The Bearings, Vol 8, No 15
Articles in this issue
- John S. Johnson sets a new flying mile record of 1:55 3-5 at Independence, Iowa on November 8, aided by trainer Tom Eck's running mare, triplet, and quadruplet pacemakers; the report covers his earlier 1:56 3-5 rides on November 7 that equaled his own record and bettered Willie Windle's best by one-fifth of a second.
- Chicago wheelman Archibald Wilson, employed by the Link Belt Mfg. Co., is held on bond for the death of eleven-year-old William Carroll on Auburn avenue; a friend charges that detectives bribed the two boy-witnesses with $5 each and that the grand jury was packed with Carroll's neighbors who were prejudiced against bicycle riders.
- On November 9 at Independence, Iowa, Johnson breaks Tyler's standing mile record of 2:00 2-5 with a time of 1:58 1-5, covering the first half in 1:02 and the last in :56 1-5 behind the same running horse and quadruplet team.
- Cold weather and a soggy track at Hartford, Conn. force the abandonment of all record attempts; Hoyland Smith, Blauvelt, and Zimmerman's team depart for New York, while a proposal emerges to match Zimmerman against the trotter Directum (record 2:05 1-4) for a mile race if a suitable medal can be arranged.
- Eastern cycling news column: W.F. Murphy wins the Kings County Wheelmen's 25-mile Irvington-Milburn road race in 1:14:19 1-2 from scratch; W.M. Carman of the Athenaeum C.C. breaks all Canadian records from 6 to 25 miles at Rosedale track; the Washington Wheelmen close their season at Berkeley Oval before 3,000 spectators; twelve Chicago Cycling Club members brave a wet ordinary run to Pullman; J.M. Supple wins the Franklin Wheel Club 10-mile road race in 33:05; P. Von Boeckman wins four events at the Dallas Wheel Club two-day meet; and arrangements are finalised for the six-day professional race at Madison Square Garden opening midnight December 24.
- The Bearings editorial defends Johnson's Iowa performances against English cycling journals that declared his records faked; the editor argues that Johnson's rides were witnessed firsthand by a Bearings staff correspondent, honestly made with every legitimate aid—running horse, triplet, quadruplet, and the world's best track—and will in due course be accepted by the Racing Board.
- Editorial arguing that strict amateurism is unenforceable in cycling, quoting at length a remarkable Irish Cyclist editorial urging the N.C.U. to abandon inquisitorial inquiries into riders' income and instead define an amateur as one who races for prizes other than cash, allowing manufacturers to reward riders openly; The Bearings endorses this reform as the only honest exit from the present farce.
- Miscellany column advocating photography at close race finishes (as used at Independence track by Phillips with a 1/800th-second shutter); responding to the Irish Cyclist's challenge on 24-hour records and pointing to promising eastern road riders; correcting the Irish Cyclist's confusion between track cyclist Ives and billiard champion Frank Ives; noting Dirnberger's disputed Philadelphia finish over Windle; and reporting Charles Terront's opera invitation at the Franco-Russian fetes.
- Detroit dispatch showing how wheelmen have become a political force: Mayor H.S. Pingree issues a circular to Detroit wheelmen denying that the anti-cycling 'Bicycle Ordinance' will be signed after the election, while Democratic congressional candidate Levi T. Griffin pledges to support good roads 'first, last, and for all time.'
- Savannah, Ga. report on the controversy after the cement track's board of directors grants Black cyclists the right to rent the track for a January 1 'colored meet'; The Bearings interviews a board member who defends the decision as financially beneficial and a white racing man who objects 'through principle,' saying the track should not 'lose caste with the public.'
- The Chicago cycle board of trade has engaged J.O. Blake of the G.&J. Co. at 85 Madison Street to investigate every stolen bicycle case reported to them, giving owners a single point of contact for recovery.
- A Chicago cyclist visiting St. Louis describes the Missouri limestone macadam streets as coated in a fine, slippery, oleaginous mud that is 'death to the unstable equilibrium of a bicycle,' and notes that despite the wheelmen's success in the spring mayoral election their influence apparently died at city hall, leaving conditions worse than anything known in Chicago.
