The Bearings, Vol 9, No 3
Articles in this issue
- Chief Consul Luscomb plans to appoint a Syracuse rider to the New York state racing board, with candidates C. Arthur Benjamin and C. Edward Wood competing; John Wilkinson is touted as a coming champion to rival Bliss and Dirnberger, while John S. Johnson's continued association with E. C. Stearns & Co. is reaffirmed.
- Milwaukee fireman Peter Weber demonstrates an aluminum-tired ice bicycle that beats skaters in a test race; Milwaukee Wheelmen also plan two Waukesha road races for 1894, on July 4 and June 16.
- The western delegation to the National Assembly departs Chicago on the Monon line, joined by riders from Denver, Omaha, and Wisconsin in a specially secured sleeper car.
- Boston cycling news: James O. Gray plans a new three-lap wooden-batten cycle track at Franklin Trotting Park in Saugus; the Press Cycling Club elects C. W. Froudinier president; and the Associated Cycling Clubs campaign to bring the L.A.W. national meet to Boston while Chief Consul Perkins advances a statewide bicycle regulation bill.
- Pennsylvania division delegates travel to Louisville as a unified bloc backing Luscomb, Williston, Perkins, and Mergenthaler for L.A.W. offices, opposing a presidential salary and insertion of the word 'white' in the constitution, and favoring Asbury Park for the national meet.
- The Bay State Bicycle Club of Worcester holds a successful annual banquet with Chief Consul Perkins and Vice Consul Miller as guests, featuring toasts on racing, touring, and consolidation, with music from the club's banjo and mandolin ensemble.
- Chicago's Associated Cycling Clubs vote to apply to Chairman Raymond for a place on the big racing circuits and to petition the park commissioners for cycling tracks in the city's parks.
- An eight-day, six-hours-a-day race is being arranged in Paris for March 11; Schock, Waller, and Ashinger are asked to contact The Bearings to learn details to their advantage.
- Frank Bowden, manager of Raleigh Cycle Co., describes accompanying champion Harry Wheeler on visits to cycling clubs in Florence and Milan, meeting top Italian riders at the Florence C.C.'s cement track; he profiles leading Italian amateur Amedeo Alajmo, who earned 18,000 francs racing in 1893 while simultaneously qualifying as a solicitor in Turin.
- Noted trainer 'Choppy' Warburton, who trained F. J. Osmond, Linton, and Schofield at Herne Hill, dies suddenly in London just days after attending the Linton-Dubois return match in Paris.
- The Bearings editor argues the L.A.W. should replace its failing weekly Bulletin with a high-quality illustrated monthly magazine supported by a small separate member subscription, describing such a publication as potentially 'the king of all sportsmen's publications.'
- The Bearings predicts that the Louisville National Assembly will elect the Luscomb ticket, ban the negro from the L.A.W., curtail the executive committee's powers, adopt Classes A and B in racing, and terminate the current Wheelman Co. publication contract.
- Following a Christmas issue proposal, the editors report widespread enthusiasm for a secret fraternal society among wheelmen; a correspondent names Albert Mott, Abbott Bassett, Sterling Elliott, and others as suitable founders, urging them to organize at the Louisville Assembly.
- Omnibus editorial column covering L.A.W. national meet odds favoring Denver; W. W. Watts opposing the two-class amateur rule at Philadelphia; W. W. Taxis seeking reinstatement after suspension; an unnamed professional caught simultaneously drawing tire retainers from at least four firms; and The Bearings' reiterated opposition to negro admission to the League.
- Baltimore city councilman Bernard Depkin backs down from a sweeping anti-cycling ordinance after Chief Consul Mott details cyclists' electoral power; he now proposes repealing the existing lamp ordinance as a face-saving compromise.
- The Cleveland Wheelman Club's contentious annual election: the board's refusal to accept votes from members with unpaid January dues prompted a $150 windfall in back dues before the polls opened; Ralston defeated Hamm for president by about fifty votes despite heavy proxy maneuvering by the 'youngsters' faction.
- A satirical piece in which 'The Idler' announces a bicycle tour of the world, complete with spoof endorsement letters from the Gaekwar of Baroda and the Akoond of Swat; subscribers are invited to bring unlimited cash between 1:30 and 1:40 daily, with the party expected back in the early spring of 1903.
- Editorial predicting that British cyclists will receive Bliss and Dirnberger as warmly as they welcomed Zimmerman and Sanger, and arguing that American crowds would equally welcome a return visit by leading English road racers.
- A dialect poem written in an African American voice responding to the L.A.W.'s proposed insertion of the word 'white' into its constitution, threatening consequences if the racial exclusion is enacted.
- The Bearings editor analyzes the 1894 New York and Philadelphia cycle shows and argues that one annual national show—ideally in Chicago in 1895—would better serve manufacturers and buyers than two competing eastern events.
- A Bearings representative touring major American bicycle factories reports markedly improved materials and workmanship in 1894 models despite lower list prices, while cautioning that a few makers still sell low-grade goods at inflated prices via deep discounts.
- The new national bicycle trade association's charter members have been selected and include Pope, Overman, Gormully, Stearns, Wilson, Spalding, and several others appointed by the committee formed at the New York show.
