The Bearings, Vol 7, No 20
Articles in this issue
- Zimmerman is refused a license by the National Cyclists' Union unless he changes his mount; Harris beats Sanger at Herne Hill by a foot in 2:40, and both Americans will return to the U.S. at once. L.A.W. Racing Board Chairman Raymond expresses puzzlement at the NCU's conduct.
- The annual century run draws 512 starters from Newark to Philadelphia over dusty, muddy roads; the Century Wheelmen of Philadelphia, under Captain Alfred H. Allen, win the survivors' prize with 106 of 108 starters finishing.
- Profile of C. R. Culver, Sanger's trainer and chaperone on his European trip — a wrestling champion, gymnast, and capable cyclist whose careful training has markedly improved Sanger's speed.
- A new three-laps-to-the-mile bicycle track at Fairmount Park will open June 22 under the Kansas City Cyclists; the Missouri state meet at Sedalia promises to be the biggest ever, with Brunner, Hall, Rebenscheid, and Howard expected to challenge St. Louis's monopoly.
- Tom Roe starts his transcontinental record ride from New York, paced by Frank Waller; after a serious crash near Albany that left him unconscious for an hour with a lacerated ankle, he reaches Utica completing his first century and sits 40 miles ahead of a 55-day schedule.
- Commentary on the National Cycling Association's 61-section racing rules, noting the autocratic referee whose decisions are final in all cases, fines up to $25, and that entering NCA events permanently bars riders from the L.A.W.'s amateur ranks.
- Denver cyclists begin Saturday half-holiday mountain excursions; Owen Laugan wins the Denver Wheel Club's ten-mile handicap road race in 30:15; the Colorado division meet at Greeley on July 3-4 will include three state championships, with Charley Stokes in active training.
- Constable Torsney of the R.I.C., a novice only last August, wins the one-mile Irish bicycle championship at Waterford on Whit Monday, defeating Kenna, Naylor, O'Neill, Shalloe, and others in a complete surprise to followers of form.
- A meeting of Massachusetts L.A.W. officers reveals the League is nearly bankrupt; a special National Assembly is almost certain to be called and Colonel Burdett is expected to resign; the Racing Board investigates W. W. Taxis and other racing men who trained at Springfield at a manufacturer's expense.
- London dispatch reports A. W. Harris has won 19 firsts this season and is the best English rider; Richard Howell trains on a safety and has it in for Tom Eck; Schofield cannot secure a license and may go to America for cash-prize racing; Zimmerman has gone to Belfast.
- Letter from W. S. Webster in Deming, N.M. describing how mesquite thorns puncture pneumatic tires on the roads, with a strip of alum-tanned Latigo leather inserted between tube and cover proving an effective remedy; a sample thorn is enclosed.
- Annual officer elections result in Dr. H. F. Clark as president and a newly appointed racing board; J. H. Hardwood and J. B. Card make a remarkable Sunday ride to Lake Winnepesaugee and Alton Bay, returning at 4 a.m. Monday despite diabolical roads.
- The new Wheelman's League meets to improve bicycle paths and enforce city ordinances; William Le Messurier wins two firsts and two seconds at the Auburn Cycling Club meet; R.A.C. Wheelmen adopt resolutions opposing the bicycle tax.
- Savannah city fathers deliberate on taxing bicycles in a city famous for high taxation; efforts are underway to secure a larger club house for the Savannah wheelmen; Wentzell, O'Byren, and Goodridge establish a new Century Club after completing centuries.
- Notice of the just-issued "Cyclists' Road Book of New Jersey" by Benedict and Merseles — a pocket-sized guide with nine maps and detailed route descriptions through the principal cities of the state.
- Editorial statement describing The Bearings as a riders' paper that serves as a medium between manufacturers, dealers, and the cycling public — a broader field than a pure trade journal, with a circulation far above that of any other independent cycling publication.
- Editorial denouncing the NCU for refusing Zimmerman a license as cowardly and dishonorable — noting that Sanger, in the same position, was treated differently — and declaring the action an open affront to the L.A.W. and to English sport.
- Editorial urging the Century Road Club to establish uniform road racing rules, noting current chaos where rules vary by locality, park courses are used for records, and downhill courses like the Poorman and Waukesha-Milwaukee races distort comparisons.
- Editorial lambasting the managers of Chicago's new bicycle track for restricting training hours after wheelmen spent $20,000, leaving an erodible surface that washes into gutters after rain, and allowing circus Bedouins with camels, jackasses, and horses to trample the course.
