few pedal strokes, and takes a spectacular tumble, concluding that the wheelbarrow suits him better.
- Fiction set in the Coeur d'Alene silver-mining district during the 1892 labour strike: young cyclist Henry Laster rides 50 miles through armed union sentinels, taking a bullet in the arm, to fetch federal troops from Fort Sherman and rescue besieged mine owners; he marries the mine foreman's daughter on Christmas Day.
- Brief profile of D.L. Burke of Los Angeles, three-year unbeaten Pacific Coast champion at the quarter, half, one, and three mile, who plans to travel east in spring to challenge the 2:10 men.
- Report on the formation of the International Cyclists' Association in London to hold annual world's championships at one mile, ten kilometers, and 100 kilometers (paced), open to national amateur champions, with two board representatives per competing country.
- Historical profiles of milestone cycle racers: H.L. Cortis (first sub-three-minute mile), Ralph P. Ahl (2:58 5/8 in Boston in 1882, recently died on the stock exchange floor), George M. Hendee (Springfield's idol), Sandy Sellers and Richard Howell, Asa Dolph (2:41 flat in 1884), and William A. Rowe.
- Portraits and identifications of the National League for Good Roads officers—President Senator C.F. Manderson, Vice-President Gen. Roy Stone, Treasurer W.H. Rhawn—and executive committee members including P.D. Armour, Senator Leland Stanford, Clem Studebaker, and Col. A.A. Pope.
- Comprehensive essay reprinted from Cycling by English champion George Gatehouse tracing athletic training from Greek Olympians and early-nineteenth-century prize-fighters through Victorian pedestrians to modern cycle racing, with personal accounts of seven different trainers he worked under including the eccentric Harry Leeming.
- Two-stanza comic poem by Sandy Hook about a lady cyclist who labors breathlessly up a hill and then loses control coasting down, causing her male companion to blush at the display.
- Portrait group of twelve newly elected and re-elected L.A.W. Division officers for Ohio, Kansas, Colorado, Rhode Island, California, Kentucky, Alabama, Iowa, and Connecticut, with names and positions identified.
- Trade news from the Supplement: denials of a pneumatic tire trust from Morgan & Wright and B.F. Goodrich; updates on the Philadelphia National Cycle Show (124 spaces nearly filled, Zimmerman and Elliott contributing to the catalogue); the Providence elliptical sprocket wheel patent dispute; and new product notices including the Ariel single-tube tire repairer and the '93 Eclipse bicycle.
- Comprehensive city-by-city trade reports covering Syracuse, Indianapolis, Memphis, Cincinnati, Kentucky, Baltimore, Omaha, Cleveland, Washington, Kansas City, Texas, Buffalo, California, Rochester, St. Louis, Boston, Chicago, Peoria, Denver, Detroit, New Orleans, Milwaukee, New York, Philadelphia, and England, surveying cycle sales and dealer prospects for 1893 including the English front-driver safety boom.
- Month-by-month chronicle of American cycling in 1892: L.A.W. membership growth from 23,218 to 33,400; Zimmerman's suspension, reinstatement, and European campaigns; the Chicago-to-New York relay ride in 109 hours; the Washington national meet; road-improvement conventions; racing records by Johnson, Windle, and Taylor; and city reports from Chicago, California, Boston, St. Louis, Kansas City, Philadelphia, Washington, Rochester, New Orleans, Baltimore, Denver, Buffalo, Cincinnati, and Syracuse.
- Review of English cycling in 1892 by C.W. Hartung: the decline in path-racing calibre, the spontaneous rise of front-driving safeties and Crypto gear, Zimmerman's popular summer visit winning two N.C.U. championships, Shorland's road feats, and the need to reform shamateurism in the N.C.U.
- Tabulated results for the top 30 American racing men of 1892—Zimmerman leading with 75 firsts in 100 races, followed by G.A. Banker, H.C. Tyler, G.C. Smith, and P.J. Berlo—with approximate prize values where known.
- Comic fiction by Sandy Hook in which capricious Irene Mulligan of Mushyville decrees her four suitors must race bicycles at the county fair for her hand; Maurice Molony, after weeks of practice falls and a hospital stay, wins from a 600-yard scratch by a wheel-length on pure love.
- Brief essay lamenting the decline of the organised club country bicycle run in large cities since the passing of the high-wheel ordinary, blaming captain apathy and the loss of the pioneering camaraderie that made runs of 15–20 riders routine a decade ago.