- Comic sketch in which an extravagant cyclist orders pate de foie gras, Persian snails, and $15-a-pint Burgundy at Kinsley's restaurant in Chicago, tips the waiter $50, and is overheard by banker Gage—who assumes him an English prince—until the waiter corrects: 'he's one of them cycle riders as breaks records.'
- Humorous anecdote about a North Side clubman who stored his bicycle upended for winter and warned his wife to leave it alone; while he was out, she hired a painter who cleaned the oil off the chain and gave the entire machine—chain, tires, handle-bars, spokes, and pedals—a double coat of English varnish.
- Parody of biblical genealogy tracing the bicycle's lineage from the Hickory Wheel through the bone-shaker, velocipede, ordinary, Kangaroo, solid-tired safety, cushion tire, and pneumatic, ending with 'confusion among the children of the Bicycle' over the proliferation of chain-wheel patterns and the geared ordinary.
- Milwaukee cycling news: the North Side Cycle Club declares war on the Milwaukee Wheelmen over perceived snubs at the Thiensville-Milwaukee road race, and plans a rival Waukesha-Milwaukee race five or six weeks earlier next season backed by the Mercury Club and Bay View Wheelmen; Emil Ulbricht of Chicago lowers Fred Nessel's Chicago-Milwaukee road record to 5:56:03, arriving to be entertained by North Side Club president G. Aussem.
- Peoria, Ill. cycling notes: James Wolcott's stolen wheel is recovered and the thief jailed; the Chicago Cycling Club football team will play the Peoria Bicycle Club on November 18; C.F. Vail improvises a hobby-horse ride home after his sprocket broke seven miles out; and the bicycle club ball is rescheduled to November 23 as the 'chrysanthemum party.'
- Nashville, Tenn. dispatch: Bliss and Dirnberger are training at thirteen miles per hour on the Nashville track, with Dirnberger now at 164 pounds and in fine condition for the first time; they aim to commence time trials around November 15 with a thoroughbred running horse as pacemaker.
- Maryland L.A.W. correspondence: Chief Consul Albert Mott's political influence has brought riders every privilege in Baltimore but left the division stagnant—membership is nearly 200 below last year—while Mott compiles a road book to attract new members; all offenses against league members are prosecuted vigorously, making a rider 'a privileged character.'
- Obituary of Asa Dolph of Bellevue, Mich., who in 1884 set a mile record of 2:41 at Springfield—later lowered by Hendee to 2:31—and was known as 'an amateur at heart' who cared more for glory than money; he died October 22 at age forty and was cremated at Detroit.
- Tabulation of the current bicycle hour records: Meintjes holds the one-hour mark; Linton three-hour and ten-hour; Dance four-hour; Schwemmer five and seven-hour; Desgranges six-hour; Wridgway eight, eleven and twelve-hour; Allard nine-hour; Shorland thirteen through fifteen-hour; and Lesna sixteen through twenty-four-hour.
- D.C. cycling notes: the district division L.A.W. elects G.B. French chief consul and W.H. Steans secretary-treasurer at High View Hotel in Virginia, though the legality of holding a D.C. divisional election in Virginia is questioned; Georgetown cyclists plan a December fair to fund a new race track; Racing Board Chairman Raymond rules the Evening News cup race must be re-run.
- The fourteen-year-old Buffalo Bicycle Club, once the leading club in the country, dissolves as a cycling organization and reconstitutes as a whist club; fifteen members take a ceremonial final ride on asphalt Saturday evening, then return to 'baked meats' and short addresses by ex-treasurer J.O. Munroe.
- Humorous horse-racing-style 'pedigrees' of cycling personalities coined at a cyclists' gathering: 'Zimmy, out of Sight by Victory'; 'Tyler, out of Training by Marriage'; 'England, out of Records by America'; 'Atkins, out of Rhodes by Eck'; 'Britain, out of Cash by Palmer'—some names withheld by the author for personal safety.
