The Bearings, Vol 8, No 3
Articles in this issue
- Two-day race report from Milwaukee, August 14–15, covering Zimmerman's sweep of events over Bliss, Taylor, Dirnberger, and Githens despite crowd hostility; includes full race summaries and Githens winning the mile handicap final with a coin-toss deciding a dead heat.
- Report on the third annual Century Road Club of America run over the Elgin-Aurora course, with nearly 200 finishers; Miss Hattie Bicker wins the ladies' contest and Frank Waller posts the fastest time of 7:37:00, while O. Brown punches a policeman who grabs his coat-collar at Lyons.
- London correspondence covering the Harrogate and Dorking cyclists' camps, two rival British trade shows announced for winter, the Ilsley brothers' new tandem records from 6 to 25 miles at Herne Hill, amateur licensing appeals dismissed against C. L. Newland and J. Green, and road records broken on the London-to-Bath route by C. G. W. Ridgway.
- Dispatch from St. Louis reporting that the second N.C.A. meet attracted barely 400 spectators on day one and under 1,000 on day two despite excellent racing, including a mile in 2:30 by Wheeler; notes the debut of cash-prize convert R. E. Bellecour.
- Brief from Ripon, Wis., reporting that overnight rain reduced the half-mile track to mud and forced postponement of the Wisconsin division meet's first day, while Zimmerman amused himself landing a four-pound bass at Green Lake.
- Brief from Wauseon, Ohio, reporting rain-delayed racing on August 16 in which William H. Gibbs of Toledo won the one-mile novice in the slow time of 3:55 3-5 due to the heavy track; the half-mile open was left unfinished.
- Brief note from Cincinnati reporting that the Post-Poorman bicycle relay covered 136 miles from Columbus to Cincinnati, completing 4 minutes ahead of schedule after Governor McKinley dispatched the first courier at 1 a.m.
- Editorial calling on the L.A.W. Racing Board to investigate race promoters who inflate advertised prize values to lure riders to meets under false pretences, urging a blacklist for repeat offenders.
- Editorial praising the large number of Chicago-meet riders who adopted distinctive racing colors and urging the L.A.W. Racing Board to frame a rule compelling all competitors to follow suit, citing the existing international-race color requirement as precedent.
- Editorial condemning the Milwaukee crowd's sustained hissing and jeering of Zimmerman at the Milwaukee Wheelmen's tournament, warning that such unsportsmanlike conduct will drive first-class racing men away from the city permanently.
- Editorial criticising Detroit wheelman Joe Bresler's threat to defy the new city bicycle ordinance requiring lamps and bells, arguing that flouting a fair law will undermine cyclists' credibility when they need to press legitimate grievances.
- Regular department collecting miscellaneous items: touring luggage-packing advice; criticism of Crooks for refusing to lend his spare tandem to Banker and Bliss during the mile-tandem record attempt; advocacy for 25–100-mile long-distance races; Racing Board Chairman Raymond's pledge of a strong U.S. team for next year's international races; and an English suggestion for a mobile bicycle-cleaning service.
- Profile of Hurley B. Ayers, charter member of the old Chicago Cycling Club (1878), who served as chief consul of the Illinois L.A.W. division and national transportation committee chairman, securing numerous railroad concessions for wheelmen and organising the Big Four tour of 1885.
- Humorous fictional account of a naive L.A.W. member from Wahoo, Iowa who is conned by a smooth-talking 'Van Razzleton'—posing as a theft-prevention committee officer—into lending his brand-new bicycle and never getting it back, ending with a $25 reward advertisement in the Chicago papers.
- Extended section of anecdotes and notes from the L.A.W. international championship in Chicago, covering Meintjes' advocacy for South Africa hosting 1894 races, trick riders Kaufmann and Sid Black, Bliss and Meintjes waltzing on the baseball diamond, Johnson's pole-cutting tactics, suspicions about Zimmerman's three punctured tires, a full prize-winners' table led by Zimmerman ($950), Knisley's four-mile record, Windle fainting after trial heats, and Rope Club initiations.
