The Bearings, Vol 9, No 5
Articles in this issue
- Long multi-city coverage of the LAW National Assembly's aftermath at Louisville: Luscomb's hilarious welcome home by Long Island Wheelmen, Denver's victory over Asbury Park for the 1894 national meet, Boston's strategic withdrawal, the proposed Washington-to-Denver relay ride, Dan Canary's reinstatement, and delegate anecdotes including Alabama's boy wonder Ped Hickman.
- Boston correspondent reports the Massachusetts delegation's long journey home from Louisville, detailing the state's gains: H. W. Robinson's appointment to the national Racing Board and the second vice-presidency, a pledge of support for the 1895 Boston meet, and the backlash over the League's new 'white amendment' excluding Black members.
- The Associated Cycling Clubs of Chicago elect C. G. Sinsabaugh secretary and appoint Burley B. Ayers to chair a political action committee to lobby for wheelmen as street inspectors; a committee of nine is also formed to arrange the Pullman road race and seek cycle paths in Chicago's public parks.
- Editorial urging southern wheelmen to repay The Bearings' pre-Assembly support for the 'white amendment' by enrolling at least two new L.A.W. members each before April 1, framing it as a war debt that can only be paid with united southern effort.
- Editorial condemning Asbury Park supporters' talk of holding a rival tri-state meet on the same date as the Denver national meet; argues Denver won fairly over heavy odds, and Asbury's backers should follow the southern delegates' example after last year's defeat and work for the Denver meet's success.
- Editorial on the new Class B amateur classification that legalizes manufacturer payments to racing men, removing past hypocrisy; warns manufacturers to leave Class A men alone, and predicts the racing board will adopt no half-measures with amateurs who violate the new rules.
- Miscellany column: a mock dime-novel plot about Albert Schock and Jack Prince cycling from New York to Chicago while pursued by a villain who chloroforms Schock at Syracuse; criticism of delegates hissing A. A. Billingsley at the Assembly; news of an impending official League organ; and a pun on Hannah & Hogg the liquor dealers having many 'bars' but never a century.
- Editorial tribute to British cyclist Frank Shorland, comparing him to Zimmerman as England's beloved racing hero; argues his great size, good nature, and popular appeal should earn him forgiveness and a continued license rather than suspension for any slight infraction.
- Humorous editorial arguing America can rival Europe's noble cyclists with its own notables: comedian Eddie Foy, actress Marie Jansen, politician Henry George, Senator Peffer, Congressman 'Sockless' Jerry Simpson, Dr. Mary Walker, Maggie Cline, Kate Kane, and Mrs. Lease all ride the wheel.
- Note that John S. Johnson has challenged Zimmerman to a race; argues, as W. C. Sanger's sudden European fame proved, challenging the champion is the fastest route to international cycling celebrity, and Johnson would gain more notoriety in two days that way than in thirty of riding for horse-paced records.
- Humorous editorial suggesting a new melodramatic cycling story plot in which a hero is wrongly condemned to hang and a heroine borrows a ladies' safety to ride fifty miles in a race against the clock, delivering a gubernatorial pardon just as the noose is placed, leaving the villain to blow out his brains.
- Brief New York dispatch: the Inter-Collegiate Athletic Association, after defying the L.A.W., has capitulated entirely and authorized its executive committee to recognize League authority and run all its races under League rules and sanction—another feather in Chairman Raymond's cap.
- Philadelphia correspondent covers the Pennsylvania delegation's satisfaction with the Assembly results, a financial crisis and presidential resignation at the Tioga Athletic Association's Westmoreland track, and club activities including the Pennsylvania Bicycle Club's planned minstrel show, Century Wheelmen gymnasium classes, and Quaker City Wheelmen's new clubhouse plans.
- Baltimore report on a prospective coalition between Maryland Division cyclists and the city's athletic clubs at the Park Cycle track on the Pimlico road, facilitated by Maryland chief consul Mott's far-sighted option on five acres of adjoining land that could provide an athletics ground at comparatively slight cost.
- St. Paul correspondent reports cyclists dormant since October due to cold; remarkable American and world speed-skating records were set at Minneapolis and St. Paul by wheelmen B. B. Bird (one-mile, 2:49 1/5), Nilsson, Scheibe, and Smith at distances from one to twenty miles, including a new world one-hour record of 18 miles 215 yards.
- Brief account of the Brighton Bicycle Club of Cincinnati's 'German' social event, where all guests were required to speak German from 8 to 10:30 p.m. under penalty of buying drinks and cigars for the crowd; Harry Tyler was compelled to remain silent for two and a half hours.
- New York correspondent covers Geo. C. Smith training at N.Y.A.C. to defend his quarter-mile record as a Class B man; the 'Deacon' Raisbeek's controversial suggestion to hold the New Jersey Division meet at Asbury Park on the same dates as Denver to draw eastern wheelmen away; and Miss Susie Brooks of Newark, who devotes three days weekly to charitable work in New York and rides her wheel between visits.