- Anecdote about C.W. Murphy—suspended by the Racing Board for accepting a $15 check at Philadelphia while team riders went unpunished—visiting the Algerian theater at the World's Fair Midway in Chicago; an Egyptian juggler tricks Murphy into catching a live green snake from a jar he thought held coins, sending him fleeing amid audience laughter.
- A cycling journalist cures his cold by riding vigorously in multiple layers of winter underwear and sweaters, then publishes the remedy—only to be visited by a stream of irate readers who tried it and made their colds or influenza worse, one even blaming him for a near-fatal case of diphtheria.
- Brief technical note calculating air resistance at cycling speeds—one-half pound per exposed foot at ten miles per hour, doubling at twenty—noting rear drag from displaced air, and concluding that riding in a vacuum would allow speeds that would force the fastest trains to keep very lively.
- Cleveland cycling news: W.A. Skinkle announces he will resign the Century Road Club presidency, complaining of 'unappreciative wheel clubs'; the Lakeside Club prepares a December 5 grand ball at Red Cross Rink with Sid Black's trick-riding; Geo. Myers of the C.W.C. fails to recover his stolen wheel after a frantic chase up Euclid avenue; and F. Pope of Alfreton reduces the five-mile record at Herne Hill to 11:33 1-5.
- A.R. Child and E.O. Earl ride 47.5 miles in two hours from Hitchin northward on the North Road before colliding with a cow at a 2:30 pace; Earl fractures his collar-bone but both men struggle on to finish fifty miles in 2:10:58, with Earl subsequently fainting four times under surgical treatment—without the smash, 2:05:00 would probably have been reached.
- London, Oct. 28 dispatch: Mid-Surrey C.C. holds the last 12-hour race of the year at Putney cement path; veteran E. Hale lowers the 100-mile safety record to 5:12:02 on the North Road, beating S.F. Edge's Bath Road Club time by 13 seconds; C.G. Wridgway, winner of the Anchor Shield 12-hour race, is dined by the Bath Road Club and presented with a pedestal lamp; the CTC half-yearly meeting at Newcastle-on-Tyne raises annual subscription to 84 cents.
- A Maryland Bicycle Club member's tire runs over a hound's tail during an Elkridge Fox Hunting Club chase near Baltimore; huntsman O'Brien rides alongside the wheelman flourishing his whip, blows are exchanged, and the Maryland L.A.W. division is likely to take the matter up and 'make things warm for the huntsmen.'
- Denver, Colo. correspondence: an estimated 4,500 wheels are ridden in the city; the Denver Wheel Club opens its social season with an elegant dance, members wearing silk knickerbockers in the club colors black and orange; J.A. McGuire of the Ramblers covers 100 miles over the Brighton road in 6:06:00 elapsed (5:39:00 actual riding time) with a full corps of pacers; and the Denver Ramblers plan to reorganize on a smaller, more exclusive basis after their $40,000 clubhouse scheme failed.
- Editorial arguing that McKinley's sweeping victory in Ohio and Republican wins nationwide settle both the tariff and silver questions, predicting the bicycle trade will benefit as consumer confidence revives, money becomes easier, and the buying of luxuries increases.
- The Philadelphia Cycle Show committee denounces misrepresentations by New York show promoters—including false claims about exhibitor numbers and the armory's seating capacity—and announces the show has shifted to January 29–February 3 to allow firms to exhibit at both shows; Pope Mfg. Co., G.&J., and Union companies will exhibit exclusively at Philadelphia.
- Fifty-nine bicycle, tire, and sundry makers have reserved space at the New York cycle show at Madison Square Garden, including Pope Mfg. Co., A.G. Spalding & Bros., Morgan & Wright, H.A. Lozier & Co., Raleigh Cycle Co., Western Wheel Works, and the American Dunlop Tire Co.