- The Colt Mfg. Co. quietly sells approximately 750 Tourist bicycles left over from the Geo. R. Bidwell failure to a syndicate at around $50 each, with wheels expected to reach consumers at only a small advance on that price.
- J. Willard Parker of the Niagara Cycle Fittings Co. argues that Buffalo's central rail geography, excellent asphalt streets, the Sixty-fifth Regiment armory, and its role as gateway to the Canadian trade make it the ideal location for the 1895 national cycle show.
- A. O. Very, general manager of the Warwick Cycle Mfg. Co. of Springfield, denies rumors of selling output to a syndicate at cut prices and reports 1,600 wheels sold in New England last season; he advocates a single national show controlled by the trade and warns that a manufacturer association dominated by a few large makers would fail.
- Buffalo dealer H. C. Martin & Co. plan their own cycle show at 'Martin's Church'—a former church converted into a riding school and warehouse—displaying Columbias, Ramblers, Clevelands, Warwicks, and Martin's own machines in individual booths.
- Washington D.C. cycle dealers are forming a trade association to regulate prices, track stolen wheels with a detective, and maintain a blacklist; solid-tired safeties sell briskly at $10-$20 on the capital's fine asphalt streets, and Gormully & Jeffery are expanding to a full three-story building at 1325 Fourteenth Street.
- The 1894 Philadelphia cycle show at the First Regiment Armory drew over 20,000 visitors and turned a surplus after last year's $500 loss; O. S. Bunnell emphatically denies any plans to manage future national shows, and local trade discusses forming a permanent show association.
- State-by-state tabulation of recent business changes among cycle dealers across Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Montana, New York, Ohio, Texas, Utah, and West Virginia, listing chattel mortgages, incorporations, and dissolved partnerships.
- The Eastern Rubber Mfg. Co.'s Cyclone Clincher uses a self-locking wedge mechanism that forces the bead into rim hooks when inflated, making accidental removal impossible while riding yet allowing easy roadside repair.
- The Hickory Wheel Co. of South Framingham, Mass., files sulky patent infringement suits against W. S. Frazer & Co. of Aurora, Ill., and the Michigan Wheel Co. of Lansing, with plans to press all cases to a definitive ruling.
- Anonymous sales correspondent 'Little Speck' advises northern cycle salesmen that southern dealers are conservative buyers who require days of personal acquaintance and public demonstration before placing orders, not the rushed one-hour visits that generate falsely negative trade reports.
- A Bearings representative visits the Union Cycle Mfg. Co.'s picturesque factory beside a Massachusetts lake and describes the complex multi-stage manufacture of the Union pedal—from forge dies and cold-stamped blades through tempering, copper-plating, and nickel-plating—illustrating why a first-class bicycle costs $125.
- London correspondent 'Will o' the Wisp' reviews the Rath automatic saddle, test-rides the Bantam dwarf front-driver by Crypto Cycle Co. (26 lbs., 66-inch gear), reports Whitworth's busy Holborn Viaduct showrooms, examines Seddon tire anti-slip properties and the Moto pedals used by Linton, and covers the Coventry Machinists' Co.'s $125,437 annual loss.
- I. A. Weston & Co. of Jamesville, N.Y., exhibit a pneumatic-tired road wagon at Philadelphia that draws orders; Weston argues steel wheels on pneumatic sulkies are superior in strength and lateral stability and can be supplied for light pleasure carriages.
- John F. Palmer demonstrates his rubber-cord needle technique for repairing pneumatic tire punctures, threading a cement-coated cord through the hole and snapping it flush—permanently airtight in 99 of 100 cases, with a hot-wire burn-out method for rare cases where torn fabric fibers prevent a seal.
- A. H. Radell, Chicago cycle detective employed by the Cycle Board of Trade for four months recovering stolen bicycles, plans to retire after finding that grateful owners expect his services for free and offer negligible rewards.
- Charles Overman has renovated the Overman Wheel Co.'s Chicago store at 287 Wabash avenue with Brussels carpet, arc lighting, mosaic border flooring, and a Victor Flyer on a nickeled stand in the show window; all 1894 models are on display.
- The Eclipse Bicycle Co. introduces a new Model A Eclipse at 25 lbs. with wood rims, replacing the catalogue version and finished in gold striping with a gold-plated nameplate; an improved Model B at $100 and 30 lbs. is also described.
- Chicago gunmaker Louis Jordan, of 71-73 East Randolph Street, builds custom racing bicycles from 13 to 18 pounds guaranteed to carry a 200-pound rider, and a Jordan Special light roadster at 22-25 lbs. for $140; he received a medal for best hand-made gun at the World's Fair.
- The Wellington, made by the Stokes Mfg. Co. of Chicago, is a 28-lb. high-diamond-frame bicycle with a 44-inch wheelbase, reinforced connections, and black enamel with gold striping; traveling representative H. C. Tillotson reports strong Michigan sales.
- French inventors are designing tandems and triplets intended to weigh no more than a single machine, with construction illustrations clipped from a French cycling exchange showing their lightweight approach.
- Industry news column: M. Ward & Co. exits the bicycle business as Horace Bell closes the Chicago branch; Garford Mfg. Co. ships 800 saddles a day with orders for 100,000; new traveling agents added by Scheffey & Co. and Syracuse Cycle Co.; M. W. Simons acquires controlling interest in Marble Cycle and Indiana Novelty manufacturing companies.