- San Francisco report of the California cycling clubs' ten-mile handicap road race, won by Oscar Osen from scratch after F. A. McFarland generously surrendered his wheel to Osen following an accident; Bay City Wheelmen have moved to handsome new quarters and the Midwinter Fair cycling committee under George P. Wetmore is booking eastern riders for May races.
- L.A.W. Racing Board Chairman Raymond outlines a national race circuit running east-to-west from early July, culminating at Denver for the national meet in August, then returning east with a southern autumn tour; clubs must apply for circuit dates at once to 236 Flatbush Avenue, guaranteeing printed prize values, a good track, and proper conduct.
- Amusing account of Cleveland Wheelmen's Club's five-mile walk led by Captain Lindmueller through the rough 'triangle' district and a waterworks pumping station; Irish residents mistook the club's purple-and-gold colors for Orange or A.P.A. insignia and pelted the rear of the procession with stones, while children begged for cigar butts and had to be dispersed with scattered pennies.
- W. C. Sanger of Milwaukee dismisses the non-allowance of his 2:08 1-5 Springfield record—which the Springfield Club failed to formally apply for—saying he doesn't care for records much anyway and hints at beating it this season; he is expected to close a deal to join the Union bicycle team.
- Phoenix report of the Valley Cycle Club's Washington's Birthday race meet on a four-lap track in high winds: Z. O. Brown won the one-mile Arizona championship in 2:41 1-2, M. Loring took the Maricopa County quarter-mile title in :41 1-2, and trick rider J. W. Sargent won liberal applause despite the conditions.
- Brooklyn cycle dealer W. F. Murphy has arranged for Frank Waller and C. W. Ashinger to race in a Paris eight-day race beginning March 11; Murphy is considering turning professional himself, entering the race, and permanently relocating to France, and has begun steps to dispose of his Bedford Avenue store.
- Bearings correspondent surveys New York, Brooklyn, and Newark cycle trade: Overman opens a new Warren Street Victor showroom; Pope Mfg. Co. reports steady Columbia inquiries despite snow outside; Von Lengerke & Detmold handles Warwicks and Lu-mi-nums; and dealers from Western Wheel Works (Crescent Scorcher at $90) to A. G. Spalding & Bros. all report brisk early-season business.
- Profile of bicycle designer W. C. Smith of Goshen, Indiana, crediting him with America's first diamond frame, first practical gear case, detachable sprocket and movable crank, and numerous other cycle innovations accumulated over years of experience, with praise for his consistent insistence on excellence of materials and thorough construction.
- Description of the lavishly appointed new store of Sieg & Walpole Mfg. Co. at 285 Wabash Avenue, Chicago, featuring plate-glass mirrors, incandescent lights, velvet curtains, potted ivy, photographs of leading racers, and over $7,000 worth of sundries displaying Security, Imperial, and Ben Hur wheels.
- Dodson Mfg. Co.'s new wood rim uses a patent dove-tail bar-lock joint on the inner surface and a lapped joint on the outer, making it the strongest on the market and warranted not to slip for one year; in strain tests the rim itself broke elsewhere but never at the seven-inch joint.
- Mannesmann Tube Co. of Landore, South Wales—the world's largest seamless steel tubing maker—has stocked bicycle tubing with Chicago agents at 10-24 W. Water Street, with over 100,000 feet en route, benefiting manufacturers who left importing until too late and drawing orders from as far east as Massachusetts.
- Frank White of the New York Tire Co. reports H. C. Martin's solo-organized Buffalo cycle show drew 20,000 visitors in a week with free admission and separate club nights, predicts Buffalo's Sixty-Fifth Regiment Armory could host a major national show, and notes other dealers who laughed at Martin's scheme ended the week taking their hats off to him.
- Product feature on A. Featherstone & Co.'s Road King—Chicago's first bicycle fitted with pneumatic tires—weighing 25-28 pounds with a deep frame, long wheelbase, and hardened tool-steel bearings, retailing from $100 with steel rims and M. & W. tires to $110 with Palmer, Dunlop, or G. & J. tires.
- Instruction from McKee & Harrington's catalogue on sympathetic riding for lightweight bicycles: distribute weight across pedals and handles, ride on the ball of the foot, instinctively raise the front wheel over obstacles, and always investigate unfamiliar creaks, as a safety seldom breaks down without giving warning.
- W. S. Daniels of Marble Cycle Co. surveys cycle dealers across Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, and Louisville: Atlanta's trade was wrecked by excessive installment selling leaving only three of ten dealers, Birmingham shows strong new activity with the Victor agency placed with John Snider, and Louisville's Prince Wells sold 1,200 wheels the previous season.
- Editorial coverage of H. C. Martin's solo-organized Buffalo cycle show: Columbia, Rambler, Syracuse, Lozier, Warwick, Yost, and tire makers including New York Tire Co. and Eastern Rubber all exhibited; separate club nights for the Progress C.C., Ramblers, Wanderers, and Columbias drew large crowds, and competitors who ridiculed the plan ended up congratulating Martin.
