The Bearings, Vol 8, No 11
Articles in this issue
- Windle lowers the three-quarter flying-mile to 1:26 3-5 at Springfield while Tyler breaks the standing quarter to :29 1-5 and the standing mile to 2:01 3-5; tandem team McDuffee and Clark set a world flying-mile record of 2:01 1-5.
- Clifton S. Merrill, a serial bicycle-trade swindler previously exposed by The Bearings, is arrested in Boston for passing bad checks and posing as a captain in the Second Illinois Infantry, with two additional Chicago warrants outstanding.
- Zimmerman wins his 100th and 101st first-place victories at Freehold, N.J., defeating George Banker in the half-mile open and two-mile handicap before 4,000 spectators on a poor track.
- Former L.A.W. Massachusetts division chief consul C.A. Perkins and treasurer C.S. Howard announce independent candidacies against the nominating committee's ticket headed by J.S. Dean, who has resigned as editor of Bicycling World to run for chief consul.
- A. Bergoine, riding barely four months, wins the $800 piano prize at Toronto's 20-mile National Road Race on a 13.5-minute handicap; W.M. Carman of the Athenaeum Cycle Club earns the time prize in 1:00:20, lowering the Canadian road record.
- John S. Johnson dominates the Licking Cycling Club meet in Newark, Ohio, winning three open events and setting the Ohio two-mile state record of 4:49; he later lowers the track mile record to 2:09 3-5 in a paced time trial.
- At the NCA's final 1893 race meet at Manhattan Field, New York, Schofield's rim breaks in a two-mile handicap, causing a pile-up that knocks Starbuck unconscious and injures four other riders.
- A League politics meeting at A.G. Spalding's Chicago offices nominates C.E. Randall for L.A.W. Illinois division chief consul and Burton F. White for secretary-treasurer, with ten candidates put forward for the four representative-at-large positions.
- Editorial warning that The Bearings has again felt compelled to expose an unscrupulous individual in the bicycle trade, citing the jailing of C.S. Merrill as vindication of its earlier campaign and pledging to protect the trade from further predators.
- Editorial questioning whether L.A.W. members want their dues spent on the good roads cause, arguing the same money would better serve wheelmen as practical road-book guides or a more substantial weekly members' paper.
- Editorial arguing that a loose but enforceable amateur rule—never raced for cash—is the only practical solution to the rampant violations of the current strict definition by top riders and their manufacturers, citing England's licensing failure as a cautionary example.
- Regular miscellaneous column covering NCA professional racing integrity, the famous appetite of cyclist Polite Peck, Joe Howard's views on New York cycling, the theft and recovery of Inter Ocean editor Wylie's Sterling bicycle, a Methodist church row over a Binghamton widow's bicycle, and Walter Sanger's fear of the muddy Chicago track.
- The Colonel recalls a 1891 interview with Dutch-English champion Scheltema-Beduin whose prediction that Americans could never place in English championships proved spectacularly wrong, rebuts a columnist who proposed mounting strongman Sandow on a 300-gear bicycle, and argues that Chicago needs a first-class board track to become the world's premier cycling center.
- New York correspondent covers P.J. Powers' impending NCA resignation, the N.C.A. secretary's refusal to license English professionals Howell and Robb, Harry Wheeler's plans to race in France following the death of the French champion, and debate over a proposed Class B semi-professional rule.
- Milwaukee correspondent laments the decline of club road runs in favor of race-track fever, reports the postponement of the North Side Cycling Club's road race, and describes the Milwaukee Wheelmen's upcoming fancy dress ball at which Governor Peck will judge the most disreputable attire.
- Miscellaneous news briefs covering Terront's departure for St. Petersburg, American wheelwomen Stella and Maria Hunt touring France, Bliss and Dirnberger's upcoming Illinois meets, Lafayette race results, and a new Toronto front-driver bicycle patent.
- Obituary of French champion Georges Cassignard, killed at 20 when his horse slipped and threw him onto a Paris pavement; he had recently dominated Italian racing and first rose to prominence pacing in the 1891 Bordeaux-Paris race.
