The Bearings, Vol 7, No 17
Articles in this issue
- Joint L.A.W. executive committee meeting in Chicago to plan the August international race meet; President Burdett reports Germany, Belgium, Holland, and possibly France will send riders, Osmond's amateur eligibility is discussed, and the six-day programme of events is published.
- Complete entry list of approximately 350 riders for the Decoration Day Pullman road race, with assigned handicap times ranging from scratch to twelve minutes, representing dozens of Chicago-area clubs including the Chicago Cycling Club, Lake View, Lincoln, Viking, Aeolus, and the Illinois Cycling Club.
- Comprehensive list of prizes donated for the Pullman road race—bicycles from Pope, Gormully & Jeffery, Spalding, Marble Cycle Mfg., and others, plus a gold watch from The Bearings and sundry merchandise—followed by Starter Conkling's instructions to contestants and Illinois Central Railroad's special train arrangements.
- Statement of The Bearings' editorial philosophy as a medium between manufacturers, dealers, and riders, citing superior trade and general circulation over any other independent cycling journal.
- Editorial on the poor state of American racing dressing rooms compared with English facilities; notes that Baltimore's tents last season were the best yet provided in this country, and concludes that the happy-go-lucky racer unbothered by inconveniences is the one who wins.
- Editorial arguing the Pullman road race course is dangerously rough and crowded with car tracks and unskilled riders; includes a letter from Geo. K. Barrett urging the Associated Cycling Clubs to rename the race and select a safer route, warning that fatal accidents are more than probable.
- Editorial on the advantages of outdoor wooden board tracks, noting that English racers at the new Herne Hill pitch-pine surface have raised their gears by ten inches, suggesting that carefully constructed wood tracks should produce far greater performances than cement.
- Editorial debating the proposal to use prison labor on public roads, quoting the St. Louis Post-Dispatch's humanitarian objections and offering the counter-argument that outdoor road work would benefit convicts' health; notes that organized labor's opposition dims the prospect of effective convict road gangs.
- Short editorial noting that President Burdett's long-delayed financial statement on Good Roads magazine shows it has run at a loss but compares favorably with similar new publications in its infancy, leaving open the question of how to continue funding it.
- Department column of short miscellaneous items: Oregon's chief consul C.L. Howe praised for growing League membership in the far West; a western consul's circular mocked for illiterate syntax; a humorous account from the Irish Cyclist of musical notes produced by racing machines at Herne Hill at speed; a brief note on Zimmerman watching Barden race at the Catford meet.
- L.J. Berger invites Chicago wheelmen to join a party including Van Sicklen, Fowler, Wagner, and others on a June 2–4 ride from St. Louis over the scenic De Soto road, forty-six miles of hills and fine country; total cost $15 including railway fare, no scorching allowed.
- W.C. Sanger makes his European debut at Brussels, winning the one and three miles international races and capturing the king's prize; his last quarter of the three miles in :28 3-5 sets a new English and continental record, surpassing Schofield's :29 2-5; Zimmerman was not present.
- London correspondent reports Sanger and Culver arrive at Herne Hill and begin training on the new wood surface; R. Vogt sets new records from two to ten miles; young C.F. Barden of the Harlesden C.C. is revealed to have broken Osmond's nine-mile record at the Catford meeting with 22:17 4-5 despite falling and remounting on a lower-geared machine; R.J. Mecredy will visit America for journalistic purposes.
- William M. Brewster appointed treasurer of the Century Road Club of America by President Skinkle; the executive committee plans a New York–Chicago relay ride timed so participants can arrive in Chicago by train for the League meet; new membership applications are listed by state.
- Step-by-step instructional article on removing and patching a punctured G. & J. pneumatic tire, describing how to deflate, extract the left-side casing edge, locate and sand the hole, apply rubber solution and patch, replace the tube, and re-inflate with the valve at the top.
- After disputed timekeeping required a rerun of the Linscott 25-mile road race in Boston, A.W. Porter sprinted past W.G. French with 100 yards to go and won the diamond; six of the thirteen starters dropped out with mechanical failures, and the record was not broken on the windy day.
- The Riverside Wheelmen of New York defeated the Harlem Wheelmen so decisively in their team road race over the Crawford-Roselle course that the Harlems may abandon road racing; F.W. Titus of Riverside, racing for his first year, led from start to finish in 46:15.
- C.T. Mulkey, a ten-minute limit man, surprises experts at St. Louis' Forest Park road race over the 17½-mile course; A.G. Harding wins the time prize for the second time and breaks his own record with 57:10; Chicago scratch men Waller, Munger, and Bliss fail to place, with Bliss and Waller colliding near the finish.
- Profile of H.H. Lambton, Australian champion and two-time winner of the Austral Wheel race, who has arrived in Chicago from San Francisco; he cannot compete in amateur events as Australia uses cash prizes, and he notes that Tom Busst is in poor health and unlikely to race again.
- Miscellaneous column of short items spanning pages 9–11: A.R. Eppstein's Aeolus racer stolen outside the Lincoln club house; Helen Baldwin wins the female six-day race at the Armory with 473 miles in 48 hours; France fixes its cycle tax at 10 francs; the Hanauer Trophy road race at Cincinnati set for Decoration Day; a new Y.M.C.A. Cycling Club formed in Oakland, Cal.; Dubois regains the 100-mile record in France; and Florida Cycling Association holds its first meet at St. Augustine.
- Frank Douglas of the Kenwood Mfg. Co. concludes the multi-issue debate on elliptical vs. round sprocket wheels, marshaling Mr. Parker's own admissions, a Trinity College calculus proof, and a supporting letter from W.H.V. Rosing to argue conclusively that the elliptical gear offers no mechanical gain over the round.
- Anonymous letter (signed 'B.', Chicago) defending the elliptical sprocket: while conceding no absolute mechanical gain, the writer argues the device allows power to be applied where it is easiest, disputes all six objections raised in The Wheel of May 5, and asserts the writer of those objections is a falsifier.
- Long feature essay by S.W. Merihew on the psychology and career arc of racing cyclists, using W.F. Murphy's decline and Zimmerman's prospects as case studies, and recalling the 'ripening' of Lumsden, Quilla Rich, George Taylor, Harry Wheeler, and Irv. Wilhelm at Providence and Hartford meets in 1890.
- Robert D. Garden, who managed the Chicago Pope Mfg. Co. branch for nearly seven years and founded the Pullman road race, resigns to become assistant manager at Hartford under George Day; O.B. Jackson of the Hartford Cycle Co. succeeds him; a detailed career profile of Garden from Aberdeenshire to Chicago is included.
- Editorial demonstrating The Bearings' superior advertising value: one Hill Cycle 'Free—a Fowler' advertisement generated 1,959 replies versus 3,668 for Bicycling World, which has four times the circulation, calculating that each dollar spent with The Bearings is worth $2.17.
- Report on the World's Fair cycle exhibit at the Columbian Exposition, expected to be complete in about three weeks; Gormully & Jeffery, Kenwood, Sercombe & Bolte, and Bradshaw Mfg. Co. are decorating booths; includes an anecdote about Adam Opel's 'Lady Wanted' sign attracting job-seekers, and notes on aluminum bicycles and the Hill Cycle Mfg. Co.'s three-frame-size plan.