The Cycle Age and Trade Review, Vol 24, No 112
Articles in this issue
- The American Bicycle Company's patent counsel completed legal papers for an infringement suit against the Eagle Bicycle Co. over the Smith-Owen bottom bracket patent, to be tried before Judge Townsend in Hartford, with a decision not expected for at least a year to eighteen months.
- At the A.B.C. directors' quarterly meeting, Walter Spalding retired from the board and was replaced by George Pope, who reported that ten outside manufacturers had already signed bottom bracket licenses, while plans to bring suit against many manufacturers who had refused licenses were confirmed.
- Horace Partridge and Co., Boston dealers in athletic goods and bicycles, made an assignment for the benefit of creditors with liabilities and assets each nominally around $100,000, attributed to financial stringency and difficulty borrowing from banks.
- All but about a dozen of the 242 spaces at the New York cycle and automobile show at Madison Square Garden were already sold, with the American Bicycle Company taking 105 spaces to display its various brands separately, while fifteen automobile manufacturers were also set to exhibit.
- Washington bicycle dealers reported a noticeably higher proportion of sales to affluent customers in the 1899 season, attributing the shift to improved window-dressing and a greater willingness to stock medium-grade machines that appealed to buyers who wanted quality but not extravagance.
- An editorial responds to the A.B.C. advertising department's made-to-order interview with sales manager Merseles, who claimed sample orders were running 85 per cent ahead of last year. The Cycle Age is skeptical, noting that such a rise would mean the A.B.C. marketing more than 1,500,000 machines in 1900 and the whole country some 2,600,000, and argues the apparent increase reflects earlier ordering encouraged by the absence of auction and bargain sales rather than a phenomenal jump in gross sales.
- An English correspondent explained that tire manufacturing in Britain differed fundamentally from American practice, with Dunlop maintaining a near-monopoly through patent control, and the company's forthcoming adoption of American production methods expected to change competitive conditions substantially.
- Trade news items reported the auction of the Badger Cycle Co. plant in Oregon, Wisconsin, evidence that bicycle touring was developing strongly in Australia, Luthy and Co. of Peoria sending a representative to Europe, and several other short items of manufacturer and dealer interest.
- A study of actual power consumption in machine shops revealed that friction losses in belts, shafts, and machine tools absorbed a surprisingly large proportion of the engine's output, with the net power delivered to the cutting tool often only a small fraction of the rated engine capacity.
- A cautionary letter purportedly from a delinquent subscriber to a Canadian engineering journal was reproduced to illustrate the typical fate of an optimistic inventor who spent freely on patents and promotion only to find no market for his device, followed by a selection of new bicycle patents of the week.
- A Chicago inventor's motor vehicle design was described, in which an auxiliary centre wheel carried both the engine and a large portion of the vehicle's weight, relieving the outer road wheels of undue stress and allowing the vehicle to traverse rough surfaces more effectively.
- The Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. of Akron described its preparations for the 1900 season, including a large tire inventory kept in stock for immediate delivery, along with the company's new features in its Iver Johnson bicycle line for 1900 including a flush-head design and distinctive nameplate.
- The announcement of the L.A.W. national assembly in Philadelphia on February 14 prompted immediate circulation of rumours about an anti-Keenan candidate slate, with the cycling press manufacturing opposition news during the quiet winter season ahead of the convention.
- An entrepreneur in Winterthur, Switzerland had successfully installed a complete indoor cycle racing circuit using home trainers modified to allow head-to-head competition on a simulated track, attracting large paying crowds through the winter and providing employment for second-tier racing men who would otherwise have no events to contest.