- Column of short items including the Springfield Republican's case for and against bicycle taxation, the reversal of roles between C. M. and W. F. Murphy ("Brother Charl" now on top), Windle expelled from a club for refusing to race, a dress-reforming woman near Cycle Row in bloomers, and New York's proposed 8 mph bicycle speed ordinance.
- Profile of Prince Wells of Louisville, Ky. — a former trick rider who traveled the globe giving exhibitions, now a leading bicycle dealer and organizer of an annual 25-mile road race scheduled for June 24.
- Compilation of short racing items: Rockford's Fourth of July meet programme on a fast track where three records fell in 1891; the N.C.A.'s first programme at New York offering over $1,400 in prizes; H. H. Wylie's attempt on the New York-Chicago record on a Sterling; and other short cycling notes.
- Special correspondence from St. Louis reporting on frame tests at Washington University under Professor Johnson: the St. Louis Refrigerator & Wooden Gutter Co.'s cast aluminum frames withstand 1,925 pounds before the forks break, compared with steel frames that fail at 800 pounds, and show almost no permanent set under repeated loads.
- Directory listing of Century Road Club officers, committee chairmen for rights, rules, road records, legislation, and membership, and state centurions across the U.S., New Brunswick, England, and France.
- Racing news compilation covering the Canadian Wheelmen's Association meet at Sarnia July 1-3 ($1,200 in prizes), the Chicago Cycling Club's racing team including Munger, Waller, Barrett, and Van Sicklen in training, the Iowa division meet at Vinton, a Canadian 25-mile road race at Toronto, the Keystone Club's $2,000 meet at Pittsburgh, Cincinnati club championship results, and Burr's Rockford road race win.
- Personal essay signed "Bolav" arguing that police are a necessary evil who harass cyclists, illustrated by an anecdote of a wheelman fined $50 for thrashing a policeman who stopped him, and Van Sicklen's amusing run-in with an Irish officer on the lawn at the Pullman races.
- Humorous item reprinting the Belgian Cyclist Belge's satire of sensational American record-making, featuring a fictional tale of Leslie who designs a carpet-roller treadmill on which racer Barker "rides" a stationary mile in 1:57 3-5 to win his employer's daughter.
- Short profile of M. B. Fowler, a 22-year-old English racer standing over six feet and weighing 170 pounds, racing since age 17, who is expected to be selected for England's team at the international championships.
- Humorous anecdote from Cycle Record about a cyclist at Whetstone who switches off his electric bicycle lamp to ride past a policeman undetected, then switches it back on when chased, leaving the confounded constable a temperance tract.
- Note that A. W. Harris won £575 worth of prizes in one week's racing with seven first-place finishes, a sum that many American racers have exceeded from a single meet.
- Detailed report on the new five-lap cement track of the Bay City Wheelmen at Central Park, San Francisco — 13-foot banked turns built on redwood-plank framework, with workers suspended by belts to lay the steep concrete; trial riders pronounce it fast and safe, and Grant Bell will attempt his coast record.
- Students from the Royal Normal College for the Blind at Upper Norwood ride linked tandem tricycles from London to Birmingham, 119 miles, visiting the Lord Mayor before departure; the sighted steersmen control compound machines carrying sixteen to eighteen blind passengers.
- A new athletic association formed by Overman Wheel Co. staff and employees has secured grounds near Springfield with plans for a quarter-mile bicycle track, baseball, tennis, and shooting; A. H. Overman serves as president.
- Harvard Cycling Association spring race card draws only 500 spectators despite a strong field including Windle, Taylor, Tyler, and the McDuffee brothers; Eddie McDuffee wins the one-mile scratch and handicap final, while Guy Gary takes the interscholastic one-mile.
- The Telegram Cycling Club plans a formal reception for W. C. Sanger on his return from Herne Hill; young Vogel of the Milwaukee high school has reportedly ridden a mile in 2:20; Sercombe and Wegner will ride the full Fond du Lac-to-Milwaukee distance alongside a relay team.
- The New York circuit opens at Buffalo with 2,000 in the grandstand: C. M. Murphy wins the five-mile handicap over F. H. Tuttle, J. S. Johnson beats H. C. Wheeler in the two-mile scratch, and the Murphy brothers with Taxis and Wheeler demonstrate a 105-pound quadricycle pacemaker with a mile in 2:03.
- Two new clubs formed in Washington D.C. — the Stenographers' Cycle Club and the P.D.Q. Cycle Club; the Midnight Scorchers rename themselves the Metropolitan Road Club; Victor Watkins of Georgetown University is suspended until July 15 for alleged amateur rule violations.