- Julius Andrae Co. of Milwaukee has developed a metallic compound coating for wood rims that makes them completely waterproof and warpless, adding less than half an ounce per wheel; Milwaukee dealers are also forming a trade association.
- Eastern Rubber Mfg. Co. of Trenton, N.J., manager J. A. Barnes reports running the factory 22.5 hours per day in two overlapping shifts to supply Climax, Rex Road, and Cyclone tires—a remarkable output for a company barely over one year old.
- Boston trade report: dealers drew their largest-ever Washington's Birthday crowds, with B. B. Emery (Fowler), Pete Berlo (racing wheels), W. E. Sanborn (Stearns quadruplet), Gormully & Jeffery, and Pope Mfg. Co. all reporting strong inquiry; the Waltham Mfg. Co.'s new Orient bicycle made its debut on the row.
- A writer in the International Journal of Surgery ranks cycling foremost among beneficial exercises, analyzing its effects on perspiration, heart rate, blood oxygenation, digestion, muscular development, spinal coordination, and brain function, while arguing firmly against the cramped forward riding position many cyclists adopt.
- Philadelphia trade notes: Charles F. Smith & Co. sold their two sample Ramblers to impatient customers at $105 for earlier models; F. Donlevy opened a Derby agency on Arch Street with Abe Powell engaged to push it; Gendron cycles added by R. C. Wall Mfg. Co.; C. Pharo & Co. turning out high-grade wheels at $100 during the slack season.
- Letter from attorneys Dyrenforth & Dyrenforth correcting press reports: Lozier and Huss filed an application copying three claims from Palmer's March 1893 patent seven months after it issued; the resulting interference proceeding will not affect Palmer's right to make his tire, whatever the outcome.
- Brief note that the Arrow bicycle by Century Cycle Mfg. Co. of Indianapolis has carried over its 1893 reputation to become a strong seller for 1894, with Frank Waller's New York-to-Chicago ride on a 23-pound Arrow without a single mishap cited as proof of its quality.
- Humorous anecdote reprinted from Sporting Life: J. A. Barnes of Eastern Rubber Mfg. Co. claims his 'Imponderal' pneumatic tire is lighter than air, and since a package weighing a pound less than nothing entitles the sender to eight cents' credit, the post office pays him to mail sample tires rather than the other way around.
- London correspondent covers the Maltby puncture-resistant steel-banded tire; improving Midlands trade with Birmingham now rivaling Coventry; the novel Fenner front-driving rear-steerer; the pending clincher patent action against Macintosh & Co.; strong continental demand; small firms struggling under tire company monopolies; and the Palmer tire's imminent popularity alongside continued scepticism about aluminum frames.
- Brief reviews of 1894 bicycle catalogues: Ames & Frost Co. (Imperial, with rational-costume cover girl), Lamb Mfg. Co. (Spalding and Credenda), Fenton Metallic Mfg. Co. (19-lb racer through ladies' wheel plus the Kangaroo), Simonds Rolling Machine Co. (steel balls with 55 manufacturer testimonials), Eagle Bicycle Mfg. Co. (showing 1888 vs. 1894 Eagle), and catalogues from Loyd Read & Co. of Coventry, Grand Rapids Cycle Co., and others.
- San Antonio correspondent reports an improving Texas cycle market with dealers in Dallas, Waco, Houston, Austin, San Antonio, and smaller towns all optimistic; early-stocking dealers are reaping benefits while manufacturer delays of two weeks or more frustrate those who ordered later; recent firm changes include Covey Bros. acquiring the Dallas Cycle Co. and partnership reorganizations in Houston.
- Kansas City trade roundup after a dormant period following August auctions: agencies placed for over fifteen high-grade brands including Sterling, Rambler, Stearns, Columbia, Ariel, Fowler, Cleveland, Imperial, Premier, Lyndhurst, and Remington—possibly more than the market can justify.
- W. S. Daniels of Marble Cycle Co. placed agencies in nearly every southern city visited during the Assembly week trip, succeeding in all but two towns; he attributes others' failures in the south to a well-planted competitor offering prices Daniels cannot match.
- Description of Prince Wells' elegant new three-story, 38x100-foot cycle store at 632 Fourth Avenue, Louisville, with a basement riding school that has already generated spring-delivery orders; Wells handles Rambler, Cleveland, Waverley, and Western Wheel Works goods and sold 1,200 wheels—high and medium grade—in the previous season.
- Brief trade items: Avery Planter Co. selling Temple Specials in Kansas City; H. K. Kanten & Co. securing Milwaukee Stearns agency; Gendron Iron Wheel Co. discontinuing all branches and centralizing in Toledo; G. C. Cribb Co. reorganizing; F. J. Osmond's new rear-seat tandem steering invention; Curtis-Child steel saddle orders backlogged; Marion Cycle shipping 50-100 wheels weekly; and W. M. Perrett placing new Raleigh agencies across the Midwest and New England.