- C.O. Allen of Pullman, Ill. has invented a spring-powered hollow front sprocket that stores pedaling energy via an internal spiral spring, releasing fifty pounds of driving force to run the machine an eighth to a quarter mile without pedaling; crack riders who tested it at Pullman found it required unusual technique to avoid unintentional back-pedaling, though practised Pullman riders achieved good speed.
- The Warman-Schub Cycle House (formerly Warman & Hazlewood) is moving to 469 West Lake Street, manufacturing American-made Coventry Cross cycles at a three-story North Lincoln Street factory; Mr. Warman expects many high-grade wheels to list at $150 for '94, while C.H. Schub Co. has dissolved and Schub plans to move to the Pacific Coast.
- Charles Measure of the Union Cycle Mfg. Co. tests the company's 1894 model at Needham (Mass.) depot by riding it off the twelve-inch platform drop, across the rails, and over a mile of ties at speed; bystanders assume him mad, but close examination reveals no damage to any part of the machine.
- The Stover Bicycle Mfg. Co. will issue an elaborate 1894 catalogue with a cover embossed in red, old gold, and pale blue on heavy paper, featuring the Phoenix trade-mark of two overlapping wheels with red tires and gold spokes in front of the fabled phoenix.
- The Ariel Cycle Mfg. Co. becomes the first American firm to fit standard gear-cases to every machine manufactured; the cases sag on the underside so a loose chain will not rattle, weigh very little, and allow easy chain adjustment; Ariel's 1894 machines will weigh nineteen to thirty pounds.
- J.W. Linneman of Buffalo, who recently broke his century record by about 9 minutes, praises the 1894 Sager racing saddle; Harry Tyler has also used the Sager saddle in his late record-breaking, and large orders from leading manufacturers have already been placed for the 1894 styles.
- The international cycle show will be held March 24 to April 8, 1894, at the old exposition building in Brussels, Belgium, with exhibits entering free, a 50 percent railway reduction on Belgian lines, and five classes: cycles, accessories and tires, wearing apparel, bibliography, and retrospective.
- The Louisville Bicycle Co. (R.J. Walker & Co.) on Third Street files a deed of assignment to Harry Stucky, the failure attributed to tight money markets and dull business, with most of the indebtedness owed to out-of-city creditors.
- Chicago and national trade notes: C.C. Meade leaves Monarch Cycle Co. for Thorsen & Cassady; Aurora Cycle Co. factory closes; Morgan & Wright sues Akron Rubber Works over pneumatic tire patents; Stover Bicycle Mfg. Co. closes its Chicago branch November 15; the Bicycle Wood Rim Co. of Kingsland, N.J. reports large export orders including to England, France, Germany, Belgium, and South Africa; and Mason & Mason on West Side cycle row report selling over 500 wheels while surrounding dealers struggled or closed.
- A cycle trade traveler surveys Texas markets: Galveston shows almost no bicycle demand despite 50,000 wealthy residents; Houston is a thriving wheel town boosted by new vitrified brick paving with enthusiastic lady cyclists; San Antonio is the state's leading market but was temporarily damaged when a dealer sold wheels to women of 'questionable character'; and Austin is too hilly but shows improving prospects.
- Col. Albert A. Pope's letter to the Ways and Means Committee opposes any reduction in the bicycle tariff until raw materials are admitted free, itemizing the cumulative duties paid by bicycle manufacturers at every stage—45 percent on steel, 75 cents per ton on coal, 50 percent on woolen clothes for the workman—from factory construction to the worker's dinner table.
- Column by 'Bolav' praising J. Elmer Pratt's trade writing, dismissing the Philadelphia cycle show in favour of New York or Buffalo, and rebutting a Bicycling World L.A.W. article claiming high-grade machines should list at $75; Bolav points out that recent trade failures occurred among firms trying exactly that, and bets no major maker will price genuine 1894 machines below $150.
- Brief humorous item: Arthur Augustus Zimmerman is invited to test a propeller-powered bicycle invented by Frederick Heller, a Caldwell, N.J. plumber, who claims twin brass air-fans driven by leather belts from the rear axle produce increased speed with less effort.