- Profile of 20-year-old Guy L. Gary of Chelsea, riding for the Press Cycling Club of Boston, who on May 30 at Waltham won the one-mile open over Taylor, Tyler, Berlo, and Nelson with a late sprint from fourth place that astonished the field.
- Herbert Lowe, a fast Augusta, Maine rider, is fatally injured when the shaft of Harry Pinkham's sulky crashes through his skull at the driving park during a training collision; the skull is fractured all around.
- Hartford's Columbia Cycle Club reschedules its Fourth of July meet as a one-day event after pool-law complications cleared; the Connecticut L.A.W. will hold its midsummer outing at the same time, with races including the state championship, 2:40 class, and handicap events.
- Special correspondence from Paris: Cottereau beats Stephane by ten inches after 26 hours 4 minutes over 355 miles into a head wind; Dubois crashes at the start injuring his ankle; young Allard closes to within 11 minutes at Tours before losing his pocket-book and going back to find it, finishing fourth.
- Short humorous item about McConnekin's fish-shaped pedal-powered "pegasipede" flying machine, whose overhead fan worked by pedal-connected strings is claimed to lift man and machine slowly into the air.
- Special correspondence from Paris: Zimmerman wins all his races at the Buffalo track May 28-June 1, sets a lap record of 25 1-5 seconds, and wins a farewell 5,000-meter race by 20 lengths amid tremendous applause; defective pacemaking by Andre and others prevents a mile record despite a 2:16 clocking.
- Editorial noting that a competitor sports magazine criticized Credenda, Victor, Kenwood, Rambler, and Imperial bicycles — none of which advertise in its columns — in what The Bearings characterizes as a transparent attempt at blackmail.
- S. Wallis Merihew analyzes the Warwick bicycle price cut, concluding that oversupply of new and second-hand wheels is driving prices down, but manufacturers cannot sustain operations without profit and will either raise quality or exit; the eventual solution is a material price reduction that places the bicycle within reach of the mass public.
- H. A. Lozier & Co. will build a new 350-foot building alongside their existing plant, plus a blacksmith shop and additional buildings, creating a factory complex 860 feet long that will require nearly 1,000 employees to operate.
- Description of a new bicycle wrench patented by A. Anderson of Providence, R.I., using two short cold-rolled steel bars with a sliding jaw assembly that reduces weight by one-third and length by one-half compared with wrenches of equal capacity with solid handles.
- Letter from Frank S. Beedleson, a one-legged wheelman riding a Stearns Model B from San Francisco to New York, reporting 31 miles of all-sand Nevada roads at Winnemucca like riding over a bridge; his Gormully & Jeffery tires still hold the original air from Chicago and Syracuse.
- List of eleven recent bicycle-related patents reported by patent attorney W. E. Aughinbaugh of Washington D.C., covering pneumatic tires by Fisher, Huestis, and Phelps; a new velocipede by Kromer; brake mechanism by Selden and Chamberlain; and a gong-bell by Wells.
- Brief correspondence from Louisville reporting that the Warwick price cut has struck the city and agitated dealers — some welcoming it, others looking on with awe — comparing the effect to a thunder cloud over a picnic.
- Short trade items: Triumph Cycle ships 50 machines in a week; a Rochester Scorcher bicycle is stolen from C. S. Griswold of Corning, N.Y.; the Waverley bicycle praised for chain adjustment; Victor Flyers win road races at Erie and Portland; three hundred workers at the Clement bicycle factory in France strike.
- Trade correspondence from Poughkeepsie, N.Y., where 700 of 22,000 residents ride and cycling enthusiasm is high; five dealers profiled include H. Von der Linden (Columbias, Hartfords), J. Van Benschoten (Victors, Credendas), and T. W. Roberts (Clevelands, Ramblers).
- Follow-up item on the St. Louis Refrigerator & Wooden Gutter Co.'s cast aluminum "Lu Mi Num" bicycle frames, reproducing their circular to inquiring agents promising a first-class high-grade machine with frames two to three times stronger than steel that will never rust.
- The Warwick and Majestic price cuts are the main topic in Kansas City trade circles; experienced riders already have their 1893 mounts and are unlikely to switch; new buyers associate price with quality; children's wheels are very scarce.
- The Peoria Music Co., which had been selling pianos, organs, and bicycles (including Unions, Sterlings, and Hickories), closes its doors; stock of seventeen bicycles sold at a cut price to A. T. Stewart; proprietors Korns and Rodesch leave the city.
- The manufacturing business of the Acme Bicycle Carriage Co. is consolidated with the Newark New Art Manufacturing Co. of Newark, N.J.; Rufus Chandler will supervise the outside business of the combined concern.