- Report on the San Jose Road Club's fifth five-mile road race on August 6, won by O. Ziegler at scratch in a record 14:42 1-5—breaking the coast record of 15:48 1-5—with Ziegler taking permanent possession of the gold time medal after his third consecutive win.
- Melbourne dispatch reporting enthusiastic preliminary meetings for the proposed 'League of Victorian Wheelmen,' with debate focused on whether social members of clubs like the Melbourne Bicycle Club should hold voting rights in the new governing body.
- Boston column celebrating Gary's and Jimmy Clark's Chicago performances; reports Miss Margaret Kirkwood's twelfth century ride from Boston to Hampton in 9:05:00, a hill climb at Heidelberg won by trade man A. Turner on a 48-inch gear, and a serious accident to Horace R. Vance thrown from his bicycle on Beacon Street.
- Note on the Duluth, Minn. Cycle Club's Labor Day programme of a half-mile open, mile club handicap, and mile team race with Superior, Wis., over the city's seven-mile macadam lake-shore road, with plans forming to draw fast men from other cities in coming years.
- Brief announcing that R. J. Mecredy has permanently retired from the racing path after more than half a score of years of competition, recalling his mile in 2:20 4-5 as once considered marvellous.
- Humorous feature describing the daily midday dinner of cycle-trade representatives from the World's Fair exhibit at 'The Dutchman's,' a former Salvation Army tent on Stony Island Avenue, where the Raleigh Co.'s man, 'Pop' Field, vainly attempts to say grace over a table of boisterous, beer-ordering colleagues.
- Feature on Ernest Osmond, younger brother of F. J. Osmond, who surprised himself at Brixton by breaking the three-, four-, five-, and six-mile records; notes he burned out early on his ordinary but has now engaged a trainer and means to race seriously.
- Practical advice reprinted from the American Cyclist warning against over-cleaning and superfluous adjustment, arguing that dust-encrusted oil in bearings provides protection and that all adjustments should be set correctly once at the start of the season and then left alone.
- Racing circuit department covering Labor Day assignments (Zimmerman, Bliss, and Johnson at Columbus; Tuttle at Syracuse; Tyler and Windle at Hartford), Githens, Taylor, and Dirnberger's prize sweep at Milwaukee on a Rambler, the planned southern circuit in October, Sanger's recovery and his father's paralytic stroke, and Nicodemi winning the Rhine 100-kilometer championship.
- Regular records tables listing track records in competition and best records against time for distances from the quarter-mile to 50 miles, and road records in competition; Meintjes holds nearly every long-distance mark set at the Chicago international, Zimmerman leads the sprint columns, and Linneman dominates the middle-distance road records.
- Feature presenting the circular of A. Speidel of Zurich, who proposes a comprehensive comparative world catalogue of cycle goods in English, German, and French, with prices, descriptions, illustrations, and a telegraph cipher code; the editors note he has taken on 'a very large contract.'
- Amusing news item about the Lynn, Mass. Cycle Co., whose manager and staff stripped to their undershirts and plunged into four feet of sudden floodwater to rescue between thirty and forty cycles from their submerged basement.
- Trade report on Samuel Snell of the Snell Cycle Fitting Co. of Toledo exhibiting a 13-pound frame with a novel dust-proof sprocket, adjustable lamp bracket, outside-bearing racing pedals at 10 oz. per pair, and a patent hub allowing easy gear changes; notes 5,000 Tom Thumb lamps sold this season.
- Brief trade note reporting the voluntary assignment of the Derby Cycle Co. with liabilities and assets each stated at $30,000, George W. Banghart named as assignee.
- Brief trade note on the F. L. Douglas Cycle Co. closing its downtown Chicago store due to the dull season and poor winter prospects, with the Jackson Park branch to continue under Frank Riggs before also shutting.
- Trade feature on A. W. Warren of Hartford exhibiting the League chainless safety bicycle at the L.A.W. Chicago meet, describing its four beveled gear wheels in a neat aluminum dust-proof case as a promising chain-free alternative that should be speedy when made lighter.