- Season summary for the Rambler racing team of Bliss, Githens, Taylor, and Dirnberger: the four men traveled 20,000 miles, raced at 35 locations on 55 days, and collectively won $16,000 in prizes over three months before retiring for the winter.
- Annual ten-mile road race over Garfield Boulevard: J.P. Vinyard of the Garfield Wheelmen finishes first on handicap, while South Side Cycling Club's Vincent Loos earns the scratch time prize with 32:07 despite a strong headwind.
- Comprehensive tables of American track and road records in competition and against time, listing standing and flying-start marks from quarter-mile to 50 miles held by Tyler, Johnson, Windle, Meintjes, Linneman, and others as of October 1893.
- F. Pope, a Derbyshire coal-miner recently employed by Humber, Cripps & Goddard, lowers the English mile record to 2:05 at Heme Hill; L. Stroud rides 22 miles 180 yards in the hour on a tricycle but falls short of the French world tricycle record.
- Profile of 19-year-old A.D. Kennedy, Jr., of the Illinois Cycling Club, who broke through in 1893 by beating Githens in a three-mile handicap at the great Chicago meet and later won a mile open against George Taylor and Dirnberger on the Midwest circuit.
- Reprinted satirical article from the Oakland Echoes mocking social anxiety over women cyclists and predicting radical gender equality—shared tailors, clothing, and social roles—by the middle of the next century.
- C.G. Merrills of the Cleveland Wheel Club breaks Ohio's 24-hour road record by riding 246 miles unpaced in 23 hours 15 minutes despite several punctures; Cleveland riders are reportedly planning a track 24-hour attempt.
- Editorial arguing that Philadelphia, with its strong show record, is the right location for the 1894 national cycle show rather than New York's Madison Square Garden, urging major manufacturers to announce exhibition intentions promptly to spare the trade the cost of two rival shows.
- The Associated Cycling Clubs of Philadelphia formally announce their National Cycle Show for January 15-21 at the First Regiment Armory on Broad and Callowhill streets, claiming leading manufacturer support and rebutting claims that the trade prefers New York.
- Report on the Macintosh detachable pneumatic tire by Charles Macintosh & Co. of Manchester: it can be ridden when fully deflated, is instantaneously removable from the rim, holds U.S. patents, and has proven popular with English racers in road and track events.
- Letter from W.A. Thompson of Savannah, Ga., describing and illustrating an adjustable double-ended seat-rod that lets riders shift between an upright and a forward scorching position without adding significant weight over a standard rod.
- Survey of leading cycle dealers and manufacturers on 1894 prospects: A.G. Spalding, American Dunlop, Eagle Bicycle, and Rouse Hazard all predict lower list prices (perhaps $125-$135 for best grades), fewer jobbers, less installment selling, and a more conservative trade.
- Exchange of letters between E.C. Stearns & Co. of Syracuse (steel) and St. Louis Refrigerator & Wooden Gutter Co. (aluminum Lu-mi-num) disputing the judging arrangements and expense terms for their $500 bicycle-frame strength contest.
- Practical tips on repairing deep cuts in outer tire covers using sewn canvas sleeves to prevent re-opening under inflation, on removing soapstone powder from rubber for leak-free patches, and on always carrying a monkey wrench on rides.
- Weekly trade column covering the Keating Company's reopening with 250 workers, Black Mfg.'s new Tribune and Vigilant models for 1894, the Munger Cycle Manufacturing Co. startup in Indianapolis producing 500 wheels at $150 built on Arrow lines, the Lamb Mfg. Co. incorporating with $500,000 capital for a Chicopee factory, and other trade notes.
- E.C. Stearns reprints extended praise of Zimmerman's sportsmanship from the Yellow Fellow pamphlet, noting that despite recent defeats the champion greets winners warmly and encourages rivals with 'You have beaten me fairly, but I shall try and not have it occur again.'
- Profile of English racer G.E. Osmond, 22, of the Anerley B.C., who returned in 1893 to set records at Heme Hill from three to six miles, rode a tandem mile in 2:05 3-5 at Arnhem as a world record for any machine class, and set a British tandem mile record of 2:07 4-5 at Heme Hill.